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IMMIGRATION, LITERACY, AND MOBILITY: A CRITICAL ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF WELL-EDUCATED
CHINESE IMMIGRANTS’ TRAJECTORIES IN CANADA
by
Lurong Wang
A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Adult Education and Counselling Psychology
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the
University of Toronto
© Copyright by Lurong Wang 2011
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IMMIGRATION, LITERACY, AND MOBILITY:
A CRITICAL ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF WELL-EDUCATED
CHINESE IMMIGRANTS’ TRAJECTORIES IN CANADA
Doctor of Philosophy 2011
Lurong Wang
Department of Adult Education and Counselling Psychology
University of Toronto
Abstract
This dissertation interrogates the deficit assumptions about English proficiency of
skilled immigrants who were recruited by Canadian governments between the late
1990s and early 2000s. Through the lens of literacy as social practice, the eighteen-
month ethnographic qualitative research explores the sequential experiences of
settlement and economic integration of seven well-educated Chinese immigrant
professionals. The analytical framework is built on sociocultural approaches to
literacy and learning, as well as the theories of discourses and language reproduction.
Using multiple data sources (observations, conversational interviews, journal and
diary entries, photographs, documents, and artifacts collected in everyday lives), I
document many different ways that well-educated Chinese immigrants take advantage
of their language and literacy skills in English across several social domains of home,
school, job market, and workplace.
Examining the trans-contextual patterning of the participants’ language and
literacy activities reveals that immigrant professionals use literacy as assistance in
seeking, negotiating, and taking hold of resources and opportunities within certain
social settings. However, my data show that their language and literacy engagements
might not always generate positive consequences for social networks, job
opportunities, and upward economic mobility. Close analyses of processes and
outcomes of the participants’ engagements across these discursive discourses make it
very clear that the monolithic assumptions of the dominant language shape and
reinforce structural barriers by constraining their social participation, decision
making, and learning practice, and thereby make literacy’s consequences
unpredictable. The deficit model of language proficiency serves the grounds for
linguistic stereotypes and economic marginalization, which produces profoundly
consequential effects on immigrants’ pathways as they strive for having access to
resources and opportunities in the new society.
iii
My analyses illuminate the ways that language and literacy create the complex
web of discursive spaces wherein institutional agendas and personal desires are
intertwined and collide in complex ways that constitute conditions and processes of
social and economic mobility of immigrant populations. Based on these analyses, I
argue that immigrants’ successful integration into a host country is not about the
mastery of the technical skills in the dominant language. Rather, it is largely about the
recognition and acceptance of the value of their language use and literacy practice as
they attempt to partake in the globalized new economy.
iv
Acknowledgements
Doing and writing an ethnography is the arduous but fulfilling journey of learning
that I have ever experienced in my life. Many people helped sustain me on this path of
academic pursuit in one way or another. I would like to gratefully acknowledge the
diverse support that I have received.
First and foremost, my heartfelt appreciation goes to the people who participated
in this study and made this dissertation possible. I am deeply grateful to them for their
trust, openness, and generosity. Not only did they share with me their lives and
experiences in an overt manner, they also provided me with the depth of their insights
into the realities of recent Chinese immigrants living in Canada. I am thankful to their
genuine and collaborative partnership on my journey of learning and becoming a
researcher. I sincerely hope that this dissertation presents the richness of their
immigration experiences, as well as shines their integrity, knowledge, and strength
that they have contributed in their lived experiences in Canada.
Second, I would like to express my great gratitude to my thesis committee, Dr.
Monica Heller, Dr. Shahrzad Mojab, and Dr. Tara Goldstein, for their intellectual
guidance and consistent encouragement throughout this project. I could not have
chosen a stronger committee, not only because they are knowledgeable and brilliant
scholars, but also because they are wonderful and caring persons. I gratefully
acknowledge the guidance of my supervisor, Dr. Monica Heller, whose wisdom,
expert advice, and prompt and constructive critique contributed tremendously to the
shaping of this dissertation. Her boundless patience and faith in my abilities always
inspired me in the process of producing this work. My sincere appreciation extends to
Dr. Shahrzad Mojab, not only for her candid comments on and thoughtful suggestions
to the earlier draft of this dissertation, but also for her interest in and insights into
immigrants’ lives. Shahrzad’s consistent encouragement and appreciation of this work
were the unfailing source of my confidence. I am also deeply grateful to Dr. Tara
Goldstein for her genuine care and support when I encountered twists and turns on the
journey of completing this dissertation. Thank you, Tara, for giving me your warm
hugs and offering me a shoulder to lean on at the most critical times. I hope that you
can understand how meaningful they have been to me. I have learned from your
example, not only how to become a critical scholar and educator, but also how to be a
v
caring professor and an honest, ethical human being. I am extremely honoured to have
the opportunity to know and work with all of you.
It was my great pleasure and privilege to have had Dr. Diane Dagenais as my
external examiner, and Dr. Julie Kerekes as my internal examiner. I have appreciated
Diane’s thought-provoking questions and insightful comments that help sharpen the
analysis for future work. I sincerely thank Dr. Julie Kerekes for her genuine and
generous comments and encouragement. Thank you both for recognizing the value of
my work.
Third, I could never adequately express my enormous gratitude to Dr. Barbara
Burnaby and Dr. Mary Hamilton for their intellectual nourishment, moral support, and
friendship over the course of my academic endeavours. Dr. Burnaby has in many
ways served as an academic role model for me. It was through the course she offered
that I became interested in immigrants’ lived experiences with literacy. I would never
have courage to pursue this degree if it was not for the encouragement of Barbara who
saw a capacity and interest for this type of scholarship in me. Her support and
friendship at crucial times were of invaluable help that made me believe that I could
get on with research at Ph.D. level. My heartfelt gratitude extends to Dr. Mary
Hamilton for her consistent support which has played a key role in my intellectual
development. I thank Mary for helping me solve a complex of theoretical tangles of
literacy, learning, and social practice at the early stage of this project. Her work was
central in bringing to my awareness of the importance of the trans-contextual
phenomenon of literacy in people’s lives, as well as in continually inspiring me to
explore the layered nature of ideological work of literacy, across institutions and local
sites. The influence of her work is profound in this work, and certainly will extend
beyond these pages. I express my sincerest appreciation for Barbara and Mary who
have provided me with their unflagging support, friendship, and warm hugs and for
that I will be always grateful.
In addition, many other professors provided me with support in various capacities
on my Ph.D. journey. In particular, I thank Drs. Nancy Jackson, Jack Quarter, Gary
Knowles, Ardra Cole, Peter Sawchuk, Eileen Antone, Roxana Ng, Jasmin Zine, Ruth
Hayhoe, Shibao Guo, and Maria Clara Keating. Their support has meant a great deal
to me. I give special thanks to Professor Michael Ballin for copyediting this
dissertation. I have deeply appreciated his patience and support which made the final
thesis product possible.
vi
Fourth, I am extremely grateful to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research
Council of Canada (SSHRC) for financial assistance in the form of Doctoral
Fellowship (2004-2007), to the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the
University of Toronto (OISE/UT) for Graduate Assistantship (2003-2005), Academic
Excellence Award (2005-2008), and Scholarship (2003-2004, 2007-2008), and to the
School of Graduate Studies of the University of Toronto for Research Travel Grant
(2007) and Doctoral Thesis Completion Grant (2007-2009). My appreciation also
goes to the Joint Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement
(CERIS) for granting me a Graduate Student Research Award (2009). I cannot
imagine going through this long process of intellectual training and personal growth
without this financial support.
Finally, my eternal gratitude goes to my family whose unconditional love,
support, understanding, patience, and trust in me have always kept me going forward.
I owe my intellectual roots to my mother, Wang Xiaoying, and father, Wang Xiting,
who have taught me how important hard work, commitment, and perseverance are in
any sustained effort. I thank my sister, Wang Luyu, and brother-in-law, Liang Ping,
for looking after my parents during the long period of my absence of family
obligations. I offer warmest thanks to my brother, Dr. Wang Lukun, for his endless
support of any kind. My deepest love also extends to my angelic niece, Liang Rui, for
bringing joys and laughers to the family. Her sweet and beautiful smiles always shine
my heart. And last, but by no means least, I am indebted to my husband, Jun Zhang,
whose relentless love, cheery encouragement, positive outlook on life, and
unwavering faith in my abilities and my work are the priceless source to bolster my
confidence, overcome the hurdles, and get to the finish line. I cherish him deeply for
making my life fuller with his company, support, friendship, and love. I always think
that I am so blessed with such close, wonderful family members and loyal friends in
my life. They shape my life and thinking in positive and beautiful ways and for that, I
dedicate this dissertation to all of them.
vii
Table of Contents
Abstract / ii
Acknowledgements / iv
List of Tables / xi
List of Appendices / xii
Chapter 1 Introduction / 1
1.1 Statement of Research Problem / 2
1.2 Globalization, Immigration, and Commodification: The Global Context / 7
1.3 Positioning Self in the Research / 14
1.4 Research Questions / 18
1.5 Overview of the Thesis / 18
Chapter 2 Theoretical Framework / 22
2.1 The Great Divide, the Consequences, and Literacy as Social Practice / 22
2.2 Participation, Learning, and Access / 30
2.3 Discourse, Social Reproduction, and Literacy as Strategy / 34
2.4 Summary / 39
Chapter 3 Immigration, Literacy, and China’s English Education: The Historical and
Political Backgrounds / 41
3.1 Changes of Canadian Immigration Policies and Evolving Influences of Literacy / 41
3.1.1 Building the Nation: Labor, Race, and “Canadianization of Immigrants” / 41
3.1.2 Forming the Unity of Modern State: Skills, Literacy, and Linguistic
Homogeneity / 45
3.1.3 “Moving Canada to the World”: Global Immigration and Literacy in the
Globalized New Economy / 48
3.2 Trends of Chinese Immigration in Canada / 53
3.3 The English Language Education in China / 56
3.3.1 Barbaric Tongue, Medium of Modernization, and Language of Elites / 56
3.3.2 English within Socialist Education / 57
3.3.3 China’s Economic Reforms and English Learning Nationwide / 59
3.4 Getting Prepared for Immigration / 64
3.4.1 Linguistic Preparation / 65
3.4.2 Professional Preparation / 66
3.5 Summary / 67
Chapter 4 Methodology / 68
4.1 Why Critical Ethnography? / 68
4.2 Data Collection Procedure: Doing Fieldwork / 71
4.2.1 Seeking Participants (November 2005–January 2006) / 71
4.2.2 Phase One (February–April 2006) / 77
4.2.3 Phase Two (May–December 2006) / 78
4.2.4 Phase Three (January–March 2007) / 80
viii
4.3 Tools of Inquiry / 80
4.4 Reflections on the Research Process / 83
4.4.1 Doing the Research, Negotiating Identities / 84
4.4.2 Logbook Diaries, Journal Writing, and Literacy Artifacts / 86
4.5 Organizing and Analyzing Data / 91
4.5.1 Data Management / 91
4.5.2 Transcription and Data Analysis / 93
4.5.3 Evaluating Reliability and Validity / 96
4.6 Summary / 99
Chapter 5 Weaving Home-Support Networks: Language and Literacy in Action / 101
5.1 English Proficiency and Family Responsibilities: A Tale of Two Immigrant
Households / 102
5.1.1 The Xiang Dong and Ming Fang Household / 103
5.1.2 The Jia Wei and Yu Qing Household / 105
5.1.3 Identifying Ways of Support / 108
5.1.3.1 Skill Sharing / 109
5.1.3.2 Brokering Practice / 110
5.2 Creating Zones of Possibilities: Learning from Children / 112
5.2.1 Being a Language Helper / 113
5.2.2 Being an Information Carrier / 117
5.2.2.1 Sense Making / 117
5.2.2.2 Social Participation / 121
5.2.3 Being an English Pal / 124
5.2.3.1 Immigrant Mothers: Reading with Child / 125
5.2.3.2 Immigrant Fathers: Speaking English with Child / 127
5.3 Through the Eyes of Children / 132
5.3.1 Dilemma 1: English Proficiency and Parental Authority / 132
5.3.2 Dilemma 2: Language Access and Transfer / 136
5.4 Summary / 138
Chapter 6 From LINC and ESL Programs to the Community College: Language and
Literacy in a “Transient Zone” / 143
6.1 Getting into LINC and ESL Programs / 143
6.1.1 The Institutional Stance / 143
6.1.2 English Proficiency and Learning Goals / 149
6.1.3 Access, Regulation, and Desire / 151
6.1.4 Learning within the Constraint / 156
6.1.4.1 Looping within the Constraint / 156
6.1.4.2 An Alternative View / 160
6.1.5 Summing Up: Matches and Mismatches / 163
6.2 Learning English at College: Challenges and Strategies / 167
6.2.1 Learning the Basic / 168
6.2.1.1 Technical Skills / 169
6.2.1.2 Cultural Transmission / 172
ix
6.2.1.3 Strategy or Resistance? / 174
6.2.2 Oral Presentation and “Speaking English with Confidence” / 177
6.2.2.1 The Challenge / 178
6.2.2.2 The Strategy / 181
6.2.3 Group Work and Legitimate Access to Participation / 183
6.3 The Outcomes of Schooling / 189
6.4 Summary / 192
Chapter 7 Negotiating a Route of Entry: Language and Literacy in the Job Market / 194
7.1 Multiple Resources, Multiple Ways In? / 194
7.2 Mapping the Entry Barriers, Looking for Routes of Connections / 200
7.2.1 Barrier 1: Lack of Information Resources / 200
7.2.2 Barrier 2: Locating Language Attachments and Entitlement to Assistance / 206
7.3 Securing Ways to Get In: The Strategy / 214
7.3.1 Writing a Good Résumé / 215
7.3.2 Finding a Low-Level Job / 218
7.4 The Consequences: Material or Ideological? / 228
7.5 Summary / 235
Chapter 8 Adaptation, Socialization, and Upward Mobility: Language and Literacy in the
Workplace / 238
8.1 Points of Transfer: The Challenge / 239
8.2 Identifying Organizational Help / 245
8.3 Making Adaptation via Literacy Practices / 248
8.3.1 Reading the New for Job Security / 249
8.3.2 Reading and Writing for Recognition / 252
8.3.3 Using Literacy in Oral Interaction / 254
8.4 Positioning, Learning, and Ways of Socialization in the Workplace / 259
8.4.1 Expert Positioning, Acceptance, and Legitimate Participation / 259
8.4.2 Positioning Self as Apprentice: Learning in Practice / 263
8.4.3 Buddying up: Seeking Possibilities for a Talking Bond / 266
8.5 Gripping the Chance: Performance Evaluation and Opportunity for Upward
Mobility / 271
8.5.1 “Pay for Performance” and Possibility for Job Advancement / 271
8.5.2 Fitting into the Standards / 274
8.5.3 Writing Down: Revealing Potential Capabilities / 281
8.5.4 Asking for a Raise / 286
8.6 Summary / 295
Chapter 9 Conclusions / 297
9.1 Summary of Findings / 298
9.1.1 Institutional Arrangements, Ideological Forces, and Structured Trajectories / 298
9.1.2 Multiplicity of Literacy and Levels of Contradictions / 302
9.1.3 Participation, Acceptance, and Opportunity to Learn / 310
9.2 Implications of the Research / 313
9.3 Directions for Future Research / 321
x
Epilogue / 324
References / 330
xii
List of Tables
Table 3.1 Changes in the Point Systems and Evolving Influences of Literacy in Policy
Discourses / 42
Table 4.1 Data Collection Procedure / 72
Table 4.2 Participants’ Profiles / 74
Table 6.1 Participants’ Educational Trajectories in the Settlement Period in Toronto / 144
Table 6.2 Required English Courses and Curriculum Focus at Two Community Colleges / 169
Table 7.1 Resources Used by the Participants in the Job-Search Processes / 197
xiii
List of Appendices
Appendix A Information Letter for Participants (English Version) / 345
Appendix B Information Letter for Participants (Chinese Version) / 348
Appendix C Questionnaire / 350
Appendix D Background Information of Individual Participants / 353
Appendix E Interview Guideline / 356
Appendix F Logbook Diary Sheet / 358
Appendix G Event Table / 359
Appendix H Transcription Conventions / 361
Appendix I Logbook Diaries, Journal Writing, and Literacy Artifacts: An Example / 362
Appendix J Consent Letter (English Version) / 365
Appendix K Consent Letter (Chinese Version) / 367
Appendix L Transcription Table / 369
Appendix M Theme Table for Individual Participants / 370
Appendix N Table of a Matrix of Themes / 371
Appendix O Performance Review and Goal Setting Form (Jian Hui) / 372
1
Chapter 1
Introduction
Canada is a country with a history of more than 140 years of maintaining economic
development and sustaining demographic growth through immigration. Since the late 1990s,
Canadian governments have placed great demands upon labor forces with highly professional
and linguistic competencies in order to cope with pressures of the rapidly changing
globalized new economy. However, despite the increased numbers of skilled immigrants
recruited, their language and literacy proficiency in English or French has been frequently
blamed as a crucial factor in hindering their access to jobs or other resources, and generally,
to integration into Canadian society.
This qualitative ethnographic research aims to interrogate the deficit assumptions about
skilled immigrants‟ English language and literacy proficiency. Building on existing
sociocultural theories explaining the meaning of literacy (Barton & Hamilton, 1998; Barton,
Hamilton, & Ivanič, 2000; Gee, 1996; Street, 1984) and learning (Lave &Wenger, 1991;
Wenger, 1998), as well as theories of discourses (Gee, 1996) and language reproduction
(Bourdieu, 1977a, 1977b, 1991; Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977), I explore the specific ways that
recent Chinese immigrants draw on and retool their existing language skills in English in
their settlement and attempts to integrate into the new labor market. By tracking seven
Chinese immigrant professionals‟ experiences of sequential crossings in the new society, this
research shows that the deficit assumption is immensely powerful at ideological, political,
economic, educational, and communicative levels, as it is taken for granted and penetrates
into a range of domains (home, school, job market, and workplace). Through a close
examination of processes and outcomes of the participants‟ language and literacy uses in
varied discourses, I argue that immigrants‟ successful integration into a host country is not
simply about the mastery of the technical skills in the dominant language. Rather, it is largely
about the recognition and acceptance of the value of their language use and literacy practice
as they strive for having access to resources and opportunities in the new society. My
argument further goes that ideological forces and power relations constrain immigrants‟
social and economic mobility and thereby make literacy‟s consequences unpredictable.
2
This chapter begins with a brief statement of the research problem. It then sets the scene
by linking my research focus to the broader context of major global forces that shape social
mobility and material conditions of immigrants‟ lives. I illustrate how my interest in and the
awareness of the issues I examine evolved from my personal experience of being an
immigrant and of doing research related to recent immigrants‟ language practices in Canada.
Taking all these linkages together, I specify research questions that guide this thesis study.
The last section of this chapter outlines the structure of the dissertation.
1.1 Statement of Research Problem
Over the last two decades or so, government and media discourses in Canada reported
that recent immigrants have faced the challenges of high unemployment rates, disadvantaged
occupational positions, and low earning levels in the Canadian labor market (e.g., Anisef &
Sweet, 2003; Canadian Council on Learning, 2008; Catalyst, 2008; Gilmore & Le Petit,
2008; Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, 2002; PROMPT, 2005; Reitz, 2007a,
2007b; Statistics Canada, 2005a, 2005b, 2007; Sweetman & McBride, 2004; Teelucksingh &
Galabuzi, 2005; Türegün, 2008; Zietsma, 2007). These issues are frequently attributed to the
“unsatisfactory” outcomes of recent immigrants‟ economic performance and their
“ineffective” experiences of adapting to Canadian society. In particular, newcomers‟
language and literacy abilities in English or French are widely cited as “insufficient” or
“deficient,” since they prevent immigrant professionals from utilizing their competencies and
credentials as well as from fulfilling the requirements in the new labor market (e.g.,
Bonikowska, Green, & Riddell, 2008; Ferrer, Green, & Riddell, 2004; Galarneau &
Morissette, 2008; Grondin, 2005; Statistics Canada, 2008a, 2008b; Wang & Lo, 2004). While
seeing the declining economic returns of new immigrants as a clear and present danger for
the Canadian economy and society, Graig Alexander, the deputy chief economist of TD
Bank, emphasizes that official-language literacy is the key to “unlocking the potential of
newcomers to Canada and eliminating the underutilization of their human capital”
(Alexander, 2009, p. 6). As he writes,
One of the dominant immigration trends over time has been a shift away from
countries with a mother tongue of one of Canada‟s two official languages—English
and French. This naturally raises the question of whether official-language literacy is
3
an issue? The answer is Yes. It is by no means, however, the only factor holding
back newcomers. … Nevertheless, language and literacy skills are absolutely
fundamental (Alexander, 2009, p. 6).
Indeed, as the growing number of skilled immigrants has flowed into Canada as the result of
a series of reforms of Canadian immigration policies in the late 1990s, ethnolinguistic
minorities‟ reading and writing skills in English or French have been continuously cited as
the factor affecting their new identity construction and economic performance as it is desired
by the new modern nationalism. For example, a government report entitled Reading the
Future: A Portrait of Literacy in Canada claims,
Literacy is important socially, culturally, in terms of citizenship, and economically;
it rewards those who are proficient [in English or French] and penalizes those who
are not. This fact is critical to the success of Canadians and of Canada as a nation
(Government of Canada, 1996, p. 10, Italics added).
This statement establishes clearly the direct relationship of literacy to the nation‟s economic
growth and political stability. It states that literacy establishes a citizen‟s identity linking to
capacity for citizenship rights and responsibilities for the nation‟s development. Despite the
multicultural/multilingual nature of Canada, literacy skills in dominant languages are
explicitly emphasized as the key to constructing outsiders‟ new identities as well as to having
full social and economic participation in the host country.
In order to fulfill the country‟s economic and political needs, governments and
organizational agencies make cooperative efforts to fund language programs and varied
employment services, including English as a Second Language (ESL), Language Instruction
for Newcomers (LINC), and Skills for Change. In these educational and employment
programs, language skills are seen as isolated entities that people either have or lack, and that
therefore can be used as one‟s toolkit for making economic benefits for the local and global
economy. Recent immigrant populations are treated as a homogeneous group whose official
language skills should be repaired and standardized. My own previous research (Wang, 2000,
2002, 2003) and this thesis study show that curriculum and instruction in these language
programs that focus on remedial and technical skills offer little help, or even produce fresh
predicaments for immigrant newcomers in making effective linguistic adaptation and social
4
economic transition to the new society. As this thesis research further shows, these programs
actually serve as a site that holds immigrant newcomers back from transferring into the new
labor market, at the same time that they treat immigrant learners‟ existing competencies and
experiences as irrelevant.
These situations force us to ask, how these institutional arrangements shaped and affected
the ways in which immigrant newcomers make access to resources and opportunities, and
with what consequences? To date, little has been done to explore these questions, answers to
which will shed light on immigrant newcomers‟ trajectories as they seek access to full
participation in the new society. In particular, although language and literacy has been widely
used as a rubric to measure and interpret the outcomes of recent immigrants‟ economic
contribution to Canada, we know little about the roles of language and literacy in actually
determining immigrants‟ settlement and integration experiences in the new environment. My
thesis research aims to bridge this gap through tracing Chinese immigrant professionals‟
experiences of using language and literacy while moving across the boundaries of social
contexts.
Indeed, generalizations about immigrants‟ experiences of social economic integration into
the new society can be very misleading. The narrow scope of views of immigrants‟ language
and literacy suffers from these false generalizations, and has been widely adopted and
maintained in the studies focusing on immigrant settlement and integration (e.g., Gorge &
Tsang, 1998; Gozalie, 2002; Isajiw, 1999; Kirby, 1998; Li, 2003; Lo & Wang, 1997; Maraj,
1996; Salaff, Greve & Xu, 2001; Tian, 1999; Zhu, 2005), immigrants‟ credential recognition
(e.g., Basran & Zong, 1998; Boyd, 2000; Ferrer & Riddell, 2003; Kirby, 1998; Kunz, Milan,
& Schetagne, 2000; Mata, 1999; Reitz, 2001; Shan, 2004; Slade, 2003; Zhao, Drew &
Murray, 2000; Zong, 2004), immigrants‟ economic performance and income levels (e.g.,
Alboim, Finnie & Meng, 2003; Aydemir, 2003; Berman, Lang & Siniver, 2003; Chiswick &
Miller, 1995; Ferrer, Green & Riddell, 2004; Green & Riddel, 2003; Green & Worswick,
2003; Li, 2003; Reitz, 2001; Wang & Lo, 2000, 2004), and Canada‟s immigration policy
(e.g., DeVorets, 1995; Li, 2002; Richmond, 1998; Ye, 2002). While systematically
documenting and uncovering the various obstacles that recent immigrants have encountered
in the processes of navigating their ways of entry into the host labor market and participation
5
in social activities in Canada, these studies, to some extent, echo the deficit assumption that
immigrants‟ lack of proficiency in an official language is the key part of the explanation for
the barriers they confronted and suggest ways in which these barriers can be removed.
Nevertheless, in the past few decades, research based on sociolinguistic, critical language,
second language education, and ethnographic schools of thought has contributed to better
understandings of the complexity of language and literacy uses of immigrants in multiple
social contexts (e.g., Auerbach, 1989; Burnaby, Harper, & Peirce, 1992; Burnaby &
Cumming, 1992; Cumming, 1991; Cumming & Gill, 1992; Duff, Wong, & Early, 2000;
Goldstein, 1992, 1997, 2001; Harper, Peirce, & Burnaby, 1996; Klassen, 1987; Pierce, 1995).
Among these studies, the consensus has been reached that language and literacy uses are
situated, social activities mediating a complex of social relationships and multiple goals of
people. In this respect, these studies, implicitly and explicitly, challenge the direct
connections between language, economic performance, and learning outcomes. Goldstein‟s
study (1997) specifically questions the positive link between the dominant language use and
economic gains and mobility for a group of Portuguese immigrants in Canada. Based on
systematic analyses of the relationship of language use to status, solidarity, gender, and
power relations at the working site, Goldstein points out that in the multilingual/multicultural
workplace, the use of English actually becomes an issue when speaking Portuguese serves to
maintain group membership and provide a way to deal with economic and linguistic
subordination. At this point, Goldstein highlights that immigrant workers‟ language uses and
performance are not a matter of technical skills, but mediated hegemonic ideological forces
which constitute reality.
In the same vein, in a study of immigrant women‟s language learning experiences at
home, at work, and in their communities, Peirce (1995) draws attention to the social nature of
language learning and the multiple forces that affect what and how learners best learn and use
the target language. Through the notion of “investment,” Peirce reveals how immigrant
women‟s symbolic investment shapes and is shaped by an investment in how they might
perceive their positioning in the social context. From there, the researcher suggests that when
immigrant women‟s identities might sometimes allow them to “claim the right to speak” in
specific moments and particular situations, they were usually framed by the dominant
6
language ideology as “illegitimate” speakers because of their racial and linguistic status in the
mainstream society. Like Goldstein‟s research, Peirce‟s study moves away from the notion of
language as isolated, neutral skills through making conspicuous the embeddedness of
communicative practices. These studies foreground the complex connections between
language, learning, action, and interaction to ideologies in sets of social contexts, by
highlighting how local communicative practices and language learning are intertwined with
institutional forces.
Although the studies in these fields pinpoint the issue of the causal relationship between
immigrants‟ dominant language proficiency and the outcomes of their economic and social
performance, they mainly pay attention to people‟s spoken language competence. Given the
richness and complexity of language and literacy uses in people‟s lives, I argue that research
which merely sets out from face-to-face spoken language interaction might fail to address
other aspects of people‟s social practices. Indeed, too often, in this situation, immigrants are
identified as non-native speakers and second-language learners whose spoken language skills
in English or French are always recognized as deficits failing to achieve intended
communicative purposes in social interactions.
Furthermore, by merely taking immigrants with low-level education and language
backgrounds as their main subjects, this line of research usually describes ethnolinguistic
minorities as subordinated and marginalized groups mainly because of their linguistic lacks.
To some extent, immigrants‟ experiences of having unequal access to resources and
opportunities are naturalized, implying that ethnolinguistic minorities should bear their own
responsibility for the consequential effects of displacement, marginalization, and
discrimination they encountered. Given the fact that recent immigrant professionals‟
language and literacy proficiency levels in English or French played a significant role in
creating opportunities for them to come to Canada (see Chapter 3 this dissertation), the
question of how and why language and literacy act as barriers, or generate opportunities, if
any, for well-educated immigrants to locate a niche in the new society needs to be carefully
examined.
Taken together, although researchers from varied perspectives have made efforts to
investigate the issues around immigration and immigrants‟ language uses, their emphasis is
7
on scales of “language problem” that serve to maintain the subordination of immigrants
rather than to appreciate the linguistic and cultural diversity that immigrants bring into
Canadian society. Indeed, little research has been conducted to demystify why the
insufficiency of the language abilities of immigrants is the very reason that they have long
been blamed and penalized as marginalized people with lower economic status and
subordinated social positions.
In line with Street (1996) who suggests that research about people‟s lived experiences
should focus more on what people already have rather than what they lack, I pay particular
attention to the many different ways that immigrants engage with their existing knowledge, in
this case their language and literacy abilities in English. In particular, this study takes literacy
as a vantage point to closely examine the complex relationships between reading, writing,
speaking, and listening in skilled immigrants‟ social engagements while having a close and
keen look at the root of barriers that recent immigrants have faced on their pathways of
getting familiar with the new social systems as well as seeking access to resources and
opportunities. By employing fine-grained ethnographic approaches and discourse analysis, I
not only study and describe what is going on in reality, but also engage in complex
explanations and analyses as to why certain things happened, whose purposes are being
served, and with what effects. I aim to gain a nuanced and contextualized understanding of
how the complexity of language and literacy practices in immigrants‟ lives is framed by local,
global, and transnational processes simultaneously wherein different cultural norms and
language ideologies come into play in different ways (cf. Schieffelin, Woolard, & Kroskrity,
1998). In the following sections, I establish the context for understanding the research
described in the dissertation.
1.2 Globalization, Immigration, and Commodification: The Global Context
Immigrants today, especially those who came to Canada since the late 1990s, are the
best-educated professionals ever recruited in the history of the nation. The traditional
“push-pull” framework that simply focuses on factors such as war, poverty, political or
religious persecution, and economic incentives cannot fully explain why an unprecedented
number of intellectuals worldwide continuously immigrate to a new country even though they
8
leave years of social relationships, cultural ties, and predictable contexts behind. Neither can
the framework provide insights into the fact that while these newcomers are considered to
threaten the interests and privileges of the local residents as well as to place risks on a
nation‟s sense of unity, the steady recruitment of skilled immigrants has remained a trend in a
nation-state system. Taking into account the increased intensification of social, cultural, and
economic shifts in the world, I shall take the concept of globalization as the general backdrop
for a better understanding of the phenomenon of immigration and its related issues that I
study in this research.
Since the mid 1970s, the term globalization has been increasingly used to explicate
emerging social changes and unravel underlying issues arising from particular social
phenomena. While a plethora of academic disciplines places continuous interest in this
concept, there has been the convergence-versus-divergence debate around how to
conceptualize globalization. The claim that focuses on the sameness of globalization asserts
that human beings are living in a technologically driven world, and that different information
technology allows us to network different social contexts or regions. Seen as a challenge to
the traditional “print capitalism,” current globalization is regarded as an age of “information
capitalism” that creates and circulates a vast amount of information and data with the result
of reforming the structure and operations of the global and local labor markets (Castells, 1996,
1998; Wallerstein, 1979). From this perspective, the globalized world makes national
boundaries no longer significant. Rather, cross-cultural communication through the
ever-increasing exploration of information technology creates this world as a “global village”
in which time and space have been compressed, and the “end of geography” has arrived.
From this standpoint, the phenomenon of unprecedented flows of people between and outside
states is the movement toward “one world” as well as toward interdependence among
nation-states, with the consequence of developing a wide scope of international coordination
of dialogues and activities.
The opponents argue against this conceptualization of globalization that merely focuses
on unity and one dimension of interrelated geographical scales of communication, and in so
doing, preaches “the increasing unification of the nation-state system” (Giddens, 2001, p.247).
In contrast with this homogeneous process of globalization, the divergence view accentuates
9
difference, indicating that globalization is a rather complex set of “stretching processes” that
multi-dimensioned relationships are featured and mediated through new technology and
information system, knowledge-based global markets, and new patterns of international
migration (Giddens, 2000; Suarez-Orozco, 2001). In particular, this perspective sees
globalization as a state of “economic interdependence” between nations and states in which
economic developments are influenced profoundly by nation-states‟ hegemonic forces
building on domestic and international linkages among markets, production, and financial
activities. According to this view, a globalized new economy is pertinent to the power of
individual nation-states, the influence of capitalistic markets upon the distribution of
resources, and the rights of privileged groups and individuals.
To achieve these economic and political goals, institutions take the dominant role in
defining knowledge and skills for the production and reproduction of wealth and power, the
division of labor in class relations, and a continuous extension of global markets (Giddens,
2001). Thus, people‟s abilities to meet with the requirements of this political and economic
concentration and to switch fluidly between language and culture across local, national, and
supra-national borders are greeted as valued assets, which become “an ever more essential
trait for the global citizen” (Suarez-Orozco, 2004, p. 174).
It is in these conditions that a new pattern of flows of human capital emerges in that
recruiting high-quality intellectuals has become an important agenda of industrial countries to
win the competition, economically and politically, in the new world economy order. Canada
is not an exceptional case in facing accelerating globalization. Immigration policies have
taken major responsibility for recruiting highly trained professionals who can be “good
citizens” and a beneficiary to the nation‟s economic growth. As shown in Chapter 3 of this
dissertation, in the last few decades, Canadian governments have kept the rate of skilled
immigrant arrivals steady in the annual recruitment goal. In addition, Canada‟s immigration
policies have been frequently modified to attract well-qualified human resources, tapping into
the particular needs of the Canadian labor market to catch up with the rapid pace of the
development of the world economy.
While much of the literature has been dedicated to this dichotomy in conceptualizing the
globalization processes, the convergence-versus-divergence debate fails to address the
10
question of how the globalization processes affect the ways that people do, learn, and see the
world around them. Turning their attention to the impacts of globalization, some theorists and
researchers emphasize that globalization not only involves economic and political relations
among nation-states, but also generates inequality, tension, and hence response and resistance
in many different ways. As Giddens (2001) reminds us,
[T]he capitalist world economy was never just a market for the trading of goods and
services. It involved, and involves today, the commodifying of labor power in class
relations which separate workers from control of their means of production. This
process, of course, is fraught with implications for global inequalities (p. 249).
In resonance with this point of view, Gee, Hull, and Lankshear (1996) emphasize that
when commodities play a significant role in driving the continuous operations of capitalism,
they remain problematic all the time since the commodification of a product or service is
always based on standardization and normalization, in alignment with rules and regulations
reflecting an overt form of hegemony in favor of the dominant. With this view, the
researchers study the impacts of the new economic order on work process and identity
formation in the workplace context. They indicate that while capitalized commodities are
centralized and globalized in its coordination, work-based learning and training play a
significant role in normalizing and monitoring the way in which workers‟ performance fit
into the requirements of the global markets. In particular, language use and textual practices
on the work floor become the micro-process of globalization that serves the function of
reinforcing accountable and legitimate acts within a new work discourse (see also Castleton,
2000, Wang, 2008). At this point, Gee and his colleagues argue that the globalized new
economy generates the consequence that the boundary of learning and working is getting
blurred and making a highly contested site of activity in that peoples or groups struggle to
legitimate their knowledge and to establish their working identities through sameness and
difference, all at the same time.
However, given the fact that increased numbers of working age, highly educated
immigrant professionals flow into the new labor market and form a diverse workforce, I
argue that Gee and his colleagues provide us with limited accounts for how exactly new
capitalism influences the ways that immigrant employees learn and do their work. Little is
11
mentioned about how immigrant workers seek out opportunities for learning and participation
in general, and make use of their language and literacy competencies in particular, as they
make efforts to display their occupational knowledge and secure their new working identities
on the ground.
In this respect, Heller‟s work (2003) helps us better understand the role of language and
identity in the globalization processes. Drawing on her ethnographic, sociolinguistic research
in francophone areas of Canada, Heller indicates that in the globalized new economy,
ethnolinguistic minorities‟ languages and identities become marketable commodities that are
utilized by the States and institutions in response to local and global economic and political
change. According to Heller, in a bilingual and multilingual society like Canada, the everyday,
local production of knowledge and language practices embody struggles “over who has the
legitimate right to define what counts as competence, as authenticity, as excellence, and over
who has the right to produce and distribute the resources of language and identity” (p. 474).
In this way, Heller argues that while the globalized new economy creates frequent social
mobility, along with multiple forms of solidarities and affiliations between local and global,
there emerge tensions and contradictory pressures on these affiliations within which language
authenticity and identity construction become a way of making local sense of the collision. To
unravel some of these tensions inherent in the globalization processes, Heller writes,
The very globalization processes which bring outsiders into competition with
insiders also open up the economic opportunities which attribute value to bilingual
linguistic resources, since it is all about serving a national and international market.
They also highlight tensions between the hybridity which is a mark of being able to
navigate across the different realms of corporate markets, and the uniformity of the
image corporations wish to project (p. 490).
What Heller says here highlights that globalization makes difference problematic among
people, and among groups, along the lines of race, class, and language backgrounds. Clearly,
as cultural and linguistic crossings become a salient characteristic in the globalization process,
the dominant language becomes especially significant in designing and redesigning local
practices to comply with the standards of institutions on global and local scales. Like Heller
argues here, and this dissertation shows, for immigrant newcomers, to move from outside to
inside is not an easy task since constraints and opportunities usually interplay and are
12
entangled in many complicated ways that carry social, economic, and political consequences
through symbolic domination (Bourdieu, 1991).
Appadurai (2001) theorizes the conflicting tendencies between obstacles and
opportunities as one of the disjunctures that occur not only because of the rapid development
of new technology and communication, but also because of the continuous processes of
economic, political, and cultural change. In the study of the multi-dimensional impacts of
globalization, Appadurai states that the current international migration, as a key component of
the new global order, becomes a targeted commodity serving to fortify and expand the
nation-state‟s control over the distribution of resources in today‟s global economy. By using
their hegemonic strategies in the globalized political and economic order, individual
nation-states “cannibalize” material resources and new commodities including human capital
from the third world, to deal with the uncertain interplay between production and
consumption they confront. In Appadurai‟s view, it is in the context of the continuous flows
of people and goods across borders that tension occurs in and through cross-cultural
communications and language crossings that reflect the historically and politically “situated
imaginations of persons and groups spread around the global” (p. 258).
At this point, Appadurai (2001) argues that institutional forces in response to the current
global economy are usually sustained and intensified in the local context through
deterritorialization, that is that high-level immigrants are placed in the lower-class sectors, for
the sake of maximizing the production for profits. This point of view echoes the work of
immigration researchers arguing that deterritorialization is reified through misperceptions of
difference and knowledge, along the lines of race, class, ethnicity, and gender (Guo, 2006; Li,
2001, 2003, Mojab, 1999). Particularly, recent studies (e.g., Han, 2007; Slade, 2008),
including my own research described in this dissertation, reveal that institutional ideologies
of “language problems” and “Canadian work experience” as forms of deterritorialization are
persistent and reproduced on the ground in ways that immigrant professionals are subjected
to stereotyping, displacement, and marginalization, with profoundly consequential effects on
their routes of integration into the host country.
While these are important points about the complexity of globalization, however, there
has been lack of detailed empirical observations of how the complexity is manifested on the
13
ground and experienced in immigrants‟ journeys of getting involved in the new social
systems over time. In particular, if globalization “unifies and separates, creates similarity and
difference” (Lechner and Boli, 2000a, p. 320), what do possible roles of sameness and
difference play in producing obstacles and opportunities for immigrant newcomers, what do
these people do with their existing skills and knowledge while responding to these
opportunities and to specific constraints they confront, why, and with what effects, and how
do sameness and difference, played out at the linguistic level, become the grounds for
stereotyping and/or discrimination? I hope that the data in my study will help answer some of
these questions.
In summary, this dissertation follows the critique of the current literature on globalization.
In particular, I contend that globalization is not a one-way process that merely involves
changes in large social structures. Rather, peoples and institutions participate in and respond
to the process in the complex ways in which they make “creative adaptation to global
processes, new mixtures of cultural frameworks, and the growth of a variable global
consciousness” (Lechner and Boli, 2000b, p. 109-110), in accordance with their “imagined
worlds.” Tensions that occur and are intensified over the issue of commodity and authenticity
of language, as Appadurai (2001) indicates, are one of the disjunctures in the globalization
processes, which are “inflected by the historical, linguistic, and political situatedness of
different sorts of actors” (p. 257). These insights motivate us to understand how different
social actors mobilize the resources they obtain in specific moments of social life, and how
individuals are positioned according to their linguistic and racial backgrounds in social
interactions necessary to having access to resources and opportunities. This line of thinking
emphasizes that language and literacy are at the heart of concerns which reflect institutional
assumptions about immigrants, and which play a central role in shaping immigrants‟
trajectories in the host country. Thus, while immigrants and their knowledge and skills
become marketable commodities in the globalization era, there is a great need to examine
whether and how their existing language and literacy skills “have convertible exchange value
as forms of capital” (Luke, 2004, p. 333), the capital that plays an important role in
improving immigrants‟ lives, economically and socially, in Canadian society.
14
1.3 Positioning Self in the Research
To understand better the roles of language and literacy in well-educated Chinese
immigrants‟ settlement and adaptation experiences in Canada is the focus of this thesis
research. My personal experience of being a skilled immigrant has played a significant role in
shaping my academic interests that I have pursued over the years. In this section, I start with
my own immigration experience and link it to my research focus.
I immigrated to Canada in 1999. Prior to coming to the country, I had lived and been
educated in Beijing, China for thirty years. Upon the completion of my study at the Capital
Normal University where I had earned my Bachelor Degree majoring in foreign language
education, I had worked as an instructor at a high school and as a tenured lecturer at a
university for four years respectively. Between 1995 and 1996, I had studied at the Graduate
School, in Peking University, majoring in second language acquisition. In the meantime, in
order to pursue the empirical implications of the theories that I had learned, I had engaged in
teaching and researching in various workplaces and research institutes.
At that time when the Chinese government relaxed its restrictions on the exit of Chinese
citizens, an increased number of immigration agencies emerged in Beijing. They advertised
widely and organized varied seminars, in order to attract young Chinese professionals
competent in English to emigrate to Canada. Confident about my educational background,
professional qualifications, and language abilities in English, I had submitted an application
for immigration to the Canadian embassy in the spring of 1997. I had thought that as an
English teacher, immigration to Canada might be a springboard for me to continue my
education in an authentic language context where I could deepen my knowledge of language
teaching and learning. My confidence in being a teacher motivated me to take a step further.
In the earlier time of my arrival in Canada, I started to prepare my application for my
postgraduate study at a university. Meanwhile, I sent dozens of my résumés to schools and
colleges, attempting to find a teaching job, similar to the one that I had worked for 10 years in
Beijing. Only once was I called by a staff of the Human Resource Department of one
community college. After a few questions that verified what I wrote on the curriculum vitae,
the person suggested, “Do not try to apply for a job in the field of teaching because you speak
English with an accent, and you do not have local teaching experience. It is hard. No school
15
will hire you.” While I was shocked by these words, I felt much confused by the
contradiction that the Canadian government approved my knowledge and language skills in
English and issued me a landing visa as a skilled immigrant, but these resources could not be
recognized and accepted in reality.
Having experienced failures in locating an opportunity for a teaching job for six months, I
dropped my original plan and tried some clerical jobs, such as secretary and receptionist.
While feeling frustrated about my unsuccessful applications for these entry-level positions, I
faced no difficulty in locating a job, such as dishwasher, busgirl, waitress, and hostess.
Despite no worry about my survival with this kind of job, my mind was tortured by the
contradictions in my life. As a well-educated, highly literate person both in Chinese and in
English, I had not expected barriers to having access to Canada‟s labor market. At that time, I
felt uncertain about my future in Canada. The inner struggles, as I wrestled with the changes
in my life, and with strong feelings of being homesick and uprooted, were beyond my
expectations indeed.
In the year 2000, I started my graduate study for my Master‟s degree at the Ontario
Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. In the first term, I deliberately
sat in a series of teaching methodology courses, with a desire to find an answer to the
contradictions in my life. Reflecting on my experiences of learning and teaching English at
schools and universities in China, I thought that the contradiction might be attributed to the
difference in English language teaching methods between the two countries. In China,
English is taught in a teacher-centered environment. Teachers have to follow a traditional,
rigid syllabus, focusing on grammar and vocabulary (see Chapter 3 for detailed information).
As a result, most Chinese students‟ speaking and listening skills are not sufficient for them to
engage in communications in English in an authentic conversational context. When I came to
Canada, I thought that language-teaching methods in the classroom were innovative and
practical. However, while I was excited about our class discussion topics in terms of language
pedagogy, learners‟ motivation, and language strategies, I wondered whether the Western
teaching methods could be simply translated in the language-teaching classroom in China,
because the culture and belief of Chinese learners are different from the students in Canada so
that the purposes and ways they learned English might be different accordingly. Related to
16
my early settlement experience in Canada, the question, “Can knowledge and skills be
transferred across cultural contexts?”, emerged in my mind. Can I find answers to the
questions from the perspective of teaching methodology and pedagogy? I completed the
course with questions and doubts in my mind. I came to realize that I was looking for a solid
resolution to a deep and complicated issue.
One course, “Second Language Literacy Education,” instructed by Professor Barbara
Burnaby, opened my mind and helped me further my inquiry. At that time, my understanding
of literacy was limited to reading and writing skills obtained in formal educational settings.
As Professor Burnaby introduced Nancy Hornberger‟s (1989) “continua of biliteracy”
framework (micro-macro, oral-literate, monolingual-bilingual, reception-production, oral
language-written language, first and second language transfer, simultaneous-successive
exposure, similar-dissimilar language structures, and convergent-divergent scripts) to the
class, I was fascinated by the complexity of the phenomenon of literacy. My understanding of
literacy evolved through the ongoing discussion of the concept of literacy throughout the
course. Through reading, discussion, and analysis of literacy education in and out of school, I
learned that literacy should be defined not only as reading and writing skills learned at school,
but also as social and communicative practices. As such, people‟s literacy practices are
different since they are embedded in their values, beliefs, and cultures and in varied social
settings in which they are situated.
The idea that literacy is value-laden makes me realize that my own experiences of
learning and teaching literacy skills are actually rooted in the Chinese people‟s view of
education and re-structured in the contemporary social context. In fact, there is no Chinese
character corresponding to the English word “literacy.” In the Chinese language, a literate
person refers to the one who is intellectual, well-educated with a good command of reading
and writing skills gained at schools. For most Chinese people, literacy is viewed as a
synonym for education, conceived as learning as well as the development of knowledge in a
formal educational setting. Thus, it is the Chinese people‟s common sense that the higher the
person‟s education levels, the more literate he or she is, and much higher the social and
economic status he or she will obtain. This relationship between education and literacy is
correlated with a person‟s cognitive levels and social status, as emphasized in most academic
17
literatures on people‟s learning. I therefore assumed that it might be the equation between
education and literacy that played a role in heightening the confidence of young Chinese
professionals immigrating to Canada.
As I expanded my understanding of the concept of literacy, I wondered whether Chinese
immigrants‟ literate skills in English could be transferred and valued in the cross-cultural
context. In my case, although I am aware that my speaking and listening skills in English are
not as good as a native speaker, I trust my reading and writing skills in English as a valuable
resource in that they are useful for me to learn new environments and places and so make
effective my adaptation to the host country. However, in reality, what I experienced as an
immigrant made me puzzled. Why did I have a hard time in locating a niche in the labor
market although I was recruited as a skilled immigrant who was identified as competent in
English, and in what ways could my literate skills in English help me deal with this obstacle?
Concerned about these questions, I was curious to know whether other recent Chinese
immigrants experienced the same barriers and hurdles as I encountered, and what kinds of
strategies they deployed to deal with twists and turns in their lives in the new social contexts.
Based on my understanding of literacy and my own experience of being an immigrant, I
conducted a study, entitled “Literacy Views on Barriers to Adult Chinese Immigrants,” as a
final assignment for the course, “Second Language Literacy Education,” in the summer of
2000 (Wang, 2000). The findings of the study showed that to some extent Chinese skilled
immigrants relied on their everyday literacy practices to figure out a set of new social
systems through their everyday reading and writing activities (such as reading newspapers,
searching for information on the Internet, writing email messages, reading shopping flyers,
filling in forms, and reading official documents). In a sense, such reading and writing
activities could serve them to incorporate their previous experiences with their current
situations. Nonetheless, they all felt that their literacy skills in English became useless in
specific moments and places.
What I learned from the study developed my understanding of the reality of recent
Chinese immigrants‟ situations and motivated me to further investigate the questions; under
what particular circumstances well-educated immigrants‟ language and literacy competencies
can or cannot help them to have access to resources and opportunities, why or why not, and
18
with what consequences? These are the questions encouraging me to gain insights into the
dynamic processes that recent immigrants went through, involving both the social and
institutional constraints on their use of language and literacy and their strategic ways of
dealing with these constraints.
1.4 Research Questions
The purpose of this study was to understand the role recent Chinese immigrants‟ literacy
skills in English played in their settlement lives and socio-economic mobility in Canadian
society. The major question that remained the focus throughout the study was: How did
Chinese immigrant professionals use their language and literacy skills in English to mobilize
themselves into a new social context? As my data collection and analyses unfolded, I
formulated three research questions situated in the social contexts that pertain to integration
experiences of skilled Chinese immigrants. They are:
1. What were the trajectories that skilled Chinese immigrants went through in the process
of making linguistic adaptation and social economic integration into Canada?
2. What kind of resources and opportunities did they identify and gain across social
contexts? To what extent and why did these supports contribute to their settlement and
adaptation to the new context?
3. What kinds of barriers did they encounter? How did their existing language and
literacy competencies facilitate or constrain them to overcome these barriers, and with
what consequences?
1.5 Overview of the Thesis
This dissertation is divided into nine chapters. This chapter has provided an introduction
to the thesis, including my research focus and the contexts relating to the issues I examine.
Chapter 2 lays out the theoretical framework that can help me describe, interpret, and analyze
the dynamics going on in skilled immigrants‟ lived experiences. Rooted in the socio-cultural
perspectives on literacy as social practice, I study the complex relationships between learning,
participation, and accessing resources that shape immigrants‟ lives in multicultural and
multilingual discourses. In Chapter 3, I explain the social and political backgrounds of
immigration, focusing on the connection between immigration, language, and literacy in the
19
policy context. I review the history of China‟s English education for a better understanding of
how English language becomes a motivator that drives increased numbers of young Chinese
professionals to mobilize out of their home country. In Chapter 4, I describe the methodology
used in the present inquiry. I rationalize why critical ethnography is the best choice for me to
study my research questions. I introduce specific approaches and tools that I employed, and
discuss the issues that I encountered in the process. I then explain data analysis procedures
and clarify the ways that I evaluate the reliability and validity of the research.
Chapters 5 to 8 are the data chapters describing the trajectories that seven skilled Chinese
immigrants went through to make linguistic adaptation, search for employment opportunities,
and socialize into the new workplace in Canada. Specifically, they provide ethnographic
accounts of the participants‟ sequential processes of sense making, learning, and language
and literacy practices in a range of institutional contexts (home, school, job market, and
workplace). By analyzing patterns of participation and engagement in specific situations, I
highlight the cyclic process by which the participants draw on, deploy, and retool their
language and literacy skills while examining challenges and barriers that they encountered.
Chapter 5 explores the role of language and literacy in forming home networks of support
in the immigrant family. It emphasizes that home becomes an important site from which
immigrant newcomers venture out into varied life domains in the host country. I illustrate
how immigrant household responsibilities are patterned, according to family members‟
English proficiency in general and their confidence about specific technical aspects of
communication skills in particular. I further describe the ways in which immigrant parents
make efforts to gain language and cultural familiarity with the new environment from and
through their children. This chapter draws attention to the intricacy of this kind of home
support that entails a set of dilemma situations that immigrant parents and their children
confront in the shared learning activity in the home.
Chapter 6 traces my participants‟ educational trajectories from LINC/ESL programs to a
post-secondary school. They are concerned with patterns and outcomes of the participants‟
learning practices within the formal learning contexts. I examine the underlying reasons that
immigrant participants decided to obtain Canadian educational credentials in the new society.
I illustrate how language and literacy are utilized interactively as bureaucratic mechanisms
20
that emphasize the dominant discourse of cultural and language acquisition. I describe how
my participants engaged in as well as negotiated learning opportunities within the constraints
in many different ways. Finally, I present the outcomes of schooling, incorporating the
participants‟ desire for improving their communication competence in English. The following
chapters then lead on to draw out the detailed implications of their Canadian educational
credentials for them to seek out employment and learning opportunities in a range of social
settings.
Chapter 7 describes the ways that the participants searched for entry into the new labor
market, and examines material and ideological consequences attached to their job-search
endeavors. In particular, I illustrate the kinds of job-finding resources that the participants
accessed and the barriers they confronted, despite the fact that their literacy skills in English
played an active role in the process. I reveal the strategies that the participants adopted in
order to seek out their entry into the given labor market while they were facing a
disadvantaged situation. I make the argument that when the dominant language of English
manipulates immigrant job-seekers materially and ideologically and determines who gains
the legitimacy of accessing particular forms of resources, it produces the consequence that
well-educated immigrants are subjected to displacement, marginalization, and even exclusion
from employment, no matter what kind of knowledge and skills they brought to the new labor
market.
Chapter 8 focuses on what the participants did with their language and literacy in English
in the new work environment. It illustrates how the participants made use of their literacy
skills in English, in order to get involved in workplace communication activities and gain
opportunities to learn at particular working sites. It reveals how multiple forms of
participation in learning intersect with the participants‟ strategies for knowledge display and
recognition. The last section of the chapter concentrates on how the participants struggled for
equal economic position in the workplace. It describes how tensions emerged in the discourse
of job evaluation and promotion and the extent to which the participants found ways of
overcoming them through literacy and language. This chapter illuminates that the
consequence of literacy is not predictable, since it is influenced by a complex of power
relations in the local context.
21
Chapter 9 synthesizes the major findings and provides the implications of the research. I
conclude that recent skilled immigrants‟ literacy practices not only act as a medium for
learning new socio-cultural systems, but also serve as a strategic device for resources and
opportunities through multimodal forms of communicative practices in their problem-solving
activities. Nonetheless, the positive consequences of literacy practices are never guaranteed,
in particular, for job opportunities, social networks, and economic advancement since these
discursive discourses are heavily influenced by the dominant language ideologies that impose
a set of negative identities on immigrants. Based on the broader themes emerging from the
study, I draw out the implications of this work, and make suggestions for future research.
22
Chapter 2
Theoretical Framework
This chapter lays out the theoretical framework that helps in understanding the connection
between the lived experiences of the participants in my study and the roles that language and
literacy play in their social participation in the new society. I study the nature of literacy in
everyday lives from the sociocultural perspectives of literacy as social practice, and explore
the role of language and literacy in learning and participation. Bourdieu provides a set of
useful concepts which help me find a route to gain a deeper understanding of how
immigrants‟ language and literacy practices interplay with the struggles and dynamics of
social life.
2.1 The Great Divide, the Consequences, and Literacy as Social Practice
Early research simply defined literacy as a set of fixed, decontextualized skills, which can
be learned and applied directly in different social and cultural contexts (e.g., Goody, 1977,
1986; Goody & Watt, 1968; Havelock, 1963; Ong, 1982). Framed within the notion of a great
divide, such as between “writing” and “oral,” between “literate” and “illiterate,” and between
“tradition” and “modernity,” this line of research has advocated “false dichotomies between
types of societies, modes of thought, and uses of language” (Reder & Davila, 2005, p. 171).
From this perspective, literacy is considered to be emblematic of a civilized society or
ethnicity, associated with positive outcomes, including “community, self- and
socio-economic worth, mobility, access to information and knowledge, rationality, morality,
and orderliness” (Graff, 1979, p. xv). School is seen as the institution responsible for
equipping individuals with basic skills and dominant values and identities, necessary for
having access to adequate material resources, crucial to self actualization.
This view of literacy is what Street (1984) has called an autonomous model that preaches
a linear historical sequence in the development of literacy in all societies. Focusing on
“deficits,” “problems,” or “barriers” of individuals, the autonomous model asserts that
“human beings are basically passive objects who are affected by literacy in ways they are
neither fully aware of nor able to control” (Kulick & Stroud, 1993, p. 31). In emphasizing the
23
idea of standardization of linguistic forms and the property of institutional knowledge, this
view of literacy indicates that people who do not fit the institutional assumptions of literacy
lack the intellectual capabilities of adapting to and prospering in the modern world. Too
often, these are the people who are identified by characteristics, such as age, gender, race,
class, years of schooling, and employment status. They have frequently been portrayed as
lacking in communication, in the ability to catch up to the changing demand of technology,
and in possessing proper civic virtue, thereby failing to make contribution to social, political,
and economic development of the nation. In a multicultural and multilingual society like
Canada, the equation of literacy with civilization and development has implications for
ethnolinguistic peoples whose languages and cultures are not the dominant ones of the
mainstream society. By defining literacy as a set of discrete skills, the autonomous model
pays little attention to how people actively make use of their literate competence as a
resource to fulfill their own purposes and needs in a set of social contexts.
Street (1984) proposes an ideological model of literacy that challenges “the assumptions
about the fixity of written meaning and the context-free nature of technical literacy skills”
(Collins & Blot, 2003, p. 60). In this model, literacy is defined as a social process as well as a
cultural form, constructed and used within particular institutional frameworks for specific
social purposes. From the ideological perspective, the concept of literacy is encapsulated
within structures of power in which people‟s skills and actual activities are organized and
normalized, thereby reflecting the underlying social relations. The particular practices of
literacy, which people engage in varied social and educational settings, are the exercise of
social control and hegemony, and (re)produce the continuing social stratification, varied with
age, gender, and ethnicity. Hence, according to the ideological model, literacy is not a
determining and causal factor of social phenomena. Rather, it mediates a social process and
demonstrates a complex interaction with political, economic, historical, and ideological
factors. To uncover the complicated phenomena of literacy, Street (1984) develops the notion
of literacy practice, in order to emphasize both observable patterns of behavior across events
and the more ideological aspects which are not directly observable. In this respect, the notion
of literacy practice helps draw explicit attention not only to the observable uses of language
and literacy, but also to the norms, values, conventions, ideas, and commonsense underlying
24
a complex web of ideological frames. As Street (1993) points out, “literacy practices
incorporate not only literacy events as empirical occasions to which literacy is integral, but
also „folk models‟ of those events and the ideological preconceptions that underpin them.
They are part of communicative practices and social practices in general” (p. 13). In this way,
the ideological model recognizes the variety of cultural practices associated with literacy in
different contexts in which ideology becomes the site of tension between local life worlds and
institutional contexts, authority and power, and resistance and creativity.
My thesis research is grounded on Street‟s ideological model of literacy. It is allied to the
social practice perspectives on literacy that propose a different paradigm for studying and
understanding written language use (e.g., Barton, 1994; Barton & Hamilton, 1998; Barton,
Hamilton, & Ivanič, 2000; Barton & Ivanič, 1991; Baynham, 1995; Collins, 1995;
Cook-Gumperz, 1986; Gee, 1996, 2000; Heath, 1983; Hull, 1997; Prinsloo & Breier, 1996;
Street, 1984, 1993, 1995). While inviting researchers to challenge the perceptions of a great
divide as well as the consequences of literacy, the researchers from this perspective argue that
the acquisition of literacy does not guarantee equality, democracy, social mobility,
overcoming poverty, and self-fulfillment. Rather, certain types of literacies that are valued in
specific social contexts, such as in school, at the workplace, and in other formal social
settings, have often been used for regulation and oppression for the sake of political and
economic needs (Freire & Macedo, 1987; Gee, Hull, & Lankshear, 1996; Heller, 2008;
Lankshear & Knobel, 2006; Luke, 1996; Quigley, 1997). That is, literacy serves as a
bureaucratic mechanism to solidify social control, sustained by “those who have captured the
power to create, endorse, promote, and institute particular brands of literacy in society”
(Reder & Davila, 2005, p. 178). Specifically, the social-cultural perspective on literacy places
emphasis on three key principles, 1) literacy as social practice, 2) the multiplicity of
literacies, and 3) the linkage between orality and literacy.
First, in contrast to cognitive and psychological views of literacy as a technical skill, the
social practice perspectives on literacy pay attention to how ideological effects take the shape
of capital, social relations, forms of identity, and access to material and discourse resources.
Researchers from this perspective define reading and writing more broadly as “socially
constructed and embedded practices based upon cultural symbol systems and organized
25
around beliefs about how reading and writing might be or should be used to serve particular
social and personal purposes and ends” (Hull, 1997, p. 19). According to this view, literacy is
a situated social practice and a process that people engage in in continual, goal-directed
activities, while interacting and communicating with self, others, and society. In this respect,
literacy practices are cultural and social representations and ideological reproductions, since
they involve the complex interplay of attitudes, values, beliefs, and social relationships.
Activities with language and literacy entail meaning-making and meaning-taking processes in
that people contest over definitions and push the boundaries of literacy/literacies, while
seeking and creating an opportunity for entry into specific social spaces. The consequence of
literacy reflects the process and product of complex social relationships and tensions, since
literacy often functions both as an institutional tool to implement social controls and maintain
social hierarchies (Gee, 1988; Street, 1984) and as a device for individuals to engage in
varied communicative practices in their life world (Barton & Hamilton, 1998; Hamilton,
2000a).
The dual aspects of literacy construct and are constructed within particular ideological
representations entailing discursive forces that make certain language and literacy practices
more or less privileged. Based on this understanding, we can come to an important point that
the ways in which people draw upon language and literacy may not be the same across
different domains of life, such as home, school, workplace, and community. This also implied
people‟s awareness not only of what kind of symbolic resources they have which can fit into
a range of already established regulations, but also of how they can take advantage of specific
communication modes to achieve their own goals in a particular situation. In this way, while
framing people as active agents engaging in a wide range of activities, the social practice
perspectives on literacy assert that “literacy is used in particular ways in particular contexts
with certain consequences and, further, that definitions of literacy are always shifting, defined
in a variety of ways of different stake-holders” (Warriner, 2007a, p. 309).
From this perspective, documenting multi-dimensional literacy uses can provide insights
into how literacy counts, for whom, where, and in what contexts, and in relation to what other
kinds of capital in the contexts of rapid and unprecedented economic, cultural and
socio-demographic changes, associated with the sophisticated phenomena of the globalized
26
economy (Luke, 2004). The multilevel analysis requires an ethnographic approach to literacy
in that it allows researchers to concentrate on the material and ideological consequences of
language and literacy, including an understanding of the literacy practices of ethnolinguistic
people as the product of capital exchange, both local and transnational (For a set of detailed
empirical research on transnational literacies see the special issue, Linguistics and Education,
2007, Vol. 18, 3-4).
Second, researchers from the social practice perspectives emphasize that literacy can only
be meaningful to us if we concentrate on variations or pluralities of literacies that reflect
broader social changes of our globalized world. Within the context of globalization that is
characterized as the growing ethnolinguistic diversity and diffusion of digital technology and
information, multilingual and multimodal literacy practices have become new means for
interaction, participation, and negotiation in all aspects of social practices (Carrington, 2005;
Cope & Kalantzis, 2000; Kress, 1997, 2003; Kress & van Leeuwen, 2001; Luke, 2003;
Martin-Jones & Jones, 2000; New London Group, 2000; Pahl & Rowsell, 2006; Warschauer,
2002).
For instance, Martin-Jones and Jones (2000) propose the concept of multilingual literacies,
in order to uncover multi-layered dimensions of language uses and literacy practices in
multilingual contexts. They take the view that the plurality of literacies means the recognition
of the diversity and complexity of literacy practices mediated by different language uses,
language varieties, and different genres, styles, and types of texts associated with various
activities, domains or social identities. According to Martin-Jones and Jones, the multiple
languages and literacies, which are embedded in a set of social contexts and life worlds, are
the meaning-making resources that people may draw on as they take on different identities
domains in their everyday lives. Therefore, from the sociolinguistic study of bilingualism,
Martin-Jones and Jones suggest that using the term “multilingual,” rather than “bilingual” (cf.
Hornberger, 1989, 2002, 2003), could capture the complexity and multiplicity of language
uses and literacy practices within the communicative repertoires of individuals and groups. In
this way, multilingual literacy practices open up spaces in which the inequality of social
relationships occurs in the process of language crossings.
