Racist and Raciolinguistic Teacher Ideologies: When Bilingual Education is “Inherently Culturally Relevant” for Latinxs

Many schools attempt to address the needs of “English-language learners,” who usually are Spanish-dominant Latinxs, by offering dual-language (DL) bilingual education. While undertaking a larger ethnographic study of one such secondary-level dual-language program, I examined how dual-language teachers understood the program as equitable for Latinxs. I found that teachers believed DL met Latinxs’ needs by providing Spanish-language/biliteracy schooling, which deemphasized the need for explicitly enhancing youths’ critical consciousness. This teacher ideology of assuming DL is “inherently culturally relevant” led to significant issues. For example, teachers believed DL would improve Latinxs’ academic achievement, but when teachers perceived Latinx achievement was not on par with White dual-language students’ outcomes, teachers made sense of Latinxs’ underperformance in DL through racist explanations and did not interrogate the program’s cultural relevance. Specifically, teachers pointed to the program not providing Latinxs the needed Spanish input even though the Latinx students self-identified as bilingual and were the “Spanish-dominant” students, and teachers pointed to Latinxs’ cultural and familial deficits. I argue teachers overlooked critical-racial consciousness as an important component of an equitable education. Implications include for teachers to cultivate their critical-racial consciousness, interrogate raciolinguistic ideologies, and define an equitable DL as centering critical-racial consciousness.

DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAMME: TEACHERS’ BELIEFS AND PRACTICES IN TEACHING SCIENCE THROUGH ENGLISH

Background and Purpose: The recently implemented Dual Language Program (DLP) policy in Malaysian schools may require teachers involved in the initiative to make necessary changes in their teaching practices in appropriate directions. It may also challenge the beliefs that these teachers hold with regard to teaching subject matter in English as a medium of instruction. Thus, this study seeks to investigate the beliefs of primary Science teachers with regards to the teaching of Science through the English medium, and the extent to which the beliefs of teachers are consistent with their classroom practices. Methodology: The study employed a quantitative data collection and analysis approach. Science teachers’ beliefs and stated practices were obtained via a questionnaire using the Likert-scale. The respondents of the study include 44 primary Science teachers in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Malaysia. A Pearson correlation analysis was computed to examine the association between teachers’ beliefs scale and the ratings of classroom practices. Findings: The results from the statistical analysis suggest that in teaching Science using the English language, the beliefs of the primary school teachers were not always aligned with their stated practices with regard to DLP. This discrepancy between the beliefs of science teachers and their stated instructional practices could be due to the lack of professional development sessions and contextual constraints. Contributions: This study extends work on content-based classrooms in the Malaysian context. Its findings contribute to the ongoing work on improving instructional practices in the DLP classrooms. Keywords: Classroom practices, dual language program, teachers’ beliefs. Cite as: Othman, J., Mohd Saat, R., Senom, F., & Hasan Adli, D. S. (2020). Dual language programme: Teachers’ beliefs and practices in teaching Science through English. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 5(1), 255-269. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol5iss1pp255-269

Dual language programs: Questions of access in the state of Arizona

Public schools across the country are increasingly working with children who enter schools speaking a language other than English. Using a case study methodology, the authors examined Dual Language Program (DLP) implementation in Arizona, which by law supports English-only education. Several benefits (bilingualism, bi-literacy, biculturalism, globalization) and challenges (curriculum, teachers, state policy, funding, and lack of access to DLPs for minority language students) are highlighted from stakeholder perspectives. Participants in this study described the paradox of excluding ELLs from dual language programs as inefficient, unnecessary, and wrong. Taking Interest Convergence as a theoretical framework to understand the Arizona context regarding English-only education, this study raises implications for research and practice.

Dual Language Program Models and English Language Learners: An Analysis of the Literacy Results from a 50/50 and a 90/10 Model in Two California Schools

This paper examines the literacy results of English language learners (ELLs) in two California schools following either the 50/50 or the 90/10 dual language (DL) program model. The purpose of this paper is to provide a literature review of dual language programs with an analysis of two schools’ websites and literacy assessment data in order to determine the effectiveness of each program model in establishing strong foundational literacy skills and fostering the prolonged academic success of ELLs. California provides various options for the bilingual education of its increasing immigrant population. Under the umbrella of bilingual education, dual language programs aim to provide students with instruction in two languages which will allow them to become fully bilingual and develop biliteracy skills. The intended purpose of biliteracy is for students to demonstrate reading and writing proficiency in both instructional languages. Although California implements a variety of dual language program models, this paper provides an overview and comparison of the 50/50 and 90/10 models as they are implemented in two California schools with similar demographics. This paper provides an analysis of the English Language Arts/literacy results of ELLs under both program models as depicted on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress to determine which model is most effective in its literacy instruction of language minority students. The findings indicate that ELLs demonstrate higher levels of literacy proficiency under the 90/10 program model. These findings have implications for native language proficiency and the preservation of the mother tongue.