“I wonder why they don’t do the two-way”: Disrupting the one-way/two-way dichotomy, re-envisioning the possibilities of dual language bilingual education

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article describes the implementation process of a top-down dual-language bilingual education (DLBE) program in a large urban district, specifically examining the development of one-way (OW) and two-way (TW) DLBE programs. We explored how teachers made sense of, interpreted, and executed the educational language policy with these two distinct program tracks. We found educational disparities, inequities, and misconceptions both articulated and enacted by participants regarding the distinctions between OW and TW DLBE. The study contributes to the current conversation in the field that interrogates potential racial and socioeconomic inequity in the implementation of DLBE. We finish with a discussion of how these static language policy program labels could be re-envisioned to center the bilingual language development opportunities of all learners, including emerging bilinguals, multilinguals, English-dominant students, and heritage language learners.