Critique of the Article Negotiating Language Contact and Identity Change in Developing Tibetan-English Bilingualism - Essay Example

Critique of the article Negotiating Language Contact and identity Change in Developing Tibetan-English Bilingualism The Negotiating Language Contactand Identity Change in Developing Tibetan Change in Developing Tibetan-English Bilingualism essay is written by Seonaigh MacPherson. This essay is about the struggles of Tibetan refugee women in the Indian Himalayas. Their educational program is a combination of a traditional Buddhist philosophical curriculum in Tibetan and a secular bilingual curriculum in English-Tibetan. It is an ethnographic and action research essay that deals with how negotiations concerning cultural aspects and multilingual EFL/EIL go beyond the linguistic features to include cultural and gender identity struggles. Five nun students were chosen to serve as case studies. There were five alternative patterns of identity and language negotiations that were taken into consideration: Rejection, assimilation, marginality, bicultural accommodation, and intercultural creativity. MacPherson recommends a program which teaches intercultural language teaching to address the English language teaching and learning. It was a longitudinal ethnographic and research action study conducted over 7 years between 1991 and 1998. The author observed the nuns in their philosophy classes and peer debates, and during their secular English classes. These classes were held at Dolma Ling, Kangra Valley close to the exile seat of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Dharamsala, India. During the summer and autumn of 2001 the Buddhist scholarship was dismantled at the Serthar Institute (known as Larung Gar). In June and July 2001, Chinese-appointed “work teams” visited and expulsed overseas students and over 4,000 Tibetan nuns. By the end of October, over 1,000 dwellings were destroyed and thousands of monks and nuns were evicted. The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) obtained unconfirmed information that six nuns died after the crack-down on Serthar; four nuns were reported to die of unknown causes; and, two hung themselves. These nuns have not been identified nor their circumstances of death. It has been informed by the TCHRD (2002), that these deaths were related to stress, desperation, and despair caused by the crack-down. They also stated that the overseas and Mainland Chinese students were no longer permitted to remain in the institute. The author speculates that scholars outside of the region may question the reasons to justify the persecution of Buddhist monks and nuns and the dangers it may impose on China. She contends that after further research it was found that China, according to Nunan, 2003, is competing on a global basis on curricular reforms including the expansion of the English language education. This essay is focused on how contact with the English language through globalization and curricular reform transforms the identity of women in developing countries. Since it examines the responses of selected Tibetan refugee nuns to an innovative bilingual bicultural Tibetan-English educational program, they are the first generation of Tibetan women to access the formal literacy education, either through the traditional Buddhist monastic or modern secular approach. This has incurred to being exposed to the foreign-born English language teachers such as the author of this ethnography. This exposure has made the women appear in an advantageous position in learning a second language and in being employed as language teachers and translators, according to several sources cited by the author of this ethnography. This gives them a new status in society. They are able to bring forth new concepts and issues on equality and human rights to overcome the negative self-images and limited roles within their traditional societies. According to MacPherson this is a benefit however women still face the inequalities to access education and practices and although it may be seen as a success it may incur in conflict and confusion. Norris (2002, 2004) cited within this ethnography, states that Aboriginal women in Canada are losing their first language and culture compared to men, by intermarriage and urban migration. The mother´s language was affected more than the father´s language used at home and their children´s selection of language. It is therefore found that the linguistic and cultural continuity and loss seem to fall disproportionately on women. The “cultural broker” according to Medicine (1987) is a term used to describe the Indigenous women´s role as mediators between mainstream English and Indigenous communities. This may be viewed as assimilation but without the power structure therefore, becoming a real or imagined threat to local culture, community affiliations, and identities. Gender and culture interact through identity seen in a social and environmental context (Ehrlich, 1997; Ochs, 1992; MacPherson, 2005). Language and curriculum is socio culturally seem and important for the negotiation of gender and identity. Norton (1997) sees it as a relationship between language and identity: a) complex, contradictory, and multifaceted; b) dynamic across time and space; c) co-constructed; d) contextualized in larger social processes that can be coercive or collaborative; and e) linked with classroom practice. Tibetan women struggle consciously and intentionally for liberation in a Buddhist version of liberation although there is no Buddhist theory of women liberation however, it prevails as the mother Buddha of wisdom