Assessing status in bilingual education

Few issues have been more intensely debated and questioned than bilingual education. The focus of the debate has centered on the role of the native language in the acquisition of English. Opponents of bilingual education claim that maintaining the native language hinders the learning of English; proponents of bilingual education suggest that children who are forced to abandon their native language experience a subtractive form of bilingualism that may lead to underachievement. The problem is that policies are differentiated between dominant and subordinate group children in bilingual education. Children of the dominant group are encouraged to add a second language to their repertoires whereas children of the subordinate group must study in English only, thus creating a two-tiered system that makes language learning an elite endeavor. In the policy debate, little attention has been given to the beliefs of middle class monolingual English parents on language status and use. However, their views are important because as the voting majority, parents often assume the role of making decisions for other people's children through their participation in interest groups and their influence on elected officials, school committees, and superintendents. This research study examines the beliefs of parents in one middle class English-speaking community that has a bilingual education program. The study seeks to gain an understanding of the beliefs of parents regarding language status and use and the influence of these beliefs on language policies for dominant and subordinate group children. The study employed a mixed-method design, linking quantitative and qualitative data. It yielded several findings: (1) dominant group parents have a limited knowledge of second language acquisition theory and research, (2) language status is a sociocultural/political construct, and (3) parents' language status beliefs are directly related to local polices and indirectly linked to state and national policies promoting differentiated instruction. The study proposes several recommendations to eliminate inequities between dominant and subordinate group children in bilingual education. They focus on educating parents of dominant group children about second language acquisition and improving contact between diverse groups in order to counter bias and discrimination.