A Heteroglossic Lens on Washington State's Growing Dual Language for Multilingual Learners

Introduction

Through the theoretical lens of heteroglossia, this article examines language policy efforts of Washington State, particularly its current emphasis on Dual Language (DL) programs which is a model of bilingual education that has gained attention in the United States. DL programs are structured to develop and use two languages, English and a Language Other than English (LOTE), for instruction based on time allotments. The article reviews and offers a challenge to Washington State’s current language policy that serves linguistically diverse students and proposes a structural shift towards heteroglossic foundations of bilingual education. Reframing the state’s language policy with heteroglossic understandings is aimed at addressing the diversity and fluidity of language practices constituting today’s classrooms. In what follows, the article presents an overview of heteroglossia as a theoretical lens, based on which it reviews Washington State’s language policy efforts in general and more emphasis on its growing DL program. Practical examples from research are used to support its discussion of the state’s DL program. This article argues that for Washington State to accomplish its goals of addressing educational equity and developing multilingual learners’ (ML) bilingual, bicultural, and biliteracy skills for global competitiveness, its language policy must key into a heteroglossic underpinning of language education and language diversity.