THE CARNIVAL: INFLUENCES ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE

LEARNING OF ADOLESCENT TRANSNATIONAL STUDENTS

By

CORI-ANNE KLASSEN

A GRADUATING PAPER SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT

OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF EDUCATION

in

THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES

Department of Language and Literacy Education

We accept this major paper as conforming

to the required standard

…………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………..

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

February, 2012.

© Cori-Anne Klassen, 2012.

Abstract

English language learners face a daunting challenge, particularly when the English

language education begins late in their teen years. Immigrant and international students who

enter the B. C. school system at the secondary level often negotiate a more difficult path through

adolescence than that of their more experienced or native English speaking peers. To set a

foundation for a discussion of potential interventions, this paper reviews the concepts of identity

and investment in language learning in conjunction with students’ future desires or imagined

communities. An investigation of the mitigating effects of social relationships and mental health

issues on ELLs’ identity and investment furthers an understanding of the complexity of language

learning. In the “Connections for Practice” section, I offer practical suggestions for creating a

culturally sensitive social and health support system that incorporates both face-to-face

interactions and technology-based resources. In conclusion, I draw from my own experiences as

an English as an Additional Language specialist and teacher at a public secondary school to

underscore the sometimes dire need for a variety of respectful cross-cultural support systems

specific to the concerns of adolescent English language learners and the people who care for

them.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract……………………………………………………………………………..… ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………………… iii

Acknowledgments…………………………………………………………………….. iv

I. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………… 1

II. LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………………… 3

III. CONNECTIONS FOR PRACTICE…………………………………………… 13

1. Building a Support Network………………………………………………. 13

1.1. School-based Multicultural Club………………………………………… 13

1.2. Multicultural Club Web Site and Blog….………………………………… 16

2. A Technological Network for Academic, Social and Health Issues………. 17

2.1. English as an Additional Language Blog……..………………………….. 17

2.2. Networking Links………………………………………………………… 18

2.3. Physical and Mental Health Resources…………………………………... 18

IV. CONCLUSIONS……………………………………………………………… 20

Appendix 1…………………………………………………………………………… 22

Appendix 2…………………………………………………………………………… 22

REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………. 23

iii

Acknowledgments

This valuable and enlightening experience would have been impossible without the open-

mindedness of the University of British Columbia as an institution of higher learning willing to

develop an off-campus cohort graduate program; more specifically, it would never have

happened without the commitment of the staff and faculty of the Department of Language and

Literacy Education. Thank you to the staff who answered every query, to the instructors who

used email and other technology to provide feedback and support, and especially to the

professors who left family and a beautiful campus behind on a regular basis and cultivated an

educational environment of mutual sharing and respect. I’d like to express my gratitude in

particular to Dr. Bonny Norton and Dr. Steven Talmy for sharing their insight, experience and

passion, and for looking after us even during the times when each was technically on leave.

The absolutely unconditional love and unwavering support of my family has inspired me

to soar despite bouts of acrophobia. I am overwhelmed by the generosity and encouragement of

my husband, son and daughter: together we are the tree that provides a refuge on which we

alight and a resilient foundation from which we take flight. My parents, of course, are the

expansive root system from which stability, strength and common sense grow: thank you for the

knowledge that you are and have always been proud. I dedicate this work to my loving and

loved family.

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I. INTRODUCTION

Given a stable, nurturing and pedagogically sound learning environment, one would

expect adolescent English language learners enrolled in secondary schools to take advantage of

every opportunity to advance their language acquisition in order to achieve success in school and

in their new community. However, educators and researchers involved in second language

learning consistently witness students’ “resistance and non-participation” seemingly resulting

from an “ambivalence towards learning English” (Norton, 2001, p. 159). Teachers of ELLs are

often frustrated by a student who is capable, appears willing to learn, has plans of graduation and

post-secondary education, but who does very little and makes little or no language learning

progress. In confronting this dilemma, educators must realize that a “newcomer’s socialization

into academic discourse is far more complex than their unproblematically appropriating

established knowledge and skills” (Morita, 2004, p. 577).

