Cultural identity and learning English as a second language in South Africa

1
Cultural identity and learning English as a
second language in South Africa

• Guest lecture (17 January 2008)
• Master class in intercultural communication, UU

2
Overview

• Practical arrangements concerning language use
  during the session
• Contextualization
• Language in education policy in SA
• Language policy at the NWU?
• Cultural identity and learning English as a
  second language in SA

3
Language use

• Slides are in English, is that OK?
• I am a bilingual Afrikaans-English South African
  Afrikaans is my home language
• I fully understand Dutch, and speak my own
  idiosyncratic version of it!
• Use mainly English, with some repetitions in
  Afrikaans and/or Dutch, if you want?

4
Contextualisation

• Who am I?
• Why do I visit Utrecht University as a guest
  researcher?
• Where is South Africa?
• Language in education policy in SA

5
Who am I?

• Name is Susan Coetzee-Van Rooy
• Main job at the North-West University (NWU) in
  South Africa is institutional Director for
  Academic Development and Support
• academic staff development,
• student academic development,
• use of technology to supplement teaching and
  learning
• Extraordinary associate professor at the research
  group in the School of Languages
• Main research interests at the moment are
• Cultural identity and English second language
  learning
• South Korean families in Potchefstroom SA that
  learn English
• Multilingual language policy education and
  administration

6
Why do I visit UU?

• To get some time to write away from the office

7
Where is South Africa?
8
Where is the North-West Province?
9
Where is Potchefstroom?
10
Home language by province (percentages)
  EasternCape FreeState Gauteng Kwazulu-Natal Mpuma-langa NorthernCape NorthernProvince NorthWest WesternCape SouthAfrica
Afrikaans 9.6 14.5 16.7 1.6 8.3 69.3 2.2 7.5 59.2 14.4
English 3.7 1.3 13.0 15.8 2.0 2.4 0.4 1.0 20.3 8.6
IsiNdebele 0.0 0.2 1.6 0.0 12.5 0.0 1.5 1.3 0.1 1.5
IsiXhosa 83.8 9.4 7.5 1.6 1.3 6.3 0.2 5.4 19.1 17.9
IsiZulu 0.4 4.8 21.5 79.8 25.4 0.3 0.7 2.5 0.1 22.9
Sepedi 0.0 0.2 9.5 0.0 10.5 0.0 52.7 4.0 0.0 9.2
Sesotho 2.2 62.1 13.1 0.5 3.2 0.9 1.1 5.1 0.4 7.7
SiSwati 0.0 0.1 1.3 0.1 30.0 0.0 1.2 0.5 0.0 2.5
Setswana 0.0 6.5 7.9 0.0 2.7 19.9 1.4 67.2 0.1 8.2
Tshivenda 0.0 0.1 1.4 0.0 0.1 0.0 15.5 0.4 0.0 2.2
Xitsonga 0.0 0.5 5.3 0.0 3.5 0.0 22.6 4.7 0.0 4.4
Other 0.2 0.3 1.3 0.5 0.4 0.8 0.3 0.5 0.6 0.6
Total 0.2 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Excluding unspecified.
11
Home language by province (numbers)
  EasternCape FreeState Gauteng Kwazulu-Natal Mpuma-langa NorthernCape NorthernProvince NorthWest WesternCape SouthAfrica
Afrikaans 600,253 379,994 1,213,352 136,223 230,348 577,585 109,224 249,502 2,315,067 5,811,547
English 233,376 35,154 947,571 1,316,047 54,839 19,902 21,261 34,106 795,211 3,457,467
IsiNdebele 1,248 4,454 114,899 1,231 346,337 287 72,506 42,833 3,165 586,961
IsiXhosa 5,250,524 245,101 543,698 132,223 36,378 52,689 8,597 178,931 747,977 7,196,118
IsiZulu 25,323 125,082 1,559,520 6,658,442 706,816 2,300 36,253 82,068 4,341 9,200,144
Sepedi 2,572 4,708 688,607 1,775 291,923 259 2,572,491 132,374 1,136 3,695,846
Sesotho 139,671 1,625,953 953,239 45,677 90,011 7,419 56,002 171,549 14,676 3,104,197
SiSwati 897 3,592 92,154 7,344 834,133 90 57,149 17,272 562 1,013,193
Setswana 863 171,252 573,104 2,147 75,202 165,781 70,339 2,239,774 3,311 3,301,774
Tshivenda 511 1,713 99,837 589 3,345 87 757,683 12,209 436 876,409
Xitsonga 268 14,194 382,463 1,712 97,844 209 1,102,472 156,408 535 1,756,105
Other 12,008 7,456 96,939 38,634 10,606 6,449 13,228 18,088 24,868 228,275
Un-specified 35,012 14,852 83,038 74,977 22,928 7,264 52,163 19,712 45,591 355,538
Total 6,302,525 2,633,504 7,348,423 8,417,021 2,800,711 840,321 4,929,368 3,354,825 3,956,875 40,583,5
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Language in education policy in SA

