Managing Linguistic Diversity in the Tilburg Chinese School
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Managing Linguistic Diversity in the Tilburg Chinese School Zihao Guo Master thesis Management of Cultural Diversity Tilburg University, School of Humanities Department of Culture Studies Supervisor: Prof. dr. J.W.M. (Sjaak) Kroon Second reader: Dr. M. Spotti Tilburg, July 2018 Background Information Details of student: - Name: Zihao Guo - ANR: 780796 - Name of the Supervisor(s): - Name supervisor: Prof. dr. J.W.M. (Sjaak) Kroon - Name second reader: Dr. M. Spotti Title of the Master Thesis Circle: Top-down policies and bottom-up practices Title of the thesis: Managing Linguistic Diversity in the Tilburg Chinese School Abstract This research deals with linguistic diversity management regarding both policies and practices in the Chinese School in Tilburg. Chinese immigrants in the Netherlands have a history of more than one century. Throughout the years, the linguistic background of the majority of Chinese immigrants has shifted from Cantonese to Mandarin, the same goes for the teaching policies in the Chinese schools in the Netherlands. Thus, the following research question is formulated: “What are possible discrepancies between top-down policies and bottom-up practices in terms of linguistic diversity in the Tilburg Chinese School and what recommendations for policy development can be formulated for the school in dealing with linguistic diversity issues among its students?” The research will first focus on the existing school policy by looking into the documents, then explore the current diversity issue within the school by conducting an ethnographic study with different policy actors including school management, teachers, students and parents. The data will be collected in the ways of reading archival data, observing educational practices and interviewing participants, and will be analyzed through key incident analysis. In the end, the research will provide the school with recommendations for policy development concerning the diversity issues that have been found when comparing existing policies and classroom practices. Keywords language policy, complementary education, Chinese immigrants in the Netherlands, Chinese school, heritage language, ethnography, top-down policies – bottom-up practices Preface This Master’s thesis is the destination of my two-year study in the field of management of cultural diversity at Tilburg University. During the journey of study, I was impressed by the possibilities of diversity management, language policy and ethnography. Through my research in the Tilburg Chinese School, not only did I review the knowledge that I have learned, but I also got the chance to use this knowledge by myself. As I went deeper in my research, I got to understand how a school is functioning and how it is managed. The diversity in the school is what intrigues me the most as students from different backgrounds come together learning a “new” language that may or may not connect with their roots. I hereby would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my supervisor Prof. dr. S. Kroon. Without his inspiring guidance and encouragement, I could not have finished this thesis. I would also like to thank my contact person Ms. Li and Mrs. Zhou as they helped me to get familiar with the Tilburg Chinese School. Moreover, I am grateful to all my participants involved in the interviews and observations. Their cooperation and contribution is the foundation of my research. Tilburg, July 2018 Zihao Guo Table of Contents 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Problem statement ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research aim and research questions ............................................................................................ 1 1.3 Structure of the thesis .................................................................................................................... 2 2 Theoretical framework .......................................................................................................................... 3 2.1 Migration and language ................................................................................................................ 3 2.2 Globalization, superdiversity and languaging ............................................................................... 4 2.3 Language teaching in complementary schools ............................................................................. 5 2.4 School language policy ................................................................................................................. 6 3 Methodology ......................................................................................................................................... 8 3.1 Epistemology ................................................................................................................................ 8 3.2 Research Design ............................................................................................................................ 8 3.3 Sample Strategy and participants .................................................................................................. 8 3.4 Data Collection ............................................................................................................................. 9 3.5 Data analysis ............................................................................................................................... 10 3.6 Research Quality Indicators ........................................................................................................ 10 4 Context ................................................................................................................................................ 12 4.1 The Chinese diaspora in the Netherlands and in Tilburg ............................................................ 12 4.2 The history of the Chinese School in Tilburg ............................................................................. 13 4.3 The development of the Chinese School in Tilburg .................................................................... 13 5 The language policy of the Tilburg Chinese School ........................................................................... 18 5.1 Perceived language policy from the interviews .......................................................................... 18 5.2 Perceived language policy from other sources............................................................................ 19 6 Classroom observations ...................................................................................................................... 23 6.1 Language of instruction .............................................................................................................. 23 6.1.1 The fourth-grade class ......................................................................................................... 23 6.1.2 The adult class ..................................................................................................................... 26 6.1.3 The first-grade class ............................................................................................................ 29 6.1.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 33 6.2 Teaching Materials ............................................................................................................................ 34 6.2.1 The fourth-grade class ......................................................................................................... 34 6.2.2 The first-grade class ............................................................................................................ 39 6.2.3 The adult class ..................................................................................................................... 43 6.2.4 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 46 6.3 Culture Education ....................................................................................................................... 46 6.3.1 The fourth-grade class ......................................................................................................... 47 6.3.2 The first-grade class ............................................................................................................ 48 6.3.3 The adult class ..................................................................................................................... 49 6.3.4 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 51 7 Conclusions, discussion and recommendations .................................................................................. 53 7.1 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 53 7.2 Discussion ................................................................................................................................... 54 7.3 Recommendations ....................................................................................................................... 54 References ..................................................................................................................................................