As an English as an Additional Language secondary school teacher in the public system,

in a relatively short career experience thus far, I have come across numerous examples of

immigrant and international students who demonstrate apathy, resistance or deeply inconsistent

learning trajectories despite a conducive learning environment, ample resources and a self-

professed desire to acquire fluency in English. My classroom experiences have been illuminated

and clarified by the reading of second language acquisition theory and scholarly articles which

has led me to align myself with poststructuralist theories, New Literacy Studies researchers and

research with ethnographic methodology. Consequently, I adhere to a social constructionist

position that the concepts of identity, investment and imagined communities more fully explain

“the socially and historically constructed relationship of learners to the target language and their

sometimes ambivalent desire to learn and practice it” (Norton & Gao, 2008, p. 110).

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The changeable nature of the concepts identified by Norton is further complicated in

practice by the influence of the students’ relationships and, often significantly, by their physical

and mental well-being. One study of the effect of acculturative stress, mental health symptoms

and levels of social support among Korean international university students indicated that

students experiencing stress “but with a high level of social support” exhibited lower mental

health symptoms than students with similar stress but less social support (Lee, Koeske, & Sales,

2004, p. 410). Though it argues from a socio-affective perspective, another article extends that

feelings of low self-worth, vulnerability and helplessness “can lead to depression” (Brilliant,

Lvovich, & Markson, 1995, p. 58). A shifting physical and emotional state may, at any given

time, enhance or subvert the learner’s sense of self, future desires and language acquisition.

Employing the extended metaphor of a carnival, the following literature review discusses

the effect of the dynamic sociocultural factors of identity, investment and imagined communities,

the importance of social support systems and the sinister influence of mental health concerns on

language learners and their language learning. The Connections for Practice section

demonstrates possible intervention strategies that educators can utilize in a high school

environment to better support newcomer students and their families. Finally, I conclude that

further research and use of technological mediums are necessary to try to meet the needs of

adolescents struggling to find themselves and their place in a local community and a global

world.

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II. LITERATURE REVIEW

Identity, Imagined Communities, and Investment: The Carnival

Loud party music and conflicting odours emanate from the center of town where the

carnival has been temporarily erected, drawing crowds eager and reluctant. It is a sensory

spectacle that appears often unexpectedly and that is met with both enthusiasm and suspicion.

Preparations ensue: what to wear, what to do, who to go with? Games, food, music, strangers

and risky activities entice those seeking change, movement, and pleasure. The event is

overwhelming, delightful and fleeting; the grounds, empty once again, deny that anything of

significance ever took place.

Adolescence is an often unpredictable time filled with anticipation, apprehension,

excitement, self-doubt and fear: the carnival. Young people try on and discard costumes,

disguise themselves under wigs and masks and dream about events ahead in an attempt to

establish their place in the world, in their own minds and the minds of others. This time of

identity construction, particularly for English language learners, is embedded in social practice

which Norton Peirce (1995) defined as “a site of struggle…multiple and contradictory” (p. 15).

In her study of two Korean students’ online literacy practices, Yi concurred that transnational

youth, those who regularly travel across virtual or physical geographical and cultural borders,

negotiate identity “in multiple, conflicting and ambivalent ways” (2009, p. 107). Psychological

studies have explored the relationship between immigrant identity and successful integration into

host cultures but limit the concept to either ethnic or national identity; some researchers

recognized that elements involved in identity were complex but readily admitted that, in their

field, evidence is “inclusive,” inconsistent or unavailable (Phinney, Horenczyk, Liebkind, &

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Vedder, 2001, p. 504). In a classroom setting, identity is co-constructed, reciprocal and “the

same learner can negotiate different identities and participate variously in different contexts”

(Morita, 2004, p. 596). Those who work with or observe students in a language learning context

understand that learners alternately or concurrently wear one or more identities, may anticipate

or fear future events, and often vacillate over their participation in the carnival at all.

