This study examines pre-service teachers' attitudes toward language diversity and linguistically diverse students. Two hundred seventy-one teacher education students were surveyed to determine relative effects of demographic, mediating variables and psychosocial variables on language attitude as measured by the Language Attitudes of Teachers Scale (LATS). Independent variables include gender, age, race/ethnicity, teacher certification sought, region, psychological insecurity, cognitive sophistication, and helpfulness viewpoint. Research questions are established and methodology is outlined. A review of related literature places the study in the context of research with a broad interdisciplinary perspective and then links the study to other research relevant to the field of education. The findings of the study indicate that gender, race/ethnicity, teacher certification sought, political ideology, psychological insecurity, and cognitive sophistication contribute significantly to the variation found in attitude toward language diversity. The paper concludes with analyses and discussions of the significant variables and suggestions for application in teacher preparation.

The linguistic landscape of Canadian workplaces is becoming more diverse as organizations employ individuals who come from various countries and speak different native languages. As language is an important marker of identity and group membership, language-based identities are powerful in shaping workplace experiences. Guided by both the ethnolinguistic identity theory (ELIT: Giles et al., 1977; Giles & Johnson, 1987) and communication accommodation theory (CAT: e.g., Dragojevic et al., 2016; Gallois et al., 2005; Giles & Ogay, 2006), this study explores the experiences of Spanish-speaking Latin Americans working in the Canadian National Capital Region in relation to their linguistic identities, coping strategies, and intergroup interactions. A thematic analysis of 24 semi-structured interviews shows that participants experience a dynamic shift in their identity in which they move between feelings of self-doubt and a sense of confidence and comfort in their workplaces. This shift occurs as they navigate the cognitive and emotional experiences of working in a nonnative language. Factors that influence this identity shift include social comparisons, positive implications associated with their native linguistic identity, negative evaluations, and empathy in the workplace. This study also provides a detailed description of the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and interactional coping strategies that participants enact to navigate their workplaces. In terms of intergroup interactions, the participant’s experiences, their evaluations, and reactions to accommodative or nonaccommodative behaviours from native speaking peers in their workplaces are explored. The final pages of this study include some recommendations for human resource practitioners.

The dissertation deals with the particularities of a mutual cooperation of hearing and deaf employees of the institution Tichý svět, o.p.s. The dissertation is divided into the theoretical and the application part. The theoretical part is dedicated for the theme of the culture in the general concept, the culture of the organisation, and culture of the deafs. The thesis also deals with diversity management and communication in organizational management, focusing on communication in the intercultural team and description of the deaf communication systems. The theoretical part focuses, in its conclusion, on the team and teamwork, on conflicts and their solutions in the cotext of diversity management. The objective of the application part was to analyze situations where there is a misunderstanding between the hearing and the deaf employees of the organization and to describe the specifics of this cooperation. At the end of the thesis the finding are discussed and recommendations made for the organization, which are aimed to avoid misunderstanding. Key words: culture of organization, intercultural communication, deaf, Czech sign language, diversity, team, conflicts.

According to the South African Schools Act no 86 or 1994, school governing bodies determine the official language used as Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT) in public schools. Black community primary schools use home language in the Foundation Phase, and switch to English from the fourth grade. This study investigates Zulu as LoLT in the Foundation Phase in selected township primary schools in Gauteng East District. A qualitative inquiry used semi-structured interviews to collect data from Grade Three teachers. Findings were that educators welcomed use of learner’s Home Language as LoLT; due to diverse linguistic backgrounds of teachers and learners, Zulu was not used effectively in classrooms; code switching to English was prevalent; parent involvement was poor due to parents’ lack of Zulu proficiency and learning and teaching materials were mainly in English. The review of school language policies and the provision of multiple medium classes to accommodate language diversity were recommended. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Early Childhood Development)

According to the South African Schools Act no 86 or 1994, school governing bodies determine the official language used as Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT) in public schools. Black community primary schools use home language in the Foundation Phase, and switch to English from the fourth grade. This study investigates Zulu as LoLT in the Foundation Phase in selected township primary schools in Gauteng East District. A qualitative inquiry used semi-structured interviews to collect data from Grade Three teachers. Findings were that educators welcomed use of learner’s Home Language as LoLT; due to diverse linguistic backgrounds of teachers and learners, Zulu was not used effectively in classrooms; code switching to English was prevalent; parent involvement was poor due to parents’ lack of Zulu proficiency and learning and teaching materials were mainly in English. The review of school language policies and the provision of multiple medium classes to accommodate language diversity were recommended. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Early Childhood Development)