In response to today‟s fast-changing global culture and information technology, other
27
scholars pay particular attention to how multimodal uses of literacy help people negotiate
varied textual practices that create interconnected spaces for social engagement (e.g., Cope &
Kalantzis, 2000; Lotherington, 2001; McGinnis, Goodstein-Stolzenberg, & Saliani, 2007;
Norton & Vanderheyden, 2004). Seeing literacy practices as involving various media and
symbolic systems, this line of research explores how meaning is made through multiple
modes, such as electronic media and multiple forms of language uses, and how people engage
in particular literacy processes in ways in which they create and uphold their positioning and
so claim their membership in a powerful way (Pahl & Rowsell, 2006). In this respect, the
concept of multiliteracies highlights people‟s innovations through which they manipulate
available symbols and resources for negotiating social and cultural networks within certain
spaces. Hence, research in this field suggests that multimodal practices of literacy provide an
important channel for people to make use of their resources to live and act in their local,
national, and global contexts. This is the process that involves ongoing learning, along with
new forms of participation that might result in taking on new ways of doing and being
(Bartlett, 2007, Bartlett & Holland, 2002).
Despite the slightly different focus, the concepts of multilingual and multimodal literacy
pay great attention to the complexities of communication practices and mean-making
processes, not only via the combination of written language, speaking encounters, and
electronic media, but also via an expanded integration of linguistic expressions created within
and as an effect of a set of particularities. In this respect, there is a recognition that literacy
practices act as funds of knowledge (Moll, 1992) that people draw upon while moving across
the boundaries of a set of social contexts. From this perspective, the pluralized notion of
literacies and multiliteracies sheds light on individual people‟s paths of acquiring, using, and
developing multiple forms of language, in association with their interests, positions, and
possibilities of having access to resources in multilingual and multimodal environments.
Third, the social practice perspective on literacy emphasizes that literacy and orality are
not isolated from each other. As part of social activities, oral and written languages are
mixed, overlapped, and intertwined, different from one context to another in a given
communicative event. According to this view, written texts and spoken encounters jointly
frame social realities, thereby reflecting people‟s true social actions within broader political,
28
historical, and economic discourses (Barton, 1994; Gee, 1986; Street, 1984; Tannen, 1982).
People‟s ways of choosing and using written and/or oral language are determined by the
conditions in which particular aspects of language practices are being configured, accepted,
and valued in social systems and by the institutions‟ agents.
The suggestion that specific use of orality and literacy is the result of institutions‟
arrangement and design helps to make a connection between orality and literacy. The linkage
between literacy and orality highlights that decisions and choices of particular modes of the
language are also based upon “people‟s histories, their current situations, and the possibilities
they see for themselves” (Barton, Ivanič, Appleby, Hodge, & Tusting, 2007, p. 1). Thus,
social practices that contain specific interplays of written and oral language generate many
different ways of making sense, comprehending, negotiating, and acting within a given
communicative repertoire. It is for this reason that oral and literate language combinations or
choices can best be considered as the strategies that people adopt as they strive for resources
and appropriate social positionings within institutional structures.
In accordance with these principles, there has been a growing body of research that
emphasizes the diverse use of literacies situated in different local contexts. For instance,
some researchers explore the multiplicity of communication channels related to literacy, such
as in textual forms (e.g., Barton & Hall, 2000; Jaffe, 1999; Mace, 2002), and multiple
modalities of literacy, including the visual (e.g., Hamilton, 2000b; Kress, 2002; Kress & van
Leeuwen, 1996), and computer technology (e.g., Anderson-Inman, 1998; Bolter, 1998; Cope
& Kalantzis, 2000; Hawisher & Selfe, 2000; Kress, 2000; Snyder, 1998; Wagner & Hopey,
1998). Other studies focus on literacy-in-use in different local settings, such as community
and urban area (e.g., Barton & Hamilton, 1998; Cushman, 1998; Gregory & Williams, 2000;
Keating, 2001), workplace (e.g., Belfiore, Defoe, Folinsbee, Hunter, & Jackson, 2003;
Gowen, 1992; Hull, 1997; Mawer, 1999), home (e.g., Auerbach, 1989; Blackledge, 2000; Li,
2002; Rogers, 2003), school (e.g., Jankie, 2001; Lea, 1998; Lea & Street, 1998; Street, 2005),
and across-cultural contexts (e.g., Aikman, 1999; Besnier, 1995; Prinsloo & Breier, 1997;
Purcell-Gates, 2007; Street, 1993, 2001; Wagner, 1993).
These studies offer rich evidence revealing that functions and uses of literacy are socially
constructed and vary across different institutional contexts and social relationships. However,
29
in my view, their attention is restricted to the narrowed, limited description of language and
literacy uses in one particular social domain. This might result in a skewed understanding that
language and literacy practices are relatively coherent or stable within a particular social
space1. In this respect, to trace the threads of language and literacy practices along people‟s
trajectories becomes significant, since such an approach can develop more nuanced and
contextualized understandings of the intricacy of language and literacy practices over time.
More importantly, such explorations help reveal how different demands, opportunities, and
ways of communication are intertwined with a complex of social relationships and the
dynamics of people‟s meaning making and negotiation processes across a wide range of
social systems.
Following this argument, this thesis research aims to identify the “trans-contextual
patterning of language and literacy practices” (Appleby & Hamilton, 2006), through a careful
examination of how immigrants‟ language and literacy travel across contexts and fit within a
range of communicative repertoires, and how their trajectories of making use of their
resources and learning activities generate multiple ways of meaning making, or are caught up
in institutional processes, “embedded in and constitutive of issues relating to unequal
distributions of power” (Morgan & Ramanathan, 2005, p. 151).
Taken together, the social practice perspectives on literacy emphasize the contextualized
aspect of literacy and its relationship to oral language across social contexts. This approach
provides a channel to examine multiple ways in which people engage in the process of
seeking, appropriating, and acting, according to “what is within their reach to make sense of
the world and achieve particular purposes with them” in specific local sites (Keating, 2001, p.
114). The pluralized notion of literacies and multiliteracies helps identify “trans-contextual
patterning of language and literacy” linking people, context, resources, and activities as a
whole in the trajectories of people.
Applying the socio-cultural perspectives on literacy as social practice to Chinese skilled
immigrants‟ experiences, I assumed that they might be more likely to rely on, consciously or
1 Anderson and his colleagues (2005) assemble an edited volume that draws researchers‟ attention to the ideological nature of literacy education in several domains, such as communities, schools, and families, respectively. Although they orient their work to explore intersections and tensions around literacy across these social contexts, the empirical studies and theoretical discussion presented in the book still focus on and derive from one particular domain at a time.
30
unconsciously, their English literate competencies rather than their oral communication skills,
taking into account their English education experience in China (see Chapter 3 for details)
and awareness that they might be subjected to a disadvantaged position because of their
“non-standard” spoken English. Meanwhile, given the fact that most recent Chinese
immigrants had no social connections in Canada, I anticipated that multimodal uses of
literacy might play an important role in the participants‟ adaptation to the new environment.
However, whether the positive outcome of their literacy engagements can be guaranteed and
predicable is the issue, since constructed as social practice, literacy is at root social
arrangements, inevitably bound to unequal distributions of power within communities and
institutions (e.g., Gee, 2002; Heller, 2008; Luke & Elkins, 2002; Morgan & Ramanathan,
2005). In this way, the social practice perspectives on literacy provide “a lens, a
methodology, and a literature based on them that enable us to „see‟ behind the surface
appearance of reading and writing to the underlying social and cultural meanings” (Collins &
Blot, 2003, p. xi).
2.2 Participation, Learning, and Access
The sociocultural perspectives on literacy pay great attention to the lived experiences of
people with language and literacy in multiple social sittings. Although this theory of literacy
can help to reveal the patterns of my participants‟ linguistic endeavors within practices and
discourses, I think that it is not sufficient to capture the dynamic process of learning that
encapsulates meaning making and active negotiations. Drawing on my own experience of
being an immigrant and observing immigrants around, I expected that as newcomers in a
foreign country, Chinese immigrant professionals were likely to make use of their “toolkits”
that can help them figure out, learn, and share new ways of acting and communicating with
Discourses (Gee, 1996). In this respect, I see that the concepts of participation, learning, and
access, offered by Lave and Wenger (1991) and Wenger (1998), can deepen our
understanding of language and literacy practices that immigrant newcomers take on while
they were adapting to changes.
Lave and Wenger (1991) and Wenger (1998) offer insights into participation and learning
through developing the concept of “community of practice.” In their work, learning is defined
31
as a process of negotiation of meaning that involves different forms of participation in
everyday lives through a complex of relations among people. Locating practice or people‟s
doings in historical and social contexts, Lave and Wenger (1991) state that learning occurs if
people engage in appropriate practices, in their view, through apprenticeship. Within
apprentice learning practice, the full, peripheral, marginal, and non-participatory are
identified to generate different outcomes of learning and signal membership to a particular
community of practice.
According to Lave and Wenger, legitimate peripheral participation is the key for
newcomers to becoming part of or a full member with better understandings of the world as
experienced. In this sense, learning is framed within an expert-novice dyad in which the
novice is defined to fall outside the community‟s current regime of knowledge and
competence and so is expected to take the initiative to move toward the center of the
discourse. Related to immigrants‟ experiences in the new society, this process unfolds as
newcomers or novices enter, participate, and fit into already established regulations,
practices, and relations in order to seek ways in which they prove the validity of his or her
own competence, thereby having his or her membership granted by the expert of the
community. In a sense, to analyze situated learning through the expert-novice relationship,
the researchers contend that what is already established is considered as standardized and
legitimatized, and what is not is seen as illegitimate and deficit.
To expand this social theory of learning, Wenger (1998) emphasizes that mutual
engagement, joint enterprise, and shared repertoire are important in providing newcomers
with a sense of how the community of practice operates as well as in facilitating their cultural
and social apprenticeship. As Wenger states, newcomers would have opportunities to learn if
they are “granted enough legitimacy to be treated as potential members” (Wenger, 1998, p.
101). Seeing learning as social practice involving “the processes of negotiation by which a
practice evolves,” Wenger claims that people‟s legitimacy of participation is determined by
factors including “being the right kind of person,” “having the right birth,” having gained
expertise, and learned competence, but he does not go further in illustrating how significant
these factors are in gaining them access to opportunities and resources as well as in
influencing the outcomes of learning. Neither does he pursue the issues of who judges whom
32
as having this kind of “rightness,” or why this kind of “rightness” is recognized as the key to
getting the legitimacy for having access to participation. We need to note that when skilled
immigrants‟ strong occupational expertise and language skills won them the Canadian
government‟s permission of entry into the land of the country, their “recognized”
competences, which are entitled as “rightness” in rhetoric, have long been seen as barriers to
participating in social and economic realities. To this end, I argue that having membership of
a community cannot always guarantee equal access to material resources, positive learning
outcomes, and genuine recognition; that learning may not occur even though newcomers take
an apprentice position (see Chapters 6 and 8 in this thesis for details).
Clearly, one thing that Wenger contends is that central to the process of learning is
newcomers‟ opportunities for participation that rely on mutual recognition associated with
their identities. While asserting that legitimacy to access and opportunities to learn are not
“free of conflicts,” Wenger uses the notion of reification to construe people‟s engagements as
both the process and the product of meaning-making practices. He defines reification as “the
process of giving form to our experience by producing objects that congeal this experience
into „thingness.‟ … Any community of practice produces abstraction, tools, symbols, stories,
terms and concepts that reify something of that practice in a congealed form” (Wenger, 1998,
p. 58-59). In Wenger‟s view, reification covers a wide range of processes involving various
institutional artifacts including forms, points of focus, documents, instruments, and projects.
Serving as forms of institutional representations, these artifacts serve the function of
producing unitary meaning and categorization, which are always “incomplete, ongoing, and
misleading” since they fail to capture “the richness of lived experience of people.” As a
result, participation and access are managed and limited to the production of reification. For
Wenger, it is because of the limitations of reification that the negotiation of meaning takes
place, which brings together “the multiple perspectives, interests, and interpretations that
participation entails” (p. 62).
Applying the notion of reification to literacy, Barton and Hamilton (2005) explicate that
literacy is a constituency of social interactions through which standardization and authenticity
are textually mediated and penetrate civil society. In particular, they assert that policy
documents that deliver rules and mandates of governments, educational institutions, or
33
workplace are literacy artifacts, a powerful form of reification that allows the dominant to
sustain, regulate, and control. In this way, the duality of participation and reification implies
the role of literacy in meaning making and negotiation processes. This dual relationship
further suggests that multiple social relationships coexist in the way that literacy artifacts and
language uses are intricately intertwined through the complex interplays of institutional
mechanisms and people‟s meaning-making practices. On this point, Barton and Hamilton
critique Wenger‟s emphasis that there are multiple forms of participation and reification
involving shared practices of knowing and doing, by indicating that language is under
theorized in his work in that he brings a partial view to the role of language in the
construction of both social practices and learning so that conflicts, contradictions and
ambivalences are silenced in the shared repertoires (Keating, 2001, 2005).
It should be noted that Lave and Wenger (1991) and Wenger (1998) use the concept of
community of practices to describe learning as the process constructed by sets of relatively
stabilized meaning mechanisms and expert-novice relationships shaped by some agreed-upon
goal. Defined as a somewhat “ideal” approach to learning, the notion of communities of
practice overlooks that “learning and productivity are the result of designs of complex
systems of people environments, technology, beliefs, and texts. … [M]eaning-making is an
active and dynamic process, not something governed by static rules” (The New London
Group, 2000, p. 20). Chances of getting access to communities of practice are different and
so involve tension all the time, since they are intertwined with the hierarchical relationships
that reflect power structures and legitimate conflicts (Barton & Tusting, 2005; Harris &
Shelswell, 2005, see also Davies, 2005 for discussion). Thus, within the community of
practice, participation structures for literacy activities cannot be only determined by people‟s
literacy “skills,” but shaped by factors, such as the institutional and organizational structures,
the culturally specific expectations for social interactions in a communicative activity, and the
varying social meanings attached to engagements of literacy practices (Brandt & Clinton,
2002; Lewis, Enciso, & Moje, 2007; Reder, 1994).
In this way, although the community of practice theory sheds light on the fact that
learning is jointly constructed, sustained, resisted, and passed down through shared
enterprises, it is not sufficient to answer such questions as what counts as a legitimate
34
participation and meaning within a given context? How are particular membership and
opportunity of acceptance managed or controlled through the dynamics of language and
literacy practices across space and time, and why is certain access to participation open to
some people, but others are denied, marginalized, and excluded from such opportunities?
More importantly, to what extent could the design and arrangement of institutions and
immigrant newcomers‟ strategic ways of being and adapting to the new systems coexist,
negotiate, or contest through language and literacy within structures of power? These
questions push me better to understand the nature of my participants‟ trajectories. With these
questions, I shall move one step further to a more complex view of literacy and discourse
related to power relations and strategy.
2.3 Discourse, Social Reproduction, and Literacy as Strategic Response
Work from the social practice perspectives on literacy maintains that literacy practices are
not only embodied with individual attitudes or motivation to acquire new skills, but also
embedded in “the historically-specific ideologies and institutional framework within which
cultural events of reading and writing are given shape and significance” (Collins, 2000, p. 71).
Hence, there is no linear relationship between literacy and social and economic returns since
literacy itself actually serves to reproduce inequality and social categorization of class
privilege (e.g., Fairclough, 1989; Youngman, 1986, 2000; see also Heller, 2008 for an
analytical discussion).
In this respect, the concept of Discourse is a useful construct revealing that inequality
always happens through, around, and behind language and literacy practices in the process of
control over Discourses orders (Fairclough, 1995, 2003). Drawing from the Foucauldian
perspective on Discourse (Foucault, 1977, 1980), Gee theorizes that literacies are acquired
through the practices of Discourses. In Gee‟s framework, “a Discourse is a socially accepted
association among ways of using language, other symbolic expressions, and „artifact‟, of
thinking, feeling, believing, valuing, and acting that can be used to identify oneself as a
member of a socially meaningful group or „social network‟, or to signal (that one is playing)
a socially meaningful „role‟” (Gee, 1996, p. 131). Primary and secondary Discourses are used
to uncover the connection or disconnection between institutional sites, such as home, school,
35
workplace, or community. Simultaneously, Gee proposes discourse (with a lower case “d”)
defined as “language bits” (spoken, written, signed) of Discourses. Such an analytic
distinction allows the exploration of the role of linguistic capital in people‟s primary
socialization (in domestic or fact-to-face peer groups) and secondary socialization (in varied
social settings) as a whole. Arguing against any reification of language or literacy, Gee
(1997) emphasizes the importance of the recognizability and coordination in meaning-making
and meaning-taking while people mobilize and socialize into Discourses. Viewing that
people‟s identities are attached to modes of communications, Gee indicates that Discourses
are often in conflict because of the disparity of goals among individuals, among groups, and
the distinctions between the primary and secondary Discourses and identities.
Gee‟s concept of literacy-as-discourse provides a framework for analyzing the
connections between literacy, identity, power, and social structures (Hull & Schultz, 2001;
Maybin, 2000). The notions of Discourse/discourse imply that reading and writing activities
are ideological, relational, and goal-directed practices, involving “human relationships where
power and social goods are at stake” (Gee, 1996, p. 150). Thus, what Gee provides is a range
of discourse analyses exploring how literacy structures people‟s lives, sets up interactions,
and induces social inequalities, and how people negotiate, contest, transform, or accept
relations of power through their language and literacy practices across local sites. The idea of
discourses-in-conflict brings to the fore discursive practices and social conditions that shape
the way that language and literacy are used and received.
Collins and Blot (2003), however, criticize that what is missing from Gee‟s theory of
D/discourse is that people‟s literacy acquisition and practice is influenced by qualities of their
discoursal engagement with other social agents in a set of patterned language activities
through a process of socialization into a wide range of Discourses. Building on this view, I
would argue that Gee provides insufficient accounts of how linguistic and cultural variations
shape forms of participation and meaning-making processes while individuals move across
the boundaries of D/discourses. Relating to this argument, I recognize that Bourdieu‟s sense
of language as the product of the relations between a field or market and habitus can direct
my attention to reveal the underlying relations of people‟ acts in their own trajectories
through orders of D/discourses.
36
Bourdieu sees field or market as structured spaces that are organized by the distribution of
varied forms of capital or resources. Specifically, the concept of field is concerned with a
network, or a configuration, of objective relations between positions denoting arenas of
production, circulation, and appropriation of goods, services, or knowledge, which confers
status or legitimate particular sets of capital, values, beliefs, and discursive practices
(Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992). Within a field, different forms of capital: economic capital (i.e.
material wealth, such as money, income, and property), cultural capital (i.e. knowledge,
educational credentials, cultural awareness, and aesthetic preferences), social capital (i.e.
social network and acquaintances), and symbolic capital (i.e. prestige or privilege), generate
continued processes of production and reproduction that allow certain capital to convert into
economic rewards and legitimate status in modern societies (Bourdieu 1986). At this point,
linguistic capital is emphasized to play a key role in cashing in for cultural capital (i.e.
education credential) or economic capital (i.e. incomes) as well as to act as a marker to tell
who shares a similar social or symbolic capital and hence who does not. This assessment can
bring a sense of one‟s own place and a sense of the place of others (Bourdieu, 1990), thereby
creating implications for acquisition, accumulation, and further investment on a specific form
of capital. As Bourdieu (1977a) indicates, linguistic capital is beyond the mastery of a
language since “what speaks is not the utterance, the language, but the whole social person”
(p. 653). Thus, as Bourdieu further maintains, linguistic capital reflects individuals‟ capability
of “doing the right thing at the right time,” with a result of determining one‟s relations to a
particular field.
To capture these discursive relationships with respect to practice, Bourdieu uses the
concept of habitus, suggesting that ways of accessing forms of capital and engaging in social
interactions derive from individuals‟ prior experiences, and previous and current positions. As
Bourdieu defines it, habitus is a set of durable dispositions that orient people‟s actions and
inclinations in particular ways. These dispositions derive from “an experience and also a
possession, a capital” (Bourdieu, 1985, p.13), which are linked to social agents‟ history of
practices, including their position vis-à-vis the structure of a particular field. While
characterizing habitus as calculated, structured, durable, generative, and transposable
(Thompson, 1991), Bourdieu conceives it as the source of people‟s moves “which are
37
objectively organized as strategies without being the product of a genuine strategic
intention—which would presuppose at least that they are perceived as one strategy among
other possible strategies” (Bourdieu, 1977b, p. 73). In Bourdieu‟s view, because individuals
always hold already established habitus that is inscribed to their interests, goals, and
behaviors, their entry into a field usually involves struggle for control over valued resources
as well as for access to different forms of capital within the logic of production and
reproduction (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977). Although complying and learning the rules of the
field is a tacit way frequently used by newcomers to gain permission of entry, Bourdieu
stresses that such practice or competence might go “unacknowledged,” “misrecognized,” or
“unaccepted” most of the time.
While attributing this kind of conflict or resistance to the boundaries between the habitus
of individuals and rules of games within a field, Bourdieu has not written much about the
possibilities, dilemmas, and contradiction that people encounter as they strive for social
integration through their linguistic endeavors (Goldstein, 2008). In line with Calhoun‟s
critique (1993) of Bourdieu‟s assumption of “a high level of homology among fields” and
“stable reproduction of the encompassing field of power,” I would argue that by focusing on
individuals‟ aspects of orientation to action, Bourdieu has given little attention to the
interplay between the habitus of social actors and the habitus of institutions that determines
rules of games in modern societies; in particular, how this interplay relationship plays out in
individuals‟ trajectories and lays the grounds for stereotype or discrimination on a certain
group of people, such as ethnolinguistic minorities. This thesis research will set out to bridge
the gap.
In this respect, Heller‟s (2008) argument for a better understanding of the political and
economic nature of literacy and literacy education offers an analytic lens through which I can
gain insights into institutional and political ideologies in social reproduction of inequality and
classification. Drawing upon Bourdieu‟s theory, Heller examines the institutionally
ideological perspective on literacy, indicating that literacy itself is utilized as a particular site
to produce the legitimacy of social categorization and the inequality of resource distribution
through the institutional system of selection and elimination as well as through varied forms
of symbolic domination. In this way, functioning as a form of political and economic habitus,
38
the concepts of literacy and literacy education have been utilized as a tool to produce and
reproduce legitimate citizens that share the same values with respect to language, culture, and
ways of doing, despite differences along the line of race, class, gender, and religion. From
this perspective, literacy serves as a bureaucratic mechanism to develop and sustain
ideologies and practices of the bourgeois, capitalist, homogenizing nation-State, thereby
solidifying their political power and control over the distribution of symbolic and material
resources in the globalized new economy (see also Lo Bianco, 2000, and Chapter 3 this
dissertation). This argument leads Heller to suggest that literacy opens up discursive space for
symbolic domination, enabling class stratifications and hierarchical orders to emerge in social
structures.
To combine Heller‟s analysis of literacy as a political and economic habitus that sustains
the institutional ideology with Bourdieu‟s perspectives on habitus and field can help reveal,
how individuals‟ and institutions‟ habitus can interplay and “play an important, positive role
in signaling information as well as in creating and maintaining the subtle boundaries of power,
status, role, and occupational specialization that make up the fabric of our social life”
(Gumperz, 1982, p. 6). The combined approach has directed my attention to explore
immigrant newcomers‟ ways of reframing and doing with their existing knowledge and
competence that convey their resourcefulness, desire, and integrity to the established rules of
particular fields.
Such practices are embodied in an ongoing process in which newcomers learn and relearn
to appropriate their everyday practices for new and different social purposes. As De Certeau
(1984) reminds us, living within a dominant order not of one‟s own making is neither a sign
of passivity, nor does it represent a simple act of reproduction (cf. Bourdieu & Passeron,
1977). In this, De Certeau offers a portrait of how a North African immigrant in Paris or
Roubaix, France insinuates his own ways of living into the system and the language imposed
on him:
He … creates for himself a space in which he can find ways of using the
constraining order of the place or of the language. Without leaving the place where
he has no choice but to live and which lays down its law for him, he establishes
within it a degree of plurality and creativity. By an art of being in between, he draws
unexpected results from his situation (p. 30).
39
What De Certeau describes here suggests that while discourse as practice constrains, it
also enables the creativity of social practice. In alignment with this view, I understand that
literacy not only allows the possibilities of social production and reproduction, but also helps
create the existence of local realities, that people reorganize their know-how, in order to seek
out the ways in which they navigate discursively across social and economic structures. It is
from these perspectives that I see language use and literacy practice as a strategy “taken by
the dispersed, tactical, and makeshift creativity of groups or individuals already caught in the
nets of „discipline.‟ Pushed to their ideal limits, these procedures and ruses of consumers
compose the network of an antidiscipline” (De Certeau, 1984, p. xiv-xv). In this respect,
seeing literacy as a form of recourse for skilled immigrants to get familiar with the new social
system as well as a strategic device in order to deal with constraints can orient me to uncover
what possibilities, dilemmas, and tensions immigrants encountered on their trajectories in the
host country.
2.4 Summary
In this chapter, I have laid out a theoretical framework that can help me describe, interpret,
and analyze the dynamics going on in skilled immigrants‟ lived experiences over time. I have
identified the social practice perspectives on literacy as a lens to gain better understandings of
my participants‟ experiences of language and literacy in various discursive spaces on their
trajectories. The Communities of Practice theory can extend my understandings that literacy
embodies people‟s ongoing engagement in learning, participation, and accessing resources.
The theory directs my attention to explore issues of access and participation that immigrant
newcomers confront in varied social settings. Gee‟s concept of Discourse/discourse provides
an analytical tool for me to have a close look at the role of literacy and language and
discourse in the meaning making processes as inherently conflictual, ambivalent, and
contradictory. Bourdieu‟s conceptualization of field and habitus offers effective accounts of
social practice, which helps reveal the underlying relations of struggle in the process of
production and reproduction. Taking into account the fact that adult immigrants‟ linguistic
and sociocultural habitus is usually measured as unfit for or mismatched with the established
rules of the current social systems and, hence constrains their participation and performance
40
in the host society, I feel the need to complement Bourdieu‟s perspective on habitus with the
insights from Heller‟s work. Specifically, Heller reveals the complexity of the phenomena of
literacy in relation to a broader social system, in terms of how institutions utilize literacy to
marginalize and dominate people in the way that linguistic skills are emphasized as a neutral
construct and the primary condition to achieve economic integration as well as to become
legitimate citizens. Placing the habitus of individuals and institutional habitus or ideology
related to language and literacy side by side, these two approaches thus can unravel the
“gaps” between the workings of larger social influences and power and the workings of act,
creativity, and resistance of people. All in all, this theoretical framework can strengthen my
research to provide insights into not only how immigrant newcomers navigate through a set
of institutional structures, but also what language and literacy practices can do or cannot do
for those perceived as powerless for achieving purposes and needs.
In the next chapter, I shall present the background information that reflects structural
forces shaping immigration and the reality of my participants‟ language and literacy practices.
Together with the scholarly work I have reviewed above, this line of sight provides a context
for better understanding the study presented in this dissertation.
41
Chapter 3
Immigration, Literacy, and China’s English Education:
The Historical and Political Backgrounds
This chapter provides the historical and political background information for situating and
interpreting the findings reported in this dissertation. For the purpose of the study, I undertake
a juxtaposing review of Canadian immigration policy and the development of literacy in
Canada, in order to examine the connection between immigration and literacy as well as to
uncover the political and economic agenda latent beneath this connection. Furthermore, to
understand better the role English language plays in motivating young Chinese professionals
to mobilize across nations and specific language and literacy practices in the new society
environment, I review the history of China‟s English education, embedded in social and
political changes of the country.
3.1 Changes of Canadian Immigration Policies and Evolving Influences of Literacy
Canadian immigration policy has played a central role in building the nation‟s identity, in
association with its population, labor force growth, and economic development over the past
centuries. Since the year 1534, when the first cohort of French explorers resided in Canada,
the recruitment of immigrants has been used as a strategy, not only to solve specific social
economic problems, but also to solidify the government‟s political and ideological control. In
response to the globalized new economy, since the late 1990s, Canadian immigration policies
have experienced a series of reforms that required a strict screening of immigrant candidates‟
proficiency in the dominant language. Table 3.1 shows that the linkage between Canadian
immigration polices and literacy in the policy context has been gradually intensified, in
accordance with the shifts of institutional agendas over time.
3.1.1 Building the Nation: Labor, Race, and “Canadianization of Immigrants”
From the Confederation of Canada in 1867 to the early 1960s, based on immigrant
candidates‟ racial backgrounds, Canadian immigration policy heavily favored the entry of
European origin groups. The factor of race was sustained firmly even when the Canadian
42
Table 3.1
Changes in the Point Systems and Evolving Influences of Literacy in Policy Discourses
The Point Systems Literacy in the Policy Discourse
1967 The establishment of the point system (broadening the intake of immigrants with educational and occupational qualifications)
1967 Adult Occupational Training Act 1969 The Official Language Act (consolidating national bilingualism)
1978 The 1978 Immigration Act (establishing three categories of immigrants: Family, Refugee, and Economic Classes, and bringing a substantial number of family and refugees to the country)
1970s Problems of illiteracy Immigrants were specifically identified with literacy problems in English or French. Mother-tongue literacy programs were established.
1971 Multiculturalism Policy
1985 The new Conservative government undertook a review of immigration policy and the level of the inflow of immigrants was adjusted and increased. 1988 The expansion of the family class
1986 Canada was evaluated as a country with low ranks in literacy. Literacy became an important component in the national agenda.
1987 The establishment of the National Literacy Secretariat (The intersection of literacy and economy was formalized.)
1992 Bill C-86 (giving priorities to professional and skilled immigrants with the emphasis on the economic component of the inflow of immigrants)
1995 The Liberal Government revised the point systems to increase official language and education demands.
1992 The federal government announced a new immigrant language training policy: Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC). 1994 Canada was ranked low in the International Adult Literacy Survey. Immigrants were considered as the population who yield negative impact on the distribution of literacy in the survey. 1996 The report, “Reading the Future: A Portrait of Literacy in Canada,” was issued, with a positive evaluation of immigrants‟ literacy and education.
2002 Bill C-11 (placing great emphasis on language and education components, in order to enhance Canada‟s advantages in the global competition for skilled workers)
2003 The International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey (IALSS) 2004 The report, “The Effect of Literacy on Immigrant Earnings,” was issued. (Immigrants‟ literacy skills have negative impacts on their earning levels.) 2005 The report, “Literacy Skills among Canada’s Immigrant Population,” was issued. (Recent immigrants were identified as the people with low literacy proficiency levels in English or French.)
43
governments intended to boost immigration as a strategy to attract enough manpower for
developing resource sectors in the land of Canada. Between 1870 and 1905, because of the
construction of the trans-continental railways, the rise of industrial production, and the
exploitation of the unsettled western land of the country, a large number of continental
Europeans—Ukrainians, Poles, and Jews, many of whom had been previously
shunned—were allowed to immigrate to Canada which pursued its need for cheap labor. In
the meantime, working-class Britons with English and Scottish backgrounds were drawn to
Canada by promises of good cheap agricultural land and opportunity for upward economic
mobility. In the 1890s, groups of Americans from the United States immigrated to the western
prairies, and some of them headed west and settled in British Columbia‟s cities. It was during
this period that Chinese “coolies”1 were brought into Canada for back-breaking manual work
since Sir John A. Macdonald, the then Prime Minister of Canada, insisted that the
government employ laborers from China to build the railroad, in order to reduce costs
(Holland, 2007). As a result, between 1881 and 1885, more than 17,000 Chinese men were
recruited from Fujian and Guangdong provinces, as the major labor force for the construction
of the Canadian railroad (CIC, 1995).
Undoubtedly, the government‟s aggressive immigration regime resulted in ethnic and
linguistic diversity in the country. However, immigrant Britons and Americans were
considered to assimilate politically and socially without difficulty, whereas immigrants from
Eastern Europe were identified as “unassimilable” because their language and cultural
heritage were incompatible with the mainstream society. The different attitudes toward
Britons and Americans and eastern Europeans were expressed by the then Minister of
Immigration, Albertan Frank Oliver, “Americans were desirable in every way. They are
people of intelligence, of energy, of enterprise, of the highest aspirations” (Canada, 1903, p.
2939; cited in Wiseman, 2007, p. 19). In contrast, he pointed out, “we resent the idea of
having the millstone of this Slav population hung around our necks” (Canada, 1903, p. 6566;
cited in Wiseman, 2007, p. 19). While rendering high status to British and American
immigrants, Oliver‟s remarks reflected Canada‟s ties of affinity to the Anglo-Saxon‟s identity.
A clear example that emphasized the Anglo-Canadian identity was Wilfrid Laurier‟s notion of
his Canadianness—“a British subject I was born, a British subject I shall die” (Wiseman,
2007, p. 18). In response to this, Alfred Fitzpatrick, founder of Frontier College, advocated,
the Canadian governments should “regulate the coming of immigrants from any land by the
proved capacity of those already here for being Canadianized” (Fitzpatrick, 1919, p. 2; cited
in Ho, 1987, p. 77). In this way, the race-based selection for immigrants was consolidated
1 “Coolie” was originally a Hindi word meaning “hired laborer,” in contrast to a slave (Holland, 2007).
44
through emphasizing “the Canadianization of immigrants” as the key to assimilating the
foreigners by means of developing their Canadian identity in reference to the socio-cultural
characteristics of the dominant. In most cases, however, the Canadianization of immigrants
referred to Anglophones rather than Francophones in Canada, although English and French
had already been legitimized as equally important official languages of the nation since the
1867 Confederation.
The overtly racist effort to preserve the British character of Canada was further sustained
through the exclusion of all Chinese people from immigrating to Canada by the federal
government collecting increased amount of head tax from Chinese in Canada—from $50 in
1885 to $500 in the Chinese immigration Act of 1904—and subsequently the government
passed the Canadian Chinese Immigration Act in 19232. Meanwhile, officialdom‟s distaste for
eastern Europeans resulted in the deprivation of their language rights as political participants
as citizens in Canada. Literacy skills in English, French, German, Icelandic, Swedish,
Norwegian, or Danish, were required as a precondition of the right to vote in some of
provinces in Canada. Ukrainians‟ language was simply excluded even though they were a
particularly large group of immigrants in the prairies‟ regions.
Between 1939 and 1945, Canada experienced a postwar economic boom. The low rates of
natural population growth became the challenge of the nation and induced the shortage of
labor force. To address this issue, in 1947, the Canadian government revised its immigration
policy that allowed more immigrants to come to Canada. Nonetheless, its immigration policy
was still highly selective for the purpose of “expanding the intake of immigrants from
traditional source[s] of Europe and the United States and maintaining a tight control of
immigration from Asian countries” (Li, 2003, p. 23). As a result, by the end of the 1950s,
more than 85 percent of Canadian immigrants came from these countries, with 30 percent of
them coming from the United Kingdom (CIC, 2001). In contrast, between 1923 and 1947
when the Canadian Chinese Immigration Act was repealed, only 8 immigrants from China
were admitted to Canada.
In the early 1960s, the racially exclusionary immigration policy faced criticism about its
highly racial profiles. It was blamed as the cause of the large intake of unskilled and illiterate
immigrants. As the 1961 census revealed, the majority of Canadians over the age of 15 had
less than a grade 9 education level, and over 40 percent of the Canadian workforce had not
finished primary school (Counseling Foundation of Canada, 2001). This report drew great
attention of the federal government to the negative impacts of adult illiteracy on the political
2 In 2006, Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, apologized to Chinese who had paid the head tax between 1885 and 1923 to enter Canada. He offered $20,000 in compensation to survivors and their spouses, but not to their descendants.
45
and economic development of the nation.
3.1.2 Forming the Unity of Modern State: Skills, Literacy, and Linguistic Homogeneity
Pressured by an increasing need for a skilled and professional work force, a points system
was launched and incorporated into the 1967 immigration policy. As a hallmark of
immigration policies in the history of Canada, the establishment of the points system
symbolized the elimination of race, color, and national origin as selection criteria as well as
“modernized the immigration system to enable Canada to broaden the intake of immigrants
based on educational and occupational qualifications” (Li, 2003, p. 102). The removal of
national origin restrictions attracted increasing numbers of immigrants from countries other
than the United States, the United Kingdom, and other European countries. Between 1954
and 1967, 83 percent of immigrants were from Europe, 4 percent from Asia and 1 percent
from Africa. By 1987, for example, only 30 percent were from traditional source countries,
with the remaining 70 percent from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin and South America
(Boyd & Thomas, 2001). However, there was a critique arguing that removing the overt
race-based selection for immigrants did not result in the elimination of the favor of “white,
educated English-speaking individuals of European descent” (Lowe, 1993, p. 148), since the
Eurocentric ideology of language determined the policy context and civic society.
Along with the arrival of newcomers from the non-traditional source countries,
immigrants‟ employment competence and proficiency in the dominant language became a
central issue to the nation‟s development. To deal with this problematic situation, the federal
government enacted the Adult Occupational Training Act in 1967, the same year as the
establishment of the points system. Under this legislation, training programs were mainly
concerned with providing accredited vocational qualifications, and widely offered across
provinces, run in communities, colleges, vocational schools, and school boards who had
obligations to help reduce unemployment rates as well as to develop productivity of Canadian
workers. Two years after the Training Act, the Official Languages Act 3 took effect
forthrightly to espouse Canadian public life to the official languages, English and French,
thereby emphasizing that “for newcomers, successful integration is normally dependent on
the ability to use the language of the nation” (Cray & Currie, 2007, p. 63). While the two
governmental documents referred to the close connection between official language abilities
and professional skills, literacy was specifically defined as “essential skills” and
“employability skills” that played a major role in ensuring the increased rates of peoples‟
3 The Official Languages Act was enacted to legislate national bilingualism. It emphasized that Canadians had
rights to learn both official languages at school and receive services in their first language, either in English or in French, in different regions of Canada.
46
participation in the labor market (Green & Green, 2004; Green & Green, 1995). In this way,
through the points system, the federal government intended not only to seek the most suitable
workers for the country‟s booming economy, but also to manage the cost of immigration that
governments had to bear (Burnaby, 2002)
The enactment of the multiculturalism policy in 1971, which was thereafter developed as
an official Multiculturalism Act, drew public attention to the increased diversity of population
components and to the assertive demands of ethno-cultural groups (Anderson & Frideres,
1981). Within the rhetoric of “unity within diversity,” by the mid-1970s, the Trudeau
government had undertaken an extensive review of the Canadian immigration policy, in the
name of enriching the cultural and social fabric of Canada. In 1976, the points system was
first revised and enacted under the 1978 Immigration Act. Three categories—family class,
humanitarian class, and independent class—were introduced in the new regulations. As one
of the most important innovations, the independent class of immigrants was considered to
serve an instrumental function to recruit skilled workers who possess adequate educational
and occupational abilities, which met the needs of the Canadian labor market. However, it
was reported that the 1978 immigration policy actually resulted in near zero net economic
immigrant inflows in the mid-1980s, since the processing priority was still given to family
reunification while setting a specific annual intake of refugees (DeVoretz & Maki, 1983;
DeVoretz, 1995, 2006).
In fact, while substantial numbers of refugees and immigrants under family class came to
Canada through the new points system, illiteracy was considered as a thorny problem all over
the country. Issues of the economics of illiteracy were pinpointed in several documents and
surveys (e.g., Abella, 1984, Adam, Draper & Ducharm, 1979, Allaman, 1981, Thomas, 1983).
The most notable report is Audrey Thomas‟ Adult Illiteracy in Canada—A Challenge
(Thomas, 1983) as it provides a comprehensive assessment of illiteracy in Canada. Among
those marginal groups, such as seniors, aboriginal peoples, Francophones, and the disabled,
immigrants were frequently identified as population groups with low literacy and education
levels. At this time, concerns related to second-language learning became intense in urban
areas where large immigrant populations chose to reside.
Under this circumstance, mother tongue literacy programs for immigrants and their
children were established under the federal Department of Heritage Canada (see Cummins,
1991, 1992; Cummins & Danesi, 1990). These initiatives established the belief that
mother-tongue literacy was a helping device to improve the official language learning of
immigrants. However, the overlap in teaching adult immigrants to learn a second-language
and first-language literacy heightened that the large numbers of illiterate and undereducated
47
adults were from ethnolinguistic populations, since they had no or limited proficiency both in
their mother-tongue literacy and an official language in Canada. In this way, within the
bilingualism and multiculturalism framework, these literacy and language programs served to
balance out the new existing linguistic boundaries through emphasizing linguistic
homogeneity by simply referring to the dominant language of the nation.
In the 1980s, numbers of immigrants were cut drastically, in the face of poor domestic
labor market conditions. The revision of the points system specifically targeted at attracting
immigrant professionals with adequate financial capital or human capital, was a policy
strategy for dealing with the emergence of the IT boom and engineering shortfalls at that time.
Compared with the 1967 points system, in 1986, points of “Education” and “Occupational
Demand” dropped (from 20 points to 10 points for “Education” and from 15 points to 10
points for “Occupational Demand”), whereas there was more weight added to “Language”
(from 10 points to 15 points). This implied that an immigrant‟s official language proficiency
was rendered as an important factor influencing their social and economic contribution to
Canada.
A year after the enactment of the new points system, Canada was ranked low on basic
workforce skills as well as on the quality of skilled labor in the 1986 European Management
Forum report on the competitiveness of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OCED). This assessment outcome encouraged the connection between literacy
and economy. In the midst of national concerns about the productivity of the country‟s labor
force, the National Literacy Secretariat was founded in 1987, which symbolizes the federal
government‟s commitment to moving literacy onto the national agenda, a strategy that served
to ensure Canada‟s participation in the globalized new market economy. Since then, adult
literacy education became a constitutional responsibility of the federal government which
provides policy directions, makes legislation, defines funding formulas, and launches literacy
activities and programs in national and local contexts.
At this point, it should be noted that government policy intervention in support of
immigrants was limited to adult basic education (ABE) in general and second-language
learning in particular, with a primary focus on removing immigrants newcomers‟ linguistic
deficits and improving their capacities in an official language, in most cases, in English. In
this way, through propagating the standardized written language in response to economic
needs, the governments can sustain and speed up the implementation of the institutional
agenda exerting linguistic homogeneity at the local level. This, in turn, served to safeguard
the positive outcome of the immigration policy for social stability and economic growth of
the nation.
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3.1.3 “Moving Canada to the World”: Global Immigration and Literacy in the
Globalized New Economy
In face with the rapid changes in the globalized new economy, the link between
immigration and labor market needs was intensified. Professional and skilled immigrants
were considered to become a more welcomed group of populations to Canada, compared with
family class and refugees. In 1992, the Conservatives introduced a new Immigration Act—the
Bill C-86 wherein the distribution of the points of official language abilities, education, and
professional skills were adjusted; 16 points were assigned to education, 18 points to
education and training, and 15 points to official language abilities.
In the same year of the implementation of Bill C-86, the Canadian Government
announced a new immigrant language training policy, Language Instruction for Newcomers
to Canada (LINC), as its commitment to providing flexible, accessible, and appropriate
language training for newly arrived immigrants. Integral to the settlement services for
newcomers, the LINC policy made explicit that all new immigrants would be entitled the
rights to receive language training, regardless of their labor market intentions (Cray & Currie,
2007). Such language training programs placed great emphasis on introducing newcomers to
share Canadian values, rights and responsibilities and developing their basic communication
skills in functioning at a survival level in Canada. It was not until the 2000 Canadian
Language Benchmarks (CLB) introduced as a descriptive framework of communicative
language instruction programs for newcomers that the LINC policy elaborated what those
basic communications skills were, and at what levels immigrant newcomers were expected to
function in the host country.
However, a close look at CLB 2000 reveals that reading and writing is considered
primarily as a means to exercise linguistic structures and vocabulary, in response to questions
and assessment tasks, which lies at the root of the acquisition of the relevant discrete
language skills in order to function properly in society (see Cray & Currie, 2007 for
discussion). At issue is the Canadian governments‟ decision to have no responsibility for
providing language support beyond the survival levels of language learning for newcomer
immigrants while ignoring the fact that as a result of the revision of the Canadian
immigration policy, most recent skilled immigrants had actually years of experiences of
learning English or French in their home country, prior to their arrival in Canada (see section
3.3 for details).
Since the late 1990s, in response to the global market, immigration policy has become
highly economically driven, and is utilized as a strategic device to bolster the restructuring of
economic order, privatization, and deregulation in Canada. In 1995, the Liberal government
49
introduced a new policy framework with a new version of the points system. The new
regulation system contains the economic component of immigration with an explicitly
increased emphasis on an immigrant‟s education and proficiency in English or French, as
asserted in the document of Into the 21st Century: A Strategy for Immigration and Citizenship:
Canada needs people who are entrepreneurial, literate and able to adjust to a
rapidly-changing labor market… The proposed changes [in immigration policy] seek
to improve the skills, flexibility and diversity of the Canadian workforce responding
to Canada‟s new, emerging economy (Canada, 1994, cited in Green & Green, 2004,
p.132).
Clearly, the purpose of Canadian immigration policy is to attract highly skilled, well-educated,
flexible workers as prospective citizens to participate in a rapidly changing global economy.
With the aim of tapping the economic and cultural resources of Canada in the international
realm, literacy becomes significant in the nation‟s economic development. As the Canadian
governments assert, immigrants‟ linguistic skills in English or French and education levels
are crucial to bring “the world to Canada and Canada to the world” (CIC, 1999, p. 2; cited in
Bauder, 2008, p. 295).
In dealing with the negative impacts of the international and domestic economic
downturn and the September 11 attack in the USA, the new Liberal government reintroduced
an Immigration and Refugee Protection Act in February, 2001 and then enacted an
Immigration Act—Bill C-11 on June 28, 2002, a strategic device that enhanced Canada‟s
advantages in the global competition for skilled workers (CIC, 2002). While the new
immigration policy identified the prospective citizens of the nation as highly skilled,
well-educated, flexible workers, the revised points system mainly increased requirements for
education and language proficiency levels in official languages. In the points system of 2001,
a maximum of 25 points were given to formal education and 24 points to knowledge of
official languages. A pass mark was dramatically increased to 75 points out of 100 points4. At
this point, immigrants‟ proficiency in English or French has become a yardstick in
conforming to institutional standards in terms of integration and economic contribution.
Specifically, in order to ensure immigrant candidates‟ high proficiency in English, since
the year 2000, Canada‟s government mandated all independent immigrant applicants to write
a language proficiency test from the International English Language Test System (IELTS) in
which their overall language competencies of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in
English are assessed. Points on overall proficiency in English are given accordingly, on the 4 Because the pass mark was set too high, there was a dramatic reduction in applications in the following years.
In response, on September 18, 2003, the federal government made adjustment of the pass mark from 75 to 67, while targeting the needs of the desired labor market.
50
basis of which the immigration officer would determine the applicant‟s eligibility for
immigration. In this way, since then, strictly screened by the new points system, most
newcomers under the independent class came to Canada with relatively high language skills
and education backgrounds (CIC, 2001, 2003).
Reflecting Canadian immigration policy selection criteria reviewed above, 49.6 percent of
recent immigrants (1996-2005) held a Bachelor‟s degree, 18.9 percent held a Master‟s degree,
and 4.1 percent had a Doctoral degree. In the meantime, over 50 percent of recent immigrants
reported that they have linguistic and professional capabilities of working in an English
environment. As the data in the 2006 Census show, the use of English most often at work
remained relatively stable between 2001 and 2006, from 84.7 percent to 85 percent even
though the employment rate of core working-age immigrants with diverse ethno-linguistic
backgrounds was 67% in 2006, up 3.6 percentage points from 63.4% in 2001 (Statistics
Canada, 2008b). Undoubtedly, under current immigration policies, numbers of skilled
immigrants with high levels of language and literacy in an official language have increased
much faster than the number with low levels. Thus, the immigration policies of recruiting
skilled immigrants globally has made Canada more culturally and linguistically diverse and
more competitive in the new economic order.
While the revisions of the Canadian immigrant policy resulted in large flows of highly
skilled immigrants, there have emerged increased policy documents focusing on immigrants‟
literacy levels that were identified as a key aspect of human capital and a central pillar of
economic development of the nation. For example, in alignment with the international
mandate, the National Literacy Secretariat, by commissioning Statistics Canada, undertook a
series of national surveys of Canadian literacy skills. The most influential one is the 1994
International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS), in partnership with OECD. According to the
1994 IALS findings, most Canadians have serious literacy problems. By highlighting
immigrants‟ lower literacy levels, the report provided the interpretation that the negative
distribution of Canadians‟ literacy levels was affected by the immigrant population‟s
unsatisfactory literacy performance in their new country‟s language. The report reads as
follows:
While immigration often meets labor force demands, immigrants may be expected to
have an impact on the distribution of literacy in at least three ways: they may have
different educational experiences than the native-born population, they may have
learned an official language only as a second language, and they may be less familiar
with the literate culture of the country (OECD & Statistics Canada, 1995, p. 71).
Through the commentary on immigrants‟ literacy, the monolithic institutional assumption of
51
literacy was solidified authoritatively. This institutional version of literacy emphasized a
universal standard from which culturally specific knowledge and resource were ruled out.
Thus, immigrants who speak English or French as a second language are simultaneously
identified as people with literacy problems.
Echoing the revision of immigration policies in 1995 in which the Canadian governments
adopted an economic orientation to the recruitment of skilled immigrants, an official
document, Reading the Future: A Portrait of Literacy in Canada, was released by the
Government of Canada (1996). Drawing from the IALS database of 1994, the document
highlights that there are a larger number of immigrants with level 4 and 5 in English or
French than the number of non-immigrant Canadians. According to the governments‟
interpretation, the high level of immigrants‟ literacy proficiency is attributed to the “efficacy
of the current Canada‟s longstanding immigration policies which welcome skilled immigrants
who are likely to have excellent education and literacy skills in English or French”
(Government of Canada, 1996, p. 7). To some extent, the positive appraisal of adult
immigrants‟ literacy skills in English or French and education levels in the policy statement
served to affirm the effectiveness of the point system that acted as an engine to help expand
the skilled workforce for a knowledge-based and economic society. At this point, the role of
literacy in labor market and individual productivity was emphasized, as stated in the report:
… literacy is important. Society rewards individuals who are proficient and
penalizes those who are not, whether expressed in terms of employment
opportunities and job success or active social, cultural and citizenship participation
in society. Literacy is also important to nations, as these skills are building blocks.
They enable the creation of a labor force capable of competing in a changing
world—a key step to economic growth and improvement of the human condition.
They are also the cornerstones of democracy and of the exchange of knowledge and
information (Government of Canada, 1996, p.1).
Beyond the skill-based definition of literacy, the report emphasized the important role of
literacy in immigrants‟ employment opportunities and socio-cultural participation as “good”
citizens in Canada who take spontaneous turns toward the building of democracy and a
knowledge-based economy throughout the 21st century. While the connection between
immigration and literacy is considered to forge continuity and congruency between economic
development and the productivity of individual immigrants, newcomer immigrants‟ linguistic
abilities are evaluated under the monolingual framework. Clearly, the causal-effect
relationship between literacy and economic growth interplays with the ideology of “language
problems” and “barriers,” as the document claims that individuals who have “literacy
problems” are penalized in employment opportunities, economic returns, and citizenship
52
rights because of this particular lack.
Since the late 1990s, with a large pool of skilled immigrants coming to Canada and
seeking entry in the host labor market, issues of unemployment and low incomes that recent
immigrants faced have been widely addressed. Under this circumstance, recent skilled
immigrants‟ contribution to the nation‟s economy has been frequently evaluated under the
rubric of literacy in a series of official documents. Drawing from the data set of the 2003
International Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (IALSS) 5 , the first official report
specifically focusing on immigrants‟ literacy entitled, Literacy Skills among Canadian
Immigrant Populations, was released by Statistics Canada in 2005. According to the
document, “immigrants arriving in Canada in recent years are more educated than were
immigrants who arrived in the past and are twice as likely as the Canadian-born population to
have a university education” (Statistics Canada, 2005b, p. 1). However, it indicates that
overall, in all four literacy domains: prose, document, numeracy, and problem solving,
immigrants tended to perform at a lower proficiency of literacy skills than the Canadian-born
population. Given the fact that most recent immigrants speak a language other than English
or French, their mother tongue is considered as an important factor that produces the impact
on their performance in the Survey. In this respect, the report maintains that despite the
higher educational attainment of recent immigrants, “the relatively poor literacy performance
of recent immigrants reflects a lack of proficiency in English or French” (Statistics Canada,
2005b, p. 4). Thus, language problems and literacy deficiencies were considered to have
causal effects on issues of unemployment and low incomes that skilled immigrants faced. As
Ferrer and her colleagues pointed out:
… literacy deficiencies among immigrants have an important impact on earnings
differentials, … if immigrants had the same average literacy scores as the native
born, the earnings differential between immigrants and the native born would narrow
by about 20% (Ferrer, Green, & Riddell, 2004, p. 29).
To sum up, the foregoing review shows that the convergence between immigration and
literacy has been shaped and sustained through the constantly changing immigration policies
over years, in response to specific political and economic needs of the country. The linkage of
the two policy discourses indicates that economic priorities have always been central.
Literacy serves as part of the functional system and commodity that ensures the mobility of
5 Conducted in 2003, the International Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey collected comprehensive data from
large samples of recent (those who have been in Canada for 10 years or less) and established (those who have been in Canada for more than 10 years) immigrants, and the Canadian-born. Over 23, 000 individuals aged 16 and over from across the ten provinces and three territories responded to the Canadian IALSS. The 2003 Survey measured four literacy domains: prose, document, numeracy, and problem solving.
53
human capital across borders of local and global contexts. In this way, compatible and
complementary to the market-driven immigration policies, language and literacy initiatives
adhering to the standardized configuration of the dominant language have been utilized as an
institutional mechanism, not only to maintain the linguistic market tied to the values of the
dominant group, but also to monitor the economic production and reproduction of immigrant
newcomers, in alignment with the modern nationalism of the state. In this respect, the
evolving influence of literacy in policy indicates the institutional struggles to control the
definition of reality (cf. Hassan, 2003). Hand in hand, Canadian immigration policies and
language and literacy policies have worked together to fortify and reproduce the desired
social and economic orders of the country.
In these documentary texts, immigrants‟ language and literacy proficiency levels are
evaluated and consistently compared with the local Canadians‟, by exerting systematic
symbolic domination on immigrant populations. The challenges, such as deskilling and
negative social labeling, that skilled immigrants confronted reflected the discrepancy between
the rhetoric and the reality. Questions, such as how and why the contradiction has occurred
and influenced social economic mobility of skilled immigrants, need to be examined in a
careful way. This thesis research aims to unravel the underlying factors at play with regard to
symbolic domination, deskilling, and negative social labeling.
3.2 Trends of Chinese Immigration in Canada
The changes of the Canadian immigration policies result not only in linguistic and
cultural diversity in the country, but also in the heterogeneity of Chinese immigrants. As the
2006 Census of Canada (Statistics Canada, 2007a, 2007b) indicates, Canada is becoming
increasingly diverse, with 19.8 percent of Canada‟s total population (31,241,030) identified
as immigrants. Taking the year 2005 as an example, there were 262,239 immigrants coming
to Canada, and 59.6 percent (156,310) of them were under the economic class. Among them,
45.1 percent of immigrant professionals came from those non-traditional source countries,
such as China, India, Philippines, and Pakistan. Accordingly, the language profile of
immigrants has changed dramatically. Four most common languages spoken among recent
immigrants are Mandarin, Arabic, Spanish, and Punjabi 6 . Among these immigrant
populations, Chinese immigrants are the largest visible minority group in Canada, reaching a
total of 1,168,485 in 2006, up from 1,029,400 in 2001, and from 860,100 in 1996 (Statistics
Canada, 2008b). Indeed, as a by-product of Canada‟s immigration policy, the increased
6 According to the 2006 Census, English is the mother tongue of 58 percent of Canadians and 22 percent for
French. Approximately 20 percent of total populations (over 31 million people) speak a language other than English and French (Statistics Canada, 2007b).
54
Chinese immigration has resulted in the heterogeneity of Chinese immigrants in Canada,
which reflects the underlying social, economic, and political changes both in Canada and in
China that language can symbolize. The symbolic value of language, as noted by Tollefson
(2002), is connected with profound consequences, not only of nation-states seeking to retain
and control various forms of political and economic power on their right, but also for people
mobilizing and navigating across national and international borders in order to gain access to
appropriate social positioning and economic resources. In this section, I shall briefly review
the major trends of Chinese immigration in Canada. Following this, I provide the English
language learning background of recent Chinese immigrants, situated in the historical
development of China‟s educational systems.
Chinese immigration has a long history in Canada. It has been almost 150 years between
the 1850s that poor, illiterate contract laborers from southern China were recruited to build a
transcontinental railroad linking western and eastern Canada and the 21st century that young
Chinese intellectuals immigrated to Canada to fulfill Canada‟s economic needs in the
globalized economy. In highlighting the heterogeneity of Chinese immigrants in Canada, Guo
and DeVoretz (2006) summarized four major waves of Chinese emigration, reflecting
complex political and economic changes in China after the Second World War.
The first wave of Chinese immigration was triggered by the 1967 political crisis in Hong
Kong. To echo the political movements of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), the local
communists launched a demonstration that ended in violence. In fear of political and social
instability, thousands of Chinese people in Hong Kong left for the United States and Canada.
In 1971 when Canada issued an official policy of multiculturalism, which claimed that all
cultures and races were equal, Canada became a much preferred destination, attracting more
and more Hong Kong Chinese to immigrate to the country.
The second wave happened in the 1980s, reflecting social, political, and economic
changes in Mainland China. From the founding of the People‟s Republic of China (PRC) in
1949 to the end of the Cultural Revolution (1976), China had been relatively isolated from
the western nations. The establishment of diplomatic relations with countries in North
America in the 1970s and Deng Xiaoping‟s Open Door Policy created the political and
economic conditions for the mobility of Chinese people. In particular, the student movement
in Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 1989 acted as a driving force for large numbers of Chinese
scholars and students abroad wanting to stay overseas. Prompted by this political situation,
the Canadian government granted permanent residency status to those Chinese students and
scholars studying in Canada while the Chinese government tightened the restriction of
emigration of Chinese citizens during this time period.
55
The third wave described by Guo and DeVoretz (2006) began in the 1984 Sino-British
Agreement on the future of Hong Kong and ended in 1997 when the British government
returned Hong Kong to China. In this period, the Canadian government paid particular
attention to the recruitment of the entrepreneurial and investment immigrants whose financial
capital and human capital could act as an engine of economic growth in Canada (DeVoretz,
2006). As a result, between 1991 and 1996, there were approximately 30,000 Hong Kong
Chinese settled in Canada annually. Most of them were young, educated entrepreneurs and
professionals. However, when the turnover of Hong Kong to the Chinese government turned
out to be peaceful, and when unemployment and low income rates became challenges that
they faced in the host labor market, many of these Chinese professionals and businessmen
returned to their homeland, in pursuit of their career development.
The fourth wave of Chinese immigration started in the late 1990s, with immigrants from
Mainland China surpassing those from Hong Kong and other Asian countries. The inflow of
Chinese immigrants from Mainland China was motivated by the competition in the
globalized economy in that Canada cries out for professional and technical workers with
well-educated backgrounds and relatively high proficiency in English or French. In the
meantime, China‟s Open Door policy created further economic boom and development in
other social domains such as education, which resulted in the growth of a new middle-income
class. In this way, because of the Chinese government‟s relaxed emigration restrictions and
because of the Canadian immigration policy‟s interest in attracting Chinese immigrants with
certain occupational and language skills, young university-educated, ambitious Chinese
professionals with enough proficiency in English or French became targeted favorable
candidates to supply Canada‟s post-industrial, high-technology economy.
Thus, when the early Chinese immigration might be pulled by the economic development
of Canada and pushed by political and economic instability in China (see section 3.3 for
details), the motivation of recent Chinese immigrants from Mainland China is more than the
simple push-pull effect between the sending and receiving countries. We need to take into
account the role of Canadian immigrant policy in fulfilling the nation‟s economic needs as
well as the dramatic changes taken place in China in the past decades. Central to this
motivation and success in gaining permanent immigrant status was the skilled Chinese
immigrants‟ abilities in English language, which was closely related to their efforts to learn
English in China‟s educational system. In this way, a review of the historical evolution of
English language education in China can help us better understand social practices of skilled
Chinese immigrants in Canada.
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3.3 The English Language Education in China
In China, English Language education has been inextricably influenced by social,
political, and economic changes. In the past 30 years, China‟s English language education
policies have been shifted from serving political and ideological functions to fulfilling the
goals of the nation‟s modernization. It is the focus on its role in facilitating economic
development of the country that English has generated a great impact on Chinese people‟s
pursuit of a host of economic, social, and educational opportunities that lead to the betterment
of personal well-being (Hu, 2005). This section will pay particular attention to the overall
trajectory of policy efforts of China‟s English language education, aiming to provide a
backdrop to the motivation of the participants‟ immigration to Canada.
3.3.1 Barbaric Tongue, Medium of Modernization, and Language of Elites
The first English speakers arrived in southern China in the early 17th
century. By the end
of 18th century, varieties of pidgin English were being spoken in Guangzhou and Macau, the
places that the British, American, and other trading empires entered and sought access to
Chinese markets. Nonetheless, before the mid 19th
century, English language had been low
key in China, mainly because it was simply considered as “a barbaric tongue.” Except that a
small number of missionary schools taught English, access to English language within formal
educational institutes had been extremely limited, which reflected China‟s closed foreign
policy toward the West at that time.
With their imperialist ambitions for expanding colonies to Asian countries, Britain,
through smuggling opium, sought to open up ports for trade in China, and subsequently
started two Opium Wars (1839-1842, 1856-1860), upon the Qing government‟s resistance to
their aggression. The defeat of the Qing government in the Wars resulted in a series of
unequal Treaties which allowed the British and other foreign countries to establish territorial
and trading rights in China. It was during this time period that the first cohort of Chinese
went to the United States and Canada, due to the increasing political and economic instability
across the country. Aware of the threats of the Western nations to the Qing government‟s
imperial power and cultural integrity of the nation, some Chinese officials recognized the
need to study foreign languages as a means to strengthen China‟s power by introducing
Western nations‟ military technology, industrial machinery and products, culture, and
philosophy to the nation.
In an attempt to deal with a range of cultural and political crises, the Qing‟s government
established the first Chinese schools of foreign languages, including the Tongwen Guan
(Interpreter‟s College) in Beijing (1861) and Guang Fangyan Guan (School for Dispersing
57
Languages) in Shanghai (1863). These schools were administrated under the Zongli Yamen,
an office responsible for foreign affairs, which was also created in 1861. At this point, the
study of English mainly focused both on translating scientific and technical books into
Chinese in order to gain access to Western technology and on engaging in diplomacy with the
Western nations on behalf of the Qing‟s government (Adamson, 2004). In the meantime, after
the Opium Wars, missionary schools were spread widely from treaty ports such as Macau,
Guangzhou, Tianjin, and Shanghai to several inland cities in China. In these schools, English
was taught under the slogan of changing China peacefully. Between the early 1860s and the
early 1920s, English language education was developed within the educational system, under
the guiding principle of “studying China for essence, studying the West for practical usage.”
In the Republican era (1912-1949), learning English was perceived as a means of
developing a modernized China that could exist “on an equal footing with the industrialized
nations” (Adamson, 2004, p. 29). A major figure that advocated learning from the industrial
countries was Dr Sun Yat-Sen who lived abroad many years and learned foreign languages
and western ideas including literature, politics, mathematics, and medicine. Influenced by Dr
Sun, young Chinese intellectuals began to seek access to the Western nations‟ philosophical,
economic, social, and political ideas enthusiastically, with a result of increasing interest in
learning English in some of larger cities like Beijing and Shanghai. As a result, the tension
between the modernizers who considered the study of English necessary for learning from
industrialized nations and traditionalists who saw English as the threat to destroy China‟s
cultural heritage and traditional philosophical ideology emerged and intensified during this
period. In fact, since 1911 when English became one of three core subjects (Chinese, Maths,
and English) on the curricula of secondary and tertiary institutions, there were Chinese
scholars who continually called for the removal of English and other foreign languages from
the school curriculum, in the name of cultivating the patriotic and efficient citizenship among
Chinese people.
In the time period of the Anti-Japanese War (1937-1945) and Civil War (1945-1949), the
Nationalist Party government sought military assistance from the USA. This led the
government to develop an education system in alignment with a US model. However, given
the fact that the vast majority of Chinese population had little opportunities and resources for
schooling because of war and poverty, the popularity of learning English was actually
restricted to some young people from rich families. Thus, the study of English was seen as a
mark of high social status and modernity in the Chinese society at that time.
3.3.2 English within Socialist Education
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The establishment of the People‟s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 brought large-scale
reconstruction in political, social, economic, and educational domains. However, between the
early 1950s and 1960s, English became unpopular and was rarely found in the school
curriculum. Two reasons rendered the dramatic decline of English language education in
China.
First, during the early years of the PRC, China‟s education policy focused on
mother-tongue literacy as its provision of mass education. In December 1949, at the first
national conference on education, Mao Zedong, Chairman of the PRC and the Chinese
Communist Party, indicated that “eradication of illiteracy among 80 percent of the Chinese
population was a necessary condition for the construction of a new China” (China, 1951, p.
23; cited in Zhou, 2007, p.103). In responding to Chairman Mao‟s call, the new Government
oriented toward the improvement of Chinese people‟s literacy levels, in association with
years of literacy campaigns.
