Varieties of English and a multicultural classroom

By: Mariell Bergh Sæbø

In this assignment, I am going to talk about a multicultural classroom and different varieties of English.

Multicultural English:

There are many different definitions of what multiculturalism is. One of them is a definition developed by Murphy (2012:6). In the terms of policies, Murphy defines multiculturalism as a term where both minorities’ and majorities’ cultural backgrounds, values and identities are accommodated.

Based on Murphy’s definition of the term multiculturalism, I want to focus on how we can create a multicultural classroom where the pupils have a positive attitude towards different cultures. I believe we can help the pupils in a way where we talk about what multiculturalism is and let the pupils discuss the topic. The teacher need to be open towards different cultures, have knowledge about them and be able to create a safe environment for the pupils. I believe that the pupils should be able to express their beliefs and be able to ask any questions they might have. In other words, the teacher need to increase awareness and knowledge about different ethnic groups.

There has been a long tradition of a monocultural community in Norway, which has slowed down the process of becoming a more multicultural community when we, in reality, are welcoming more and more cultures into our country. We want everyone to have the same opportunity at succeeding in Norway by welcoming multiculturalism into our classrooms. When trying to create a friendly multicultural classroom, difficult situations may occur. For example, the teacher may not know what the pupils are learning from their parents at home and the parents may contradict class lessons. Their parents could be telling them other cultural discourses than the teacher has in class. The parents may teach their children a different perspective than the teacher does. Therefore, the pupils might get confused and ignorant. For instance, a pupil might refuse to listen to the teacher’s lessons about multiculturalism and leave the classroom, or express false and ignorant perspectives. This might lead to a chain reaction where other pupils follows and it creates a bad trend in the classroom.

There are many ways of implementing multiculturalism into the class lessons. For example, I have completed an entrepreneurship in a 5^th grade classroom. In this project they played different roles in a family that were going to travel or move to another country. During the project, they had to learn about their destination’s rules, culture and religion. In addition, one assignment was to figure out how to communicate with the native people of their destination. There was a clear focus of multiculturalism in my project, which led to a great learning outcome. It is also possible to learn about other countries in English. For instance, pupils can learn about the culture in Syria at school, and by doing this be prepared for when they might get a new classmate from Syria. Another activity for creating a multicultural classroom is having “a multicultural day”. This is an entire day at school making different types of food from the school’s or local community’s represented countries or cultures, as well as creating crafts and watch a movie or a lecture about the respective countries or cultures. This day is a practical approach to multiculturalism, but it is possible to make it more theoretical by discussing aspects about the respective countries or cultures. This is an activity created by Lars Aunaas (n.d.).

Varieties of English:

There are four different categories of English users: native language, second language, foreign language and lingua franca. I will give a short explanation of these different users and which category Norway is in.

English as a native language (ENL) means that it is used as the primary language in a country. For instance, English is used as a native language in England, America and Canada. When English is used as a second language, (ESL) the people in a specific country has another native language and learn English after they have learned their native language. This could be countries like India, Singapore and Jamaica. A foreign language (EFL) is a language you learn at school. For it to be called a foreign language it needs to be used intranational, which means that it is used for speaking to refugees, among other things. A lingua franca (ELF) is called a bridge language, which is a common language two interacting people communicate with. It is used to systematically make it possible for people from different countries to communicate with each other (Jenkins, J. 2009: 15-17).

In Norway, I believe English is used as a foreign language. I base this statement on two different reasons. One reason is that we start systematically learning English when we are six years old at school. We already speak our native language and accordingly, we learn English mostly to get cultural insight and to be a part of an international culture outside of Norway. The second reason is that we use it to communicate with people who move here from other countries. Then, we will be able to communicate with other nations inside of Norway as well as outside. ­­I would say that we are also using English as a lingua franca. As mentioned, we are learning English at school so that we can communicate with and learn from our new citizens, but many Norwegians are also learning English from birth. Either because they are a part of a multicultural family or because they have parents that wants their children to be able to communicate on an international level. In Norway, we now understand the need to know English more than previously because so many new citizens do not know our language and many Norwegian strives for a personal or work related international expansion. Jenkins (2009:16) explains this phenomenon like this: “…Scandinavian countries where English is increasingly being used for intranational purposes rather than purely as a foreign or international language.”

We teach English as if it is a foreign language, and I believe it is working quite well. We learn English all through primary school, middle school and high school and we are able to communicate and make ourselves understood by non-Norwegians. However, if we look at how the world is changing and evolving, we need to make sure that we follow the trend that English is used as a native language many places so that we can evolve with the world as well. I believe it would be positive to look at English as a second language. We should start learning it even earlier than first grade, at age six. In addition, we should make sure that pupils get a better understanding on why they need to learn English so that they know why it is so important. By doing this, the pupils might get more eager to learn English, and use it more often.

Sources:

Aunaas, L. (n.d.). Multicultural Societies in a Historic Perspective. From http://ndla.no/en/node/89615 Read: 09.03.16

Jenkins, J. (2009). World Englishes: A resource book for students. (2^nd ed.). London: Routledge.

Murphy, M. (2012). In defense of multiculturalism. In Multiculturalism A critical Introduction. Canada: Routledge Tylor and Francis Group.