Cover not available
Article published In:
Linguistic Equality
Edited by Humphrey Tonkin
[Language Problems and Language Planning 39:3] 2015
► pp. 227–244

Forty years after Lau

The continuing assault on educational human rights in the United States and its implications for linguistic minorities

| Center for Applied Linguistics
| Center for Applied Linguistics

This article addresses the right to an education (including the right of access), and the right to an education in one’s native language, within the broader context of educational human rights, and language minority educational policy in the United States. Included in this discussion is an overview of educational and linguistic human rights as recognized in the US, followed by a review of the legal and historical background prior to the passage of the Lau v Nichols decision in 1974. The implications of demographic changes coupled with federal policy for language minority students forty years after Lau are discussed.

Keywords: educational policy, language minority students, language rights
Published online: 25 February 2016
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lplp.39.3.02ari
References
Arias, M.B., & Faltis, C
(Eds) (2012) Implementing educational language policy in Arizona: An examination of legal, historical and current practices in SEI. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bell, R
(1974 [1935]) Japanese language schools in California: Public school education of second generation Japanese in California. Reprinted in S. Cohen (Ed.), Education in the United States: A documentary history, vol. 21, (pp. 2974–2976). New York: McGraw-Hill. Original publication Educational Psychology, 1, 20-23.Google Scholar
Bonfiglio, T.P
(2010) Mother tongue and nations: The invention of the native speaker. New York: Walter de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brown v. Board of Education
, Topeka, Kansas1954 347 U.S. 483.Google Scholar
Castro, D., Ayankoya, B., & Kasprzak, C
2011 New voice, nuevas voces: Guide to cultural &linguistic diversity in early childhood. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing.Google Scholar
Civil Rights Act of
1964, Pub. L. No. 88-352, 78 Stat. 241 (codified as amended in scattered sections of 2 U.S.C., 28 U.S.C., and 42 U.S.C.).
Crawford, J
(2004) Educating English learners: Language diversity in the classroom. Los Angeles, CA: Bilingual Educational Services.Google Scholar
del Valle, S
(2003) Language rights and the law in the United States: Finding our voices. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
de Varennes, F
(1999) The existing rights of minorities in international law. In M. Kontra, R. Phillipson, T. Skutnabb-Kangas & T. Várady (Eds.), Language: A right and a resource (pp. 117–146). Budapest: Central European University Press.Google Scholar
Edwards, I.N
(1923) The legal status of foreign languages in the schools. Elementary School Journal, 21, 270–278. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Farrington v. Tokushige
(1927) 273 U.S. 284.
Fiske, E.B
(2012) World atlas of gender equality in education. Paris: UNESCO.Google Scholar
Garcia, O., & Kleifgen, J.A
(2010) Educating emergent bilinguals: Policies, programs, and practices for English language learners. New York: Teachers College PressGoogle Scholar
Gándara, P
(2010a) The Latino education crisis. Educational Leadership, 671, 24–30.Google Scholar
(2010b) Overcoming triple segregation. Educational Leadership, 681, 60–64.Google Scholar
Gil, L
(2013) Supporting America’s English learners: A promise we must keep. [Web log post]. Retrieved from [URL].
Hertel, S. & Libal, K
(Eds) (2011) Human rights in the United States: Beyond exceptionalism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hulse, C
(2014) Immigrant surge rooted in law to curb child trafficking. The New York Times. Retrieved July 24 2014 from: [URL].Google Scholar
Kanno, Y. & Cromley, J
(2011) English language learners’ college access and attainment: A national level analysis. Paper presented at the American Association for Applied Linguistics, Chicago, IL.
Kim, J
(2011) Relationships among and between ELL status, demographic characteristics, enrollment history, and school persistence (CRESST Report 810). Los Angeles, CA: University of California, National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST).Google Scholar
Kloss, H
(1971) Language rights and immigrant groups. International Migration Review, 51, 250–258. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Krogstad, J.M., et al.
(2014) Children 12 and under are fastest growing group of unaccompanied minors at U.S. border. PEW Research Center. At [URL]
Lau, et al. v. Nichols, et al.
U.S., 563–572, No. 72-6520). Revisiting the Lau Decision: 20 years after. Symposium Proceedings, November 3-4, 1994, 6–12. San Francisco, CA: ARC (Art, Research and Curriculum Associates).
Leibowitz, A.H
(1971) Educational policy and political acceptance: The imposition of English as the language of instruction in American schools. (ERIC Document Reproduction Services No. ED 047 321).Google Scholar
Macías, R.F
(1979) Choice of language as a human right: Public policy implications in the United States.In R.V. Padilla, (Ed). Bilingual education and public policy in the United States (39–75). Ypsilanti, MI: Eastern Michigan University.Google Scholar
Menken, K
(2008) English learners left behind: Standardized testing as language policy. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Meyer v. Nebraska
(1923) 262 U.S. 390.
Migration Policy Institute
(2011) ELL Factsheet. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar
Moore, S.K
(Ed) (2014) Language policy process and consequence: Arizona case studies. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Murphy, P.L
(1992) Meyer v. Nebraska. In K.L. Hall (Ed.), The Oxford companion to the Supreme Court of the United States (pp. 543–544). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