Second, there was a strong political influence on foreign language teaching at the time.
Because a number of English-speaking countries refused to recognize the founding of the
PRC, the relations between Communist China and Western nations became worse. English
was considered as “the language of the enemy,” and so the study of English became an
unpatriotic act to the nation. In 1954, English was officially removed from the junior
secondary curriculum. In the meantime, Russian became the compulsory foreign language
subject at secondary schools and universities throughout the country, mainly because the
strong diplomatic relations between China and the Soviet Union at the time.
Because of the expanding diplomatic and trade relations with Western countries and
because of the strained relations between China‟s government and the Soviet Union in 1960,
English education was gradually restored in the late 1950s. Such a political change brought
out a growing awareness that learning English was an important means of gaining access to
scientific and technical knowledge that supported China‟s development and position in the
world. However, when the Ministry of Education claimed that English became the dominant
foreign language instructed in the classroom throughout the country, lack of resources, such
as qualified English teachers7 and textbooks, became a serious problem. At this point, the
agreement was widely reached that the teaching of English at the secondary school should
center on basic knowledge and skills in the language.
During the Cultural Revolution period, education in general and English language
teaching in particular were subjected to this political attack. Specifically, people with higher
7 In 1957, there were only 73 full-time junior secondary and 770 full-time senior secondary school English teachers
in China (Ministry of Education, 1984), as compared to the year 1995, there were about 400,000 full-time secondary school English teachers and 28,000 English teachers in China‟s higher education (Maley, 1995).
59
education were labeled as “bourgeois intellectuals” spreading the ideas of capitalism and
imperialism. As a result, most of them were persecuted and exiled to the countryside or
remote areas to be “re-educated” with the practice of manual skills. While the formal
education system ceased to function and schools closed down, foreign language teaching at
school was completely terminated. Since English became a widely rejected subject, English
language teachers had to teach other subjects, such as politics and history (Tang, 1983). All
resources related to western societies, such as broadcasts, books, newspapers, and magazines,
were banned. Students perceived the study of English as useless, since proficiency in English
connoted no prospect under the then political circumstance in China. It was not until the year
1972 that the US President, Richard Nixon, visited China that English reappeared on the
curriculum in some secondary schools. However, textbooks were locally produced merely for
political needs and were not based on any theories of language teaching and learning
(Adamson & Morris, 1997; Tang, 1983).
In sum, within a whole decade of the Cultural Revolution, China experienced disruption
in economic and educational development, with the nation‟s political turmoil and blockage
from the outside world. Although teaching English was resumed in some of junior secondary
schools in the early 1970s, it embodied sensitive political implications at the time.
3.3.3 China’s Economic Reforms and English Learning Nationwide
One year after the end of the Cultural Revolution (1976), Deng Xiaoping was elected as
the leader of China‟s Communist Party in its Eleventh Congress and then launched a series of
national policies, most notably, the Four Modernizations Programs targeting the rapid
development in agriculture, science and technology, defence and industry. Education was
considered to play a central role in the Four Modernizations to take place. English language
teaching became a top priority in the nation‟s educational development, since it was
perceived as an important strategy in training human resources with adequate English
proficiency so as to access the scientific knowledge from the West (Hu, 2005).
The nation‟s political and economic policies established a unified curriculum on English
education in China. In 1978, the Ministry of Education claimed that foreign language
teaching should be a core subject at secondary and tertiary levels. The first formal English
curricula for primary and secondary levels were created in the same year. However, because
of the short-time frame for preparing for the new curriculum and severe shortage of resources,
such as English teaching specialists and materials, the 1978 curriculum ended up in failure.
The Grammar-Translation method that was widely used to teach basic reading skills,
including vocabulary, short sentences, and grammatical rules, resulted in a majority of
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secondary students with “a fragmentary knowledge of English, a small recognition of
vocabulary, and a very low level of communicative competence in the language” (Hu, 2005,
p. 12).
In 1982, the Twelfth Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was held in Beijing. At
the Congress, Deng Xiaoping enacted another strategy for economic development, the Open
Door Policy. As Deng stated at the Congress:
We will unswervingly follow a policy of opening to the outside world and actively
increase exchanges with foreign countries on the basis of mutual equality and benefit
(Translation from Hayhoe, 1984, p. 206).
Clearly, through the Open Door Policy, China intended to build a strong link with the outside
world through expanding scientific, academic, and commercial exchanges with industrialized
countries. To align with the nation‟s economic reforms, the goal of English teaching became
economically oriented indeed. The State Education Commission asserted the connection
between the nation‟s economic agenda and English teaching:
Education has to be oriented towards modernization, the outside world and the future.
Our country has adopted the Open Door Policy, the reforms of our country‟s
economics, politics, technology and education are being wholeheartedly
implemented … we need to nurture a large number of experts who are goal-oriented
and ethnical, possessing culture, discipline and, to different extents, competence in
various aspects of foreign languages. Under these circumstances, the value of
foreign languages as important tools becomes greater. (State Education Commission,
1986; translation from Adamson & Morris, 1997, p. 19).
Following this proposition, in 1982, the Ministry of Education developed a new
curriculum that aimed at cultivating students‟ overall competencies in English. In the new
curriculum, pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar remained as a foundation in the process
of language learning. In addition, reading skills in English were considered as significant in
grasping the essence of the functional everyday English and in acquiring advanced
knowledge. In the design of the curriculum, listening and speaking competencies were
emphasized as an integral part of skill-building activities. Although the revised curriculum
marked the shift from the use of Grammar-Translation pedagogy to communicative
approaches, frequent grammar exercises and teacher-centered instruction that focused on
English language rules and vocabulary were still used predominantly in the classroom.
From the mid-1980s onward, China has experienced rapid economic growth by further
opening up the country to the outside world. The demands for people‟s proficiency in English
and other foreign languages dramatically increased, to satisfy the need of the radical
61
economic, social, and cultural developments. In this way, a series of policies for a reform of
its educational system served to spread the study of English all over the country. First, given
that China‟s economic reform and modernization required a highly literate, well-educated
labor force, in 1985, the Law on Compulsory Education was issued. As stated in the Law,
regardless of gender, ethnicity, or race, all children should receive nine years of compulsory
education (primary and junior secondary) from the age of six. Since English has been
established as one of the core subjects at school, the Law on Compulsory Education endorses
the aim to supply all Chinese students with opportunities to learn basic knowledge and skills
in English8.
Second, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 sped up China‟s plan to build up
stronger ties with western countries; this development generated a profound influence on the
spread of English language teaching and learning in the country. Following Deng Xiaoping‟s
strategy for economic development, Special Economic Zones, mostly situated in coastal areas,
were established. Together with these coastal regions, large inland cities became the center,
attracting a host of foreign investments, overseas tourists, and cultural and technological
exchanges. While all these changes increased the demands for Chinese people proficient in
English in a wide range of professional fields, there emerged a growth of awareness that the
quality of English instruction needed to be further improved. Hence, during the 1990s, the
national secondary English syllabus was revised three times (in the year 1992, 1993, and
1996, respectively). Setting the goal of cultivating students‟ overall communicative abilities
in English, these syllabuses stressed task-based teaching and the use of communicative
approaches in the classroom9.
Third, proficiency in English is assessed in the three compulsory graduation examinations;
from junior secondary to senior secondary school, from senior secondary school to higher
education, and then from university to postgraduate study. The mandate issued by the Chinese
Ministry of Education indicates that after six-years learning English at junior and senior
secondary schools, all tertiary students are required to continue to sharpen their English
capabilities: mainly reading and writing skills in the first 2 years, and then English classes
related to their majors through their final year. The outcomes of the first-two year study of
English are assessed through the College English Test (CET) launched nationwide in
8 However, at that time, English language teaching was not available in most rural areas and ethnic regions
because of lack of teaching resources and the emphasis on rural students‟ mother-tongue literacy (Zhou, 2007). 9 In these syllabi, class hours allocated to English were increased, being second only to Chinese and
mathematics. However, according to my own teaching practices and my informants‟ English learning experiences in China, there was a gap between the reality of English language teaching in the classroom and the syllabus requirements for the building of communicative competencies in English. With the grammar-translation method, English language teaching focused heavily on building students‟ solid knowledge of the structural pattern of English, including grammatical rules and vocabulary through textbooks, in order to prepare them for various English tests.
62
September 1987. University students with non-English majors are required to pass CET
Level 4 if they want to graduate from universities with Bachelor‟s degrees. Students who pass
CET Level 6 are privileged for better employment opportunities when they graduate from a
post-secondary school. Students who major in English are required to pass CET Level 8 at
the time when they are conferred with Bachelor‟s degrees. It was estimated that there were
5.5 million Chinese students writing the CET annually (Yang, 2001).
The prominent role of English language in Chinese people‟s prospects in their education
opportunities and career development led to a surge of enthusiasm for learning English
nationwide (Hu, 2002; Tang, 1983; Yao, 1993). In the urban area, “English Corners” became
the place that young Chinese people gathered and conversed in English with each other as
well as with foreigners. The imported English teaching programs and materials on TV and
radio stations, textbooks, newspapers, and magazines became popular and accessible in larger
cities in China. For example, the imported TV program, “Follow Me (BBC)” and textbooks,
such as “New Concept English” and “American English,” were the most well-known learning
resources among Chinese people at the time. These resources provided Chinese people with
great exposure to authentic use of English as well as with support to learn English in a
communicative way10. The unprecedented spread of English had a consequence that English
became a means of gaining a decent job with good benefits. In business, industry, and
government, people‟s proficiency in English is also a passport to have access to opportunities
for professional advancement and so to social prestige for material resources with the
betterment of personal well-being.
Since the 1990s, China intended to accelerate her pace of opening up to the outside world.
Orienting to the market-driven economy, the central government increased the proportion of
the financial resources for coastal regions and inland large cities while conducting the
decentralization of educational administration in the local governments. The series of reforms
like these widened the differences in social and economic development between the
economically developed coastal and urban areas and the less well-off inland rural areas and
ethnic regions. As a consequence, in the mid-1990s, the increasing flow of population from
rural areas to the coastal and urban regions, the intensified income gaps between the urban
areas and the rural areas, and the soaring rate of unemployment in inland cities raised a host
10
It should be noted, however, that students in rural areas and ethnic regions might not have opportunities to gain access to enough resources to learn English. Examples can be drawn from the data in my study that when the participants from urban areas emphasized the role of English learning programs on TV and radio stations in maximizing their opportunities to improve their communicative competencies and boost their interest in English, a couple of participants (such as, Xiang Dong) from rural areas reported that being unable to afford TV sets and tape recorders made such learning resources inaccessible in and out of school. This means that students in these regions learned English mainly through textbooks with limited or no opportunity to gain input and speak English.
63
of social issues that the Chinese government needed to deal with. In the meantime, the
fast-paced changes in society caused feelings of uncertainty to Chinese people. For example,
most of my participants mentioned that although they were leading a better-off life with a
decent job in larger cities, they still had concerns about their career development, the stability
of family lives, equality of education opportunity for their children, and social security in the
Chinese society. These were the frequently mentioned reasons that the participants decided to
immigrate to Canada.
Under this social and political circumstance, China lifted restrictions of exit of its citizens
and allowed Chinese people to go abroad for personal purposes. The relaxation of the
Chinese Migration Law opens the door for thousands of Chinese university students and
graduates to pursue their academic development in North American, upon successfully
writing TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), GRE (Graduate Record
Examinations), or GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) held by the ETS (English
Test Services). As a result, private schools that specifically train young Chinese people to
prepare for these English tests were booming in big cities, such as Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai,
and Guangzhou. Meanwhile, a growing number of young Chinese scholars and professionals
who were proficient in English were granted privileges to receive a variety of training
opportunities overseas, sponsored by the Chinese government and their companies. For
example, some of my participants in the study (Li Tao, Yu Qing, and Xiang Dong) reported
that their relatively high English proficiency won them training opportunities in Hong Kong
or the U.S.A for three or six months respectively. Although such training opportunities were
the good opportunity for them to learn more about the western countries and to exercise their
English skills in a real life context, most participants claimed that at that time, they had never
thought that immigration to a foreign country was an option in their lives.
In 1994, the Chinese and Canadian governments signed an agreement that Chinese
citizens can apply for immigration independently and live and work in Canada if they meet
the Canadian immigration criteria that immigrant candidates must be well-educated
professionals with proficiency in an official language of the country. Since then, for the first
time in the history, Chinese people in Mainland China are officially allowed to immigrate to
Canada, even without their personal connections there. For most Chinese applicants like the
participants in my study, their confidence in their existing English competencies and
extended opportunities available to them to continually improve their English proficiency in
their lives strengthened their resolve to make the decision to pursue their personal and
professional growth in Canada.
Like most recent Chinese immigrant professionals, the participants in my study had
64
received their education between the late 1970s and 1990s when English became a
compulsory subject after China opened to the outside world and undertook a series of
economic, political, and educational reforms. Their education and English abilities not only
brought them a kind of priority in China‟s economic reforms in which skills in English were
valued, but also strengthened and ensured the success of their applications for immigration to
Canada. To this end, it is clear that China‟s social economic developments, the relaxation of
its emigration law, and Canada‟s welcoming attitudes towards young Chinese professionals
acted as a joint driving force that made the door open for young Chinese intellectuals coming
to Canada.
3.4 Getting Prepared for Immigration
During a period of changes in curricula and textbooks, Chinese English teachers lacked
resources to tailor the communicative approaches to their classroom teaching. In secondary
schools and most universities in China, English was taught by Chinese teachers who had
graduated from a teacher college or from an English department at university where they had
received their training mostly by Chinese teachers. Except for the outdated curricular and
teaching content, theories of foreign language instruction and research methodology in
facilitating the prospective teacher to understand the complexity of classroom teaching had
been hardly introduced before the new teacher entered the field (Wang, 2004; Zhao, 2008).
Hence, although communicative skills in English were recognized and emphasized as
important in syllabi, the actual training in listening and speaking skills was constrained
because of limited resources and the teachers‟ own English proficiency in listening and
speaking.
It was in this context that the participant in my study learned English in the class. As most
participants emphasized, English learning in the classroom closely followed the sequential
arrangement of prescribed textbooks with explanation of grammar rules and frequent drilling
and tests. As a consequence, their language learning experiences were largely confined to the
two skills involving reading (textbooks, articles, and exercises) and writing (short passages
and grammar exercises). Nonetheless, the consensus has been reached among the participants
that despite a narrow focus of language competence on grammar, vocabulary, and reading
comprehension, the rule-governed English language teaching had the advantage of
developing Chinese students‟ literacy skills in English. While feeling confident in their
literate competence in English, all participants indicated that lack of explicit instruction on
English communicative skills made them clear about what their main challenges were, and
what skills they needed to further develop when they decided to apply for immigration to
65
Canada. Thus, prior to coming to Canada, most participants invested much time in making
both linguistic and professional preparations for their future lives in the host country.
3.4.1 Linguistic Preparation
For both independent and dependent applicants, living in an English-speaking context
would undoubtedly become a challenge, as they realized that they had limited opportunities
to speak English in and out of school. Aware of linguistic challenges that they would
encounter, most participants looked for a wide range of opportunities to improve their
English capabilities, through listening to English broadcasts on radio, reading English
newspapers and magazines, watching English educational programs and films on TV, and
attending English training seminars held by immigration agencies. In particular, in order to
prepare for the IELTS test, all independent applicants tended to upgrade their overall English
proficiency in a formal educational context. They registered in English classes that trained
their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in the language.
With these efforts, all independent applicants passed the immigration test and face-to-face
interviews with an immigration officer successfully. Upon their receiving the landing paper,
several participants continued to look for extended opportunities for sharpening their specific
oral communication skills in English. For example, Ye Lan reported that in order to improve
her skills in asking and answering questions in English, she had hired a tutor who was an
English-native speaker studying at Beijing Foreign Studies University. After turning in his
immigration application, Xiang Dong resigned his job in Zhengzhou and found a well-paid
job in Beijing where he gained opportunities to attend varied English seminars, useful to
upgrade his listening and speaking competencies.
Dependent applicants made different efforts to get them linguistically prepared for their
lives in the host country. Unlike independent applicants who merely concentrated on
increasing their speaking and listening skills in English, Jia Wei had refined his English
pronunciations, word by word, through imitating those on English learning tapes and his
electronic dictionary. Meanwhile, Jia Wei had kept a habit of reading English magazines and
newspapers, in order to enlarge his vocabulary as well as to build up his background
knowledge about western culture. However, both Ming Fang and Jian Hui reported that they
had no intention to invest much time on developing their English proficiency levels, prior to
their arrival in Canada. They believed that their English competencies would be dramatically
improved when they learned English in Canada where there was an authentic language
context available to them.
Through engaging in a series of intensive language learning activities over time, most
66
participants had gained confidence that their existing speaking and listening skills in English
would be strong enough for them to deal with language demands in their daily lives in
Canada. Meanwhile, several participants believed that their strong literate skills in English
would help them solve communicative difficulties in the real context, as they said that in case
of emergent obstacles in oral interactions, they would write down what they wanted to say in
English.
3.4.2 Professional Preparation
While investing much time and effort in developing their English competencies, most
participants had made professional preparations simultaneously, in order to reach their
occupational goals in the host country. With a hope of quickly fitting into the demands of the
Canadian labor market, independent applicants had tried many ways to strengthen their
professional credentials, prior to coming to Canada. For example, Yu Qing and Ye Lan had
taken a series of computer tests, in order to get an internationally recognized certificate in the
IT field after they had learned from the immigration agency that people with strong IT skills
would have no difficulties in locating a professional job in the Canadian labor market. After
applying for immigration to Canada, Xiang Dong quit his job in Zhengzhou, the capital city
in Henan province, and went to Beijing where he was employed as the manager of the
network administration department in a larger telecom company. Although working in
Beijing made him live a bachelor life for two years, Xiang Dong thought that it was
worthwhile because he extended his occupational competencies, which, he believed, would
be counted as credit when finding a professional job in Canada.
While independent applicants had aimed at finding an employment opportunity in their
professional area through upgrading and certifying their professional qualifications and
extending their work expertise prior to coming to Canada, Jia Wei made his professional
preparation as a back-up strategy for the economic survival of his family, since he thought
that it might be unrealistic to find the same job as the one he had done in China. Jia Wei had
been a business owner with rich administrative experience and strong personal networking in
the field. However, after deciding to come to Canada with his wife, Jia Wei realized that he
would leave all these resources behind in his home country. In figuring out a way to support
his family in the new society, Jia Wei decided to change his career path. He registered in a
Chinese cooking class and received three-month intensive training in Chinese cuisine. In
doing so, he expected to find a job without difficulty in Canada.
67
To sum up, all participants had had a positive attitude towards their lives in the host country,
prior to their arrival. The above examples revealed that the confidence derived from their
investment of time and efforts in improving their skills in English and strengthening their
professional credentials and expertise before they embarked on a new life in Canada. In
particular, independent applicants had felt optimistic and confident of their English proficiency
after they passed the demanding language assessment and face-to-face interviews with an
immigration officer for evaluating their eligibility for immigration to Canada. As all independent
applicants believed, the landing paper issued by the Canadian government not only granted their
eligibility for immigration to Canada, but also acted as an authoritative verification of their
English competencies that could support their social economic participation in Canada. Indeed,
confident of their English proficiency, most participants had expected that their existing English
skills could facilitate their cultural adaptation and socio-economic integration into the host
country.
3.5 Summary
The juxtaposing reviews of policies of immigration, literacy, and China‟s English language
education reveal that English is a unifying factor that links nations‟ socio-economic and political
agendas and individual people‟s own ambitions and expectations together. While English plays
an important role in China‟s modernizations and social economic interactions with the western
countries, it bears responsibility for recruiting well-educated immigrant professionals for Canada
to win the competition in the globalized new economy. For skilled Chinese immigrants, their
proficiency in English played an important role in their decision to immigrate to Canada.
Because of Canada‟s strict screening of immigrant candidates‟ English proficiency levels and
because of limited training in oral communication skills in English in China‟s English education
system, most participants had made linguistic and professional preparation for their lives in the
new country, prior to their arrival in Canada. Thus, along with their strong professional expertise,
most participants had been confident in their English literate competence, and believed that their
existing language abilities would facilitate them to overcome language barriers they would
encounter in a new language environment in one way or another
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Chapter 4
Methodology
My aim in this chapter is 1) to explain the rationale of my critical ethnographic
perspective, 2) to describe the process of my data collection, 3) to lay out the methods that I
used to collect multiple sources for my inquiry, 4) to reflect upon my research experience,
with regard to my multiple identities I brought to the research and the use of journal writing
as a research tool for data collection, and 5) to illustrate data analysis strategies that helped
me identify themes and patterns in the database.
4.1 Why Critical Ethnography?
This thesis research investigates how well-educated Chinese immigrants use their existing
language and literacy skills in English as they strive for resources and opportunities in their
experiences of linguistic adaptation and social economic integration into Canada. To illustrate
the phenomenon, I devoted my attention to the broader social and political contexts of
institutional structures and discursive practices that are intertwined in many different ways. In
this respect, traditional ethnography cannot help me to demystify the multiplicity and
complexity of literacy since it simply presents how things are, by documenting the routines of
people‟s lives through the practice of a “thick description” (Geertz, 1973). That is, by mainly
concerning themselves with their own interpretations of culture as well as by relying on the
detailed descriptions of participants‟ actions and practices in their real lives, ethnographers
from this perspective do not necessarily look at issues of relations of power.
Merely focusing on a “thick description” induces a mistaken understanding that in doing
an ethnography, researchers need to stay in the field longer, talk to more people, and take
more detailed notes, without giving much attention to how people‟s lives might change
underlying social reality and power relations. In his critique of the conventional ethnographic
approaches, Marcus (1998) draws attention to the ideological, ethical, and personal
dimensions of ethnography, by raising the question of “depth for what kind of knowledge,
and in relation to what kind of self-identified community of anthropologists?” (p. 245). He
argues that depth in ethnography should strongly emphasize “interpretations of cultural
experience—ideas about subjectivity, personhood, and the emotions. … It is a kind of depth
that challenges sensibility; knowledge and the understanding of experience in a particular
way of life become much more intimately entwined” (ibid, p. 246). Marcus emphasizes
69
reflexivity, by asserting that depth in ethnography goes beyond the skills of responding in
detail. Rather, researchers should rely on the extent of their existing relationships and
connections to people being studied as well as to the object of study.
Echoing this argument, researchers from the social practice perspectives on literacy
suggest that literacy studies focus on engaging in praxis—action based on reflection—in
order to seek possibilities for social change, cultural diversity, economic equity, and political
enfranchisement through this kind of discursive practice (Luke & Freebody, 1997). In line
with this perception, my study goes beyond simply presenting thick descriptions of
observations that are only provided on the researcher‟s side. Rather, the aim of this thesis
research is to present what immigrants do, act, and say about their trajectories of social
engagement over time across space, by drawing from multiple data that shape and influence
their lived experiences.
Critical ethnography depends on an understanding of the relationships between
institutional structures and social actions through close examination of the social actor‟s own
perceptions and interpretations of their lived experiences (Brewer, 2000; Marcus, 1998). It
also focuses on “the formation of a dialogic relationship with the Other whose destination is
the social transformation of material conditions that immediately oppress, marginalize, or
otherwise subjugate the ethnographic participant” (Brown & Dobrin, 2004, p. 5). In this
respect, the combination of “the wider parameters of context” (Street, 1993, p.14) and
“critical ethnographic narratives” (Brodkey, 1987, p. 67) draws attention to the variations of
social interactions around literacy across social contexts over time (Street, 1993).
Setting language as a site of struggle, the perspective of critical ethnography focuses on
language and literacy as socially, culturally, and politically constructed, since they are rooted
in varied value-laden discourses intertwined with multi-layered relations of power. The social
and collaborative nature of critical ethnography, which emphasizes the complex significance
of social, historical, and political factors in processes of knowledge production and resource
distributions, empowers me to unravel the problematic nature of literacy as I approach
institutional and local contexts (such as workplaces, schools, and communities). In this way,
ethnographic approaches to literacy provide me with a critical lens through which I can
“[unmask] the dominant traditions and the interests they represent” (Anderson, 1989, p. 254)
and understand the underlying reasons of tension and conflict in people‟s literacy activities in
an explicit way.
Moreover, critical ethnography is a site of praxis with politic and dialectic orientations. It
aims to make visible the use of a post-colonial perspective of the relationship between power,
knowledge, institution, and research. The efficacy of these dialectic and political
70
engagements enables me to rethink and evaluate Eurocentric assumptions about literacy
which have long been employed as an imperialistic instrument of symbolic domination to
colonize and intervene in varied aspects of people‟s lives. From this perspective, I can gain
insights into some fundamental questions concerning literacy, such as, to what extent social,
political, and economic factors influence and/or hinder the ways that immigrants use literacy
as a resource to adapt their lives to the new environment, and what immigrants actually think
about the role of their language and literacy uses in their everyday life. Furthermore, by
emphasizing the dialectical relationship between the local and global contexts, ethnographies
of literacy can “document the material consequences of literacy practices, as much as they
might entail the recognition of vernacular languages, community „voice,‟ or local social
practice per se” (Luke, 2004, p. 332-333).
The dialectic inquiry in critical ethnography places emphasis on the relationships between
theory and practice, between the researcher and the researched, and between the interests of
the ethnographic Self and the lived reality of the Other (Coffey, 1999). By contributing
attention to the principles, such as collaboration, reciprocity, sensitivity, reflexivity, respect,
and care in research process and product (e.g., Cole & Knowles, 2001; Horner, 2004; Smith,
2002), ethnographers can develop sensibilities through their engagement in collaborative and
critical dialogues with their participants in multi-sited conditions. Guided by these principles,
throughout the study, in reference to the participants‟ descriptions and interpretations of their
literacy practices and language uses in everyday lives, I can evaluate my theoretical
assumptions about “literacy” and “lived experiences”—assumptions based on the dominant
academic pieces that I learned and brought to my fieldwork. While carrying out this research,
I can keep evolving new strategies and refining methods, in order to adapt to a particular
contextual situation that emerged during my data collection activities. Meanwhile, in the
process of my data collection, I can maintain my awareness of the fact that both my
participants and I occupy multidimensional social positions, although we have the same
socio-cultural background and might share similar experiences of being an immigrant in
Canada.
In retrospect, the social and collaborative nature of critical ethnographic approaches
indeed created an opportunity for individual participants and me to engage in a dialogic flow
of meaning-making exchanges through a mutual and reciprocal relationship where we
listened to, heard, shared, and reflected on our experiences and stories with one another. Our
mutual engagement in the meaning-making process generated our insightful understandings
of how our experiences and the consequences of literacy and language situated both in local
settings and in broader sociocultural contexts, and how each became part and parcel of the
71
other in our social practices. In these ways, critical ethnography proffers a coherence for my
understanding of theory and methodology related to literacy in ways that give me strategies to
link and account for literacy, subjectivity, social organization, and power as unified by the
interactional contexts in which Chinese immigrants‟ everyday lives, lived relations, and their
social engagements unfold.
In sum, critical ethnographic approaches provide me with a useful tool that draws my
attention to the complex relationship between the broader social and conceptual framework
and the dynamic language uses and literacy practices in people‟s daily lives. Situating my
research in critical ethnography can provoke my understandings of the individual, cultural,
and political ramifications of research design, fieldworks, and language representations as the
knowledge-making process in a post-colonial context. Given the partiality of knowledge and
experience in the practice of critical ethnography, and given the asymmetrical relations of
power between the researcher and the researched, it is crucial for me to be aware of the
questions, of what constitute socially, ethically, and academically responsible ways of
defining, initiating, carrying out, and reporting on my research; how I can genuinely
understand what is going on in their lives; how my participants and I can benefit from one
another in mutual and reciprocal relationships; and the extent to which I am viewed as an
outsider doing insider research. The importance of these questions lies in the fact that critical
ethnographic inquiry increases my consciousness of my moral and ethical responsibilities, as
well as creates a space for me to challenge the Western epistemological assumptions imposed
on ethnolinguistic minorities.
4.2 Data Collection Procedure: Doing Fieldwork
The procedure of doing fieldwork, including identifying potential participants and data
collection, took place for eighteen months over an extended period of time that elapsed
between 2005 and 2007. The component of data collection consisted of three recursive and
progressive phases of inquiry. Table 4.1 outlines the data collection procedure with the
information of the data sets.
4.2.1 Seeking Participants (November 2005–January 2006)
This research investigated the settlement and socio-economic experiences of Chinese
immigrant professionals in Canada. For the purpose of the study, I was interested in working
with recent Chinese immigrants who came to Canada under the category of skilled
immigrants, and were the first group of well-educated Chinese people immigrating to Canada
from Mainland China. In particular, they had received their education between the late 1970s
72
Table 4.1 Data Collection Procedure
and the late 1980s and obtained tertiary education and professional training qualifications in
the home country. They were literate people both in Chinese and in English, and were
identified as work-age human capital in the Canadian labor market.
Keeping these criteria in mind, I started to contact Chinese communities in Toronto in
November 2005, in an attempt to identify, select, and recruit people who would agree to
participate in the research. I identified and selected some activities, such as seminars, events,
gatherings, and tours posted on local Chinese newspapers and websites. I met people when I
got myself involved in different activities. The other method that I used to identify my
potential participants was through my personal contacts. I called and emailed those people
Date Phase Data Source
February -April 2006
Phase One
participants
questionnaire
conversational interviews (audio)
journals (biweekly)
researcher
research journals
summaries of conversational meetings
document collection
photographs
observation field notes
May- December 2006
Phase Two
participants
Conversational interviews
(audio and video)
journals (biweekly)
logbooks
diaries
literacy artifacts
MSN chats
telephone conversations
researcher
research journals
summaries of conversational meetings
document collection
photographs
observation field notes
January-
March 2007
Phase Three
participants
Conversational interviews
(audio and video)
journals (biweekly)
diaries
literacy artifacts
MSN chats
telephone conversations
researcher
research journals
summaries of conversational meetings
document collection
photographs
observation field notes
73
with whom I had already maintained connection for a certain period of time. While I invited
them to participate in the project, I asked for their help to look for people who would be
interested in joining in the research project.
When contacting people in these contexts, I gave them a brief description of the purposes,
goals, and methods of the research. I distributed an Information Letter for Participants written
both in English and in Chinese (see Appendix A for English Version, and Appendix B for
Chinese Version) and a questionnaire (see Appendix C). The solicitation letter contains the
general description of the study, procedures, timeline, and my expectation of the prospective
participants. The questionnaire serves the function to screen and identify potential
participants through obtaining brief information, including biographic information,
educational and professional backgrounds, factors that shaped the decision to immigrate to
Canada, language learning experiences in China and in Canada, people‟s self evaluation of
their own language proficiency and frequency of their uses of language and literacy in
different domains.
In mid January 2006, eleven people (seven men and four women) completed the
questionnaire and agreed to participate in the study. However, after conducting the first two
rounds of interview meetings, a few of them said that they wanted to attend the research, but
might not be able to keep interview meetings or journal writing activities on a regular basis.
The situations of their personal lives and responsibilities for their families would not give
them confidence that they could keep their ongoing commitments to the research. Since
keeping interview meetings and journal writing activities were the primary practices in the
data collecting and gathering procedures for the research, I decided not to ask them to stay in
the project. By the end of January 2006, I secured regular meeting schedules with seven
Chinese immigrants, and the research was ready to forge ahead. Table 4.2 outlines the
participants‟ profiles. I provide a brief description of how I met with these participants and
their background information in Appendix D.
The information provided in Table 4.2 and the questionnaire they filled out indicate that
all participants had studied English between 8 and 18 years in a formal educational context in
China. They had received higher education and majored in science, applied science, and
business management. Independent applicants (Li Tao1, Yu Qing, Xiang Dong, and Ye Lan)
hold a Bachelor‟s Degree of Science or Engineering from a local university in China. They
had worked at supervision and management levels at China‟s workplace. Dependent
applicants (Jia Wei, Jian Hui, and Ming Fang) had gained diplomas in the field of Mechanical
1 All participants‟ and people‟s names mentioned in the dissertation are pseudonyms.
74
Table 4.2
Participants‟ Profiles (As of January 2006)
Participant’s
Name Age
Gender Origin in
China Levels of
Education in
China
Occupation in
China Years of
Learning
English in
China
Length of
Residence
in Canada
Language
Learning
Experience
in Canada
Post-Secondary
Education
Experience in
Canada
Current
Occupation
in Canada
Jia Wei
37
Male
Henan
Province
College Diploma
(Mechanical
Engineering)
Mechanic
Technician,
Business owner
18
2.5
LINC,
College
Diploma
Cook
Yu Qing٭
Jia Wei’s wife
35
Female
Henan
Province
Bachelor of Science
(Computer Science)
Computer
Engineer
18
2.5
LINC,
CO-OP
Program
Nil
Maintenance
Administrator
Xiang Dong35 ٭
Male
Liaoning
Province
Bachelor of Science
(Computer Science)
Computer
Engineer
18 4 LINC, ESL Nil Computer
Programmer
Ming Fang
Xiang Dong’s wife
34
Female
Hebei
Province
College Diploma
(Business Management)
Insurance
Assessor
18
4
LINC, ESL,
College
Diploma
Housewife
Jian Hui
37
Male
Fujian
Province
College Diploma
(Mechanical
Engineering)
Mechanic
Technician,
Manager
8
6.5
LINC, ESL,
College
Chef Training
Certificate
Cook
Li Tao٭
37
Male
Tianjin
Bachelor of
Engineering,
MBA
Engineer,
Supervisor
18
6
ESL,
University
Bachelor of
Science
(Computer
Science)
Sale Provider
Ye Lan٭
31
Female
Beijing
Bachelor of Science
(Applied Physics)
Pre-Sale
Engineer
18
4.5
ESL,
University
Master of
Science
(Information
Science)
Technical
Support
Notes: ٭ indicates an independent applicant for immigration to Canada
75
Engineering and Business Management. Both Jia Wei and Jian Hui had worked as technicians
at a factory for about 3 and 5 years respectively. They then had quit their jobs at the factory,
and done business for years until they came to Canada. Ming Fang had majored in business
management and worked as insurance assessor in a larger insurance company after obtaining
a diploma in the field.
The participants‟ length of time of living in Canada ranged between 2.5 years and 6.5
years. Most of them self evaluated their English proficiency levels higher when they had
lived in China than after they arrived in Canada. In particular, they rated their speaking skills
in English lower than their literacy abilities. While rating their English levels prior to their
arrival in Canada, independent applicants thought that their reading, writing, grammar, and
listening skills in English were on the above average level, and speaking competence was on
the average level, prior to coming to Canada. Dependent applicants evaluated their English
abilities in reading and grammar on the average level, and their writing, speaking, and
listening skills on the below average level. One dependent immigrant (Jia Wei, husband of Yu
Qing) was more confident of his reading competence than his writing, grammar, speaking,
and listening skills in English. He evaluated that his reading competence was on the advanced
level, and writing on the above average level, and listening, speaking, and grammar skills
were on the average level.
However, all participants indicated that their English proficiency was bad after their
arrival in Canada. The levels of their overall English proficiency in their self-assessment
dropped. In particular, they self evaluated their oral communication skills on the level of
“bad” or “extremely bad.” Most participants‟ self evaluation on the level of reading and
grammar in English remained unchanged whether they were in China or in Canada. In
addition, Ye Lan took a TOEFL test (with a score of 607 and 4.5 for writing) prior to coming
to Canada, in order to study an MA degree at a university as soon as she landed. Li Tao
prepared for a TOEFL test in China, and took the test in Canada (with a score of 601 and 4.5
for writing), 6 months after he landed in the new country.
All participants indicated that they went to LINC and/or ESL schools in the early
settlement period. Except Yu Qing who was placed at the 4th
level (with speaking at the 2nd
level, writing at the 4th
level, and reading at the 8th
level), Li Tao, Ye Lan, and Xiang Dong
studied at the 6th
level. Independent applicants usually studied at LINC and/or ESL schools
for about 6 months. Then, Yu Qing switched to a Co-op program. Li Tao, Ye Lan, and Xiang
Dong did not gain a chance of studying in a Co-op program, but attended a series of job
finding workshops organized by the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
76
(HRSDC) that they learned how to write a résumé and job finding skills. Dependent
applicants studied English at the Level 2 (Jian Hui and Ming Fang) and Level 3 (Jia Wei).
Ming Fang and Jia Wei studied at LINC and ESL schools for about one year, full time. Jian
Hui worked full time and studied at LINC and ESL schools, part-time, for no more than 6
months. He then dropped at the Level 4 and taught himself English at home.
While making the decision to immigrate to Canada, all independent applicants were
confident of the success of their applications. None of them thought that their existing
English competency would hinder them to achieve this goal. According to their reports, two
particular factors played a role in their decision to immigrate to Canada, as listed below:
1. Uncertainty
uncertain of their career development in China because of the quick changes of
policies and high rates of unemployment that emerged in the late 1990s
uncertain of a good opportunity for their children to have better education because
of lack of strong financial and networking supports and heavy workload for
students at school
uncertain of the stability of their personal lives, for instance, family medical
insurance, in relation to China‟s Hukou System2 (The Household Registration
System)
In my study, several participants mentioned the China‟s Hukou System‟s
discriminatory role in their life chances and its impact on their personal lives. For
example, Xiang Dong reported that he was usually afraid of being identified as
Mangliu (“black flows”—migrants who have no temporary resident permit after
three-month stay outside their permanent Hukou zone) and might be expelled out of
Beijing as he had not gained a temporary residential permit issued by the local
police station while working and living in the city. Li Tao worked in Tianjin, and his
wife worked in Beijing. Although the couple tried many ways to work and live in
the same city, they failed because of the restrictions of the Hukou System. Likewise,
Yu Qing thought that her family life had been full of uncertainties because her
husband, Jia Wei, was self employed and so not entitled to receive the
2 China‟s Hukou System was initially created over two thousand years ago for the purpose of taxation and the
tight control of internal population migration. Since the People‟s Republic of China was established in 1949,
China‟s Hukou System has been implemented as an administrative mechanism for overall population
management, resource allocation, and social political order. While reporting their residence, age, gender, and
profession to local governments, Chinese people are divided into either “non-agricultural” or “agricultural”
residents, with the peasants becoming the institutionally excluded. Because of their Hukou categorization and
location, residents in rural and urban areas, and in central cities like Beijing and Shanghai and peripheral cities
are treated with economic stratification and social disparity, especially in areas like higher education, medical
insurance, pension plans, housing, and unemployment insurance (Chan & Zhang, 1999; Wang, 2005).
77
state-provided social benefits.
2. Academic pursuit
Some independent applicants had a plan to continue their higher education in North
America. Ye Lan saw immigration to Canada as a springboard for her to achieve
this goal. However, Li Tao saw this as his back-up plan, if he could not find a
professional job within one year in Canada.
4.2.2 Phase One (February–April 2006)
In the first phase, I conducted biweekly face-to-face interviews with individual
participants. Conversation topics mainly focused on their lived experiences in the past. In the
first interview meeting, I provided individual participants with a list of topic questions (see
Appendix E), in order to elicit self narrative of their own experiences. In the meantime, I
asked the participants to add to and discuss with me specific topics relevant to his or her
personal experiences in general and learning and language and literacy use in sets of social
settings in particular. Specifically, our conversations focused on the topics including 1) their
experiences of learning English in and out of schools in China, 2) reasons that they made the
decision to immigrate to Canada, and 3) roles of their existing language and literacy skills in
English in the early settlement period in Canada. Based on what we talked of in the meeting,
I asked individual participants to write a weekly journal with description and reflection on
their experiences.
All participants were free to write journals either in English or in Chinese. There was no
word limitation. Nonetheless, most of them chose to write their journals in English and asked
for my comments on their writing. To help participants to write a journal and reflect on their
language uses and literacy practices, I wrote a summary of our conversation after I listened to
the recording of the meeting. I then sent the summary to individual participants via email , in
order to facilitate and inspire them to write their journals. In the meantime, I asked for their
clarification and feedback upon their reading the summary. In the next meeting, individual
participants and I had an in-depth discussion on a certain topic based on the summary as well
as in reference to what was written in the journal. Interview meetings normally lasted
between two and three hours. Throughout the study, I kept the interview schedule flexible to
accommodate each participant‟s preferences, but ensured that we met every two weeks. The
Jia Wei and Xiang Dong households welcomed me to their home for interviews. I had
meetings with Li Tao and Ye Lan in my apartment as they preferred. All interviews were
recorded for analysis.
After each interview meeting, I went back home to write a research journal including the
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sequence of the conversation and my observation and reflection on the meeting. At the time
when I wrote my notes, there were usually some questions and hunches emerged. I jotted
them down in my research journal and asked for the participants‟ further explanation and
clarification in response to these questions over the phone, via email, or in the next
face-to-face meeting.
During this time period, I invited my participants to join in some activities (such as
gatherings, dinner parties, and trips) in my life, in order to let them know me as well as to
establish rapport with them. In these activities, my participants and I got a chance to know
each other well. Establishing our friendly relationships became the first step for me to gain
their trust and permission for my participation in their daily activities in the rest of my
fieldwork.
4.2.3 Phase Two (May–December 2006)
In the second phase of the study, my focus shifted from the participants‟ experiences in
the past to particular events in their daily routines across sets of social contexts, in order to
gain a better understanding of the world as they saw and experienced it. My particular
emphasis was on documenting how the participants used English in their everyday life, as
well as how they took advantage of their existing reading and writing abilities in English to
engage in their everyday activities. To reach this goal, I asked all participants to keep logbook
diaries to record their daily routines and write down detailed information of a particular event
in their journals. To facilitate their writing activities, I provided the participants with a
logbook diary sheet (see Appendix F) and an event table (see Appendix G). In addition, I
collected materials that they encountered in their daily lives and asked them to save the
“stuff” that they thought would be relevant to my research.
In the interview meeting, each participant narrated his or her experience in the particular
event and shared attitudes, feelings, and reflections on it with me. In response to this, I shared
my experience with the participant and told them how I dealt with the similar situation, and
what I thought of it. The exchange of our experiences generated our discussion on a particular
issue in-depth. Based on our discussion, the participant wrote a journal with the description of
the event and reflection on it. Toward the end of this phase, while the participant and I were
talking about a particular event, I usually referred back to what we had recalled and talked
about our lived experiences. At this point, I invited the participant to make further reflection
on his or her experiences, as well as to make the connection between the past and the present.
This strategy helped me to explore the relationship between the participants‟ sociocultural
and educational backgrounds and ideological perceptions that they had obtained in China and
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their contemporary social practices related to their language and literacy practices in the new
environment.
Moreover, in order to document and register varied aspects of the participants‟ routine
activities, I used different strategies. First, I looked for extended opportunities to gain better
understandings of my participants‟ lives. Since the second phase, I received several
invitations from individual participants to attend their varied daily activities, such as going to
library, hospital, and store, participating in the convocation ceremony, family parties,
gatherings, and trips, accompanying the participant to look for employment information on
site, and going to school to pick up their children. In Jia Wei and Xiang Dong households
where our meetings took place, I was frequently invited to stay on for a while to have tea,
lunch, and dinner with the family after interview meetings. Children of the two families, Amy
and June, were always happy when I stayed and played games with them. These opportunities
became valuable for me to enter a private part of my participants‟ lives. It was at this moment
that they became more open to me about their lives.
Second, during the time that I was undertaking the research, I carried my digital camera
everywhere I went and took photographs of physical environments in which the participants
resided as well as language and literacy materials that they used in their daily activities. I also
took photographs during interviews, gatherings, and particular events. The subjects of
photographs included family members, descriptions of the house, the room, the setting of the
event, and the person. By taking photographs, I tried to document and freeze those moments
when the events occurred, an activity which helped me to gain an additional source for data,
which could help me ca pture the r i chness of people‟s lived experiences.
In this phase, the participants and I continued to have biweekly conversational meetings.
In addition, we engaged in our talks and discussions through the Messenger (MSN), an online
concurrent chat space, and through telephone conversations. Online communications and
telephone conversations became an important tool to keep timely contacts between the
participants and me when there emerged unexpected changes in our lives. For example, in
May 2006, Jia Wei and Yu Qing moved to Waterloo for the purpose of employment and
family re-settlement. I traveled to Waterloo to meet with them twice a month. We also
scheduled another meeting through MSN in written and audio forms once a month. Toward
the end of this phase, Jia Wei and Yu Qing also created their web blogs respectively and
invited me to visit. Jia Wei liked to post his notes about his daily lives regularly, and Yu Qing
uploaded family photos taken in particular events, such as birthday parties, Christmas
gatherings, and family trips on her space.
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4.2.4 Phase Three (January–March 2007)
In the third phase of the study, individual participants and I kept our meetings every two
weeks. Specifically, I asked the participants to document their day-to-day activities by writing
diaries with a brief passage describing their daily activities, instead of filling in information
on the logbook. Asking participants to keep these kinds of writing activities allowed a close
examination of some aspects of their language and literacy practices, so that we could have
well-focused and in-depth discussions on particular issues. Based on our discussion, the
participants wrote a reflective journal with a detailed description of a particular event and the
interpretation of meanings of language and literacy practices in their lives.
At the beginning of this phase, I embarked on an overall transcription of interview data. I
paid attention to some recurrent patterns and themes emerging from my primary data analysis.
Accordingly, I asked individual participants to recall and collect detailed and extended
information on their language uses and literacy practices in specific contexts, such as home,
workplace, and school. The data that focused on each person in a specific social setting
allowed me to have insights into the workings of institutional discourses and individuals‟
literacy practices in a radically local way. It also opened space for the participants to speak
openly about their unique experiences with language and literacy and to reflect upon the
changing of their linguistic endeavors over time across varied contexts.
In the next section, I discuss the major research tools and methods that I employed to gain
multiple sources of data in the research process.
4.3 Tools of Inquiry
To achieve the purpose of investigating varied aspects of the participants‟ language uses
and literacy practices in their social engagement, I used multiple research tools, in order to
document as many rich sources of evidence as I possibly could. The data were collected
through conversational interviews, participants‟ journals, logbooks and diaries, researcher‟
journals, summaries of interview meetings, observations, photographs, document collection,
MSN chats, and telephone conversations. In this section, I illustrate these research tools that
constituted my database for the study.
Interviews. Conversational interviews between the participants and me comprised a large
component of the data set. Between January and October 2006 (Phase One and Phase Two), I
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conducted conversational interviews with individual participants twice a month. The
participants and I kept interview meetings once a month in the third phase. In the beginning,
interview questions were based on the Interview Guideline (see Appendix E) that I gave the
participants in the first meeting. Nonetheless, I conducted the interview meeting in
conversational and mutual ways that enabled the participants and me to share our lived
experiences and exchange our thoughts, feelings, and attitudes with one another. In this way,
interview questions became informal, unstructured, and impromptu. They were contextual
and relevant to personal experiences of individual participants in a specific situation.
Participants’ journals. All participants were requested to write a journal with a specific
topic twice in a month. In the first phase, I asked the participants to write their journals
focusing on their lived experiences in the past. In the beginning, individual participants and I
discussed a journal topic together, based on what we talked about in our conversation. The
topics focused on their life history in China, English learning experiences both in China and
in Canada, reasons to immigrate to Canada, early settlement experiences in Canada, roles of
their English abilities in these processes, and reflections on their lived experiences. In the
second phase, the participants described a specific event and wrote about their reflection on it
in their journals. During this period of time, journal writing created a space for the
participants to reflect upon what they read and heard in their daily life as well as their
experiences in the past. This gave them an opportunity to rethink the question: why did they
make the decision to immigrate to Canada?
Logbooks and diaries. Logbooks and diaries served to document individual participants‟
everyday activities. Starting in the second phase, I asked my participants to jot down their
everyday activities in a logbook sheet, at least twice a week. According to their routine
records, they picked specific activities and described their experiences in our biweekly
meetings. When individual participants and I attended certain activities together, we
exchanged our thoughts about what we went through, and how we thought of the event in the
interview meeting. In the third phase, I asked the participants to write diaries with a short
passage of description of a particular activity as well as their reflections, in order to secure
adequate information on the patterns of their routines.
Researcher’s journals. I have kept a research journal since I started identifying potential
participants. I recorded my contacts and documented interview meetings with the participants.
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The information included the meeting sequences, my reflection on the meeting, my questions,
doubts, and concerns that arose from the meeting, and plans and agendas for the next meeting
with the participant. I wrote my observational notes on the participant‟s literacy and language
practices at a specific event.
Summaries of interview meetings. I listened to the recording of each interview after the
meeting and wrote a summary of the conversation with individual participants. The summary
provided the participant with a memorandum, in terms of what we had talked about in the
meeting as well as served as a prompt for their journal writing activities. At the beginning of
the next meeting, the participant and I talked about the summary of our conversation. I asked
for the participant‟s feedback, which led to their reflection, explanation, and clarification
about the topics we had talked about in our last meeting. In this sense, the summary of the
conversation served the purpose of member checks and ensured the precision of my
understanding of their lived experience and their views of it.
Observations. Observations were made at my home visits for interview meetings with
individual participants as well as at some events (such as birthday parties, holiday gatherings,
family reunions, and trips). Observations at home were sometimes audio-tape recorded and
were written as field notes, including sequences and interactions after the interview meeting.
Observations in public contexts (such as library, hospital, and store) cannot be recorded on
the site. But, I recalled and wrote the sequence of the event and expanded the information in
as much detail as I could in my field notes when I came back home.
Photographs. Photographs were taken at some specific events that individual participants
and I experienced together. They included physical sites that the participants resided in and
special events including birthday parties, holiday gatherings, a convocation ceremony, and
trips. I collected a few photos that the participants took at the workplace by themselves. I also
took photographs of reading and writing materials that occurred in the participants‟ home and
community.
Document collection. Documents were collected from a wide range of sites that were
relevant to the participants‟ everyday lives in the process of my inquiry. I collected historic
information about Chinese immigrants in Canada and the city of Toronto as well as articles
on newspaper, magazine, and websites about current issues that Chinese immigrants faced. In
the home contexts, I collected the participants‟ reading materials (via photographs), posters
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and drawings, calendars filled with family everyday schedules, shopping flyers and coupons,
with their permission. I also collected social service documents that the participants
encountered, and complaint letters that the participants wrote to public institutions. Related to
the school contexts, I collected the participants‟ writing and reading samples, such as
homework and test papers, and notices and flyers from schools. Related to the workplace
contexts, I collected booklets with workplace policy and regulations, workplace annual
evaluation forms, and reports they wrote.
MSN chats and telephone conversations. Starting in the second phase, the participants and
I had extended opportunities to talk more through MSN in audio and written forms. In the
first place, online communications were used as a complementary device for us to follow up
the thread of our lives in a timely fashion. The interviews were conducted in both verbal and
written forms in the virtual space. To keep the regular meeting, individual participants and I
set up a particular time to meet online and chat in Chinese verbally through MSN. The
written-form communications occurred incidentally when individual participants and I
bumped into each other on Messenger. In this situation, unplanned encounters involved us to
“talk” at ease either in Chinese or in English. The focus of the topic was on the present with
relatively open, informal, and impromptu topics. Although our exchanges were in the written
form, the interactions between us were engaged and handled with much leisure. In a sense,
online communications allowed me to document and track daily language and literacy
practices in a timely way without waiting for the next face-to-face meeting. In this way, MSN
chats (audio and written) and telephone conversations created casual and natural virtual
spaces where individual participants and I exchanged our feelings, thoughts, and reflections
on a specific event in a timely manner.
4.4 Reflections on the Research Process
In my study, I took the standpoint that critical ethnography as both process and product
entails a form of ethnographic self-narrative and involves an analysis of the complexities of
social interactions over time and space. The dialectic relationship between the process and
product raised my consciousness of the multiple roles and relations to my participants as well
as my interpretation and analysis of Chinese immigrants‟ lived experiences. In the domain of
critical ethnography, reflexivity is considered as a useful strategy that can help researchers
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examine their social, cultural, political, and personal aspects of positionality in relation to the
participants and contexts under study (e.g., Alsup, 2004; Behar, 1996; Denzin, 1997; Ellis &
Bochner, 1996; Marcus, 1998; Okely, 1996; Okely & Callaway, 1992; Reed-Danahay, 1997).
In reflective practices, researchers need to be explicit in their exploration of links between
their own personal experiences and their ethnographic practices (Okely & Callaway, 1992), in
order to have a better understanding of various social interactions that reveal questions of
multiplicity of identities, of voice and authenticity, of cultural displacement, and the politics
of representations of local people‟s knowledge (e.g., Behar, 1996; Denzin, 1997; Ellis &
Bochner, 1996; Okely, 1996; Reed-Danahay, 1997). In suggesting that researchers adopt the
“native point of view,” Geertz (1995) points out, “Field research in such times, in such places,
is not a matter of working free from the cultural baggage you brought with you so as to enter,
without shape and without attachment, into a foreign mode of life. It is a matter of living out
your existence in two stories at once” (p. 94). Thus, to understand the lives of self and others,
researchers need to look at one‟s “self” through the eyes of the other themselves (Du Bois,
1994).
Inspired by the foregoing views, I see my ethnographic practices as a journey of learning
as I strove to better understand lived experiences of immigrants in Canada. I believe that my
personal experience of being a recent Chinese immigrant was a useful resource that allowed
me to make close connection with my participants over time. Meanwhile, I believe that the
collaboration of self-narrative drawn from our experiences is powerful and influential in that
my participants and I can motivate one another to elicit the meaningfulness of our life stories.
This mutual engagement can lead us to uncover tensions, conflicts, and ways of resistance to
dominant discourses in an explicit way. Following this thought, I started linking my research
focus to the self narrative of my own experience (see section 1.3 this dissertation). This
section is my reflection upon the challenges I encountered in the process of data collection, in
particular, the issues of the researcher‟s multiple identities and the use of journal writing as a
research tool.
4.4.1 Doing the Research, Negotiating Identities
When I embarked on the project, I had expected that my participants would consider that
we shared many similarities in terms of our cultural heritage and immigration experience. By
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demonstrating my commonalities and connections with my participants through self-display
and self-disclosure of my own experience of being an immigrant, I hoped to construct an
intimate and safe context of sharing and storytelling. However, as the project evolved, there
were several episodes in which I felt being positioned as an “outsider.”
Coming from Beijing, the cultural, political, and economic center in China, I was
frequently identified as “different,” with regards to my social, economic, and educational
backgrounds, by my participants who came from “peripheral” provinces of the country (see
Table 4.2). Meanwhile, as a Beijinger who speaks in Mandarin authorized as a standardized
language in China, my language was often seen as a marker of my difference when we first
met, as most of my participants indicated to me, “You are from Beijing, aren‟t you? I can tell
when you speak.” Although all interviews were conducted in Mandarin between the
participants and me, I felt positioned as an “outsider” when they naturally switched to speak
their dialects with their family members at home even though I was present.
Several participants came from suburban areas and small cities in other provinces. When
they talked about the place in which their roots were situated, I was frequently reminded,
“You are from Beijing, the big city. So, you cannot imagine what life looks like in the
countryside, and what hardship we experienced there.” Hearing these words, I felt that I was
considered as ignorant and a stranger by my participants who might think that I had no
connection to their lived experiences in China. All participants had received higher education
before they came to Canada. However, my experience of studying for a Ph.D. at a prestigious
university in Canada was conceived as the most salient distinction from theirs in Canadian
society. Being highly educated and doing postgraduate studies at university, I was told by my
participants for most of the time, “You must not have that difficulty. You are a Ph.D. student
at university. Your English is much better than ours.” The differences that my participants
verbalized heightened my self consciousness of how I positioned myself in the research, how
they repositioned me, what were the differences between us, and what similarities existed.
While my own geographic roots and highly educated middle-class background clearly
influenced how my participants perceived me, I realized that being a woman gave me
opportunities to get along well with them and gain access to more private settings. I was
cared for by my participants who were concerned for my security when I went back home
late from our interview meetings at night. I gained several opportunities to extend my
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conversations with individual participants when they drove me home or walked me to bus
stations. At some point in time, I captured different aspects of the participants‟ lives from
their more casual and open narratives, the information which I did not obtain in our interview
meetings.
In addition, I was identified as a female falling into the category of being married, but
having a small family without children. This allowed me to create intimate conversations
with Ming Fang and Yu Qing, the female participants in the research. We talked about family
affairs and thereby made personal disclosures. Throughout the data collection process, the
hostess in each family was always happy to share her motherhood experience with me. The
focus on this topic became a good start for our conversations in interview meetings. I felt
trusted when they shared their insights into how their immigration experiences and language
proficiency levels in English influenced the relationships with their husbands and children as
well as changed their roles of being a wife and mother in the family over time in Canada.
This became the moment that I gained better understandings of how the ideology of language
can shape and influence people‟s lives (see Chapter 5 this dissertation).
On the whole, in the process of working with people involved in the study, I realized that
the way I was imagining my relationship to others was not the same as what I encountered in
reality. The differences that my participants explicitly pointed out to me raised my sensitivity
and self consciousness of the fact that I carried with me more multiple and different identities
that I did not even recognize. The imposition of being “different” made me feel vulnerable,
uncomfortable, and undesirable in the beginning. However, through dialogue and reflexivity,
I felt gradually at ease, since I realized that it was through these differences that I learned the
sense of self, the sense that deepened my understanding of what I was seeing, hearing, and
feeling at the time when the participants and I engaged in the process of mean-making
exchanges. Indeed, it is those differences in our lives that make multiple as well as diverse
ways of social practices exist.
4.4.2 Logbook Diaries, Journal Writing, and Literacy Artifacts
Drawn from anthropologic research traditions, as developed by sociologists and util ized
in recent language and multilingual literacy settings, the use of participants‟ written product
about their life stories has been considered as an effective research strategy to handle the
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asymmetrical relationship between the researcher and the researched (e.g., Jones,
Martin-Jones & Bhatt, 2000), to motivate participants to talk about their life stories (e.g.,
Norton, 2000), and to enrich resources of participants‟ literacy artifacts for research (e.g.,
Barton & Hamilton, 1998). Furthermore, drawing on their experiences of using participants‟
diaries, Jones and her colleagues suggested that participant diaries and diary-focused
interviews can be used together and produce “more collaboratively generated data” (Jones,
Martin-Jones & Bhatt, 2000, p. 331). They asserted, “[i]n combination with diary-focused
interviews, participant diaries can also help to create fieldwork spaces within which dialogue
can be initiated and fostered” (p. 327).
Following these studies, I asked my participants to document actual events in their daily
routines and write a journal focusing on a specific event every two weeks. In particular, I
expected that individual participants wrote about what activities they engaged in, with whom,
where, for what purpose, in what languages, what specific textual practices involved, with
what outcomes, and how they felt about them. Nonetheless, I was aware that my participants
might have less time to keep records of their daily activities or might not feel comfortable
with keeping a diary logbook. Thus, I prepared a diary sheet (see Appendix F) for them to jot
down information about their activities on a daily basis. Drawing from the record of their
own observations on their daily activities, the participants wrote a story of a specific event in
their journal. To facilitate their writing, I provided a list of questions for the participants (see
Appendix E). I hoped that these instruments would ensure that I would gain textual
representations of social realities in ways that the participants presented in their own voices
with their own interpretations of language and literacy practices in a set of social settings.
However, as I embarked on the fieldwork, I realized that asking participants to keep
records of their routines and write about their lives on a regular basis created some
interference in their daily lives in that it demanded a great amount of time and effort, and
involved “too much of a „literate‟ thing to do” (Keating, 2001, p. 70). As I first introduced my
idea to the participants that they need to keep writing logbooks and journals regularly, I found
that I immediately faced a challenge. Although they all agreed to write, they told me that they
had no habit of keeping journals in their daily lives. Like other participants, when Ming Fang
handed in her journal to me, she said,3
3 See Appendix H for transcription conventions.
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明芳: 交作业，老师。我以前从来没写 journal 习惯。写起来还真不习惯。
(My field notes, February 23, 2006)
Ming Fang:
My homework, teacher. I have had no habit of
keeping journals ever before. I had no idea of
how to do this when I started writing it.
(My literal translation)
In the beginning, I suggested that it might become easier to write in Chinese than in English.
However, most of my participants gave me the same response, as Jia Wei said:
嘉伟: 这不是语言的问题。用中文或是英文无所谓。 只是我的生活每天都是这个样子没什么特别的,我不知道该写什么。
(My field notes, February 18, 2006)
Jia Wei:
This is not the matter of language. I do not care
of writing a journal either in English or in
Chinese. The hard thing is that my life is the
same as it was yesterday. There is nothing
special in my life. I have no idea of what I need
to write. (My literal translation)
In order to motivate them to engage in writing activities actively, my participants and I
usually spent quite some time reviewing what we talked about in our conversations and
discussing what they might write about, relating to their individual experiences, at the end of
each interview meeting. I also emailed individual participants a list of possible topics to write
in the journal related to what we talked of the meeting.
However, the situation was not getting better. In their journals, they just simply described
what had happened at a particular event without writing their reflection upon it. Even most of
them rejected using the question and answer sheet, because they said that some of the
questions did not fit into the event they experienced. Since I was hoping that their journal
writings could be crucial as well as reliable data for my research, I was disturbed that I got
nothing from their writings, in terms of what they thought and felt about what happened in
their lived experiences. I felt panic that my participants took a passive position in their lives
as well as in the research. In my research journal, I wrote:
I found my participants want to keep themselves to themselves. They may be
favoring a passive role. They don‟t reflect upon their experiences and see their lives
critically. Do they really accept or respect those in authority? The descriptions in
their journals are “SIMPLE” without any reflection. How can I get DATA from their
writings?! (Research journal entries, March 12, 2006)
That my concern that the “simplicity” of the participants‟ journals might not yield data as
rich as I expected led me to look for different ways of handling the method. Through our
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discussion and negotiation, the participants and I reached an agreement that they jotted down
their routine activities two or three days a week if they liked. To supplement, they saved and
collected literacy artifacts that were related to their daily activities and brought them to me in
our meetings. As for the journal writing activity, all participants wanted to keep writing
journals on a regular basis. They said that this was a good opportunity to practice their
writing skills in English. However, they suggested that I kept being flexible as to the time line
of their writing. Thus, we decided that they chose freely either to write their journals prior to
the interview meeting or to leave it after our conversations and discussions in our meeting
until they had an idea about what they really wanted to write in the journal.
The compromise between the participants and me became a turning point for us to
collaborate in a way that would facilitate each other‟s goals. The participants brought me a
variety of literacy artifacts that they encountered, such as shopping flyers, pamphlets,
booklets from government agencies, tickets, receipts, shopping lists, don‟t forget notes, forms,
letters, sketches, maps, photos, magazines, newspaper clips, homework, syllabi, and so on.
Together with their logbook diaries, these literacy artifacts prompted a series of interesting as
well as well-focused discussions on their particular experiences of dealing with particular
situations. Their descriptive accounts allowed me to capture the dynamics of social
interchanges in which subject positions and social relationships unfolded. It was through
these literacy artifacts that I came to recognize multiple ways in which my participants took
advantage of and refined their linguistic strategies in the engagement of face-to-face and
textual interactions with institutional agents. Often, after they described their interactions
with other people involved in the event, the participants asked for my suggestions for refining
their communicative strategies and language uses taking place in a particular situation. We
discussed the personal goals that the participants wanted to achieve in their communications
and evaluated the consequences after they deployed their strategies. As a result, individual
participants wrote their reflective remarks followed by a summary of their encounters in a
social event in the journal. During this time, the participants took advantage of the journal
writing activity for their own practical uses (see Appendix I for an example).
Looking back, I realized that it was through the writing method that the participants and I
had opportunities to engage in dialogue and reflexivity through negotiation, compromise, and
collaboration in the process of data collection. In the beginning, I assumed that by using
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logbook diaries and journal writing methods, I could offer my participants a space wherein
they could readily present their narratives and reflections on their lived experiences.
Nonetheless, the participants‟ concerns about lack of ideas, what to write and doubts about
the worthiness of writing their life stories indicated that merely asking the participants to
keep a personal journaling activity was not a realistic approach to getting them involved at
the onset of the research. To some degree, the journal writing method represents the genre of
academic writing with the connotation of rule-governed and formal rhetoric exercises for the
participants. More importantly, by asking them to write for the sake of my research, I
imposed my agenda on the participants from an academic perspective, thereby reducing their
“hidden” knowledge and their complex symbolic ways of engaging in daily activities to “the
rigid bourgeois forms” (Willis, 1981). Even if I extracted and selected narratives and
statements from their journals and logbook diaries in the final product of the research, they
were somewhat superficial and might miss the essence of their lived experiences. In this way,
their journals and logbook diaries might become data created by me, and for my research,
since they were not found but produced.
Sharing experiences and knowledge in the genre that the participants were not familiar or
comfortable with positioned me as an institutional representative, a reality revealed in the
example of Ming Fang handing in her logbook diaries and journals to me in my early writing
of this section, calling me “teacher” and considering writing journals and logbook diaries as
“homework” I assigned to her. Her remarks implied that such a writing task not only
generated interference in the participant‟s life, but also acted as a boundary between us.
Although I used the logbook diary chart and the question-and-answer table, in an attempt to
facilitate their writing activities, their resistance in filling in the information of their daily
activities onto those grids signified their refusal to be positioned as being the subordinated in
the research.
