Student Ethnic Identity Research Articles

Student ethnic identity and heritage language ideologies at a Chinese Saturday school

ABSTRACT This article focuses on the role of language ideology in four students’ ethnic identity during one stage. I employ Bakhtin’s concepts of ideological becoming, and of authoritative and internally persuasive discourse to explore how the student participants are conscious of language and social worlds, including their heritage language and ethnic group. The data collection in this study took place through semi-structured interviews with four eighth and ninth graders at a Chinese heritage language school in the USA. Based on Tse’s (1998a) ethnic identity development model, three student participants, Arthur, Paul, and Jack, appear to be at Stage 2. However, they express no ideological inheritance: Mandarin Chinese is not my heritage language, which does not fall anywhere along this ‘continuum’ of Stage 2, Ethnic Ambivalence/Evasion, in Tse’s model. Tse (1997) examined the possible links between ethnic identity and language attitude, but Bakhtin’s concepts may provide a more in-depth analysis of the four students’ ethnic identity development. These findings also imply that the Chinese school should provide more opportunities for immigrant students to be exposed to their heritage language and culture, which can help them find connections to the culture and Mandarin Chinese.

Nurturing student ethnic identity through culturally responsive music teaching in China

A multicultural approach has been advocated in school music education in China to heighten the sense of ethnic identity among students from diverse backgrounds, but research has shown that inadequate teaching approaches have been a major challenge in implementing multiculturalism. To facilitate students’ development of their sense of ethnic and cultural identity, international educators have advocated the use of culturally responsive teaching (CRT), which can provide Chinese teachers with pedagogical guidance to put multiculturalism into practice. A mixed methods intervention approach was adopted to explore the impact of CRT on the ethnic identities of Yi, Han, Mongolian and Tibetan students in a multi-ethnic school in Sichuan Province, China. The quantitative results revealed that after participating in the CRT music course, the students demonstrated statistically significant improvement across the four dimensions of ethnic identity. The qualitative findings attributed the improvement in the students’ ethnic identities to the use of ethnic music and native languages, multiple roles of the local music teacher and collective musical engagement. This study contributes to research on pedagogical strategies that help facilitate cultural diversity in school music education in China, and it serves as a reference for the use of CRT worldwide.

ETHNIC IDENTITY AND SELF-ESTEEM OF CHINESE MALAYSIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: DOES UNIVERSITY SOCIAL CONTEXT MATTER?

Ethnic Chinese constitute a large, albeit minority, group in Malaysian society. Within this group, Chinese Malaysians come from a wide variety of linguistic, religious, and educational backgrounds. The overall purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the impact of university social context on ethnic identity and self-reported global self-esteem for Chinese Malaysian university students. To conduct this study, a total of 628 students were sampled from two universities and from different social backgrounds. Students answered a questionnaire about their ethnic identity, self-esteem, and demographic background. The relationship between ethnic identity and self-esteem was examined and the most significant predictors of ethnic identity for Chinese Malaysian university students were discovered. Analysis revealed that national context as well as childhood and adolescence, as opposed to university education or context, play a key role in student ethnic identity formation. Keywords: ethnic identity, self-esteem, minority, social context, Malaysia

An Ecological Perspective of Latina/o College Student Ethnicity

ABSTRACTAlthough Latinos are the largest minority population in the United States and the largest minority population on American campuses, there is little research concerning Latino college student ethnic identity. This study incorporates an ecological model to examine the levels of influence of different settings and backgrounds of Latino college students. The findings show that Latinos from different countries of origin and within the same countries of origin identify their ethnic identity differently depending on several factors including generation, immigration status, country of origin, language preferences, and discrimination.

Some Aspects of Schoolchild’s and Students’ Ethnic Identity Development Though Ethnic Instrumental Music

One of the basic objectives of contemporary pedagogy is developing youth’s national musical culture. In the course of history, when the idea of Lithuanian independence used to become realistic and tangible, special attention was paid to identity issues. The efforts to sustain and to thoroughly foster our traditions, customs, language and ethnical music had the greatest impact on the development of Lithuanian people’s national awareness. The essential categories characterizing the Lithuanian national identity have been and remained self-awareness, language, customs, folk art, and ethnical instruments. Playing instrumental music in ensembles using ethnical instruments has also greatly contributed to preserving of Lithuanian traditions and national identity, as a way of national awareness.
 Object of research: Some aspects of schoolchild’s and students ethnic identity development through ethnic instrumental music.
 Aim of research: investigate of the meaning of teaching ethnic instrumental music in the process of developing the knowledge of the ethnical identity.
 Methods of research: questionnaire scientific methodological literature review, questionnaire and a summary of comparison.
 The traditions of playing instrumental music in ensembles are quite old and deep-rooted in Lithuania. Ethnical instruments (the kanklės, reed-pipes, pan flutes, etc.) have been always regarded as a symbol of national awareness. Therefore, continuity and dissemination of related traditions and their application in various aspects contributes, at least partially, to the possibility of preserving national values and developing national identity.
 Playing instruments in ensembles helps young people develop their musical listening skills and memory, get more matured spiritually, as well as form aesthetic feelings and artistic understanding of music.
 For educators, the ability to play different ethnical instruments is helpful in the respect of having more variety in their classes, involving the learners in extracurricular activities, and making closer acquaintances with the pupils and their parents.
 The possibility to develop the national identity of young people by means of playing in ensembles is exploited not only in Lithuania. This kind of experience has been used quite long in the practices of other countries. Therefore, in the rapid course of globalisation processes, it is of great importance to educate the young generation in the spirit of national traditions.

