Languages in Contact: An Ethnographic Study of Interaction in an Immersion School

Abstract

Since bilingual school programs are part of the fabric of society, they reflect major social patterns and processes that characterize society at large. Thus, an understanding of the social objectives and outcomes of bilingual education programs requires an understanding of both the broad sociocultural context of which they are a part and the relationship of the school to its larger context. In the present study, ethnographic procedures were used to observe social interactions among the staff of an early French immersion program in Montreal over a one-year period. Since the staff was made up of French Canadian and English Canadian teachers who were members of ethnolinguistic groups in conflict, it was expected that social interaction in the school would also be conflictual. Strategies of conflict management were thus also observed.It was found, as expected, that interaction among the staff was conflictual and that the underlying tension could be related to societally based group conflict. It was also found that the teachers used two main interaction strategies to minimize interpersonal conflict and to maintain a semblance of professional harmony: 1) avoidance of social interaction and 2) the predominant use of English in cross-group communication. These strategies in turn can be traced to now outdated sociolinguistic norms that prevailed when English dominated French in the community. These findings suggest that although the long-term social objectives of immersion and other bilingual school programs may be to promote bilingualism and facilitate intergroup contact, the actual interaction patterns of teachers working in such schools may portray the very conflict and inequities they seek to resolve.

Palestinian-Jewish Bilingual Education in Israel: Its Influence on Cultural Identities and its Impact on Intergroup Conflict

“…These preliminary results enrich the findings of our earlier ethnographic studies (Bekerman, 2002(Bekerman, , 2003Bekerman & Horenczyk, 2004) and support other previous findings regarding the influence of bilingual education on intergroup perceptions and self identity (Genesee & Gandara, 1999), language in contact and intergroup conflict (Cleghorn & Genesee, 1984), and the potential risks of implementing uncritical multicultural educational programmes (Freeman, 2000;Lustig, 1997). These results are also supportive of 'contact hypothesis' (Allport, 1954) theorising regarding the potential of inter-group contact in helping to alleviate conflict between groups and reduce mutual prejudices (Gaertner et al, 1996;Horenczyk, 1997;Wood & Soleitner, 1996); a potential that is enhanced when 'contact' takes place under the conditions of status equality and cooperative interdependence while allowing both for sustained interaction between participants and for the potential forming of friendships (Allport, 1954;Amir, 1976;Pettigrew, 1998).…”

Arab‐Jewish Bilingual Coeducation in Israel: A Long‐Term Approach to Intergroup Conflict Resolution

“…Research in bilingual education also points to the possible positive effects of this type of strategy in changing intergroup attitudes among the students (Genesee & Gandara, 1999). Empirical evidence suggests, however, that bilingual initiatives need to pay sustained attention to contextual societal factors (Cleghorn & Genesee, 1984; Genesee & Gandara, 1999). Research in language and bilingual education in multicultural contexts has rendered a complex array of sociocultural issues related to bilingual acquisition and mastery, among others, minorities' empowerment, assimilatory trends, and social reproduction (Minami & Ovando, 1995).…”

Dual language programs as a strand within a secondary school: dilemmas of school organization and the TWI mission

“…She notes that the dominance of English and Anglo culture greatly undermined the goal of language equalization and cross-cultural competence building. In the context of an elementary school with a French immersion program in Canada, Cleghorn and Genesee (1984) similarly note that immersion teachers found it difficult to maintain the status of and the use of French in the face of the dominance of English in the rest of the school.…”