In contrast, asking my participants to collect literacy materials that they encountered in
daily activities opened possibilities for me to overcome the emergence of asymmetric
relationships, thereby engaging in collaboration and reflexivity. With time, these literacy
artifacts built a communication channel through which my participants and I kept genuine
talks by immersing ourselves in a real life scene. Through presenting those literacy artifacts,
the participants disclosed themselves in their narrative accounts, emotions, and criticism
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when they described, interpreted, analyzed, and reflected on what was going on in a real
event that they encountered. It was at this moment that I felt close to them and their lives.
During this period of time, I adopted the juxtaposed positions; I was a listener, a learner, a
literacy broker, and a facilitator. My multiple positions were shaped in the progressive
process as the participants involved me in their lives.
In retrospect, I came to realize that it was these literacy artifacts that allowed my
participants and me to enter into a co-construction of a shared reality by means of which I
became a witness who had resonance with my participants‟ lived experiences. Through these
literacy artifacts, I was allowed to gain an appreciation and understanding of the participants‟
perspectives underlying their social positionings. Doing so ultimately helped deepen my own
understanding of the materiality of people‟s lived experiences and the role that I played
within the research context.
4.5 Organizing and Analyzing Data
The data gathered throughout the eighteen-month collection were rich as well as
overwhelming. After completing the fieldwork, I realized that the information I collected was
more than one could handle for a dissertation. This required me to organize the bulk of
information in a systematic and efficient way that helped me to make sense of my data, in
order to make the final decisions of what I was going to use, include, and emphasize in this
thesis.
4.5.1 Data Management
The activities of interviewing, talking, reading, writing, observing, and collecting
documents and artifacts generated various sorts of data throughout the research. Organizing
and managing these data were carried out in a constant way at the time when I embarked on
the project. First, conversational interviews between the participants and me were the crucial
data sources for analysis. In order to ensure the quality of the data and avoid missing data
because of unexpected technical problems, I recorded conversational interviews by using a
Sony tape recorder and digital voice recorder simultaneously. In addition, most of my
interview meetings with Xiang Dong were video recorded by using a webcam on his
computer. In the meantime, I used the digital voice recorder and an MP3 player to record
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informal gatherings, events, and telephone conversations, in consideration of the length of the
meeting and convenience. I transferred these audio and video recordings to my computer for
transcription and analysis and burned them on DVD as backup. I then filed tapes and audio
and video recordings by jotting down dates of the meetings, names of the interviewees,
locations, and sequence numbers of the meetings. In correspondence, I created an interview
timetable, in order to document brief information of the interview meeting with each
participant. The table includes the information of the date and length of the meeting,
discussion topics, collected artifacts, corresponding journals written by the participant, and a
list of events identified on the participant‟s logbook diaries. To organize interview data in
such a way helped me to gain a clear outline of what we talked and did in the meeting. As the
research evolved, the information listed on the timetable allowed me to make quick
connections among different parts of the data.
My second data organizing approach was to establish data files for individual participants.
At the beginning of the project, I created a separate file for Jia Wei, for Yu Qing, for Xiang
Dong, for Ming Fang, for Li Tao, for Ye Lan, and for Jian Hui. Each participant‟s file
included a signed consent letter (see Appendix J for English Version, and Appendix K for
Chinese Version), questionnaire, an interview timetable, sequences of the interviews,
transcripts of the interviews, summaries of the conversations, logbook diaries, journals entries,
and a list of informal meetings between the participant and me. These data files provided me
with rich information that allowed me not only to track individual participants‟ journey over
time, but also to have a close look at their language and literacy practices within and across
contexts.
Third, throughout and beyond the period of data collection, I collected a variety of
documents and artifacts that helped contextualize language and literacy practices of the
participants across several contexts. In addition to these materials, I also read local English
and Chinese newspapers, magazines, and websites from which I collected relevant articles
and information about contemporary issues immigrants faced. I catalogued these materials
based on the information of the original source, including domain, site, event, user(s) of the
artifact, and date. For the materials related to particular participants, I transferred and saved
particular materials in the data files for my data analyses. As for the materials that provided
background information, I categorized and labeled them, according to their usefulness and
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relatedness to the research. My data organization and management approaches supported my
ongoing engagement in making sense of and better understandings of my data. They also
provided me with a clear outline of my database on which my analyses were based.
4.5.2 Transcription and Data Analysis
Transcribing and analyzing data began and continued throughout and beyond the period
of data collection. They were two dependent and collaborative research practices with
multi-layered as well as well-focused purposes. Transcribing data began as soon as I had
interview meetings with individual participants, with the purpose of organizing data and
making primary content analysis. In particular, I adopted three strategies in the process of
transcription.
The first practical strategy for transcribing the data is that I created a transcription table
(see Appendix L) for individual participants, in order to document the sequence and content
information of each interview meeting. On the first two left hand columns of the table, I
marked the date and sequence number of the interview and the location that the meeting took
place. In the center column of the table, I mixed my descriptions of the meeting with self
narrative of the participant. As I listened to the recording several times, I identified and wrote
down the topics and content themes in bold letters, following which I inserted the
corresponding excerpts from the participant‟s remarks. In the right hand column of the table, I
jotted down my impressions when I listened to the recording. When some common themes
emerged across the cases, I wrote my remarks reminding myself to look back and look up
similar examples in specific cases. This exercise helped me collate data and verify themes
and patterns. After I completed the first round of listening and transcribing the meeting
recordings with all participants, I carefully read and re-read the notes that I wrote down on
the transcriptions table and cross-examined them. I then engaged in multiple readings across
the data set, including individual participants‟ journal and diary entries, my field notes, and
documents and artifacts and related them to particular themes and patterns identified.
On the second round of listening and transcribing data, my focus was on the specific
events that involved the participants‟ language uses and literacy practices as well as on salient
examples of how they took advantage of their existing language skills in English, in
particular situations in everyday lives. The transcription table created on the first round
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served as a useful roadmap leading me to make connections with different themes and
patterns across cases, by means of which I localized the patterns, identified and developed
new themes and configurations of topics while making comparison of each case. At this point,
I created a table of themes for each participant (see Appendix M). I input particular themes
and patterns on the left column and wrote down particular events, topics, and excerpts that I
identified in the specific interview meetings on the right hand column.
My third strategy is that I summarized the overall themes and patterns that I identified by
listing significant themes with examples of events generated in each person‟s data. With
multi-layered transcribing and further reading the notes made on transcripts, I selected and
chose specific events that contained some significant themes and patterns. I then engaged in
fuller transcriptions of the events that I found useful to carry out further data analyses and to
build up insightful interpretations. I transcribed all interviews verbatim in the original
language that the participant used in the meeting.
The deeper-level data analyses were undertaken after I made fuller transcriptions of the
particular events, involving themes and patterns that emerged in previous transcription and
analysis activities. The theoretical framework of this research (see Chapter 2 this dissertation)
provides me with guiding principles at the macro-level in the process of data interpretations
and analyses. To look for the silent features of language used in the social exchanges, I
analyzed my data at four interrelated levels.
My first phase of analysis focused on the context level. This level of data analyses helped
locate the contextual patterning of the participants‟ lived experiences in the host country.
Drawing on life stories that they told, I examined the contextualization cues of particular
language and literacy practices that the participants engaged while moving across boundaries
of social contexts. Specifically, I asked: How did the context and situation come into being?
How were the values of the participant‟s language and literacy presented in the particular
context? Were there any issues, contradictions, conflicts which emerged in the context? What
were actions that the participants took? Were there any changes generated afterwards? With
these questions, I identified the sequences of language and literacy that the participants
engaged in across the boundaries of social contexts of home, school, job market, and
workplace, in their journeys of making adaptation to the new society.
The second phase of analysis focused on the content level. I concentrated on each
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participant‟s choices of language modes that he or she made, in order to reach their goals and
deal with particular situations. While examining each person‟s narrative accounts of the uses
of language and literacy, I kept questions in mind: What were the language and literacy
practices that individual participants engaged in in this particular event or situation? What
were the roles of their language and literacy practices involved in the maneuvers in reaching
their goals? What were the consequences? These questions helped develop a fundamental
understanding of what was said and written, by whom, and with what consequences, and
generally what was going on in these social exchanges, and why such things happened.
At this point, I turned to look for the relationships between individual participants‟
particular practices and overall information in the profile of the person. I examined multiple
links with regard to specific themes across cases. To do this, I adopted the idea of creating
“the data as a matrix” suggested in Barton and Hamilton‟s study (1998). Following their way
of conceptualizing data, I pooled themes and corresponding cases into one table (see
Appendix N). A vertical slice of the table contains individual participants‟ specific practices
revealed by themes or categories whereas a horizontal slice indicates common themes and
patterns that shared among the participants. In the meantime, I recorded the date and
sequence number of the interviews on each grid so that I can trace and explore within and
across the data.
In the third level of analysis, I examined individual participants‟ interviews and related
written texts (journals, logbooks, diaries, and supplement literacy artifacts), in order to locate
the participants‟ interpretative, reflective, and evaluative accounts for their language and
literacy uses in particular communicative repertories. In doing so, I aimed to understand
better the sophisticated ways in which the participants gathered, selected, and deployed their
existing linguistic skills in English to secure resources and opportunities while navigating
across social and economic contexts. In particular, I asked: How did the participant‟s
interpretations fit with the reality of his or her language and literacy practices? To what extent
was the participant‟s experience reconfigured through these activities? What were the actions
and new ways of language uses generated, resulting from their evaluations and reflections?
The fourth level of analysis specifically examined the broader dynamics of social
discourses that underpinned the participants‟ language and literacy practices as well as the
institutional assumptions that influenced participants‟ linguistic options. My goal was to
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identify barriers and tensions in the situations, with a result of shaping the participants‟
unique ways of doing and meaning making. My analyses on the discourse level were guided
by two questions: How did the linguistic exchanges between the participant and institutional
agents reveal their ideologies respectively in particular social encounters? What were tensions
between these ideologies? These two questions allowed me to link together individual
participants with the broader social forces and relations of power.
To sum up, the combination of transcribing and analyzing data evolved my
understandings of the nature of literacy in the participants‟ everyday lives. These practices
constructed a solid foundation for me to identify institutional ideologies of language and
literacy penetrating into varied domains of people‟s lives. The cycling back and forth between
transcribing and analyzing data helped me to identify recurrent themes and patterns of the
participants‟ literacy and language practices across varied social settings. The collaborative
and iterative transcribing and analyzing activities benefited my higher-level analyses that
allowed me to uncover dynamic power relations of peoples while engaging in multiple forms
of social exchanges.
4.5.3 Evaluating Reliability and Validity
Checking reliability and validity of my analyses were constant activities throughout the
research. I evaluated the reliability to see whether the inferences and interpretations I made
from the data reflected the reality of the participants‟ perspectives. This was done in three
ways. First, while transcribing and analyzing all interview data, I compared different sources
of data within and across individual participants‟ data set and files. I carefully read and
systematically studied all field notes, participants‟ journal and diary entries, and documents
and artifacts that were gathered, in relation to one part of the data. This became an important
strategy for me to evaluate established themes, to look for similarities and differences in
different parts of the data, and to make connections of themes and patterns across the cases.
Second, I wrote summaries of the conversations upon each interview meeting to check
back with each respective participant, in order to verify my understandings and
interpretations of their lived experiences. The summary included a brief outline of a
conversational interview and my understanding of the participant‟s life stories in association
with my reflective remarks and questions. Through narration, reflection, and critique, the
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summaries prompted us to clarify, verify, and develop our understandings of the nature of
language and literacy in our social practices in the new society.
The third strategy that I used to check the reliability of the data was to present and discuss,
with each participant, the primary themes and patterns that I coded and categorized. Prior to
my deeper data analyses, I shared the transcribing and theme tables with each participant in
the interview meeting. All participants showed their interest in reading the tables, saying that
the tables gave them an opportunity to further recall, check, and reflect on the life stories they
told in the process of the research. As I shared my primary analyses with the participants,
they gave me their confirmation and suggestions as well as made some corrections of my
understandings and interpretations. With their input, I was able to select what was valuable to
include in the presentation of life stories; their advice provided me with useful sources in
pursuit of the further analysis of some significant themes.
While triangulations and member checks helped establish data trustworthiness of the
research, I understood that they were not sufficient to assess data credibility, since these
techniques merely look for the convergence of research data through recycling of the analysis
back to the one of the participants who was re-sampled (Lather, 1986a). While emphasizing
that critical ethnography as praxis is a two-way street produced in the interaction between
theory and practice, and the researcher and the researched, Lather (1986a, 1986b) proposed
the notion of catalytic validity, in order to draw researchers‟ attention to how “the research
process reorients, focuses, and energizes participants toward knowing reality” (Lather, 1986a,
p. 272). As Lather further maintained, “the argument for catalytic validity is premised not
only within a recognition of the reality-altering impact of the research process, but also in the
desire to consciously channel this impact so that respondents gain self-understanding and,
ultimately, self-determination through research participation” (Lather, 1986a, p. 272). What
Lather pointed out here suggests that while doing critical ethnography, researchers need to
contribute more efforts to engaging in interactive, dialectic practices with emphasis on
reciprocity between “researcher” and “researched,” and between theory and data in a
collaborative and reflexive approach to research. Thus, it is within Lather‟s conceptual
framework that I checked the validity of my research.
My interpretations and analyses were firmly grounded on the data collected through the
collaborative engagements between the participants and me. In particular, my self-disclosure
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and positioning myself as a learner were the two useful strategies that the participants and I
maintained. These strategies developed a safe comfort zone for telling and exchanging our
life stories. As described in previous sections, while getting my participants to talk about
what they did, I responded and disclosed my trajectory of being an immigrant in Canada. At
the beginning of the study, I initiated self disclosure by narrating my concerns and
uncertainties at the time when I landed in the new country. In addition to giving them a
solicited letter stating my research purposes, I shared with my participants a paper that I
wrote and reflected on my journey of discovering the connection between my personal
experience and my research (Wang, 2004). In the process of the study, when the participants
shared with me their experiences in particular contexts, I told them my story in a similar
situation. When moments were created in which the participants and I exchanged our views
of what we experienced, we engaged in collaborative interactions for achieving our common
goals. Within the context of collaborative engagements, we developed mutual understandings
of the role of our existing linguistic resources that influenced our experiences as we engaged,
negotiated, confronted, and resisted social forces acting upon us in varied aspects.
My disclosure and self-display gradually gained my participants‟ rapport and trust. They
shared with me their emotions and thoughts on what they experienced in their lives. They
contributed their time and commitment to documenting their language activities and
providing me with detailed information and relevant artifacts that they encountered in their
everyday activities. They allowed me to take photos and make copies of the pieces central to
their everyday practices. When my participants made efforts to document their language and
literacy practices in their everyday activities, some of them offered me their knowledge and
intelligence that helped enrich my data sources. Xiang Dong offered me his technical
supports through the data collection process. He not only frequently reminded me to backup
and keep my collected data in the safe place, but also helped me to figure out how to conduct
and record interview meetings over the phone and on Messenger in good quality. Taking
advantage of his technical computer skills, he also made video-records of our each meeting
and burned DVD for me afterwards. Jia Wei made a set of useful suggestions, with regard to
how to refine my method of keeping records of routines, so that I can learn more his detailed
accounts and reflections on his daily life. Their suggestions motivated me to making an
ongoing evaluation of the effectiveness of research methods in my research practices, thereby
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turning the data collection procedure into more of a reflective exercise.
In the meantime, my participants considered me as a facilitator for their literacy practices,
in order to help them deal with particular situations. In the process of data collection, there
were opportunities that several participants asked me to revise their complaint letters, work
reports, and assignments in making efforts to protect their rights and gain respect from
institutions. I contributed my time, efforts, resources, and knowledge to supporting their
linguistic strivings. While doing this, I tried not to act as a “teacher,” although being a Ph.D.
student myself at a university, my language abilities in English were frequently evaluated as
“no problem” by my participants. Rather, I saw myself as a learner who wanted to understand
more detailed information with regard to what happened before they wrote the text, why they
decided to make a response in a written form, how they did this, and what were the
consequences after they wrote. These approaches allowed me to understand their attitudes
toward the outcomes of their interactions with institutional agents. This helped me know
when and how to help and in what way my help was best to support their struggles. In
retrospect, it was through these valuable learning moments that I gained insights into the
ways in which the participants constructed their interactions with institutional gatekeepers
and developed their understanding of social systems through taking advantage of their
existing oral and literate skills in English.
Thus, through dialogue, reciprocity, and learning, the participants and I shared our
personal experiences with one another. These approaches helped elicit multiple ways that the
participants framed, reproduced, and refigured literacy and language practices within the
multi-dimensioned social and discursive discourses. They also allowed me to engage in
research practices committed to valuing diversity and particularities so that people‟s expertise,
knowledge, and voices can be included and recognized in a respectful way. In fact, this is
consistent with the social practice perspectives on literacy that aim at uncovering and valuing
multifaceted literacy practices in people‟s lived experiences. Looking back, throughout the
research, the collaborative dialogues between the participants and me invited reflection,
criticism, and actions for self-empowerment and advanced my understanding of what counts
as literacy.
4.6 Summary
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In this chapter, I have made explicit my assumptions and methods that supported my
research in the roles of skilled Chinese immigrants‟ literacy practices in their trajectories of
navigating across social contexts in Canadian society. From a critical ethnography
perspective, I have illustrated in what ways the methods I used helped me trace the threads of
the participants‟ language uses and literacy practices in their social engagements. I have
specified how my dual position of being researcher and immigrant myself made me face
some constraints that became the impetus for me to examine my own understandings of the
complexity of language and literacy in Chinese immigrants‟ lives. To clarify my shifting roles
and relationships in the study allowed me to have a critical as well as reflexive look at my
own multiple identities, positionality, and methods used in the data collection process. I have
illuminated the roles of reciprocity and collaboration in building trustworthy relationships in
the course of my investigation. I have outlined how the collaborative and reflective
approaches helped me to stay closer to the data during the process of data collection and
analysis.
To this end, I acknowledge that the ways that I chose my research focus, framed the study,
selected specific research methods, and wrote up this thesis implied that this research was
deeply subjective. Certainly, this also exerted influence on my ways of organizing data and
identifying particular themes and patterns. It is true that many of ways of my analyses and
selections of quotes and examples chosen from the database reflected my own values and
biases that were underpinning my academic stance. I am acutely aware that what I know and
present is situated, partial, selective, and imperfect. However, throughout the research, I
witnessed my participants‟ trajectories, learned their particular ways that they created,
reproduced, and critiqued language and literacy, and joined in their actions for seeking
possibilities for conforming to and resisting certain institutional arrangements. In a sense, this
became our shared experiences, and hence my words, phrases, interpretations, and analyses
presented in the following data chapters (Chapters 5 to 8) of this dissertation are firmly
grounded and mediate theirs. Based on dialogue, reciprocity, and reflection, these chapters
reflect our learning processes that allowed my participants and me to refigure the roles of our
skills and knowledge in our trajectories as we looked for resources and opportunities in
Canadian society.
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Chapter 5
Weaving Home-Support Networks: Language and Literacy in Action
In the early time, I felt my English was so bad that I had little confidence in myself. I was very nervous whenever I had to go outside and speak English with people. So, in the beginning, Jia Wei and I went and dealt with these things together. We were like soldiers who supported one another. Hand in hand, we walked into the battlefield.
(Yu Qing, interview excerpt, March 10, 2006, my literal translation)
People start from the home and move out through local activities. … They then bring back into the home resources, possibilities—and problems—from elsewhere, which are used, acted on, solved, enjoyed, talked over and worried about. (David Barton and Mary Hamilton, 1998, p.188, Local Literacies: Reading and Writing in One
Community)
When immigrants started a new life in the host country, they always confronted the new
society with a wide and unpredictable variety of language-related activities in their everyday
lives. Lack of linguistic and cultural familiarity with the new environment inevitably induced
anxiety and confusion, and even caused a sense of vulnerability to immigrant newcomers in
the early settlement period. For most Chinese immigrant professionals who had no
established social relationships in Canada, the only help that they could gain was from their
family members such as spouse and child with whom they came to the country. The first
excerpt that I quoted at the beginning of the chapter exemplified the mutual support in the
immigrant household. Yu Qing and Jia Wei tended to rely on one another while dealing with
social interactions in the early period of their arrival in Toronto. They expected that their
mutual engagement in the new demands of performing a specific task could act as a
protection fort in the “battlefield,” the field in which they fought for their survival and
empowerment, as they wrestled with the unknown and differences. In this respect, home, as
Klassen (1991) emphasized in a study of bilingual literacy practices in Canada, “is the center
from which individuals venture out into other domains” (p. 43). Home was the departure
point from which immigrant newcomers moved into the different life domains to which they
connected in the new society. What Barton and Hamilton said in the second quote, however,
reminds us that family not only provides a source of support, but also becomes a site of
negotiations and tensions mediated through the complex language and social practices. In this
respect, home is a good place to start an examination of social variation in as well as of
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constraints on literacy.
Drawing the data from two immigrant households in the study, this chapter examines how
families can be sources of support and sites of struggle simultaneously. Language and literacy
play a key role in making it happen. Specifically, I illustrate how immigrant household
responsibilities were altered as well as patterned according to family members‟ English
proficiency in general and their confidence in specific technical aspects of communication
skills in particular. I then describe the role that the child can play in immigrant parents‟
practices of seeking extended possibilities for language learning and cultural familiarity with
the new society. With a set of strategies identified, I present the dilemmas that the participants
encountered within home networks of support, drawing attention to the fact that immigrants
were enmeshed within the institutional ideology of language which pervaded the home
context. This finding helps us understand that normalized orality plays a key role in judging
who is a competent language/literacy user of English. This makes home as a source of
strength, inequality, or opposition, because family members‟ points of view on their
competencies in English conflicted.
This chapter thus highlights the fact that migration alters family responsibilities and role
relations. It reveals the linkage between immigrants‟ ways of dealing with linguistic demands
and the restructuring of family relations. The data in my study emphasize home not only as a
prime site where a wide range of learning activities are carried out in everyday situations, but
also as a small social unit that encompasses a set of ideological relationships to language and
literacy through which hybrid practices and complex relationships are produced, mingled,
negotiated, and contested over on material and symbolic exchanges between the borders of
many social domains.
5.1 English Proficiency and Family Responsibilities: A Tale of Two Immigrant
Households
In all the immigrant households that I met in this study, there was a commonality in that
immigrant couples‟ confidence in the technical aspects of their language and literacy in
English determined who did what in the family. This finding is different from previous
research which claimed that gender or availability of time might be the factors in affecting
how activities were shared in the immigrant household. In particular, the common stereotype
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of the role of husband and wife in the family maintains that home literacy practices are
gendered, with men dealing with official activities and women having responsibility for
personal matters (e.g., Finch & Mason, 1993; McMahon, Roach, Karach, & van Dijk, 1994).
Likewise, there have been studies indicating that despite their limited competence in English,
immigrant women have been considered as the ones who carry out the bureaucratic tasks in
the home because being frequently identified as unemployed family members, they have
enough time to deal with the government bureaucratic activities among various institutional
agencies (e.g., Klassen, 1991). However, the data in my study revealed that the division of
household obligations was not merely related to gender or availability of time. My data
presented strong evidence indicating that in the well-educated Chinese immigrant family, the
division of household obligations was a language-related matter. This linguistic division of
family responsibilities was closely connected with individual participants‟ feelings of
self-worth in the English-speaking context.
5.1.1 The Xiang Dong and Ming Fang Household
Xiang Dong and Ming Fang divided their household obligations, according to their
overall English competencies after they arrived in Canada. Xiang Dong‟s English skills
seemed to make him the master of the family. At home, Xiang Dong took charge of financial
management of family expenses and many tasks of household decision making, such as
purchasing a car and computer, registering their daughter in after-school programs, and
planning family trips. He managed all paper work and dealt with all correspondence to
institutions, such as paying bills, claiming annual tax returns, applying for government
benefits, and arranging official documents for sponsoring his mother-in-law to come to
Canada.
Xiang Dong‟s literate work was usually integrated into facilitating Ming Fang‟s oral
communicative activities in a particular context. Even in the situation that Ming Fang was
required to go through bureaucratic tasks and interactions with institutional agents on her
own, Xiang Dong always tried to find time to accompany his wife and present himself on the
scene. As he said, “Ming Fang‟s English was not good enough. She might cause troubles if
she went and dealt with these things by herself” (Interview excerpt, February 19, 2006, my
literal translation). As Xiang Dong explained, in such a situation, he filled all required
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information on official forms for Ming Fang and left the space for her to sign. He also helped
to make clarification when Ming Fang could not deliver a clear speech in English in the
process of interactions with institutional representatives.
Ming Fang acknowledged that her English proficiency levels were lower than Xiang
Dong‟s, thereby handing over to her husband the authority to handle all kinds of documents
for the family. In China, it was Ming Fang who had taken care of these things for the family.
Upon her arrival in Canada, Ming Fang felt that her talent faded away when she had to use
English in these contexts. Instead, she took responsibilities for most household-based chores,
including cleaning, cooking, and looking after their daughter‟s routine activities (such as
taking her daughter to school in the morning and picking her up at school in the afternoon). In
addition, Ming Fang helped the child with homework everyday, and kept communications
with the school by attending parental meetings regularly.
While Ming Fang deferred to Xiang Dong‟s ways of sharing family responsibilities
because of her insufficient English competencies, she acted as a resourceful family member
and problem solver in the household. When she was unemployed and spent most of time
staying at home alone, Ming Fang learned English and current events through reading local
English newspapers, such as Metro and 24 Hours1. When she was interested in specific news,
Ming Fang searched for further information by looking at websites both in English and in
Chinese, in order to “know more about what‟s going on here.” The news that Ming Fang
learned usually generated an opportunity for her to have interaction exchanges with her
neighbors in the elevator or in the lobby of the apartment building. For Ming Fang, talking to
her neighbors about daily news created a moment to practice her oral English with ease. In
the family, Ming Fang became the news lady for Xiang Dong who had a heavily loaded work
schedule and spent limited time watching TV and reading newspapers everyday. Coming
back home from work and asking Ming Fang to tell the breaking news she read became
Xiang Dong‟s habitual way of catching up on current events of the local community.
In addition to reading news, Ming Fang was interested in collecting all kinds of material
resources, including pamphlets, flyers, forms, and business cards when she visited public
places (such as shopping mall, community centre, library, school, and government agency).
1 Metro and 24 Hours are the two free daily English newspapers with stories on local news, sports,
entertainment and other topics of interest to readers. They are the most read newspapers by the participants in
my study.
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She gathered and saved those bits and pieces of information and materials for her family‟s
future needs. In the meantime, Ming Fang kept two notebooks recording her daily language
and cultural learning practices and information she obtained from varied resources. She jotted
down words and phrases from her reading and grouped them like “the doctors,” “shopping,”
“jobs” and “school” in one notebook, and listed telephone numbers and addresses in the same
group on the other. The two notebooks provided useful sources that served Ming Fang to
solve emerging problems in the family.
When there were incidents happening in the family, Xiang Dong usually relied on Ming
Fang who passed on information to him and gave him directions on where to get appropriate
resources and solve the problem. For example, one day, Xiang Dong broke his tooth by
accident, and needed to see a dentist for treatment. While having no local expertise on seeing
a dentist upon the family‟s arrival in Toronto, Ming Fang spent time learning knowledge
about dental care and treatments on the Internet, and jotted those special terms down on her
notebook. She then collected dentist information from her neighbors and made phone calls to
those recommended dental clinics for inquiry. After sorting varied information out, Ming
Fang wrote down the address of the dental clinic and a list of specific terms that Xiang Dong
needed to understand before seeing a dentist.
Evidently, despite her reliance on Xiang Dong‟s English skills in tackling all paper work
and interactions with institutional agents, Ming Fang made good use of her existing language
abilities in English to have access to and accumulate the information she needed in daily life.
Having said that, Ming Fang sometimes had a sense of losing her power in the linguistic
division of family responsibilities between her and her husband. Once in a while, Ming Fang
complained that Xiang Dong left her all household routines to take care of everyday and even
contributed limited time and effort to their daughter‟s education. In our interview meeting,
Ming Fang said that she wanted to be more independent, to open a bank account of her own if
she could find a job in the future, saying that she felt uncomfortable about Xiang Dong‟s
control over all financial matters in the household.
5.1.2 The Jia Wei and Yu Qing Household
In the Jia Wei and Yu Qing Household, English was also an important factor that
determined the way in which the couple shared their family obligations. Compared to Jia Wei,
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Yu Qing had received systematic as well as formal English language training at school in
China whereas Jia Wei had taught himself English at home. To Jia Wei‟s mind, his English
competence gained from his home study might not be strong enough to deal with language
requirements in an institutional setting where formal language uses were necessary. In
addition, Jia Wei said that dealing with details in alignment with multiple rules was a tedious
and unnecessary exercise that might add to his feelings of powerlessness in a new context.
Hence, when the family arrived in Canada, the couple decided to balance their family
obligations, by taking advantage of their own linguistic strengths, as they explained as
follows:
雨晴： 家里的 paper work 都是我的事。找房子，给孩子找 summer camp 都是我做。这些嘉伟不管。他从来都没写过 cheque。刚开始嘉伟报 college, 上网查信息定考试时间都是我给他办的。
Yu Qing:
I manage all paper work in the family. I also take
responsibility for looking for a place to live and
searching for information of summer camps for
our daughter. Jia Wei does not want to take care
of these things. He even hasn‟t written a cheque. I
did everything for Jia Wei when he applied for a
college. I looked for relevant information and
arranged a time for him for the assessment test on
the school website.
嘉伟： [看了一眼雨晴。笑着说…] 这是家里分工不同嘛。雨晴学的是正规式英语。做这些paper work 比较容易不会出错。我不太愿意做这些 paper work。我没有耐心做这些繁琐的事。
(Interview Excerpt: March 10, 2006)
Jia Wei:
[Having a look at Yu Qing and laughing…]
This is the different division of family
obligations. Yu Qing learned formal English. It is
easy for her to handle paper work in a correct
way. I do not like doing paper work. I have no
patience of dealing with details.
(My literal translation)
In the family, Yu Qing served as a “literacy broker,” responsible for all literate tasks and
gathered varied resources for her family‟s needs. Nonetheless, Yu Qing perceived that her
spoken skills in English were relatively weak, and might likely induce difficulties for her in
undertaking an oral communicative activity. Thus, she let Jia Wei to deal with all oral
communications for the family. Because of her particular responsibility, Yu Qing spent much
time identifying and offering resources when new challenges occurred in their everyday life.
For instance, before the family moved from Toronto to Waterloo, Yu Qing gathered a wide
range of local settlement information for the family, including transportation routes and
schedules, and selecting shopping malls, hospital, community library, and schools for her
daughter in the new place. After moving to Waterloo, Yu Qing kept searching for resources on
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the Internet, such as family doctor, shopping news, social events, and children‟s activities in
the neighborhood. Upon the family‟s settlement in Waterloo, Yu Qing started her online
research on how to buy a new house while keeping regular contact with an agent of the local
real estate company via email for an expert‟s suggestions and updated housing information in
Waterloo.
While acknowledging that his overall English proficiency levels were not as strong as Yu
Qing‟s, Jia Wei said that he had to take up the role of speaking for the family, explaining,
嘉伟： 雨晴说英文总是有惧怕的心理。所以总是想逃避说话的机会。家里来个电话她总是跑到一边去了。对自己总是没信心。而且,她说的英语比较正规,人家听不懂。还不如我这在餐馆 pick up 的英文来的快。
Jia Wei:
Yu Qing had fears of speaking in English. She
always avoided speaking English most of the
time. When the phone rang, she was the first
one to run away. She had no confidence in
herself. Also, people might feel hard to
understand her formal English in the speech. It
is not as accessible as my English that I picked
up when I worked in the restaurant here.
雨晴： 唉…不知道为什么我一说英文心里就紧张。尤其是打电话。这一点嘉伟比我强。所以,家里有打电话的事都他做。我不管。
(Interview Excerpt: March 10, 2006)
Yu Qing:
[Sighing in despair]. I don‟t know why I feel
nervous whenever I speak English, in particular,
when I speak in English over the phone. Jia Wei
speaks English better than I do. So, in our
family, he deals with all household stuff over
the phone. I don‟t have courage to do this.
(My literate translation)
Yu Qing considered Jia Wei‟s English as her “lifesaver” when she had to speak English to
get herself “out of trouble.” For example, one day Yu Qing had punched the wrong keys on
the ATM machine incidentally. As a result, she realized that the amount of money that she
deposited did not appear on her bank account. She went to the counter and asked for help.
But, the teller said that he did not understand what Yu Qing talked about. Going back home
with frustration, Yu Qing asked Jia Wei to call the bank representative to make corrections on
the account. Jia Wei told me proudly that it was he who went through the procedures over the
phone with an English-speaking representative of the bank and helped Yu Qing to solve the
problem.
Despite having this confidence, Jia Wei sometimes found it hard to make use of his
linguistic advantages when having limited local knowledge in a specific social discourse,
particularly in the early settlement period. For example, while attending the parent-teacher
meeting at her daughter‟s school, Jia Wei was concerned about his oral communication skills
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in English because of his awareness of being unfamiliar with Canadian schooling systems. As
he described his early experience of sitting in a parent-teacher meeting in his journal2:
Aside 5.1
Attending the Parental Meeting
There was a teacher-parent meeting at the school before Christmas. I had to take this task on my
shoulders since my wife felt more stressful about the meeting than I did. Yet I lacked confidence in
myself even though I felt my English got improved after I learned English at the ESL school for
almost a year. …
When the teacher talked to me, I could get all the points. My listening skills did get a big
improvement. But, because this was my first time, I knew little about the schooling system of the
country. So, I was not confident about my English and had no clue of how to express my concerns
clearly when I wanted to ask the teacher something about how well my daughter did at school.
(Jia Wei‟s journal, February 23, 2006)
There were several times that I accompanied Jia Wei to pick up his daughter at school after
our interview meetings. Once, while waiting for his child to come out of the school building
after class, Jia Wei told me, “I used to stand far away from the crowd because I was afraid of
talking to people in English. You know, I may have to talk to Amy‟s teacher if she
accompanies kids out of the school building after the class. Amy would feel embarrassed if
she heard her dad talking with her teacher in lousy English. I was worried about my English.
I did not want to feel embarrassed either” (My research journal, March 20, 2006).
In a nutshell, immigrant participants shared family responsibilities based on their self
evaluation of their English language competencies and their views on what were appropriate
or inappropriate language performance in particular communication settings. While sharing
family responsibilities like this might not necessarily reflect individual participants‟ English
abilities in a straightforward way, it created reciprocal support between spouses, with the
result of a shift of role relations in the family.
5.1.3 Identifying Ways of Support
The above description indicated the relationship between English proficiency and
divisions of family responsibilities in immigrant families. This relationship reflected the ways
2 All participants‟ journals and diaries presented in the thesis are the original version. However, the format of
some journals and diaries is adjusted to make it reader friendly.
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in which the participants made sense of social systems and dealt with challenges involving
the complex interplay of their oral and literate practices and learning activities. Drawing on
the data, I identified two strategies that the participants frequently employed within the
home-support network.
5.1.3.1 Skill Sharing
My data showed that English proficiency formed and reformed immigrant couples‟
communal practices in dealing with challenges and changes in the new environment. When
confronted with unfamiliarity and language difficulty, immigrant couples shared a joint
communication enterprise by analyzing the connection between the advantages of their
institutional language skills and the specific language requirements in a particular local
setting. In this way, their spouses acted as linguistic facilitators to speak and/or write on
behalf of them for communication and problem solving purposes.
The two immigrant families deployed the similar strategy of sharing family
responsibilities. As we can see, both Xiang Dong and Yu Qing, who were independent
applicants for their family immigration to Canada, managed all literate work related to
institutional agencies and searching for and accumulating information for their families‟
needs. They considered doing paper work as their crucial household obligation because as
Xiang Dong explained, troubles might be caused if the literate work cannot be handled
appropriately in accordance with established institutional rules and regulations. They were
confident that their English literate skills were sufficient to satisfy the interests and
requirements of bureaucratic systems, thereby generating a relatively strong linkage to the
established forms of representations. In fact, as the participants reported, after years, such
linguistic responsibility became a habitual practice and remained unchanged in the family,
even though the English language was not a barrier any more for their spouses to engage in
dominant literacy practices according to institutional requirements.
Meanwhile, dependent applicants‟ language and literacy practices in association with their
family responsibilities varied a great deal, as demonstrated in the case of Ming Fang and Jia
Wei in the two immigrant households. Jia Wei took up tasks of oral interactions with others in
a particular communication setting, while Ming Fang played a supportive role in solving
problems through identifying access to information resources available in public domains for
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her family‟s emerging needs, in relation to real life contingencies.
Despite the similar pattern of skill sharing, immigrant participants showed different ways
in forming the division of linguistic labor within the family. Jia Wei and Yu Qing shared their
household obligations, based on their evaluation on whose oral and literate skills in English
could be strong enough to achieve particular tasks while working with institutions‟ agents. In
the Xiang Dong and Ming Fang household, overall English proficiency became an important
factor to determine who managed formal institutional practices, and who served everyday
purposes in daily life.
The sharing aspect of the relationship between English proficiency and family
responsibilities indicated that the divisions of family responsibilities lay at the root of
immigrant participants‟ attitudes toward their language and literacy abilities in English. This
implied that in carrying out everyday practices, immigrant participants kept their awareness
of how they used English language and literacy to their advantage, in order to fit the demands
of particular institutional contexts. Based on their self-evaluation of their English abilities and
language demands for a particular communication task, they provided support for their
spouse, or sometimes they required support from their spouse.
5.1.3.2 Brokering Practice
The above examples indicated that dealing with unfamiliar practices would pose new
challenges to individual immigrants‟ existing English competencies and their ways of doing
things. They also revealed the brokering practice of immigrant couples in the division of
linguistic labor in the home. First, there existed a real need for language and literacy
facilitation among family members. In this respect, brokering practice worked as a way of
preserving family solidarity in a particular circumstance. To Xiang Dong‟s mind, his presence
in the communication setting served to facilitate Ming Fang to carry out bureaucratic tasks so
that he could assure that Ming Fang delivered her language performance appropriately.
Placing trust in Xiang Dong‟s English competencies, Ming Fang did not worry about this
kind of thing while her husband was standing beside her on the scene. Similarly, Yu Qing
asked her husband, Jia Wei, to speak for her as a way to back her up to solve the problem
about her bank account when the teller was unable to provide help for her. These examples
provided evidence that the brokering practice created family members‟ synergy to achieve
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their particular goals as well as to fulfill institutional requirements.
Second, rather than a take-for-granted use of language, the brokering practice was used as
a back-up strategy and forced by pragmatic needs, which reflected family members‟ joint
efforts to create their ways of doing and saying. This process can be considered as the
immigrants‟ strategy that they deployed during those periods of transition in the new
environment. For instance, the participants were clear that by not filing their annual income
tax returns correctly according to the institutional agency‟s regulations, they would be
accused of not fulfilling a citizen‟s legal obligations, which resulted in financial penalties
from the government. Failing to fill in a form for his college application in a precise manner,
Jia Wei knew that his very basic right for education would not be granted. Dealing with such
rule-governed language activities, the family member‟s literate skills in English became a
useful as well as valuable resource to make sense of particular social systems for family
members in that his or her institutional linguistic skills could be deployed to gather relevant
information, decode institutional rules and regulations, and complete language and literacy
practices required by formal bureaucracies. In this respect, immigrant couples‟ mutual
engagements in language and literacy implied their critical awareness of the asymmetrically
linguistic context in which they were situated. Hence, the two aspects of brokering practice
sustained each other in a discursive way in that family members in the immigrant household
created their joint linguistic activities in reciprocity, in order to keep stable connections with
multiple life domains as well as to refigure the way of participating in a number of social
practices in their intentional manners.
To sum up, skill sharing and brokering practice were the two overlapping strategies that
the participants deployed linguistically to fulfill their family obligations. These strategies
were useful, particularly in the early settlement period when immigrant newcomers tended to
take the easiest as well as the most reliable way for sense making and social participation in
the host society. Although these strategies suggested the similar way in which immigrant
participants facilitated each other in overcoming difficulties as well as in going through
changes within networks of family support, immigrant couples managed social interactions
and engaged in problem solving activities through different modes of communications, and
formal and informal ways of knowing.
To this end, it should be noted that, while immigrants‟ images of their English
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competencies might lead them to take on different types of dominant language and literacy
activities in the household, it does not mean that the level of English proficiency determined
who was an active or passive member in participating in social practices in the given society.
Rather, we see that the participants had varied approaches to learning the social structures and
different ways of acting upon the unfamiliar, such as through searching for information on the
Internet, through managing paper work, through creating personal notebooks, or through
direct interactions with institutional agents. That is, for immigrants, new demands and
changes they encountered always motivated them to take advantage of their existing language
abilities in English, in order to organize and control their everyday lives. Nonetheless,
sometimes a spouse‟s needs for language support might change the role relationship between
husband and wife or even induce the sense of losing power in the family, as Ming Fang
reflected upon how the division of linguistic labor affected her position at home.
Taken together, these findings highlighted the participants‟ strategies and initiatives for
employing their linguistic advantages, in order to make quick adjustment in the new
environment. While the connection between English proficiency and family responsibility
shed light on immigrant family members‟ linguistic collaboration and mutual engagement
with a wide range of activities across social contexts, it implied that the roles of family
members in supporting each other were not fixed, but shifting from context to context and
differing among immigrant households. In this way, the linguistic support within the
immigrant family was sustained and re-arranged as particular circumstances occurred. In the
following section, I shall further explore other aspects of networks of support in immigrant
families.
5.2 Creating Zones of Possibilities: Learning from Children
When spouses served as reliable linguistic facilitators who took collaborative
responsibilities for managing oral and literate activities for the family, children in the
immigrant household acted as little helpers who assisted their parents in achieving a
particular communication purpose, making sense of unfamiliar social systems, and expanding
learning opportunities. The roles of children in providing this kind of support for their parents
were prompted by practical needs in everyday life.
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5.2.1 Being a Language Helper
When immigrant parents dealt with oral interactions with others in a public domain, they
might encounter varied linguistic difficulties. Assigning their child to be a language proxy
who spoke for them in a particular situation was a strategy that enabled immigrant parents to
achieve their communication goal. In the study, young children, Amy and June, in the two
immigrant families came to Canada at an early age and received their education in the local
schooling system. Although Amy and June were merely 8 years old and studying at Grade 3
at an elementary school, the participants said that their child‟s pure English could help gain a
favorable response from institutional agents. As such, they saw their child as a little rescuer
who could help them find a way out of a linguistic dilemma.
While accompanying two households to go to public places, such as library, shopping
mall, and community center, I got many opportunities to observe that individual participants
assigned their children to ask for information and clarify uncertainty for them. For instance,
after Yu Qing renewed her books on the website of the public library, she found that she was
charged the overdue fee. Yu Qing asked her daughter, Amy, to speak to the librarian to
indicate the mistake when we went to the library. As Yu Qing explained to me, “Amy speaks
English like a native speaker. This makes things easy. And, people always treat kids kindly”
(My research journal, May 16, 2006). In another example, Ming Fang asked her daughter,
June, to speak to a cashier at a Shoppers Drug Mart store after she read her receipt and
realized that the cashier did not give her an on-sale price as indicated on the store flyer. Ming
Fang went back to the counter and let June deal with the cashier. June indicated the mistake
on the receipt while the mother was standing beside the child. The cashier smiled at June, and
said that she was such an adorable little girl, then made apology to Ming Fang, and gave her a
refund immediately. When I asked Ming Fang why she did not negotiate with the cashier by
herself, since I had no reason to anticipate that she had difficulties in doing so, Ming Fang
responded that, if she asked first, the problem might not be solved in a straightforward way.
In the above two vignettes, the mother chose to remain silent, and handed over to the
child the authority to speak for her while seeking a solution to the problem, because she
assumed that the purity of her child‟s English could help achieve her communication goals in
a direct way. This might imply her awareness that speaking “non-standardized” English might
throw her in a risky situation that the librarian or the cashier would likely be on guard against
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her in a linguistically asymmetrical situation.
A further analysis of my data revealed that in most cases, language support from children
was usually self-generated and prompted by practical needs when they sensed that their
parents encountered difficulties in interactions with others. Immigrant parents in the study
mentioned that their child often made corrections of grammar and pronunciation in their
interactions with people. This language facilitation allowed them to solve immediate
communication problems and engage in the flow of conversations with institutional
representatives. That children scaffolded their parent‟s communication activities can best be
exemplified in the interactions that I recorded in an interview meeting with Ming Fang.
Ming Fang and I sat at her kitchen table. June was playing the piano. Ming Fang
handed me a flyer and said, “My English is not good enough to do this.”
I took the flyer and asked, “What is this?”
June stopped playing the piano and joined the conversation immediately. “The
telephone number…You call this telephone number, and a registered nurse will help you. I
brought this for my mom.” June said, with a smile on her face.
Ming Fang nodded, “June collected this from the library. She is my little helper.”
It was a flyer with a telephone number of Telehealth Ontario. Ming Fang told me that
she had got many cankers in her mouth. June gave the flyer to her mom, and asked to make
a phone call for advice from a registered nurse. Ming Fang said that she waited for me to
come so that she had courage to make a call.
After five minutes, Ming Fang dialed the telephone number on the flyer and made a
phone call to a registered nurse on the line.
Ming Fang: Hello. … I … I had uh…a few can…mm…can… [Looking at a paper in front
of her. Ming Fang wrote the word “canker” on the paper in advance.] canker
in my mouth.
June: [June is standing next to Ming Fang.] Mom, cankers, you are having
CANKERS.
Ming Fang: Yeah, I am having cankers in my mouth. They hurt. … [Listening to the
phone.]
…
Huh?… you mean what they like… [Listening to the phone.]…
Oh, how big? [Ming Fang is looking at me.] Can you wait for a second?
[Ming Fang is covering the phone receiver with her hands, and speaking to
me in Mandarin.] 象小米粒大怎么说?
(Translation: “How to say „it looks like a grain of millet‟ in English?”)
Lurong: 小米? 小米粒? Grain? … Rice? 不会是那么大…
(Translation: “Xiao Mi? (“millet?”) Xiao Mi Li? (“a grain of millet?”)
Grain? … Rice? It is not that big.”)
June: [June is looking at Ming Fang and frowning.]小米?小米?什么是小米, Mom?
(Translation: “Xiao Mi (millet)? Xiao Mi (millet)? What is “Xiao Mi,”
(millet), Mom?”)
Ming Fang: [Ming Fang is turning her head to look at the other table next to the window.
It seems that she is looking for something on the table.]
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就是那个可小可小的黄米粒。…嗯…上次我不还买来给你喂小鸟吗?…
(Translation: “It is a tiny, yellow grain…uh…I bought it for you to feed little
birds last time…”)
June: …mm… Is it “millet”? … looks like a millet, Mom.
[June is quickly writing the word “millet” on the paper in front of Ming Fang.
Both Ming Fang and I are leaning forward and looking at the word on the
paper.]
Lurong: 嗯…好象是呀…
(Translation: “Mm…it looks like it is the right word…”.)
Ming Fang: mi-le-t…mi-…
June: [June is looking at her mom.] mi-lit, mi-lit, mom.
Ming Fang: [speaking to the phone] Hello? mil-lit, like millet big.
(My research journal and interview excerpt: May 16, 2006)
The above example provided a vivid picture of how a child acted as a language helper
when an immigrant parent tried to interact with an institutional representative. With the help
of her daughter, the mother overcame a linguistic difficulty and continued the flow of the
conversation. The interaction was first motivated by June who saw her mom suffering pains
from the cankers. June had collected the flyer of Telehealth Ontario when she went to the
community library. She referred the telephone number of Telehealth Ontario on the flyer to
Ming Fang, and asked her mom to call a registered nurse for advice over the phone. Ming
Fang thought that it might be a quick way to solve her problem and wanted to have a try this
time, even though she was concerned that she might encounter some difficulties in describing
her symptom to the nurse in the conversation. Ming Fang waited for my arrival and expected
my language support in her interaction with the nurse. However, as shown in the above
excerpt, June turned out to be a helper in the communication event.
Although Ming Fang looked up the word “canker” in the dictionary and wrote down the
unfamiliar word on the paper in advance, it seemed that such literate preparation did not
establish her confidence in herself when she was having conversation with the nurse over the
phone. As shown in the beginning of the dialogue, Ming Fang still figured out how to
pronounce the word “canker” in a correct way, in order to ensure that the nurse was clear
about what exactly her problem was. June helped her mom to reach this goal. She made a
correction in what her mom said by reminding Ming Fang that she was having many cankers
as opposed to a single one in the mouth (“Mom, cankers, you are having CANKERS.”).
June‟s support facilitated Ming Fang to form a correct complete sentence and deliver the
message in a precise way (“Yeah, I am having cankers in my mouth. They hurt.”). To provide
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the nurse with a further description of how big the cankers were became a challenge for Ming
Fang as she attempted to translate from Chinese into English in a corresponding way. In
encountering the difficulty, Ming Fang resorted to me for language support, asking for a
direct translation of what she wanted to say in English. Unfortunately, in searching for words,
I could not offer Ming Fang immediate facilitation because I was also stuck by trying to look
for an equivalent word across the two languages.
At the time when Ming Fang‟s interaction with the nurse was in danger of breakdown,
multiple turns of interactions emerged between June and her. In the beginning, unlike Ming
Fang and I who seek the lexical equivalence between Chinese and English, June seemed to
figure out what millet really was. June gained a clue after Ming Fang described what millet
looked like and provided a contextual cue for her daughter (“It is a tiny, yellow grain…uh…I
bought it for you to feed little birds last time…”). The reciprocal interaction between the
mother and the child generated collaborative engagement in the problem-solving activity. In
knowing what the object looked like, June identified the word “millet,” and wrote it down on
the paper for her mom. With the help of the visual cue, Ming Fang then started pronouncing
the word. June modeled the pronunciation of the word for her mom, and Ming Fang imitated
it in her speech. With June‟s language support, Ming Fang renewed her interaction with the
nurse, and achieved her immediate communication goal, as shown at the end of this episode.
In fact, in our later interview conversation, Ming Fang told me that she actually did not
expect that June provide language facilitation for her, when she gave her daughter an
explanation of what millet looked like. The mother thought that June was just a little girl and
curious about everything. When I asked June why she offered her help to her mom, the little
girl told me, “I don‟t know. I just wanted my mom to get well soon” (My research journal,
May 16, 2006). What the mother and the child said here indicated that language support from
the child was not always generated by intended expectation from the parent, but prompted by
practical and immediate communicative need that varied from context to context.
In addition, the excerpt shed light on a key feature of language support from children in
the immigrant household. Note that in the above example, there were reciprocal interactions
between the mother and the child, suggesting that scaffolding took place while the mother
and the child shared language and literacy practices for solving problems. Such mutual
engagement generated multiple sequences of language crossings. The child taught how to say
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and write “小米” (millet) in English to her mom who needed to describe her symptom to the
nurse in English, and the child built a linkage between an object and a word both in English
and in Chinese, with help of her mom‟s explanation. After Ming Fang hung up the phone,
June asked her mom to write the Chinese characters “小米” (“millet”) on her notebook. In the
context, both the child and the parent were simultaneously learners and facilitators with no
fixed and separate roles of being “expert” and “novice” (cf. Lave & Wenger, 1991). The
emergence of the cross linguistic activity between the mother and the child suggests that the
reciprocal facilitating act can foster language and literacy learning in multidirectional forms
in the immigrant family.
5.2.2 Being an Information Carrier
Support from children did not work just in one aspect in the immigrant household. In the
two immigrant families, young children usually acted as an information carrier bringing a
variety of information and material resources home. Sense making and social participation
are the two themes that emerged from what immigrant parents talked of as they acquired new
and unfamiliar areas of knowledge from their children.
5.2.2.1 Sense Making
The first frequently mentioned support was that school-related material resources that
children brought home created a learning opportunity for immigrant parents to gain the
knowledge of the local educational systems. In this way, young children acted as an
information carrier between school and home as they brought home many different material
resources, including written notices and letters from the school, class schedules, student
report cards, children‟s books, leaflets, and quizzes taken at school, and the homework
projects that they were assigned to do. These material resources helped immigrant parents not
only make connections with schools, but also identify multiple ways in which they
participated in their child‟s education in the new society. I illustrate this theme in the
examples that follow.
As newcomers in the host country, immigrant parents in the study had shared concerns
that they could not fully participate in their children‟s education because they had little
knowledge of what Canadian schooling was all about. Indeed, lack of familiarity with the
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particular institutional domain increased levels of anxiety when immigrant parents interacted
with school teachers. For example, Yu Qing and Ming Fang shared a similar experience that
as newcomers, they were not confident of their oral communication skills in English and so
avoided talking to the teacher in the meeting.
明芳： 项东工作忙。孩子的家长会都是我去。第一次去的时候,我对学校的情况了解的挺少的。老师讲话一快,就跟不上了。别的家长提的问题有的也听不太懂。我也想问一下老师 June
在学校的表现情况。可是总担心自己的英文不行。怕一跟老师说话就紧张,说不清楚。想想也就算了。
(Interview excerpt: May 6, 2006)
Ming Fang:
Xiang Dong is busy at work. So, it is I who go to
the parent-teacher meeting. But, I knew little
about the school here when I first sat in the
meeting. I couldn‟t catch what the teacher talked
about when the teacher spoke fast. Sometimes, I
didn‟t understand the questions raised by other
parents. I wanted to ask the teacher how well June
performed at school. But, I was not confident of
my English. I was afraid that I could not speak
clearly if I was getting nervous while talking to
the teacher. So, I gave up, and decided not to ask.
(My literal translation)
雨晴： 刚开始,Amy 学校开家长会是我去的。我想这事应该是当妈的责任嘛。而且觉得自己的英文应该还是能应付的。可是去了才知道不行。因为是第一次嘛。所以老师讲的情况不太了解。想问一下老师,可是又怕自己说不好。…开完会就回来了, 什么也没问。但是,总觉得心里很沮丧。那时,我就想我这个当妈妈的,来加拿大就什么都做不了。
(Interview excerpt: March 22, 2006)
Yu Qing:
In the early time, I went to the parent-teacher
meeting at Amy‟s school. I think that as a mother,
it is my responsibility. I thought that my English
should be adequate to deal with it. But, I realized
that I was wrong when I was sitting in the
meeting. Because it was my first time, I did not
know much about the school and had no clue of
what the teacher talked about. I wanted to ask the
teacher for clarification. But I was afraid that I
could not express myself clearly. … I did not ask
and left right after the meeting. But, I felt
frustrated, thinking that as a mother, I cannot do
anything for my daughter after coming to Canada.
(My literal translation)
While Ming Fang‟s and Yu Qing‟s narratives indicated that attending parent-teacher
meetings was not an effective way for them to build communication links with the teachers at
the outset, immigrant parents found that the material resources that their children brought
home from the school improved their understanding of the local school system and lessened
their anxiety while dealing with communication encounters with the school afterwards. An
example of this is in the Jia Wei and Yu Qing household where the couple took advantage of
school-related materials to make sense of the new educational system and support their
child‟s education.
Everyday, Amy brought varied information and resources back home. As Jia Wei wrote in
the journal, a wide range of resources provided him with opportunities that developed his
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understanding of the local school system.
Aside 5.2
Learning English from My Daughter [Excerpt]
Everyday, Amy brought home flyers, handouts, letters, and notices from the school. They became
my learning materials. I spent much time on reading these materials every day because I wanted to
know more information of the school. But this was not easy work since most materials had several
pages with different topics. They were about donations, school news, health issues, weather
information, various school events, and even strikes. Some of them were a little bit challenge and
made me busy looking up words in the dictionary. Other materials needed me to sign and then Amy
must bring them back to her teacher next day. So I always read them carefully. Over time, I learned a
lot from reading these materials.
…
In May 2005, my family moved. This time, I went through all documents with ease when I
registered my daughter in a new school. This is not only because of the improvement of my English
but also because of my understanding of Canadian school systems. Now, nobody can say I am a
layman and don‟t know about the Canadian elementary schools.
(Jia Wei‟s journal, February 23, 2006)
What Jia Wei described in the journal indicated that the materials that Amy brought home
channeled rich information to the parent who made sense of the society and gained the
knowledge of the local schooling systems. In figuring out situated activities through reading
school-related materials, Jia Wei became a purposeful learner who made effort to gain access
to a particular discourse (“They became my learning materials. I spent much time reading
these materials because I wanted to get more information of the school.”). In addition, Jia
Wei‟s narration indicated that he gained an opportunity to make practical use of his existing
literate skills in English while learning specific norms and values of the institution. In the
process of learning and accumulating the knowledge of the established social regulations, Jia
Wei built up his confidence, which resulted in his positive ability statement and active voice
(“Over time, I learned a lot from reading these materials. … Now, nobody can say I am
layman and don‟t know about the Canadian elementary schools.”). Thus, with the help of his
daughter who acted as an information carrier between home and school, Jia Wei learned the
unfamiliar area of knowledge, which might become a gateway to inclusion and participation
in a particular social context.
Compared with Jia Wei, Yu Qing found it impossible for her to catch up and read these
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materials in time because of her full time employment in a different city. For Yu Qing,
reading her daughter‟s report card helped her figure out how to get involved in her daughter‟s
schoolwork.
Throughout the study, Yu Qing frequently mentioned to me that she seldom saw that Amy
had a textbook with her, and so had no clear idea what her daughter did in class every day.
This was different from Yu Qing‟s educational experience in China where students study
from textbooks compiled according to the national curriculum. In referring to the textbooks,
parents can easily track what their children are learning at school. Students‟ schoolwork is
usually sent home for parents to check. Parents act as tutors of the family, and offer extra help
to fulfill the needs of their children‟s academic work. However, living in the new society
where language and culture is distinct from their own, immigrant parents, like Yu Qing, might
feel confused because the instructional practice in Canadian schools is different from the one
in Chinese schools. At the early time when Yu Qing had little knowledge of the local school
system, the report card became a material resource through which she made sense of
curriculum arrangements at school.
In the meantime, Yu Qing read the report card as an authoritative reference to monitor her
child‟s academic performance at school, which played a role in raising her awareness that she
invested limited time in Amy‟s school work. In our first interview meeting, Yu Qing
expressed her worries when she talked about Amy‟s report card, “Amy brought her report
card home yesterday. She got a „B‟ on her reading this term. I realized that my daughter‟s
reading is not good because she spends little time on reading everyday. This is because I
haven‟t put a lot of time to take care of Amy‟s reading activities at home since I had this job”
(Interview excerpt, January 11, 2006, my literal translation). In reference to Amy‟s report
雨晴： 刚开始对这里学校的情况一点都不了解,也搞不清楚孩子在学校都学了什么。不知道做家长的怎么按照学校的规定辅导孩子的学习。Amy 第一次从学校拿 report
card 回来,才有所了解学校的课程设置和 Amy 的整体表现。… 我现在是跟着女儿一步一步地了解这里的学校。
(Interview excerpt: March 22, 2006)
Yu Qing:
In the beginning, I knew little about the local
schooling system. At that time, I had no idea of what
my daughter learned at school everyday. I had no
idea that as a parent, how I could help Amy‟s study
at home, according to the school‟s requirements. I
started making sense of school syllabus and learning
about Amy‟s performance till she brought her report
card back home. … I am learning the schooling
system little by little each term, along with my
daughter‟s school work.
(My literal translation)
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card, Yu Qing created her own way of supporting her daughter‟s learning activities, in order
to renew her sense of getting involved in her daughter‟s education. Yu Qing made a daily
learning timeline for her daughter every week. She posted Amy‟s study plan next to her work
schedule on the wall in the sitting room. While she was away, Yu Qing asked Jia Wei to
monitor her daughter‟s learning activities at home according to her arrangement. For Yu Qing,
getting involved in children‟s education was an important obligation that a mother was
supposed to fulfill in the family. As Yu Qing reflected:
I have a full time job and at the same time, I am a full-time mother. I made
commitments to fulfilling my obligations of the both at the same time. But
sometimes, I found that it was hard for me to make a balance. Reading the report
card became an accessible way for me that every time, I not only monitored how
well my daughter performed at school, but also evaluated how well I, as a mother,
supported my daughter‟s learning. (Yu Qing‟s journal, March 26, 2006)
The above examples indicated that immigrant parents benefited from reading
school-related materials that their children brought back home, as opposed to attending the
parent-teacher meeting where as newcomers, they felt passive with little confidence in their
oral communication skills in English as well as in their knowledge of local school systems.
Bringing home a variety of school-related materials, young children played a role in
facilitating immigrant parents‟ learning and socialization into a particular institutional
discourse. Through reading these school-related material resources, immigrant parents, like
Jia Wei and Yu Qing, gained familiarity with curriculum arrangement as well as identified the
ways in which they participated in their child‟s learning activities in the host country.
5.2.2.2 Social Participation
The second way that children acted as an information carrier was that immigrant parents
gained extended possibilities for participation in social activities through varied information
and resources young children collected and brought home. Most of my participants reported
that they had little contact with the new society when they arrived in Canada. They even had
limited connection with the local Chinese community, since they led busy and unsettled lives
in the early time period. Learning English at LINC or ESL schools, and looking for a job
occupied much of their time, but provided them with limited opportunity to participate in
activities in other life domains in their early settlement lives. Moreover, lack of confidence in
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dealing with social interactions in the dominant language in public areas was another reason
that immigrants did not venture beyond the door unless they had an appointment or a
particular enquiry. Certainly, choosing “non-participation” in the new society might hinder
the participants from seizing on a chance to get familiar with the new environment or had a
consequence of feeling some degree of isolation. Nonetheless, immigrant parents in my study
reported that during this time period, children acted as little messengers who brought
information home and shared their experiences outside the family with their parents.
In the first summer after her arrival in the new country, Yu Qing registered her daughter in
a summer camp. During the time period, Amy visited many places in Toronto, and
participated in varied interesting activities in the camp. The little girl came back home with
excitement everyday, and told her mom what she saw and did in her trips. Listening to what
Amy spoke of her trips became Yu Qing‟s way of knowing the new environment, as the
mother wrote about her learning experience from her daughter in the journal:
Aside 5.3
How Did I Learn Fun in Toronto [Excerpt]
Amy was happy and spent a perfect summer holiday that year. She went to Toronto Zoo, CN
Tower, Rogers Center, and a lot of interesting places in that summertime. She came back and told me
about these places. … Amy told me about the Rogers Center used to be called as Sky Dome. It is a
domed stadium with an open-air roof. Do you know the Toronto Blue Jays? I did not know about it at
all until Amy told me.
For me, I learned Toronto from my daughter little by little. I hadn‟t known of most of interesting
places in Toronto until Amy told me, because I was under too much pressure to get a chance to know
those fun things around me.
Since then, I tried to register Amy in varied activities. While Amy participated in these activities,
she always came back home telling me a lot of interesting things. This helped me know more about
the Canadian society.
(Yu Qing‟s journal, March 4, 2006)
The information that Amy brought back home and the experience she shared opened a
window through which Yu Qing learned public settings in Toronto, and gained a sense of
connectedness with the new society. Such a moment-to-moment home learning experience
with her daughter motivated Yu Qing to look for more resources and opportunities for her
daughter thereafter. Her endeavors to seek resources for her child‟s participation in activities
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played a role in further developing her understanding of the new society as well as in
generating a series of active sharing activities between the mother and the child at home.
While Yu Qing made sense of social settings through listening to her daughter‟s
experience outside the family, Xiang Dong and Ming Fang gained an opportunity to directly
participate in local activities with the information and resources that their daughter collected
and brought home. In the family, June played an important role in pushing her parents to
learn and attend social activities. Ming Fang told me that June usually brought the
information of school events home and asked her to participate and offer voluntary help in
these activities. Ming Fang spoke positively about her voluntary experience at June‟s school:
明芳：
June 知道我天天在家找工作,时间比较灵活嘛。所以每次学校组织活动, June 就会告诉她的老师, 她的 mommy 有时间可以做volunteer。每次的活动都不一样。有时,在教室陪着孩子一起做手工,有时是 trip, 参观博物馆。挺有意思的…通过在 June 的学校里做volunteer, 我对学校也有了一定的了解, 尤其是这里学生的学习的情况。要是没有 June
叫我去做 voluntary parent,我就不会知道这些。而且,我想去了也是练习英文和学习的机会嘛。
(Interview excerpt: March 12, 2006)
Ming Fang:
June knew that I was searching for a job and so
stayed at home everyday. She thought that I had
flexible time. When there was a school event,
June approached to her teacher, saying that her
mommy was available to help, and would like
to be a volunteer. There were different events
from time to time. Sometimes, I helped children
to do a project in class. Occasionally, there was
a trip to museums. It was an interesting
experience to me. Through my voluntary
experience at June‟s school, I got a better
understanding of the school, in particular, how
children are taught at class. I would have no
chance to know this, without June‟s help. For
me, being a voluntary parent is also an
opportunity to practice and learn English.
