A FOUCAULDIAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS: PRODUCTION OF GIFTED AND TALENTED EMERGENT BILINGUAL LEARNERS IN U.S. PUBLIC LAW

Research on gifted and talented and language education policy has focused primarily on the impact of federal, state, local, and school level policies and how students receive services under those policies. Little research has examined the way the policies interact to identify and serve emergent bilinguals in gifted and talented programs. This paper uses Michel Foucault’s archaeological method to analyze statements made in gifted and talented and language education documents and how those statements become to be accepted as truth. The analysis identifies dominant socio-cultural discourses that made these statements possible, producing limits and opportunities for gifted and talented emergent bilingual learners.

INDEX WORDS: gifted and talented, emergent bilingual, archaeological analysis, Foucault, education policy, immigration policy, discourse, statement, archive