The rising popularity of dual language education programs resembles gentrifica-tion in policy spaces where the influx of privileged newcomers coincides with some form of pushing out of the former beneficiaries or their interests, which can include the promotion or exclusion of certain program models. Using critical discourse anal-ysis, we examined state policy documents regarding these programs for a trend in the U.S. toward what we call fiftyfication or 50:50 eclipse, that is, subtle or obvious privileging of the 50:50 model (equal language allocation) over equitable models that allocate more instructional time in the partner (non-English) language. Since quantitative research has consistently documented several advantages of equitable over equal language allocation, we argue that it is problematic to educational equity to find marginalization of equitable allocation in state policy documents. Such fifty-fication functions as part of what we term programmatic gentrification, one of three processes where programs, program options, and public discussion begin to provide less attention and benefit to marginalized communities than are provided to more privileged communities. Beyond the recognized case of Utah, we found six states whose policy documents contained contradictions and assertions that privileged 50:50. Delaware and Georgia emerged as heavily fiftyfied because they silenced or misrepresented relevant research, significantly privileged English-dominant stu-dents, reinforced intersectional English hegemony, and unethically overemphasized feasibility to rationalize fiftyfication.We discuss (a) consequences of this policy dis-course for educational equity, (b) future research needed, and (c) ways the field can counteract 50:50 eclipse

Bilingual education—chiefly the subcategory of dual language education—has been undergoing a pattern where the interests of language-minoritized communities have in several contexts been pushed out of the way. One aspect of this gentrification process has been the fiftyfication of dual language policy, where privilege is placed on a 50:50 balance of language allocation between English and the partner language. Using thematic narrative analysis, we looked at the only two dual language schools in the U.S. state of Utah with a 90:10 language allocation. Findings show that (a) the two charter schools were pressured in multiple ways to conform to the state’s fiftyfication policy, and (b) the schools and their Latina/o communities resisted the policy and associated pressures on behalf of their students through forms of grassroots language activism and bottom-up resistance. Although these actions ultimately resulted in the official revision of the state’s DL policy to be inclusive of multiple language allocation models, the schools had to continue their activism to benefit from the policy change as the state then moved to a separate-but-equal policy approach that continued the privileging of the 50:50 model. Implications for scholars and policymakers are discussed.

Historically, Spanish-speaking students have not been allowed to use their home and community linguistic practices in their schooling in the U.S., even in most Spanish-English dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs, which require standard Spanish with strict language separation policies. These pedagogical practices have led to the reproduction of deficit language ideologies in DLBE classrooms that may harm students. In this essay, we call for programs to adopt vernacular forms of Spanish, including translanguaging practices, in bilingual and biliteracy instruction in order to meet the needs of Spanish-speaking students and combat deficit language ideologies and practices. From a critical pedagogical perspective, deliberate inclusion of vernacular Spanish (and translanguaging) in bilingualism and biliteracy is an ideal means to develop critical consciousness for students in DLBE, which can serve to combat deficit language ideologies, and aligns to the proposal of critical consciousness as the fourth goal of DLBE. We offer recommendations for teacher educators and DLBE practitioners.

See article: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/WQ4D5FN24KGH8MPDJB3W/full?target=10.1080/13670050.2020.1775778

Literature is limited demonstrating how some in-service teachers have developed sociopolitical consciousness and why they commit to social justice. Drawing on interviews, email correspondence, and Facebook postings collected throughout a school year, this article shows the life experiences of one white dual language educator who developed sociopolitical consciousness and a commitment to social justice as a result of what I refer to as conscientization calls based on personal experiences and observed inequities affecting minoritized populations in U.S. and Latin American contexts. This article makes a call to promote educational equity by helping privileged pre-service and in-service teachers by using, as pedagogical tools, conscientization calls they might have received throughout their lives.
See link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0013124520928608

This study examined Spanish-English dual language (DL) K-6 teachers in collaborative professional development as they worked towards achieving the bicultural goal of DL education, beyond traditional interpretations, and incorporating sociopolitical consciousness as a fourth goal. These two principles are part of the transformational DL educational framework. Classroom observations and teachers’ documents relevant to these objectives were recorded and analyzed, and teaching practices were categorized according to James A. Banks’ classic model of levels of integration of multicultural content. Findings show teachers’ trajectories varied throughout the school year. This article shows examples of multicultural teaching practices in three lessons, highlighting elements classified as contributions, additive, transformative, and social action, acknowledging hybrid forms. Results show that, when the principles of biculturalism and sociopolitical consciousness are intentional, educators can begin meeting these goals for equitable DL education.