(My literal translation)
Through the information that June brought home, Ming Fang gained a chance to offer
voluntary help at June‟s school, which stretched her everyday experience beyond home. The
varied activities that Ming Fang attended provided valuable opportunities for her to make
sense of and participate in school instructions. Moreover, the trips to public settings with the
class served her to get familiar with the new environment. While coming into school to work
alongside teachers, Ming Fang gained an opportunity to engage in spoken language
interactions in English with the teachers and children. This, as Ming Fang indicated, might
have potential to develop her communication skills in the dominant language in the long run.
During the municipal election period, June brought the election information home, and
shared with her parents what she learned in the class. In his diary entry, Xiang Dong recorded
that June brought home motivated him to look for further information about elections.
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Aside 5.4
Xiang Dong‟s Diary Entry: Election
November 8, 2006 (Wednesday)
In the dinner time, June told us that she learned something about election in Canada in the class
today. She said, “The Election Day is on November 13. You must vote that day. It is your rights and
duty.”
This is our first time to vote in Canada since we just became Canadian citizens this August. But, I
had little idea of who stands for what, and what they can do for us until June gave us some clue. She
told us what people in Liberal Party, Conservative Party, and NDP care about.
June brought us a flyer of election. There is a website on it. After dinner, I went to the website to
look for the detailed information about election because I want to know more before I vote.
Like Xiang Dong, Ming Fang reported that it was after June told her about the election that
she started collecting relevant resources about it through reading the newspapers, listening to
news, and searching for information on the Internet, saying, “I felt confused about the
political parties in Canada, and had no intention to vote until June delivered pieces of
knowledge of election to me in the home.” (Interview excerpt, November 16, 2006, my literal
translation).
There have been studies showing that a lack of English skills was the major obstacle for
immigrants in participating in political activities, such as voting, in Canadian society (e.g.,
Ginieniewicz, 2007). However, what Ming Fang and Xiang Dong said here suggested that
having limited information of structured political systems of the host country might be the
key reason that they lacked motivation for political participation. The piece of information
about the election that June brought to her parents raised the immigrant parents‟ interest in
exploring more knowledge of the social and political structures in the new society. As Ming
Fang and Xiang Dong reported, both of them spent time searching for further information
about the election and political parties in Canada after June introduced them to voting. Indeed,
the process of finding out where and how to get relevant information and resources they
needed can involve a variety of literacy activities in the home, with a consequence of
improving and better understanding structured systems, increasing social engagements and
connections with the broader community, and fostering citizenship of the new country.
5.2.3 Being an English Pal
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All participants had concerns about their non-standardized pronunciations or lack of
fluency in English in their speech. There existed a common sense among immigrant
participants that the ideal way in which they could purify their English pronunciations and
develop their oral communication skills in English was to have extended opportunities to
practice their speaking skills with native speakers of English, as well as to expose themselves
to an English-speaking context. Although all participants wished that school and workplace
could have provided such a language-learning environment, most of them reported that
whether studying at school or being employed in the workplace, they actually found limited
opportunity to get involved in mainstream or dominant cultural and linguistic practices (see
Chapters 6 and 8 for detailed information). In my study, there was strong evidence that
immigrant parents tended to look for an opportunity to learn English from their children
while participating in varied learning activities. Nonetheless, further analyses of the data
revealed the different patterns of this kind of learning practice, in relation to the ways that
they engaged in their child‟s education.
5.2.3.1 Immigrant Mothers: Reading with Child
Immigrant mothers, Yu Qing and Ming Fang, in the study reported that they participated
in their child‟s reading activity in the home. They said that doing the joint reading activities
with their child in the home provided them an opportunity to improve their language skills in
English.
Ming Fang kept a habit of reading with her daughter at the time when June became a first
grade student at an elementary school. As the school‟s requirement for the parent, Ming Fang
had to spend at least 20 minutes with June to read a book that the child borrowed from the
school‟s library everyday. For Ming Fang, reading children‟s books with her daughter was an
easy job, with the confidence of her literate skills in English. Nonetheless, Ming Fang
sometimes felt upset as she could not play a supportive role when her daughter asked her,
how to pronounce a particular word in English. Having awareness of the accent in her speech,
Ming Fang often told June, “Mom speaks English with accent. You had better to look it up in
the dictionary.” (Interview excerpt, February 23, 2006, my literal translation). Although she
hated speaking of this to her daughter, Ming Fang thought that this was the best way to avoid
misguiding her daughter. Later, in the daily parent-and-child reading time, Ming Fang asked
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June to read the storybook out loud for the purpose of improving her own English
pronunciations.
明芳：
June 的发音很标准。毕竟是在这边学校学的嘛。我每天有意识地让 June 朗读十分钟,这样我就可以听她的发音。和 June 读书也是为了有机会能够纠正我的发音。时间长了,也许别人听我说英文可能就不会感觉我有那么重的 accent 的了。
(Interview excerpt: February 23, 2006)
Ming Fang:
June speaks in English with pure pronunciations.
After all, she learns English at school here in
Canada. I often ask June to read aloud for ten
minutes everyday so that I can listen to how June
reads English words. So, reading with June is also
a time for me to check and refine my English
pronunciations. I hope that for the time being,
there would be no strong accent in my speech
when I speak in English.
(My literal translation)
Like Ming Fang, Yu Qing turned the reading time with her daughter to her own purpose
of refining her English pronunciations. Yu Qing gained much time taking care of her
daughter‟s schoolwork after her family moved to Waterloo from Toronto in May 2006. As
required by the school teacher, Amy borrowed one book from her school‟s library, and
brought it home to read everyday. For Yu Qing, reading with Amy created language-learning
opportunities that refined her English pronunciations with reference to Amy‟s as a standard.
雨晴： 我现在是和 Amy 同步学英文。经常是 Amy
读, 我注意听她的发音。她的发音是相当的准确,已经是和 native speaker 一样了。每天我都会让 Amy 朗读一段时间,我就暗地纠正我的发音。有时, 我会主动念一段给 Amy 听。可是, Amy 总会对我说,“妈妈你不要念了,你念得很难听。你的舌头和嘴唇到底怎么了?”
(Interview excerpt: May 27, 2006)
Yu Qing:
I am learning English with Amy. I often ask Amy
to read aloud the book. So I can listen to her
pronunciation. Amy speaks English with standard
pronunciations, same as a native speaker does.
Everyday, I asked Amy to read aloud for minutes.
While listening to her pronunciations, I corrected
mine, secretly. Sometimes, I read a passage to
Amy. But, Amy always spoke to me, “Mom, don‟t
read. Your pronunciation sounds terrible. What is
wrong with your tongue and lips?”
(My literal translation)
Yu Qing‟s and Ming Fang‟s narrations demonstrated how immigrant parents took
advantage of the reading time with their child for their own purpose of standardizing their
English pronunciations while following and supporting their child‟s literacy development.
Different from those studies that described immigrant mothers with limited literacy skills in
their mother tongue or English (e.g., Blackledge, 2000), Yu Qing and Ming Fang were
confident of their English literacy competence in facilitating their child‟s reading activities in
the home. Nonetheless, like most Chinese immigrants, Yu Qing and Ming Fang kept their
awareness of the accents in their English speech. While supporting their child‟s language
127
learning activity, they were concerned that their non-standardized English pronunciations
might produce interference in their child‟s dominant language development. In this respect,
both mothers saw themselves as an illegitimate English speaker and so unqualified English
model for their child.
Bearing this awareness in mind, immigrant mothers played dual roles in participating in
the joint reading activity while taking into account the strengths and weaknesses of their
existing institutional language skills. As a mother, they made use of their English literacy
competence, and took an active role in fostering children‟s reading habits and developing
their literacy skills. In the meantime, positioning themselves as a language learner, they
considered their child as their model with an accessible linguistic resource that could help
refine their specific language skills in English. Integrating this learning goal into the joint
reading activity, both Yu Qing and Ming Fang employed the strategy that they asked their
child to oral read their storybooks so that they could gain an opportunity to listen and imitate
how the child read an English word, according to which they made corrections on their own
English pronunciations.
Nonetheless, the above examples showed that the mothers did not explicate their purpose
of learning to their child who was asked to oral read storybooks as modeling their
pronunciations for immigrant mothers. One possible consequence that the mothers hid their
learning goal from their child was that young children might resist doing the oral reading
activity when they gained literacy skills and liked to enjoy reading themselves. One example
which was pointed out by Ming Fang was that June sometimes refused to oral read her
storybooks even though her mother asked, in cases where June enjoyed her storybook and
said that reading aloud was not a real reading practice. When asked why they intended to
cover their learning purpose while reading with their child, Yu Qing and Ming Fang gave the
same reason that they would feel powerless and upset if their child thought that their mother
cannot speak good English. As Yu Qing said, she felt ashamed when her daughter spoke to
her, “Mom, don‟t read. Your pronunciation sounds terrible. What is wrong with your tongue
and lips?”
5.2.3.2 Immigrant Fathers: Speaking English with Child
In the two immigrant families, fathers, Xiang Dong and Jia Wei, had no direct
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involvement in their child‟s English language learning in the home. They presented different
forms of participation in their child‟s education. For example, Jia Wei acted as an active
supporter for his child to learn and maintain Chinese language and cultural heritage. Drawing
on his own experience of learning Chinese in the home country, he copied the formal and
strict instructions that he had received, and played an authoritative role in the process of
home language study. Xiang Dong was keen to identify opportunities for his child to attend
varied after-school activities, instead of deliberately participating in his daughter‟s
schoolwork and home learning activity. Despite the difference in their participation in the
child‟s education, both Jia Wei and Xiang Dong showed a similarity in that they took
advantage of their participation in their child‟s learning activity, aiming to gain extended
possibilities for sustaining as well as further developing their spoken language skills in
English.
For example, throughout one year, Xiang Dong registered varied children‟s programs for
June to attend after the school, and was interested in participating in a parent-and-child
program, such as family swimming and skating activities with his daughter on weekends. For
Xiang Dong, attending these family activities provided an opportunity for him to gain a
cultural and language experience, as opposed to the limited opportunity available to him at
the workplace.
项东： 一天到晚,除了埋头工作哪有机会和同事说英文。大家都忙自己的工作嘛。平时只有通过跟 June 参与一些活动才会有机会用英文交流。这也是我跟着孩子学习的一个机会。我经常注意她是怎么与别人用英文沟通的。
(Interview excerpt: October 21, 2006)
Xiang Dong:
Except for working all day long, I had little
chance to speak in English with my colleagues in
the company. Everybody was busy working on
their own projects. I might have opportunities to
speak English with people when I attended an
after-school activity with June. I learned English
from my child by paying attention to how she
communicated with others in English.
(My literal translation)
Xiang Dong worked as a computer programmer in a privately owned company in the east
of Toronto. The work was intense since he was always assigned to carry out one project after
another, and spent almost a whole day working in front of a computer, without having much
time talking to his colleagues. With full-time employment, Xiang Dong found that his routine
of driving between work and home gave him little chance to have social connections after
work, let alone to practice his spoken language in English. For Xiang Dong, his participation
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in June‟s after-school activity allowed him to get involved in an English-speaking venue,
where he discovered a learning moment to observe and listen to how people carried out an
effective communication in English in a real life scene. To his mind, what he learned in
interactive exchanges in a communication setting might play a role in refining his English in
a communication context.
While Xiang Dong was interested in attending after-school activities for seeking an
opportunity for language and social contacts, his daughter‟s learning resources provided him
with an English learning opportunity in the home. On Fridays after his work, Xiang Dong
always drove his family to the public library in the neighborhood, and let June choose her
favorite children‟s books and films on DVD herself. Xiang Dong never borrowed a book
from the library, but enjoyed watching the children‟s films with his daughter together at
home.
项东： 我们的英文都是从书本上学的。真正到了生活中就不会用了。你说小孩子为什么学英文那么快? 他们都是在生活中学的。很自然的环境。和 June 一起看动画片也是学习英文嘛。这样,我也有机会和 June 用英文对对话。
(Interview excerpt: October 21, 2006)
Xiang Dong:
In China, we had learned English from
textbooks. But, we don‟t know how to apply
our language skills to a real life context. Do you
know why children learn English quickly? They
learn the language in their everyday activities in
a very natural language context. Watching a
cartoon film with June is my way of learning
English in the everyday life. So, I could have an
opportunity to speak English with June.
(My literal translation)
Like most of my participants, Xiang Dong realized that his English language skills obtained
in China could not be directly transferred to a real life context in the host country. Aware of
this limitation, Xiang Dong secured a natural English-speaking environment, by watching
children‟s films with his daughter. In the process of film watching, both Xiang Dong and his
daughter carried out a range of verbal exchanges in English around the plot of the story
during and after the show, in need of each other‟s help for clarification from time to time.
This provided a learning moment for Xiang Dong to practice his spoken language skills in
English. In this sense, a zone of safety for using the dominant language was created for Xiang
Dong who had no worry about the exposure of his language weakness to his child. As he said,
“I sometimes asked June to explain what the characters said when I missed the clue. I think it
is fine because it always happens when people watch a film” (Interview excerpt, October 21,
130
2006, my literal translation).
Similar to Xiang Dong, Jia Wei attempted to improve his oral communication skills in
English through speaking English with his daughter in the home. In the family, Jia Wei and
his wife, Yu Qing shared the responsibilities for Amy‟s education. In Jia Wei‟s words, he had
obligations to maintain a Chinese school system, while Yu Qing was responsible for
incorporating with a Canadian one in the family. Sharing their responsibilities for their child‟s
education, as Jia Wei thought, was the best way to make good use of their language skills
either in Chinese or in English. To his mind, Yu Qing‟s formal literate skills in English were
helpful to Amy‟s reading, while his literary knowledge of Chinese could support the child to
make a strong linkage with her home language. For Jia Wei, English was always Amy‟s
second language even though his daughter was immersed in the English language context
most of time since the child started schooling. While having no worry that Amy acquired
language and literacy skills in English, Jia Wei was concerned that her daughter lacked
motivation in learning Chinese, saying, “When I taught Amy Chinese, she usually asked me,
„Dad, why you want to teach me Chinese? Why don‟t you teach me English?‟” (Interview
excerpt, February 15, 2006, my literal translation). Despite his emphasis on Chinese language
learning at home, it was the father who usually initiated an English conversation with his
daughter at home. The following excerpt indicated that speaking English with Amy provided
Jia Wei with an accessible opportunity to practice his oral communication skills in English
everyday.
嘉伟： 现在除了到学校上学,很少说英文。周围接触的都是中国同学嘛。很少能有机会与本地的老师和同学交流。所以想这时间长了, 口语肯定就不行了。唯一说英文的机会就是在家的时候,我能经常和 Amy 用英文对对话。
(Interview excerpt: March 23, 2006)
Jia Wei:
Except for going to school everyday, I had no
chance to speak in English. In fact, I had
frequent contact with my fellow Chinese
students around me, but had limited opportunity
to interact with instructors and students who
could speak in English with me. So, I am
concerned about my spoken language. The only
chance that I can practice my English is that
when Amy and I stayed at home, I frequently
talked with her in English.
(My literal translation)
Jia Wei expected that his spoken language skills in English could be further improved
through his study at college. However, his narration indicated that he felt linguistically
isolated, with slim chance to have connection with people other than his fellow Chinese
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students at school. Similar to Xiang Dong, Jia Wei became worried about the possibility for
further improving his spoken language, because of limited social and linguistic contact, even
though he studied in an English-speaking context. Under this circumstance, Jia Wei took
advantage of his daughter‟s linguistic resources in the home, as a way of looking for extended
possibilities for sustaining as well as further developing his spoken language skills in a real
contextual situation.
Speaking English with his daughter became Jia Wei‟s habitual language practice in the
home while he maintained a structural routine of teaching Chinese language to the child. In
both language contexts, Jia Wei worked as an active operator in charge of Chinese and
English exchanges which emerged from impromptu dialogues between him and his daughter.
Viewed as Master Chinese teacher by Amy, Jia Wei acted as a stern father, and held his
parental authority firmly in the home language study. In the meantime, Jia Wei saw his
daughter as his English pal whose dominant language resources were useful for him to attain
his learning goal and to secure a safe zone for speaking English, as he gained a chance to
exercise his existing language skills through daily conversations in English with the child.
To sum up, the above stories revealed patterns that enabled immigrant parents to grasp an
opportunity to improve their institutional language skills, while participating in their
children‟s education and home learning activities. The participants‟ narrations showed that
they considered their children as their English pal who provided accessible linguistic
resources in support of their goals of learning English. Taking advantage of family reading
activities, two immigrant mothers usually asked their children to read aloud the story, so that
they had a chance to imitate their children‟s English pronunciations. Fathers operated their
learning activities in an informal way so that their intention of learning was not easily noticed
by their children. Jia Wei secured his parental authority firmly through teaching his child
Chinese language everyday in the home, while Xiang Dong exercised his interaction skills
through getting involved in his daughter‟s after-school activities and watching children‟s
films with the child.
Nonetheless, immigrant parents tended to hide their learning purpose from their children,
for fear of losing their parental authority in their children‟s eyes. Their need to hide their
learning intentions revealed the intricacy involving immigrant parents in learning English
from their children, in relation both to mutual support and engagement in the process of
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making adjustment to the new language context. They had to cope with power structures in
which immigrant households played out and intersected with the institutional ideology of
language and literacy that occupied home space. In the following sections, I address the
dilemmas that the participants faced in the home learning activity, showing how the
institutional ideology of language and literacy shaped and penetrated people‟s everyday lives.
5.3 Through the Eyes of Children
5.3.1 Dilemma 1: English Proficiency and Parental Authority
In my study, immigrant parents reported that often their parental authority was challenged
when they checked their child‟s homework. The dilemma that immigrant parents faced was
that while they made efforts to support their children‟s learning activities in the home as
required in the discourse of schooling, young children showed their disagreement and distrust
of the parents‟ English capabilities when the parent made suggestions about the child‟s
homework.
Yu Qing told the story that she checked Amy‟s English homework, and found that the
child used “he” and “his” in a wrong place in the sentence. The error was a simple one and
easily recognized by Yu Qing who was confident of her literate and grammatical skills in
English. However, she found it difficult to turn her language knowledge into a voice of
authority when she gave suggestions as to the use of the dominant language to her daughter.
Although Yu Qing attempted to grapple with her authority by telling her daughter, “Mom had
learned English for many years. I am pretty sure this is a grammatical error. You should make
it correct” (Interview excerpt, December 17, 2006, my literal translation), the child refused to
follow her mother‟s suggestion and said that she would wait till she asked for her teacher ‟s
judgment in the class next day. Reflecting on the unsuccessful negotiation with her daughter,
Yu Qing said, “Amy must think, what I said to her was wrong because in her mind, my
English is bad. Of course, compared with her teacher, I have no authority of giving her
suggestions in terms of English” (Interview excerpt, October 12, 2006, my literal translation).
Yu Qing was acutely aware that there existed an assumption hidden in her daughter‟s mind,
as she said, “I was categorized as the one who speaks poor English” (Interview excerpt, June
10, 2006, my literal translation).
Similarly, June thought Ming Fang spoke poor English even though it was her mother
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who took care of her education, such as doing shared reading activity with her, checking her
homework, helping her to study for tests, and attending the parent‟s meeting. During the time
period of being unemployed, Ming Fang became worried that she immersed herself too much
into a Chinese context, and so had little chance to speak English. Like Jia Wei, Ming Fang
attempted to initiate an English conversation with June at home, in an attempt to identify an
opportunity of speaking English. Often, June spoke in Chinese in response, as Ming Fang
said, “June seldom speaks in English with me. I know that she must think that my English is
not good.” Once a while, June switched from Chinese to English in her speech because as
Ming Fang explained, the child might have difficulty in expressing her meanings in Chinese.
Ming Fang felt embarrassed when June called and told her grandmother in China, saying,
“My mom cannot find a job here because she does not speak English well” (Interview excerpt,
March 17, 2006, my literal translation). Viewed as a mother with “English impoverished,”
Ming Fang found it difficult to discipline June since the child started her study at the 3rd
Grade.
Soon after a new term began in the fall of 2006, Ming Fang received a letter from June‟s
teacher who invited parents to attend a one-day family literacy workshop at school. For Ming
Fang, the invitation letter arrived at the right time because having a busy work schedule and
limited involvement in her daughter‟s schoolwork over the past six months, Ming Fang was
worried about June‟s academic progress at school. With this concern in her mind, Ming Fang
expected that the family literacy workshop would provide her with support to resume her
participation in June‟s schoolwork.
The one-day family literacy workshop emphasized the importance of parent‟s
involvement in fostering young children‟s good reading habits and developing basic literacy
skills. At the workshop, Ming Fang learned concrete techniques and methods that helped to
carry out reading activities with children at home, for example through asking a set of “wh”
questions, in order to check the child‟s reading comprehension and reinforce language skills.
Ming Fang was glad that she attended the workshop where she was trained how to take up
parental responsibility effectively for her daughter‟s schoolwork. Equipped with practical
guidelines for supporting children‟s reading activity at home, Ming Fang thought that she was
ready for tutoring her daughter to read. In the journal, Ming Fang described that her effort to
“copy” the institutional ways of supporting children‟s literacy activities in the home, however,
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resulted in a stressful interaction between June and her, and thereby made it difficult to
sustain the parent-and-child reading activity thereafter.
Aside 5.5
Home Literacy Workshop (Excerpt)
…
The next day, I tried to copy what I learned at the home literacy workshop. Read together with
my daughter and listen to my daughter read aloud. I ask who, what, where, when questions to help my
daughter understand the story. But it didn‟t work. When I pointed out June gave a wrong answer, she
often disagreed with me and said, “It doesn‟t make sense.” When I insisted my answer was right, June
became inpatient and said to me, “You don‟t know English. You just know Chinese. You even don‟t
speak good English.”
I said to my daughter, “Even I can‟t speak good English. I can understand what the story is about
and the meanings of sentences. I can help you understand.” “I don‟t believe in you.” June said and
made a face to me.
At last, I had to give up. I said to my daughter, “If you like, we continue to read together. If you
don‟t like, we stop. We don‟t read together again. Okay?” My daughter didn‟t say anything. Since
then, we didn‟t say anything about reading together.
(Ming Fang‟s journal, September 18, 2006)
As Ming Fang described in the journal, there was disagreement between the mother and
child on who had adequate language abilities in comprehending the story, a conflict which
became the obstacle that prevented the mother from carrying out a shared reading activity
with her daughter at home. Clearly, the child thought that her mother was not a qualified
speaker of English (“You don‟t know English. You just know Chinese. You even don‟t speak
good English.”), and so had inadequate language abilities in understanding the story in a
correct way (“It doesn‟t make sense.”). On the contrary, Ming Fang held a different view of
her own language abilities in English from June. By indicating the strength and weakness of
her dominant language skills (“Even I can‟t speak good English. I can understand what the
story is about and the meanings of sentences. I can help you understand.”), the mother
attempted to hold her parental authority in the way that she insisted on her supportive role in
the child‟s reading practice. However, June distrusted Ming Fang‟s strengths in literate
competencies that could facilitate her in comprehending the story, by speaking to her mother,
“I don‟t believe in you.” In this way, June perceived the insufficiency of speaking skills in
English as the evidence that her mother‟s literate abilities were invalid, and thereby made the
joint learning activity hard to proceed with.
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In such a situation, Ming Fang confronted a dilemma: although she saw the importance of
parental participation in the child‟s home reading activities, she was not granted the authority
of giving support by her daughter who thought that her mother was not able to speak English
well. The dilemma that Ming Fang faced implied the complexity of the parent-and-child
reading activity in the immigrant home, which obviously was not taken into account in the
family literacy workshop at school.
The family literacy program like the one that Ming Fang attended emphasized a
commonly held view that the parent‟s role was to transmit literacy skills to the child. The
unilateral parent-to-child literacy assistance aimed to reproduce the standard ways of
delivering a school-like instructional activity in the home environment. For example, Ming
Fang described that she was trained to raise “wh” questions to check the child‟s reading
comprehension. Evidently, there was a gap between the rhetorical assumption of such a
family literacy activity and the reality of doing reading practices between the parent and child
in the home. In uncovering the underlying reason for the existence of the gap, many
researchers (e.g., Auerbach, 1989, 1995, 2001; Barton & Hamilton, 1998; Street, 1997)
pointed out that the idea of family literacy has been incorporated into a discourse of blaming,
without giving attention to the role of socio-cultural factors that determined the nature of the
home reading activities. In this discourse, working class and minority adults are often seen as
uninvolved or not interested in their children‟s education (Rogers, 2004). In particular,
parents with ethnolinguistic backgrounds are stereotyped as people who provide limited
support for their children‟s schoolwork and literacy development in English, because of their
insufficient dominant language skills.
While Ming Fang‟s case supported the argument, it further revealed that the idea of
family literacy penetrated the dominant ideology of language into the home context by
placing emphasis on the standards of the dominant language of English in school-like
instructional activities in the home context. In this way, immigrant parents‟ English abilities
gained in the home country were judged as “non-standardized” as well as deficits, rather than
being associated with legitimacy and authority in support of the home reading activity, as
pointed out by their children.
While Ming Fang demonstrated her strong proficiencies in using her literate skills in
English in her day-to-day activities, her strengths were not recognized as credit in the eyes of
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her daughter. In immigrant families, the fact that the children‟s English proficiency, in
particular oral skills might be more developed and fluent than the parents‟, often led to
complicated role relationships between parents and children. That is, children challenged the
authority of their parents through judging their parents‟ linguistic abilities in the dominant
language of English. As a result, immigrant parents might feel that respect for them was
undermined. Ming Fang‟s dilemma in reading with her child in the home provided a clear
example of how formative orality was of the judgments as well as how this situation caused
stressful interactions between the mother and child, through material and symbolic exchanges
in the shared reading activity which was imbued with the dominant ideology of schooling.
5.3.2 Dilemma 2: Language Access and Transfer
The participants‟ learning activities in the home revealed the innovative ways that they
followed to have access to resources through their children. Knowing that strong proficiency
in English resulted in cultural adaptation and socio-economic benefits, the participants
desired to learn socially accepted norms of the dominant language from and through their
child, when they failed to gain access to the dominant linguistic and cultural resources in
other social discourses. In this way, learning from young children was of crucial importance
in the process of immigrants socializing into the new environment, as the parents expected
that such a learning activity would generate positive effects on further developing their
dominant language skills as well as on supporting their social interactions with others in the
dominant language of English beyond the home context. However, the following quote from
Jia Wei indicated that, even though young children in the immigrant family provided their
parents with access to exercise their institutional language skills, immigrants might be
entrapped within their learning practices in the home in that they found it hard to transfer
their language gains from the home to other social discourses.
嘉伟： 我在家与 Amy 说英文也没觉得自己有什么语音语法的毛病。其实 Amy 说英文很快,刚开始对我也是个 challenge。但是,不知道为什么在单位里跟同事说话他们有时会听不明白。我也听不出我的发音和他们的有什么不一样呀。关键的是我一和 chef
说话就结结巴巴的。总是 nervous 自己会出错。所以我现在与 Amy 说英文主要是注意她的发音和怎么用简单的词表达一个意思。(Interview excerpt: November 11, 2006)
Jia Wei:
When I spoke in English with Amy, I didn‟t feel I
had problems with my pronunciations and
grammar. In fact, Amy speaks English fast. In the
beginning, this was a little challenge for me. But,
I had no idea of why sometimes my colleagues
could not understand when I spoke in English to
them. I could not tell the difference between my
pronunciations and theirs. The worse thing was
that I could not speak in English fluently when I
spoke to my chef. I am always worried that I
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make errors in my speech. So, when I had an
English conversation with Amy, I paid attention to
her pronunciations, in particular, how she can
express herself in a simple and concise way.
(My literal translation)
Like other participants in the study, Jia Wei desired that he could speak fluent English and
had English conversations with others without difficulty. Even though he had limited
opportunity to develop further his oral communication skills at Metrolinx College3 (see
Chapter 6 of this dissertation), he felt ease that he made up for this lack by keeping the daily
routine of having English conversations with his daughter in the home. Jia Wei hoped that his
persistence in learning English from his daughter would eventually reward him by enabling
him to speak pure English with standardized pronunciations. To his mind, people would be
willing to communicate with him if he had no language problem in his speech. While
speaking English with the child at home might be his coping device for making language
adaptation, the above excerpt seemed to place a doubt on the effectiveness of Jia Wei‟s
strategy.
In fact, Jia Wei showed his positive attitudes towards his learning practice with his
daughter and demonstrated his confidence in his dominant language skills, as shown at the
beginning of the excerpt (“When I spoke in English with Amy, I didn‟t feel I had problems
with my pronunciations and grammar. In fact, Amy speaks English fast. In the beginning, this
was a little challenge for me”). However, in comparison with his language experience with
Amy, Jia Wei felt upset that his pronunciations were sometimes considered as interference in
keeping a routine communication in the workplace. His sensibility to his non-standard
pronunciation in the speech caused his nervousness when he talked with his chef. Jia Wei
attributed his nervousness to his English skills failing to match up to the standards of the
institutional language.
In remedying the situation, Jia Wei showed his consistent reliance on his daughter whom
he viewed as a supportive agent with accessible resources that he could draw on. For Jia Wei,
this was a reliable and safe measure that served him in tackling the specific linguistic
challenge by focusing on standard pronunciations and short and simple speech, a strategic
way that he employed to bridge the linguistic gap that he encountered in social interactions
3 College and workplace names are pseudonyms.
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with people (“So, when I have an English conversation with Amy, I pay attention to her
pronunciations, and how she can express herself in a simple and concise way”).
In a sense, Jia Wei was entrapped in a dilemma: even though he spoke English with his
daughter aiming at standardizing his pronunciations, he found it hard to get what he gained in
the home recognized by his colleagues at work. This implied that the mismatch or gap
between the effort that he made to develop his spoken language skills in English and its
perceived value and usefulness when he extended his linguistic abilities across the borderland
of social discourses, such as home, school, and workplace, existed and remained wider than
he expected.
5.4 Summary
In this chapter, I have illustrated how family members‟ English proficiency structured
household responsibilities for dealing with new language and literacy demands in their
everyday lives. Skill sharing and brokering practice were the two strategies that spouses
created in their synergetic efforts to handle institutional language demands and solve
problems. The use of the strategies reflected the immigrants‟ awareness of the critical
relationship between their existing institutional language skills configured as “resources” and
the language and literacy demands in particular bureaucratic tasks as they participated in the
activity. In this way, support and exchange of skills were prompted by the immigrants‟
practical needs, involving the mixture of motives for learning the unknown and dealing with
linguistic and cultural differences in a given social setting.
The further analysis of the patterned family responsibilities in the immigrant household
revealed that although the division of family obligations was determined by English
proficiency, the ways of offering language support varied across immigrant families,
regarding different modes of communications, and formal and informal ways of knowing.
This led to my argument that English proficiency should not be taken as the factor that judged
who would effectively adapt to the host society. Rather, it endowed immigrants with different
approaches to learning and performing across the boundaries of the social negotiation of
meanings.
The data in my study revealed that immigrant parents acquired language and cultural
familiarity by drawing upon varied resources from their children who played an active role as
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guiding lights in facilitating their parents to know the wider social discourses in the host
country. In particular, learning from and through their children was the discursive strategy
that immigrants employed to make sense of the new environment, fulfill their immediate
communication needs, and secure an English-speaking context when children took multiple
roles, such as a language helper, information carrier, and English pal. This finding appeared
to be similar to the notion of “legitimate peripheral participation,” as defined by Lave and
Wenger (1991). That is, it was in the process of being “legitimately peripheral” that
immigrant newcomers created their own ways to identify opportunities for learning ways,
values, and resources that would influence their membership in a particular community of
practice. In this chapter, we see how these goals can be achieved through exchange of skills
and mutual support between spouses and between immigrant parents and their children,
integrating varied problem solving and language-learning activities in the home.
In bringing the strategies together that immigrants developed in networks of support
within the family, I found that learning and making use of the institutional language were
usually integrated, through the interplay of oral and literate skills. In particular, the
participants‟ literacy skills in English had an important role to play in carrying out
government bureaucratic practices and having access to information and material resources
about the social systems by means of their multimodal literacy practices (such as newspaper,
internet, and DVD films). In addition, there were several examples showing that the
participants‟ reading practices supported them in joining in communications with others in an
effective way. Ming Fang kept a habit of reading news on the Internet. The information she
gained became a useful source for her to pick up talking moments with her neighbors in a
comfortable way. Jia Wei learned the local social systems through making use of his reading
abilities in English. His sense of learning this local knowledge changed his ways of seeing
himself as well as of participating in his daughter‟s school activity. These findings affirmed
the participants‟ ability to take advantage of their linguistic expertise and so reflected their
desire for getting things done effectively in different circumstances. It also suggested multiple
ways in which immigrants engaged in sense making and social participation through their
literacy and cultural practices.
Within the interplay of oral and literacy practices in the complex adaptation processes,
material resources played a particularly important role in making the interconnectedness of
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speaking, reading and writing English across time and space. A good example of this was that
Ming Fang kept two notebooks herself recording her learning activities and the information
useful to her future need. In this respect, Ming Fang‟s notebooks played a role in creating
bridges between learning and practice, and between home and other life domains. This
finding corresponded to the point suggested by Appleby and Hamilton (2006) who
emphasized that literacy artifacts are “effective social agents in trans-contextualizing work”
(p. 205). In immigrants‟ settlement experiences, such a literacy artifact acted as an assistant in
helping immigrant newcomers to form the nexus with multiple social discourses in the host
society, thereby resulting in self-management and control over different circumstances.
My data highlighted the fact that the home-support network did not work unidirectionally,
but existed for people who relied on reciprocal practices in carrying out their everyday
activities. At this point, it should be noted that while the division of linguistic labors among
family members might strengthen family ties, language-mattered home responsibility
influenced the role relationships between husband and wife, and between parents and
children in the immigrant household, and resulted in some forms of inequality and sometimes
conflicts related to gender and parent authority. While having a close examination of my data
across the two immigrant households, I found that both Yu Qing and Ming Fang were
identified by husband and child as the family members who had weak English proficiency
and spoke inferior English even though the two immigrant women took care of varied literacy
tasks of their households. As such, Yu Qing and Ming Fang frequently confronted with their
children‟s distrust of their language abilities even thought the two mothers contributed their
time and effort to participating in their children‟s education.
In this study, we see that the underlying reason for affecting their roles in the family
might be related to the division between orality and literacy, and formative orality is often of
judgments. Neither Yu Qing nor Ming Fang spoke for their family whereas Jia Wei and Xiang
Dong took responsibilities for handling oral interactions with others. Although the
participants employed both oral and literate discursive strategies within the network of
support, it seemed that speaking for the family might play a role in the assertion of authority
in the household. This finding reflected the nuanced relationship between orality and literacy,
in association with sets of role relationships among family members in the Chinese
immigrant household. This analysis was different from the common sense supported in
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traditional literacy studies which emphasize the privileging of literacy over oral language in
multiple life domains.
Like most Chinese immigrants, my participants had a major concern about their speaking
skills in English, and they kept this concern with them over time even though they
acknowledged that their oral communication skills improved after many years of residence in
Canada. Among the participants, speaking pure and fluent English was the most frequently
mentioned objective, associated with their upward economic mobility and cultural integration
into the new society. In fact, in the early interview meetings, the participants mentioned little
about the usefulness of literacy in their settlement lives in Canada. Some of them showed
little awareness of the role their literate skills in English played in supporting them to tackle
language demands in the communication context unless I asked them to identify this kind of
language advantage.
The emphasis on the oral communication skills in the institutional language also formed
the participants‟ learning practices in the home space. My data (see Sections 5.2.3.1 and
5.2.3.2) provided a set of examples showing that immigrant parents tended to standardize
their spoken language while participating in their children‟s varied learning activities to
support their purposeful and active practice of seeking access to particular linguistic capital.
It appeared that even in the process of the negotiation of access within the home context, the
role relationships among family members might be intensified at the time when different
points of view of language and literacy clashed, and when a set of ideological relationships to
language and literacy shaped and interfered with the reciprocity they had with one another.
This tension made families sources of support and sites of inequality and conflict
simultaneously. It implied that linguistic collaboration and synergetic practices among family
members did not always generate home support, when people‟s language and literacy were
reified and construed within the dominant ideology of schooling and language, for example,
the influence of ideology was illustrated in the case of Ming Fang whose language strengths
were devalued and misrecognized by her daughter in the home reading activity. The difficulty
in transferring linguistic gains across many different contexts, as shown in Jia Wei‟s case,
raised the question: whether the participants‟ engagement in language and literacy would
endow them with access to resources and recognition within the wider context of institutional
purposes and power relationships. With this question in mind, I shall track down the
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participants‟ journeys of seeking opportunities to get into the new labor market, as shown in
Chapters 6, 7, and 8 in this dissertation.
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Chapter 6
From LINC and ESL Programs to the Community College:
Language and Literacy in a “Transient Zone”
My participants all had in common the experience of going to LINC/ESL schools (either
by choice or by referral) and most subsequently enrolled in a post-secondary institution since
their arrival in Canada (see Table 6.1). It appeared that gaining local schooling experiences
was the linchpin as they maneuvered into the new society, in particular, the Canadian labor
market. Nonetheless, given that all participants had already received tertiary education prior
to coming to Canada, and that most independent applicants had an initial plan to find a job
right after they arrived, in order to ensure the economic stability of their family lives in the
host country, a set of questions emerged: why did they decide to go to school, what were their
particular desires, goals, or motives at the time when they entered into the school, and what
did they gain, or not gain, from their schooling experiences? These were the guiding
questions I attempted to answer as I traced my participants‟ educational trajectories from
LINC/ESL programs to a post-secondary school. In order to investigate these questions, I
shall first provide some contextual information, focusing on the stated goals of the LINC/ESL
programs that influence the lived experiences of the participants in my study.
6.1 Getting into LINC and ESL Programs
6.1.1 The Institutional Stance
Having insufficient English abilities has been seen as a major barrier for immigrants to
gaining access to employment. Canadian governments have demonstrated an explicit concern
for the issue and claimed their obligation to provide language training programs for
newcomers to remedy the deficit. As part of settlement services funded by Citizenship and
Immigration of Canada, LINC programs are open to landed immigrants and refugees who are
identified as people with insufficient competences in English or French. ESL adult programs
fall into the provincial jurisdiction. The governments distribute funding to community
agencies, school boards, and colleges who compete for annual contracts. Unlike LINC
programs that provide free language training courses and daycare services for students, ESL
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Table 6.1 Participants‟ Educational Trajectories in the Settlement Period in Toronto
Independent Applicant Xiang Dong Yu Qing Li Tao Ye Lan
Dependent Applicant Ming Fang Jia Wei Jian Hui
LINC
√ √ √ √
√ √ √
ESL
√ √ √
Co-op
√
College
√ √ √
University
√ √
Notes: √ indicates the educational institutions that the participants went to in the early settlement period.
145
programs provide no such settlement services, but charge between $20 and $70 for an
eight-week course. Nonetheless, both LINC and ESL classes are well attended among
immigrant newcomers because of their accessibility across residential districts in urban areas.
Although LINC and ESL programs are administered by the federal and provincial
governments respectively, they share two common characteristics. First, both LINC and ESL
programs use the standards of the Canadian Language Benchmarks1 (CLB) to evaluate
incoming students‟ language proficiency for the placement purpose. The CLB is also
designed to assess the learners “progress” at the end of each eight-week session and to
“prove” that they are ready to continue the higher level study. The design of the Benchmarks
is based on the assumption that incoming students can be placed at “appropriate” class levels
where they can systematically develop their oral and literacy proficiency in English and move
toward the higher class levels signifying their language improvement.
However, whether student language proficiencies can be accurately documented through
the CLB is problematic. When I worked as part-time office clerk at an ESL school of the
Toronto District School Board between 2003-2004, I had a few conversations with the ESL
program Director and assessor about the reliability of the Benchmarks to place the students
on a “right” level class, taking into account constraints of time and a continual influx of large
numbers of linguistically and ethnically diverse students. Both the Director and assessor
seemed to recognize that the standardized assessment was not an entirely accurate indicator
of a student‟s oral and literacy proficiency in English even though they tried to make the
process as uniform and “fair” as possible. However, they told me that the Benchmarks was
the only mechanism available to them for sorting and managing large numbers of incoming
students in the most institutionally efficient way. Although inappropriate placement might
happen and usually result in students‟ request for transferring from one level class to another,
the Director stated that there was no transfer allowed upon the placement test, according to
the school policy.
1 The Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) was executed in 2000. The document contains a 12-benchmark
descriptive scale measuring communicative proficiency in English as a Second Language (ESL) or French as a
Second Language (FSL). Each of the 12 benchmarks has descriptions of communicative competencies and
performance tasks to enable the assessment of linguistic, textual, functional, and sociocultural competencies.
The CLB is increasingly being used in government-funded program development and learner assessment and
evaluation across the country (Pawlikowska-Smith, 2005).
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Both the participants in the study and the Chinese immigrants I had talked to at the ESL
school viewed the placement assessment as inaccurate indicators of their English proficiency.
Most of them complained that they had no chance to demonstrate their true English proficiency
because their lack of experience of having a face-to-face oral proficiency test in English
usually made them feel nervous and anxious while sitting in front of the assessor. Nonetheless,
they thought that the assessment was a necessary hoop for them to get into the language
training program, the first step for them to get an opportunity to move toward the next phase of
their lives in Canadian society.
In fact, the participants had their awareness that the placement assessment would result in
the distinction between high- and low-status students within the school. In LINC and ESL
programs, English literacy classes are offered, but separated from the regular language classes.
Those who have weak reading and writing competencies in the dominant language are usually
required to sit in the literacy class in the first place.
According to my knowledge, none of the recent Chinese immigrants were placed in the
literacy class. Most participants in my study were placed on the above-intermediate level (level
5 or level 6) of the regular class. They thought that the classes with advanced placement
signified their good English competencies. Some participants, like Ming Fang and Yu Qing,
started the level 3 or level 4 class and said that the differing class levels were “like a ladder.
Your English would be better when you climb up step by step.”
Because of the relationship of the placement assessment to such a class-level arrangement,
several participants described the literacy class in LINC and ESL programs as “an English
concentration camp” designed for refugees, a group of people who were usually identified with
no sufficient literacy skills in their mother tongue and the dominant language of English, and
so they had no qualification for taking the regular language classes. John, Jian Hui‟s ESL
teacher on level 4, shared a similar view with me when we met and worked for the same ESL
school in May 2003:
The students I am teaching are different from the ones I taught many years ago. They
have got a good foundation, you know, good reading skills and grammar knowledge.
What they need to learn is how to speak English fluently, you know … Anyhow, they
are better than the students in the literacy class. Those people placed in the literacy
class know nothing about English at all. (My research notebook, May 26, 2003)
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While immigrant newcomers‟ relatively high English proficiency levels were indicated in
John‟s remarks, his view of literacy classes at LINC and ESL schools implied that the class
arrangement and distinction generated a layered categorization within the language training
program through an apparently “objective” assessment mechanism, such as the CLB. To the
participants‟ and the teacher‟s mind, enrolment in the literacy class became a negative
indicator of people‟s ability and legibility for the regular language learning opportunity.
Although having a certain level of literacy skills in English seemed to be a prerequisite for
getting into a regular language class, the question of whether immigrant students in the
regular language class were guaranteed “privilege” or the support they desired needs further
investigation. This question provides the focus in my examination of the participants‟
learning experiences in LINC/ESL programs in the session.
Second, in LINC and ESL programs, the CLB was utilized as a reference guide for
designing second language curricula which place the very emphasis on newcomers‟ basic
skills for functioning in life domains in Canadian society, as indicated by the concrete
objectives listed below:
Our curriculum includes learning about Canadian life and culture, using English to
learn more about accessing services they require, vocabulary for shopping, simple
bank tasks, using the telephone, finding suitable housing, looking for a job, and
much more (Skills for Change, 2006).
There is an assumption that classroom instruction be designed in alignment with these
objectives drawn from the guidelines of the CLB. Teachers are expected to deliver
meaningful instruction, in order to improve students‟ language competencies in dealing with
practical issues out of the classroom.
Although there might be a desire among teachers to facilitate immigrant newcomers in
making explicit connections across life domains, the teachers might make their pedagogical
decisions based on their situations and interests as well as on the teaching materials available
to them. For example, Maria2, a veteran teacher with over 20 years of teaching experience in
adult ESL programs and former immigrant from Greece herself, indicated her awareness of
2 Maria was a Master student majoring in Second Language Education at OISE. We sat in a couple of the same
classes in two consecutive terms in the 2003-2004 academic year and then became friends. In September 2005,
Maria allowed me to sit in at an ESL class she was teaching and talked about it afterwards upon my request.
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the high number of national and language backgrounds represented in the classroom and
expressed her “realistic” goal to accommodate the diversity in her pedagogical approach.
I usually had a large class size. The students came from everywhere. … Most of my
students usually stayed at the school for a short time, between four and six months,
perhaps. And they were gone. Maybe they found a job or went to college. So I don‟t
think, during such a short time, I can meet everybody‟s need though I usually make a
flexible plan. But … you know, at least, I can help them to learn how to speak in
English. They must learn how to use basic English skills in their speech. I think the
most practical way is to go back to the basic.
(My research notebook, September 23, 2005)
Evidently, despite her awareness of the diversity that the students brought to the classroom,
Maria thought that teaching basic English skills was a safe and instant measure to assist
second-language learners in dealing with “practical” issues in their daily lives, considering
their short-time stay in the language training class. As a Master student majoring in Second
Language Education at the University of Toronto, Maria found that the teaching materials and
reference books available in the university library became useful resources for her to reach
her pedagogical goals.
In fact, this pedagogical practice of valuing basic skills is shared in most LINC and ESL
classrooms. According to my previous observations in LINC and ESL classes and the stories
that the participants shared with me in this study, class participation usually consisted of
students learning grammatical rules such as verb tenses from worksheets, filling in the blank
with correct answers, and working with peers in order to practice and memorize these rules.
The classroom activities were designed for students who were expected to recognize the
importance of these basics as well as to retain and use them outside the classroom.
The foregoing analysis revealed the characteristics of LINC and ESL programs that
provided open access to newcomers, categorized learners through standardized tests in
English, and operated skills-based, bottom-up pedagogical approaches to class instruction.
Understanding these characteristics provided a starting point for further investigating the
forces that drove the immigrant participants‟ decision of entry into LINC/ESL programs, as
well as the social and educational trajectories offered to them as a result. In particular, I shall
pay attention to the question of whether immigrant participants gained opportunities and
resources to further improve their English proficiency in such a learning context. This evoked
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another question—what were the motives or desires of the participants to enrol in LINC or
ESL programs upon their arrival in Canada?—on which I shall focus in the next section.
6.1.2 English Proficiency and Learning Goals
The data in my study indicated that the participants held different orientations at the time
when they enrolled in LINC and ESL language training programs, according to their
proficiency in English and original plans about their lives in the host country. Most
independent applicants in the study had an initial desire to find a professional job right after
their arrival in Canada while they still had confidence in their professional expertise and
English competencies. However, upon their failure to gain access to employment in the early
settlement period, all independent applicants became full-time students in LINC and/or ESL
programs, a site from which they hoped they would gain a better understanding of new social
systems, make networks of support, and renew their confidence in their abilities in English.
Some of these needs can be exemplified in Xiang Dong‟s experience.
In searching for a professional job for three months since his arrival in Toronto, Xiang
Dong received no response after a series of telephone interviews. In his view, his
unfamiliarity with the established cultural norms as well as his introverted personality might
have negative impacts on his ways of answering those interview questions. Even though he
learned the Canadian job-seeking procedure through the workshop organized by HRSDC,
Xiang Dong came to realize that without making clear sense of the new environment, it was
not realistic to get a job right after his arrival in Toronto. In recognizing his predicament,
Xiang Dong decided to drop his initial plan and enrol in a full-time LINC program, hoping
that through sitting in the LINC class, he could gain a better understanding of social systems
in the new society. This, he believed, was the key to answering job-interview questions
successfully.
Evidently, the expectation that Xiang Dong brought to the LINC classroom was beyond
improving the dominant language skills in English. In fact, placed on the level-6 class upon
the assessment test of his overall English competencies, Xiang Dong held a belief that his
existing language abilities in English that he had gained in China were adequate enough to
meet communication needs in English-speaking contexts in his daily life. For Xiang Dong,
learning in the LINC and ESL programs could provide him with a route into or a means of
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knowing the new society, a bypass for him to “tie a knot” with a desired job in the future.
Unlike independent applicants who saw learning in language training schools as linked to
their success in gaining job opportunities directly, most dependent applicants viewed that it
was at school that they would have their English skills systematically trained so that they
could have a chance to compete for a job. Worried that their English competencies were
insufficient for them to gain an employment opportunity, the dependent applicants believed in
the linear connection between improving English at a LINC and/or an ESL school, going to a
community college, and finding a “good” job. For example, Jia Wei had made a clear plan
that he would spend one year on improving his English proficiency levels at a language
school after his arrival in Canada. With “good” English, he would apply for a community
college where he could have opportunities to learn English as much as possible. For Jia Wei,
if only he could speak good English, he would have a chance to choose what he wanted to do.
In the similar vein, Ming Fang believed that being able to speak fluent English was a crucial
condition for finding a job. Thinking that her proficiency in English was not strong enough
for her to gain an employment opportunity in the early settlement period, Ming Fang enrolled
in the LINC program two weeks after her arrival in Toronto. From there, Ming Fang outlined
the series of steps that she thought she needed to go through before being in a position to get
a job, as shown in the following excerpt:
明芳: 到了多伦多两个星期以后我就马上报了个LINC 班。我从 Level 3 开始的。… 那时看班上的几个中国同学在 LINC 学了一两个月就去 college 了。我想我也应该去 college,那可能学的东西会更多一些。找个工作也就会更容易些。不过,我打算还是先把 LINC 上下来,等我的英文提高了再说。
(Interview excerpt, January 22, 2006)
Ming Fang:
Two weeks after I arrived in Toronto, I registered
in a LINC program. I started on level 3. … At
school, I saw some of my Chinese classmates
left. They went to college after learning at LINC
for a couple of months. I thought that I should go
to college too because I can learn more English
there. So I can find a better job easily. But, I
decided to stay at the LINC school first till my
English got improved.
(My literal translation)
To sum up, the above examples indicated the participants‟ complex orientations when
they enrolled in the LINC or ESL programs. In this study, dependent applicants had a linear
understanding of the process where successfully clearing the language problem on one level
would permit an opportunity to approach the next step. In having a strong sense that they had
insufficient English competencies, they viewed learning English at LINC and ESL schools as
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a transit to a post-secondary institutional program that might open more doors for access to a
desirable job after their English proficiency levels were upgraded.
Independent applicants expected that learning at LINC and ESL schools would generate a
direct, positive consequence for them to win an employment opportunity related to their
occupational expertise. As most independent applicants in the study were placed on the
above-intermediated class (above level 5), they seemed to expect more sociocultural support
than linguistic assistance from LINC and ESL programs. They placed an expectation that the
LINC and ESL schools would provide a channel through which they could gain a better
understanding of the established social systems and cultural norms in an efficient way. In a
sense, they deemed that having such sociocultural capital of the new society was crucial to
heighten their “job readiness” capacity for employment, since their familiarity with cultural
norms would serve to restore their confidence while socializing their institutional language
skills in an interview setting.
Despite the relationship of English proficiency to their orientations of entry into language
training programs, there was no doubt that the participants looked forward to practical and
meaningful language learning practices that would serve them well in the job-searching
process. In particular, they shared a commonsense view that being able to speak fluent
English was the hurdle they needed to overcome before tackling another, such as finding a
professional job, or applying to academic programs at post-secondary institutions. While the
above examples seemed to indicate that the participants upheld the assumed connection
between high proficiency in English and a good job or the opportunity to pursue further
education, it is important to examine the structural forces that propelled them to accept the
connection and made this a continuing reality. I shall turn to examine this issue in the
following section.
6.1.3 Access, Regulation, and Desire
Most skilled immigrant newcomers shared the disappointment about their early
job-searching experiences as well as about their failure to seek explicit connections between
their own occupational expertise and the requirements of the job market. As shown in the last
section, while encountering difficulties in his early job-finding process, Xiang Dong decided
to jump into the hoop of the language training program arranged for newly arrived
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immigrants, in need of seeking a link between his existing resources and the requirements of
the established social systems. As a newcomer who had no established networks in Canada,
Xiang Dong saw the LINC and ESL schools as the only place that he might have a chance to
hook up to social support and assistance available to him.
However, the data showed that several participants in my study actually did not plan to
spend a certain amount of time on merely training their English competencies at school even
though they felt discouraged about their early job-seeking experiences. This was true of Yu
Qing and Li Tao who initially intended to enrol in the co-op program that provided direct and
practical support for immigrant newcomers to find a professional job. However, none of them
were permitted to get into the co-op program in the first place. Rather, they ended up sitting
in a class of LINC/ESL programs.
Lacking confidence in her oral communication skills, Yu Qing thought that there might be
no way for her to find a professional job until she learned from a senior immigrant about the
co-op programs that were designed for supporting immigrant professionals in the job-seeking
process. In December 2003, one month after her family landed in Toronto, Yu Qing went to
an adult ESL learning center at a secondary public school where she took an English
assessment test that was required for the applicants for the co-op programs. Although her
reading and writing competencies scored high (on level 8 and level 5 respectively) and made
a good impression on the assessor, Yu Qing failed to gain permission for entry into the co-op
program because she did not gain satisfactory scores on her listening and speaking skills. As
required, all applicants must demonstrate their overall proficiency in English on the level 6 or
above. Upon the evaluation, the assessor suggested that she take English training courses at
the LINC or ESL school in the first place and asked her to come back if her English
competence could reach level 6.
Clearly, the assessment of the proficiency in English played a role in judging whether Yu
Qing was linguistically ready for receiving support in the job-seeking process. Based on the
result of the evaluation, Yu Qing‟s oral communication skills in the dominant language of
English were considered as deficient, thereby blocking her access to this kind of support and
assistance. In fact, in recognizing her oral communication skills as a barrier to gaining an
employment opportunity, Yu Qing said that she was happy to know this kind of job-finding
assistance, since she expected that the co-op program could provide some facilitation for her
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to overcome the hurdle that she confronted. However, for Yu Qing, her failure to enter into
the co-op program served as a negative indicator of her speaking and listening skills in
English. While the assessment result made her further worried about the possibility that she
and her family could lead a normal life in the new society, Yu Qing reconciled herself to the
urgency of improving her English proficiency at school, as she wrote in the journal, “I think
if I want to find a professional job and have a real life here in Canada, I really need to
improve my English skills at school first” (Yu Qing‟s journal, February 26, 2006).
As a result of her early language encounters and the assessor‟s judgement of her
proficiency in English, Yu Qing came to accept that she should expect nothing more, no
matter what kinds of professional expertise, skills or abilities she possessed, because her
English skills failed to reach the dominant language‟s standards. The next day after the
assessment, Yu Qing registered in a LINC school, the “rightful” place that she thought she
belonged to, and where she could fix her “poor” speaking and listening skills in English.
Although she had to postpone enrolling in the co-op program, Yu Qing believed that learning
English at the LINC school was the only way for her to gain other forms of support and
assistance as well as an employment opportunity in the future.
While Yu Qing‟s weak oral communication skills seemed to act as a barrier that prevented
her from gaining access to the co-op program, Li Tao‟s experience of applying for the co-op
program showed that even adequate linguistic capital of the dominant language of English
did not necessarily guarantee him an opportunity to gain support and assistance, given the
constraints of the institutional regulations.
Right after his arrival in Toronto, Li Tao started searching for a job in his field. Despite
dozens of résumés distributed, Li Tao received no response at all. While having no clue why
his six-month job-seeking effort did not work out, he went to the HRSDC office in the
neighborhood and made an appointment with a councillor for advice. Having learned Li Tao‟s
professional qualification and situation, the councillor suggested that he register in a co-op
program set up for facilitating new immigrant professionals to gain access to employment. Li
Tao felt that he saw the light at the end of the tunnel when the councillor told him that part of
the co-op program‟s mission was to help immigrant newcomers find a three-month internship
opportunity, relevant to their occupational expertise, in a local company. Thinking that the
co-op program would help him gain a local work experience, Li Tao was inspired and
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confident that he would have no problem landing himself a “good” job afterwards.
Following the councillor‟s advice, Li Tao went to register in the co-op program next day.
However, he did not gain permission to enrol in the program immediately even though he
showed his language readiness by scoring his overall English proficiency on level 6 on the
assessment test. As Li Tao explained:
李涛： 他们告诉我说因为这个 program 每期只招15 个人嘛,而且很多新移民都报了名,所以要等。同时学校出了新规定,凡是报 co-op
的人英文测试都要达到 6 级以上。在上这个co-op 之前,不管你来时是几级,还要上满两期 ESL 班。
(Interview excerpt, February 26, 2006)
Li Tao:
They told me that I had to wait because there
were a lot of new immigrants applying for the
co-op program, but only 15 spaces available
each session. So the school made a new policy,
those who applied for the co-op program must
demonstrate their proficiency in English on level
6 or above. In the meantime, no matter which
level our English proficiency is, we need to take
two sessions of the ESL courses at school, prior
to entry into the program.
(My literal translation)
Among the participants in the study, Li Tao was the only one indicating that he had
gained opportunities to speak English at work prior to coming to Canada. With his work
experience in an English-medium environment for many years in China, Li Tao did not
anticipate his existing English competencies as a barrier to hindering him from getting access
to employment in Canada. Like Xiang Dong, Li Tao thought that his lack of familiarity with
sociocultural norms of the host country as well as little attachment to the new job market
caused the difficulty in locating himself a niche in the Canadian labor market. Nevertheless,
Li Tao decided to accept the school arrangement, in his attempt to gain eligibility for the
co-op program, although he had made no plan to sit in a language training class originally.
To this end, it should be noted that as part of settlement services in Canada, LINC and
ESL training programs are not specifically designed to facilitate labor market entry for
immigrant newcomers. Rather, to improve the technical linguistic skills in the dominant
language is emphasized as the sole obligation of LINC and ESL programs. The only services
that Citizenship and Immigration Canada funds related to the labor market are job search
workshops where immigrant newcomers learn how to write a résumé and cover letter, to
prepare for interviews, and to search for job leads through varied information resources. For
most skilled Chinese immigrants with no Canadian work experiences, merely knowing how
to write a résumé provided no fruitful result for them to enter into the job market. Rather,
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they considered the co-op programs with internship opportunities through the collaboration
with potential employers as practical and welcome support and assistance as they facilitated
their settlement and integration into the Canadian society in a productive way.
As shown in the case of Yu Qing and Li Tao, however, their effort for access to this kind
of settlement support was dissolved under the constraint of the institutional arrangements that
limited their choices by categorizing them as “unqualified” applicants, manipulated through
the mechanism of the dominant language. In this respect, their experiences of applying for the
co-op program shed light on the fact that immigrants‟ existing English competencies, such as
literacy abilities, were actually ignored since the dominant language of English served a
gatekeeping function in determining who had eligibility for what kinds of support and
assistance.
Under this circumstance, while the LINC or ESL programs provided open access to
immigrant newcomers who were identified as people in need of linguistic repairs prior to
gaining other forms of support, these language programs actually operated as “a remedial
ghetto” that served to solidify and reproduce the linear understanding that a successful
remedy for their language deficits would naturally lead them to an employment opportunity.
Such a structural force heightened the deficit assumption about immigrants‟ dominant
language competence, as a result of which it reinforced immigrants to accept a limited set of
identities, the identities which constrained, if not prohibited, their short- and long-term access
to desired resources and opportunities.
One striking consequence of this kind of symbolic and material constraint was to affect
immigrant participants‟ choices and trajectories. Even though both Yu Qing and Li Tao
accepted the institutional arrangement that they sat in the language training class, in an
attempt to match their language practices to those that the institution expected, my data
showed that the compelling force of the institution might exert a different effect on an
individual‟s access to social resources thereafter. After 8 months of learning English at the
LINC school, Yu Qing eventually gained permission for her enrolment in the co-op program,
and later located for herself an internship opportunity in a larger logistics company in Toronto.
Right after the three-month contract ended, Yu Qing was employed as a network
administrator by an internationally well-known telecom company, although she said that she
still had no confidence in her oral communication skills in English in the workplace.
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Li Tao enrolled in the level 6 class at a LINC school, in hope of gaining eligibility for
entry into the co-op program. However, Li Tao felt that he sat in a wrong place while learning
basic grammatical rules and practicing drills in the classroom. After three weeks of learning
the basics in the class, Li Tao requested a transfer to the TOEFL class, thinking that at least,
he could learn something useful. The Director gave him an immediate refusal with no chance
of negotiation. Without completing the eight-week session of the class, Li Tao decided to
drop the course with a consequence of losing his eligibility for entry into the co-op program.
6.1.4 Learning within the Constraint
Through the standardized assessment and class-level distinctions that controlled and
manipulated access and acceptance, LINC and ESL programs reinforced the emphasis that
the mastery of the dominant capital of English was the key for immigrant newcomers to
gaining access to future educational and occupational opportunities in Canadian society.
However, bundled with the structural mechanisms, the language training programs were
usually criticized as offering little help to immigrant newcomers to make effective linguistic
and sociocultural bonds with the new society. Nonetheless, while my data presented some
participants‟ perspectives on the limitations of the instructional practices in the LINC or ESL
class, there was evidence that it was possible for other participants to discover a learning
opportunity and to negotiate their place within the constraint. This section describes the ways
that the participants engaged in learning and negotiation within the instructional constraint in
LINC/ESL programs.
6.1.4.1 Looping within the Constraint
Some of my participants expressed dissatisfaction with the instructional practices that
they encountered in the LINC and ESL classes. They commented that the function-based
curriculum was unable to incorporate instructional processes with their needs and their
existing English competencies obtained through previous schooling experiences in China.
Complaints derived from their experiences of remaining in such classes that included
ineffectual teachers, a paucity of interactional opportunities around what they learned in the
class, and classroom activities with undemanding decoding tasks that required mechanical
memorization and repetition. In recognizing these limitations, the participants initially
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behaved as an active agent seeking the possibility of meeting their needs within the language
training systems. However, the effort usually resulted in their looping within the systems and
in little sense of gaining improvement in English. Ming Fang‟s and Jian Hui‟s experiences of
navigating between LINC and ESL schools clearly reflected this theme.
Prior to her arrival in Canada, Ming Fang spent limited time and effort upgrading her
English abilities because she believed that her proficiency in English would be improved
quickly while she was living and learning in an authentic English-speaking context in Canada.
However, in sitting in the LINC class for a couple of weeks, Ming Fang doubted whether her
English would be improved as quickly as she had expected. Ming Fang provided a
description of how she was instructed in the class in her journal:
Aside 6.1
Learning English at the LINC and ESL
I went to a LINC class in order to improve my English after I came to Toronto. However, I found
it was not suitable to me. I thought the class was too easy for me when the teacher taught grammar
and reading. But it was too difficult for me when we did listening practice.
We were asked to listen the CBC radio news to practice our listening skills everyday. The teacher
explained the news to us. But I couldn‟t understand the news. Sometimes I even didn‟t know how
many items in today‟s news. Even with the teacher‟s help, there were a lot of words I couldn‟t catch
in the fast speech.
I was upset at that time. I couldn‟t improve my listening and speaking skills as I had imagined
before. Actually, I really didn‟t know how to improve my speaking and listening skills.
(Ming Fang‟s journal, January 25, 2006)
The above description of pedagogical practices indicated the mismatch between what the
teacher arranged students to learn and what Ming Fang expected to learn in the LINC
classroom. Clearly, Ming Fang thought that listening to CBC news did little to help her learn
how to make sense of what she listened to whereas the teacher might desire students to make
linguistic and cultural adjustment to the new society through listening to CBC news everyday
in class. While thinking that the instructor spent a long time teaching what she had already
known, but paid little attention to what she needed, Ming Fang, together with her fellow
Chinese classmates, went to negotiate with the instructor. They asked for more opportunities
to practice their oral communication skills than to merely spend time sitting and listening to
CBC news. They hoped that they would have reading and writing practices rather than simply
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learn grammatical rules. However, there was no agreement reached between the students and
the teacher. The following quote indicated Ming Fang‟s frustration that her goal was
neglected as she alluded to the lack of the teacher‟s care about her needs.
明芳: 那个老师说她是按照教学大纲教我们的。她说教学大纲就是这样定的。她还说众口难调。我们学过语法不见得班上别的同学就学过, 比如那些从印度和阿拉伯国家来的,他们说英语流利, 可是不懂语法。她说她要考虑他们的需求。对, 可是, 谁考虑我们的需求?!总不能在这白白浪费时间吧。这也太不公平了!
(Interview excerpt, January 22, 2006)
Ming Fang:
The teacher said that what she taught here
followed what the curriculum required. So, she did
everything, according to the arrangement of
curriculum. She also said that it was difficult for
her to satisfy everybody‟s needs. We had learned
grammatical rules, but other students in the class
had not. For example, those from India and Arabic
countries can speak English fluently, but do not
know grammatical rules as many as we do. The
teacher said that she must take into account their
needs. Yes, but, who cares about our needs!?
