The Politics of Restrictive Language Policies: A Postcolonial Analysis of Language and Schooling

Abstract

The article provides a postcolonial analysis of issues related to culture and language within the context of public education in the U.S. More specifically, the manner in which restrictive policies were implemented over a four-year period within the public schools of Boston, Massachusetts, following the passage of a referendum to repeal the use of transitional bilingual education in favor of a strategy of English immersion, are presented and discussed. This discussion serves as an excellent site of inquiry, in that it mimics many of the same conditions of schooling experienced today by English language learners across the nation.