Where 'Difference is the Norm': Exploring Refugee Student Ethnic Identity Development, Acculturation, and Agency at Shaw Academy

Where 'Difference is the Norm': Exploring Refugee Student Ethnic Identity Development, Acculturation, and Agency at Shaw Academy

Ethnic Socialization: A Case of Malaysian Malay and Chinese Public Universities Students Experiences

By and large, Malaysians associate themselves with certain ethnic identities. Such identification is clearly visible in most Malaysian public universities. This paper relates Malaysian Malay and Chinese public universities students' ethnic identification to their ethnic socialization experiences. Focus group discussions with Malay and Chinese students were conducted in four Malaysian public universities. Outcomes from the focus group discussions reveal the roles of cultural and competition socialization experiences in constructing the students ethnic identity. These ethnic socialization experiences played an important role in constructing ethnic consciousness among the students. Index Terms—Ethnic, ethnic identity, ethnic socialization

The Multidimensionality of Ethnic Identity Among Urban High School Youth

This study was designed to explore the associations of ethnic identity dimensions with collective self-esteem membership, school interest, student interest in learning, and community engagement among 406 ethnically diverse (Asian American, Black, Latino, Pacific Islander, and multiracial) high school students. Using the Ethnic Identity Scale, this article presents the relationships between school and community variables with students' perceptions of ethnic identity exploration, resolution, and affirmation. Correlational analyses and post hoc t tests using Steiger's modified z statistic show strong positive correlations between most school and community variables and students' ethnic identity exploration and resolution. They also reveal a strong negative correlation between students' school interest and ethnic identity affirmation. Results are discussed in terms of the emergent distinctions between student interest in learning and school interest as they relate to ethnic identity dimensions and collective self-esteem membership.

Ethnic Identity at a Majority Hispanic-Serving Institution

This study examines the ethnic identity of Cuban American and non-Hispanic White college students at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, Florida. Current Latino/a and White college student ethnic identity theories are limited regarding a variety of contextual considerations such as immigration, majority-minority demographics, student ethnic interactions, and interethnic differences. This study finds that Cuban American and non-Hispanic ethnic identities at FIU are unique particularly because individually, students from both these ethnic groups do not fit in exactly their respective general ethnic categories. Additionally, students from both ethnic groups are in the midst of transculturation, or exchanging cultural traits.

Impact of Study Abroad on Latino/a College Students' Ethnic Identity and Cross-Cultural Adaptability

Latino/a youths living on the U.S. - México border encounter both challenges and opportunities, growing up with the values, traditions, and customs of two cultures. Many of these youths have lived all of their lives in a predominantly Mexican American community and have not actively explored what their ethnicity means to them. This study explores the impact of study abroad on Latino college students’ ethnic identity and crosscultural adaptability. Eleven participants wrote in daily journals and completed pre- and post-assessment surveys. At the end of the four week study abroad program, there was no significant change in strength of ethnic identity. However, students reported having a deeper understanding of the meaning of their ethnic identity, and their ethnic/cultural identities were more complex and differentiated. While overall cross-cultural adaptability did not change, study abroad contributed to increasing emotional resilience, which benefits students in everyday cross-cultural exchanges. Suggestions for future research and programs are discussed.

England's Multiethnic Educational System? A Classification of Secondary Schools

As British society has become increasingly multiethnic and multicultural, debate has grown regarding the advantages and disadvantages of ethnically segregated schools, with regard both to educational achievement and to multicultural accommodation. Compared with issues regarding the class composition of schools, however, little work has been done on the degree of ethnic segregation in schools, let alone its impact. The authors use a recently developed classification procedure to identify the degree of ethnic segregation in England's secondary schools in 2001, using a database that gives every student's ethnic identity. It is shown that, although there is considerable segregation for members of ethnic minority groups in London and a small number of other urban areas, elsewhere there is much more exposure of members of those groups to White students; White students are much more segregated, however. In general, the level of segregation in schools is greater than the residential segregation of the various ethnic groups.

Outside In: Minorities and the Transformation of American Education.

Ever since the massive immigration from Europe of the late 19th century, American society has accommodated people of many cultures, religions, languages, and expectations. The task of integration has increasingly fallen to the schools, where children are taught a common language and a set of democratic values and sent on their ways to become productive members of society. How American schools have set about educating these diverse students, and how these students' needs have altered the face of education, are issues central to the social history of the United States in the 20th century. In her pathbreaking new book Paula S. Fass presents a wide ranging examination of the role of in the creation of modern education. Through a series of in-depth and fascinating case studies, she demonstrates how issues of pluralism have shaped the educational landscape and how various minority groups have been affected by their educational experiences. Fass first looks at how public schools absorbed the children of immigrants in the early years of the century and how those children gradually began to use the schools for their own social purposes. She then turns to the experiences of other groups of Americans whose struggles for educational and social opportunities have defined cultural life over the last fifty years: blacks, whose education became a major concern of the federal government in the 1930s and 1940s; women, who had access to higher education but were denied commensurate job opportunities; and Catholics, who created schools that succeeded both in protecting minority integrity and in providing Catholics with a path to American success. Along the way, she presents a wealth of fascinating and surprising detail. Through an examination of New York City high school yearbooks from the 1930s and 1940s, she shows how a student's ethnic identity determined which activities he or she would engage in and how ethnicity was etched into schooling. And she examines how the New Deal and the army in World War II succeeded in educating large numbers of blacks and making the inequalities in their educational opportunities a critical national concern. A sweeping and highly original history of American education, Outside In helps us to understand how schools have been shaped by their students, how educational issues have merged with wider social concerns, and how outsiders have recreated schooling and culture in the 20th century. By opening up new historical terrain and rejecting a vision of outsiders as merely victims of American educational policy, the book has important implications for contemporary social and educational issues.