Prajnaparamita and as the perfection of wisdom, path to liberation. Tara (Dolma) is a female mediation deity which is the liberation and the enlightened activity of Buddha. Buddhist women generally focus on their struggles for liberation by the suffering of gender discrimination (domestic abuse, rape, exploitation, denigration). The Dolma Ling students deal with the Western view of liberation. This presents a paradox between culture and freedom (wanting to become a nun and not permitted by the parent). Their Buddhist education system derived from the Indian Buddhist centuries before the CE, was adapted and survived in Tibet since the 8th century. Their secular curriculum is based on the modern Indian secular education system derived from the British. This essay questions the interest of the learning of English and it is answered by the influence of politics, Chinese imperialism. There are several influences in learning English: EIL, EFL, and ESL. The learning of the English language is viewed as a conduit to survival, international justice, and human rights (MacPherson, 2001a). This is how they negotiate the assistance from international development organizations, appeal for their self-determination and cultural survival, and use the media to testify about the human rights abuses. The author states that this is not only a political stance but an economic one as well. There are reasons for the Tibetan-English of bilingual education. The Tibetan Nuns Project (TNP) started the institute with Western donors (individuals, organizations, government). In general, they are celibate communities with low levels of consumption. Part of their educational activities include: training in traditional rituals, prayers, arts, literacy, philosophy, reasoning, meditation, paraprofessional (healthcare, teaching) and handicraft skills. MacPherson presents five cases. These are as follows: Case 1. Rejection, or Dechen´s Answer to “Is a Nun a Woman?” An introduction to an autobiographical communication unit was presented, “…to encourage the students to research their own lives and experiences while learning English”. This gave the nuns an opportunity to write about their lives, psychologically and educationally in a safe way (they had been tortured or went through traumatic events). This process gave way to a therapeutic relief by simple in-class conversations, writing their stories, and journal-writing exercises. Due to the limitation of oral or written English proficiency, the author had them use basic vocabulary and simple sentence structures. Dechen, one of the nuns argued her point about a nun being a woman in a debate. Since the author did not acknowledge her position she dropped out of class. This was a presentation of Dechen, negotiating her position and rejecting the English language education. This however according to the author made Dechen reject the opportunity to examine and negotiate her view of gender. Most of the nun´s mothers died after years of childbearing, childrearing, and strenuous physical labour therefore becoming a nun was seen as liberation. Case 2. Assimilation, or Thupten´s Defense of Modernity Over Tradition Thupten was presented as having a tendency to assimilate to the new globalization and the new English curriculum leaving her to reject the traditional Tibetan Buddhist education and culture. She had spent 3 years in prison (where she was tortured) for being the outspoken support of Tibetan self-determination, which forced her into exile. She was an advocate for modernization of Tibetan society (culture, education, governance, monastic communities). She contended that the traditional education had failed to protect the interests of Tibetan people and their self-government. She argued that if monks had studied foreign languages, history, politics, and social sciences instead of spending 30 to 40 years studying debate they would have been able to have made changes. She stated in her presentation that those who serve the exile government are mostly college graduates rather than monks (geshes). She, however, was not inclined to assimilate to the West nor to China. Case 3. Marginality, or Tsepal Who Fell Between the Cracks Tsepal was a dissident nun in Tibet. She had been imprisoned and tortured and suffered its consequences, mentally and physically. The author compares herself to Tsepal by feeling that they had fallen between the cracks. Tsepal left the nunnery, married, and became pregnant. They were neither quite nuns nor quite women. She felt they were freedom fighters. Case 4. Bicultural Accommodation, or Lhamo´s pragmatic Strategy for Success Lhamo performed well in both educational settings (traditional/modern). She was a health-care worker in one of the nunneries. Although she knew English well she would use her native language in the community and English outside of the community. She was seen by the author as pragmatic and versatile by moving between languages, cultures, and curricula. She used or removed her hat accordingly. She was second to Thupten in the Western-style public debate, arguing against the Western motion and in pro of the Buddhist monastic education (tsen-nyi). She gave importance to the personal and individual benefits versus the political view. She adapted to the circumstances easily, moving between two identity positions, leading her to be able to work well in two distinct different settings. Case 5. Intercultural Creativity, or When Rinchen Learned to Reason in English Rinchen was not shy and was readily able to question her monk-teacher, which led to believe that she seemed uninhibited by gender or power differences. Her behavior was