Does Research Matter? An Analysis of Media Opinion on Bilingual Education, 1984–1994

Media discourse and dual language programs: A critical linguistic analysis

“…These quotations and comments are used in the articles repeatedly to legitimize the growth of the programs in the local context such as in the following example: Although most of the texts contained quotations supporting the programs such as those in the above examples, only 38% of texts contained quotations from researchers or language experts. Although slightly higher, this finding is similar to that of McQuillan and Tse (1996), where 24% of articles contained information about scientific research related to dual language. Although 16 years later than McQuillan and Tse (1996)'s article, this analysis supports their findings that more evidence based studies be presented in media discourse about dual language.…”

“…One important finding of these studies was that supporters of the English-only initiatives expressed concern about national unity as a result of immigrants maintaining their native languages (de Jong, 2013). McQuillan and Tse (1996) examined opinion pieces discussing bilingual education and identified a link between discourse about bilingual education and immigration issues where opposition to bilingual education was closely linked to a larger concern about immigration in the United States. The authors found that the majority of the opinion pieces opposed to bilingual education failed to examine existent empirical evidence collected by experts in the field that demonstrated their effectiveness (McQuillan and Tse, 1996, p. 20).…”

Educación Bilingüe o Inmersión en Inglés: Análisis de la Prensa Escrita de Arizona

“…Las opiniones vertidas desde publicaciones educativas especializadas a favor de los programas de educación bilingüe no tuvieron un reflejo en la opinión pública ya que los medios de comunicación no recogieron estas opiniones. Los medios, en vez de basar su postura sobre la conveniencia o no de la educación bilingüe en las investigaciones realizadas por los expertos, se apoyaron en posiciones ideológicas (McQuillan & Tse, 1996).…”

Teacher Thinking, Multiculturalism, and the Politics of Change

“…Certainly the educational literature is replete with cases showing the disjunction between university-based research and school-based practice. Indeed, probably nowhere in the literature is this dysjunction more evident than in the fields of bilingual and multicultural education (see, e.g.. Banks, 1995;Crawford, 1997;McQuillan and Tse, 1996;Ramirez. 1992;Sleeter, 1995).…”