Language programs at Villababel Highrethinking ideologies of social inclusion

Resumen

This article explores language ideologies underlying two language programs implemented in one secondary school in Madrid (Spain). The Spanish for newcomers immersion program (Aula de Enlace) is aimed at immigrant origin students who do not know or have a poor command of Spanish; and the Spanish–English bilingual program targets students from different cultural and national backgrounds with a good command of English. These two language programs exist side by side under one roof and play a crucial role in the placement, educational choices, and, ultimately social inclusion/exclusion of students in mainstream education. Guided by a critical sociolinguistic ethnography perspective, the article analyses data collected at the two language programs, mostly audiotapes of classroom interactions and interviews with teachers, immigrant and non-immigrant background students who attend this public school. Our analysis shows how the discontinuities between the two language programs regarding language ideologies and the organization of language learning bring to the fore a disputed view of social inclusion, namely inclusion from above and inclusion from below, which bear important repercussions for immigrant origin students in mainstream education.