Going to and staying to play at the carnival often depends on who else is going;

interactions with others at the party may determine the carnival-goer’s level of involvement and

length of stay. The other people at the carnival also influence potential costume changes and

self-confidence. The different people or groups with whom the carnival-goers, or language

learners, interact are their communities of practice, impacting changes in identity and

participation. Lave (1993) established that communities of practice are essential to the fluid

process of identity construction and learning in general. This perspective of engagement in

shared practices was extended by Norton (2001) to include communities beyond those in

physical time and space; imagined communities are those outside the classroom but existing in

past experiences and future hopes. Imagined communities, like identity construction, are

dynamic and evolve over time. As such, imagined communities, actual or anticipated, in concert

with fluctuating identities, “affect [the students’] learning trajectories” (Pavlenko & Norton,

2007, p. 499).

As students engage in language learning, they rearrange their identities and desired

communities of practice within the context of their social and learning conditions; they invest in

the target language learning process with expectations of positive results in terms of access to

social, symbolic and material rewards (Norton, 2001). Each learner’s investment is unique and

adapts to changes in identity and imagined community. Consequently, the connection between

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identities, imagined communities, and language learning must be recognized as complex, while

the definition of being “educated as well as what it means to be a ‘legitimate’ member of a

particular local, global or transnational community” is also complicated (Warriner, 2007, p. 210).

Technological advancements and the internet have significantly broadened possibilities of

imagined memberships for transnational teens. It is obvious then that imagined communities are

not just possible but powerful “and that investment in such imagined communities strongly

influences identity construction and engagement in learning” (Kanno & Norton, 2003, p. 247).

Relationships in those communities, real or imagined, impact language learning.

Investment, Relationships and Non-Participation: The Midway

Revellers on the midway are inundated by cacophonous sound, vivid visual stimuli,

intoxicating smells and a seemingly endless choice of activities. People, mostly pairs and small

groups of friends, wander from game to food kiosk to ride; some observe, others participate

eagerly and a few reluctant souls are dragged onto precariously dangling seats. One or two

refuse: a parent watches her child ride a carousel seahorse, heart sinking every time he travels

out of sight but not panicked enough to humiliate herself by perching on the frog next to him; a

group of young men turn their backs on a companion whose feet are firmly planted on the

ground away from the wooden roller coaster queue.

Positive and negative interactions with activities, educational programs and other people,

in addition to identity construction, determine a learner’s investment in language learning and in

their community, real or imagined. In fact, as do the carnival-goers, “individuals continuously

engage in …who they are in relation to others and in revising their sense of self while interacting

and observing how others position themselves” (Yi, 2009, p. 103). The mother watched her

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child from afar despite her apprehension, but she may have risked embarrassment had her child

been less confident riding the carousel alone; the boy may have succumbed to peer pressure to

participate in the undesired activity had he a pleasurable prior experience, more money for

tickets or a girlfriend pulling him along.

The language learning classroom is an environment that brings to the forefront issues of

identity, investment and non-participation. The desires of the student and the pedagogical

practices of the teacher create potential for power struggles and misunderstanding in spite of

good intentions on both sides. Norton developed the construct of investment to explain why

“high levels of motivation did not necessarily result in ‘good’ language learning” (Norton &

Toohey, 2011, p. 420). In his analysis of teacher-student interactions in a high school ESL

classroom in Hawaii, Talmy stated that marginalization of students by a stigmatized program

structure, disrespectful educational practice and tolerance of negative peer relationships often

resulted in student resistance or non-participation demonstrated “by behaving defiantly in class,

disobeying instructions, and performing poorly on assignments” despite demonstrated

competence in other academic areas (2009, p. 237). The teacher’s intention was to improve

learners’ language skills and the students were motivated to be released from the ESL program,

but the teacher’s verbal interactions with students, his attitude toward the educational program

and his acceptance of student bullying severely diminished his students’ investment in language

learning.

While arguing the benefits of bilingual immersion programs, Reyes and Vallone (2007)

agreed that the deficit-perspective “subtractive models…[made students aware] that their own

language and culture [were] not valued” (p. 8). Not surprisingly, “disjunctures between the

teacher’s conception of language, and that of the learners, [may lead to] conflict and resistance”

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(Norton & Gao, 2008, p. 118). Conflict may be obvious but resistance may be quite subtle.

