“But My Students All Speak English”: Ethical Research Issues of Aboriginal English

Abstract

In this article I explore ethical issues in relation to

English as a Second Dialect & Indigenous Educational Attainment in Canada: A Call to Action

“…The point here is not to make a grand claim of societal injustice, but rather to isolate a problem. There is significant evidence many Indigenous children in Canada are speakers of a non-standard English dialect (Ball and Bernhardt 2008;Battisti, Friesen and Krauth 2014;Eriks-Brophy 2014;Heit and Blair 1993;Kay-Raining Bird 2014;Wiltse 2011). Further, language variation scholars broadly agree that children who speak nonstandard dialects are at an educational disadvantage in schools (E.g.…”

Insider–outsider perspective: revisiting the conceptual framework of research methodology in language teacher education

“…Kim and Duff 2012;Victoria 2011;Wiltse 2011). Indeed, the existing research method literature generates only a few language education studies in this area (e.g.…”

Investigating the impact upon First Nations students on reserve, in relation to their elementary school experience

“…Aboriginal Education has surfaced into the mainstream by interpreting the exact responsibility and reason of education for Aboriginal children, and specifically, on-reserve First Nations learners and was pertinently described through an ethical lens by Wiltse (2011). When studying in the field of Aboriginal Education, Wiltse (2011) suggested in this research piece that linguistics play a major role in student development and that educators must be cognizant of the specific dialect of Aboriginal learners. This article was written in the mode of a retrospective inquiry and related the connection to how Aboriginal children have lost their first language, yet the influence still remains in their style and way of speaking.…”

“…It was suggested that the English used in Aboriginal communities, is in fact a language in and of itself. Wiltse (2011) recognized that there was a bias toward the linguistics of Aboriginal groups because their style of speech is not as fluid and quick paced as the dominant society. The data shared in this article revealed that due to the linguistic traits of Aboriginal speakers, educators must instruct with the pedagogical ideology that Aboriginal dialect do not reflect any deficiency in language acquisition, nor is it a less acceptable method of speaking.…”

“…The key point brought up was that language differences do not necessarily set the precedent as language difficulty. Wiltse (2011) noted that the best way to ensure this, was for the home dialect of Aboriginal speakers to be recognized and accepted. As well, it was demonstrated that there are exclusive language skills which Aboriginal children do possess, and a bias toward language development needed to be eliminated for Aboriginal students to be successful.…”