Resumen de Early Heritage-language Education and the Abrupt Shift to a Dominant-language Classroom: Impact on the Personal and Collective Esteem of Inuit Children in Arctic Québec
Évelyne Bougie, Steven C. Wright, Donald M. Taylor
This research explored the impact of the abrupt shift from heritage-language to dominant-language education on Inuit children's personal and collective self-esteem. Specifically, the following question was addressed: will early heritage-language education serve as an inoculation against the potential negative impact of being submerged in a dominant second-language environment, or will it just delay the negative impact of this submersion? Results show that the shift from heritage-language to dominant second-language instruction in Grade 3 was associated with a significant decrease in personal self-esteem. As for collective self-esteem, results show no effects of the abrupt shift into a dominant-language classroom. However, a clear pro-White bias for all Inuit children at both the fall and the spring of Grade 3 emerged. The results suggest that a more gradual introduction to the dominant language may be needed in order to protect minority-language children's personal sense of self-worth. In addition, the data suggest that early heritage-language education did not prevent the development of negative collective self-views for Inuit children in the community and cannot fully protect children from the negative impact of late submersion in dominant second-language instruction. The implications for bilingual education programmes are discussed.
