Sarah Sampe

TLS 696
Summary of Advisor Academic Work

In this chapter, written in Raza Studies, Dr. Mary Carol Combs outlines the ridiculous
nature of politics, specifically in the state of Arizona and their impact on English Language
Learners (ELLs). Combs (2014), describes the problem of a changing demographic make-up in
Arizona and the uninformed policy makers in the state, to the negative opinions and
misinformed politics regarding ELLs. Combs (2014) addresses the problems within the state
through a study of differing examples of how ELLs in Arizona are targeted for dismissal.
Combs (2014) first outlines the absurd laws that exist or have been presented within the
state. Some examples include “the Arizona Citizenship bill, which recognizes a child’s US
citizenship status only if the child has a least one parent who is already a US citizen” (Combs,
2014, p. 65) and “the freedom to breath act, which protects Arizona residents from the Clean Air
Act” (Combs, 2014, p.64). Combs (2014) explains that the fact that these laws have been
proposed or passed speaks to the political climate within Arizona.
Combs (2014) proposes a parable as an explanation of the Arizona laws regarding English
Language Learners, more specifically Arizona English language Development (ELD) program. The
parable of the procrustean bed, whose moral is “that one size does not fit all, in fact, attempts to
fit all to one size may have fatal consequences” (Combs, 2014, p. 68). The example helps to
illustrate the nature of the program and how it negatively impacts the experience and education,
specifically the loss of identity, of ELLs.
Combs (2014) describes the program, and pays special attention to the requirement that
all ELLs need to be segregated in a four-hour English only instruction block. Presented are a
number of examples of literacy research that help to show the facts compared to the opinions of
Arizona lawmakers. One example presented was the statement of former Arizona
Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, that anyone should be able to learn English in
one year. Combs (2014) presents the inexistence of any evidence to back up Horne’s claims, but
the abundance of “research indicate[ing] that learning English as a second language is a complex
process” (p.77).
Combs (2014) concludes that there are five reasons that Arizona lawmakers have such a
narrow view of ELLs, they are anti-immigration views, changing Arizona demographics,
contradictions in policies, uninformed politicians, and believes about time on task. The anti-
immigration rhetoric within the state is clear when there is an ever-present belief that the ELLs
in Arizona are all undocumented and they should not have a part of state funding (Combs, 2014).
The cultural generation gap between “gray versus brown” populations created by changing
generational demographics is largest in Arizona at 40 years (Combs, 2014, p. 79).
There have also been a number of policies that have contradicted for ELLs within the
state. For example, in early 2000, a federal judge ruled that Arizona had violated the Equal
Educational Opportunity Act by underfunding schools with large ELL populations (Combs, 2014).
But in the fall the same year, Proposition 203 was approved by Arizona voters, which replaced
bilingual education with English-only programming (Combs, 2014). Arizona policy makers are
also uninformed on how children best learn English as a second language and that misinforms
their assumptions of time-on-task principles for acquiring a second language (Combs, 2014).
Arizona is misinformed about research and best practice in second language acquisition,
but what remains is, “misleading and false” laws, that directly impacts the learning of Arizona’s
ELL students. Combs (2014) draws on the comparison of the procrustean bed to conclude that a
one-size-fits-all ELL education is not effective and more absurdly uninformed.

Reference
Combs, M.C. (2014). Self-inflicted reduction ad absurdum. In J. Cammarota & A. Romero (Eds),
Raza Studies. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.