Shouldn‟t we waste time in the class? It is so
unfair!
(My literal translation)
While Ming Fang complained that her goal for upgrading her speaking and listening skills
in English was trapped within the teacher‟s pedagogical practices that emphasized the
acquisition of technical rules and regulations, other participants displayed the same
frustration and their remarks reflected similar concerns. For example, Jian Hui enrolled in a
full-time evening English training class at a LINC school, hoping that he could go to a
community college after his English was improved and then would “establish” himself by
looking for a job with a good pay, and not traveling very far away from his place. However,
when asked to reflect upon his learning experience in the English training class, Jian Hui
complained, “We were taught a grammatical rule then did worksheets. Sometimes we were
asked to play a game. The work was too easy and made us slow. Things were usually
repeated over and over again, like today is „Good morning,‟ and tomorrow is „How are you.‟
Well, teach us like we are kids. Thank you” (Interview excerpt, February 23, 2006, my literal
translation).
Identified as linguistic and cultural novices through skills-based pedagogical practices in
the classroom, the participants suffered frustration and so attempted to seek a way out to
fulfill their needs. After finishing one level class, both Ming Fang and Jian Hui decided to
transfer to ESL programs. To their mind, the ESL language training program would provide a
better learning opportunity for them than the LINC school did. This, they assumed, was the
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reason that they had to pay the fee for an eight-week class session on each level at the ESL
school.
At the time when she enrolled in the ESL school, Ming Fang was told that she had to
repeat level 3 even though she had already completed it at the LINC school because there was
no space available on the level 4 class at school. Ming Fang accepted the arrangement and
thought that it might be a good idea to review what she learned at the LINC school although
her original desire was to continue her learning on the level 4 class.
While expecting to find an efficient way to improve her oral communication skills in the
ESL class, Ming Fang felt that her opportunity was completely blocked in the classroom with
more than 30 students crammed inside. With the large class size, the teacher took the
dominant role and left limited time to students to practice what they learned in the class.
Ming Fang stayed in the ESL class for one session, and subsequently switched back to the
LINC class as she said, “At least, they can provide a daycare for me.” Although she felt that
her English proficiency was stigmatized at the LINC school, Ming Fang stayed there for one
year till she enrolled in a college. When asked why she continued to remain at school even
though she realized that she gained little chance to improve her English abilities, Ming Fang
explained, “While sitting in the LINC class, I felt I was in an English-speaking context. Even
though everyday I just went and sat there and listened, I think this was better than staying at
home. I need to go outside and meet people” (Interview excerpt, January 28, 2006, my literal
translation).
Unlike Ming Fang‟s experience, Jian Hui was happy about his decision to transfer to the
ESL school. He started at level 3 class and repeated it once at his disposal because he wanted
to solidify what he learned in the class. Besides, Jian Hui said that the most important reason
that he repeated the class was that the instructor‟s ways of teaching made him want to stay.
建辉: 我觉得我们的老师 John,他和别的老师不一样。他很了解我们中国移民的特点。尽管他也教语法词汇。但是他知道怎么让我们把听说读写融合在一起地学。不仅如次,他还给我们讲这边的 culture, 比如历史,地理,节日,甚至加拿大政党。又和语言练习联系起来。John 对每一个同学都很好,下课了还主动和我们聊天。我觉得我很 enjoy 他的课。
(Interview excerpt, February 24, 2006)
Jian Hui:
John was our English teacher at the ESL school. I
think he is different from other teachers I have
ever met. He knows the characteristics of Chinese
immigrants. Even though he taught grammar and
vocabulary in the class as most English teachers
usually do, he knew how to make this connected
with other skills such as reading, writing, listening,
and speaking in exercises. Also, he told us cultural
things in Canada, such as history, geography,
holidays, and even political parties, and linked
these to our language practices. John was nice to
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every student in class. He was interest in talking
with us after class. I really enjoyed sitting in his
class.
(My literal translation)
Jian Hui moved to a level 4 class with John afterwards. He was informed, however, by the
school that he must upgrade to a level 5 class after he repeated the level 4 class twice with
John. Upon his completing the session on level 4, Jian Hui decided to drop out of the ESL
school and taught himself English at home.
In sum, although Ming Fang and Jian Hui ended up in different places in ESL programs,
they both deliberately strategized to circumvent the constraints that they encountered in the
LINC class, by transferring themselves to the ESL programs. In doing so, they hoped that
they would be able to find ways to achieve their goals of developing their language skills that
would be necessary for access to and preparation for academic learning at the higher
educational level. However, when they expected that their transfer from LINC to ESL
programs could help negotiate a different track for them to pursue their objectives of learning,
standard instructional practices and institutional regulations force conformity upon minority
students in learning English as designed in the rungs of the language training systems. The
consequence of the constraint was that both Ming Fang and Jian Hui repeated the same level
class, but with differing orientations. Ming Fang switched back and forth between LINC and
ESL programs. After going back to the LINC class, Ming Fang seemed content to merely sit
in the class as a way for her to maintain a sense of being in an English-medium context, but
lost her motivation to move upward to the higher-level classes. Jian Hui tended to repeat the
same level class as he gained a sense of learning in John‟s class. At the time when he was
required to upgrade to a higher level class, Jian Hui, however, chose to drop out of the school
and to learn English at home, reflecting his conscious effort to avoid the inertia outcomes that
the language training systems might impose on his endeavor to learn English.
6.1.4.2 An Alternative View
It is interesting that while some participants thought that they were caught up at
LINC/ESL schools in that the skills-based curricula and classroom instructions failed to
encompass their aspirations and goals, other participants viewed this kind of instructional
practice through a very different lens. When asked to reflect upon their learning experiences
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at LINC/ESL schools, several participants in the study were quick to give a positive response,
indicating that yes, learning those basic language rules was useful to them. There were two
particular reasons given for this position.
The first reason that the participants took the positive perspective was that learning basic
language rules in the class was a necessary step that led them to transfer their existing English
knowledge into the practical interactional skills in an authentic communication setting. In this
respect, they made a clear distinction between “learning English for real life” in Canada and
“learning English for tests” that they had been trained in Chinese schools. That is, despite the
fact that they had already learned English rules and regulations prior to coming to Canada,
the participants indicated that they had been given no chance to learn how to apply language
forms to their speech in the test-oriented learning environment in China (see Chapter 3 of this
dissertation). From their point of view, this was the reason that they could not speak English
fluently with confidence while dealing with oral interactions with others in a communication
setting in Canada.
For example, Jia Wei was one of the participants who said that he benefited from learning
basic language rules in his effort to improve his oral communication skills at the LINC school.
One month after his family settled down in Toronto, Jia Wei registered in a language class of
the LINC program. While his literacy skills scored high (his writing skills on level 6, and
reading skills on level 7), Jia Wei was placed in a level 3 class because his speaking and
listening skills merely reached level 2. In the entire eight-week class, Jia Wei had a chance to
review different forms of verb tenses and drilled how to use these rules in his speech. By the
end of the session, Jia Wei was not permitted to upgrade to a level 4 class since the teacher
could still identify a few incorrect uses of verb tenses in his speech. It was at that time that Jia
Wei realized even sitting in the lower level class, he still had some linguistic challenges to
tackle.
The pedagogical practices that aimed to draw immigrant learners‟ attention to correct uses
of specific language forms led Jia Wei to believe that what he had previously learned about
English meant nothing to him because he still could not use correct verb tenses in his speech,
indicating his inadequate English competence in engaging in oral communications with
others. In retrospect, Jia Wei wrote,
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Chinese immigrants thought their reading skills and grammar knowledge were good,
and so they wanted to find a job right after they came to Canada. It was impossible
because there was no shortcut for us to reach that goal. We must learn how to speak
good English first. We need to start from the basics at school.
(Jia Wei‟s journal, January 16, 2006)
Taking his wife‟s experience as an example, Jia Wei maintained:
嘉伟： 雨晴的英文比我的要好的多。可是有什么用呢? 听说不好还是不行。你看她不还是要从LINC 开始。否则,她上不了 co-op,更别说找工作了。
(Interview excerpt, January 16, 2006)
Jia Wei:
Yu Qing has higher English proficiency levels than
I do. But, is it helpful? There is no way out for us,
without good speaking and listening skills in
English. See, she had to start from the LINC
programs. Otherwise, it was impossible for her to
enter into the co-op program, let alone find a job.
(My literal translation)
While feeling comfortable with rule-governed classroom practices, Jia Wei developed his
faith in making alignment with his teacher‟s instruction. In his study at the LINC school, Jia
Wei kept high attendance, participated in classroom activities enthusiastically, completed his
homework in good quality, and showed his progress as the teacher expected. His active
learning attitudes and docility positioned him as diligent, talented, and successful, which
generated further opportunities for him, not only to practice his interaction skills in English,
but also to make good use of his existing literacy abilities. I can easily identify Jia Wei‟s
confidence and self pride when he told me that later on, his teacher recommended him as the
student‟s representative responsible for writing the students‟ column of the school‟s bulletin.
Indeed, by demonstrating that he was a “good student” in collaboration with the pedagogical
practices of the institution, Jia Wei won himself legitimacy for attending school activities that
entailed extended learning opportunities for him to practice his overall English skills by
writing for the school bulletin as well as by engaging in the supportive relationships to his
teachers and peers in the process.
The second reason for the positive comment on skills-based approaches to instruction was
related to the participants‟ experiences in making use of the basic skills pedagogy for their
own ends as well as in having some positive effects on their job-seeking endeavors. For
example, Xiang Dong learned English full time at a LINC school while continuing to look for
a job in the early settlement period. While having no result from his job-seeking efforts
caused anxiety and stress to him, Xiang Dong found that the learning routine at the LINC
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school was relaxing without any pressure. Although he was placed in a level-6 class, the
highest level class offered at the LINC school, Xiang Dong felt that the knowledge and skills
that the teacher instructed were not a challenge to him at all as they focused on functional and
basic skills required for carrying on daily conversations. While his classmates became bored
with the practice of those basic forms of English language that they had done previously in
the class, Xiang Dong found that the repetition of the work helped reinforce his confidence
and so had the sense that, “English seemed easy to me” (Xiang Dong‟s journal, March 15,
2006). Different from his fellow Chinese classmates who complained that learning the
technical skills in the class wasted their time and talent, Xiang Dong thought that the
instructor‟s basic skills pedagogy created a “comfort zone” for him to learn how to make use
of his existing English skills in his speech with confidence. Whereas some of his classmates
left in the middle of the session, Xiang Dong stayed to the end of the session and
subsequently repeated the level 6 class twice himself.
In Xiang Dong‟s view, the classroom instructions that comprised of unchallenging tasks
and mechanical repetition served to lessen his anxiety while speaking English in front of
people, thereby fostering a wide range of opportunities to learn how to become a person good
at speaking. Xiang Dong subsequently registered in an ESL program when he repeated the
level 6 class twice and was not allowed to stay at the LINC school any more. In process of
looking for a professional job or even working on a labor job, Xiang Dong persisted in his
effort to learn English full-time at the ESL school, in order to remain himself in the “safe
space” that allowed him to revitalize his existing language competencies in English as well as
to sustain the confidence in himself. Ten months after his arrival in Toronto, Xiang Dong was
hired as computer programmer by a privately owned IT company in Toronto, through making
a cold call to the boss.
6.1.5 Summing Up: Matches and Mismatches
The foregoing analysis revealed that the participants‟ learning experiences at LINC and
ESL schools were shaped and controlled by the bureaucratic mechanism that assessed, sorted,
and categorized incoming students in the language training programs. The skills-based
instructional practices served to hold newcomers within predetermined arrangements, in
order to fix and normalize ethnolinguistic students‟ English competencies. Drawing on my
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observations and the data I presented above, I summed up the findings, focusing on matches
and mismatches that I identified.
First, there was a match existing between the participants‟ general expectation of
improving their English proficiency through LINC and ESL programs and the propositional
outcome that government agencies projected to fulfill through the language training programs.
In experiencing their failure to have access to employment as well as challenges in their
language encounters in the early period of settlement lives, my participants reached the
consensus that speaking “good” English, in association with cultural fluency, was a crucial
step to securing their economic stability needed to establish themselves and their families in
Canada. Having a strong desire to make an effective connection with the given society, the
participants placed their faith on a formal learning opportunity, reflecting their belief that they
would be rewarded on the basis of merit and that everyone would gain an equal opportunity
to succeed if they worked hard to brush up on their English skills.
Meanwhile, LINC and ESL programs claimed their support in repairing immigrant
newcomers‟ linguistic deficiency through the wide availability of their language training
services across the country while heightening the assumed connection between the mastery of
English and economic and sociocultural gains in Canadian society. In such a context, the
participants saw LINC/ESL programs as a rightful place where they would improve their
English proficiency systematically, the first step leading them to tie a knot with the new labor
market. In this respect, the participants shared their commonsense with the dominant
ideology of language and language learning mediated through LINC and ESL programs to the
extent that if newcomers could demonstrate that they had strong capabilities in English and
good knowledge of social systems and cultural norms of the host country, they would
successfully gain employment in their dream jobs.
Second, the fact that the participants had different learning goals associated with their life
plans in Canada elicited a major mismatch between their views of what knowledge and
English skills they had, or what they lacked thereof, and the institutional assumptions
established within the “deficit” model of certain types of learners. My data revealed that the
participants went to LINC and ESL programs driven by complex orientations. All dependent
applicants tended to rely on the LINC/ESL programs to improve their proficiency in English
for the purpose of pursuing educational opportunities in a community college while
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independent applicants‟ learning orientations were closely related to their desire for
employment. Along with their differential goals that they brought to the language training
programs, both dependent and independent applicants had an explicit learning objective of
improving their oral proficiency in the formal language learning context. This implied that
the participants had the clearest goals and best sense of what they needed to learn, in order to
achieve their goals. Viewed collectively, they saw learning at LINC/ESL schools as the
discursive processes through which they made sense of the new society and as a “transient
zone” which gave them a prelude to their further learning opportunity and gateway into the
Canadian labor market.
However, Yu Qing‟s and Li Tao‟s experiences of being assigned to the language training
programs when they intended to apply for the co-op workshops revealed the hidden agenda of
LINC and ESL programs that identified immigrant learners as lacking or deficient dominant
language speakers who were positioned as needing to engage in linguistic adaptation and
necessitating educational upgrading in order to fit in the host labor market. Because of the
denial of immigrant learners‟ ownership of the dominant language of English, this mismatch
often resulted in the acceptance of the submissive position of being labeled as ESL learners,
as shown in the case of Yu Qing or in counteracting their powerless positioning as “ESL
students” by becoming drop-outs, as Li Tao chose to do so when he found himself cast as
deficient.
Third, a mismatch emerged between the manipulation of orality for placing incoming
students in the language programs and the emphasis on basic literacy skills in the classroom
instruction. In spite of their claim of open access, LINC and ESL programs utilized the CLB
as a sorting mechanism that systematically indexed incoming students into categorizations. In
most cases, how well immigrant newcomers spoke the dominant language of English in the
placement test was usually employed as a determinant to place them at a certain class level
even though they scored high in their literacy skills in English. In this way, the placement
result actually served as the rubric indicating the discrepancy between students‟ oral
communication skills and the competencies required for immigrant newcomers in dealing
with everyday interactions. However, while such a placement result was expected to produce
a continuity of training students‟ oral communication skills in class, the participants‟ learning
experiences revealed that the classroom instruction was usually organized by the activities
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focusing on basic literacy skills, such as grammar, vocabulary, and functional reading
comprehension, creating a disjuncture from what was emphasized when students entered into
the language program. In this way, the skills-based instructional approaches embodied the
official assumptions that there should be a sequence of language learning that newcomers
needed to master basic literacy skills such as grammar and vocabulary first which would then
be transferred into other forms of skills, such as speaking. Instructions that overemphasized
discrete skill orders had the danger of devaluing immigrant learners‟ previous experiences
with English which reflected their intended investments in language learning and life goals in
the new society (Peirce, 1995).
The foregoing mismatch and paradox elicited another major mismatch between
immigrant students‟ learning needs and abilities, and the curriculum and instruction‟ offerings,
a mismatch which usually resulted in learners‟ frustration and a sense of being treated
unequally in the class. As shown in the case of Ming Fang and Jian Hui, even though they
attempted to seek and negotiate a way out, they found that their English abilities stagnated as
they looped between LINC and ESL schools, or repeated the same level class many times. In
fact, Ming Fang‟s failure to negotiate with her teacher implied that, overshadowed by the
deficit model of the dominant language, teachers might be also constrained by the curriculum
agenda which left limited space to them to tailor their students‟ goals and previous language
expertise into their instructional practices.
However, the finding that some participants, like Jia Wei and Xiang Dong, did not see
that the basic skills pedagogy mismatched with their learning needs, might illustrate how they
created a positive consequence by strategically manipulating available learning resources and
by performing their identities as a “good” student, in order to increase the possibility of
success in the new social context. While their performance of the institutional model of
success offered them certain opportunities in and out of school (for example, to speak more
English, to write for the school bulletin, or even an employment opportunity), the participants
saw the language learning attached to the identity label of ESL/LINC learners as an
opportunity for making and remaking their existing “toolkits.” In such a context, the
participants reckoned the skills-based instruction as necessary to reframe their English
language skills, for the purpose of invoking potential opportunities for future success and
mobility into multiple discourses in Canadian society.
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6.2 Learning English at College: Challenges and Strategies
After spending a certain period of time on learning English at LINC/ESL schools, all
participants moved toward the next phase of their lives. Except for Xiang Dong and Yu Qing
who continued their efforts to look for employment and eventually gained themselves a
professional job, most participants in the study enrolled in a post-secondary institute when
they were out of the LINC/ESL school. Independent applicants (Ye Lan and Li Tao) enrolled
at university for earning a degree while all dependent applicants (Jia Wei, Ming Fang, and
Jian Hui) went to a local community college after they had their English skills “trained” at
LINC/ESL schools.
My data revealed that there were varied reasons motivating the participants to pursue
higher education in Canada. For example, Ye Lan who saw immigration to Canada as a
springboard to achieve her academic goal enrolled at a larger university in Toronto for her
Master‟s degree. Li Tao attributed his one-year unsuccessful job-seeking experience to his
lack of local credential in the field upon reading job descriptions that explicitly indicated the
appreciation of the Canadian centered credentials for employment selection. In fall 2000, a
year after his arrival in Toronto, Li Tao enrolled in the department of computer science for his
bachelor‟s degree at university at the time when there were increased demands for IT
professionals in the job market. While going to university would gain him a local credential,
Li Tao‟s choice of learning computer science as his major suggested his clear intention to
augment the marketability of his knowledge and skills for a stable economic life afterwards.
Dependent applicants shared the common goal that they wanted to further upgrade their
proficiency in English through their study at a post-secondary institute. In this respect, their
decision to pursue higher education reflected their persistent efforts at linguistic adjustment in
alignment with the standards of the dominant language. To their mind, the content-based
language learning environment that were offered at college would provide an effective way
that allowed them to learn English as much as they could.
Indeed, unlike universities that required their applicants to submit their TOEFL scores
that demonstrated their English proficiency levels, the lower requirements for English in
admission to college provided immigrant newcomers with an easy and quick access to the
formal learning context. As most of my Chinese folks that I encountered in sets of settings in
Canada and several participants shared with me in this study, passing English and
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mathematics tests as required for entry into a college was easy and did not take them much
time to prepare. For the participants, the success for entry into the post-secondary institute in
Canada resulted in rebuilding their confidence, since most of them thought that their English
was not “that bad” when receiving an offer of admission to the college. However, walking
into college and attending class activities, the participants found that they confronted a set of
challenges that positioned them in a passive position, no matter what abilities they possessed.
In this section, I traced three participants‟ (Jia Wei, Ming Fang, and Jian Hui) language
and literacy learning experiences at a community college. Since language learning was the
main reason that they decided to study at college, I studied whether learning in higher
education served to improve their dominant language of English. This became clear through a
close look at a set of structured learning activities, for instance, English classes, oral
presentations, and group work, which they attended throughout their study at college. While
examining the nature of the roles of language that entailed these structured learning activities,
I shall pay particular attention to the challenges that the participants encountered and the
coping strategies that they deployed to overcome these challenges.
6.2.1 Learning the Basic
Jia Wei, Ming Fang, and Jian Hui enrolled in a community college located in the Greater
Toronto Area (GTA). Ming Fang started her two-year program of Business Administration
and Marketing at Gainsway College in January 2003. Jia Wei and Jian Hui met each other in
the orientation party of Winter 2005 in the Hospitality and Tourism Department at Metrolinx
College. There, Jia Wei became a full-time student in a two-year program of culinary
management while Jian Hui launched his one-year study for the Chef Training Certificate.
Despite different programs at different colleges where they enrolled, the participants were
placed in a preparatory course in English in the first term as they were identified as
non-native speakers of English through the college entry examination. Table 6.2 lists a
sequence of required English courses that the participants needed to take in their programs
and highlights the curriculum foci of these English courses arranged in community colleges.
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Table 6.2 Required English Courses and Curriculum Focus at Two Community Colleges
Ming Fang Jia Wei Jian Hui
Name of
College &
Program
Gainsway College
Business Administration &
Marketing
(2-year Diploma Program)
Metrolinx College
Culinary Management
(2-year Diploma Program)
Metrolinx College
Chef Training Program
(1-year Certificate
Program)
Required
English
Courses
(Code &
Course Title)
Curriculum
Focus
ENGL161 College English
Skills (ESL)
ENGL171 Reading and
Writing Prose (ESL)
GESL101 Approaches to
Literature (ESL)
ENGL161: vocabulary,
grammar rules, sentence
structures, paragraph, short
essay writing
COMM1003 English Skills
COMM1008 College
English
COMM1003: vocabulary,
sentence structures,
paragraph
COMM1003 English
Skills
COMM1047 Business
Communication
COMM1003: vocabulary,
sentence structures,
paragraph
ENGL171: grammar rules,
structure formats, essay
writing (focusing on
comparison), oral
presentation, reading
GESL101: reading literary
works, essay writing in
response to assigned
readings, oral presentation
COMM1008: grammar,
sentence structures,
paragraph development,
reading, essay writing in
response to assigned
readings, referencing
COMM1047: grammar
and paragraphing, formats
for basic workplace
writing, such as memo,
résumé, cover letter
Gainsway and Metrolinx colleges were marked by the ethnic and linguistic diversity
typical of many urban post-secondary institutes in a bigger city like Toronto. Because of the
increased numbers of incoming students new to Canada, these colleges provided a set of
English courses specifically designed for language minority students to socialize into
Canadian college norms as well as into the new society more broadly. The foci of English
courses reflected particular institutional and curricular arrangements underpinning two
thematic agenda: technical skills and cultural transmission to dominant discourses.
6.2.1.1 Technical Skills
Ming Fang, Jia Wei, and Jian Hui were required to take the preparatory course
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“ENGL161 College English Skills (ESL)” and “COMM1003 English Skills” respectively,
prior to taking a regular English course in the program. As shown in Table 6.2, the
preparatory English course aimed to provide students with “basic” education in their literacy
skills with requisite knowledge of established linguistic rules of the dominant language of
English. This goal was clearly indicated in the course description of ENGL161 College
English Skills:
This course is designed for ESL students and introduces the standards of English. It
provides instruction and practice at a college level in reading skills, vocabulary
development, grammar rules, sentence variety, and paragraph development. These
are language skills which are essential to success in college programs and
professional life. (Gainsway College, Course Outline of ENGL161, 2003, p. 1)
At Gainsway, all English courses were offered through the English Department at the
Advancement School which was the chief provider of English language education at the
college. Specifically, the Advancement School targeted students who need to “develop their
speaking, listening, effective writing, reading comprehension in English and college study
skills” (Gainsway College, 2006). To incorporate this goal into the curriculum, ENGL161 and
the preparatory course alike were seen not only as a central process through which language
minority students learned skills required for entry into the academic context, but also as an
essential way that facilitated them to successfully transfer into other domains of life, such as
the workplace (“These are language skills which are essential to success in college programs
and professional life”).
Subsequent to the preparatory course, the regular English courses (ENGL171, GESL101,
COMM1008, and COMM1047) at the two colleges were still dominated by the skills-based
approach that gave particular attention to syntax, tense structure, passive voice, conditionals,
and relative clauses and to such components of a well-structured essay with clarity, accuracy,
and conciseness (Gainsway College, Course Outline of ENGL171, 2004-2005, p.1). In line
with this instructional goal, while students learned textual conventions and specific written
genres, writing activities were usually limited to exercise specific language forms as well as
to replicate a certain writing technology, for example, thesis statement and topic sentence, for
the purpose of assessing how well students mastered specific skills at technical levels.
It is worth mentioning here that in the beginning, the preparatory course of English was
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not unwelcome to the participants. While reflecting upon their learning experiences in these
English courses, my participants expressed that they actually had initial eagerness to begin
their college studies with this kind of English class as a way to acclimatize their college-level
academic work. Jian Hui, for example, saw the English preparatory course as “a special treat”
from the college as he was given enough time to “warm up” his English skills while learning
new subjects in the academic context. Asserting learning English as her main objective in
college, Ming Fang said, “We had a lot of subjects to study in the first term at college. But I
was not very interested in them. I just wanted to learn English more” (Interview excerpt,
November 20, 2006, my literal translation). Jia Wei sustained his confidence through taking
COMM1003 that gave attention to surface features of language forms. While repeating those
grammar rules that he had exercised many times in the LINC class, Jia Wei saw no challenge
for him to excel the rest of the class, mentioning that his teacher usually asked him to make
corrections of other students‟ grammatical mistakes on the blackboard as he demonstrated a
good command of this knowledge in the test.
However, moving from the preparatory class of English to the regular one, the
participants found not only that their previous learning experiences were cast in an
unfavorable light, but also that their engagement in improving their English proficiency was
discontinued from proceeding. For example, in the second term that the regular English
course was offered, reading became a required activity for students to exercise their discrete
techniques of decoding the information in a text and identifying supporting evidence in a
variety of written formats. Nonetheless, the participants reported that reading the chapters
about grammar rules in the textbooks was the most required task in and out of the class.
Although sometimes they were assigned supplementary materials, such as magazine and
newspaper articles, to read, the comprehension exercises or tests were designed to
demonstrate their understanding of new terms that they learned in the textbook. Although
learning the terms might serve as the evidence of their understanding of the course materials,
the participants complained that their previous learning experiences with English were not
recognized in such a skill-oriented reading activity. As Jia Wei stated:
嘉伟： 你知道,这些语法我们不知学了多少遍了。第一学期补习一下还可以理解,温故知新嘛。可是到了第二学期,换个老师又从头来。
Jia Wei：
You know, we have learned these grammar
rules many times. I understood when I had
to repeat them in the first term, to review the
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到了 1008 说是学写作练阅读,其实还是学语法。我就不明白为什么总是重复地学。那以前学的到底算什么？
(Interview excerpt, February 11, 2006)
old before learning the new. But in the second
term, we had a new teacher, and we learned
the old again, from the very beginning. It is
said that COMM1008 focused on learning
writing and practicing reading. In fact, it‟s all
about learning grammar. I don‟t understand
why we had to repeat this over and over
again. And, what on earth was the thing we
learned before?
(My literal translation)
In his narration, Jia Wei pointed out that reading grammar rules from the textbook took no
account of his previous learning experience with English. In fact, most recent Chinese
immigrants, like Jia Wei, had already received many years of explicit English grammar
instruction at school in China. Although the skills-based approach to class instruction was
applied to the LINC class and the preparatory class of English at college, Jia Wei seemed to
accommodate the arrangement at the outset because in his view, it was a good way to “review
the old before learning the new” in an English-medium learning environment. However,
while sitting in the regular class, Jia Wei came to realize that his English was stigmatized on a
preparation level as he had to repeat what he had learned before. In this way, the skills-based
approach that was carried over across courses and schools gave no recognition of
ethnolinguistic students‟ existing English abilities. This implied that the curricular
arrangement of these English courses was embedded in the assumption that identified
immigrant students as “underprepared” learners as well as inexperienced users of English, an
inerasable nature of non-native speakers‟ language proficiency.
6.2.1.2 Cultural Transmission
The assumption of this thematic agenda was concerned with students‟ lack of appropriate
cultural experience and knowledge of specific discourses affiliated with the dominant class.
As shown in Table 6.2, the curricular arrangement of English courses appeared to emphasize
a simple linear route of learning that students needed to follow so as to customize them as a
qualified English writer fitting into a new academic and linguistic discourse. This objective
was clearly indicated in the textbook entitled: The Canadian Writer’s Workplace, which Jia
Wei used in COMM1008 College English:
The book is for students who need to build their writing skills in order to produce
college-level work. … It begins with a detailed study of sentences, then helps
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students practice solid paragraph development, and finally shows them how to
develop the complete essay. … This is the basic building block of the complete essay.
(The Canadian Writer‟s Workplace, 2004, p. xv-xvii)
When the sequence of learning was arranged in the curriculum, the class was constructed
as if students learned how to write progressively when they followed the sequential linguistic
orders and structural writing processes. Such a linear learning sequence, however, might
leave students with negative feelings that they considered themselves as incompetent in
writing because Ming Fang reported, “the teacher often found grammatical errors in my
essays” (Interview excerpt, March 23, 2006, my literal translation).
What the participants said here aligned with my observations on the written assignments
that I collected from Jia Wei and Jian Hui, with regard to teacher feedback that gave much
attention to the accuracy of language usage, such as tense, punctuation, vocabulary, in
association with the following comments: “Tense!” “Word order,” “Meaning?” “Plural form
here.” In making these comments, the teachers clearly claimed their authority, indicating that
the students were incapable of writing a standard essay until they proved their competence in
maintaining control of grammar in the written assignment. In this way, teacher comments
embedded in the skill-based curriculum acted as a marker of difference between students‟
competencies in composing and the institution‟s norms of writing. Indeed, such an approach
that merely emphasized surface features of writing, in reference to “language problems” as
frequently implied, played a gatekeeping role in excluding the students from “getting into”
the writing discourse of the dominant language of English.
Second, the curriculum of these English courses portrayed ethnolinguistic students as
“cultural novices” who needed appropriate instruction to “acculturate” to the given society as
stated in the course description of GESL101 Approaches to Literature (ESL):
In this general education course for second language learners, students explore a
variety of short literary works which enable them to appreciate the role of literature
in understanding human condition and … in helping make sense of the world and
their experience. … This course continues to refine and develop college-level skills
and writing competence. (Gainsway College, Course Outline of GESL101,
2004-2005, p. 1)
Identified as second language learners, language minority students were clearly
positioned as “outsiders” with little understanding of “human condition” in the given society.
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The course GESL101 was designed with the assumption that reading literary works played a
role in transferring western culture and civilization to language minority students who grew
up and were educated in different sociocultural contexts. As such, doing the tasks in response
to literary works was assumed to benefit students with “cultural capital” of the dominant class
which was considered as a crucial resource for students to learn the rope of encoding and
making sense of the new society and their experiences, in line with the western ideology.
While the dominant cultural capital of English was clearly constructed and emphasized as
superior and legitimate in the curriculum, such a literary task might interfere in the process of
students‟ engagement in language learning. For example, while taking GESL101, Ming Fang
had to write assignments in response to the certain literary works as the teacher required. In
Ming Fang‟s view, these were the tasks that made her feel confused and disconnected because
there was “too much western stuff.” Although she was interested in knowing the cultural
traditions of western countries, Ming Fang said that she had no motivation to “appreciate”
those literary articles in that words and literary expressions in the articles were not related
either to her subject courses or to her daily interactions with people. While having no clue of
how to formulate her essay in response to the assigned literary text, Ming Fang employed a
strategy that she composed her essay in Chinese first and then translated it into English.
However, her cross-linguistic literacy practices seemed to create interference for her in
composing an essay fulfilling the requirements, since the teacher often commented on her
essay as “incoherent and unstructured” without providing a strong response to the assigned
literary article. Ming Fang‟s failure to produce a good piece of writing resulted in the
teacher‟s unfavorable attitudes toward her, since she was obviously labeled as a low-achiever
lacking linguistic competence and cultural understanding. As Ming Fang said, “No matter
how hard I tried, I seldom got a good mark from that teacher. I know, he must think I‟m a bad
student. … He gave me a „D+‟ for the course. It was the worst one I have ever had!”
(Interview excerpt, February 28, 2006, my literal translation).
6.2.1.3 Strategy or Resistance?
Over the course of the semester, the participants learned how to deal with the challenge
that they encountered in these English courses. For example, Jia Wei reported that after the
mid-term exam, he had no intention to spend much time on reading the grammar textbook
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until the day of the class. He usually skimmed the text quickly to get familiar with the new
terms and vocabulary, in the preparation for the in-class quiz. Jia Wei thought that the
strategy helped save his time and worked well for him as he said, “Those quizzes? A piece of
cake for me” (Interview excerpt, February 20, 2006, my literal translation). Unlike Jia Wei,
Jian Hui spent most of his English classes reading his grammar reference book that he had
brought from China. When the teacher lectured a certain grammar rule in the class, Jian Hui
read the correspondent chapter in his reference book instead, paying little attention to his
teacher‟s talk going on in the class. Once in a while, Jian Hui identified the difference
between the teacher‟s instruction on a certain grammar rule and his reading about it in the
reference book while copying his classmates‟ notes of the lecture after the class. Initially, Jian
Hui approached his teacher and asked for clarification. But he gave it up as soon as he
realized that in doing so, he won no favors of his teacher. Although he stopped “challenging
the teacher‟s authority,” and followed the notes of lectures at the time when he prepared for
the test, Jian Hui commented, “I don‟t think „the local‟ can beat us, in terms of grammar
rules” (Interview excerpt, February 16, 2006, my literal translation).
Despite their knowing about the technical skills that they gained in their previous learning
experiences, the participants admitted that English language was still central to their concerns
and became a particular issue for them in their writing assignments of English courses.
Although they indicated that their failure to produce a standard essay was not separate from
what they were required to write and even the teacher‟s attitudes toward them, the
participants appeared to employ a set of strategies to cope with the challenge.
Several participants mentioned that they resorted to a “literacy broker” to “standardize”
their written products. For example, in the first two semesters, Ming Fang usually asked her
neighbor, Frank, to make corrections on her essays before she submitted it to the teacher.
Frank, in his 70s, was a retired dentist working at a bigger dental clinic in Toronto for 35
years. Living on the same street, Ming Fang usually saw Frank sitting in the porch when she
took her daughter to the playground. After exchanging a couple of “hellos” to one another,
Ming Fang often stopped and talked to Frank for a while. Ming Fang said that Frank was kind
to offer his help when she mentioned to him that she had difficulty in writing an English
essay. Since then, Ming Fang usually brought her written assignments to Frank who asked her
to read aloud the essay to him. While listening to Ming Fang, Frank made corrections to her
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writing and pronunciations. For Ming Fang, Frank‟s tutoring was far more effective than the
class instruction at college, as she said, “I found my speaking skills were improved because
Frank always asked me to tell him what my understanding of the assignment was and why I
wrote my composition like this. And he listened to me attentively” (Interview excerpt,
November 3, 2006, my literal translation).
Ming Fang appeared to appreciate this dialogic approach to her writing as she asked her
daughter to take the role of Frank after her family moved to a different residential area in the
third term. Frequently, after she completed an essay, she read aloud the article to her daughter
and asked her to make corrections in her writing. Although she thought that a 6-year-old child
would not play a role in standardizing her writing, Ming Fang believed that her daughter
served as a little helper who could usually identify a couple of grammatical errors in her
written assignment, saying, “June learns to speak English here. She can sense whether a word
or sentence is appropriate or not in my writing, according to the way she speaks English”
(Interview excerpt, February 14, 2006, my literal translation).
It was true that not all participants could identify a facilitator that played a role in helping
them with their English writing. Lacking this kind of resource, they intended to deploy their
existing English literacy skills to help themselves integrate into the discourse of academic
writing. For example, holding a belief that the more he read, the better he wrote, Jia Wei read
his course materials in all subjects in an intensive way. He analyzed sentence structures and
memorized new vocabulary in the text. Jia Wei said that he often adopted the same strategy
while reading newspapers, magazines, or novels. Although his intensive and extensive
reading practices resulted in an extra work burden, Jia Wei believed that his way of reading
would benefit him to write well eventually. In fact, Jia Wei‟s reading comprehension and a
wide range of vocabulary won him a reputation as an achiever among his fellow Chinese
classmates. When Jian Hui introduced Jia Wei to me in our first meeting, he expressed his
admiration and said, “Jia Wei reads extensively and knows a lot of English words. I think his
English is really good. Every time, when we wrote an essay in class, Jia Wei wrote a longer
text and got a better mark on his essay than mine.”
Despite the strategies they adopted, the participants reported that their final marks on
English courses were always the lowest one among all courses. While expecting good marks
on the transcripts reflecting their merits would translate into particular employment
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opportunities, the participants were concerned that the low marks on their English courses
would in turn serve for the potential employers as confirmation of their inadequate English
proficiency for the position. In the meantime, because teachers‟ evaluation reflected students‟
academic performance, the bad marks appeared to affect their self-confidence of their
proficiency in the dominant language of English. In the course of the research, Jia Wei always
checked back with me that the journal he wrote made sense to me, in terms of grammar and
vocabulary. Once, in the early period of my data collection, Jia Wei wrote me a message on
the bottom of his email message:
Lurong, forgive me for my bad English writing. You know, I just got a “C” in my
English class last semester. Confidence is still scarce in me now. Sometimes I felt I
was stuck, especially in English writing class. I feel difficult to have a jump. Anyway,
if you need me to clarify my words and sentences please feel free to ask me. I am
glad to explain them to you. (Jia Wei‟s email message, February 4, 2006)
In a nutshell, a juxtapositional examination of the curricular arrangements of English
courses and the challenges that the participants encountered in English classes revealed that
linguistic minority students occupied a subordinate position in instructional procedures and
practices in college. While these English courses paid particular attention to technical skills
and cultural transmission for the purpose of fixing deficits, the participants found it hard to
upgrade their English competencies to a higher level beyond the basics. Their stories about
language learning in these English classes suggested that trapped in such curriculum
arrangements that emphasized the acquisition of western cultural norms and the linguistic
orders of the dominant language of English, they gained no space to incorporate their
learning experiences with English and cultural practices into classroom events to enrich their
learning practices. Because of this contradiction, the participants in my study usually found
themselves in conflict as they were labeled as “linguistic and cultural novices” in the
structured class instruction. In keeping with the thematic issues examined above, the
subsequent sections will continue to investigate the participants‟ experiences in other
structured classroom activities.
6.2.2 Oral Presentation and “Speaking English with Confidence”
In discussing their study in the post-secondary school, all participants said that they had
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the experiences of doing oral presentations in front of the class. For most Chinese immigrants
who had limited experiences of delivering a speech in front of their peers in the
teacher-centred classroom in China, oral presentations were considered as a good opportunity
that benefited them to practice their speaking skills in English. Nonetheless, when asked to
reflect upon their learning experiences at college, several participants indicated that the oral
presentation activity left them the feeling that they would never speak good English in their
lives. My data revealed two main reasons that reinforced the participants‟ anxiety throughout
the exercise. They reflected the pressure imposed by the authority of the legitimate speakers
of English in the class and the constraint exerted through the presentation topics that placed
emphasis on the cultural capital of the dominant language. Demonstrated as follows, the two
constraints interplayed and operated as powerful forces that inhibit the productivity of the
participants‟ strategies of learning to speak English with confidence.
6.2.2.1 The Challenge
The first frequently mentioned reason was related to the participants‟ awareness that they
were linguistically disadvantaged in the oral presentation activity that made them expose their
language weakness to the instructor and their peers who held linguistic authority to judge and
evaluate their language performance in the exercise. As indicated in the following excerpt,
caught in such a situation, Ming Fang felt that her English was gone while presenting in front
of her “local” classmates.
明芳: 第二学期刚开始,我就发现我们班除了我之外都是本地人。明摆着我的英文肯定是班里最差的。你知道我们这个专业有很多 presentation
几乎每堂课都有。听他们做 presentation 把英文说的那么流利,我就觉得有心理压力。所以,每次往前面一站就想我的英文肯定不如他们说得好,这样就使得我自己很恐慌。心里就更紧张了。就觉得自己什么都不会说了就连个完整的句子都说不出来。
(Interview excerpt, January 22, 2006)
Ming Fang:
At the beginning of the second term, I realized
that except me, others were the “local” in the
class. It was clear that my English was the
worst in the class. You know, there were many
oral presentations in our program. Almost in
every class, I had to do an oral presentation.
My classmates spoke English fluently.
Listening to their speech exerted too much
stress on me. Every time when I stood in front
of them, the thought that I could not speak
English as fluently as they did caused panic to
me. At that time, I felt my English was gone. I
was even unable to speak a complete sentence.
(My literal translation)
With a strong desire of improving her English proficiency, Ming Fang deliberately chose
Business Administration and Marketing as her major when she learned that students in the
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program were frequently required to do oral presentations in class. While taking a set of
subject courses in the second term, Ming Fang found that she was the only non-native
speaker of English in most of the classroom. Such an observation made Ming Fang feel
uncomfortable and alienated as she became visibly different from the rest of the class. The
sense of non-belonging to the “local” group exerted a negative effect on her performance in
the oral presentations in that she was acutely aware that the oral presentation activity would
serve to highlight her language inferiority to her “local” classmates. While entangled in the
negative thought of her English competence, Ming Fang had a sense that she was already
doomed to failure in the eye of the class. In this respect, Ming Fang‟s narrative indicated that
when the linguistic asymmetry was salient in the class, immigrant students might have a
sense of powerlessness with a result of curtailment of their language performance in the
classroom exercise.
In fact, throughout her study in the college, the fellow Chinese peers Ming Fang met at
school were usually surprised when they learned her major in Business Administration and
Marketing because this was the program that “local” students usually chose and dominated.
Some of them even persuaded Ming Fang to switch to the accounting program, saying, “How
could you deal with those oral presentations as you have no way to compete with the „local‟?
So, you will have no chance to earn a good mark. This means you have no hope to get a job
in the field” (Interview excerpt, February 11, 2006, my literal translation).
Later on, Ming Fang learned that there were few immigrant students in the Business
Administration and Marketing program, not only because of the demands of oral
communication skills in the courses, but also because of the high intake rates of “local”
students in the program. Indeed, it was a common phenomenon shared among community
colleges that there was a clear distinction that immigrant students and non-immigrant students
enrolled in specific programs respectively at school. Typically, immigrant students chose to
major in accounting or computer science, with consideration of language demands in the
study and potential possibility for employment in the future. The fact that ethnic minority
students opted for these particular programs suggested their awareness that their linguistic
difference from the dominant language might have a potential danger to disadvantage and
exclude them from the job market. That immigrant students and non-immigrant students
chose specific programs at school might also have implications for the occupation
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categorizations, if not polarization, in the labor market as well as for social and economic
stratification along racial lines.
Second, several participants indicated that they usually felt passive as well as
disadvantaged when their acquisition of the cultural capital of the dominant was demanded
and evaluated through the assigned topics of oral presentations. This caused a situation that
the unfamiliarity with the “local” culture resulted in their feelings of linguistic powerlessness
in the practice since their cultural practices were considered as incompatible with the one of
the dominant class. For example, in the business presentation course, Ming Fang learned how
to introduce and market a product to clients in a professional way. The course instructor
usually taught nothing, except to bring a group of small, authentic products to the class. The
teacher assigned a particular product to each student who was required to present the product
with an introduction of feature, quality, and function in front of the class. While other
students prepared the assigned task for a three-minute presentation, Ming Fang usually
struggled to figure out what the product was. As Ming Fang said, her local classmates had no
problem presenting, for example, a particular type of pasta sauce or snacks to the class
because “they grew up with these kinds of things.” However, it appeared to be a confusin g
task for Ming Fang who gained limited local cultural experience in the new society, as she
commented, “I have no idea what the pasta sauce is because in China we don‟t eat pasta. I
even don‟t know how to talk about it in Chinese” (Interview excerpt, February 11, 2006, my
literal translation).
Ming Fang knew that her teacher and classmates must see her as a “dummy” because of
her cultural ignorance and language flaws that they identified in her speech. After her
presentation on a pasta sauce, Ming Fang‟s “local” classmates kept quiet with no intention to
ask further questions. The instructor broke the silence. But, instead of raising questions on the
content of her presentation, the teacher asked Ming Fang, “How long have you been in
Canada?” Ming Fang felt ashamed, knowing that she did not give a good presentation. “Three
months.” Ming Fang responded in a low voice although she already lived in Toronto for
almost three years at that time.
In our interview meeting, Ming Fang revealed the reason that she hid the length of her
residence in her response:
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I knew why the teacher asked me the question because they thought my English was
awful. If I told them I had already stayed for three years, they must think that I am
stupid because no matter how long I live here, I don‟t speak English well. They might
think that it was reasonable that I spoke poor English if I just stayed here for a short
time. (Interview excerpt, February 11, 2006, my literal translation)
Speaking of this, Ming Fang indicated her awareness that she was negatively positioned in
the class as her language practices, in combination with her cultural understanding of the
dominant class, were identified as different, and thus inferior in terms of both the
appropriation of her performance in oral presentations and her capability of learning the
established linguistic and cultural norms in the host society. In a sense, Ming Fang‟s act of
hiding suggested her undertaking a form of resistance to the dominant assumptions that were
imposed on her, thereby signifying her understanding of the unequal power relations that
existed between her and the “local” group in the class. Ming Fang‟s strategy that hid the
length of her residence from the teacher worked for her. In hearing her response, the course
instructor said, “Three months? Then your English sounds fine to me.”
6.2.2.2 The Strategy
In their attempt to deal with these challenges, all participants adopted a set of strategies to
get themselves well prepared for the oral presentations, including 1) researching background
information of the presentation topic, 2) writing down the scripts for their oral presentations,
3) refining their pronunciations through rehearsals, and 4) memorizing scripts, word by word,
in advance. By using these strategies, they hoped that they were capable of expressing what
they wanted to say in explicit and precise ways, thereby fulfilling academic requirements
successfully. However, the participants expressed their frustration about the futility of their
hard-working as they realized that these strategies failed in supporting them to speak English
with confidence in front of the class.
Ming Fang tended to rely on her scripts to get over her nervousness while presenting in
front of the class. However, upon her presentation, the teacher and her classmates criticized
her for giving no eye contact in the process, since she tried to “read” instead of “speak”
naturally in the presentation. In knowing that reading her scripts was not accepted as the
standard way of delivering oral presentations, Ming Fang recited the written scripts of her
oral presentation in front of the class. However, Ming Fang said that her memory failed to
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fight back her anxiety while seeing her instructor‟s and “local” peers‟ judgmental look. The
pressure resulted in the loss of her language and memory capacity in the presentation. As
Ming Fang described, at that time, doing oral presentation turned out to be her nightmare in
that she could not speak a word, but only with her eyes staring at the ceiling. And, everybody
in the classroom was watching her in the moment of her embarrassment. Clearly, Ming
Fang‟s preparation work failed to engender a productive outcome, since she was given no
way to bypass the established rules which served to thwart her effort to speak English with
confidence.
In addition, several participants pointed out that their strategic efforts became in vain
when they had to deal with presentation topics requiring “too much Canadian stuff.” In the
second term, Jia Wei took “Speaking English with Confidence” as his elective course, in his
attempt to maximize his opportunities not only to upgrade his oral communication skills, but
also to develop his strategies of establishing communication ties with others in an effective
way.
The exercise of oral presentations dominated the entire course. Students were required to
present the topic that the course instructor assigned in advance. Although the majority of
students in the class were the second language learners and so brought diverse ethnic-cultural
backgrounds to the classroom, the course instructor placed emphasis on the single form of
cultural capital, as Jia Wei indicated that most assigned topics required his acquisition of the
local cultural knowledge.
Jia Wei found that it was not easy for him to prepare for those assigned presentations
because as a newcomer to the host society, he did not have much background knowledge of
the topic, such as gambling and voting. Jia Wei felt upset that his strategies, such as reading
background information on the Internet, writing a short essay on the topic, and preparing
presentation scripts, failed to support him to speak English confidently, since he sometimes
forgot what he wrote when he tried to recite his scripts in the process of his presentation.
Nonetheless, throughout the course, Jia Wei used these strategies persistently, in an attempt to
increase his local cultural knowledge and so expected to regain his confidence eventually.
In retrospect, Jia Wei realized that by the end of the term, his speaking skills in English
ended up little improved with these strategies in that the assigned topics constrained him to
practice his speech by merely memorizing unfamiliar information rather than encouraged
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mutual communications in a natural way. While expecting that the course would provide
ample opportunities for him to improve his oral communication skills in English, Jia Wei
indicated that the assigned presentation topic that emphasized “the Canadian stuff” served to
deteriorate his abilities because it adversely affected him from making use of his existing
competencies effectively for a successful performance in the class. In this way, the
presentation topics embedded in the dominant cultural context actually deprived Jia Wei of an
opportunity to further develop his English abilities as well as to have his existing
competencies and cultural values recognized.
When asked to describe his experience in the class of “Speak English with Confidence,”
Jia Wei commented, “It was a scary experience and a boring class. Upon the completion of
the class, my confidence was totally gone because I know speaking English is the unbeatable
challenge to me!” (Interview excerpt, February 16, 2006, my literal translation). Echoing Jia
Wei, Ming Fang reflected, “It was through the oral presentation activity that I came to realize
that I would never speak „good‟ English in my life” (Interview excerpt, February 11, 2006,
my literal translation).
6.2.3 Group Work and Legitimate Access to Participation
The participants in the study reported that over the course of the semester, instructors
usually assigned tasks to students to work in a small group. From the outset, they saw this
kind of activity as an opportunity to socialize with their peers in natural and interactive ways.
As indicated in the previous sections, learning to speak “good” English was the participants‟
major goal to study at the community college where they would build communication
networks with teachers and classmates in the English-medium academic context. Indeed, in
comparison with other pedagogical approaches, such as class lectures and oral presentations,
the advantage of group work activities is to provide a number of potentially rich opportunities
for language minority students to practice their communicative skills in English while
working on their assignment collaboratively with other group members.
Nonetheless, my data revealed that simply because interactive opportunities and
socializing functions of group work activities were available did not necessarily mean that
language minority students would gain access to full participation in the activity. This point
of view originated from the participants‟ experiences of attending a range of group work
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activities in college that they found it hard to gain their peers‟ trust in their competence and to
have equal rights to share the responsibility with their group partners for doing the group
assignment.
For example, both Jia Wei and Jian Hui took the “Culinary Skills” course in the second
term as required in the Department. Typically, after the course instructor gave a brief lecture
on particular recipes, students were usually organized as a group of two or three to cook a
couple of dishes together in the kitchen lab, according to the recipes that the teacher assigned.
In the group work activity, students were expected to gain hands-on experiences of their
culinary skills through sharing their responsibilities with their team mates. By the end of the
class, the groups were required to present the dishes they cooked, and the instructor evaluated
the assignment based on the criteria of presentation, taste, and group collaboration.
However, Jia Wei voiced frustration that he was granted little opportunity to practice his
skills, since his partner did not trust his capability of reading the recipe correctly and so
usually asked him to “make clear of the language on the recipe first, and then learn to follow
it step by step later.” When they worked on a group assignment, Jia Wei was frequently
assigned to read the recipes to his partner and then do the preparatory work. Similar to Jia
Wei‟s experience, Jian Hui was appointed to do cleaning work after his other group members
completed cooking the dishes, although students‟ responsibilities, such as preparing, cooking,
and cleaning, should rotate on one task at a time as the instructor required. With five-year
work experience in several restaurants in Vancouver and Toronto, Jian Hui saw this
arrangement as unreasonable. As he put it,
It is unfair that I am usually assigned to do the cleaning work in the group. It seems that
it is always I who should do an apprentice work in the group. In the restaurant, if a
person is asked to do this kind of work all the times, it means that he has no skill, and
everybody thinks that he is too stupid to learn. (Interview excerpt, May 9, 2006, my
literal translation)
While sharing the similarity with Jia Wei and Jian Hui, Ming Fang‟s experience of doing
group work activity provided a revealing account that the difficulty in gaining access,
acceptance, and equal sharing of responsibility in the group activity was entwined with her
partners‟ distrust of her competence in the dominant language of English that served to shape
the unequal relationship, rather than partnership, among the group members in the process.
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As Ming Fang described, while doing group assignment with her other two team-mates, the
discussion was frequently interrupted by casual conversations. Although she had no difficulty
in discussing with them the course subject, Ming Fang found it hard to make a connection
with her group partners who enjoyed the conversations apparently requiring speakers‟
backgrounds in Canadian culture. Remaining quietly at that moment, Ming Fang felt isolated,
saying,
There is no way for me to join in their conversation because I don‟t know anything
about it. Actually, they spoke English very fast, and I even couldn‟t catch what exactly
they talked about. Well, I know they shared a lot of things in common. They are friends.
(Interview excerpt, February 11, 2006, my literal translation)
Without the backstage data on the issue of her membership in the group, Ming Fang‟s
narration might be simply taken up as evidence that immigrant students had the difficulty in
fully engaging in the academic learning activity because of their lack of cultural capital of the
dominant class to socialize with their Canadian-born classmates in the process. Meanwhile,
her act of withdrawing from the casual conversations might be considered as her linguistic
incapability in attending communication routines that served to establish a collaborative
relationship with her classmates. However, in Ming Fang‟s view, her opportunity to engage
with the group activity was taken away at the time when the other two group members struck
up the casual conversations involving specific cultural topics that served to shut off her voice.
In fact, Ming Fang was acutely aware that she was not supposed to participate in the
conversation when her group members exchanged their favorite topics in a fast speech of
English and left her no space to fit in. Ming Fang‟s sense of being isolated in the casual
conversation here made sense to me after she told how the other two group members initially
approached the course instructor and said that they did not want to work with Ming Fang
because they were concerned that her poor English skills would result in a bad mark on the
group assignment. They insisted that it was impossible that Ming Fang would produce a piece
of well-written product because she often kept silent in the class and did not speak “good”
English in her response to the instructor‟s questions.
The course instructor let Ming Fang stay in the group on the condition that she would
complete her part of the group assignment early and turned it in to the group members to
review. To show her collaboration, Ming Fang made a promise that she would like to revise
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her assignment based on the group members‟ suggestions. Doing so, Ming Fang said that she
just wanted to gain an opportunity to demonstrate that she was capable of writing a good
assignment.
However, Ming Fang‟s compromise did not help change the negative attitude of the
classmates toward her competence in giving a satisfying performance, since the other two
group members seemed to resist recognizing her partnership in many ways. After several
times of asking her group partners which part they wanted her to write, Ming Fang was
merely assigned a small portion of the project to work on and was told at the same time, “We
know it is a piece of cake. But if you have a problem, let us know.” Ming Fang said that she
never received any response from her partners after she turned in her written text to them and
asked for their feedback. Although the group assignment was completed and submitted to the
instructor on time, her partners did not give Ming Fang a chance to read the part that they
wrote for the group.
In the group meeting, Ming Fang had a sense that the two group partners seemed to be
interested in casual conversations instead of in the assignment, as she complained, “They
usually didn‟t concentrate on the assignment, but wasted time talking too much about other
things” (Interview excerpt, February 11, 2006, my literal translation). Having said that, Ming
Fang gained her understanding of the relationship between her and her group members
through the casual conversation as she indicated, “I know they shared a lot of things in
common. They are friends.” In this way, seeing Ming Fang as an unwelcome member in the
group, the group members might have an intention to use the casual conversation as a
boundary signifying who belonged to the group, and who remained on the margin or even
was excluded from gaining legitimacy and access to full participation in the group activity.
It was evident, after all, that in the process of the group work activity, Ming Fang was
allowed limited participation in the learning practice by her peers who evaluated her
membership under the criteria of what she was not able to do according to their judgment on
her speaking skills in the dominant language of English. Even though they allowed her initial
access, Ming Fang was actually not accepted as a partner, since she was given no legitimacy
to decide what and how she worked on the group project. Despite her desire and efforts that
she made to be part of the group and to take part in the activity, Ming Fang obviously had
difficulty in gaining entry into the inner circle of her group members in that the casual
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conversation played a role in producing not only enough distance between her and her
partners, but also enough legitimacy to determine who has rights to speak and who should be
in the position to listen to and remain silent while doing the group work activity.
The sense of being positioned as peripheral or even marginalized had a shaping effect
upon the participants‟ future act of learning and participating. While reflecting upon her
group-work experience at college, Ming Fang joked about it, saying, “It was through the
group activity that I learned to be patient and compromising. I let them enjoy talking while I
was working on the assignment alone” (Interview excerpt, February 11, 2006, my literal
translation). Apparently, to show her collaboration in the group activity, Ming Fang was
trying to simply tolerate her group partners until the assignment was completed. Similar to
Ming Fang‟s accommodating approach to completing group assignments, Jia Wei seemed to
identify a strategy to cope with his challenge. Lacking an opportunity of exercising his
culinary skills in the group activity, Jia Wei was keen to cook the same dishes for his family
meals as he learned in the class, even thought he realized, “My wife and daughter don‟t like
the western dishes. They have appetites for Chinese food” (Interview excerpt, March 23,
2006, my literal translation). Different from Ming Fang and Jia Wei, Jian Hui decided to
confront the group about the unequal sharing of responsibility for the group work. He
reported that after he had a dispute about his part in a group assignment with his other two
partners, the instructor sent him to work alone in the class of culinary skills. By the end of the
term, Jian Hui, who considered himself as an experienced cook, received a “C-” for the final
mark on the course.
For the rest of the study period at college, however, the participants deliberately selected
their fellow Chinese classmates to work with in a group if they were given freedom to choose.
Despite the fact that they had little chance to speak English within the group since Chinese
naturally became a legitimate language for them to communicate while working on the
assignment, the participants believed that together with their fellow Chinese classmates, they
could work collaboratively and efficiently in a sharing linguistic and cultural repertoire.
In sum, the participants in the study went to college with a belief that their English
proficiency would be further improved at a higher level education institute. They looked
forward to ample opportunities of practicing and refining their English skills, not only
through learning subject courses, but also through building up communication networks with
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their peers and teachers at school. Learning to speak “good” English was the particular
impetus for the participants to choose what area they majored in or what course they selected,
as shown in the case of Ming Fang and Jia Wei.
However, walking into college classes, the participants found that they faced challenges
that hindered them in reaching this learning goal. The English courses with a continual focus
on discrete technical skills left the participants with the feelings that their English
competencies were “hard to jump.” Meanwhile, the teacher comment that placed emphasis on
language forms exerted a negative effect on the participants‟ view of themselves as “inferior”
language users in applying “appropriate” linguistic forms to their writing practices. The
assigned tasks in correspondence to the western culture appeared to throw the participants
into a marginalized and precarious situation in that they identified little space for upholding
them to draw on their existing resources, since the tasks provided no resonance to the
ethnolinguistic students‟ previous experiences.
When they were identified as inexperienced English users and incompetent writers in
English courses, the participants in my study appeared to be active agents using their literacy
skills, consciously or unconsciously, in their attempt to deal with these challenges. They
strived to meet academic needs by deploying a set of strategies, including finding a literacy
broker to standardize their compositions, resorting to Chinese language to fulfill course
requirements, writing and memorizing English scripts prior to their oral presentations, and
doing intensive and extensive reading activities in English. While using these strategies
created a practical opportunity for Ming Fang to learn English from her neighbor, for Jia Wei
to accumulate his cultural capital in the new society, and for Jian Hui to solidify his specific
language skills, the negative outcomes of their uses of these strategies seemed to raise their
awareness that their desire for upgrading their English proficiency was hard to achieve in the
higher education context.
The participants‟ experiences in oral presentation and group work activities presented a
snapshot reflecting that classroom activities entailed unequal encounters mired in power
relations. This made classroom activities into structured constraints with a result of disrupting
actual learning practices. While expecting to exercise their English skills through these
classroom activities, the participants found that they struggled with their position on the
margin as they were contained by the authority of who was deemed as a qualified English
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speaker, who should be treated as an appropriate group member, and so who was legitimized
to decide what and how the assigned work was done. Differences and distinctions in group
member relationships, degree of access to participation in learning, and the distribution of
responsibilities reinforced the participants to ultimately drop their initial desire for further
improving their English proficiency, as shown in the example of the group work activity that
they intended to work on the group assignment with their fellow Chinese classmates together
as a result.
6.3 The Outcomes of Schooling
At the time when graduating from a Canadian post-secondary school, all participants
contended that it was a worthwhile learning experience in that they gained confidence in their
professional skills, credential qualifications, and their competencies in English. They were
optimistic about their entry into the labor market with local credentials, considering their
professional knowledge as a valued resource that would serve them well during the job search.
More importantly, all participants believed that the language training in the formal learning
context helped them make attachment to the standards of the dominant language of English.
When asked what particular linguistic gains they obtained from their years of schooling
experiences in Canada, most participants, first and foremost, indicated that their reading
competence was dramatically improved. This made sense since reading was not only the most
valued cognitive skills for students in gaining knowledge from textbooks and other learning
materials, but also the competence that the teachers evaluated in the name of fostering
students‟ autonomy of learning and problem-solving skills in the process of knowledge
acquisition. The sense of making progress encouraged the participants‟ continual engagement
in reading a wide range of reading practices beyond academic purposes. Several participants
reported that they kept a habit of reading in English, such as newspapers, magazines, novels,
and professional books, after they graduated from the school.
Students‟ engagement in reading practices was considered as crucial to improving their
writing abilities. Nonetheless, from the participants‟ point of view, their reading and writing
competencies did not make the same degree of progress. Several participants commented that
their writing abilities were limited to their basic skills of applying rules and regulations to
their written texts. In order to avoid making grammar errors as well as to compose an essay
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with a standard format, the participants said that they deliberately wrote a short essay with
simple language while rigidly following the regulations in response to the teachers‟
requirements. In doing so, however, most participants expressed their concern that their
writing competence might be inadequate for them to compete for a high level occupational
position since their writing competence in English was highly demanded and evaluated in the
workplace.
The participants indicated that their listening comprehension in English was sharpened in
the English-medium learning environment. Despite the fact that sitting in the class and
listening to the teachers‟ lectures provided them with ample opportunities to practice their
listening competence, several participants emphasized that reading practices were the
backdrop for them to heighten their listening comprehension in school and in his daily life
since the background knowledge that they learned through reading made listening much
easier. From this perspective, most of them commented that a lack of experiential knowledge
caused them some challenge in dealing with communication demands. As Jia Wei
emphasized, “I don‟t think I have language problems if I don‟t understand what people say.
Rather, it means that I have gained no experience of it. I just don‟t have enough background
knowledge” (Interview excerpt, February 19, 2006, my literal translation).
Upon their graduation from colleges and universities, the participants in my study held a
common view that compared with their other language skills, their oral proficiency in English
was the least improved, although they deliberately took varied credit or non-credit courses on
campus, in their attempt to improve their speaking skills in English. Nonetheless, my data
showed that their views on the improvement of oral proficiency in English shifted when they
referred to the role of their speaking skills in different communication repertoires.
Most participants acknowledged that their speaking competence in English was improved
in terms of their abilities to fulfill academic requirements. Over the course of the semesters,
they gradually gained comfort while doing oral presentations in front of the class. They
attributed this improvement to the strategy of “using simple words, speaking short sentences,
and making a brief speech” that they deployed in the oral presentation. Despite the fact that
their English proficiency was adequate for them to participate in academic learning activities,
several participants indicated that their speaking skills made little progress as they found it
hard to build communication networks with others at school. As most participants explained,
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they gained limited opportunities to talk with course instructors and their English-native peers
in and out of class. Jia Wei reported that he usually sat with his fellow Chinese classmates
together in the class and worked with them on assignments in the study group after school.
Although he thought that working with his fellow Chinese classmates established
collaboration and efficacy for his academic study, Jia Wei had concerns that he lost an
opportunity to secure communication networks through which he could practice his spoken
English. Once in a while, Jia Wei had a chance to interact with his English-native peers or
teachers at school. However, as Jia Wei noticed, they usually wound up the conversation with
him after a couple of verbal exchanges. To Jia Wei‟s mind, his lack of linguistic and cultural
connections with native speakers of English made the conversation hard to proceed.
Similar to Jia Wei‟s opinion, Li Tao said that he was confident of his English speaking
skills in presenting professional knowledge in his field. In fact, in the workplace, doing oral
presentations became Li Tao‟s strategy that he frequently used in the departmental meeting,
in order to position himself as a diligent, talented employee in front of the manager.
Nonetheless, Li Tao expressed his helplessness that his spoken English was not sufficient to
build up a stable social network with his classmates and colleagues, saying, “I have no
problem presenting my knowledge in English in front of my classmates and colleagues. But, I
found it hard to talk „deep‟ with them” (Interview excerpt, March 25, 2006, my literal
translation).
