Being a newcomer in a multilingual school: A case study
- Autores: Roberto Gómez Fernández
- Directores de la Tesis: Luisa Martín Rojo (dir. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid ( España ) en 2011
- Idioma: español
- Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Jean-Jacques Weber (presid.), Christine Hélot (secret.), Carola Mick (voc.), Jürgen Jaspers (voc.), Lynn Fendler (voc.)
- Materias:
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- Resumen
The present thesis, a case study, aims at understanding the processes involved when a newcomer strives to become an `old-timer¿ (Lave & Wenger, 1991), in other words, a full member of the class in a multicultural, multilingual primary school in Luxembourg. As a Portuguese-speaker of Brazilian origin, and therefore a member of the `Romanophone¿ community, the newcomer in question belongs to one of the ethnic and linguistic communities most affected by school failure in the Grand Duchy (MENFP, 1998; Noesen et al., 2008). In response to this situation, a number of scholars (e.g., Horner & Weber, 2005, p. 246) propose ¿parallel¿ or ¿dual-track¿ literacy systems, whereby Romance-language speakers receive literacy instruction in French instead of German. It is argued, by dint of the fact that it builds upon the linguistic competence already acquired by the learners, a dual-track educational approach would not only improve the academic success of such learners, be they Romanophone newcomers or indeed children of Romanophone origin born in Luxembourg, but would equally, and no less importantly, make a positive contribution to such learners¿ subsequent social mobility.
At the analytical, theoretical level, the case study is informed by a critical ethnographic approach (Heller, 1999; Martín Rojo, 2003) focusing on the `accessresources¿ correlation (Heller, 2004) as the most significant factor in the negotiation of identity and learning. The resources, or capital (Martín Rojo, 2010), referred to are linguistic (languages), curricular (knowledge) and cultural (norms) in nature. The theoretical framework is reinforced by Bourdieu¿s theories on social reproduction in relation to schools and how such reproduction impacts on society (Bourdieu, 1977, 1986; Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977). In a nutshell, Bourdieu argues that those with greater access to resources will have greater chances of success. This view is also related to the framework of Legitimate Peripheral Participation (LPP) proposed by Lave & Wenger¿s theory of situated learning (1991), in which the ¿descriptor of engagement¿ (op.cit., p. 35) characterizes learning as the degree to which engaging in practice is possible.
The data for the thesis consists mainly of audio-visual recordings, interviews, observations, photographs, and schoolwork collected over an 8-month period (November 2008 to June 2009). The analysis focuses on the classroom participation of the newcomer and his surrounding agents (teachers and peers) during the academic year (2008-2009). Despite no previous knowledge of either German or Luxembourgish, the 7-year-old child in question (henceforth named `Nuno¿), who had just arrived from Brazil some two months after the start of the school year, had nonetheless to follow lessons in these languages upon his arrival in Luxembourg. A close look at his interactions and identity processes revealed that Nuno¿s surrounding agents not only re-evaluated his capitals (Bourdieu, 1986), but engaged in gatekeeping practices which in turn affected his academic progress as well as his identity formation throughout the year. This re-evaluation resulted in the ¿decapitalization¿ (Martín Rojo, 2008; 2010) of some of Nuno¿s pre-existing capitals (e.g., Portuguese language), which could otherwise have been used as a positive resource in his progression towards `full membership¿, and the eventual formation of a `community of practice¿ (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998). Furthermore, by ignoring the student¿s native language, Nuno¿s surrounding agents engage in linguistic and cultural discrimination (Garcia et al., 2008; Hélot, 2011).
The present study, thus, contributes to the ongoing discussion on educational equity by providing invaluable insights afforded by a qualitative case study approach to learning and integration. Among other things, it demonstrates how communities and identities are under constant construction, negotiation and therefore constitutes a site of struggle around legitimization. On a long-term basis, the study also hints at how pedagogical practice may be adapted in order to redress the phenomenon academic failure for the social group concerned.