extrapolated into her daily unsupervised peer debates and she was also creative. She used her taught traditional manner of questioning into the Western-style of teaching, which was not seen well. Her teacher-centered classes put her in an awkward position since this was not the style the teacher was used to. This, however, placed her in a position beyond bicultural accommodation, since she had the ability to move between and across two languages and cultures. She was also able to transfer knowledge, concepts, and skills between the two languages and cultures. This led her to negotiate and resist by using the metacultural awareness, by stepping outside of the culture and identity and look back. This leads to freedom and conscious participation in culture and identity development according to MacPherson. Implications Tsepal and Rinchen according to the ethnographer experienced intercultural marginality with different outcomes. Tsepal became a refugee in mind and in body and remained distant from the global networks. Rinchen´s marginality was more constructive. She was able to negotiate the intercultural space and transform it. Lhamo also learned to negotiate two languages, cultures, and gender norms through intercurricular contact and used them for pragmatic functions, using English as a foreign or international language, which leads to subject areas that are beneficial to students and communities. Dechen and Thupen favoured monolingual, monocultural education, secular English-Tibetan language, culture, and curriculum. Conclusion The ethnographer states that the five students in the study continue to negotiate an extralinguistic reality common to people in exile and contends that there is no singular educational system to be sufficient to prepare students for their unique challenges and experiences and that the best gift given is to be able to make their linguistic and cultural choices given the necessary tools. This is what is offered in bilingual bicultural programs such as Dolma Ling that serve as pedagogical safe houses for communities in transition thus offering the students, “…more agency and choice in negotiating language contact, interculturalism, and identity change” this leading to an extension to a cross-cultural and cross-curricular contacts. This gives the women refugees a benefit to exposure and it gives the English language teachers the opportunity for more explicit education, training, and experience in intercultural communication and identity development issues, thus, leading to having women liberated in a global way. This writer concurs with MacPherson, in that the learning of English and for that matter any language should be taught using their linguistic and cross-cultural interaction. Since learners do not necessarily learn using any one strategy nor do they learn at the same self-paced mode, educators should consider a variety of techniques and strategies to teach a second language. It is not safe to teach a language without learning about the student´s history, politics, economic, tradition, and culture of the country they come from since flaws in the educational system may arise thus leading to errors. Would it be accurate to say that because an individual has learned pedagogy, generally speaking from white dominant-cultures that that then is the accurate way to teach all of their students? The answer is simple. NO. This ethnography and research active essay has presented the reasons of why not to incur in this methodology of teaching. As it may be observed in the United States of America (USA) there is a high level of truancy and illiteracy in the schools and a high drop out rate. Researchers have presented the fact that teachers in the USA are still teaching with what they have learned in school by their white-dominant teachers. These teachers have failed to reach the immigrants because they have not taken into account the student´s strengths brought to school from their cultural environments. Women today are still struggling to hold up their position in various facets of the society because the males are still the dominant elements in the society. Society has not evolved from the cavern days. Yes, there have been changes with women´s liberation but it is far from being equal. In this case, this researcher is referring to the Western societies, because in the eastern societies this is still a controversial issue and a taboo. Educators should not only teach a language/foreign language but should also teach controversial issues and debate strategies to convey messages that will enrich the culture, however not using the Western side of the pole but a mixture of both (integrated or independently presented) using the cross-cultural and cross-linguistic approach. This will make a better stance in education, where students and teachers learn in the process. This is an issue that the state boards of education should take into consideration so that universities and schools follow these requirements. Constant professional development taking into consideration the elements herein presented should be one of the ways to reach the “veteran” teachers. This researcher believes that this essay was written well and it was easy to understand. She also believes that more of this type of research should be done so that educators take into account the aspects presented herein and use them in their classes as strategies that will interest their students and maintain them class. It is understood that retention of students will not always be 100%. McPherson even lost one of her students and forgot to try to get her back. There is no perfection, but close will do. Read More

