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ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE: COMMUNICATION AND CULTURAL BARRIERS OF HIGHLY QUALIFIED IMMIGRANT PROFESSIONALS IN WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA Lei Wang Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba [email protected] Phone: 204-293-6188

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ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE:. COMMUNICATION AND CULTURAL BARRIERS OF HIGHLY QUALIFIED IMMIGRANT PROFESSIONALS IN WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA. Lei Wang Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba [email protected] Phone: 204-293-6188. Outline. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Page 1: ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE:

ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE:

COMMUNICATION AND CULTURAL BARRIERS OF HIGHLY QUALIFIED IMMIGRANT PROFESSIONALS

IN WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA

Lei Wang

Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba

[email protected]

Phone: 204-293-6188

Page 2: ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE:

Outline

• Overarching research topic

• Theoretical framework

• Methodology

• Findings

• Implication and suggestions

• Future research directions

Page 3: ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE:

Overarching Research Topics

What are the experiences and perceptions of new immigrant professionals enrolled in ELT programs of the communication and cultural challenges when trying to re-enter their professions in Canada? And what are the perceived roles the ELT programs played in their re-entry?

Page 4: ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE:

Background Information

• Background: Language training services

• - LINC (Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada); focus on developing basic English skills for settlement;1992.

• - ELT (Enhanced Language Training) initiatives;

– Launched in 2003– Starting in 2004, the federal government invest $20

million annually– Higher levelled (CLB 7-10)– Occupational-specific language training– Targeting immigrant professionals integrating into

Canadian labour market(CCLB ELT project final report, 2004; CIC, 2005)

Page 5: ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE:

Theoretical Framework

• Language Socialization theory (Gumperz, 1982; Schieffelin & Ochs, 1986; Duff, 2001)

• Community of Practices theory (COP) (Lave & Wenger, 1991)

– Community of practice

– Apprentice and mentors

– Legitimate peripheral participation (LPP)

Page 6: ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE:

Methodology

• Research method: case study

• Study contexts: (three Enhanced Language Training/ELT programs)

ELT programs

Medicine Engineering Finance

• Framing my study:• Three professional communities of practices (COP)• Six immigrant professionals; two from each profession• Trying to re-enter their target professional COPs• Communication and cultural barriers encountered in re-entry

Page 7: ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE:

Methodology

• Data sources– Interviews

• With six immigrant professionals- two from each profession• With three ELT program instructors- one from each program

– Documentation• Course descriptions• Part of the course materials• Available information about the three ELT programs on the

internet

Page 8: ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE:

Findings• Finding 1: Aspects of communication and cultural challenges in

re-entry (blocking fully demonstrating and using professional skills)

How to enter the target

professional system

Aspects of challenges in re-entry

LPP opportunities

& Mentors

Preparing to enter the Canadian

labour marketWorking in

Canada

Page 9: ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE:

Findings

• Finding 2: Professional language re-socialization provided in three ELT programs

Re-entry and the target professional

COP

LPP opportunities and mentors

Communication and different practices in the target profession

in Canada.

Professional job preparation

Page 10: ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE:

Implication and Suggestions

• ELT programs:

– equips immigrant professionals with the language and culturally recognized tools needed to make full use of their professional skills and talents in Canada.

– should be further developed and continued; made more accessible; and ultimately benefit the Canadian economy by increasing the integration and utilization of these highly qualified skilled people.

Page 11: ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE:

Implication and Suggestions

• LPP opportunities: a model similar to ELT Banking should be promoted across all other ELT fields,

– pre-training in the classroom

– followed by a paid internship in the working environment

– with assigned mentors to each student

– Employing this model across other ELT fields would require the active involvement of the respective employers for delivery

Page 12: ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE:

Implication and Suggestions

• Cross-cultural education from the other end:

– Employers in various fields should be made aware of the initial efforts made by the involved banks in the ELT Banking programs, and encouraged to follow-suit by educating their existing staff and increasing their cross-cultural awareness

– Only through mutual efforts from both sides will an environment be created in which professionals from various socio-cultural backgrounds can thrive together.

Page 13: ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE:

Future Research Directions • Very little research using the Language Socialization and

Communities of Practice theories has been conducted outside academic settings.

• The two theories have proven very useful in the area of immigrant professionals’ integration into Canadian labor market.

• There is a lot of room in this area that calls for more investigation, especially by incorporating ethnographic investigation with field observations on all aspects of the re-entry process.

• Could provide a deeper understanding on issues of integrating highly skilled, internationally trained professional into the Canadian labor market, and can also extend the use of these two theories into more diverse fields.