Abstracts
Abstract
Aboriginal peoples in Quebec are fighting for the survival of their language and culture. An essential component of Aboriginal decolonization and empowerment is the protection and enhancement of the Aboriginal heritage language. In this article, we review twenty years of research in Arctic Quebec (Nunavik) involving Inuit students educated in Inuktitut as well as in French and English. Our research reveals that children not only learn better in their own heritage language as opposed to one of the societally dominant languages, but also develop a more positive view of themselves, and a healthier view of Inuit as a group. Bilingual Education is shown to be of crucial importance for the vitality of Inuit language and culture.
Keywords:
- Aboriginals,
- Bilingual Education,
- Inuit,
- Inuktitut,
- linguicide,
- Nunavik
Résumé
Les peuples autochtones du Québec luttent afin de préserver la survie de leur langue et de leur culture. Un élément essentiel de la décolonisation et de l’autonomisation autochtone est la protection et l’enrichissement de la langue ancestrale autochtone. Dans cet article, nous effectuons une analyse de vingt années de recherche dans le Nord du Québec (Nunavik) impliquant des élèves inuits scolarisés en français et en anglais. Nos recherches ont révélé que ces enfants non seulement apprennent mieux dans leur propre langue ancestrale plutôt que dans une des langues dominantes de la société, mais aussi qu’ils développent une image d’eux-mêmes plus positive, et une représentation plus saine des Inuits en tant que groupe. Il est démontré que l’enseignement bilingue est d’une importance cruciale, contribuant à la vitalité de la langue et de la culture inuites.
Mots clés:
- Autochtones,
- éducation bilingue,
- Inuit,
- Inuktitut,
- linguicide,
- Nunavik
Appendices
References
- Aboud, F. E. (1988). Children and Prejudice. Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell.
- Aboud, F. E. (2005). The development of prejudice in childhood and adolescence. J. F. Dovidio, P. Glick, & L. A. Rudman (Eds.), On the nature of prejudice: Fifty years after Allport (pp.310-326). Malden, MA, US: Blackwell Publishing.
- Appel, R. (1988). The language education of immigrant workers’ children in the Netherlands. In T. Skutnabb & J. Cummins (Eds.), Minority education: From shame to struggle (pp. 57-78). Philadelphia: Multilingual Matters.
- Baker, C., & Prys Jones, S.P. (1998). Encyclopedia of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
- Brand, E.S., Ruiz, R.A., & Padilla, A.A. (1974). Ethnic identification and preference: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 81, 860-890.
- Carpenter, P.A., Just, M., & Snell, P. (1990). What one intelligence test measures: A theoretical account of the processing in the Raven Progressive Matrices Test. Psychological Review, 97, 404-431.
- Clark, K., & Clark, M. (1939). The development of consciousness of self and the emergence of racial identification in Negro preschool children. Journal of Social Psychology, 10, 591-599.
- Covington, M.V. (1989). Self-esteem and failure at school: Analysis and policy implications. In A.M. Mecca, N.J. Smelser & J. Vasconcellos (Eds.), The social importance of self-esteem (pp. 72-124). Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Crawford, J. (1989). Bilingual education: History, policies, theory and practice. Trenton, NJ: Crane Publishing.
- Crocker, J., & Luhtanen, R. (1990). Collective self-esteem and intergroup bias. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 60-67.
- Cross, W.E. (1987). The two-factor theory of Black identity: Implications for the study of identity development in minority children. In J.S. Phinney & M.J. Rotheram (Eds.), Children’s ethnic socialization: Pluralism and development (pp. 117-133). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
- Cummins, J. (1986). Empowering minority students: A framework for intervention. Harvard Educational Review, 56, 18-35.
- Cummins, J. (1989). Empowering minority students. Sacramento: California Association for Bilingualism Education.
- Cummins, J. (1990, June). Language development among Aboriginal children in northern communities. Paper presented at the Circumpolar Education Conference, Umea, Sweden.
- Cummins, J. (2001). Negotiating identities: Education for empowerment in a diverse society (2nd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: California Association for Bilingual Education.
- Cummins, J. (2005). A proposal for action: Strategies for recognizing heritage language competence as a learning resource within the mainstream classroom. The Modern Language Journal, 89, 585-592.