Jia Wei‟s and Li Tao‟s narrations implied that language learning in academic contexts did
not provide the expected nexus that would support immigrant students to navigate across
discourses. In other words, the competence that they gained in a formal learning context
might not necessarily guarantee them a smooth linguistic transition from the school to the
workplace. More importantly, for the participants in my study, the desire of improving their
speaking skills in English was strong, and went beyond academic contexts or the moment of
participation in classroom activities in school settings. Their self-evaluation on whether their
oral proficiency in English was developed or not rested on their sense of belonging to
particular discourses such as school or workplace where they gained opportunities to
capitalize their knowledge and English abilities and to engage in full participation through
constructing sound social connections with other people around them. It was then clear that
having limited space and opportunity to build up social relationships and communication
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networks resulted in the participants‟ remaking evaluations on the validity of their existing
English competencies which might not be recognized as valuable in particular spaces and
relationships. The participants‟ experiences of having difficulties in making such a social
bond through taking up their language skills might have the shaping effect on how they
constructed their views of “self” in relation to a future act of participating. I shall illustrate
this point further in Chapter 8 in this dissertation.
Taken together, after all, at the point of graduating from the post-secondary school, none
of the participants in my study worried that their English proficiency would be a barrier for
them to (re)locating a job relevant to what they learned at a Canadian post-secondary school.
They held a strong desire that after they invested great efforts on acquiring, appropriating,
and reconceptualizing their knowledge and skills at the local school, their Canadian
educational credentials would provide them with a clear departure to win and secure a stable
social and economic life in the host country.
6.4 Summary
In this chapter, I have traced my participants‟ educational trajectories from LINC/ESL
programs to a post-secondary school, highlighting how immigrant students‟ learning practices
were regulated and constrained by institutional ideologies of language and language learning.
I have identified the underlying reasons that immigrant participants decided to obtain the
Canadian educational credentials in the new society, revealing that going to school was the
immigrant newcomers‟ strategy to make linguistic adjustment and cultural adaptation, and
ultimately to secure employment in the host labor market. Within formal learning contexts, I
have found that language and literacy were utilized interactively as bureaucratic mechanisms
that emphasized the dominant discourse of cultural and language acquisition. In particular,
while immigrant newcomers‟ English proficiency levels were measured through the
bureaucratic mechanism, there emerged tensions between values placed on listening and
speaking versus reading and writing in instructional and interactional orders. At this point, I
have demonstrated how dominant language ideologies were sustained and reinforced through
curriculum arrangements and varied learning activities. I have described how my participants
engaged in as well as negotiated learning opportunities and participation within the
constraints in many different ways. Taking into account their desire for improving their
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communication competencies in English and for acquiring social and cultural capital, I have
examined the extent to which immigrants‟ language and literacy skills were used, improved
or blocked under the dominant language ideologies of standardization and homogeneity.
Nonetheless, the data in my study showed that influenced by ideologies of language learning
that emphasized the direct relationship between English language proficiency and social
economic mobility in the new country, most participants held positive attitudes that they had
the knowledge and English proficiency needed to find a job when graduating from school.
Chapter 7 then leads on to examine the detailed implications of the participants‟ Canadian
educational credentials for them to seek out employment opportunities in the job market.
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Chapter 7
Negotiating a Route of Entry:
Language and Literacy in the Job Market
In this chapter, I track down the pathways of the participants into the job market, and
examine the consequences of their job-search endeavors. In particular, I illustrate the kinds
of job-finding resources that the participants accessed and the barriers they encountered, as
they searched for a niche in the new labor market. I describe the strategies that the
participants adopted, in order to work out different modes of assessment in a set of
high-stakes contexts. The analysis sheds light on the fact that when the dominant language
of English is utilized as bureaucratic sorting mechanisms that determine who gains the
legitimacy of having access to what particular forms of resources and opportunities,
immigrant job-seekers have little room to display and make use of their knowledge and
skills in the process and so their job possibilities might be severely circumscribed. As
shown in this chapter, well-educated immigrants are subjected to displacement,
marginalization, and even exclusion from employment, no matter what kind of knowledge
and skills they brought to the new labor market. Hence, the examination of the
consequences of the participants‟ job-finding practices highlights the gatekeeping functions
of the dominant language that contribute to immigrants‟ economic insecurity and low social
status. This finding leads us to question the assumed relationship between Canadian
credentials and immigrants‟ economic mobility, implying that finding jobs is a situated
social political activity and process based on race, ethnicity, and class.
7.1 Multiple Resources, Multiple Ways In?
The job-finding difficulty was usually seen as inevitable to immigrant newcomers
whose employment expectations were likely based on their prior work experiences in their
home countries, and whose foreign qualifications were considered as uncertified and so
unfit for the standards of the given labor market in the host country. To help immigrant
newcomers effectively transfer into the new labor market, Canadian governments have set
up multiple employment preparation and facilitation programs within the framework of
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immigrant settlement services.
According to the Ontario Coalition of the Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI), there
are more than 170 community-based immigrant settlement services registered in the
province of Ontario (Eynolah, 2007). These agencies provide new immigrants and refugees
with a wide range of programs, such as language training, counseling and community
education, occupational skills training, and job placement/referrals. Among them, over 70
institutions, including government agencies, communities, school boards, and
post-secondary schools, deliver employment training services to immigrants across the
GTA. Most of them focus on improving the job-hunting skills of immigrant newcomers, in
correspondence to the established rules and regulations of recruitment in the job market. In
my study, Newcomers Opportunities to Work (NOW), short-term job-market orientation
workshops (approximately one week in length), job-hunting skills workshops (three or four
weeks maximum), and Skills-for-Change programs were the employment-related services
frequently mentioned by the participants.
With this range of available job-finding services, it was likely, however, that recent
immigrants still faced many challenges while searching for relevant occupations in the
professional job market. Among the participants who went to a Canadian post-secondary
school, there was a shared desire that their Canadian educational credentials serve to
demonstrate their readiness for the given job market and produce a successful return of an
employment opportunity on their investments. In reality, however, their first-hand
experiences with trying to find a job relevant to their existing knowledge and skills they
had obtained might not be resonant with their expectations and objectives. Indeed, either in
the early settlement period or after obtaining educational credentials at Canadian
post-secondary schools, all participants in my study expressed that finding a job was a long
struggle full of anxiety, disappointment, and frustration. As Jia Wei described such a
situation of extreme uncertainty, “For me, finding a job is much more difficult than getting
an „A+‟ on a course at school because a job opportunity really depends not just on my hard
work” (Jia Wei‟s journal, May 19, 2006).
Although the fact that immigrants confronted difficulties in finding a professional job
has been mentioned in numerous studies of immigrants in Canada, few of these studies take
us further to reveal the root of this issue. In other words, what was really going on in the
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immigrants‟ job-search process? What did prevent immigrant professionals from getting
into the given labor market? Taken together the employment services specifically designed
for immigrants and the hardships that immigrant newcomers encountered while searching
for a job, there arose a question, why did most well-educated immigrants find it hard to
enter the Canadian labor market, although there were plenty of job-finding resources
available, and although they had obtained the knowledge, skills, and credentials that they
were encouraged to acquire by the government? To unravel this puzzle, this section focuses
on forms of job-finding resources that the participants strived to have access to or took
advantage of in the job-search process, and the material circumstances that might
intertwine simultaneously with a set of structural barriers.
In my study, all participants were active in searching for a job opportunity through
identifying multiple forms of employment services in the process. Table 7.1 summarizes
these job-search resources categorized into two types: the primary resource and the
secondary resource. The primary resource was used as the major gateway through which
the participants collected hiring information and obtained job leads, in hope of finding a
direct access to employment. It contained print materials, the Internet, job fair, and
networking as they played a key role in leading individual participants to get into the job
market as a result.
My data showed a clear pattern that all participants in my study tended to gather job
information advertised in English-medium print media, website, and job fair that provided
open or free access for the public, as opposed to networking built on the established
personal relationships and social ties in the host country. In particular, in comparison with
networking that was the least used resource among the participants, English-medium print
materials and electronic job postings were the most persistently utilized in their entire
job-seeking engagements both in the early settlement period and upon their graduation
from a Canadian post-secondary school. Although all participants initially considered job
fairs as a form of resource generating a potential employment opportunity, they came to
realize that going to a job fair was not their favorite means of finding a job and so dropped
this searching strategy later on.
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Table 7.1 Resources Used by the Participants in the Job-Search Processes
Independent Applicant
Dependent Applicant
Xing Dong Yu Qing Li Tao Ye Lan Ming Fang Jia Wei Jian Hui
Primary Resource
Internet √ √ √ √﹡ √﹡ √﹡ √﹡
Print Materials
(e.g., newspaper, business
catalogue, occupational
information flyers)
√﹡ √ √ √ √﹡ √ √﹡
Job Fair √ √﹡ √ √ √ √ √﹡
Networking √﹡
Secondary Resource
Job-Search Workshops √ √ √ √ √
Employment Agency √ √ √ √
Voluntary Opportunity √ √ √
Community Library √ √ √
Notes: √ indicates the resource used by the participant.
﹡indicates that the participant identified an employment opportunity through using the resource.
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The secondary resource was identified as support and assistance, including job-search
workshop, employment agency, voluntary opportunity, and community library, to which the
participants frequently resorted in their efforts to tap into employment requirements as well
as to secure extended possibilities for a job. Among these resources, the government-funded
job-finding workshops appeared to attract all independent applicants to attend. This might be
attributed to their desire to gain familiarity with the established rules of recruitment in the
Canadian labor market in as short a time as possible, before they started hunting for a job in
the early settlement period. In contrast, none of the dependent applicants reported that they
gained a chance to register in this kind of workshop in their early job-search engagement.
Nonetheless, upon her graduation from the college, Ming Fang was keen on looking for an
opportunity to sit in such a workshop, in order to update her job-finding techniques and so to
keep her tenacity alive in the process of hunting for an employment opportunity, although
once she told me in our interview meeting, “The workshop produced no practical result in
helping me find a job (Interview excerpt, March 30, 2006, my literal translation).
When encountering difficulties on the paths of groping for entry into the given labor
market, individual participants turned to other helping sources at different scales. For
example, several participants approached an employment agency in an attempt to seek
connections with the workplace. In retrospect, however, they pointed out that access to the
employment agency was not their favorable option in pursuit of a professional job even
though they encountered a tough start in the early searching period as well as met with
limited success in the process. As Xiang Dong complained, “Other than short-term labor jobs
with the lowest pay, there was no „real job‟ available in the employment agency” (Interview
excerpt, March 12, 2006, my literal translation).
In addition, all female participants in my study were likely to earn voluntary
opportunities in the workplace or at a social event at the time when they were searching for a
job1. They shared a common view that through a voluntary opportunity, they could
accumulate Canadian work experiences which might add some credit to their job applications
and make sense of the new society. For example, Ye Lan was likely to take a variety of
1 This was not the case for the male participants in my study since they took family economic survival as their
unshakable obligation. As a result, male participants might usually tend to shorten the search process by using
different strategies, such as going back to school (Li Tao) or lowering their original occupational expectations
(Jia Wei, Xiang Dong, and Jian Hui).
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voluntary work, such as growing plants in a senior nursing home and giving directions at a
conference venue. For Ye Lan, doing a voluntary job was a useful launching point from
which she could gain language and cultural familiarity or build up potential social ties, which,
she believed, would eventually play a role in making possible connections with the job
market. Both Yu Qing and Ming Fang intended to find job-related voluntary opportunities
since they looked for a reference with direct benefits to win the competition for employment.
However, voluntary work appeared to produce different consequences for Yu Qing and
Ming Fang. The three-month voluntary work earned Yu Qing an excellent reference from her
supervisor, which played a significant role in winning her the current job in a larger telecom
research company. In contrast, Ming Fang identified a voluntary opportunity for working as
office clerk in a non-profit government organization where she could get a reference letter
upon accumulating 150 working hours. Assigned to work two hours per week, Ming Fang,
however, felt stuck and wondered whether she should really count on the volunteering work
for a reference as she expressed with hopelessness,
Working two hours per week? Oh, my God. I will have a long way to go. I have to wait
for being entitled to get the reference when I can accumulate 150 working hours. But,
who knows whether I can get a job or not with that reference after a long-time waiting.
(Interview excerpt, March 15, 2006, my literal translation)
In a nutshell, on their journey of searching for a job, the participants strived to identify
multiple job-searching resources for direct employment opportunities or for assistance in
fulfilling the needs of the potential employers. In this respect, the act of gaining access to a
web of resources seemed to suggest that while confronting a great deal of difficulties in the
job-seeking process, the participants negotiated multiple ways to get rid of an unemployment
situation, as well as to look for extended possibilities for achieving their occupational goals.
In this way, the participants‟ connection to varied resources and assistance reflected their
active engagements in searching for entry into the labor market. However, the fact that
immigrants worked entry-level, minimum wage jobs implied that these resources might not
help open up multiple doors leading the job-seekers to land employment opportunities
successfully. Rather, the variation of forms of material resources for hiring information and
assistance might indicate that immigrant job-seekers were structurally placed and constrained
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in resource distribution systems which were designed to provide access for some and
simultaneously to limit access for others.
Drawing on the patterns that the participants made use of these job-finding resources, I
found two major entry barriers that played a role in shaping their searching practices, which
might also result in certain job possibilities afterwards. They were the barriers related to 1)
lack of information resources and 2) the difficulty in locating language attachments and
legitimacy for resources. In the following sections, I shall describe these constraints in detail.
7.2 Mapping the Entry Barriers, Looking for Routes of Connections
7.2.1 Barrier 1: Lack of Information Resources
Lack of access to hiring information in response to their occupational expectations was
the first barrier that the participants encountered in the job-search process. Based on the
patterns of the job-seeking resources that the participants used, I found that this constraint
derived from their persistent use of print and electronic media for hiring information and the
inaccessibility of network affiliation while searching for a job.
First, as previously mentioned, the participants in my study relied heavily on print
materials and website media for hiring information in the entire job-hunting process. Such a
searching strategy underlay the participants‟ acute desire for entry into the professional
mainstream, as well as for an opportunity that they could work in an English-speaking
environment. To their mind, a job that they gained through English-medium newspapers and
websites endowed them with extended language-learning opportunities for exercising their
listening and speaking skills in an authentic communication setting. Indeed, this job-seeking
strategy with an orientation of learning English remained unchanged. To a great extent, the
participants desired that such a job-seeking practice would produce an immediate outcome
that would enable them to plug into an English-medium working environment, a crucial way
for them to expedite their adaptation to the new society.
In addition, while striving to reach their occupational goals, all participants viewed
English newspapers and websites as a useful learning resource that could help them both fit
into the potential employer‟s requirements and follow the trend of the professional field in the
Canadian labor market. This was especially true of most independent applicants who
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intended to look for a professional job right after their arrival in Canada, but had little
knowledge of where they could gain continuous job-finding support in the new environment.
For example, while having no clue as to why there was no result from dozens of résumés
distributed, several participants took heed of the job descriptions posted on English
newspapers and websites, in their attempt to figure out the reason for their unsuccessful job
applications. In reference to the occupational responsibilities written on these materials, they
identified possible connections in many different ways. Most participants reported that they
frequently refined and formalized their résumés by adopting and inserting particular words
and phrases that served to highlight their skills and qualifications in accordance with the
specific requirements. As Xiang Dong stated,
It was through reading these job descriptions on newspapers and websites that I came
to realize the importance of the language that I used to describe my skills on the résumé
because those words and phrases might be used to judge whether I would be the person
sharing common characteristics that they [the potential employers] were looking for.
(Interview excerpt, February 5, 2006, my literal translation)
Similarly, Li Tao asserted that his learning engagement in the job-search process paid off, as
he believed,
It was through my analysis of job advertisement on newspaper that I learned the
importance of the Certificate in my field. Because of this Certificate, I was trusted as
qualified with professional knowledge and skills matching with the needs of the
employer. (Interview excerpt, March 8, 2006, my literal translation)
In spite of no immediate result from this effort, Li Tao emphasized to me that it was the
Certificate that rendered him a position of inventory planner in a large logistics company,
rather than his Bachelor‟s degree in computer science obtained from a prestigious university
in Toronto.
It was evident that job descriptions posted on print and website media served as the
conduits through which the participants identified and collected labor market information.
Involving learning practices in correspondence to potential employers‟ requirements or
priorities, reading hiring information on newspapers and websites raised the participants‟
awareness that the rhetorical differences between their way of presenting themselves on the
résumé and the certain symbolic forms accepted or prioritized by potential employers might
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hinder them from being included in the selection process.
Although English print materials and electronic media were the useful or perhaps
productive job-searching resources for immigrant newcomers, the repeated utilization of this
searching strategy might inevitably result in limited access to hiring information, since the
great amount of employment information might be usually circulated on varied forms of
structural job-finding resources other than in newspapers and on websites. In fact, while
recalling their job-seeking experiences, most participants complained that the hiring
information posted on newspaper classifieds, online job banks, and even the websites of
employers offered limited choices and lacked timely hiring information in their professional
areas, thereby yielding no immediate result in a job opportunity most of the time. This raised
the question, why did the participants continue to count upon print and website media in the
job-seeking process, despite the limited availability of hiring information? As I shall
demonstrate, the chance of reaching the job-related resources that provided timely and
effective hiring information or potential employment opportunities was restricted to
immigrant job seekers in many different ways.
One of these constraints was related to the inaccessibility of networking contacts with
potential employers. As their job seeking activities unfolded, most participants came to
realize the necessity to prioritize networking over the advertised hiring information of public
media. Despite their clear understanding that personal networks and direct recommendations
from insiders in the workplace would increase the possibility of becoming a potential
candidate for a work position, few participants viewed themselves as the holder of this
primary resource, no matter when they launched their job-seeking activities.
A typical example of the participants in this situation was Xiang Dong who attempted to
find a job at one major chartered bank in Canada, such as CIBC, Royal Bank, and TD Trust,
in the early job-seeking period. Xiang Dong considered his strong occupational background
in the Bank of China as the valuable resource that could be translated into a similar work
position in one of the Canadian financial institutions. However, after six months of waiting
for response from these organizations upon sending his résumés, Xiang Dong felt
discouraged about his chances to obtain his dream job because he had no way to obtain
referrals from people working inside the institution. As he realized,
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As an immigrant newcomer, I don‟t have a network here, which means my way to get
into these large companies is cut off. Although I am confident of my professional
qualification, I know it is hard to let them [the potential employers] trust me merely
through reading my résumé. (Interview excerpt, February 9, 2006, my literal
translation)
In the same vein, the participants who graduated from a Canadian post-secondary school
initially believed in the usefulness of their local educational credentials in providing them
with access to a job opportunity in a well-established organization. For example, both Jia Wei
and Jian Hui set a clear goal of finding a cook position in hotels after obtaining a professional
credential in the culinary field from Metrolinx College. As they explained to me, there were
levels of stratification among food service organizations with hotels being ranked first as
opposed to restaurants which were located at the bottom of the list, with regard to wages and
benefits, working conditions, and employment stability. Thus, for both Jia Wei and Jian Hui,
working at a hotel meant not only that they would lead a stable life with good pay and
benefits, but also that they would gain credit for their references which would be useful when
mobilizing into a better working condition or competing for a promotion opportunity for a
high-status position within or across workplaces in the future.
While having no difficulty in identifying the information about the hotels through the
Internet and Yellow Pages, they met with no success in finding a “good job” in the field. As
Jia Wei depicted his experiences of getting down to these hotels for the hiring information,
I didn‟t receive a “warm welcome” in most hotels. I was often blocked at the reception
desk, without permitting me to see the Chefs or Kitchen Manager. The only thing I was
asked to do was to fill in a job application form or leave my résumé at the front desk. I
knew that my name was put on the endless waiting list. This means a tiny chance for
me to get in without knowing people inside. (Jia Wei‟s journal, May 19, 2006)
When asked to reflect upon his job-seeking experiences before and after attending the
college, Jian Hui did not explicitly mention that the difficulty in getting a job in a hotel was
related to his lack of access to networking contact. Nonetheless, he said, with a touch of pride,
that he always got his job on his own “with no help from anyone.” Confronting restricted
access to job-related resources, both Jia Wei and Jian Hui expressed with frustration that their
local professional and educational credentials were not economically useful for them to
identify their dream job. At this point, doubt and confusion as to the value of their investment
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in learning at school emerged; as Jia Wei put it, “I often asked myself lately why I went to the
college and what advantages I obtained from this educational experience” (Jia Wei‟s journal,
May 19, 2006).
To this end, it was worth mentioning that several participants actually made deliberate
efforts to seek the possible or potential networking from their friends, classmates, or
colleagues while realizing the important role of personal and social relationships in tapping
into better-quality hiring information for enhancing the possibility of obtaining work. As
shown in Table 7.1, however, it was only Li Tao who landed a job successfully in a larger
logistics company, with the help of his compatriot friend who had worked in the company for
several years. Indeed, most participants indicated the impossibility of identifying such a help
source within their immediate cultural circle, since their folks might be also experiencing the
same struggles for entry into the job market as they were.
In fact, even with several years of residence in the host country and some degree of
familiarity with the new culture, the participants‟ efforts to extend their pre-existing social
ties might not guarantee them a productive network affiliation. This was true of Ming Fang
who encountered an unsuccessful network contact while attempting to look for hiring
information from her college classmate who was holding a managerial position at a
marketing research company in Toronto. As Ming Fang described, she made a phone call to
her classmate for an endorsement from an insider when she learned the prioritizing of
employee recommendations for the job applicants for the opening positions posted on the
website of the company. Ming Fang had assumed that sharing a two-year learning experience
together in the same class at college might help her make a network affiliation readily with
her classmate who might also have power to assist effectively in promoting a possible chance
for her in the selection process.
However, when she was told from the other end of the line that she should try her luck
through employment agencies, Ming Fang came to realize that it was impossible for her to
make connections with the prominent others in the job market. While attributing the
unsuccessful contact to no “deep connection” between her and her classmate, Ming Fang
asserted that her poor speaking skills in English might have a negative impact on her
networking effort, saying that “I know, my classmate doesn‟t want to be my referral at all
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because she thinks that I don‟t speak good English and so why she takes a risk making a
recommendation” (Interview excerpt, February 25, 2006, my literal translation).
In sum, among the participants in my study, there was a consensus reached that having
access to hiring information through English-medium newspapers and websites was a useful
searching strategy that opened up possibilities for making language and professional
connections with the new labor market. This finding highlighted the participants‟ active use
of their English literacy skills in the process of looking for access to the world of work in the
new economy. Nonetheless, the participants‟ difficulty in making use of other forms of
resources, such as networking, revealed that having limited accessibility or no availability of
relational resources for building possible connections to potential employers was the driving
factor for them to repeatedly utilize print materials and website media as a sole searching
strategy in their struggle for entry into the labor market.
Furthermore, there was evidence to show that either in the early settlement period or after
graduation from the Canadian post-secondary school, the participants shared a common
experience that their lack of social ties affected them in achieving their occupational goals.
This suggested that for immigrant job seekers, the uncertainty of job search might not be
alleviated with the increased length of residence in the host country or with their professional
credentials obtained in the Canadian post-secondary schools. Thus, in such a situation, the
participants were likely to doubt the value of their educational experiences, while feeling
marginalized or excluded in the structural orders of job recruitment. In particular, Jia Wei‟s
reflective remarks on his job-search experience questioned the value of schooling for
supporting immigrants to get into the local labor market.
Ming Fang‟s experience of making unsuccessful contact crystallized that for most
immigrant newcomers, placing emphasis on making connection with potential employers
through networking served to maintain their disadvantaged position, with the result of being
excluded from certain job possibilities. The case of Ming Fang also shed light on the fact that
the establishment of networking affiliations was embedded in a mutual and interpersonal
relation anchored through linguistic connections among people. Her interpretation of the
negative impact of her weak communication skills in English on building and mobilizing her
social ties offered a poignant statement that the dominant language of English played a
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central role in the participants‟ engagement in looking for particular forms of job-finding
support and assistance. This is the issue that I shall ascertain in the next section.
7.2 Barrier 2: Locating Language Attachments and Entitlement to Assistance
In search of an employment opportunity, all participants turned for help to other forms of
resources, such as job fair, job-finding workshop, and employment agency, in their efforts to
fit in the needs of potential employers, as well as to maximize their chances of obtaining a job
opportunity. However, while making efforts to take advantage of these services, several
participants perceived that their language proficiency in English seemed to limit their access
to these resources for help. Turning to the accounts of the participants‟ experiences of making
use of the job-related assistance across the sites might help reveal the underlying reason for
this barrier.
In their attempt to enlarge the scope of searching for hiring information, all participants
tended to look for an employment opportunity through a job fair in the early settlement
period and upon graduation from a post-secondary school in Canada. They considered a job
fair as the potential hiring site where they would make a direct connection with the workplace.
As shown in Table 7.1, among the participants in my study, Yu Qing and Jian Hui found a
professional job through the job fair that their literacy practices might play a key role in
securing them potential employment opportunities. Yu Qing asserted that it must be her good
performance in the written test on the site that played a key role in sending a positive signal
about her competence and reliability of her qualifications for the job. Jian Hui claimed that he
had no problem gaining the recruiter‟s attention and favor at the job fair since he always
brought his portfolio containing several photos of dishes he cooked as well as complimentary
letters and reward certificates gained from his prior work experience in local restaurants.
With these materials, he felt relaxed while talking with the recruiter over the counter because
“they were interested in reading my portfolio and usually asked questions based on what I
presented to them” (Interview excerpt, March 23, 2006, my literal translation).
However, most participants dropped this job-search strategy since they saw the job fair as
a chaotic and noisy place where they were doomed to lose out at the job front. As Ming Fang
explained, “At the job fair, you must compete with other job seekers, and at the same time
you must demonstrate you can speak English fluently, in order to sell yourself on the spot”
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(Interview excerpt, April 24, 2006, my literal translation). It was true that in such a
competitive job-finding market, some participants frequently shied away, and they simply
avoided making face-to-face inquiry into further hiring information on the site. As a result,
their trips of getting down to the job fair merely ended up filling in a couple of job-intake
forms, thereby usually yielding no result of employment at all.
In fact, prior to their use of the “give-up” strategy, several participants reported that they
actually looked for a way out to get over their disadvantaged situation. For instance, Ming
Fang seemed to use a “bypass” strategy when she attempted to make leeway by securing
possibility of a job through seeking connections with Chinese companies, if available at the
job fair. As she observed, “there was no a large crowd of people competing with me in front
of the counter” (Interview excerpt, April 24, 2006, my literal translation). For Ming Fang, a
shared commonality of language and cultural traditions with these Chinese companies could
serve to compensate for her lack of oral interaction skills in English and so open up new
choices that might not be possible in the context that English was considered as the sole
dominant language in the communicative repertoire. However, the following quote indicated
that in such a job-finding environment, Ming Fang was double disadvantaged since Mandarin
was not deemed as a prioritizing language in those Chinese companies. Failing to make
language connections to potential employers led Ming Fang believe that her path of searching
for information of job openings was closed off, let alone an employment opportunity, at the
job fair.
明芳: 在 job fair 也经常看到几家中国人的公司在招人。可是当我想问些情况时,他们首先用英文问我: “Do you speak Cantonese?” 所以想在中国人的公司找个工作不会 Cantonese
是不行的。我觉得我英文说得不流利,又不会说 Cantonese。想在 job fair 找个工作就根本没戏。
(Interview excerpt: May 19, 2006)
Ming Fang:
At the job fair, I often found that there were
several Chinese companies hiring people. But
when I approached to them and asked for further
information, they first asked me in English, “Do
you speak Cantonese?” So, there is little
possibility for me to find a job in a Chinese
company since I don‟t speak Cantonese. I found
no way out for me to find a job at the job fair if I
don‟t speak fluent English and don‟t know how
to speak Cantonese.
(My literal translation)
Though identified as the site with open access and direct connections with potential
employers, the job fair entailed a competitive communication repertoire where immigrant
job-seekers‟ legitimacy for having the right kinds of contacts with potential employers was
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granted on condition that they demonstrated their attachment to the prioritizing language.
Ming Fang‟s attempt at seeking potential possibility for employment by approaching Chinese
companies underscored this point of view. Furthermore, as can be seen in the case of Yu Qing,
Jian Hui, and Ming Fang, the consequences of making connections with the workplace
usually varied since they were granted different chances to demonstrate specific aspects of
their language proficiency in English on the site, as arranged or prioritized by potential
employers. This suggested that the dominant language of English might play a critical role in
determining who can be privileged to have access to and trustworthiness necessary for job
opportunities in the future. This was the point needed to be elaborated and verified in other
material contexts.
For instance, in the description of his registry experience with the job-finding workshop,
Xiang Dong emphasized the central role of English in the application process,
Not every new immigrant can go to this workshop because you must pass the language
assessment in an interview with a councillor. If they find your English does not reach
the level they demand, you must go to LINC or ESL programs to fix your English first.
After that, you are allowed to write your name on the waiting list and wait for your turn.
(Interview excerpt, February 5, 2006, my literal translation)
The procedural process of attending the job-finding workshop echoed Yu Qing‟s experience
of applying for a co-op program when she was judged as an unqualified applicant for
receiving assistance at the program and so was required to fix her English at the LINC school
in the first place (see Chapter 6, Section 6.1.3). In addition, the data in my study showed that
dependent applicants gained no such support in the settlement period, except the permission
that they could sit in LINC or ESL classes. In this way, such a different arrangement for the
immigrant newcomers‟ life adjustment to the host society suggested that the dominant
language of English served as an important index for determining the eligibility of people for
access to certain forms of resources manipulated in the institutional structures. In this respect,
the following examples where Ming Fang ran up against difficulties in making access to the
job-finding workshop and employment agency shed much light on this issue.
Ming Fang decided to register in the job-finding workshop organized by the “Skills for
Change” programs after six months of her unsuccessful job hunt since graduation from
Gainsway College. In fact, Ming Fang had already sat in the similar job-readiness workshop
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as a required course for immigrant students at the College and subsequently in
employment-orientation workshops in the community employment service center twice since
graduation. However, she presumed that this time the workshop at “Skills for Change” might
be different since there was a placement opportunity available to learners upon the
completion of the three-week formal training. To Ming Fang‟s mind, the placement
opportunity had potential to help her out of the unemployment situation.
However, when asked to talk about the process of applying for the job-finding workshop,
Ming Fang said to me, with exasperation, that she was interrogated by the councillor of the
program on the issue of her eligibility for the workshop. As Ming Fang described, she did not
get herself “well prepared” at the time when the councillor threw at her the question, as to
which level of English class she completed at LINC/ESL schools. Ming Fang thought that it
was “a funny question” since she already indicated on the application form that she graduated
from Gainsway College six months ago. Nonetheless, Ming Fang made a direct response that
she completed Level 3 class at a LINC school as she guessed that the councillor might want
to go through a set of routine questions as required. However, it seemed that the councillor
configured Ming Fang‟s response as the negative evidence of her English proficiency, by
speaking to her with a blaming tone, “Level 3? Do you still want to find a job?” Having a
sense of the councillor‟s misunderstanding of her “real English levels,” Ming Fang clarified
that she graduated from Gainsway College six months ago, in her belief that her Canadian
educational credential could demonstrate a certain proficiency in English reflecting her
readiness for the workshop. However, the councillor appeared to refuse to move beyond the
fixed sequences of language learning arranged for immigrant newcomers, as she said to Ming
Fang, “Even so, it doesn‟t mean your English is good because you did not complete those
levels” (Interview excerpt, March 31, 2006, my literal translation).
At this point, recall the reason that Ming Fang dropped out of the LINC/ESL schools and
decided to enroll in Gainsway College. It was because her English stagnated in the LINC
class that Ming Fang chose to pursue higher education in the new society. To her mind, going
to college was her best solution to the problematic situation, since the college, which was
considered as a high-level learning context, allowed her better to improve her English
proficiency than at the LINC/ESL school. To a great extent, Ming Fang expected that the
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outcome of her investment would result in being recognized and valued in other social
contexts.
Contrary to Ming Fang‟s expectation, however, the councillor had no intention of making
a direct connection between educational credentials and English proficiency levels while
resting on a narrow understanding of the orderly progress of immigrant newcomers‟ English
competencies. Evidently, there was a mismatch existing between Ming Fang and the
councillor around the question, which part of her English learning experiences should be
considered as valid for granting her eligibility for the job-finding workshop.
The councillor‟s misrecognition of the genuine value of the capital that Ming Fang gained
and possessed from her previous educational experiences might run the risk of ignoring the
applicant‟s needs for seeking assistance at the job-finding workshop. After the four-week
waiting period, Ming Fang eventually sat in the job-finding workshop. However, half way
through the training course, she dropped out of the workshop when she learned that there
would be no placement opportunity available to the trainees any more in the “Skills for
Change” programs. It appeared that Ming Fang had a clear idea, “If there was not a
placement opportunity guaranteed, I had no reason to remain in the workshop. I do not go to
the workshop only for learning those job-finding techniques because I have known them all
already” (Interview excerpt, March 15, 2006, my literal translation). Since then, Ming Fang
did not register in the job-finding workshops any more. Instead, she spent much time reading
the job-related books borrowed from the community library, which, in her view, was the
handy way to keep sharpening her job-finding techniques as well as to get her job
applications prepared in time, although she commented, “Those job-finding techniques listed
in books were not always workable in a real context” (Interview excerpt, March 30, 2006, my
literal translation).
In fact, compared with her early job-search experience in the settlement period, Ming
Fang held a belief that her “brand-new” educational credential would become the passport for
her to identify and secure a set of employment services by providing assistance along the way
as she searched for a job. However, the above examples shed light on the fact that reaching a
certain level of English proficiency in alignment with the institutional standards of the
dominant language was prerequisite for immigrants to have access to the government-funded
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job-finding workshop. In particular, in most cases, immigrant job seekers‟ literacy skills in
English, in association with their understandings of cultural norms of the new society, were
counted as critical competencies, determining their eligibility for obtaining assistance in
making connections with potential employers, as shown in the participants‟ experiences of
approaching employment agencies in the process of job searching.
The participants who went to the college shared a common experience that they attempted
to identify a good job opportunity in their professional area through an employment agency
after graduation. As they reported, prior to an interview appointment scheduled with an
employment agent, they were usually required to go through varied forms of evaluations,
such as writing their detailed answers to the questions listed on application forms, doing
computer application skill checks, and taking language-related assessment, in relation to a
particular work opportunity. Typically, job seekers were required to go through a set of
evaluation and training before they were entitled to receive assistance from the employment
agency. However, both Jia Wei and Jian Hui reported that they dropped the connection with
the employment agency, as Jian Hui explained, “I was not looking for taking a test or
receiving training again. No, thanks. I just wanted an opportunity to find a good job through
their assistance. But most of the time, they just wanted to test you, but provided no job for
you” (Interview excerpt, April 10, 2006, my literal translation).
Unlike Jia Wei and Jian Hui, Ming Fang seemed to have a positive reaction to the
requirement for taking a set of evaluations arranged by the employment agency from the
outset. As she believed, taking these tests was necessary to hook up to the helping resource
which might pave her a pathway to potential job opportunities. More importantly, Ming Fang
held the confidence that writing a test was not “a big deal” for her, as she believed, “my
English writing was better than my speaking skills” (Ming Fang‟s journal, April 21, 2006).
While she saw her literacy skills in English as strength enabling her to secure
employment assistance, Ming Fang found it hard to activate her “advantage” while dealing
with the spelling test containing “so many words about place names of Canada.” Although
she did not explicitly indicate that she felt disadvantaged in this kind of the test with cultural
biases, Ming Fang questioned the underlying purpose of the spelling test, saying,
I was surprised when I saw these words in the spelling test. I don‟t mind they checked
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my spelling competence, but I don‟t understand why they chose these words. I did hear
of some of these places before. But, I did not really care about how to exactly spell
them. Why should I? (Interview excerpt, March 30, 2006, my literal translation)
When the Director of the employment agency informed Ming Fang that she was not
qualified for receiving their services because of her “poor” spelling skills, she first attempted
to spin the outcome around to the positive side, as she tried to remind the Director, “There is
a spelling check function in MS Office software on computer. I usually use them.”
Nonetheless, she sensed a slim chance available to her when the Director emphasized, “Some
words are usually not included in the spelling function, such as Mississauga.” Ming Fang had
no idea of how to defend her English proficiency in front of the Director who certainly took
her performance in the spelling test as the proof not only of the insufficiency of her literacy
competence in English, but also of her lack of commonsense about the local cultural norms.
Aware of the “persistent refusal” in the Director‟s response, Ming Fang did not make any
further engagement, except keeping a smile on her face. In retrospect, however, she indicated
that the Director treated her unfairly, since she was deprived of an opportunity for assistance
only because of her misspelling those Canadian place names, despite her previous excellent
performance in the computer test.
After going back home, when her daughter told her that she earned full marks on her
spelling test at school that day, Ming Fang became doubtful about her language competency,
as she recorded her feelings of depression in the journal:
Aside 7.1
A Spelling Test
…
While seeing June wrote „I am a super speller!‟ on her spelling test paper, I felt frustrated and
asked myself, „what is my strength?‟ My spelling skills can not even compete with my daughter‟s.
She is only 8 years old.
Before I took today‟s spelling test, I had always thought my writing was better than my speaking
skills. But now, I feel confused. What really is my strength? I can‟t speak English fluently. And now, I
can‟t write well either. I should find a job without using my speaking and writing skills. But, I know it
is impossible to find this kind of job.
Oh, my God. What should I do?
(Ming Fang‟s journal, April 21, 2006)
In sum, the preceding analyses revealed the ways that the participants navigated their
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ways to look for support and assistance across the sites, such as job fair, job-finding
workshop, and employment agency. Drawing on substantial examples of the ways the
participants made use of these help sources served to elucidate an important point that the
dominant language of English not only functioned as a socio-economic mechanism for
transferring hiring information that might engender potential employment opportunities, but
also acted as the seal of approval of the job-seeker‟s legitimacy for having access to certain
resources and opportunities to gain their appropriate membership in the given facilitation
services of employment.
The gatekeeping function of English was enacted and reified through the logic of making
a virtue of necessity for gauging and verifying the job-seekers‟ eligibility for help, resulting
in difficulties for immigrant job-seekers in making linguistic connections to the English
language and in being entitled to receive assistance. These barriers shed light on the
multifaceted operation of the dominant language that forced immigrant job-seekers into
situations where they were at a disadvantage, and deprived of access to assistance and
opportunities. When the job-finding services confronted the participants these structural
barriers, they might have the adverse effect of serving as a foil against immigrant job-seekers
who actually looked forward to using these “help” resources in discovering a possible
solution to their struggles to enter the new labor market. In this way, the data in my study
suggested that the levels of social capital provided by these facilitation programs and
agencies might contribute to continued marginalization or systematic exclusion of immigrant
job seekers from the new labor market.
Ming Fang‟s experiences of being interrogated by the councillor her overall English
proficiency and of being identified by the Director of the employment agency as an
unqualified literacy user through a spelling test provided the examples of the job seekers‟
disadvantaged position in accessing resources. That is, what many immigrant job-seekers
might consider their existing English competencies as “strength” might not be recognized as
particularly relevant or valued by the service agents who might be entrenched in the technical
aspects of the language. Under this circumstance, the participants had negative senses of
self-worth or felt treated unfairly when their credentials and qualifications gained from the
local educational institutions were misrecognized and so unable to help them achieve the
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level of success that they had anticipated.
Furthermore, the above examples suggested that more often than not, the participants
relied on their English literacy skills to deal with some of challenges they encountered in the
gatekeeping process, as demonstrated in the case that Yu Qing felt lucky that she gained the
job opportunity through writing a test at the job fair, Jian Hui made use of his portfolio as a
passport to win the favor of the job recruiter, and Ming Fang believed her literacy skills
useful to secure assistance at an employment agency. Meanwhile, several participants were
found, however, to resist taking advantage of their literacy skills in English when they sensed
that they were confined in a situation where literacy was used as a tool for the purpose of
screening or censoring their opportunity for assistance, as shown in the case of Jia Wei and
Jian Hui. In this way, the differing consequences of the participants‟ use of literacy in their
access to job-related services emerged, implying that the deployment of this kind of
“strength” might have a particular effect within certain contexts, but might not be effective in
the others, depending on how and under what circumstances language was manipulated and
operated in these contexts. These findings served as an underpinning for the specific
strategies that the participants used to refigure the ways in which they tackled particular
constraints in their gatekeeping encounters.
In the next section, I shall pay particular attention to the question, what were the specific
strategies that the participants adopted in their efforts to get over the disadvantaged situation
as well as to secure the possibility for potential employment while trying to (re)locate their
positioning in the given labor market?
7.3 Securing Ways to Get In: The Strategy
As their job search practices unfolded, the participants in my study encountered a
sequence of negative outcomes in their maneuvers in seeking a job opportunity in relation to
their original occupational goals. While counting on job-related services that were supposed
to facilitate them to get over the disadvantaged situation, the participants came to realize that
they actually confronted the reality that the job-finding resources provided them with limited
help but sometimes alleviated their difficulties in identifying an employment opportunity in
the Canadian labor market. Under this circumstance, they tended to refigure ways that could
compensate for the sparse social capital. Among the participants, there was a consensus
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reached that writing a good résumé and lowering their occupational goals were the two
strategies that they deployed to identify quickly a job niche in the given labor market.
7.3.1 Writing a Good Résumé
The participants in my study shared the disappointment about their early job-finding
experiences that they received little response from employers, despite a number of résumés
distributed. In fact, in the early job search period, few participants attributed this problematic
situation to the discrepancy between their professional qualifications and the requirements of
the given job market. Rather, most of them thought that their résumés might play a negative
role in their applications for a job because as immigrant newcomers, they might have a
limited knowledge of the rules and regulations necessary for their entry into the Canadian job
market. In order to remedy this situation, all participants invested plenty of time on refining
their résumés. They believed that writing a good résumé was a stepping-stone to success in
making connections to potential employers.
To have their résumés repaired, the participants initially resorted to the councillor at the
jobshop organized by HRSDC, to the trainer of the job-finding workshop, and to the
instructor at the LINC/ESL school. Like most immigrant job-seekers, the participants
considered these service agents as the professionals whose good knowledge of the Canadian
society and pure English could help make their résumés shine. However, after several months
of unsuccessful job hunt, most participants appeared to become doubtful about this kind of
assistance, complaining that merely focusing on standardizing the format of the résumé and
making adjustment of the font size in the text brought them no productive outcome for
employment.
Where the “professional‟s help” was seen to falter in making their résumés strong enough
to go through the gatekeeping process, opportunities arose from the employment of some
tactics that served the job-seekers in developing a kind of connection to the rhetoric of the
given job market. For instance, as previously mentioned, in their early job-search endeavors,
independent applicants who tried to find a job right after their arrival in Toronto kept
polishing their résumés on their own through adopting some of the key words and
expressions that they identified on the job descriptions posted in English newspapers and
website media. Meanwhile, several participants reported that they tended to resort to an “old
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timer” who shared better understandings of personal experiences across sociocultural
contexts, and who had resources as well as willingness to provide them with the tips for a
smooth transfer of their knowledge and skills into a given job market. This was approved as a
useful strategy by Yu Qing who believed that her friend, Lao Zhao, offered her real help in
producing a strong résumé with a direct consequence for employment.
In contrast with those “professional helpers” who might contribute limited time to reading
her résumé attentively, let alone polish the content in accordance with particular requirements
of her professional area, Yu Qing was grateful to her friend, Lao Zhao, for sitting with her for
several hours talking about and critiquing her résumé. More important to her, Lao Zhao put
forward helpful suggestions and shared strategies with her, in terms of how to shed light on
her occupational strengths in the text in correspondence to the prioritizing of symbolic forms
in the given job market. To Yu Qing‟s mind, Lao Zhao was the facilitator that bolstered her
confidence by offering her his assistance in writing a strong résumé. In this way, Yu Qing
attributed the effectiveness of help to her personal connections with Lao Zhao as she harked
back to the experiences that she and her friend shared both in China and in Canada: “Lao
Zhao knows me. We used to work together in China. He came to Toronto two years earlier
than me. So, there was no doubt that Lao Zhao went through the same hardships as I was
experiencing while looking for a job” (Interview excerpt, April 22, 2006, my literal
translation).
In emphasizing the importance of writing a good résumé, Yu Qing further maintained that
because of the résumé that Lao Zhao helped revise, she received several telephone calls from
employers each week and “so began to have an opportunity to make a choice” (Interview
excerpt, April 22, 2006, my literal translation). In fact, for Yu Qing, making rhetorical
connections to potential employers through her résumé was crucial not only in gaining her a
professional job in a larger telecom research company that perfectly matched her previous
occupational expertise, but also the positive consequence of generating a good impression of
her capabilities to the people who were evaluating her performance in the workplace, as she
indicated in the following quote:
雨晴: 你知道,在去年工作总结会上, 当我主动提到我的英文不好可能会对工作有影响的时候,我的 manager 就打断我说: “我不认为
Yu Qing:
You know, in the last year‟s job review meeting,
when I initially mentioned that my English was not
good and might influence my work performance,
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你的英文不好。你的简历写得非常好。” 我觉得这起码对我在简历上下的功夫给了个认可。
(Interview excerpt: April 22, 2006)
my manager interrupted me immediately and said,
“I don‟t think your English is not good since you
presented us a very well-written résumé.” To me,
what the manager said affirmed that the effort that
I made to write a good résumé was all worthwhile.
(My literal translation)
Moreover, several participants reported that they intentionally replaced their Chinese first
name with an English one on the résumé. In doing so, they wanted to avoid inequalities of
opportunity and status in the job selection system, since they held a belief that their Chinese
name was used as a marker of their social identity that had its specific connotations of
cultural and linguistic deficiency as opposed to the established standards in the new economic
order. However, by looking closely at their job-search experiences, I found that the
name-change strategy was not a panacea for immigrant job-seekers to secure an opportunity
of inclusion in the selection process. For example, Li Tao asserted that it was the
“name-change” strategy that allowed him to make possible connections to potential
employers. He told that he received several phone calls with a couple of job interviews
scheduled right after he changed his Chinese name to “Bob” on the résumé. Likewise, Ming
Fang seemed to latch onto the name-change strategy, in an attempt to gain the job recruiter‟s
attention to her résumé. Although she constantly gave herself different English names on the
résumé for a job application at a time, Ming Fang indicated that the consequence of using this
strategy was unpredictable. While having no positive result occurred even after she used an
English name on the résumé, Ming Fang became skeptical about the effectiveness of the
“name-change” strategy. As she reflected,
Once in a while, I did receive a couple of responses after my résumé was sent. But they
usually gave me a telephone interview in the first place. I knew they wanted to check
my English first because they can easily identify from the content of my résumé that I
am Chinese even though I chose myself an English name. (Interview excerpt, March 30,
2006, my literal translation)
Although she got some phone calls from employers, Ming Fang‟s luck stopped there and she
gained few interviews, let alone a real job opportunity. In her view, it was because the
telephone interview that had helped recruiters to identify her racial identity through her
accent.
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7.3.2 Finding a Low-Level Job
The second strategy that the participants considered as useful in making a quick
connection to a job was to lower their occupational goals when they anticipated the
difficulties ahead, and when they experienced the long-lasting search process without a
positive outcome. One reason behind this strategy was related to the lack of self confidence in
their interaction skills in English, particularly in the early settlement period that they started
looking for a job in the new society.
For example, all dependent applicants in my study did not try to find a job relevant to
their previous occupational expertise on their early arrival, despite their professional
qualifications and educational credentials they had earned in China. Rather, they looked for a
menial labor job at a workplace, such as factory, restaurant, and store, since they sensed that
they would have no chance before they standardized their English competencies. In Jia Wei‟s
words, “I would be useless in Canada. The only thing I can do is to find a labor job first and
then re-educate myself at school here. For me, English is a big obstacle beyond other factors”
(Jia Wei‟s journal, January 27, 2006). Similarly, Ming Fang believed that there was no hope
for her to find a professional job in the early period of time when she compared her English
proficiency with her husband‟s.
Xiang Dong‟s English is better than mine. But, when I witnessed that he experienced
those hardships while searching for a job, I thought that I would even have no tiny
chance. To me, I just wanted to find a place to work as long as I could practice my
English. (Interview excerpt, March 9, 2006, my literal translation)
In fact, even entitled as “a principal applicant” who passed the IELTS test with high
scores for her qualification for immigration to Canada, Yu Qing intended simply to find a
labor job right after her family arrived in Canada. As Yu Qing reported, her early encounters
with “language shock,” in association with too much negative information about Chinese
immigrants‟ difficulties in finding a relevant job opportunity in Canada that she had learned
before she came to the new place, lessened her self confidence. Thus, to her mind, no matter
how hard she would try, it was impossible for her to reach her professional goals in the host
country.
Nonetheless, for most independent applicants in my study, English proficiency was not
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the key reason for them to lower their occupational goals in Canada. Rather, the awareness
that their identity of being an immigrant might lead to a major backlash from winning
employers‟ trust in their knowledge and skills appeared to influence them to make adjustment
of their occupational expectations. This was true of Xiang Dong who pointed out,
I lowered my expectation because I realized that I am always identified as an immigrant
with insufficient English abilities. I know people here will always see me as an
immigrant and outsider. Nobody will like to give trust to a person like me, despite my
strong professional qualifications. (Interview excerpt, February 25, 2006, my literal
translation)
In six-month search for a professional job without a result, Xiang Dong decided to submit
his job applications for computer programmer to several IT companies. Compared to his prior
work expertise of being engineer in the field of Networking Administration at a larger bank
institution in China, Xiang Dong saw the position of computer programmer as “a labor job
with the lowest pay in the IT field.” In reflecting upon his act of switching to a low-level
position, Xiang Dong appeared to recognize his “drawback” in getting hold of a job to which
he initially targeted while referring back to his early job-hunt experience. As he narrated,
I realized that if I wanted to find a high-level position, I should have had a referral of
“an insider” in that company, and I should have had wide personal connections in
society that I could use to make profits for the company. Meanwhile, I also need to
demonstrate my strong interpersonal and communication skills. I know these are my
drawbacks of winning the game. (Interview excerpt, March 5, 2006, my literal
translation)
In addition, the data in my study revealed that lowering occupational goals was the
participants‟ bypass strategy in accumulating their Canadian work experiences and securing
their language-learning opportunities. After spending a long time in searching for a job, but
without making any connections to the mainstream job market, all participants became
worried that they would fall out of the loop in their professional areas. Indeed, having little
chance of employment induced a dilemma for immigrant job-seekers in that they had little
chance to gain their Canadian work experiences that were counted as a necessary asset in the
evaluation of their eligibility for entry into the new labor market. Meanwhile, to most
participants who viewed the workplace as “an authentic language site with ample
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opportunities for practicing oral English,” the longer time period of unemployment meant to
them that they maintained no certain connections with the domain language of English in
their daily lives. The sense of having no “real” contacts with English usually exerted extra
pressures on the participants whenever they gained a job interview opportunity. They became
nervous when they imagined the situation that they could not speak English fluently, because
of their lack of necessary opportunities for linguistic contacts on a daily basis in the
host-language context.
Taking all these concerns together, the participants believed that a job was the only key to
avoid running into a dead end for employment. In this way, several participants decided to
give up their original occupational goals or change their line of work, a strategy that they
tended to negotiate and strategize in their interactions with the new society. Although they
were clear that accepting an entry-level job might involve downplaying their educational
credentials and professional expertise, most participants expected that their “sacrifice” would
give a much needed boost in moving them up to suitable positions in line with their previous
job level in the future. The example that Ming Fang had no choice but to accept consecutive
downgraded job offers casts light on the two interrelated orientations.
Upon graduation from Gainsway College, Ming Fang wished to find a job in the area of
marketing research and analysis as she thought that it was the field closely related both to her
training at college in Canada and to her previous occupational expertise in China. To her
mind, this was the work in which she could make use of her language and professional
strengths. Nonetheless, after sending many job applications without any response, Ming Fang
felt that she ran into a closed door, realizing that she needed to adjust her expectations so that
she could adapt herself to the situated condition of the job market.
Holding a diploma in Marketing and Business Administration in Gainsway College, Ming
Fang found it easy to get the job as a salesperson at a call center. Nonetheless, her
three-month employment experience of being a salesperson made her realize that she was at a
disadvantage, since her accent appeared to interfere in her ability to make profits for the
Company. Thinking that “it was a tough job dealing with tough people everyday,” Ming Fang
quit the sales work at the call center and decided to look for the position of office clerk. From
her point of view, being an office clerk was a simple job where she would spend much time
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working in front of a computer, organizing files, and sending mails, the work that can be done
without necessarily depending on her spoken language.
However, in search of a clerical job for ten months, Ming Fang felt it “hard to walk out of
the shadow of sales work and so doomed to be in unprivileged position” since her
applications for a clerical job were usually replaced by the position of salesperson, according
to the arrangement of the employer. For instance, in March 2006, four months after her
unemployment when she quit the sales job at the call center, Ming Fang filled in the online
application form for the office clerk position on the website of the 2006 Census organized by
Statistics Canada2. However, after passing a written test and telephone interview, Ming Fang
was informed that she was offered a position of census enumerator rather than office clerk.
Initially, she thought, “They must make a mistake because I had applied for an office clerk
position and passed all the relevant evaluations” (Interview excerpt, May 5, 2006, my literal
translation). Nonetheless, while longing for a job to get rid of the unemployment situation,
Ming Fang accepted the unintended job, driven by her desire that this particular job in the
government agency would result in extended possibilities for her to obtain a suitable
employment opportunity in the future, saying, “When those employers see that I used to work
for a federal government agency, they would trust me. They would have no doubt about my
abilities” (Interview excerpt, May 5, 2006, my literal translation).
Ming Fang‟s strategy of lowering her occupational goal for accumulating the local work
experience for her future employment seemed to work well when she applied for the position
of office clerk at the Welland‟s Furniture Company right after she completed the two-month
contracted enumerator work in July 2006. This time, merely two days after she sent her
application to the Company, Ming Fang received a quick phone call for making an interview
appointment with her on condition that she agreed to transfer her application for office clerk
to the one for salesperson at the store. Without posting any question on the displacement this
time, Ming Fang accepted the arrangement and had an interview appointment scheduled right
away. When Ming Fang told me about her decision over the phone, it was I who felt puzzled,
as shown in the following conversation.
2 Although school and workplace names in this study are pseudonyms, I kept the name of Statistics Canada, the
real place that Ming Fang worked for as a census enumerator, because of the uniqueness of the job title.
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璐瑢： 不是说以后再也不做 sales 了吗？怎么这次...
Lurong:
You said that you don‟t want to be a sales
worker anymore, didn‟t you? But, how come
this time…
明芳: 是呀。从心里讲我并不是想做 sales。你知道,我最初申请的是 office 的工作。可是,我知道这可能不太容易。他们打电话让我去面试。说让我做 sales。我当时想 sales 就 sales
吧。就先答应了。
Ming Fang:
Yes. From the bottom of my heart, I don‟t want
to do the sales work anymore. You know,
originally I applied for an office clerk position.
They called me for an interview meeting. But
they said that they wanted me to be a sales clerk
at the store. I gave them my agreement.
璐瑢： 那还是同意做了？
Lurong:
So, you did agree to be a sales worker?
明芳: 没办法。我总要学会面对现实。我以前想office work 是个 easy 的 job。可是我现在慢慢意识到就是这种 easy 的 job 也不是很好找。这种工作其实对语言要求也比较高,是在和当地人竞争。 sales 的工作不会太有竞争性吧。人家也许还会给你个机会。不过,… 有一次我去 Business Depot 告诉他们我想做sales。可能是他们嫌我的英文不好吧。他们让我去 copy center 给顾客 copy 东西。在那整天 copy 东西,也不用说话。所以,我想在Welland做 sales 总比在Business Depot 给别人 copy 好点儿吧。总是有机会说英文吧。
Ming Fang:
I have no choice. I need to learn how to face the
reality. I used to think that doing office work is
an easy job. But, I came to realize that it is hard
for me to find such an easy job. There are
relatively high demands on the language. This
means that I need to compete with local people.
So I think, doing sales work might not be very
competitive. They might give you an
opportunity. … But, once I went to Business
Depot and applied for a sales position, they
assigned me to do the copy work at the copy
center at the store. They might think my English
is not good. So, they sent me to copy things for
customers … no need to speak a lot of English.
So, I think, working as a sales clerk at the
Welland‟s is better than doing copy work at
Business Depot. After all, I will have an
opportunity to speak English.
璐瑢： 那你以后…你决定做 sales 了?
Lurong:
So in the future you will…you decided to be a
sales clerk?
明芳: 那倒也不会。我其实挺不喜欢干 sales 这种工作的。我想他们让我做 sales 也可能是看我简历上有在 call center 做 sales 的工作经历。其实, 这个 enumerator 的工作也和 sales
差不多。也是一种推销, 也和 customer
service 有关系。
Ming Fang:
I don‟t think so. In fact, I don‟t like doing the
sales work. I guess that they wanted me to work
as a sales worker at the store, maybe because
they saw that I had a sales experience at the call
center that I wrote on my résumé. In fact, an
enumerator is like a sales clerk. It is a kind of
work selling something for the government, and
is related to customer service.
璐瑢： 那你还是不太喜欢做 sales...
Lurong:
So, you don‟t like being a sales worker…
明芳: 对。不过我在 college 学的与 sales 也有关系。出来可以做 marketing research 或是 sales。我刚毕业的时候, 发了一些简历是申请做marketing 的工作。我自己很有信心如果我做 marketing 这种做 research 的工作, 我肯
Ming Fang:
No. But what I learned at college was related to
sales. I was told that I could find a job doing
marketing research or sales. After I graduated
from the college, I sent many résumés for the
market research job. I had the confidence to do
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定能把自己的工作干好, 但是, 根本连一点 response 都没有。后来, 我意识到, 他们不会把这分工作给我的。他们不信任我。我就接受了这个现实。... 但是, 我想出去工作总比在家里强可以有机会接触不同的人, 适应不同的口音。对我的英语有锻炼。我相信我的语言肯定有提高。所以, 这次我决定先答应他们。其实，我只是想有一个机会practice 我的 interview skills。 (Telephone interview excerpt: July 22, 2006)
this kind of job. I could manage it very well.
But, There was no response at all. I then came to
realize that they would not give me an
opportunity because they don‟t trust me. I have
learned to accept this reality… But, I think that
going outside and finding a job to do is better
than staying at home because I can have an
opportunity to meet people and to get myself
used to different accents. This is an opportunity
for me to practice my English. So, I decided to
accept their offer and agree to be a sales worker
at the store this time. In fact, I just wanted to
have an opportunity to practice my English in an
interview context.
(My literal translation)
The conversation was initiated by my puzzle, why Ming Fang accepted the arranged
position of being a sales worker at the store, the employment title that she had no intention to
apply for. My puzzle derived from Ming Fang‟s reflection on her work experience at a call
center, the job that she had done upon graduating from Gainsway College. In response to my
puzzle, Ming Fang gave me a short answer (“Yes.”) in the beginning, implying her
understanding of my puzzle (“You said that you don‟t want to be a sales worker anymore,
didn‟t you? But how come this time…”), as well as her confirmation that the job was not the
one she preferred (“From the bottom of my heart, I don‟t want to do the sales work
anymore.”). In confirming her goal (“You know, originally I applied for an office clerk
position.”), Ming Fang provided me with brief background information, indicating the gap
between what she sought to access and what was available to her to access in the job market.
However, it seemed that I failed to learn the gap from Ming Fang‟s response immediately.
Rather, I identified her remarks (“I gave them my agreement.”) as a direct answer to my
puzzle, which led me to draw conclusions from her literal statement that she wanted to be a
salesperson because she accepted the arrangement (“So, you did agree to be a sales
worker?”).
At the beginning of the second turn of the conversation, Ming Fang‟s response, “I had no
choice. I need to learn how to face the reality,” suggested that she was forced to regulate her
route of gaining entry into a specific employment discourse by adapting her goal within the
limits of the situated condition. At this point, it was clear that Ming Fang‟s acceptance to be a
salesperson at the store was actually shaped by what she had experienced under structural
constraints, but was not driven by her original employment goals. In our later interview
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meeting, Ming Fang described her struggle of seeking an employment niche, shedding light
on her specific challenge of gaining access to a particular employment context.
明芳: 我这个专业主要是学怎么做 marketing
research and analysis。我以前在国内干的与这个有关系。所以有一些这方面的经验。我知道这就是做市场调研, 然后总结数据写成报告。说实话我刚毕业的时候，想找个这方面的工作, 学了这么多所以对自己挺有信心的。可是,我后来才意识到别人认为我说都说不好还会写吗? 肯定不会信任我能做好这种工作。
Ming Fang:
My major focuses on marketing research and
analysis. My previous work in China was related
to this field. So, I have gained some expertise in
this area. I know that this is the job of doing
marketing research and later writing a report
based on the data collected from the market.
Frankly speaking, when I graduated from
Gainsway college, I wanted to find this kind of
job. I learned a lot about this field at college. So
I had confidence in myself. But, I came to
realize that it was hard because they think my
speaking skills are not good. So, how is it
possible for me to write in English well? Of
course, they don‟t trust me to do this kind of
work.
璐瑢： 为什么会这么想? 这之间有什么关系吗?
Lurong:
Why did you think so? Is there any relationship
between these (the job and your writing and
speaking skills?)?
明芳: 这个工作平时要读和写很多东西。他们肯定认为我们的听说的能力差。读写肯定也不行。他们很难想象中国人的读写英文的能力要比听说要好。他们很难想象的。他们认为每个人学习语言都是先会说,就象小孩先学说话一样,然后才会写。因此,他们肯定认为说是 easy 的,读写要比听说难。他们不知道中国人的特点是读和写要好于听和说。
(Interview excerpt: August 4, 2006)
Ming Fang:
This job requires a lot of reading and writing
activities. They must think that I am an
immigrant and so my listening and speaking
skills are bad. So, my reading and writing skills
must be bad also. They do not understand that
Chinese skilled immigrants‟ literacy skills are
better than their speaking and listening skills.
They DO NOT understand. They must think that
everybody learns a language starting from
speaking, just like a child who learns to speak a
language first and then learn how to read and
write. So they think that speaking is easy, and
reading and writing are relatively difficult. They
do not know that Chinese immigrants‟ reading
and writing skills in English are better than
speaking and listening skills.
(My literal translation)
In her narratives, Ming Fang revealed the relationship between her legitimacy in gaining a
membership in a particular social field and institutional gatekeepers‟ views of her spoken and
literate skills in English. After graduating from Gainsway College, Ming Fang expected that
her educational credential that she had obtained from a Canadian institution and her previous
professional experience in China might generate symbolic property that would give her an
opportunity to be recognized in a particular social discourse (“Frankly speaking, when I
225
graduated from Gainsway college, I wanted to find this kind of job. I learned a lot about this
field at college. So, I had confidence in myself.”). In particular, while indicating literacy as
the major characteristic of the job, Ming Fang showed her confidence in her professional and
linguistic capabilities in working in this field (“I know that this job is about doing marketing
research and then writing a report based on the data collected from the market.” “The job
requires a lot of reading and writing activities everyday.”). However, as a newcomer in the
Canadian job market, Ming Fang realized that the credentials listed on her résumé failed to
become a passport for her to gain access to her targeted job. Under this circumstance, Ming
Fang made an explicit analysis that she was constrained by the imposing vision of the
institutional language that simplified and universalized the relationship between orality and
literacy in the process of the acquisition of the language. Her statements highlighted the
discrepancy between the common sense regarding linguistic orders and the reality of Chinese
skilled immigrants‟ English learning (“They do not understand that Chinese immigrants‟
literacy skills are better than their speaking and listening skills. They DO NOT understand.”).
The reality that she was linguistically disadvantaged led Ming Fang to impend or obviate her
original goals and so make adjustment to incorporate her language resources into a particular
social site. There were two reasons underlying this regularity.
First, while failing to get an employment opportunity related to marketing, Ming Fang
made adjustment by lowering her occupational goal, but aligned with what she had learned at
College. In doing so, Ming Fang hoped that her Canadian credential would yield direct
consequence for employment. Nonetheless, it should be noted that being a salesperson was
not Ming Fang‟s freely made choice, but her coping strategy under constraints of a particular
social field. In fact, in realizing the nuanced social stratification, Ming Fang saw her
acceptance of being a salesperson as a way that allowed her to maintain a relatively higher
employment place available to her (“Doing sales work might not be very competitive. So
they might give you an opportunity.” “So, I think working as a sales worker at the Welland‟s
is better than doing copy work at Business Depot.”). Her remarks implied that accepting the
arrangement was her strategy of seeking and solidifying her chances of engaging in social
and linguistic practices.
Second, in examining her job-switching maneuvers, it seemed to me that Ming Fang‟s
226
strategy of lowering her occupational goals stemmed from her linguistic experiences that she
encountered in the process of job search. Hence, language became a factor framing and
reframing her route along the way of her navigating across space and time. Her failure in
gaining access to a job in the field of marketing played a central role in prompting her to
refigure the value of her existing linguistic resources that she had gained in different social
contexts. At this point, she placed emphasis on the nuanced differences between her oral and
literate skills in English, the differences that might have impacts on her opportunity to have
access to participation in the particular occupational field. She became aware that she was
constrained by the imposing vision of the institutional language that simplified and
universalized the relationship between orality and literacy in a specific social context. She
pointed out the institutional assumption dominated in fields where her competencies in
English were devalued and misrecognized (“…they must think that my speaking skills are not
good. So how is it possible for me to write in English very well?” “They must think that our
listening and speaking skills are bad. So, our literate skills must be bad also.”). In this way, to
apply for office work was Ming Fang‟s strategy that secured an employment opportunity that
she could draw on her existing language resources. Because the office work might require her
to deal with much paper work without speaking to people frequently, Ming Fang extrapolated
that doing office work was an easy job (“I used to think that doing office work is an easy
job.”) since she could have ample opportunities to demonstrate as well as to take advantage
of her reading and writing skills in English.
