LANGUAGE PRESERVATION, POLICY, AND PLANNING IN A LANGUAGE “HOT SPOT”: AN INTERPRETIVE POLICY ANALYSIS

Abstract

Native American tribes within the state of Oklahoma are faced with the loss of their heritage language at an alarming rate, much to do with past and present monolingual English language ideologies and policies that have been promoted within schools. However, in recent years, there has been renewed and increasing interest in challenging these monolingual ideologies while utilizing school systems as a medium to preserve and revitalize almost forgotten languages. The tension that exists among and between proponents of monolingual and multilingual ideologies continues to influence educational policy on a national, state, and local stage. Therefore, this dissertation research was a discursive interpretive policy analysis of language and educational policies. The primary goal of the research was to better inform policy actors within the state of Oklahoma. It begins by defining the problem, and then examines the history of language ideology and consequent policy. Next, international and national efforts toward language preservation are detailed, and then the dissertation describes the discursive interpretive policy analysis methodology and specific procedures used in order to collect and analyze primary and secondary sources related to language education policy and language preservation. The results of the dissertation study yield further contributions to the dialogue on Native American language education, and language policy and planning, by highlighting the relationship between language ideology, policy, and educational practices that affect school activities and student outcomes.