This qualitative inquiry describes the linguistic perspectives of eighteen grade six students at Ecole Duncan, a multiethnic primary school (grades K-6) located in Park Extension, an inner-city neighbourhood of Montreal. Employing standard tools of ethnographic enquiry, such as interviews and participant observation, I examined the childrens' perception of the interplay of language and identity, and rooted the inquiry within the theoretical framework of social constructivist learning. The key element of the lived experiences of these children that surface in the data is that their perceptions and experiences are largely determined by a sense of belonging and opportunities to participate in the life of their communities. I conceptualize students' language learning as a social practice, and identity as being socially constructed, contradictory, and subject to change over time. Rampton's concepts of expertise, affiliation and inheritance are used in the theoretical framework. The major assumption of this study is that social factors influence children's identities, which has a reciprocal effect upon their language learning. This inquiry has implications for policy makers, educators and families.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.83146 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Ross, Christopher W. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of Second Language Education.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002211443, proquestno: AAIMR12764, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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