Vocabulary acquisition is a critical component of academic language. This aspect of the school curriculum seems to be more difficult for language learners to acquire. This study therefore examines the language arts conceptual framework and the instructional activities for vocabulary development in a second grade mixed classroom with a view to evaluate how language learning conceptualization and instructional practices accommodate specific well-established theoretical, practical and pedagogical issues underpinning English language teaching/learning. Drawing on insights from the theories of the sociocultural approach and critical language pedagogy, I reviewed the Reading/"Language Arts Framework" for its provisions for language learners. In addition, I observed a vocabulary lesson in a second grade class. The study reveals that the conceptual framework sets the stage for vocabulary instruction to foster monolingual and monocultural American society despite the fact that second grade classrooms in Los Angeles metropolitan city contain learners of dynamic and sometimes conflicting identities, needs, preferences, interests and aspiration. Furthermore, the study shows that the tight control of the teacher on instructional activities and the structured nature of the lesson did not create a conducive atmosphere for language learners to appropriate other pupils' voices and identities. (Contains 1 table and 1 graph.)