Subtractive bilingualism and the survival of the Inuit language: Heritage- versus second-language education.

Abstract

A longitudinal study examined the impact of early heritage-and second-language education on heritage-and second-language development among Inuit, White, and mixed-heritage (Inuit/ White) children. Children in an arctic community were tested in English, French and Inuttitut at the beginning and end of each of the first 3 school years. Compared with Inuit in heritage language and mixed-heritage children in a second language, Inuit in second-language classes (English or French) showed poorer heritage language skills and poorer second-language acquisition. Conversely, Inuit children in Inuttitut classes showed heritage language skills equal to or better than mixed-heritage children and Whites educated in their heritage languages. Findings support claims that early instruction exclusively in a societally dominant language can lead to subtractive bilingualism among minority-language children, and that heritage language education may reduce this subtractive process.The role of educational institutions in maintaining and enhancing minority languages has become a hotly debated issue in North America. Perhaps the most familiar example surrounds bilingual instruction for Spanish speakers in the United States (Ruiz, 1988). However, the issue extends to a wide variety of minority-language groups. The arguments of

Aboriginal Languages in Quebec: Fighting Linguicide with Bilingual Education

“…However, the size, isolation, and relative homogeneity of out-of-school influences within the Inuit population reduces many of the other confounds common to research designed to evaluate pedagogical programs. Furthermore, baseline data was collected at the beginning of the Kindergarten year and showed that in the case of heritage language skills, Inuit children in all three language programs enter the programs with the same language proficiency (Wright, Taylor, & Macarthur, 2000). Overall, our findings support claims that early instruction exclusively in a societally dominant language, French or English, may result in subtractive bilingualism among Inuit, and that heritage language education may limit this subtractive bilingualism process.…”

“…We then investigated whether heritage language education can provide the academic foundation that enables children to gain the proper academic skills and knowledge to succeed in the school curriculum (Wright, Taylor, & Macarthur, 2000;Louis & Taylor, 2001). Three arguments underlie the rationale for a bilingual program whereby the heritage language, Inuktitut, is the language of instruction in the early school years.…”

“…In addition, Inuit children's language abilities were compared with a sample of mainstream White Francophones in a French language of instruction program in the same community (Wright, Taylor, & Macarthur, 2000).…”

Knowledge of an Aboriginal language and school outcomes for children and adults

“…For Inuit, the majority of adults speak the language, and children are more likely to arrive at school speaking Inuktitut as their first language (Statistics Canada 2009;Tait, Cloutier, and Bougie 2010). However, the challenges for children speaking an Aboriginal language when starting school differ from the challenges for children who already speak English or French (Wright, Taylor, and Macarthur 2000). Research suggests that children do better when preschool, kindergarten, and primary school are provided in the same language as they have been learning at home (Wright, Taylor, and Macarthur 2000).…”

“…However, the challenges for children speaking an Aboriginal language when starting school differ from the challenges for children who already speak English or French (Wright, Taylor, and Macarthur 2000). Research suggests that children do better when preschool, kindergarten, and primary school are provided in the same language as they have been learning at home (Wright, Taylor, and Macarthur 2000). In contrast to Inuit children, although some First Nations children may start school speaking a language other than French or English, the majority of First Nations children do not speak an Aboriginal language at school entry (Statistics Canada 2009;Bougie, Tait, and Cloutier 2010).…”