Morita’s analysis of the experiences of six adult students from Japan in a Canadian university’s

graduate program found that “students were actively negotiating their multiple roles and

identities in the classroom even when they appeared passive or withdrawn” (2004, p. 587). The

students demonstrated agency by employing strategies of withdrawal from and avoidance of

activities or discussions. It became obvious that “learner agency…is not always a peaceful,

collaborative process, but [instead can be] a struggle involving a web of power relations”

(Morita, 2004, p. 597).

When learners are not invested in the target language, classroom or community, their

resulting exclusion or choice of non-participation may be viewed as a lack of motivation rather

than recognized as resistance to “unequal power relations” (Norton & Toohey, 2011, p. 421). As

investment is linked to identity and imagined communities, these constructs must be

acknowledged, especially by second/additional language teachers, in order to provide learners

with opportunities for positive experiences and success. If imagined communities or diverse

identities are not recognized by educators, non-participation may be intensified (Norton, 2001).

Unfortunately, many students are positioned as deficient by educators and peers simply because

of their identity as English language learners (Pavlenko & Norton, 2007). As Norton’s study of

two adult English language learners in Canada finds, “non-participation was not an opportunity

for learning from a position of peripherality, but an act of resistance from a position of

marginality” (2001, p. 165). The women in the study were not able to link their language

learning or community/work experiences to their imagined selves and communities and thereby

resisted interactions forced upon them by others.

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Resistance and non-participation are valid responses and may have both positive and

negative outcomes on language learning situations and on relationships within the participants’

communities of practice, real or imagined. Teenagers in particular may face unique struggles

because “it is possible that the imagined communities of these teenagers are incompatible with

future reality, and may limit their power in social functioning” (Norton & Gao, 2008, p. 116).

When a teenager realizes that access to his imagined community has been thwarted, the need for

social supports may increase in importance.

Teenagers, perhaps more than the adults studied, have broader access to communities and

relationship-building because of their comfortable use of technology. Technological tools and

the internet influence multiple identity construction, imagined community access and investment

of adolescent language learning. Transnational students, immigrant or international, use the

internet and technology to “maintain ties to their heritage language and culture, solidify their

social networks…and make sense of themselves and their worlds” (Yi, 2009, p. 123). Social

networks, physical and virtual, are of primary importance to most teenagers but especially so for

adolescents straddling cultures. Power struggles in the language learning environment are

further complicated by social and emotional concerns common to adolescent development that

are often exacerbated in immigrant and international high school students.

Physical and Mental Well-being: The Funhouse

The Funhouse, or House of Mirrors, is the destination of only a few of the carnival-goers.

A black-curtained doorway gives entry to a maze of corridors lined with mirrors of various size

and shape. The halls are lit only well enough to draw participants forward and prevent them

from colliding with one another; those looking for reflections must step close to the mirror’s

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surface or be satisfied with only shadowy glimpses of their own distorted images. Startled

chuckles, hearty guffaws, gasps of dismay and the odd anxious sob accompany them on their

isolating journey; some need a guiding hand on the elbow to find the exit, but all who leave take

a deep breath and blink at the brightness of outside.

The Funhouse, or mental health issues, is of primary concern to me as an educator of

vulnerable and marginalized youth. Though most studies reviewed involved adult immigrant

and international English language learners in colleges, universities or adult ESL programs,

many of the findings can be related to adolescent issues concerning physical and mental health.

Acculturation, the level to which students adapt to the new culture, and types of social and health

support networks are mentioned in all articles reviewed. A study of adult Korean international

students in a university setting focussed on academic achievement as an alert to potential

problems, finding that the students’ “academic difficulties [were often] due to the English

language and the different educational system, financial pressures, psychosocial stressors due to

unfamiliarity with new customs and social norms, and changes in [their] support system, and

intrapersonal and interpersonal problems” (Lee, Koeske, & Sales, 2004, p. 400). Their study

reflected my observations of my own students’ mental health concerns resulting in physical

symptoms of chronic stomach issues, headaches, fatigue and sleep problems. Other potential

complications included feelings of shame and isolation and negative or harmful behaviours of

substance abuse and suicide (Lee et al., 2004). The study notes, however, that the damaging

effects are “lessened in the presence of social support” which includes parents, friends, religious

organizations, teachers, counselors, and student organizations (Lee et al., 2004, p. 402).

