Cultural identity in bilingual schools

ARTÍCULO DE INVESTIGACIÓN RESEARCH REPORT Cultural identity in bilingual schools Identidad cultural en colegios bilingües próxima zona Katia E. Pretelt M. Composición Gisela Savdie http://www.giselasavdie.com Todas somos muñecas rotas zona próxima Revista del Instituto de Estudios en Educación Universidad del Norte nº 24 enero-junio, 2016 ISSN 2145-9444 (electrónica) http://dx.doi.org/10.14482/zp.24.8728 KATIA E. PRETELT M. Magister en la enseñanza del inglés, Universidad del Norte. f e c h a d e r e c e p c i ó n : 5 de febrero de 2015 f e c h a d e a c e p ta c i ó n : 21 de junio de 2016 Palabras claves: culture, identity, intercultural competences. RESUMEN A BSTRA CT The present research study sought to analyze if the daily and systematic teaching of a foreign culture within the context of a bilingual school in Barranquilla constituted a risk factor for mainstream cultural identity. Research objectives aimed at determining to what degree learners used foreign cultural markers and at characterizing how school community perceived status of foreign culture. Primary data collected came from a group of fifth grade students. The research study used a qualitative approach with an ethnographic case study design. Concepts explored in theoretical framework are culture, language, identity, and intercultural competences. Research results indicate that learners have not adopted a foreign cultural identity and that mainstream culture prevails in school ground. It is inferred based on results that the teaching of a foreign culture does not necessarily compromise mainstream cultural identity. However, further research is necessary to specify which factors safeguarded community’s cultural identity from foreign one. El presente estudio de investigación buscó analizar si la enseñanza diaria y sistemática de una cultura extranjera en el contexto de un colegio bilingüe en Barranquilla constituyó un factor de riesgo para la identidad cultural local. El objetivo de la investigación buscó determinar con qué frecuencia los estudiantes utilizaban marcadores culturales extranjeros y caracterizar como la comunidad educativa percibía el estatus de la cultura extranjera. Las fuentes de datos primarios provinieron de un grupo de alumnos de quinto grado. La investigación utilizó un enfoque cualitativo con un diseño de estudio de caso etnográfico. Los conceptos explorados en el marco teórico son la cultura, el idioma, la identidad y las competencias interculturales. Los resultados de la investigación indican que los alumnos no han adoptado una identidad cultural extranjera y que la cultura local domina el contexto escolar. Se infiere, con base en los resultados, que la enseñanza de una cultura extranjera no compromete necesariamente la identidad cultural local. Sin embargo, se necesita más investigación para especificar cuáles son los factores que protegieron la identidad cultural de la comunidad de la cultura extranjera. Keywords: cultura, identidad, competencias interculturales. Identidad cultural en colegio bilingues develop better communicative skills based on a deeper understanding of cultural differences, as well as a more opened attitude towards others, free of prejudice, stereotypes, and clichés as pointed out by Cakir (2006): INTRODUCTION Does the daily teaching and socialization of a foreign culture jeopardize language learner´s mainstream cultural identity? As the use of language in general is related to social and cultural values, language is considered to be a social and cultural phenomenon. Since every culture has its own cultural norms for conversation and these norms differ from one culture to another, some of the norms can be completely different and conflict with other cultures’ norms. Consequently, communication problems may arise among speakers who do not know or share the norms of other cultures. (p.154) Current foreign language instruction highlights the importance of incorporating into the language curriculum the cultural components of the target language. By doing so, language instruction seeks to develop not only linguistic skills but also new cognitive schemes and positive emotional responses to foreign cultures. Yi Qu (2010) emphasized that language should not be depleted from its cultural meaning making system in which it is deeply embedded and that language fluency per se without any awareness of its cultural implications does not assist nor enhance learners’ cognitive and social skills. Furthermore, she pointed out that reading of a material or interactions carried out in the foreign language without the full understanding of its pauses and gestures certainly led to a limited access of its full interpretation. By the same terms, Agha (2003) emphasized that foreign language cultural differences make themselves obvious not only between people of different nationalities, but also among people of the same country, where the inhabitants speak the same language, but with different accents. More so, Molinsky (2005) explained that the relevance of the cultural components of a language become obvious when foreign language speakers confront challenging situations when expected to perform accordingly within the culture of the foreign language. He added that if foreign language speakers seek to be evaluated positively by natives of the foreign language, then norms and social expectations must be complied with. Communication as Caldwell (2005) explained is not just functional language, but more of a window into an individual´s sense of being. Moreover, communication as stated by Mindess (2006) can be many times taken for granted when perceived as just a simple process of encoding and decoding, where sender and receiver exchange linguistic features of a common language, be it spoken, written, or sign language. However, community members do not always perceive this connection between language instruction and culture as positive. Many times stakeholders consider this integration an attempt in promoting foreign ideals and a cultural invasion. The culture of the target language is seen as a risk factor that might weaken own cultural set of values and beliefs. The present article will discuss research project carried out in a bilingual school in Barranquilla, Colombia. The objective of the research study sought to determine if the teaching and socialization of a foreign culture jeopardized learners´ cultural identity. In order to do so, the research project focused on examining behavioral and By exposing students to foreign cultural values and beliefs, second language instruction seeks to Z O N A P R Ó X I M A N º 24 (2016) PÁGS. 13-27 ISSN 2145-9444 (electrónica) 15 Katia E. Pretelt M. language preferences of a group of students who had experienced the school’s language teaching approach for more than five years and on analyzing how foreign culture was perceived by the school community. Some cultural markers include: literature, music, artifacts, lands (...truncated)