A discourse analysis of educational policy for English Learners in California

This thesis employed the Discourse Historical Approach of Critical Discourse Analysis in order to uncover discursive strategies used to dismantle California's bilingual education system. This study identified the ideological groundings that allowed Proposition 227 to pass and subsequently allowed the California Department of Education to suspend English learner program monitoring. The analysis included an overview of artifacts that were crucial to the implementation of Proposition 227 and the suspension of English learner monitoring programs. By applying the analytical concepts of historical contexts, social actors, and legitimation strategies to each artifact, it was found that three significant ideological constructs were reinforced: (1) English learners were being recontextualized as a societal burden, (2) bilingual education was being recontextualized as a faulty educational system, and (3) the California Department of Education was claiming autonomy from the responsibility of educating English learners.