Students’ Perceptions of Language Education Policies in Fiji and Its Impact on Students’ Ethnic Identity and School Belonging (67068)
Session Chair: Minseok Yang
Saturday, January 7, 2023 (11:20)
Session: Session 2
Room: 322B
Presentation Type:Oral Presentation
This study looks at students’ perceptions of language education policies in Fiji and its impact on students’ ethnic identity and school belonging at one college in Hawaii with high levels of Pacific Islander students. Thirty-four (N=34) Fijian college students participated in 17 on-campus focus groups facilitated by a member of the research team, held over 7 weeks during the summer of 2022. Consent forms were collected prior to data collections and all data collections were approved by the IRB. Focus groups lasted approximately 90 minutes. All focus group interviews were audio and video recorded over ZOOM, then transcribed and de-identified for analysis.
Transcriptions of focus group interviews were analyzed iteratively with an inductive coding strategy looking for emergent themes and patterns (Cresswell, 2009; Miles et al., 2014). Analyses revealed multiple themes related to how students perceived their language education to impact their ethnic identity and sense of school belonging. Some students noted how they felt colonized by the implementation of an English- only language policy. These students felt grief, a loss of ethnic identity, and ostracization from their community due to the loss of their native language through their schooling. Other students noted the importance of learning English as it connected them to global economies and global cultures, including the culture of schooling at the University. Other emergent themes will be presented and discussed in this presentation, contributing important information from Fijian students themselves about how they experience, and describe the impact of their language experiences at school.
Authors:
Grace Tora, Brigham Young University, United States
Erika Feinauer, Brigham Young University, United States
Spencer Scanlan, Brigham Young University, United States
About the Presenter(s)
Ms Grace Tora is a University Postgraduate Student at Brigham Young University, United States
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