Summary: Bilingualism and bilingual education in Aboriginal communities

[Yvan Rose]

Dear colleagues,
A few weeks ago I requested help from Info-CHILDES members about  
bilingualism and bilingual education in aboriginal communities. Below  
is a summary of the information I received. Before it, I would like  
to thank the following people for their useful reactions to my request:

-Aleka Blackwell
-Roma Chumak-Horbatsch
-Alvino Fantini
-Margaret Fleck
-Susan Foster-Cohen
-Fred Genesee
-Marie Labelle
-Brian MacWhinney
-Lori Morris
-Carol Slater

Relevant publications:
Napoli, Donna Jo (2003) Language Matters: A Guide to Everyday  
Questions about Language. Oxford: OUP.

McLaughlin, B. (1984). Second-language acquisition in childhood.  
Second Edition. Vol. 1: Preschool children. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence  
Erlbaum Associates.

McLaughlin, B. (1985). Second-language acquisition in childhood. Vol.  
2: School-age children. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Alice Eriks-Brophy & Martha Crago (2003) Variation in instructional  
discourse features:…Evidence from Inuit and non-Inuit teachers of  
Nunavik. Anthropology & Education Quarterly 34(4):396-419.

Websites:
New-Zealand Maori education program website: http:// 
www.minedu.govt.nz//index.cfm? 
layout=index&indexid=1063&indexparentid=2107

Kahnawake Survival School, an organization that has focused on Mohawk  
language preservation related projects for a few decades now. An  
recent example of such projects can be found at: http:// 
www.kssmultimediaproject.com/kss_history.html

Downloadable document:
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/manyroots/manyroots.pdf

Other:
Lori Morris and her team at the Université du Québec à Montréal  
produced a report (written in French) on current issues affecting the  
acquisition of French and English by Aboriginal students from  
Kindergarten to Grade 6. While I did not attach the report to this  
message, I could certainly forward it to interested members after  
obtaining permission from Lori.

Among other factors, it appears that the following are central to  
virtually all situations:
--Language attitudes
   -Role of the language instructors in promoting bilingualism  
(instead of the use of one language only)
   -Role of the caregivers in fostering a positive, motivating  
learning environment
--Involvement from both educators and caregivers
   -The young learner is facing a difficult situation
    -This fact needs to be acknowledged by everyone
    -Everyone need to make an active contribution to the learning  
process
      …educators/schooling just can’t do everything…

--(Mis-)communication between educators and students
   -Pragmatic differences between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal  
conversations
   -At times, absence of communication outside of the classroom setting
--Cultural discontinuity between home and school
   -Skills valued at home versus at school
   -The bicultural context inherent to bilingual has to transcend the  
school system
    -Children need to be aware of, and value, their bilingual/ 
bicultural identity

--Child’s perception of the bilingual curriculum
   -Children need to know why learning more than one language is  
important
    -Connection with their native culture
    -Connection with the ‘outer’ world
--Educators need to know about the Aboriginal language and culture
   -This is true for every academic subject addressed in class, not  
only for language classes

While a lot of this makes good common sense, your help was central in  
rounding up the main points in a relatively systematic way. Thank you  
very much to everyone involved!

Kindest regards,
Yvan Rose
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