The experience of language minoritization: understanding language teachers’ beliefs about Innu-aimun (Indigenous language) in Quebec and Creole in Guadeloupe
Presenter(s)
Affiliation
Topic
Ethnography and various narratives about language education, ethno-education
Type
Papers
Abstract
As an English as an Additional Language (EAL) teacher and researcher, who also speaks Guadeloupean Creole, a minoritized language, my academic research is dedicated to better understanding how minoritized languages can empower different language communities, but also language education as a whole. In a context of greater linguistic diversity, where plurilingualism is gaining ground in the field of language education (Galante & Dela Cruz, 2024), the integration of minoritized languages is key. As a result, EAL teachers are increasingly implementing various activities aiming at considering the intellectual and cultural richness of other languages into their teaching practices (Van Viegen, 2020), including Indigenous and minoritized languages. In Canada, Cole (2019) advocated for the inclusion of Indigenous content and perspectives in EAL curricula, which also relies heavily on the revitalization Indigenous languages. In the French overseas island of Guadeloupe, where the use of Creole language is seemingly more prominent, the impact of its historical marginalization in school (Durizot Jno-Baptiste, 2015) prevents the language from being fully integrated into EAL curricula. This joint research project focuses on exploring EAL teachers’ beliefs about the Indigenous language of Innu-aimun in the Canadian province of Quebec and Creole in Guadeloupe, two minoritized languages that coexist in predominantly French-speaking spaces. Through a narrative inquiry of six EAL teachers, consisting of semi-directed micro-phenomenological interviews focusing on micro-moments of their lives, classroom observations and a belief centrality test, this project sought to explore their holistic experience of language minoritization and its impact on the way they teach English. Sharing their life stories with Innu-aimun and Creole, the Guadeloupean and Innu EAL teachers can come into terms with the pervasive effects of underestimating this phenomenon and the real need to consciously promote the revitalization and valorization of minoritized languages in language education, even when teaching a global language like English.
