Hearing the Students: The Impact of Structured English Immersion as Perceived by Language Minority Students

• In Event: Roundtable Session 124
  In Roundtable Session: The Impact of a Restrictive Language Policy on the Education of English Language Learners

Abstract

Objective/Purpose

While much research has documented the implications of Arizona’s Structured English Immersion (SEI) model, no known studies have queried students about their own perceptions about SEI model. The purpose was to survey students and the goal was to ascertain student attitudes about the language program, as well as their attachment to school in general. It was hypothesized that ELL students, subjected to Arizona’s restrictive language policy, would have a lower attachment to school compared to reclassified (RC) students. This lower attachment could affect future drop out status and be evidence of a subconscious retaliation against oppressive school policies where students believe that the cost of staying in school outweighs perceived benefits of leaving.

Theoretical Framework

Arizona’s policy is arguably restrictive (Wiley, 2007) and needs to be viewed from an historical-structural approach (e.g., Tollefson, 1991, 2006). This approach is key in identifying the many ways students are precluded from full access and participation in school and future involvement in society, the economy, and political realms. The impact of the policy on students can be examined by looking at students’ attachment to school and, in turn, the potential effect of the policy on dropout rates. This study uses Rumberger’s (2004) conceptual framework as a means by which to analyze students’ attitudes and attachment to school. Rumberger’s framework is necessarily added to with a sociolinguistic variable, as well as expanded in the processes/practices factor to include aspects of the restrictive language policy (and is thus renamed as policies/practices).

Methods

Both ELL and RC students in grades 6-12 were surveyed in three districts across the state of Arizona, for a total sample size of 2,264. The survey consisted of an 85-item demographic and five-point Likert-scale. This quantitative study used descriptive statistics and t tests to help describe students’ attitudes towards the SEI model, as well as their overall attachment to school. Confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical regression was used specifically to determine whether or not the factor relating to Arizona’s policies (processes/practices or policies/practices) accounted for a variance in attachment to school above and beyond all other dropout factors as defined by Rumberger (2004).

Results & Significance

This study is the first known study to examine students’ attitudes of the SEI model as implemented. It also bridges the gap between literature on language policy and that of dropout factors for students, while expanding Rumberger’s (2004) conceptual framework on dropout factors. Results show three major findings: (a) the longer ELLs are enrolled in Arizona’s model the less they like it, which could have implications on their future attachment to school; (b) neither ELL or RC students are being provided with an equal education, and (c) students who cannot exit the program in one or two years may be more likely to drop out as a result of the many negative implications associated with Arizona’s restrictive language policy in conjunction with the other dropout factors defined by Rumberger (2004). Lastly, the policies/practices factor is important when discussing attachment to school.

Author

• Karen E. Lillie, SUNY - College at Fredonia