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Reflection #4
Danica Finlay (200402114)
Faculty of Education University of Regina
ELNG 200-010
Professor: Dr. Rubina Khanam
Due Date: March 14th, 2021
Over the past two weeks, as a class, we have covered the topics of language policy and Indigenous languages. As I have mentioned within my language profile assignment, the topic of language policy was something I have ever thought of before. Because the only language I know is English, I never really thought about how our country included language policies. To me English has always been the norm. But when looking into this topic I was quick to gain an understanding on how languages have been lost due to the policy. According to the article titled Indigenous languages and the racial hierarchization of language policy in Canada, Language policy is best defined as, “a way to address state concerns with national unity and control, producing forms of racial exclusion and maintaining a white- settler nation” (Haque & Patrick, 2015, p. 27). Because of this, people living in Canada were forced into assimilation and exclusion. Our country in the past thought in order for our nation to come together and be one, we must speak the same language, wear the same clothes, practice the same religion and culture. I believe this is not a way to unify a nation. My thoughts are, in order for us to be a unified country, it is important to be diverse and accept all cultures, religions, and languages. I strongly believe that schools should not be the reason people lose their mother tongue, but instead, schools should support and encourage students to keep using languages that they know and that is a part of their culture/family history.
When learning about Indigenous languages Haque & Patrick’s journal talks about the long history of oppressive and discriminatory laws and policies that were related to them. A few of the laws and policies included the Gradual Civilization Act (1857), Gradual Enfranchisement Act (1869), Indian Act (1876), the Indian Register (1951) and residential schooling systems (1874-1977) (Haque & Patrick, 2015, p. 33). I believe it is important for us to learn from our past to make better for our future. A saying that I have created and live by is “Through knowledge we grow together”. This quote can be found at the top of my e-portfolio page. I think that by learning the topics such as the indigenous history of languages, it will help me to become a more open, engaging, understanding and inclusive teacher in the future. I also believe as an educator it is our duty to grow from our learnings to make sure that Canadian history does not repeat itself.
When watching the interview with Russ Fayant (2017), I learned for the first time that there is a program called the Gabriel Dumont Institute’s Saskatchewan Urban Native Teacher Education Program (SUNTEP) at the University of Regina. I was surprised that I had not known about this Métis, four-year bachelor of education program. Fayant said that this program is for teachers that want to work with elementary students and that SUNTEP has been a program for 39 years! One thing from this video that stood out to me was that Métis people had a birth of their nation in 1816 with the battle of seven oaks. I had not realized that there was a moment in history where metis people began asserting themselves politically and nationally. I also did not know that they had a flag and it was first used in 1816. I always thought that Métis people was a name to recognize a person who has mixed ancestry that that comes from both European and Indigenous people and that is all it meant. I found this video to be extremely informative and it made me realize that there is a lot more to the definition of a Métis.
Throughout this course so far, I have learned so many new things! I believe that my critical multilingual language awareness continues to grow each week and I am excited to see where I am at in my learnings by the end of this course. The resources that we are provided with touch on so many important topics and I cannot wait to put my learnings to practice within a classroom.
Resources
Haque, E. & Patrick D. (2015). Indigenous languages and the racial hierarchization of
language policy in Canada. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development,
36(1), 27-41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2014.892499
Heritage Saskatchewan. (2017). Russell Fayant Full Inteview. [YouTube]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__xs5mbaows&t=184s