Discourses on language teaching, language learning and linguistic diversity in teacher education: the case of English in Iraqi Kurdistan

ABSTRACT

In this study, we investigate linguistic diversity in teacher education in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, a setting where discourses on emigration and re-emigration are strong. The aim is to explore social discourses on linguistic diversity as constructed in teacher training programmes for teaching English to primary and secondary school pupils, in course descriptions at two universities, and the implications of these discourses for the suggested teaching practices. Four discourses were identified: double monolingualism, contrastive perspective, linguistic diversity as one of many types of diversity and English as a gateway to future possibilities. Students’ earlier linguistic resources in other languages were treated as negative for the development of their English-language skills. English and Kurdish were treated in ways that suggest they should be kept separate and skills in other languages were rendered invisible. This is likely to have an impact on students’ teaching in the future, making them less inclined to recognise their pupils’ prior knowledge of other languages. We conclude that, more research is needed focusing on issues of circular migration and diaspora, and on other themes than those dominant in the West and the Global North, such as high number of immigrants and issues of integration and assimilation.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher education
• English language teaching
• course descriptions
• discourses on linguistic diversity

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr Hoshang Farooq and Mr. Bukhari Abdulla Qasri for generously providing valuable data that significantly contributed to the success of this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 For reasons of anonymity the full references will not be given.

2 Names omitted for anonymity.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Louay Salman Haji

Louay Salman Haji is a lecturer in the Department of English Language at the University of Human Development, and he holds a Master's degree in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT). His research interests include teaching English as a second language, teacher education, curriculum development, and educational technology.

Annika Norlund Shaswar

Annika Norlund Shaswar is an associate professor in Language Teaching and Learning at Umeå University in Sweden and holds a PhD in linguistics. Her research mainly focuses on literacies and linguistic diversity in educational contexts. She has researched literacy practices, teaching practices and translanguaging in ethnographic and action research studies in primary school, secondary school, adult education and teacher education. She has also researched pronunciation instruction and language learning strategies in second language education.

Åsa Wedin

Åsa Wedin holds a PhD in linguistics and is a professor in educational work at Dalarna University, Sweden. With a background as a primary school teacher, Wedin’s main research interests are in multilingualism and literacy in education. She has carried out research in Tanzania, on literacy practices in primary school, and in Sweden on literacy and interactional patterns in classrooms and on conditions for multilingual students’ learning. Her research is ethnographically inspired, particularly using linguistic ethnography and theoretical perspectives where languaging is studied as social and cultural practices and where opportunities for learning are related to questions of power.