National Center for Education Statistics
(2010) The Condition of education. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar
National Clearinghouse for English Acquisition
(2011) The growing numbers of English learner students. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of
2001, Pub. L. No. 107-110, § 115, Stat. 1425. 2002. - See more at: [URL]
Norgren, J., & Nanda, S
(1988) American cultural pluralism and the law. New York:Praeger.Google Scholar
Ovando, C., Collier, V., & Combs, M.C
(2002) Bilingual and ESL classrooms: Teaching in multicultural contexts. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Piatt, B
(1992) The confusing state of minority language rights. In J. Crawford (Ed.), Language loyalties (pp. 229–234). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Plyler v. Doe
(1982) 457 U.S. 202.Google Scholar
San Miguel, G., Jr
(2004) Contested policy: The rise and fall of federal bilingual education in the United States. Denton, TX: University of North Texas Press.Google Scholar
Spicer, E.H
(1962) Cycles of conquest: The impact of Spain, Mexico, and the United States on the Indians of the Southwest, 1533–1960. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.Google Scholar
(1980) American Indians, federal policy toward. In S. Thernstrom, A. Orlov and O. Handlin (Eds.), Harvard encyclopedia of American ethnic groups (pp. 114–122). Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.Google Scholar
Spring, J.H
(2000) The universal right to education: Justification, definition, and guidelines. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2013) Deculturalization and the struggle for equality: A brief history of the education of dominated cultures in the United States (7th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.Google Scholar
Thomas, W.P., & Collier, V.P
(2002) A national study of school effectiveness for language minority students’ long-term academic achievement, ERIC, ED475048.Google Scholar
UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
. United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS) 137 28 July 1951 Retrieved from: [URL]
UN General Assembly
, Universal Declaration of Human Rights 10 December 1948, 217 A (III), retrieved from: [URL] [accessed 7 August 2014]Google Scholar
, Declaration on Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic Minorities 18 December 1992 Retrieved from: [URL] [accessed 23 February 2015]Google Scholar
Weinberg, M
(1995) A chance to learn: A history of race and education in the United States (2nd ed.). Long Beach, CA: California State University Press.Google Scholar
Wiley, T.G
(1986) The significance of language and cultural barriers for the Euro-American elderly. In C. Hayes, R.A. Kalish, and D. Guttman (Eds.), European-American elderly: A guide for practice (pp. 35–50). New York: Springer Publishing Co.Google Scholar
(1998a) The imposition of World War I era English-only policies and the fate of German in North America. In T. Ricento and B. Burnaby (Eds), Language and politics in the United States and Canada (pp. 211–241). Philadelphia: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
(2004) Language policy and English-only. In E. Finegan & J.R. Rickford (Eds), Language in the USA: Perspectives for the 21st century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2013a) A brief history and assessment of language rights in the United States. In J.W. Tollefson (Ed.), Language policies in education: Critical issues (2nd ed.) (pp. 61–90).London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
(2013b) Constructing and deconstructing ‘illegal’ children. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 13(3), 167–172. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1999) What happens after English is declared the official language of the United States? Lessons from case histories. In D. Kibbee (Ed.), Language legislation and linguistic rights (pp. 179–195). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wiley, T.G., & Wright, W
(2004) Against the undertow: Language-minority education and politics in the age of accountability. Educational Policy, 18(1), 142–168. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wiley, T.G., Garcia, D.R., Danzig, A.B., & Stigler, M.L
(2014) Language policy, politics, and diversity in education. Review of Research in Education, 381, vii–xxiii. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wright, W.E., & Choi, D
(2006) The impact of language and high-stakes testing policies on elementary school English language learners in Arizona. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 14(13), 1–75. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yoshikawa, H
(2011) Immigrants raising citizens: Undocumented parents and their young children. New York: Russell Sage FoundationGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 5 other publications

Alcalde, Javier
2018. Linguistic Justice: An Interdisciplinary Overview of the Literature. In Language Policy and Linguistic Justice, ► pp. 65 ff. DOI logo
Mwaniki, Munene, M. Beatriz Arias & Terrence G. Wiley
2017. Bilingual Education Policy. In Bilingual and Multilingual Education, ► pp. 35 ff. DOI logo
Padilla-Frausto, D. Imelda & Steven P. Wallace
2021. The Role of Discrimination on Latinxs’ Use of Mental Health Services: A LatCrit and Life-Course Perspective. In Understanding the Context of Cognitive Aging, ► pp. 35 ff. DOI logo
Wiley, Terrence G.
2022. Commentary: Revisiting Castañeda as law, policy, ideology, and critical educational resource. Language Policy 21:3 ► pp. 481 ff. DOI logo
Wright, Wayne E.
2019. Language Rights and Policy in K‐12 TESOL. In The Handbook of TESOL in K‐12, ► pp. 55 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 21 february 2023. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.