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
Phone: 204-293-6188
Outline
• Overarching research topic
• Theoretical framework
• Methodology
• Findings
• Implication and suggestions
• Future research directions
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?
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)
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)
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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.
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.
