Language at home and the school: Resistance and compromise

Details

Publication TypeJournal articleAbstractWhen a bilingual or multilingual person lives in a country where the national language dominates, many adjustments need to be made from one context to another. This is especially true when people whose first language is not English, are required to participate in Australian schools using the English language. To better understand some of the dynamics that occur for an individual in this transition, the authors background the situation and then give a personal recount of their experiences of moving between one language context to another. The purpose of this article is to explore some of the complexities of moving between the language of home and community and the demands of standard Australian English in the Indigenous student’s school. It suggests that the resistance to fully adopting the colonising, dominant language of English, varies from one individual to another. Those that succeed in the dominant system have adopted a measure of compromise for their benefit and for the benefit of the community in which they live.AuthorZemits, B.Mullins, M.Parry, T.Date2019Publication CollectionNorthern Institute - Learning Communities: International Journal of Learning in Social ContextsVolume25/ 2019Page Number72-77CopyrightThis work is licensed under CC BY-SASuggested CitationZemits, B., Mullins, M., & Parry, T. (2019). Language at home and the school: Resistance and compromise. Learning Communities: International Journal of Learning in Social Contexts [Special Issue: Growing Our Own: Indigenous Education on Country], 25, 72-77. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18793/lcj2019.25.07ISSNISSN 1329-1440 (online)ISSN 2202-7904 (print)PublisherCollege of Indigenous Futures, Arts & SocietyCHARLES DARWIN UNIVERSITY Place of PublicationDarwin