Teaching in Two-Way Dual-Language-Bilingual Education: An Analysis of Teacher Language Ideologies and Linguistic Practices

This qualitative study used ethnographic methods to explore connections between teachers' linguistic ideologies, classroom practices, and local language policies. Using a language policy framework, I examined two dual language teachers' diverse and at times conflicting language ideologies with consideration for how their individual beliefs about language influenced their pedagogical practices. I found differences in how the two teachers positioned their own bilingualism, the role of biliteracy development in the lives of their students, the place of two-way dual language bilingual education (TWBE) in schools, and in their utilization of bi/multilingual strategies in their classrooms. In exploring these themes, I unpack how the linguistic ideologies of the focal TWBE teachers were situated within broader cultural, historical, and political discourses about bilingual education in an Arizona context. The discussion and conclusions highlight the connections between the teachers' backgrounds, ideologies, and practices with implications for building more equitable, accessible, and robust bilingual schooling opportunities in Arizona and beyond.