Link: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/WPVXZZ6JMBRMPV9WERDI/full?target=10.1080/15348458.2019.1672174

Utah’s public schools are home to an increasing number of K/1–6 dual language (DL) programs established through a state-centralized model that has sparked interest domestically and internationally. We theorize three potential constituencies of DL—maintenance, heritage, and world language—then use critical discourse analysis to examine how equitably multiple official state promotional materials discursively portray these constituencies and their interests as well as what other discourses most strongly emerge. We found Utah’s state DL discourses were targeted primarily toward a White, world language constituency, and we found that the explicit privileging of economic considerations discursively erased equity and local language concerns associated with maintenance and non-White heritage constituencies. We argue that this discursive misdirection represents a narrow application of the language-as-resource policy orientation. We conclude with implications for favoring a version of globalized language education that promotes local diversity and equitable access to opportunities.

Utah’s state planned model of dual language education has grown and spread rapidly. Drawing on critical race theory and LatCrit, we examined state policy documents and promotional materials for their discursive portrayal of Latinas/os. Our analysis revealed a pattern of centering the interests of the White, English-dominant majority and those without an ethnic connection to the target language, while marginalizing or silencing Latina/o interests. Implications for dual language education stakeholders are discussed.
See article: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/UzAMFxCUz7FKCt2AbUTn/full

This article provides a snapshot in time of teacher perceptions, school culture, and partnership building. We delineate how teachers perceive our partnership’s purpose and its role in transforming school culture. Second, we describe how teachers express the life expectations they have and the possibilities they hope for their students and the families involved with the partnership. Finally, we outline our thoughts on moving forward with building partnership, continuing to transform school culture, and collaborating with teachers. In conclusion, we discuss the role that partnership building can have o n creating pathways to higher education for students in communities of color.

Culturally relevant pedagogy receives limited attention in many U.S. dual language classrooms. This article focuses on understanding the barriers eight elementary Spanish-English dual language teachers saw as preventing the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy in their urban classrooms. Employing critical sociocultural theory and drawing on pláticas as a method, four primary barriers were identified: lack of time, lack of culturally relevant materials, lack of knowledge, and the belief that social justice topics were inappropriate for young children. The individual and contextual issues surrounding these barriers and their implications are discussed for teacher educators and those involved in dual language education.

Utah’s dual language education (DL) initiative, officially introduced in 2007 and backed by unique state-level planning, is touted as a new “mainstreaming” of DL and is sparking interest across the U.S. Using a critical language policy lens and a mixed method approach, we asked which student groups were positioned discursively and materially to benefit the most from this policy across three types of privilege: white racial privilege, wealth, and English privilege. A critical discourse analysis conducted of five main Utah DL policy texts pointed toward already privileged student groups being discursively targeted for DL participation. Analysis of the demographics of schools housing DL programs between 2005 and 2014 showed a statistically significant drop in access for those without the three forms of privilege under study. We argue these findings are consistent with a larger trend toward the metaphorical gentrification of DL by students of more privilege than those it historically served. We discuss our concerns that as the Utah model spreads nationwide, the gentrification process threatens to position DL as the next wave in a broad pattern of inequitably distributed enrichment education within U.S. schools. We recommend steps toward avoiding this inequitable outcome.

We argue the emergence of a shift in U.S. language education policy discourses from an equity/heritage (EH) framework focused on equity for English learners and non-English heritage languages, toward a global human capital (GHC) framework linked to neoliberal considerations of the language skills of individuals and nations. This discursive shift represents a change in the audience to which language education programs are primarily marketed. Drawing on a critical approach to content analysis to test for evidence of this discursive shift in Utah, we analyzed 164 articles from 5 Utah newspapers from 2005 to 2011 that assigned value statements to dual language and bilingual education. EH values declined or changed little over time whereas GHC values increased. Policy implications are discussed.

Language education policies in the United States have affected the education of Latina/o students, especially those en la frontera, including those enrolled in dual language education. Pre-service and in-service teachers in the field of dual language education can benefit from viewing Latina/o students as nepantleras/os when examining language education policies. In addition, it is necessary for those educators to develop sociopolitical consciousness in order to advocate for their students and to contest restrictive language education policies affecting nepantlera/o students in the physical and/or psychological borderlands. Similarly, dual language teachers need to support their students’ development of sociopolitical consciousness in order to empower them to contest oppressive language education policies impacting their educational lives. For this, there is a need to transform dual language education and include sociopolitical consciousness as one of its goals.