Description
This project offers an exploration of the constitution of English language learners (ELLs) in the state of Arizona as subjects of government through the discursive rationalities of rule that unfolded alongside the Flores v. Arizona case. The artifacts under consideration span the 22 years (1992-2014) of Flores' existence so far. These artifacts include published academic scholarship; Arizona's legislative documents and floor debate audio and video; court summaries, hearings, and decisions; and public opinion texts found in newspapers and online, all of which were produced in response to Flores. These artifacts lay bare but some of the discursive rationalities that have coagulated to form governable elements of the ELL student population--ways of knowing them, measuring them, regarding them, constituting them, and intervening upon them. Somehow, some way, students who do not speak English as their first language have become a social problem to be solved. ELLs are therein governed by rationalities of English language normalization, of enterprise, of entrepreneurship, of competition, of empowerment, and of success. In narrating rationalities of rule that appear alongside the Flores case, I locate some governmental strategies in how subjects conduct themselves and govern the conduct of others with the hope that seeing subject constitution as a work of thought and not a necessary reality will create a space for potentially unknown alternatives. Through this work, I'd like to make possible the hope of thinking data differently, rejecting superimposition of meaning onto artifact, being uncomfortable, uncertain, undefinitive, and surprised. With that, this work encourages potential paths to trod in the field of curriculum studies.
Details
Title
- Governing more than language: rationalities of rule in Flores discourses
Contributors
- Thomas, Melinda Arlene Hollis (Author)
- Carlson, David Lee (Thesis advisor)
- Malewski, Erik (Committee member)
- Fischman, Gustavo (Committee member)
- Brass, Jory (Committee member)
- Arizona State University (Publisher)
Date Created
The date the item was original created (prior to any relationship with the ASU Digital Repositories.)
2014
Subjects
- Education
- Philosophy of Education
- English as a Second Language
- analytics of government
- archival research
- discursive formations
- English Language Learners
- Flores v. Arizona
- rationalities of rule
- Education, Bilingual--Law and legislation--Arizona--Sources.
- Education, Bilingual
- Minorities--Education--Law and legislation--Arizona--Sources.
- Minorities
- Limited English-proficient students--Education--Arizona--Sources.
- Limited English-proficient students
- English language--Study and teaching--Foreign speakers--Sources.
- English language
- Language policy--Arizona--Sources.
- Language policy
- Critical discourse analysis--Arizona.
- Critical Discourse Analysis
Resource Type
Collections this item is in
Note
- thesisPartial requirement for: Ph. D., Arizona State University, 2014
- bibliographyIncludes bibliographical references (p. 282-306)
- Field of study: Curriculum and instruction
Citation and reuse
Statement of Responsibility
by Melinda Arlene Hollis Thomas