How do they really feel? An investigation into attitudes towards bilingual education in California

Thesis

Although California is home to many bilingual education programs, legislation in the state has not always been supportive of effective bilingual education. Proposition 227, which passed in 1998, eliminated most bilingual education programs, but was effectively repealed in 2016 with the passing of Proposition 58. Although this change in legislation may indicate that underlying attitudes towards bilingual education have become more positive, research suggests that may not be the case. To investigate Californian attitudes towards bilingual education, the present study evaluated overall attitudes; the impact of demographic variables such as age, multilingual status, and experience of an ESL/Bilingual program; and how attitudes towards bilingual education may be related. Involving a questionnaire with both close-ended attitudinal items and open-ended free response questions, a mixed methods approach was used. This involved statistical analysis of attitudinal items and content analysis of free response questions from 132 Californians over the age of 18. The results of the study suggest that attitudes towards bilingual education in California are generally positive but that both age and multilingual status influenced how individuals felt about some aspects of bilingual education. Additionally, various attitudes towards bilingualism were found to have predictive relationships, indicating that many individuals have conflicting opinions about the goals and effects of bilingual education. Findings of the present study suggest a need to continue to evaluate bilingual education attitudes in California to educate the public to make informed decisions when they vote for future legislation.

Authors: Osgood, A

• Type of award: MSc
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: Bilingualism; Proposition 227; Bilingual Education; Language Attitudes; ELL; Proposition 58; California
• Subjects: Applied linguistics; Education; Linguistics