Investigation A
Here are some statements for you to consider. If possible, discuss them with colleagues. Print the statements off and, next to each one, note down an example from your personal experience or that of your students, or make a comment.
- The way you speak reflects who you are. If you speak in an accent that is different from what is considered usual, or use different words, you feel uncomfortable.
- Family, friends, and colleagues are likely to tease you if you start speaking differently (for example, in a ‘posher’ accent, more formally, or in a less ‘educated’ way).
- When you speak another language, you feel a bit different and not entirely relaxed.
- When you speak another language, you feel you can’t express yourself as well as usual.
- As an adolescent, you have to make choices about how much you are going to conform to, or diverge from, the expectations of your family and friends.
- If you decide as a young person to put a lot of effort into academic study, it may separate you to some extent from friends or family members who have not followed the same path.
- If you go to live in another place and stop using your first language a lot, you feel a sense of sadness and homesickness.
- You become a slightly different person after spending several years being very involved in learning something new.
Pasifika learners in New Zealand and identity issues
Most Pasifika learners will experience some of the feelings and choices described in the statements above. This means that they and their parents may have to make some difficult choices or juggle some conflicting factors in their lives. (See Franken, May, and McComish, 2005, pages 39–43.) Some of these issues are discussed in the video clip Parents and bilingual learning .
Pasifika researchers Anae and Pasikale have identified three different types of identity commonly available to Pasifika youth. The differences are based on the extent to which the person relates to the Pasifika cultural traditions and practices, including the languages, of their parents and grandparents.
- Traditional identity: Keen to follow and preserve traditions.
- New Zealand blend: Tries to keep the Pasifika culture alive, while blending it with other New Zealand cultural practices and life choices.
- New Zealand made: Mainly follows New Zealand mainstream cultural practices.
Pasikale writes about these identity issues:
… suffice to say that ‘identity’ is a critical issue for many Pacific Islands learners, and understanding the issues can mean the difference to our positive cultural continuity and the alienation of a generation more comfortable with other forms of sub-culture. It can also mean the difference to continued academic failure and educational success based on the realities of future Pacific Islands generations. I have come to appreciate that ‘identity’ is not a static product but a process of constant navigation, based on a core of convictions that provide a foundation for self-acceptance.
(Cited in Coxon et al., 2002, page 91)
Various conflicts related to other students, friends, family, schooling, and the wider community may push Pasifika students to reject success in curriculum learning and academic English, and/or to reject the continued development of their home language.
The best educational outcomes for students come about when they are able to use both their home language and English in their schooling, in a context where they are both valued. This reduces identity conflicts for Pasifika students and motivates them to learn both languages and succeed at school.
The section Being bilingual explores this in more detail. As well, students discuss this issue in the video clip Value of bilingualism , and you can read what some secondary students have to say on the subject in the associated material Student views on language .