En ce début de XXIème siècle, toutes les sociétés multilingues et multiculturelles, soit pratiquement tous les pays du monde, sont concernées par la politique linguistique scolaire. La gestion des langues de scolarisation, en particulier, est devenue l’affaire de tous les États soucieux (ou contraints) d’assurer le vivre-ensemble et de contribuer au développement humain, social, économique tout en ménageant des identités culturelles labiles et plurielles. Le XXème siècle a été celui de l’organisation des sociétés en unités étatiques sur fond d’utopie démocratique. Il a été celui d’une métamorphose du paysage politique avec l’apparition des organismes supranationaux et le réveil de la société civile. Dans un contexte global qui semble vouloir en finir avec la malédiction de Babel, nous tentons de problématiser la dimension concrète de la fabrique des politiques linguistiques scolaires. Nous soutenons dans ce travail qu’une politique linguistique scolaire est le résultat de l’interaction complexe entre une multitude d’acteurs au poids variable. En nous intéressant au cas mexicain et plus spécifiquement à celui de l’État du Jalisco, nous nous proposons d’interroger la fabrique de la politique d’éducation bilingue interculturelle mexicaine comme un espace de négociations au carrefour des recommandations globales, des choix étatiques et des revendications des populations indigènes.Cette thèse est une réflexion théorique et pragmatique sur la fabrique des politiques linguistiques scolaires. Elle est entièrement tournée vers l’objectif de prendre en considération la complexité inhérente à la conception des politiques linguistiques scolaires dans un monde glocalisé. / At this start of the XXIst century, all multilingual and multicultural societies, that is to say almost all countries in the world, are concerned with school language policies. In particular, schooling language management is a shared concern by all states involved in (or obliged to) ensure the living together and to contribute to the human, social and economic development while maintaining cultural identities both labile and plural. During the XXth century societies organised themselves into state units with a democratic utopia in the background. It was a century where the political scene got transformed with the appearance of supranational organizations and the reawakening of the civil society.In a global context that seems “to want” to finish with the Babel’s curse, we try to analyse the practical dimensions of schooling language policies’ construction.In this work we support that school language policies are the results of a complex interaction between numerous actors with variable power of action.With our focus on the Mexican case and more specifically on the case of the State of Jalisco, we try to analyse the construction of the intercultural and bilingual education policy - considering it as a space for negotiations at the crossroad between global recommendations, State choices and the expectations of the native populations.This thesis is a theoretical and pragmatic reflection on the “making” of schooling language policies. It is completely turned to the objective to take into consideration the inherent complexity in the conception of the school language policies in a glocalized world. / En esos principios del siglo XXI, cualquier sociedad multilingüe y multicultural, es decir casi todos los países del mundo, se debe de enfocar en una política lingüística escolar. El manejo de los idiomas de escolarización, en especial, se convirtió en un asunto central para todos los Estados preocupados (o forzados) por asegurar la convivencia y contribuir al desarrollo humano, social y económico, respetando a la vez identidades culturales cambiantes y plurales. El siglo XX vio las sociedades organizarse en entidades estatales en medio de una utopía democrática. Asimismo, vio el profundo cambio del paisaje político con la aparición de organismos supranacionales y el despertar de la sociedad civil. Dentro de un contexto global que parece querer ponerle fin a la maldición de Babel, tratamos aquí de plantear la creación / fabricación de las políticas lingüísticas escolares. En contra de cierta tradición en la investigación sobre política y planificación lingüística que se esmera en analizar una política a través de un análisis estático, sostenemos en el presente trabajo la idea que una política lingüística escolar es el resultado de una compleja interacción entre una multitud de actores de importancia variable. Enfocándonos en el caso mexicano, y en especial en el Estado de Jalisco, nos proponemos cuestionar la creación de la política lingüística escolar en México - política de educación bilingüe intercultural - como un espacio de negociaciones entre las recomendaciones globales, las elecciones de los estados, y las reivindicaciones de los pueblos indigenas. La presente tesis es una reflexión teórica y a la vez pragmática sobre la creación de las políticas lingüísticas escolares. Tiene como objetivo fundamental tomar en consideración la complejidad inherente a la concepción de esas políticas en un mundo glocalizado.

Cultural conflict is endemic in diverse societies and schools. It manifests in both subtle and overt ways, permeating the whole school environment and posing tremendous challenges for society. The purpose of this study is to devise an education strategy to reduce cultural conflict in schools administered by mines in Zimbabwe, with a particular reference to language and teacher capacity to cope with diversity in mining-town schools. This study was guided by three theoretical frameworks: Bourdieu’s capital theory, Nussbaum’s cosmopolitan education theory and unhu/ubuntu moral theory. Nine models for the reduction of cultural conflict in diversity were reviewed in order to gain insight relating to cultural conflict in mining-town schools. The qualitative research design of the study was approached from a phenomenological perspective with regard to document analysis, face-to-face and focus group interviews as well as classroom observation. Three school administrators, three SDC members, two company managers, three Grade 2 teachers and 30 Grade 6 learners were purposively selected to participate in the study. It emerged from the study that conflict was attributable to teachers with no command of language(s) spoken by the school-going population and lacked training and apititude for the task of dealing with language and cultural diversity in the classroom. It was also found that cultural conflict as described above could be reduced by establishing well-resourced language learning centres that foster essentially civilised values like respect, tolerance and dialogue. Participants also saw an ethnic match between staff and learners as significant in averting cultural conflict. The study recommended that the government should provide services that address diverse learners’ unique needs. / Early Childhood Education / D. Ed. (Socio-Education)