There are many barriers preventing learners and their families from accessing support

arising “out of a dynamic interaction between individual and family choice, cultural values and

9

beliefs regarding mental health and help seeking, and contextual and systemic factors such as

the availability of services” (Cauce et al., 2002, p. 46). Though a welcoming community and

relevant support networks “should contribute to psychological well-being…multicultural

education and other multicultural policies have not been consistently implemented” (Phinney,

Horenczyk, Liebkind, & Vedder, 2001, p. 506). Cauce et al (2002) note that a serious void

exists in services specifically designed for immigrant or international adolescents but add that

teens are unlikely to seek out support services, even from friends or family. Lee, Koeske and

Sales admit that more research is necessary with more focus on females and because there may

have been “pre-existing mental health symptoms” in those studied (2004, p. 411). More than

twenty years before, in his review of relevant literature, Aronowitz chastised that “considering

the size and ubiquity of immigrant populations in the schools, relatively little research has been

done into the social and emotional adjustment of these children” (1984, p. 237). Cauce et al

(2002) also expressed dismay that there are so few studies of the role of peer relationships,

particularly as peer interactions are paramount during adolescence. They also recommended

further investigation of the role of culture and context in accessing mental health resources; the

authors of the article questioned policy and treatment for “ethnically diverse youth” that is based

on research with adults and suggested that “understanding the process by which ethnic minority

adolescents and their families identify problems, seek help, and engage in treatment should

consequently be a top priority” (Cauce et al., 2002, p. 52).

Most authors and researchers recognized the challenges facing transnational youth

regarding mental health issues and access of support systems. Mori (2000) identified a scarcity

of cross-culturally trained counselors and stated that “services lack sufficient cultural relevance”

(p. 143). Li and Browne (2000) found that, in their assessment of mental health issues and

10

services among 60 adult Asian immigrants living in northern British Columbia, it was most

common for participants to “seek the help of family members and friends” rather than formal

health providers (p. 152). Their report recommended a

need for more bilingual and bicultural [multicultural/cross-culturally aware] mental

health professionals

need to inform immigrants of Canada’s [and their community’s] mental health care

system through existing social services (ESL classes, immigration services; should be a

brochure, translated)

need to teach mental health professionals the basics of cultural norms and values

regarding mental health issues of minority groups;

sadly, the researchers regretted that immigrants would “likely remain outside of the available

mainstream mental health facilities” (Li & Browne, 2000, p. 155).

Training of staff and development of services for immigrant and international teenagers is

also necessary in the public school system; in fact, the academic success and emotional well-

being of English language learners “may depend on [schools] providing programs that enhance

the social support systems of these students” (Lee, Koeske, & Sales, 2004, p. 412). A generation

ago, Aronowitz identified that “school was the most appropriate and effective social agency for

the delivery of primary and secondary preventative services to immigrant children” (1984, p.

251). Roysicar (2006) developed an American school-based prevention practice framework to

target a wide audience, youth, and to provide easily accessible mental health resources to those

who underutilize them, racial and ethnic minorities. Additionally, the issues addressed “may be

exacerbated for minority youth who are in the process of exploring their sexual identity and

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orientation” (Roysicar, 2006, p. 133). Roysicar emphasized the struggle for identity during

adolescence, but viewed the struggle through a psycho-developmental lens of adolescence;

however, the framework and suggestions for building community and social networks is based

on the promotion of “the social, emotional, and physical well-being of a diverse student body”

(2006, p. 134). Consequently, the challenge is for concerned teachers and counselors with

limited resources and training to provide relevant and culturally-sensitive services for

transnational youth and their families in schools.