This exposure has made the women appear in an advantageous position in learning a second language and in being employed as language teachers and translators, according to several sources cited by the author of this ethnography. This gives them a new status in society. They are able to bring forth new concepts and issues on equality and human rights to overcome the negative self-images and limited roles within their traditional societies. According to MacPherson this is a benefit however women still face the inequalities to access education and practices and although it may be seen as a success it may incur in conflict and confusion.

Norris (2002, 2004) cited within this ethnography, states that Aboriginal women in Canada are losing their first language and culture compared to men, by intermarriage and urban migration. The mother´s language was affected more than the father´s language used at home and their children´s selection of language. It is therefore found that the linguistic and cultural continuity and loss seem to fall disproportionately on women. The “cultural broker” according to Medicine (1987) is a term used to describe the Indigenous women´s role as mediators between mainstream English and Indigenous communities.

This may be viewed as assimilation but without the power structure therefore, becoming a real or imagined threat to local culture, community affiliations, and identities. Gender and culture interact through identity seen in a social and environmental context (Ehrlich, 1997; Ochs, 1992; MacPherson, 2005). Language and curriculum is socio culturally seem and important for the negotiation of gender and identity. Norton (1997) sees it as a relationship between language and identity: a) complex, contradictory, and multifaceted; b) dynamic across time and space; c) co-constructed; d) contextualized in larger social processes that can be coercive or collaborative; and e) linked with classroom practice.

Tibetan women struggle consciously and intentionally for liberation in a Buddhist version of liberation although there is no Buddhist theory of women liberation however, it prevails as the mother Buddha of wisdom Prajnaparamita and as the perfection of wisdom, path to liberation. Tara (Dolma) is a female mediation deity which is the liberation and the enlightened activity of Buddha. Buddhist women generally focus on their struggles for liberation by the suffering of gender discrimination (domestic abuse, rape, exploitation, denigration).

The Dolma Ling students deal with the Western view of liberation. This presents a paradox between culture and freedom (wanting to become a nun and not permitted by the parent). Their Buddhist education system derived from the Indian Buddhist centuries before the CE, was adapted and survived in Tibet since the 8th century. Their secular curriculum is based on the modern Indian secular education system derived from the British. This essay questions the interest of the learning of English and it is answered by the influence of politics, Chinese imperialism.

There are several influences in learning English: EIL, EFL, and ESL. The learning of the English language is viewed as a conduit to survival, international justice, and human rights (MacPherson, 2001a). This is how they negotiate the assistance from international development organizations, appeal for their self-determination and cultural survival, and use the media to testify about the human rights abuses. The author states that this is not only a political stance but an economic one as well.

There are reasons for the Tibetan-English of bilingual education. The Tibetan Nuns Project (TNP) started the institute with Western donors (individuals, organizations, government). In general, they are celibate communities with low levels of consumption. Part of their educational activities include: training in traditional rituals, prayers, arts, literacy, philosophy, reasoning, meditation, paraprofessional (healthcare, teaching) and handicraft skills.

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