Negotiating Between Restrictive Language Policies and Complex Teaching Conditions: A Case Study of Arizona's Teachers of English Learners

Abstract

This article examines how Arizona's teachers of English learners negotiate between restrictive language policies and complex teaching conditions. This case study explores how middle school teachers in an urban school district make sense of the 4-hour English language development block, Arizona's recent English-only policy. Findings indicate that teachers' implementation of language policies in their classroom is shaped by their own language-learning beliefs and teaching experience. Teachers of English learners, instead of adhering to or rejecting the ideologies or approaches mandated by the state, make accommodations concerning their students' English-language development and content-area learning.