While a substantial body of research exists on First- and Second-Language Acquisition (SLA), research on the language acquisition process that a language minority student goes through when they are acquiring a second language has been largely unexplored. Pedagogical practices that espouse language learning theories facilitate both the language…

This article examines the role of language policies in mediating access and equity in education. By examining a range of research and case studies on language policies, the authors explore how educational language policies serve as a central gatekeeper to education itself, as well as to quality education that may fundamentally depend on language…

Background:This study grew out of a recent Supreme Court case known as "Horne v Flores." The case began in 1992 in Nogales, Arizona when a 4th grade English learner (EL), Miriam Flores, sued the district and the state for failing to provide her (and other EL students) with an appropriate education as guaranteed by the Equal Educational…

There have been four major court decisions affecting bilingual education: Lau v. Nichols, Serna v. Portales, Aspira v. the New York Board of Education and Keyes v. Denver School District No. 1. Lau v. Nichols was an action brought by non-English-speaking Chinese-origin students claiming to be denied an education because they could not comprehend…

The implications for research of the Lau regulations, the political climate in which the regulations were withdrawn, and the Lau remedies are explored. Research activities have been mandated by the Bilingual Education Act of 1978 in the areas of needs assessment, the quality of educational services, and the effectiveness of Title VII programs.…