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Minority Language Rights in Canadian Provincial
Schools: Implications for Policy makers and Teachers
Naghmeh BabaeePhD Candidate in Second Language
Education
University of Manitoba, Canada
Outline
Background Two questions to think about The historical, sociopolitical and
educational contexts in Canada Minority language rights challenges in
Canada Discussion
Background
The widespread use of English (Crystal, 2004)
› 400 million: English as a First Language› 400 million: English as a Second
Language › 600 million: English as a Foreign
Language
Two questions
What are potential impacts of the widespread use of English on other languages › all over the world? › Within a bilingual/multilingual
context such as Canada?
In a bilingual or multilingual context, should immigrant children maintain their heritage languages, that is, continue using their first languages? Why/Why not?
Potential impacts of the widespread use of English:
Linguistic imperialism (Phillipson, 2009) Language rights violation : violating
“rules that public institutions adopt with respect to language use in a variety of different domains” (Arzoz, 2007, p. 4).
› Implications of language rights (Phillipson, Ranuut & Skutnabb-Kangas, 1995): Mother tongue medium instruction (MTMI) Learning at least one official language, as
well
Linguistic minority=immigrant=ESL students
The Importance of Heritage Language Maintenance
Personal (Babaee, 2010a) Social (Wong Fillmore, 2001) Cognitive (Cummins, 2001)
The Historical Context in Canada
Immigration to Canada: Late 16th century
The total population in 2006: 31,241,030
Speaking a language other than English or French as a first language: 6,147,840 (almost one fifth of the total population)
Immigration: linguistic diversity Many immigrants: struggling with
heritage language maintenance (for example, Kouritzin, 1999)
The Sociopolitical Context
Family and first language (L1) community (Guardado, 2010; Guardado, 2002; Torres, 2006; Yu-Tung Carol, 2009)› L1 use at home (Guardado, 2010): Spanish
families in BC› the L1 community
Resources (Iqbal, 2005): Francophone mothers in BC
Size (Guardado, 2010): Spanish families in BC
School
› Attitudes towards HLs (Sotto, cited in Xie, 2010, p. 31) Principals Staff Teachers Peers
• Language policy The medium of instruction: an official
language (English or French) MTMI: Anglophone minorities in QB and
Francophone minorities outside QB (the Charter, 1982)
Other minorities: if a sufficient number of immigrants in a community seek MTMI
The Educational Context
Submersion programs› English/French medium instruction
HL programming: › Bilingual programs (BC, AB, SK, MB)› HL courses (BC, AB, SK, MB, ON, QB, NS)
Minority Language Rights Challenges in Canada
Vague policy: “sufficient” number of immigrants seeking MTMI
Bilingual programs: limited to certain provinces and heritage languages› Iranian immigrants in BC: No Farsi/English
bilingual programs, no Farsi as a heritage language courses
Potentially insufficient instructional time in heritage language programs, for example, two and a half hour per week in ON› An objective of HL education: developing
communicative competence
Suggestions
For policy makers › Extending HL instructional time
Especially those outside school hours
› Bilingual programs in other HLs
› HL courses in other HL languages
› Informing community members of the possibility of HL education at public schools
› Partnership with L1 communities: Offering HL courses in L1 communities, taking credits
for Teachers
› Creating a supportive atmosphere in the classroom
› Facilitating collaborative and cooperative learning opportunities in the classroom (pair/group work)
› Inviting community members to their classrooms
› Asking students to relate subject areas to their ethnic backgrounds, comparing and contrasting with peers
Communicative skills: › Translation (words and short stories)› Functions e.g. greetings in first languages
(English and HLs)› Guessing games e.g. talking in a HL and
acting out› Posters in all students’ L1s (English and
HLs) on the walls› Drawing attention to prefixes, roots,
suffixes in English and asking for equivalents in HLs
The academic proficiency › Translating terms (for example, The
Internet, bilingual dictionaries)› Additional resources (for example, books,
websites)› Simplified instructions
Pictures Simplified language Additional explanation
• Modified assignments– Recognition, rather than, production
• Modified assessment
– Multiple choice, rather than essay type, format
These strategies tend to › communicate the message to
immigrant students that their HLs are recognized, valued and used at school, and that using these languages could facilitate the learning of English.
› include a variety of HLs, not simply specific ones.
› communicate the message to English-speaking students that HLs must be recognized and respected in the classroom.
Discussion
Other suggestions for protecting language rights in Canada?
Your own context: › Are minority language rights protected or
violated? How?› Any suggestions?
Other relevant issues
