This article examines the Spanish proverb, "quien habla dos idiomas vale por dos," which literally translates to mean he who speaks two languages is worth two people and applies its meaning to immigrant children who are language brokers for their families. Historically, the United States has not promoted multilingualism and even frowned…

Despite the long history of multilingualism in the U.S., language rights debates have tended to center almost exclusively on the acquisition of English as an issue of equity for citizens who are speakers of other languages. Policies advanced in the name of "access" and "equity" continue to frame English as the only viable means…

Language education policy has been a controversial and ongoing issue throughout the U.S., particularly in the state of Texas. This paper reports on a frame analysis of the five bills that amended the Texas Education Code to implement or expand bilingual education and English as a second language programs. Analysis focused on problems and solutions…

With the passage of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, the United States spent millions upon millions of dollars in a largely unsuccessful effort to close the academic achievement gap between American-Indian and some other ethnic minorities and mainstream Americans. NCLB's focus on teacher quality and evidence-based curriculum and…

Although educational policies for emergent bilinguals in New York City schools have historically supported the provision of bilingual education, the past decade has borne witness to a dramatic loss of bilingual education programs in city schools. This study examines the factors that determine language education policies adopted by school…

The author of this chapter argues that the failure of Spanish language education policies in the United States to educate both Latinos and non-Latinos has to do with the clash between three positions--(a) the English language, characterized by U.S. educational authorities as the unique and powerful lingua franca; (b) the Spanish language, as…

From 1998 to 2008, voters in California, Arizona, and Massachusetts passed anti-bilingual education ballot initiatives that required English-only instruction for the vast majority of the states' English language learners. The contentious political discourse leading up to the votes largely ignored the research on best practices for educating…

There is a growing recognition of the need for Americans who are proficient in languages other than English; however, there is a great disconnect between these needs, state English-only education policies, and current federal education policy as realized through the No Child Left Behind Act (NLCB) of 2001. These policies are moving the country in…

Language education for students of color is a neutral process. The education of linguistically diverse students is situated in larger issues concerning white supremacy and the distribution of wealth and power. In this article, I argue that the English-only language policy contained within No Child Left Behind (NCLB) justifies a hierarchical racial…

For decades bilingual education in the United States has faced political adversity to varying degrees. Having survived several waves of English-only activism since the late 1970s, these programs seem unlikely to disappear anytime soon. Research has increasingly demonstrated their superiority to all-English approaches for educating English-language…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandate has pushed the debate on how to educate the limited English proficient child to the forefront. Thus, criticism abounds in several states surrounding the effectiveness of bilingual education programs in our nation's public schools. The opponents state that bilingual education is not working; it is an…

This paper reports on a study done with Anglos and Hispanics in Texas, focusing on the pending English Only legislation and their awareness of and attitudes towards it and what biases these attitudes were based upon. A 1-page, 2-sided, questionnaire was distributed to 328 Anglo and Hispanic subjects in a predominantly Hispanic city. Forty-seven…

This chapter uses the insights of Dorothy Smith and Anna Yeatman, both feminist scholars, to explore the nature of policy formation through two examples from Australia. Smith and Yeatman argue that all description is both biased and interested. The article documents how the values of pluralism and equity were not served well by Australian policy…

Issues in this volume include the following feature articles: "Grammar: Rules and Reasons Working Together" (Diane Larsen-Freeman); "TESOL Sets Sail for Vancouver" (Nancy Storer); "The Reading Lab: An Invitation to Read" (Jean Zukowski/Faust); "Quebec: A Unique North American ESL Teaching Experience"…

Bilingualism is a reality that many Americans still find difficult to accept; hence the prominence of English-only activism in American politics. This collection of essays analyzes the sources of the anti-bilingual movement, its changing directions, and its effects on education policy. This book also explores efforts to resist the English-only…