Identity and the language of the classroom: Investigating the impact of heritage versus second language instruction on personal and collective self-esteem.

Abstract

The connection between heritage language instruction and self-esteem was investigated. Participants were Inuit, White, and mixed-heritage (Inuit-White) children living in a subarctic community. Testing occurred before and after their 1st year in a heritage language or a 2nd language program. Children from all 3 groups who were educated in their heritage language showed a substantial increase in their personal self-esteem, whereas Inuit and mixed-heritage children educated in a 2nd language did not. Among the Inuit, Inuttitut instruction was associated with positive regard for the ingroup, whereas English or French instruction was associated with preference for the White outgroup. The present findings support claims that early heritage language education can have a positive effect on the personal and collective self-esteem of minority language students—a benefit not provided by 2nd language instruction. In the present study, we investigated the differential effects of early education in the heritage language versus early immersion in a second language on the child's personal and collective self-esteem. The question of language of instruction has been the center of considerable public and academic debate. Traditional thinking held that early entry into English language education would speed the minority language student's transition into the majority culture and improve his or her chances of competing in the mainstream society. In many cases, zealous supporters of this assimilationist perspective set out to replace the student's heritage languages with the dominant language. Some of the clearest and most dramatic examples of this can be found in North America's history of educating Native American and Cana