Dialect speakers, academic achievement, and power : First Nations and Métis children in standard English classrooms in Saskatchewan
This doctoral dissertation focuses on the negotiation of power in schools and the social and academic experiences of First Nations and Metis children who speak a non-standard variety of English called Indigenous English. Indigenous English is a dialect of English spoken by many Indigenous peoples in...
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McGill University
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ftcanadathes:oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.103297 2023-05-15T16:15:34+02:00 Dialect speakers, academic achievement, and power : First Nations and Métis children in standard English classrooms in Saskatchewan Sterzuk, Andrea. Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Second Language Education.) 2007 application/pdf http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=103297 en eng McGill University alephsysno: 002672634 proquestno: AAINR38650 Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=103297 © Andrea Sterzuk, 2007 Indigenous peoples -- Saskatchewan -- Education (Elementary) Academic achievement -- Saskatchewan English language -- Dialects -- Saskatchewan English language -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Saskatchewan Electronic Thesis or Dissertation 2007 ftcanadathes 2014-02-16T01:08:18Z This doctoral dissertation focuses on the negotiation of power in schools and the social and academic experiences of First Nations and Metis children who speak a non-standard variety of English called Indigenous English. Indigenous English is a dialect of English spoken by many Indigenous peoples in Canada; it is especially discernable in the Prairie Provinces, yet it is not widely recognized by the majority of the population. This thesis explores the experience of dialect speakers of Indigenous English in the standard English School and educator perceptions of their literacy and language abilities. This classroom study was conducted in an urban community in Saskatchewan. The focus of the research was a Grade 3/4 classroom with 25 students, six of whom were interviewed for this study. Additionally, interviews were conducted with eleven educators. The results of this study indicate that the First Nations children of this study speak a dialect of English that differs phonologically, morphologically, syntactically, and lexically from the Standard English spoken in Saskatchewan. The results of this PhD research indicate that Indigenous English-speaking students use discourse behaviour that differs from that of their White settler classmates. In examining the children's speech and classroom behaviour, it becomes apparent that silence, teasing, and story telling are important discourse characteristics of Indigenous English. The findings indicate that White settler educators demonstrate little awareness of the systematic linguistic and discourse characteristics of Indigenous English and that this lack of awareness is apparent in White settler educators' descriptions of their approaches to teaching, literacy development, classroom management, evaluation, and referral of First Nations and Metis students for speech and language assessment. Other findings include denial of difference, and a race/class divide in the school and community. Possible resolutions to the problems faced by these students may include teacher training and dialect awareness classes. This field has not been adequately explored and further research is needed to discover viable solutions to the issues experienced by dialect speakers of Indigenous English in the Standard English classroom. Thesis First Nations Metis Theses Canada/Thèses Canada (Library and Archives Canada) Canada |
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Open Polar |
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Theses Canada/Thèses Canada (Library and Archives Canada) |
op_collection_id |
ftcanadathes |
language |
English |
topic |
Indigenous peoples -- Saskatchewan -- Education (Elementary) Academic achievement -- Saskatchewan English language -- Dialects -- Saskatchewan English language -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Saskatchewan |
spellingShingle |
Indigenous peoples -- Saskatchewan -- Education (Elementary) Academic achievement -- Saskatchewan English language -- Dialects -- Saskatchewan English language -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Saskatchewan Sterzuk, Andrea. Dialect speakers, academic achievement, and power : First Nations and Métis children in standard English classrooms in Saskatchewan |
topic_facet |
Indigenous peoples -- Saskatchewan -- Education (Elementary) Academic achievement -- Saskatchewan English language -- Dialects -- Saskatchewan English language -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Saskatchewan |
description |
This doctoral dissertation focuses on the negotiation of power in schools and the social and academic experiences of First Nations and Metis children who speak a non-standard variety of English called Indigenous English. Indigenous English is a dialect of English spoken by many Indigenous peoples in Canada; it is especially discernable in the Prairie Provinces, yet it is not widely recognized by the majority of the population. This thesis explores the experience of dialect speakers of Indigenous English in the standard English School and educator perceptions of their literacy and language abilities. This classroom study was conducted in an urban community in Saskatchewan. The focus of the research was a Grade 3/4 classroom with 25 students, six of whom were interviewed for this study. Additionally, interviews were conducted with eleven educators. The results of this study indicate that the First Nations children of this study speak a dialect of English that differs phonologically, morphologically, syntactically, and lexically from the Standard English spoken in Saskatchewan. The results of this PhD research indicate that Indigenous English-speaking students use discourse behaviour that differs from that of their White settler classmates. In examining the children's speech and classroom behaviour, it becomes apparent that silence, teasing, and story telling are important discourse characteristics of Indigenous English. The findings indicate that White settler educators demonstrate little awareness of the systematic linguistic and discourse characteristics of Indigenous English and that this lack of awareness is apparent in White settler educators' descriptions of their approaches to teaching, literacy development, classroom management, evaluation, and referral of First Nations and Metis students for speech and language assessment. Other findings include denial of difference, and a race/class divide in the school and community. Possible resolutions to the problems faced by these students may include teacher training and dialect awareness classes. This field has not been adequately explored and further research is needed to discover viable solutions to the issues experienced by dialect speakers of Indigenous English in the Standard English classroom. |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Sterzuk, Andrea. |
author_facet |
Sterzuk, Andrea. |
author_sort |
Sterzuk, Andrea. |
title |
Dialect speakers, academic achievement, and power : First Nations and Métis children in standard English classrooms in Saskatchewan |
title_short |
Dialect speakers, academic achievement, and power : First Nations and Métis children in standard English classrooms in Saskatchewan |
title_full |
Dialect speakers, academic achievement, and power : First Nations and Métis children in standard English classrooms in Saskatchewan |
title_fullStr |
Dialect speakers, academic achievement, and power : First Nations and Métis children in standard English classrooms in Saskatchewan |
title_full_unstemmed |
Dialect speakers, academic achievement, and power : First Nations and Métis children in standard English classrooms in Saskatchewan |
title_sort |
dialect speakers, academic achievement, and power : first nations and métis children in standard english classrooms in saskatchewan |
publisher |
McGill University |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=103297 |
op_coverage |
Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Second Language Education.) |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
First Nations Metis |
genre_facet |
First Nations Metis |
op_relation |
alephsysno: 002672634 proquestno: AAINR38650 Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=103297 |
op_rights |
© Andrea Sterzuk, 2007 |
_version_ |
1766001329220616192 |