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III. CONNECTIONS FOR PRACTICE

My limited experience as an English as an Additional Language teacher in a secondary

school has provided me with an environment in which I have been witness to the constructs of

identity and investment acted out in practice; however, I have also seen non-participation and

resistance result from the complications of social and emotional issues. On a daily basis, I

interact with students who are experiencing stress, loneliness, depression, anxiety and associated

physical symptoms that affect their language learning and lives in general. A most extreme and

distressing circumstance, that of a student who committed suicide, has compelled me to research

and implement support systems to better serve my students as well as those in the wider

community of the school population.

1. Building a Support Network

1.1 School-based Multicultural Club

From September 2008 until June 2011, our school district was fortunate to be a part of a

government-sponsored pilot project designed to support immigrant youth through the Settlement

Workers in Schools initiative. A SWIS worker developed a plan, dubbed the Youth Buddy

program, and regularly met with students who had recently immigrated to Canada and settled in

our city. The group met in the school on a weekly basis to share experiences, discuss concerns,

answer questions, and plan recreational activities. The main thrust of the program was to

provide additional directed support to at-risk youth and to develop an immediate social network

for marginalized students. As the school’s English as an Additional Language specialist and

EAL students’ case manager, I supported this program by offering my classroom for the lunch

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time meetings, arranging for refreshments, coordinating school announcements and introducing

newly-arrived students to the group.

The Youth Buddy program was funded only for immigrant students, but also included

children whose parents were in the country on work, study or visitor visas; international students

were excluded from this group until the 2010-2011 school year by which time I was able to

persuade the coordinator to allow international students to participate as long as the school

provided funding for any cost items, such as food and tickets for recreational activities. By the

third year of the increasingly popular program, the Youth Buddy coordinator was well aware of

the interconnectedness of the immigrant and international youth in the secondary school and

recognized that both segments of the population shared common goals, life experiences and

challenges. He was more than willing to incorporate all interested students but was hindered due

to government policy restrictions; luckily, the school’s principal was delighted to support the

inclusion of international students by allocating funds from a school-based account.

In the spring of 2011, the Youth Buddy coordinator informed us that the pilot project was

coming to an end and that he was moving on to another position in the community; if we wanted

the program to continue, we would have to organize and fund our own school-based group. A

new SWIS worker would continue to attend meetings and act as a connection to community-

based settlement support for immigrant families, but the organizational direction and financial

backing would cease. Though saddened by the loss of the well-liked coordinator, the students

and I found such value in the group’s cohesion and enjoyment in the recreational activities that

we decided the program, or something like it, should continue in the new school year.

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Unfortunately, the newly-dubbed Multicultural Club struggled from its inception, due in

large part to the graduation in June of the majority of the Youth Buddy “old-timers” who had

participated in the three year pilot during grades ten through twelve. The change of name, the

loss of senior participants and transfer of leadership resulted in smaller membership and a lack of

direction. Some continuing students were dismayed that the membership would now include not

only international students, but also any interested person from the student body at large. The

threat of marginalization that was ever-present in day-to-day school life was now seeping into

the previously safe, intimate group of English language learners. However, I encouraged the

students to be open and welcoming; I agreed with Reyes and Vallone that “the ability to develop

and maintain relationships in [multiple] cultures may thus be the key to psychological well-

being” (2007, p. 6). Membership dropped again and meeting attendance became inconsistent for

all but a few core students; interestingly, many of the remaining members were EAL students

who had never participated in the Youth Buddy program and had not received academic or social

support through the school’s EAL program.

The new Multicultural Club needed organization and purpose. The students and I

developed a mission statement and discussed short- and long-term goals for the group (see

Appendix 1). In discussion with the students, it became clear that they wanted to be part of the

group to meet new people, to make friends, to learn about the local community and to share

culture through recreation and food; tellingly, not one student mentioned practicing English

language skills as a motivation for attending club meetings. However, mere participation in the

group provides not only an opportunity to use and improve English in a social setting, but also “a

source of mutual support…related to the building of solidarity” as did the English Club in the

EFL setting discussed in Norton and Gao’s article (2008, p. 111).

