Session Information
07 SES 05 B, Teachers' and Parents' Views on Multilingual and Intercultural Education
Paper Session
Contribution
In the last year, Europe recorded an estimated 350,000 to 450,000 people, including children, who could be granted asylum-seeking status; this number is significantly higher then any time in the last 70 years (OECD, 2015). With this increased amount of cultural diversity comes linguistic diversity and countries are grappling with the challenges of what it means to provide a meaningful education to language minority students. One particular challenge, that this paper addresses, is how to support language minority students in maintaining their cultural and linguistic identity. Although, the rights and advantages of communities in maintaining their heritage languages (HL) is recognized within the European community (Woehrling, 2005), the barriers to maintenance of a HL for immigrant families is also well documented (OECD,2015).
HL Schools are one way in which communities have historically mobilized around preserving their HL. Researchers (Issa et al., 2008; May 2003; Coleman, 2004) have previously investigated certain concepts around HL Schools, such as their objectives and history. To varying degrees, for over one hundred years, HL schools have been a part of the landscape for international and immigrant students (Robertson, 2006).
HL schools are defined as voluntary (Rummens, 2001), and they generally have organized programs that assist communities to protect and facilitate the continued learning of a HL. These programs help support the retention of cultural ties and identity. Although, HL schools are termed “schools”, they have not been officially recognized as providers of educational requirements by departments of education in any country. Though according to Cummins (2003), HL schools play a significant role in language development for students and they also play a meaningful function in strengthening bilingualism and multiculturalism, which can improve a students’ capacity for learning (OECD, 2015).
The purpose of this research is to understand the complexities in maintaining heritage languages (HL) in the Irish context. This study intends to explore both the societal and internal advantages and barriers that parents and students experience in relation to their participation in HL education.
In order to understand assets and barriers to heritage languages (HL) Cummins’ (1986, 2000, 2001) work is used as a conceptual lens for this research; he offers a framework for empowering minority students by preventing school failure and enabling a student’s own culture to be recognized as legitimate by school leaders and administrators. According to Cummins (1997), although bilingualism and language learning are central to the educational experience, the underlying and more fundamental message addresses the types of identity that are acceptable in the classroom and society. The relationship between the minority students’ identity and the majority culture allows for the reduction in racial tension, separation and stereotypes, which are all by-products of misrecognition.
However, the converse is also true; if there is tension between society and the HL, misrecognition could occur. The constructs of Cummins together with those of Bourdieu (1977, 1984, 1990), which highlight the sociological world in order to explain phenomena, are incorporated into this research. Insights into social and cultural capital are central to understanding the developing themes around benefits and barriers to HL education. Coleman (1988) states that the educational expectation, norms, and obligations that exist within a family or a community are important social capital. Social capital can have an influence on the level of parental involvement and investment, which in turn affects heritage language success or failure.
The following research question guides this study:
1. What are the perceived benefits and barriers to participating in a heritage language-learning program within Ireland, from the viewpoint of HL students, HL teachers and parents?
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
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