- Dorais, L. J. (1996). The Aboriginal languages of Quebec, past and present. In J. Maurais (Ed.), Quebec’s Aboriginal Languages: History, Planning, Development (pp. 43-100). Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
- Drapeau, L. (1996). The state of the art in linguistic research, standardization and modernization in Quebec Aboriginal languages. In J. Maurais (Ed.), Quebec’s Aboriginal Languages: History, Planning, Development (pp. 129-158). Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
- Duffy, R.Q. (1988). The road to Nunavut. Montreal, Canada: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
- Fishman, J. (1991). Reversing language shift: Theoretical and empirical foundations of assistance to threatened languages. Clevedon, Avon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
- Fishman, J. (2001). Can threatened languages be saved? Reversing language shift, revisited: A 21st Century perspective. Clevedon, Avon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
- Frideres, J. S., & Gadacz, R. (2001). Aboriginal peoples in Canada: Contemporary conflicts. Sixth Edition. Toronto, Ontario: Prentice Hall.
- Hernández-Chavez, E. (1984). The inadequacy of English immersion education as an educational approach for language minority students in the United States. In Office of Bilingual/Bicultural Education (Eds.), Studies on immersion education: A collection of United States education (pp. 144-183). Sacramento: California State Department of Education.
- Ionescu, S., Jourdan-Ionescu, C., Alain, M., Rousseau, J., & Inostroza, J. (1992). PM47 : Analyse des résultats de 768 enfants Québécois de 6 à 11 ans [The Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices (PM47): Analysis of results from 768 6-11-yr.-old children from Quebec]. Revue Francophone de la Déficience Intellectuelle, 3, 25-38.
- Kativik School Board (1990). Kativik School Board statistical information. Unpublished report.
- Lambert, W.E. (1983). Deciding on languages of instruction: Psychological and social considerations. In T. Husen & S. Opper (Eds.), Multicultural and multilingual education in immigrant countries (pp. 93-104). Oxford, England: Pergamon Press.
- Landry, R., & Bourhis, R. Y. (1997). Linguistic landscape and ethnolinguistic vitality: An empirical study. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 16, 23-49.
- Louis, W., & Taylor, D.M. (2001). When the survival of a language is at stake: The future of Inuttitut in Arctic Quebec. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 20 (1&2), 111-143.
- Maurais, J. (1996). The situation of Aboriginal languages in the Americas. In J. Maurais (Ed.), Quebec’s Aboriginal Languages: History, Planning, Development (pp. 1-42). Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
- McLaughlin, D. (1989). The sociolinguistics of Navajo literacy. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 20, 275-290.
- Norris, M. J. (2007). Aboriginal languages in Canada: Emerging trends and perspectives on second language acquisition. Canadian Social Trends, 83, 19-27.
- Rampaul, W.E., Singh, M., & Didyk, J. (1984). The relationship between academic achievement, self-concept, creativity, and teacher expectations among Native children in a northern Manitoba school. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 30(3), 213-225.
- Raven, J.C. (1990). American and international norms: Raven manual research supplement 3. London: Oxford Psychologist Press.
- Raven, J., Raven, J.C., & Court, J.H. (1993). Raven manual: Section 1- General overview. London: Oxford Psychologists Press.
- Robitaille, N., & Choinière, R. (1985). An overview of demographic and socio-economic conditions of the Inuit in Canada. Ottawa, Canada: Research Branch, Corporate Policy, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.
- Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (2000). Linguistic genocide in education: Or worldwide diversity and human rights? Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
- Statistics Canada (2001). Aboriginal Population Profiles, 2001, Canadian Census 2001.
- Taylor, D.M. (2002). The quest for identity: From minority groups to Generation Xers. Westport, CT: Praeger Publications.
- Taylor, D.M., & Wright, S.C. (2002). Do Aboriginal students benefit from education in their heritage language? Results from a ten-year program of research in Nunavik. The Canadian Journal of Native Studies, 22(2), 141-164.
- Williams, E., & Morland, J.K. (1976). Race, Color and the Young Child. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.
- Willig, A.C. (1985). A meta-analysis of selected studies on the effectiveness of bilingual education. Review of Educational Research, 55, 269-317.
- Wright, S.C., & Taylor, D.M. (1995). Identity and the Language of the Classroom: Investigating the Impact of Heritage versus Second Language Education. Journal of Educational Psychology, 87, 241-252.
- Wright, S.C., Taylor, D.M., & Macarthur, J. (2000). Subtractive bilingualism and the survival of the Inuit language: Heritage- versus second-language education. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(1), 63-84.
- Wright, S.C., Taylor, D.M., & Ruggiero, K.M. (1996). Examining the potential for academic achievement among Inuit children: Comparisons on the Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 27(6), 733-753.