Scapegoating Bilingual Education: Getting the Whole Story from the Trenches

Abstract

Abstract This paper argues that the debate over bilingual education in the United States has been shortchanged, in that many prominent theorists, researchers, and public speakers, both proponents and opponents, have limited their arguments to which language of instruction is best for a child to learn and prosper. As such, there is general disregard for the harsh symbolic and material conditions that language teachers and their students are often forced to live and work within on a daily basis. After deconstructing the ideologies of both sides of the story of language instruction in the United States, the subsequent dialogues with three language teachers focus on the need to recognize and analyze the larger antagonistic economic, racial, and political relations that are reflected in this nation’s schools. Instead of simply dismissing the potential of multilingual programs, as do the advocates of the English-only movement, the public needs to explore what ensures that so many of these progressive undertakings don’t succeed.