‘My language … I don’t know how to talk about it’: children’s views on language diversity in primary schools in France and England

ABSTRACT

This article investigates the ways in which children from immigrant backgrounds view the place of ‘other’ languages in primary schools in France and England. This article draws on findings from a cross-national ethnographic study, which investigated the experiences of 10- and 11-year-old children of immigrants in two primary schools, one in France and one in England. It shows how, in both schools, children had to negotiate the symbolic domination of a single legitimate language and viewed their other languages as inferior, undesirable or illicit. Building on the work of Pierre Bourdieu, findings in this paper contribute insights into the complex debates around language diversity, multilingualism and intercultural communication in schools in France and England.

Cet article s’intéresse à la manière dont les enfants issus de l’immigration perçoivent la place d’autres langues à l’école primaire, en France et en Angleterre. Se fondant sur une étude ethnographique comparative portant sur les expériences scolaires d’enfants de 10- 11 ans issus de l’immigration dans deux écoles primaires, l’une située en France, l’autre en Angleterre, cet article dévoile la manière dont les enfants, de chaque coté de la Manche, doivent faire face à la domination symbolique d’une seule langue légitime, qui dévalorise leur autre langue (d’origine) en la plaçant en position d’infériorité, la rendant indésirable, voire même illicite. S’appuyant sur les travaux de Pierre Bourdieu, cet article apporte un éclairage nouveau sur la diversité linguistique, le multilinguisme et la communication interculturelle à l’école, en France et en Angleterre.

KEYWORDS:

• Language diversity
• immigrants
• education
• France
• England
• Bourdieu

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Oakleigh Welply is an Assistant Professor in International and Intercultural Education at the School of Education, Durham University. She received her PhD in Sociology of Education from the University of Cambridge. Her main areas of research and teaching include social theory; the relationship of education to issues of language, religion, globalisation and citizenship; national policies of integration and youth identities; immigration and education in France and England; the development of cross-national methodologies for research with diverse communities in European countries.

Notes

1 These categories correspond to children’s self-identification.

2 The term ‘hindou’ was the way Clara self-defined and is thus used to mirror her own speech.

3 Reference to the word ‘kmâra’, meaning donkey in Arabic, which was mispronounced by children in the French case as ‘ramallah’

4 The term ‘class’ here is used in inverted comas because of the different social constructions of class in France and England.

5 The four children presented here, Nabeela, Saalima, Taahira, Akhil went to Q’ranic schools and had tuition in Bengali. Anna went to Russian school on Saturday.