 Background  Two questions to think about  The historical, sociopolitical and educational contexts in Canada  Minority language rights challenges in Canada  Discussion

 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

 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

 Personal (Babaee, 2010a)  Social (Wong Fillmore, 2001)  Cognitive (Cummins, 2001)

 Immigration to Canada: Late 16 th 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)

 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

 Submersion programs › English/French medium instruction  HL programming: › Bilingual programs (BC, AB, SK, MB) › HL courses (BC, AB, SK, MB, ON, QB, NS)

 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

 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.

Thank you for your attention.

 Other suggestions for protecting language rights in Canada?  Your own context: › Are minority language rights protected or violated? How? › Any suggestions?  Other relevant issues