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Differential Enunciation, Mainstream Language and the Education of Immigrant Minority Students: Implications for Policy and Practice
Abstract
This article is intended to guide policy and practice that are geared towards improving the education of immigrant minority students whose ever growing presence in Canadian schools (and indeed, much of the Western world) will only increase in the foreseeable future. Drawing on existing literature, the paper addresses the difficulties and prejudices faced by immigrant minority students who speak standard varieties of mainstream language with differential accents. While this issue is problematic for immigrant children, there is no sustained dialogue or research among scholars in related educational discourse. The overarching aim of the article is to make the issue an integral part of the language debate in teaching and learning.
This paper describes a recent initiative designed to provide support for teacher candidates from culturally diverse backgrounds as they traverse a one-year teacher education program in Canada. Results and discussion are based on qualitative data from an information survey, student-professor conversations, a review of seminar documents and processes, and observations and reflections made by professors conducting the seminar. Overall, the Language and Cultural Engagement Seminar was successful in providing a supportive environment in which complicated and politically volatile issues, which would otherwise have remained unacknowledged, were discussed openly. The main concerns expressed by participants were the communication concern (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, accent, etc.), concern for power and authority in the classroom, and the socio-cultural acceptance concern. Power and communication concerns diminished when teacher candidates felt a level of cultural acceptance in the classroom; therefore, we propose that socio-cultural acceptance be investigated in future research into the concern construct. Since differential pronunciation had the effect of positioning teacher candidates on the periphery of classroom discourse, we concluded that acceptance of accent diversity (lack thereof) was one barrier between ideal (policy) and experienced (lived) multi-cultures. Cet article décrit une initiative récente désignée à procurer un soutien aux étudiants-maîtres provenant de divers milieux socio-culturels pendant l'année de leur formation au Canada. Les résultats et les discussions sont basés sur les données qualitatives obtenues d'une surveillance de renseignements, des conversations entre professeurs et étudiants, une revision des documents et processus obtenus pendant un colloque et des observations et réflexions faites par les professeurs conduisant ce colloque. En général le colloque "Language and Cultural Engagement Seminar" a réussi à offrir un mileu positif dans lequel des problèmes compliqués ou explosifs, qui auraient pu passer inapperçus, avaient été discutés franchement. Les principales inquiétudes citées par les participants sont: l'inquiétude sur la communication (grammaire, vocabulaire, prononciation, accent, etc.), l'inquiétude concernant l'autorité et le pouvoir en classe. et l'inquiétude de n'être pas acceptés à cause de leurs antécédents socio-culturels. Mais les inquiétudes sur le pouvoir et la communication sont diminuées quand les étudiants-maîtres sentaient qu'ils atteignaient un certain niveau d'acceptation culturelle en classe. Nous proposons que l'acceptation socio-culturelle deviendra un sujet de recherche plus poussé dans l'avenir. Comme la prononciation différentielle avait l'effet de placer les instituteurs aux périphéries du discours en classe, nous avions conclu que l'acceptation des accents divers (ou le manque de) est une barrière entre l'idéal (politique) et l'expérience (vécue) d'un milieu à cultures multiples.
Anecdotal and empirical evidence suggest that how teachers construct and interpret issues of race and diversity impacts significantly on their interactions with students from diverse backgrounds. At the same time, research shows that teacher education programs do not pay as much attention as would logically be expected given that many Canadian teachers will spend a good part of their career in racially and culturally heterogeneous settings. Conceptually grounded in critical race theory-a framework with increasing application in education, this paper explores the knowledge-base that preservice teachers require for successful teaching in a pluralistic society. A central argument in the paper is that a deep understanding of, and knowledge about race and diversity (beyond cursory familiarity) should be one of the required outcomes of preservice education.
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