Listening to Graduates of a K-12 Bilingual Program: Language Ideologies and Literacy Practices of Former Bilingual Students.

Abstract

This study investigated the language and literacy practices of five graduates\nof a Spanish-English K-12 dual language immersion program through semistructured\ninterviews to understand the residual impact of thirteen years in a\nSpanish-English bilingual school program. Drawing from sociocultural theory,\nthe interviews also sought to provide an understanding of the participants�\nspecific social networks and uses of Spanish and cultural affinities. Transcripts\nof the interviews, which were 1-2 hours in length, were analyzed primarily\nfor content related to language use, social networks, and cultural affiliations.\nCoding by general themes that emerged was done first, and then patterns\nwithin and across interview transcripts were identified and analyzed. The\nbasic research question guiding this interview study was: What can be learned\nabout the Spanish-English bilingualism and biliteracy of former students who\nattended a 13-year bilingual school program? Three main findings were: 1)\nAll of the former students reported being bilingual and biliterate in English\nand Spanish; 2) Two prominent language ideologies in the everyday uses of\nSpanish by the participants were identified. One language ideology may be\ndescribed as a functional language ideology, where Spanish was used primarily\nto accomplish only specific, limited kinds of communication with others. The\nother language ideology was one where linguistic and cultural affinities with\nnative Spanish speakers were a key part of the participants� orientation and use\nof Spanish; and 3) The issue of who may be reaping the most benefits from\nthe K-12 dual language immersion program arose through an analysis of the\ninterviews, especially at the secondary levels, because of the relatively small\nnumbers of Latina/o students that completed the program. The findings are\nsignificant because they indicate some of the strengths and limitations of K-12\nbilingual programs in the U.S. Given that there has been very little research in this area, the study provides educators and researchers with important concerns\nin bilingual education program implementation, as well as areas for further\nresearch.

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