Breaking the Silence: A Critical Review of Language Policy and Planning for Long-Term English Learners

Authors

  • Shuang Fu University of Georgia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52242/gatesol.125

Abstract

Despite scholarship on emergent bilingual students that continues to evolve, the subgroup of emergent bilinguals who are labeled as long-term English learners (LTELs) have been overlooked and underserved for too long. LTELs refer to English learners who have been educated in a U.S. school for six years or more. This literature review is aimed at bringing awareness to this subgroup population and identifying the characteristics and classification process of LTELs described in the present scholarship. The review critically examines the de facto policy about LTELs from perspectives of the current climate of standardized tests (language management), the label itself (language ideology), and programs and schooling experience of these students (language practice). The literature review not only speaks to the stereotypes, struggles, and challenges that LTELs face, but also calls for future research studies to be conducted in addressing these problems pedagogically, institutionally, and systematically.

Keywords
long-term English learners, English proficiency, language policy, standardized test, labeling

Author Biography

  • Shuang Fu, University of Georgia

    Shuang Fu, Graduate Student, Department of Language and Literacy Education, University of Georgia, Athens, GA; email [email protected].

Break the Silence (Fu, 2021)

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Published

07/30/2021

Issue

Section

Empirical Research or Literature Reviews

How to Cite

Breaking the Silence: A Critical Review of Language Policy and Planning for Long-Term English Learners. (2021). GATESOL Journal, 31(1), 17–35. https://doi.org/10.52242/gatesol.125