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Happily, the fledgling Multicultural Club is gaining momentum: I provide support,

structure and guidance; Chilliwack Community Services provides access to guest speakers and

community-based programs; and a counselor new to our school has recently expressed interest in

lending a hand experienced in putting on multicultural events. Most importantly, membership

has increased due to an infusion of new immigrant and international students from the EAL

program who are taking on more of the organization and planning of events. On average, seven

to ten students currently take part in regular meetings. That the group provides necessary social

supports is obvious in its self-proclaimed duty to welcome and assist newcomer youth in their

adjustment to a new country, language, culture and social milieu. However, the social context is

also underlined in the manner in which the group plans to highlight and share the diverse cultures

within the school; the long-term goal is a year-end Cultural Food Fair, planned and executed in

conjunction with the Aboriginal Student Support program and the school’s cafeteria program. It

is an ambitious and exciting event that we hope will promote not only recognition and

acceptance of diversity, but also an atmosphere of inclusion within the school that eventually

will be disseminated throughout our community.

1.2. Multicultural Club Web Site and Blog

I have developed a web site dedicated to the Multicultural Club, in addition to a regularly

updated blog; I currently maintain the web site and the blog, but eventually the latter may be

maintained by student leaders within the club itself, under my supervision. The web site serves

as a means of communicating with club members as well as with students and staff throughout

the school; as it is a public site linked from the school’s homepage, parents and any other

interested party in the community or across the world also has access to the information on the

site (see Appendix 2). Both the site and the blog are in the beginning stages of development and

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will continue to evolve over time. The web site currently highlights the club’s mission statement

and goals, provides a monthly calendar of activities and includes announcements about and links

to relevant school and community resources and activities. The link to the club’s blog gives

students and the community access to on-going plans and current activities. I am working on

incorporating a student-written blog to facilitate communication among club members and

further foster a safe environment for the virtual social network aspect of the Multicultural Club.

The club and blog will hopefully provide a place for students to safely and respectfully practice

English language skills and explore important identity issues like race, gender and sexual

orientation that may not be adequately addressed in their educational programs (Norton &

Toohey, 2011).

2. A Technological Network for Academic, Social and Health Concerns

2.1. EAL Home Page (Blog)

The school’s home page provides a link to our new English as an Additional Language

blog (see Appendix 2). Students will find a Welcome Page that invites them to peruse a

regularly updated blog for the locally developed 4-credit English Language Acquisition Support

(ELAS 10, 11 &12) courses, as well as information relating to EAL support services in the

school, post-secondary requirements and links to academic and social connections. My students

are the blog’s primary audience, but parents/caregivers and the community at large also have

access as it is a public site. The EAL blog is another virtual social and language learning support

network although students will not be able to post on the site. It is likely students and their

parents will most often use the site to access the academic and health information in addition to

17

course-specific updates. I have asked for feedback from students, staff, parents and community

members and will be revising and adding to the links as necessary.

2.2. Networking Links

The use of technology helps me to address “the challenge for educators…to provide

support systems that respect diversity and are available to…adolescents yet are responsive to

individual circumstance” (Reyes & Vallone, 2007, p. 10). A wide variety of inclusive sites and

documents are linked from the EAL blog under the headings of school links, post-secondary

information, information for newcomers, and social connections. Potentially, the most important

links may be to the new Multicultural Club web site and blog; the majority of students are

already involved in social networks like Facebook and Tumblr, but the Multicultural Club blog

will encourage club members to develop relationships with local peers in both the virtual and

physical realm.

2.3. Physical and Mental Health Resources

The health links provide quick access to physical and mental health resources for parents

and students, focussing on culturally sensitive materials for teenagers and their caregivers. The

resources range from alternative medicine information to translated health materials; notably,

three links also offer online support for students and adults regarding physical and mental health

issues facing youth. In particular, the Inter Cultural Online Network (iCON) is a project

maintained by UBC’s Faculty of Medicine eHealth Strategy Office. iCON works with health

care professionals across the province of British Columbia and hosts public health forums, live

and virtual, to provide “health education in ways that respect the communities’ different cultures

and needs” (UBC, 2010). In addition to live forums, iCON uses technological mediums such as

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webcasts, You-Tube, Facebook, live polling with mobile phones, and its web site to educate

culturally diverse communities about the care and management of chronic disease and mental

wellness.