• Multilingualism is supported implementation is
  challenging
• For speakers of African languages
• As far as possible, learners that enter school
  receive mother tongue education for the first 4
  years of school
• While English is introduced as an additional
  language from the 3rd year
• From 5th year of school onwards English is the
  medium of instruction

13
Language in education policy in SA

• For speakers of Afrikaans and English
• Possible to attend primary and secondary schools,
  as well as university where Afrikaans / English
  is used as medium of instruction
• In grade 12 all learners offer the mother tongue
  as well as one other language

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Language policy at the NWU

• Functional multilingual language policy
  Afrikaans, English, Setswana, Sesotho
• Education
• Mafikeng Campus English
• Potchefstroom Campus Afrikaans
• Vaal Triangle Campus Afrikaans and English
• Administration all 4
• Own research into use of language at meetings

15
Discussion? Questions?
16
Cultural identity and learning English as a
second language in SA
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Introduction

• If knowledge is constructed socially, then
  cultural identity (a social construct) could
  influence the success of learning in general
• Possible influence of cultural identity is
  conceptualized as a resource or a hazard
• Tollefson (1991 23) notes the view of cultural
  identity as a hazard as expressed by some
  theorists of second language learning
• learners who wish to assimilate who value or
  identify with the target language community are
  generally more successful than learners who are
  concerned about retaining their original cultural
  identity

18
Some social models of ESL learning

• Social psychological model (Lambert)
• Acculturation model (Schumann)
• Social context model (Clément)
• Intergroup model (Giles)
• Socio-educational model (Gardner)

19
Short-comings of social models of ESL

• Underlying notion of integrative motivation
• Construction of identity of language learners as
  monolingual / singular

20
Lambert

• Integrative motivation refers to a sincere and
  personal interest in the people and culture
  represented by the other language group
  (Lambert, 1974 98)

21
Schumann

• Defines acculturation as the social and
  psychological integration of the learner with the
  target language group (in Gardner, 1985 135)
• Schumanns major proposition is that L2
  acquisition is just one aspect of acculturation
  and the degree to which a learner acculturates to
  the TL group will control the degree to which he
  acquires the second language (in Gardner, 1985
  135)

22
Giles

• Learners from minority groups will be unlikely
  to achieve native speaker proficiency when their
  ethnolinguistic vitality is high and they
  will achieve low levels of communicative
  proficiency because this would seem to detract
  from their ethnic identity (in Ellis, 1994
  234-235)

23
Giles

• Native-like second language proficiency is
  possible when
• (1) in-group identification is weak or the L1
  does not function as a salient dimension of
  ethnic group membership,
• (2) when inter-ethnic comparisons are quiescent,
• (3) when perceived in-group vitality is low,
• (4) when perceived in-group boundaries are soft
  and open, and
• (5) when the learners identify strongly with
  other groups and so develop adequate group
  identity and intra-group status (Giles and Byrne,
  1982)

24
Definition of cultural identity

• Complex, ascribed type of social identity
• that takes various forms in different contexts
• whose attributes are expressed as ones attitude
  towards the
• cultural values, language/s, ethnicity, racial
  identity of the in-group and
• ones attitudes towards the out-group/s.
• Social models of L2 learning rarely include
  measures of in-group identity

25
Questions? Discussion?
26
Participants

• 148 randomly selected Afrikaans grade 11 and 12
  pupils at 2 high schools in the Vaal Triangle
  region
• 69 randomly selected Southern Sotho respondents
  in their first year at Technikon in the Vaal
  Triangle region

27
Variables

• Dependent variable English second language
  proficiency as measured by a standardized English
  reading proficiency test (Van der Schyff, 1991)
• Independent variables aspects of cultural
  identity
• Ethnic identity (Bornmann, 1995)
• Black and White racial identity (Helms, 1993)
• Attitudes towards in- and out-groups (Bornmann,
  1995)
• Language usage preferences (Coetzee-Van Rooy,
  2000)
• Ethnolinguistic vitality (Bornmann, 1995)

28
Data analyses

• Pearson product moment correlations to determine
  if aspects of cultural identity correlate with
  ESL proficiency
• Answer to the question which cultural identity
  profile occurs concurrently with better ESL
  proficiency?