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IV. CONCLUSIONS

The connections to practice I have initiated are grounded in Norton Peirce’s notion that it

is the EAL teacher’s responsibility to engage students in activities that not only facilitate

language learning, but affirm their identities and worth outside the classroom (1995). Access to

and participation in the new language and culture is complicated by the teen’s own struggle with

identity and consequent changeable investment in the language learning process over time.

However, schools, EAL programs and individual teachers “have the opportunity to profoundly

influence identity construction through their pedagogical and curricular stance and their ability to

provide services and to forge alliances with parents, families, and communities” (Reyes &

Vallone, 2007, p. 10). Use of technology is one effective way to involve all stakeholders,

especially when dealing with adolescents.

Educators have a responsibility to create learning conditions and opportunities in which

language development is inherent to facilitate student learning and expression (Yi, 2009).

Norton and Gao encouraged English language teachers to provide an environment that is “non-

threatening, supportive…friendly and welcoming” (2008, p. 118). It is my intention to maintain

a safe and stimulating environment for English language learners in my school, and it is my goal

to open new spaces for students “to make use of multimodal resources, including linguistic,

bodily, and sensory modes, in order to engage in representing meaning” (Norton & Toohey,

2011, p. 431). Additionally, as with most teenagers, ELLs’ social relationships and interactions

have potent positive and negative effects on how they see and feel about themselves which, in

turn, impacts their language acquisition and success. Student resistance and non-participation

may have positive or negative outcomes for learners themselves or for the educational

experience of which they are a part; however, the struggle always creates change and recognition

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of this process ultimately empowers the language learner (Norton & Toohey, 2011). Norton and

Toohey (2011) insist that educators must be not only aware of learners’ identities and imagined

communities, but that they also provide opportunities to bring those dynamic elements into play

by incorporating literacy practices from outside (digital modes such as blogs, IM, role plays,

social networking, etc.) into the school environment. The formation of a multicultural club with

an integrated student-written blog is one way to support this development. By recognizing and

embracing their multiple identities and dynamic imagined communities, I hope to facilitate

deeper and more consistent investment of students in their own language learning process.

Finally, the insidious power of mental health concerns ranging from stress and anxiety to

severe depression may undermine the best of intentions and the most ideal of language learning

conditions. Unfortunately, there is a relative vacuum of information focused on adolescents,

immigrant and international, regarding mental health issues and supports. Most research was

done with adult subjects and acknowledged that the existing supports are primarily “geared to the

mainstream English-speaking population (Li, & Browne, 2000, p. 145). However, researchers at

the University of Victoria who completed a youth-oriented study of Chinese immigrants,

focusing on ethnic identity and its influence on academic achievement and psychological well-

being, proposed that “schools that…foster a sense of acceptance for cultural diversity provide a

safe place for youth” (Costigan, Koryzma, Hua, & Chance, 2010, p. 270). It is my hope that the

school-based club and use of technological mediums will offer immigrant and international

English language learners both physical and virtual spaces “where they [can] embrace and

explore their transnational and transcultural identities” (Yi, 2009, p. 117).

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Appendix 1

Appendix 2

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Multicultural Club Mission Statement

To encourage awareness and understanding of the diverse nature of our community through a sharing of cultures; to build mutual respect through participation in

recreational and educational activities.

Our mandate is to

promote and support diversity in our school and local community organize events that will help establish an environment of learning and sharing

among cultures offer activities for friendship and recreation develop an environment that provides social and academic support for students

new to our community

Social Network Web Links

Multicultural Club: https://sites.google.com/site/sssmulticulturalclub/

http://intersectionofcultures.blogspot.com/

EAL Home Page: http://multilingual-sardis.blogspot.com/

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