29
Findings

• Three aspects of cultural identity correlated
  statistically significantly with better ESL
  proficiency
• Positive in-group identification
• Positive attitudes towards other or out-groups
• Valuing the social attitudes concerned with an
  autonomous lifestyle

30
Positive in-group identification

• Salient as ethnic identification for Afrikaans
  participants and racial identification for
  Southern Sotho participants
• See tables 4 and 5

31
Table 4
Pearson product moment correlations between positive in-group identification (ethnic identity) and ESL proficiency of Afrikaans participants
r p
Commitment to the culture of my own ethnic or cultural group is a major source of security in my life -0,249
Loyalty towards my own ethnic or cultural group is particularly important to me -0,238
I do not want to belong to any other ethnic or cultural group 0,215
Upsets me when other people speaks negatively about my own ethnic or cultural group -0,166
32
Table 4

• Afrikaans respondents who are satisfied with
  their ethnic group, but who do not regard it as a
  major issue in their lives performed better in
  the English second language proficiency test

33
Table 5
Pearson product moment correlations between positive in-group identification (Black racial identity) and ESL proficiency of Southern Sotho participants r p
Most Blacks I know are failures -0,319
I speak my mind, regardless of the consequences (e.g. being kicked out of school, being imprisoned, being exposed to danger etc.) 0,287
I feel that Black people do not have as much to be proud of as White people do -0,253
People, regardless of their race, have strengths and limitations 0,249
I often find myself referring to White people as boers, whities, settlers etc. 0,248
I find myself reading a lot of Black literature and thinking about being Black 0,232
Black people who have any White peoples blood should feel ashamed -0,231
I believe that being black is a positive experience 0,215
34
Table 5

• A positive experience of being Black balanced
  with the realization that all people have
  strengths and limitations correlated with better
  English second language proficiency amongst the
  Southern Sotho respondents

35
Positive attitudes towards other or out-groups

• For Afrikaans participants it is expressed as a
  less racist attitude
• For Southern Sotho participants it is expressed
  as support for a more inclusive South African
  label
• See tables 6 and 7

36
Table 6 - 1
Pearson product moment correlations between racial identity and English second language proficiency of Afrikaans respondents r p
It is possible for Blacks and Whites to have meaningful social relationships with each other 0,316
I think White people should become more involved in socializing with Blacks 0,278
I believe that White people look and express themselves better than Blacks -0,260
A Black person who tries to get close to you is usually after something -0,256
I have come to believe that Black people and White people are very different -0,240
37
Table 6 - 2
Pearson product moment correlations between racial identity and English second language proficiency of Afrikaans respondents r p
I believe that Blacks are inferior to Whites -0,237
I value the relationships that I have with Black friends 0,227
I was raised to believe that people are people regardless of their race 0,224
Blacks and Whites have much to learn from each other 0,020
White people have bent over backwards trying to make up for their ancestors treatment of Blacks, now it is time to stop 0,213
I wish I had a Black friend 0,200
38
Table 6 - 3
Pearson product moment correlations between racial identity and English second language proficiency of Afrikaans respondents r p
I do not understand what Blacks want from Whites -0,189
Nowadays, I go out of my way to avoid associating with Blacks -0,188
When I am the only White in a group of Blacks I feel anxious 0,186
I feel depressed after I have been around Black people -0,179
In my family, we never talked about racial issues -0,164
39
Table 6

• Positive, yet more laissez faire attitude towards
  Black people combined with information about
  racial identity from within the family context
  correlated with higher English second language
  proficiency scores for the Afrikaans respondents

40
Table 7
Pearson product moment correlations between identification with several groups in SA and English second language proficiency of Southern Sotho respondents r p
Coloureds 0,221
41
Table 7

• Identification with a more inclusive SA label
  (Coloured / of mixed race) correlated
  statistically significantly with higher English
  second language proficiency amongst the Southern
  Sotho respondents

42
Autonomous lifestyle

• More proficient Afrikaans and Southern Sotho
  participants valued a more autonomous lifestyle
• Possibly indicative of autonomy as an important
  indicator for general academic success as well as
  language learning?

43
Conclusions

• Findings challenge notion of integrativeness as
  prerequisite for successful L2 learning, as
  included in some social models of L2 learning
• Nobody learns English in SA to integrate with a
  group of English speakers
• Minority (only 9 of population use English as
  L1)
• Fairly exclusive group
• English is used as lingua franca to communicate
  with speakers of other languages

44
Conclusions

• Findings confirm research by Peirce (1989 1995)
  that asserting different forms of social identity
  in different contexts is more instrumental in L2
  learning than attempts to integrate with the
  target language group and culture

45
Concluding question?

• How do these findings about cultural identity
  profiles and successful ESL relate to the
  conditions for successful inter-cultural
  communication?
• Positive in-group identification
• Positive attitudes towards other or out-groups
• More autonomous disposition