Nonetheless, in reality, Ming Fang was kept from taking advantage of her resources and
showing potential even though she made efforts to locate opportunities in a specific field and
to objectify her social position in relation to the gatekeepers. As mentioned above, Ming Fang
was arranged and displaced as a census enumerator and salesperson when she attempted to
apply for and worked as an office clerk for Statistics Canada and at the Welland‟s furniture
company. As shown in our conversation, Ming Fang linked this displacement and
misrecognition to a bigger social network of power that the institutionalization of language
served as an instrument to include and exclude people like her from a social space (“But, I
came to realize that it is not easy for me to find such an easy job. There are relatively high
demands on language. This means that I need to compete with local people.”). Her analysis
227
that she was disadvantaged in her application for an office clerk implied her critical
awareness that her engagements in identifying a niche in the local market were circumscribed
in the complex of social structures. During her continuous efforts to move into the local labor
market, Ming Fang created a strategy that she made use of the organizational arrangement for
her purpose of accumulating particular linguistic and social capital.
Ming Fang objectified her experience that she was placed in a disadvantaged position in
an interview context. In her view, her anxiety and nervousness, while having interactions with
institutional gatekeepers, was the hurdle that prevented her from giving a satisfactory
performance in an interview setting. Therefore, while lowering her occupational expectation
was her strategy to jockey for an entry into the local labor market, Ming Fang identified her
specific goal that she needed to learn how to utilize her language resources in appropriated
ways so that her linguistic capital would be accepted as well as yield positive social economic
outcomes in the future (“This is an opportunity for me to practice my English. So, I decided
to accept their offer and agree to be a sales worker at store this time. In fact, I just wanted to
have an opportunity to practice my English in an interview context.”). To Ming Fang‟s mind,
to surrender the company‟s arrangement would generate a situated learning opportunity that
allowed her to accumulate useful capital necessary to gain her dream job in the future.
However, it was clear that while continually accepting the arranged downgraded position,
Ming Fang‟s opportunity in pursuit of an intended position shrunk, since her occupational
position was subordinated and negatively stereotyped.
To sum up, drawing on the data in my study, I identified “writing a good résumé” and
“finding a low-level job” as the two major strategies that the participants frequently adopted
in the process of job search. By using these strategies, the participants attempted 1) to get rid
of the unemployment situation, 2) to fit into the symbolic standards heightened in the
recruitment procedure, and 3) to avoid inequality in the selection process because of their
social identity of being an immigrant. In particular, for most participants, lowering their
occupational goals was considered to secure a way out of the situation where they were
excluded from the selection process because of their lack of local work experiences, and
where they felt isolated from the contacts with the dominant language of English, as the result
of the long-time period of job search. To some extent, the specific searching tactics, such as
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“name-change” and “asking for old timer‟s help” reflected the participants‟ awareness that
their positioning in the gatekeeping encounters was marginal, uncertain, and precarious,
while these coping strategies highlighted their actively searching for and reframing the ways
in which they exercised their agency. While reflecting immigrants‟ continuous efforts to
move into the new labor market, these strategies might contribute to their continued marginal
positioning in the job market in the way that their existing knowledge and skills were
devalued, and their potential was ignored.
To this end, it should be noted that while having a closer look at the job-search process of
the participants who managed their job-readiness skills by attending the Canadian
post-secondary school and of those who did not get local educational credentials but gained a
professional job directly, I found no difference in the structural barriers that they confronted
and in the strategies that they deployed to overcome the obstacles. Although most participants
navigated in the job market through lowering their job expectations and through creating
potential possibilities in their attempts to make connect, this finding ran counter to the
assumption that local educational credentials were the crucial capital that opened doors to
economic and social opportunities for immigrant job-seekers in the new society. While
reflecting immigrants‟ continuous efforts to move into the new labor market, these strategies
might contribute to their continued marginal positioning in the job market in the way that
their existing knowledge and skills were devalued and their potential was ignored.
Having examined the dynamic relationships between structural entry barriers and the
participants‟ strategic efforts to enter into the Canadian labor market, I shall further examine
the consequential effects of the participants‟ job-search practices in the next section.
7.4 The Consequences: Material or Ideological?
It was true that upon lowering their occupational goals, most participants in my study
found a job. However, the data showed that seldom did they stay in these jobs for a very long
time or have an opportunity to be promoted while working there. For instance, both Jia Wei
and Jian Hui experienced frequent job changes in the first six months of their employment
because working on a shift job with wages under $10 per hour actually provided them with
no long-term stability for their family lives. Ye Lan was employed as an indexer by a research
company in Toronto when she had no chance of landing herself a librarian job or a full-time
229
position after obtaining a Master‟s degree in information science from a larger university in
Toronto. Nonetheless, the tedious work routine of data entry made her upset, and she
struggled along the way, wondering whether she should remain in the job or not. Ye Lan felt
released when she was fired and told that she was not suitable for the position. In the same
vein, Ming Fang was hired as a salesperson at a local store by the Welland‟s Furniture
Company eventually. As she reported, she gave a better performance in the interview meeting
than in any interviews that she had ever had. As she commented, having an interview for a
job that she did not intend to do, lessened her anxiety and nervousness in the interactions with
the interviewer. However, Ming Fang quit her job after two months of employment since she
felt distrusted and disrespected by customers, supervisors, and even co-workers, no matter
how hard she worked on the floor.
In fact, these participants shared the similar experience that they were given no chance
either to utilize their training as a professional at school or to make a link to their previous
expertise gained either in China or in Canada. This frequently left them with feelings of
disappointment and a sense of not belonging. As Jia Wei expressed with frustration about his
work in the restaurant that he found after graduation from Metrolinx College, “I felt really
annoyed that they did not trust me. They treated me as a real apprentice and never gave me a
chance to work online. My job was just to help around all stations in the kitchen, to do some
helping work. In fact, most of time, I washed dishes in the sink” (Jia Wei‟s journal,
September 13, 2006). As mentioned above, when immigrant job-seekers were under
structural constraints that forced them to regulate the routes of entry into the given job market,
there usually emerged a further devaluation of their existing knowledge and skills in that they
were assigned to work on the margin of the responsibilities coming with the low-level job. In
addition, given the fact that most entry-level, low-paying jobs were clustered with immigrant
newcomers, several participants complained that they actually had little chance to practice
their English on the working site.
Furthermore, the data in my study indicated that the participants‟ strategy of lowering
their occupational goals turned out to be an obstacle on the path of getting into the workplace,
since it embodied an inherent mismatch between immigrant job-seekers‟ existing professional
capabilities and the needs of the low-level job. In this respect, Yu Qing‟s experience of
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applying for the low-level position, in hope of tying a node with the workplace, served not
only to highlight such a dilemma, but also to emphasize that even lowering their occupational
expectations gave them no guarantee to secure an employment opportunity.
Yu Qing decided to give up the idea of looking for a labor job since her husband, Jia Wei,
took her eleven-year experience in the IT area in China as “the most valuable resource that
our family could rely on to initiate a new life in Canada” (Jia Wei‟s journal, February 27,
2006). Despite her concession, Yu Qing found it hard to get rid of her worry that her weak
speaking skills in English might become the impediment taking the shine off her advantage
when having a job interview with employers. While the negative thought loomed large in her
mind, Yu Qing became scared of the possible consequence that looking for an equivalent
position to the previous one she had worked in China might result in the long-lasting
job-hunting process that would cause financial problems to her family.
Given the pressure that she placed on herself, and given the fact that there was little
response from her job applications in the early search process, Yu Qing decided to make an
adjustment of her job application route by trying her luck at some entry-level jobs, instead of
the position of Computer Networking Administrator or IT engineer. Upon her many
applications sent for the position, such as IT programmer, technical supporter, office secretary,
and even typist, Yu Qing ultimately gained an interview opportunity for the position of
help-desk technical supporter at the IBM Company in Toronto. Because of her understanding
that the entry-level job would place no challenge on her technical skills, this time Yu Qing‟s
confidence in her professional capabilities seemed to surpass her worry about language
demands on her spoken English. As she said,
This was an entry-level contract position that provided services for the users at the very
beginning level. You know, I had done a lot of work in the field of Internet Servers and
Networking Administration in China. So, this job was a piece of cake to me, just like
doing ABC work. I thought I would be fine. (Interview excerpt, May 27, 2006, my
literal translation)
However, the following quote in which Yu Qing described her interview experience cast
light on the fact that the mismatch between her existing knowledge and skills and the
requirements coming with the low-level job disenabled her to activate her existing
competencies and so to display her knowledge, but left her feeling that she lacked relatedness
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toward the position.
In the beginning, they gave me ten pages of questions and required me to write down
the answers. At the outset, I had confidence in myself, thinking that with my
professional knowledge, I could easily deal with these questions. However, I was
confused when I started because they were like the questions asking a professor to
describe how to change a diaper for a baby, what the diaper is made of, and how to
wash diapers. I have never prepared myself for answering those stupid questions. My
work in China did not touch on such a basic level. I didn‟t see that it had anything to do
with my previous expertise. (Interview excerpt: May 27, 2006, my literal translation)
In the above narratives, Yu Qing showed her awareness of the mismatch that she
confronted, through making an analogy between writing down the answers to those “stupid”
technical questions and asking a professor to answer the questions of baby diapers.
Apparently, Yu Qing was still clinging to the hope that she could have a chance of making
use of her existing knowledge although she applied for a low-level job with the downgrade of
her positioning. As she emphasized, “I have never prepared myself for answering those stupid
questions. My work in China did not touch on such a basic level. I didn‟t see it had anything
to do with my previous experience.” Meanwhile, her remarks implied that in using the
strategy of making a job application for a low-level position, Yu Qing found herself
enmeshed in the negative situation that her professional capabilities were subject to
misrecognition.
Despite her initial confidence that through writing a test, she could gain a good chance to
demonstrate her professional competencies, Yu Qing‟s strong sense of being displaced
appeared to place much psychological pressure on her, which had a result of blocking out her
mind to process the interview questions in an effective way. In such a situation, she felt that
her English strengths were gone since she “had no idea of how to answer those questions
even though they were simple to me” (Interview excerpt, May 27, 2006, my literal
translation). Disappointed about the deviation between her existing skills and the reality of
the work, Yu Qing had a sense of losing the opportunity already while reading those
interview questions in correspondence to the institutional design of the position. As she
described, “My mind was not able to concentrate at that time because I felt angry and
confused about these questions. I knew this job was not for me. I felt upset about myself”
(Interview excerpt, May 27, 2006, my literal translation). Thus, it was evident that finding a
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low-level job or accepting the arranged position as unprivileged in the rungs of the labor
force might produce a danger that immigrant job-seekers were trapped in a negative cycle
where the opportunity to pursue an intended position might be restricted, although sometimes
it was the coping device that might help get rid of the unemployment situation. More
importantly, in such a situational context, immigrant job-seekers might feel vulnerable that
they lost a sense of control over their existing linguistic capital that could mediate how much
they know.
To this end, it was worth noting an important pattern: it was actually through their
job-search endeavors that the participants learned their subordinated positioning in the
employment discourse. In particular, despite their unquestioning acceptance of the “rightful
place” at the workplace, most participants demonstrated their awareness that their proficiency
in English, in association with their social identity of being an immigrant, played a significant
role in granting their particular job opportunity or in excluding them from the selection
process.
For example, with great efforts to land a good job in a hotel, Jian Hui eventually gained
an interview opportunity with the Chef in a four-star hotel in downtown Toronto. Keeping his
confidence in his Canadian educational credential and five-year work experience in the
culinary field in Canada, Jian Hui was optimistic that the job interview opportunity might
bring him the possibility of employment in the hotel. However, after the interview meeting,
Jian Hui became so dejected since the Chef told him that he should repair his English first,
although his occupational expertise was an asset. While the feelings that he had language
problems vexed him strongly upon the interview meeting, Jian Hui became aware that the
interviewer‟s perception of his English proficiency played an important role in determining
his job opportunity. In the subsequent opportunities of job interviews, Jian Hui usually took a
chance to elicit the interviewer‟s evaluation of his English performance at the end of the
meeting, in order to predict the potential possibility for employment. As Jian Hui described
his interview experience with the Executive Chef in the Toronto Sports Club,
By the end of the interview meeting, I asked the Chef whether he thought that I had
language problems. He said „no‟ because he can understand what I said in the meeting.
The Chef told me that I should not worry about my English in that it would make no
problems in the kitchen. I know, this time I will get the job” (Interview excerpt, March
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11, 2006, my literal translation).
Two weeks after the interview, Jian Hui was hired as full-time first cook by the Club who
offered him $14 per hour.
In fact, most participants in my study were acutely aware of their disadvantaged
positioning in high-stake contexts such as a job interview meeting, not only because their
lack of assurance in their speaking competence in English, but also because their awareness
that the employers would take their accents or errors in word choices and tense usage in the
speech as their language barriers to communication demands in the workplace. Aware of all
these challenges, both Xiang Dong and Yu Qing felt lucky that they were required to take a
written test on assessing their professional knowledge and skills in the first place. They both
stated that because of the written test that served to shed light on their English and
professional strengths, they left good impressions on the potential employers and obtained the
current job in the professional field. It is also interesting to note here that among the
participants in my study, Xiang Dong and Yu Qing were the only two participants who won a
professional job opportunity directly in the settlement period, without getting Canadian
educational credentials. Notwithstanding the positive outcome of their job search because of
the opportunity of displaying their linguistic and professional advantages through a written
test, Xiang Dong and Yu Qing provided slightly different interpretations of the consequence
attached to their language and literacy practices in a particular high-stake situation.
Xiang Dong became aware of his subordinated positioning through his observations that
the communication modalities operated on him were distinct from those on the local job
applicants in the selection process. Xiang Dong found a professional job after ten-months of
his arrival in Toronto. He was hired on the spot after completing the written test of his
occupational knowledge for the position of computer programmer. As he described the
assessment on his job eligibility,
It was such a hard test that I spent ten hours answering those questions at the company,
without eating food and drinking water a whole day. It was really tough. Among all ten
candidates, I was the only one to complete the test that day. So, I got the job. But, you
know what? While working there, I saw, when local people came to apply for a job, my
boss just talked to them and gave them a job immediately. So, I got this job through
writing a test, but they through 30-minute talking to the boss. It was so easy for them to
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get a job. Well, I know I am an immigrant, and so I told myself I should accept the
unfairness. (Interview excerpt, February 19, 2006, my literal translation)
From Xiang Dong‟s point of view, the written test was the mark of the different treatment
between him as an immigrant and local people speaking English as their native language.
Despite his feelings of being treated unfairly in the selection process, Xiang Dong indicated
that it was perhaps because of his immigrant identity that he won the prioritizing of his boss.
As he explicated,
My boss likes hiring immigrants. He knows that recent immigrants do not speak good
English, but they can read and write well. They also have strong professional
knowledge and work hard. So, that is why I was privileged to write a test, but with
strict demands. When my boss hires immigrants, he gives them less money than he
should pay to local people. (Interview excerpt, February 19, 2006, my literal
translation)
Having said that, Xiang Dong told me that although he understood that his hourly pay was
$12, much lower than the minimum wage level in the field, he was happy and felt so relieved
when his boss said to him, “You stay if you can pass another written test after one month. If
you fail the test, you will lose the job.”
Likewise, Yu Qing considered the written test as a point of entry in that she was given an
opportunity to demonstrate her professional competencies and so reached her occupational
goal eventually. Her excellent performance in the written test resulted in an interview
opportunity for her in the larger telecom research company. Despite her nervousness about
her “poor speaking skills in English that might affect how they judged me,” Yu Qing turned
out to be relaxed in the interview meeting in front of a group of interviewers since “they
asked a Chinese employee in the office to be my interpreter, just in case I might need help”
(Interview excerpt, January 24, 2006, my literal translation). For Yu Qing, the availability of
the interpreter in the interview meeting signified that the employer prioritized her
professional skills over her competencies in English. As she said, “I can feel they really
needed me because they gained a good sense of my professional skills through my writing”
(Interview excerpt, January 24, 2006, my literal translation).
When Yu Qing told her husband, Jia Wei, about the interview meeting that she was
allowed to ask for the interpreter‟s help, Jia Wei interpreted the interviewers‟ language
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support in the evaluation process as a signal of a positive outcome of employment, as he said
to his wife affirmatively, “Trust me, you will get the job this time.” While reflecting upon her
experience of gaining the current job opportunity, Yu Qing appeared to renew her confidence
in her job-interview experience, saying, “Since arrival in Canada, for the first time, I felt my
English could help me a lot” (Interview excerpt, January 24, 2006, my literal translation).
7.5 Summary
The preceding analyses suggested that there were material and ideological consequences
attached to the participants‟ job-seeking endeavors. Materially, despite the fact that lowering
their job-finding goals had the result of possible employment, many participants had to accept
lowest-wages and least stable jobs, at the expense of putting their original occupational goals
on hold; symbolically, their senses of insecurity, displacement, and subordination associated
with these jobs derived partially from their work assignments with the margin of
responsibilities coming with the entry-level job.
One striking material consequence of finding a low-level job was that, because the
mismatch between their existing capabilities and the requirements of the low-level job was
inherent in this strategy, the participants were subjected to misrecognition and so given little
space to activate their existing capital for positive economic outcomes. This usually had the
result of frequent job switching or quitting, unquestioning acceptance of the passive and
subordinated position under the arrangement of employers, doubts of the material values of
their credentials, or even no employment opportunity at all. Yu Qing‟s experience with the
IBM Company epitomized that immigrant job-seekers are actually confronted with continued
challenges when they are forced to regulate their work lines. This also implied that the
positive material consequence of the job-search strategy depended on whether the job-seeker
was given an opportunity to make use of their existing skills in high-stake contexts.
Indeed, relegated to the downgraded employment position, most participants found
themselves entrapped in the double-bind situation that they had not only to accept their
low-wage job in order to remain socially, economically, and linguistically active in the new
society, but also to bear the consequence that their knowledge and skills were further
devalued in the workplace, thereby leaving feelings of being marginalized and excluded, or to
stay in the dead-end job with no hope of finding a suitable employment opportunity in the
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future or with limited chances of improving their English in the workplace. The case of Ming
Fang provided a strong example that immigrant job-seekers might run into the vicious cycle
of taking the position against their occupational expectations while facing ranges of structural
barriers. In this way, the finding that the participants interpreted their displaced and
subordinated positioning as the negative impacts of their English proficiency and immigrant
identity reflected the ideological consequences of the job-searching processes.
Moreover, the examples of the participants‟ experiences of using language and literacy in
the evaluation contexts for their job eligibility revealed that certain forms of language were
manipulated and measured in association with the employers‟ arrangement. To prioritize one
particular language form over the other served the function of stratifying or excluding
immigrant job-seekers from the selection process. As shown in this chapter, all participants
felt vulnerable in job-interview contexts since the assessment of their speaking skills in
English would severely constrain their job possibilities. The cases of Yu Qing, Xiang Dong,
and Ming Fang specifically indicated that immigrants‟ literacy skills were crucial to securing
employment opportunities. However, as we can see, whether literacy was employed as a
means of knowledge display or as a mechanism of testing immigrant job-seekers‟ technical
skills of the language might yield different social economic consequences.
Notwithstanding, Xiang Dong‟s interpretation of the role of the written test in the
evaluation process indicated that literacy was utilized not only as a marker that served to
reproduce different economic outcomes from the mainstream labor force, but also as a
strategic tool that assisted employers in testing for specific skills of immigrants, in order to
satisfy the needs of the workplace. This made it clear that immigrants‟ linguistic capital in the
dominant language of English and their social identities of being skilled immigrants were
actually exploited as a compound commodity to reproduce economic profits to satisfy the
needs of employers.
Furthermore, Yu Qing‟s and Xiang Dong‟s different interpretations of the written test that
they encountered in the recruitment process implied that the consequences of job-hunting
activities in general and of the modes of assessments in the selection process in particular
were socially discursive and institutionally manipulated, influenced by what employers
prioritized, and to what extent they could contribute to effective communications in the
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recruitment procedures. The different degree to which employers provided facilitation or
placed obstacles in front of immigrant job-seekers exerted impacts on immigrants‟ pathways
to get into the Canadian labor market, which might also produce some ripple effects on their
future acts in the workplace. A close look at the job-finding processes served to cast light on
the significance of the participants‟ constant negotiations for a niche in the given labor market
in reframing their ideologies of English proficiency, identities, and social positioning in the
new society. Following this lead, I argue that the material and ideological consequences of
the participants‟ job-search maneuvers were intimately related and shaped by the ways in
which language, race, and class distinctions penetrated and solidified the institutional
operations in the gatekeeping process.
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Chapter 8
Adaptation, Socialization, and Upward Mobility:
Language and Literacy in the Workplace
In this chapter, I shall continue to track the participants‟ experiences in the workplace
wherein language and cultural norms might be different from the ones they had encountered
in their previous occupations in China. Based on the patterns that emerged from the data in
my study, I examine the questions, how did the participants adapt themselves to the
workplace through making use of their existing professional knowledge and language skills
in English?, and how did they take a chance, if any, to make use of and develop their
communication skills in English in their attempt to socialize into the workplace? While
focusing on these questions, I pay particular attention to the strategies that the participants
deployed to deal with the situations and problems encountered in their everyday practices in
the workplace.
To examine critically how the participants made use of language and literacy in the
particular context, such as adaptation, socialization, and economic advancement in the
workplace, sheds light on the fact that to immigrants, having a job does not necessarily mean
a chance that allows them to use their resources and fully participate in the new economy.
The data in my study showed that multiple factors, such as employment status, social
relations, language use, managerial and economic agenda of organization, and the global and
local social and economic conditions, were complicatedly interlocking and affected the
outcomes of the participants‟ bids for upward economic mobility. Although the participants
actively deployed their institutional language competencies as a strategy for extended
possibilities for being accepted as a full member of the workplace, the consequences of their
language and literacy engagements varied and were unpredictable across time and space.
These findings serve as a backdrop to challenge the assumption of “language problems” and
“English drawbacks” that has been utilized in public and policy discourses to explain the
reality of lower occupational status and income gaps that immigrant employees faced. They
also indicated that the dominant ideologies of English penetrated and are situated within a
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space structured by the global and local interests that shape and reformulate ethnolinguistic
minorities‟ positioning and interaction with various conditions.
8.1 Points of Transfer: The Challenge
Having spent a certain time period of searching, all participants landed a job in the given
labor market eventually. Both Xiang Dong and Yu Qing found a job related to their previous
professional expertise even though they did not go to a post-secondary school in Canada.
After his ten-month job-hunting, Xiang Dong was hired as software developer by a small
privately owned IT company in the eastern region of the GTA. Yu Qing was offered a
position of Operations Administrator in a larger Telecom Research Company in the
Kitchener-Waterloo area in the sixteenth month upon her arrival in Toronto. Because of the
job, the family moved from Toronto to Waterloo in May 2006, right after Jia Wei graduated
from Metrolinx College.
The participants who were equipped with Canadian educational and professional
credentials reported that they located their first employment opportunity between two and six
months. However, most of them complained that their Canadian credentials did not help them
reach the level of economic outcomes that they had anticipated. Jia Wei, Jian Hui, and Ming
Fang who graduated from a community college each obtained an entry-level position as cook
or sales worker in the service sector, with hourly wages under $10 in the early period of
employment. Ye Lan and Li Tao encountered difficulties in locating a full-time position
although they contended that their academic credentials obtained from a local prestigious
university served as a passport to make connections with potential employers. With a
Master‟s degree in information science, Ye Lan ended up in a part-time job in the resource
center at an educational institute after six months of job-hunting. Li Tao decided to accept the
offer of a full-time contracted position as inventory planner in a larger logistics company
through his compatriot friend‟s referral, although this was not the job relevant to computer
science, the major that he had studied at university in the last four years.
It was true that in locating a niche in the Canadian labor market, all participants felt as if
relieved of a heavy burden as well as restored confidence in their professional and English
language competencies to some extent. Having said this, they shared anxiety at the early time
when they walked into the new working environment. Two major frequently mentioned
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challenges were related to 1) the concern that their English competencies might not be strong
enough for them to deal with oral interactions in their work routines, and 2) their awareness
that they needed to transfer their previous professional knowledge and skills to fulfill the
particular needs of work reality they situated. As newcomers in an unfamiliar language and
cultural work context, most participants became worried that incapable of coping with the
challenges in an appropriate way, they might place their jobs in jeopardy.
First, several participants mentioned that when they started new jobs, they lacked
confidence in their oral communication skills in English, and hence their abilities to handle
language demands effectively at work. For instance, at the Telecom Research Company, Yu
Qing was assigned a position of Operations Administrator whose duty was to monitor
network systems, send alerts when problems emerged, and troubleshoot problems. Although
she saw this job as closely related to her previous work experience in China, Yu Qing lacked
assurance about her speaking competence in English when she had to inform senior engineers,
describe specific problems, and discuss the possible solutions with them over the phone at the
very moment when emergency situations occurred. As she recalled,
In the beginning, I put a lot of pressure on myself, since I felt extremely nervous when I
thought that I had to call and speak English with people at work. I was even scared to
pick up the phone when I heard the phone ringing in the office. You know, at that time,
I just felt my work was full of fear and pressure. (Interview excerpt, April 22, 2006, my
literal translation)
In fact, among the participants, making a telephone call was the most frequently mentioned
anxiety-producing work-related communicative activity. Nonetheless, most participants
emphasized to me that they became capable of handling phone calls at work when they
gained familiarity with their work routines.
Although the routine-like work responsibilities led new immigrant employees to get in on
the language demands of their positions, there was a shared concern among the participants
that their “poor spoken English” might have adverse effects on building good relationships
with their colleagues in the working context. In fact, with a strong sense of their weak oral
competence in English, most participants initially tried not to speak much or even silenced
themselves during the whole day at work. As Yu Qing described, she usually sat in her
cubicle and quietly immersed herself in working tasks all day so that she could avoid having
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eye contacts that might lead her to have conversations with the people in the office. Although
for the time being, the avoidance of having verbal interactions with her colleagues might
serve to ease her sense of fears, Yu Qing soon came to realize that this was not the strategy
compatible with the office culture in that her colleagues were actually interested in
exchanging varied informal conversational topics with each other during the working time.
With little confidence in her oral interaction skills in English and the strong sense of
cultural unfamiliarity, Yu Qing had no idea of how to get involved in this kind of office
conversation. In attempting to send a signal of her participation, she sometimes gave a nod or
smile while her colleagues discussed particular topics in the office. Nonetheless, having no
“real involvement” in office conversations, Yu Qing was afraid,
Lack of oral communication with my colleagues would cause a vicious cycle because if
I kept myself silent frequently, people might misunderstand that I was unwilling to get
involved in the workplace. So they might think I am a difficult person to get along.
Who knows how this will affect their views and evaluation on my work performance in
the long run? (Interview excerpt, April 22, 2006, my literal translation)
Indeed, Yu Qing‟s concern was not unreasonable, since most participants in my study
learned that oral communications in the workplace were crucial for them not only to building
up and maintaining good relationships with their colleagues, but also to gaining the
recognition of their professional skills from employers. To their mind, how well they can
speak English had direct impacts on their job security and positioning at the workplace in
both the short and the long term. Jia Wei‟s experience in a restaurant helped exemplify some
of these complex effects.
In mid June 2006, on the third week of his job search, Jia Wei found a job in a restaurant
which gave him $9 per hour as a start. Jia Wei said to me that because of the high commodity
prices in Waterloo and his parents‟ visit from China, he needed to find a job quickly so that he
could share with his wife the increased family living expenses. While I had a doubt that he
could support his family with his meager wages, Jia Wei sounded optimistic that he would get
a raise, saying,
The boss promised me that he would give me a raise if I could be able to pick up my
work and perform well within the first three weeks. I am confident that my boss will
see how quickly I can handle my work very well. So, that‟s okay to me for now. I am
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pretty sure that things will get better soon. (Interview excerpt, June 10, 2006, my literal
translation)
Jia Wei told me later, however, that his boss broke the promise and did not give him a
raise after three weeks. While having his boss‟s agreement that his culinary skills fulfilled the
requirements of the position, Jia Wei became perplexed, “Why did my boss refuse giving me
a raise, in spite of his positive comments on my work?” While trying to figure out the
underlying reason, he noticed that his boss merely assigned him to do helping work in the
kitchen, but allowed the cook hired three weeks after him to work online and take the
responsibility for the daily inventory of the restaurant. Based on this observation and his
communication experiences with his boss, Jia Wei acknowledged wistfully that he was not
one of his boss‟s “favorites.” This led him to attribute his failure in getting a raise to the
communication breakdowns between him and the boss. As he stated,
Obviously, my boss did not like me, and did not trust me either. This was all about my
spoken English, since he often complained about my slow responses to his order. He
once said to me that my English sounded weird to him. Actually, I found he seldom
spoke to me afterwards. (Interview excerpt, August 17, 2006, my literal translation)
While telling Jia Wei that I had not anticipated that his English proficiency would cause
him difficulties at work, based on my observations that he was able to talk with people
comfortably in English in varied contexts, he emphasized to me,
I do not have language problems in doing my work. This was something about
communications between two people. You know, I was rarely spoken to by my boss. I
think, this was because I spoke English with accent or sometimes even ungrammatical
sentences. I guess, because of that, my boss just did not want to waste his time talking
to me. (Interview excerpt, August 17, 2006, my literal translation)
Further, Jia Wei complained that even almost two months after he worked in the restaurant,
he made limited connection with other cooks in the kitchen. To his mind, this was because he
was marginalized by the boss who always assigned him to do odd jobs in the restaurant.
On the seventh week that he worked in the restaurant, Jia Wei quit the job after
negotiating several times with his boss, since he felt frustrated about the tense relationship
between him and the boss. As he wrote in the journal,
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Nobody wants to change jobs frequently. But I faced no choice since I was angry with
the boss. And, my boss was bored of my negotiations with him about raising my wages.
He even refused talking to me about it later on. Our relationship was just getting worse.
(Jia Wei‟s journal, August 23, 2006)
Secondly, while working in the new environment, the participants soon recognized that
making appropriate language use was not the only challenge they faced in the process of
socializing into the workplace. Despite their confidence in their previous occupational
expertise, most participants realized that they confronted the challenge of transferring their
professional skills, in order to satisfy the particular requirements of the workplace.
Nonetheless, the participants‟ accounts of their early experiences revealed varied reasons
underlying this kind of adaptation.
For example, Xiang Dong and Yu Qing realized that they needed to fit their previous
occupational expertise into the new working style. What usually made them feel stressful and
overwhelmed was the requirement for autonomy, independence, and individual
self-expression when they dealt with specific working tasks in the new working context. In
particular, while recalling her co-op job experience, the first employment opportunity in
Canada, Yu Qing indicated that her weakness in researching relevant information to the
working assignment caused her much anxiety. She attributed the challenge to her previous
work experience in China in that she was required to follow closely the disciplines and
regulations, without much chance of being able to take advantage of her own creativity.
Likewise, shifting from a rule-governed working procedure to a profit-driven working
context made Xiang Dong feel pressured to quickly demonstrate the economic values of his
professional skills, a crucial condition for him to secure the job as warned by his boss. As
Xiang Dong reported, his first three-month work in the company was uncertain and
burdensome in that he faced the challenge of making an “urgent transfer,” in order to fill the
gap between what he was specifically required to do in his current position and what he had
achieved at work in China. In his view, the uncertain situation was partly related to the
“side-effect” of his downward occupational mobility in that he had to work as computer
programmer, a position incongruent with that of IT networking manager, the position that he
had previously taken in China. Xiang Dong became clear that the only way that he could
publicly present his professional competence was to speak out his suggestions in the presence
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of his manager and colleagues, instead of remaining quiet, agreeable, and cautious in
speaking as he had usually performed in the China workplace. For Xiang Dong who
identified himself as a quiet, shy, and not-talkative person, this was a challenge to his
personal character, rather than his English competence.
Moreover, when asked the underlying reason for needing a transfer of their professional
skills, several participants brought up the issue of the discrepancy between the knowledge
they had acquired at school and the skills required in the reality of work. Specifically, for the
participants who spent time strengthening their job-readiness skills at the post-secondary
school in Canada, the local power relations they confronted on the floor reinforced the
transfer of their professional knowledge into the needs of the workplace.
Most participants indicated that the professional training they had received in the
Canadian educational system allowed them to quickly take on their responsibilities in the new
working environment. As Jia Wei described his early work at a sports club upon his
graduation from the college, “Nobody saw me as layman. They thought I had many years of
working experience in the kitchen. I cannot deny that my college education was very helpful”
(Jia Wei‟s diary, September 4, 2006). Although Jian Hui did not explicitly indicate the
importance of his professional training at college in his adaptation to the new working
context, he once raised the issues of menu design, sanitation, and workplace safety that he
observed in the kitchen. As he commented, “I found that they did lots of things in a wrong
way in the kitchen. Well, I understand most cooks in the restaurant did not receive
professional training at school, let alone know the theory of food” (Interview excerpt, May 26,
2006, my literal translation).
While having intention to further exercise and develop their professional skills through
their hands-on experience in the workplace, several participants realized that they had to
ignore what they had learned at school, and to follow the ways of doing tasks required in
local working places even though they identified some of these approaches as wrong or
unprofessional as indicated in the textbooks. Jia Wei expressed with disappointment that his
techniques of handling food were considered as incompatible with the established rules in the
kitchen. His Chef gave a verbal warning message to him by reminding him of his new
membership in the working context, saying, “Jia Wei, I know you are skilful; I know you
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have a lot of experience. But I want you to be clear the situation here is different. Anyway,
you need to know you are still new here” (Jia Wei‟s diary, September 23, 2006). Jian Hui
initially tried to maintain the professional standards of his work by sticking to the recipes and
principles of cooking he had learned at school. However, after having some frictions with his
Chef, Jian Hui learned how important it was that he needed to transfer his professional
knowledge to the ways that the Chef preferred if he wanted to secure his job. However, under
unequal power relations on the ground, both Jia Wei and Jian Hui did not associate this
particular adaptation with their professional pride, since they usually complained that their
skills and work were not appreciated and valued enough, they were not listened to, and they
gained little sense of learning while at work.
In a nutshell, when entering into a new working environment, the participants in my study
recognized the importance of linguistic and professional transfers as crucial for them to take
on their responsibilities efficiently, to establishing good relationships with their colleagues, to
getting their knowledge and skills recognized, and to being entitled as a qualified member in
the workplace so that they could secure their job under the local power relations. Adapting to
the new working style was considered as the typical reason that the participants made
adjustment of their previous occupational skills to the specific requirements of working tasks.
This usually included fitting into specific office culture, learning work procedures, and
adopting the “acceptable” behavioral style, such as developing more self initiative and being
more outspoken than in the workplace in China. For immigrant employees who had no work
experience in the host country, such a transfer might be frequently related to the different
system of workplace management between China and Canada. However, the above examples
indicated that immigrant employees‟ language and professional transfers went beyond skills
or cultural matters, but entailed language and socio-cultural practices, such as, making
connections, communications, or negotiations with the organizational interests in workplace
adaptation, socialization, and job promotion. Prior to investigating the strategies that the
participants employed to deal with these issues, in the following section, I shall first examine
whether the participants gained organizational support in the process of their adaptation and
socialization into the new working environment.
8.2 Identifying Organizational Help
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The sources of the work force in Canada has become increasingly diverse, with a large
and growing number of immigrants recruited since immigrant policies experienced a series of
reforms in the late 1990s. For example, according to the Labor Force Survey, in 2006, labor
market participation rates among recent immigrants have reached around 70 percent,
comprising about 22 percent of the total work force counted as roughly 26.2 million people
aged 15 and over in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2008b). Increasingly relying on these
immigrants in an effort to cope with the globally competitive marketplace, Canada‟s
organizations are encouraged to recognize the potential value of the multilingual and
multicultural workforce in the nation‟s economic development. Calling for diversity in the
labor market, Gordon Nixon (2006), President and CEO of the Royal Bank of Canada,
indicated:
If we succeed at leveraging the diversity of our current and future workforce, we will
have unrivalled advantage. But if we fail, we will pay a heavy opportunity cost for
our citizens and will face an uphill battle to maintain, let alone enhance, our quality
of life. … Diversity can and should be Canada‟s competitive advantage. [This]
includes our ability to tap human potential.
In resonance with this proposition that emphasizes the economic returns to employers,
Canadian business enterprises have become open to recent immigrants with diverse
ethnolinguistic backgrounds, resulting in multicultural and multilingual workplaces. As the
participants in my study reported, most of their colleagues at work were immigrants speaking
their first language other than English or French and coming from different countries in Asia,
Eastern Europe, and Africa. To a certain extent, immigrant employees‟ first language or
previous occupational expertise is considered as useful resources that can help generate a
positive cycle of productivity as well as to provide well-rounded services satisfying the
varied needs of consumers. This was true of the experience of Ming Fang who attributed her
employment opportunity of working as enumerator of Statistics Canada and sales worker at
the Welland‟s Furniture store to the employer‟s hunting for people who can speak Mandarin
and so satisfy their clients‟ language needs. Similarly, Jia Wei indicated that he was hired as
line cook in a restaurant because the boss was interested in his training in Chinese cuisine he
had received in China since Chinese dishes were listed on the menu and frequently ordered
by customers.
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While seeing a diverse workforce as potential human resources fulfilling the economic
needs of their business in the globalized economy, employers usually find themselves facing
the challenge that the linguistic and cultural variables of immigrant employees may affect the
enactment of the company‟s managerial and economic agenda. To deal with this dilemma,
most of them are likely to rely on varied forms of workplace training, in order to regulate and
make uniform language and professional competencies of immigrant employees, in the name
of professionalism in the knowledge economy. By creating and offering a set of “standard
courses,” organizations and enterprises tend to utilize workplace training to facilitate
immigrant employees to participate appropriately and effectively in making an economic
contribution to the high-performance organization. In particular, in these companies and
enterprises, attending training courses is usually compulsory and used to measure employees‟
motivation and commitment to achieving the organizational goal of quality control, in
alignment with the globalized economic market. This was true of Yu Qing and Ming Fang
who were hired as full-time frontline employees by a larger Company, with a national and
international reputation through the quality control of its products and services. In these
companies, ongoing workplace training and employees‟ learning autonomy were considered
to play a central role in maintaining the organization‟s fame and competitive position in the
marketplace, as well as in dealing with local diversity and changes on the work floor. In
addition to their daily work activities, both Yu Qing and Ming Fang were offered or required
to attend a series of language and professional training activities in the classroom and virtual
space. They reached a consensus that because of their experiences of attending workplace
training, they got familiar with their work responsibilities and so picked up their routine work
efficiently.
Except that Yu Qing and Ming Fang had experiences of attending workplace training,
most participants in my study reported that they actually had little chance to access this kind
of institutional assistance. Some of them might receive tutoring instructions for a couple of
hours from a senior employee on the first day of their employment or required reading of a
manual book including the mandate and history of the organization. In reference to the
Employee Handbook that I collected from the participants, I found that the informal way of
orientation to the new working place might echo the organization‟s hiring policies that newly
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hired immigrant employees should have enough language and occupational competencies to
make quick sense of the standards of working procedures by following the documentary
regulations and self monitoring their own learning outcomes in their work operations over
time.
In fact, while seeing training as a long-term commitment to their employees, most
business enterprises were likely to give this kind of privilege to senior executives, middle
managers, and team leaders who were identified as multi-year veterans and worthy of
investing time and money of the company, rather than to those newly recruited who, in most
cases, were recent immigrants (Richtree Inc., 2004). In such a situation, most participants
were acutely aware that from the perspective of the employer, their entry-level position made
a training opportunity unnecessary or luxurious, although they looked forward to having
access to this opportunity as beneficial to their adaptation and occupational advancement.
Having a close look at the participants‟ employment circumstances revealed that this
awareness might be related to specific situations. For example, employees, like Jia Wei and
Jian Hui, were expected to make quick profits for the workplace through the service of their
hands-on professional skills; and like Xiang Dong, needed to constantly demonstrate
flexibility and high-level performance while working for a privately owned company that was
unlikely to make any commitment to or investment in employees‟ learning and career
development. Li Tao and Ye Lan, who were employed to fill in the temporary vacancy,
usually entailed no priority of gaining this kind of learning opportunity.
In short, most participants in my study received little organizational support in the process
of adapting to their new working roles, except Ming Fang and Yu Qing who might make
sense of their new working place through their experiences of attending workplace training.
The sections that follow will focus on the participants‟ own linguistic and professional
adaptations to the new working environment. While paying particular attention to the role of
their English language and literacy skills, I highlight the strategies that the participants
deployed to deal with the situations and problems encountered in their everyday workplace
practices.
8.3 Making Adaptation via Literacy Practices
All independent applicants in my study reported that their work routines involved varied
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reading and writing activities, with relatively limited opportunity for oral interactions with
their colleagues at work. As they described, much of their work had to be done independently,
including goal-directed reading practices and information processing on paper materials and
computer. Although writing was frequently used as the main activity in dealing with their
tasks, the practice was limited to composing email messages or sometimes to technical
reports to document working procedures.
While reading and writing were the major activities integral to the work routines of the
independent applicants, dependent applicants reported that they did not have to deal with
much written work on the floor. Structural routines, such as information processing and
problem solving, were normally carried out through oral conversations with people on the
working site. For both Jia Wei and Jian Hui who worked as cook in food service
organizations, studying menus and comprehending customers‟ orders were considered as the
main reading activity that determined the quality of their work performance on the floor.
Ming Fang‟s daily work routines as sales worker included the combination of oral
communication and literacy activities such as filling in electronic order forms on the
computer. Nonetheless, from her point of view, collecting and reading work-related paper
materials was the prerequisite “warming-up” activity that enabled her to have productive
interactions with customers and to handle specific situations that she encountered on the shop
floor.
Despite the fact that the differential aspects of language use were emphasized in different
occupations related to particular types of work organization, literacy acted as a gateway
through which all participants tended to make linguistic and professional connections to the
new workplace. In particular, they took advantage of their English literacy skills for
employment security, for the recognition of their knowledge and competence, and for
effective oral communications with people on the new working site. In what follows, I shall
explicate these strategies in detail.
8.3.1 Reading the New for Job Security
While recalling their early experiences at workplace, all participants mentioned that
reading work-related information through paper materials and on the Internet was the most
useful strategy for securing their jobs, in particular, in the early time period of employment.
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This was true of the experience of Xiang Dong who asserted that it was through his literacy
practices that he was able to hold a stable job in the workplace.
In March 2003, Xiang Dong was offered a position as software developer at a privately
owned company upon his excellent performance of writing a test for job recruitment.
However, it seemed that the risk of losing the job still existed unless he could pass another
written test that demonstrated his professional capability of fitting into the standards of the
company. To Xiang Dong‟s mind, the heavy workload and flexibility required in the company
made him uncertain about the possibility for securing the job. As he described, because it was
a small software company containing no more than 20 employees, the boss directly
monitored the daily operations and employees‟ performance. Meanwhile, the tight budget of
the company required each employee to demonstrate their versatility and flexibility all the
time. As Xiang Dong reported, in the processes of undertaking a project, he had to take
multiple responsibilities, including designing, developing, documenting, experimenting,
upgrading, and fixing the software according to his clients‟ specific needs. While the multiple
tasks increased his workload as well as the complexity of his assignment overwhelmingly in
his daily work, his boss‟s close supervision of employees‟ efficiency in completing each
project for the sake of the company‟s economic profits exerted much pressure on him.
However, in the face of all these challenges, Xiang Dong, as a newly hired employee,
obtained little support from his colleagues because individual employees worked on different
projects independently most of the time.
While reflecting upon his effort to win his eligibility for remaining in the position, Xiang
Dong pointed out that collecting and reading work-related information was productive in that
he learned comprehensive as well as detailed knowledge as he needed. In particular, Xiang
Dong found that reading over the manual book of the company assisted him in acquiring the
good knowledge of technological systems constructed before he was hired. This knowledge
was useful for him to figure out how to take advantage of his occupational expertise for
positive economic outcomes, which enabled him to get involved into the company‟s daily
business efficiently. In the meantime, Xiang Dong emphasized that reading a wide range of
work-related information on the Internet had enabled him to learn and update the particular
aspects of his technical knowledge related to the assignment he was undertaking. As he
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explained, “There is a large amount of information available on the Internet. It is a convenient
and quick way for me to update my knowledge. You know, my experience in Canada makes
me believe that I can always find something I need on the Internet” (Interview excerpt, July
23, 2006, my literal translation). Like other participants in my study, Xiang Dong indicated
that as an immigrant who had no social networks helping him to locate resources in the host
country, surfing on the Internet for information became his habitual way of solving problems
all the time.
Xiang Dong passed the written test successfully upon the first month of his employment.
In winning the boss‟s trust in his professional capability, Xiang Dong not only retained his
membership in the company, but also gained a sense of control over his work tasks. In spite
of a heavy workload and challenging projects he usually encountered, Xiang Dong began to
feel “the rhythm of the work” and so became confident in accomplishing his assignments
with efficiency.
In addition, several participants mentioned that the best way of getting well prepared for
the new occupational position was through reading and memorizing the detailed information
of work procedures. Jia Wei and Jian Hui told that when they started a job in a new place,
they needed to remember all dish names on the menu and cooking procedures in the kitchen.
During busy hours on the floor, chefs read aloud customers‟ orders to line cooks who needed
to catch quickly the chef‟s calling and cook the dish in a precise and timely manner. As a
newly hired employee, Jia Wei and Jian Hui shared their experiences that in order to survive
in such a challenging situation, they had to invest much time in memorizing menus and
recipes in advance, partly because there were diverse dish names coming from all over the
world, and partly because they were written not only in English but also in languages,
including French, German, Greek, and Swedish. Jia Wei‟s diary indicated that doing rote
learning of his work was a useful strategy to save him in the first day of his work.
Aside 8.1
Jia Wei‟s Diary Entry
September 4, 2006 (Monday)
Today is my first day at the Sports Club. I don‟t feel nervous at all. I can handle almost every
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item on the menu. Everything seems easier than what I experienced in my first job. Before I cooked
each dish, I brainstormed what I had learned from the menu. I then gave a nice display.
After the busy dinner time, my chef complimented me on my work. “Good job! Jia Wei.” I was
happy too because my strategy worked. I spent several hours reading and memorizing all dish names
and ingredients listed on the menu last night. I have kept the whole menu in my mind and I was
saved.
Because of Jia Wei‟s capability of quickly fitting into the position, one week after he was
hired, the chef assigned him to work on banquet operations and to take responsibility for
Chinese dishes of the Club. Being allowed to take on more responsibilities in the kitchen
meant “a kind of recognition” by his chef of his occupational skills and performance. Later
on, Jia Wei was happy to tell me that because all cooks working on a banquet were required
to present their services on the front stage, he gained real opportunities to speak English with
customers.
Evidently, both Xiang Dong and Jia Wei considered their reading skills in English as the
most useful competence in that it facilitated them to tackle the challenges of varied working
tasks, accomplish their assignments with proficiency, and so place their jobs in security.
8.3.2 Reading and Writing for Recognition
Most participants maintained that the positive outcome of using their reading and writing
skills in English went beyond job survival. They saw literacy as a channel through which they
caught up to the rapidly changing workplace as well as displayed their occupational
knowledge and skills, thereby gaining the employer‟s acceptance and recognition. This aspect
of literacy engagement can be highlighted by drawing from Jia Wei‟s and Jian Hui‟s
experiences.
Both Jia Wei and Jian Hui reported that they needed to catch up with a series of new
demands through “reading and writing of their cooking work in the kitchen” although they
had fairly limited chance of using written materials at work because their hands-on culinary
skills were the most valued while cooking dishes. As they indicated, there was commonality
in the food service that menus were frequently changed, according to events, holidays, or
customers‟ needs. Despite the formal professional training they received at College, they felt
pressured since they needed continuously to update their occupational competence by quickly
mastering how to cook new dishes with good quality in the demanding working context.
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To deal with such fast and demanding changes, Jian Hui usually kept a small notebook in
his pocket and jotted down unfamiliar recipes of dishes he encountered. Occasionally, he
brought his digital camera to the work and took photos of new dishes his colleagues made.
Because of his own words and visual aids he used, Jian Hui considered his notes and the
photos of dishes as the most accessible knowledge resource that helped him make quick sense
of the unknown and memorize the ingredients without difficulty. Through frequently
reviewing bits and pieces of information he collected, Jian Hui showed his confidence in
grasping the new work requirements, saying, “No matter how they change, it is a piece of
cake for me. I have kept a bank of recipes in my pocket” (Interview excerpt, October 2, 2006,
my literate translation).
Jia Wei identified reading, asking for his colleagues‟ explanation, and observations as his
strategies that helped him adapt to the new working requirement. Specifically, he indicated
that he kept the habit of “keeping the question in mind and then googling the answer on the
Internet because I can get more detailed information by reading than asking since my English
reading is better than speaking” (Interview excerpt, September 17, 2006, my literal
translation). Jia Wei believed that the more he read and collected recipes, the more
successfully he could handle his job. While seeing the close relationship between his ongoing
learning activities and his capability of delivering good performance at work, Jia Wei was
keen on continually accumulating and expanding his professional knowledge through reading
multiple resources, including books, magazines, and electronic information on the Internet.
While his ongoing reading activities resulted in the growth of his confidence in his
culinary skills and cooking knowledge, Jia Wei tended to demonstrate his readiness to serve
particular needs of the organization. In the third week of his work at the Sports Club, Jia Wei
went to see his chef and asked to do the inventory work of the kitchen when he learned that
his colleague who was responsible for doing this paper work left for a new job. Although this
was challenging work for a newly hired employee who might not gain much familiarity with
the production system of the kitchen, Jia Wei considered doing this kind of paper work as a
learning opportunity with the “pushing-up” effect. As he wrote in the diary:
I know, it is a kind of challenge for me to do this job. But I like it because this is a good
chance to let my chef know me, regarding my knowledge, my positive attitudes toward
work, and even my English. I think, every challenge has potential to push me up. (Jia
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Wei‟s diary, September 26, 2006)
Drawing on his previous experience with a restaurant where he felt stuck when the boss
had no favorable attitude toward his English and so placed him in peripheral work in the
kitchen, Jia Wei believed that taking the additional responsibility for doing inventory work
might gain his chef‟s recognition or appreciation of his occupational and English
competencies, thereby increasing his status in the new workplace. As he emphasized, this
kind of textual task symbolized a type of authority in the kitchen:
You know, in the kitchen if a person was appointed to do inventory work, he or she
must be a cook with seniority or at least the chef trusts that you can write well in
English. So, most of time, this is a sous chef‟s job. When a cook is entitled to take on
this responsibility, you must be one of the chef‟s favorites without a doubt. So, I was so
happy when my chef allowed me to do the inventory work, because it meant so much to
me. (Interview excerpt, September 28, 2006, my literal translation)
Clearly, with his previous experience as a backdrop, Jia Wei took the initiative to negotiate an
opportunity that he could draw on and display his professional and language strengths. By
taking a certain “ritual activity” in the kitchen, Jia Wei managed to find ways with his literate
skills in English, in order not only to have access to fuller participation in the work operations,
but also to safeguard him from potential constraints. In this respect, Jia Wei‟s engagement in
this literacy activity reflected his awareness of situations where he could or could not make
any change, and the role of his agency in securing extended possibilities for the equal
occupational positioning, as he took initiatives to fulfill a set of authoritative practices
symbolizing a form of power on a local working site.
8.3.3 Using Literacy in Oral Interaction
Although the participants in my study demonstrated the confidence in their occupational
knowledge and skills, they were ambivalent about their English competencies. They
confirmed that they were getting used to their new working position through taking
advantage of their English literacy skills, but they were skeptical about their oral
competencies that might induce negative impacts on their work performance and
relationships with their colleagues at work. Thus, most participants accentuated the positive
role of “reading the work” activity for their linguistic adaptation to the new working
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environment.
For example, Ming Fang was keen to collect flyers and pamphlets as a handy resource
that provided her with accessible information of a merchandise product new to her. As Ming
Fang described, while serving customers, she usually handed specific flyers or pamphlets to
customers and referred them to read between the particular lines before she started
introducing the product to them. With help of these textual materials, Ming Fang hoped that
she could conduct the effective transmission of her professional knowledge into her speech,
as she pointed out, “With these materials in hands, the customer could have a glimpse of the
information for better understandings if they did not catch what I said to them. So, they
would not mind the drawbacks in my English” (Interview excerpt, August 26, 2006, my
literal translation).
In the same vein, Yu Qing claimed that it was through her reading practices that she was
“lifted up” and gained the competence in “taking good care of the work.” As she further
maintained, when she became concentrated on her work, rather than on her language
drawbacks, her English language turned out to become a useful tool to update her technical
knowledge, by means of her daily readings of online training instructions and of messages
and notices posted on the intranet of the Company. In this way, drawing on the knowledge
learned through reading work-related materials enabled Yu Qing to deal with oral
communication activities with ease at work.
In reflecting upon her early experience in the company, Yu Qing reported that she relied
heavily on writing email messages when she had to discuss technical problems with her
colleagues even though she was clear that having face-to-face communication might be the
efficient way to solve problems. The idea that using writing substituted for speaking English
derived from her previous work experience of being a voluntary technician in a logistics
company in Toronto, as part of the internship requirements in the co-op program. In recalling
her first employment in the English-speaking working context, Yu Qing expressed gratitude
to the Manager whose language facilitation helped lessen the level of her anxiety as well as
clear up barriers to communicating with each other when she was given a task to do. As Yu
Qing described, her manager was “so considerate that every time when he assigned me a task,
he always wrote it down on a piece of paper or on the board at first, and then he explained to
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me with patience” (Interview excerpt, February 17, 2006, my literal translation). With the
help of writing exchanges in oral communications, Yu Qing was able to accomplish her work
tasks successfully even though she was afraid of speaking English in front of people and
unfamiliar with the local workplace culture. By the end of her internship in the company, Yu
Qing not only completed her assignment, but also created a new program that helped run the
company‟s system network fast and stably. Because of her contribution to the company, the
Manager wrote her an excellent reference which, in Yu Qing‟s view, had a direct, positive
consequence for her current employment opportunity.
While taking her current position, Yu Qing appeared to persist in employing her writing
skills as the strategy for compensating for her insufficient oral interaction skills in English,
despite the fact that slang and colloquial expressions that her colleagues wrote in email
messages might sometimes leave her in confusion. As she reported, even at the time when she
had to talk to her colleagues about specific technical problems, she usually took a chance to
write down what she thought of the problem and then emailed her solutions to the people in
advance. In addition, Yu Qing told me that her work blog was the most read in the intranet of
the Company because she kept posting her experience of and advice on troubleshooting
specific technical problems, in association with her reflection on learning professional
instructions on the training website of the Company.
Although writing was initially utilized as the strategy for avoiding “speaking English,” Yu
Qing claimed that this aspect of literacy engagements not only helped her perform well in
communication requirements at work, but also activated and further developed her overall
English proficiency in a productive way. As she revealed this mutual relationship, “The more
I read, the more comfortably I could write. The more I wrote, the easier I could find the right
words when I had to speak English with my colleagues in discussion” (Interview excerpt,
August 17, 2006, my literal translation). Of consequence, her engagements in reading and
writing engendered extended opportunities for her to speak English while her competence in
solving problems and writings on her work blog won her good reputation among the
colleagues.
In recognizing Yu Qing as an expert with the capability of troubleshooting technical
problems with efficiency, her colleagues from home and other departments began to come to
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her desk in person and asked for her suggestions on particular technical difficulties they
encountered. To a great extent, this served as leverage for Yu Qing to speak English, with a
result of gaining the sense of improving her English proficiency. As she emphasized the
reciprocal learning opportunity in the journal:
Aside 8.2
How do I Learn English after I Got My Job? (Excerpt)
…
My colleagues came to my cubicle and asked for my help in solving their problems, and so I
gained more and more opportunities of practicing my spoken English when having a discussion with
them. This was a mutual way for us to make progress.
With the time passing by, I don‟t feel very nervous any more when I speak English with my
colleagues. I know that my English is going up to the higher level through this real English
communication.
(Yu Qing‟s journal, June 17, 2006)
To sum up, the preceding analysis revealed that the participants‟ reading and writing
competence played a key role in their adaptation to the new working contexts as they
intended to secure their employment position, to gain the recognition for their existing
knowledge and skills, and to ensure the effectiveness of communicative activities in their
daily work operations. Despite the fact that different working contexts might involve different
forms of language uses, all participants saw reading and writing as meaningful and as an
integrated part of their work. By deploying multiple modes of resources, such as paper
materials and media technology, and by creating non-linguistic visual aids, immigrant
employees made effective adjustments as well as demonstrated their flexibility to the changes
of organizations. This implied that the ways in which the participants made adaptation to the
new working place with literacy might be partly influenced and shaped by the organization‟s
focus on employees‟ abilities not only in fitting with the regulated work procedures, but also
in learning and learning anew, in response to competition and particular requirements of
tasks.
Nonetheless, there was strong evidence suggesting that the participants‟ motive to take
advantage of their reading and writing skills in the dominant language of English was not
simply made or sustained for reproducing structural activities at work, as though they were
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solely looking for extended possibilities for survival by adapting to the routinized forms of
organizational activities. There was a tendency, also, for several participants to deploy
reading and writing as the strategy for avoiding exposing their “English drawbacks” to people
or for complementing their English oral competence to make themselves effective in
work-related communications and for positive economic outcomes. This was a fairly
common strategy used by the participants who lacked confidence in their spoken English, and
had to rely on oral interactions to achieve their tasks on the working site.
Furthermore, by having a close look at individual participants‟ ways of using reading and
writing in a particular working place, I found that the patterns of their literacy engagements
were discursive and context-oriented, associated with their current institutional practices and
previous communicative encounters. Examples include Yu Qing relying on writing to
overcome the challenges of oral communication, Ming Fang applying work-related artifacts
to her oral interactions with customers for positive economic outcomes, and Jia Wei
attempting to negotiate for an increased status through doing additional textual work, such as
inventory work, in the kitchen. Prompted by the previous work and linguistic experiences in
particular organizations, these literacy engagements signified the participants‟ strategic
linguistic practices for the effective work performance and for the employer‟s recognition of
their occupational and English competencies. In this way, the participants‟ use of their
existing institutional language skills for particular social and linguistic outcomes reflected
their critical awareness that specific forms of language uses had particular implications for
legitimizing their social positionings and relationships at work. Thus, incorporating reading
or writing into oral interactions can be considered as the immigrant employees‟ strategy for
smoothing the pathway of integrating into the work community in that they took hold of the
new work practices and so adapted their language resources to the specific demands of local
situations effectively.
Up to this point, the participants‟ attitude toward roles of their reading and writing
practices in adapting to the workplace was positive. Particularly, most of them agreed that
their literacy engagements were an integral part of their experiences of gaining the sense of
control over their work, of driving the resilience of verbal communication competence in the
workplace, and of establishing much confidence that they were competent, linguistically and
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professionally, for the current occupational position.
8.4. Positioning, Learning, and Ways of Socialization in the Workplace
The data in my study showed that all participants deliberately searched for language
learning opportunities, in their attempts to strengthen their oral communication skills as well
as to build up social ties at work. This, they believed, generated a consequential effect on
how well they could socialize into the workplace. In this section, I present the participants‟
ways of socializing into the new working place where they were assigned or acted in the
“apprentice,” “peer,” or “expert” position in local communicative repertoires. The data in my
study indicated that while the consequences of learning engagements varied according to
immigrant employees‟ positioning in the particular working site, a lack of positive
recognition and acceptance of their language variations and cultural differences became a
road-block that curtailed their access to opportunities to learn and socialize as they developed
their occupational identity.
8.4.1 Expert Positioning, Acceptance, and Legitimate Participation
Most participants mentioned the influence of their occupational position on their language
practices in the workplace. They were clear that as members of the organization, employees
were always required to demonstrate that they possessed strong occupational competencies,
along with adequate proficiency in the dominant working language. However, some
participants reported that in attempting to bypass language difficulties and embarrassing
moments, they tried to avoid taking up an expert position that might involve plenty of oral
interactions with people on the floor. This was shown clearly, for example, in Jia Wei‟s work
experience in the Sports Club of Waterloo.
The Sports Club of Waterloo that Jia Wei worked was a larger athletic and entertaining
center located in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. Because of its beautiful surroundings and
excellent facilities, the Club became the popular venue, holding a variety of events and
conferences with reception and banquet parties organized all year round. Special menus were
designed, in order to fit the particular event and customers‟ needs. Unlike most restaurants
where cooks always worked back in the kitchen, the Club required their cooks to make
presentation or serve customers on the front stage. In this way, the cook needed not only to
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respond to particular inquiries related to ingredients in each dish and services provided, but
also to make conversations with customers, in order to create a friendly and relaxing social
atmosphere.
When he began his work at the Club, Jia Wei saw this kind of working style as a
challenge, saying, “I feared doing this kind of job since I did not want to talk with customers.
Who knows what they were going to ask? I was afraid that my English might not be able to
handle it” (Interview excerpt, October 15, 2006, my literal translation). Thus, Jia Wei tried to
avoid taking up the position of food presenter until his chef appointed him to serve in front of
customers when it came the Club‟s Prime Rib Special Night, one month after he was hired.
The following diary entry showed that Jia Wei spent a pleasant night, that he had active
engagement in social interactions with customers who saw him “not only as a food expert but
also an expert knowing China very well” (Jia Wei‟s diary, October 13, 2006).
Aside 8.3
Jia Wei‟s Diary Entry
October 13, 2006 (Friday)
During the night customers talked a lot of things with me. They asked my name, where I am
from and what are the ingredients in foods. Some of them have been in China and others still have
business in China. So they are very interested in talking with me. I felt they saw me not only as a food
expert but also an expert knowing China very well.
After my work that evening, the chef pat on my shoulder and said, “Good job, Jia Wei. A lot of
good comments on you and your services from customers. Thank you.”
See, it‟s not a hard thing to speak English with customers. Actually I found it was delightful to
do so. Next time I would ask to do it again.
Jia Wei‟s writing of his service experience indicated that his successful work performance
was closely related to customers‟ respect and interactive support in the process. Despite his
early reluctance in presenting himself as a professional expert on the front stage, Jia Wei was
likely to take on his occupational identity with new forms of knowledge presentation, because
of his pleasant experience of social interaction with customers. The pleasant interaction
experience, in association with the chef‟s appreciation for his work, seemed to become a
turning point for Jia Wei who decided to increase his participation in the front-staged
professional exercise, thereby gaining extended opportunities to practice his English. The
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following example further demonstrated that acceptance and recognition was the key to
legitimizing one‟s expert position, with a result of anchoring a positive outcome for
successful language practices on the working site.
Before Jia Wei left the Trio Restaurant for the Sports Club of Waterloo, his chef recruited
two new cooks to fill in the vacancy and asked him to tutor the newcomers on the first day of
their work. As Jia Wei reported, although his new workmates were native-speakers of English,
this opportunity allowed him to present himself as an experienced employee, motivated him
to perform as an expert language user, capable of directing and manipulating the interactions
in the dominant working language with confidence. As Jia Wei described, “I felt like I was a
chef at that moment and my English was really good even though I stammered sometimes.
Communication in English was not a problem for me any more” (Jia Wei‟s diary, September
8, 2006).
Upon the introduction of work procedures, rules, and policies of the workplace, Jia Wei
deliberately checked the efficacy of his English performance with the newcomers whom he
considered as the legitimate speaker of the dominant language of English. As he recorded in
the diary, “I played a monologue in front of my audiences. When I completed my speech, I
asked them, „Any questions?‟ „Can you understand all my English?‟ They raised the thumb
and said, „Very good!‟” (Jia Wei‟s diary, September 8, 2006). Perhaps, because he was
regarded as an “old-timer” of the restaurant and entitled to perform as a trainer in front of the
apprentices, Jia Wei‟s language variations were not perceived as what most mattered at that
moment. Rather, he was respected as “a master worker of the restaurant,” and hence his
English seemed to be accepted as a legitimate agency for delivering information and
instruction in the local communicative repertoire.
The above scenarios exemplified how the “expert” positioning encouraged and enriched
the ongoing social interactions on the working floor. The friendly environment and
interactive support for exercising the existing competencies might have important
implications for constructing effective social interactions, solidifying an occupational identity,
and generating continuous investment in future participation in communicative events.
Nevertheless, it is worth noting that even though immigrant employees presented their
good knowledge of products and services, their “expert” positioning was frequently
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challenged in the situation that they were not always accepted as a legitimate speaker of the
dominant language of English. For example, working in frontline sales, Ming Fang believed
that she would gain ample opportunities to practice her English through oral interactions on
an everyday basis. However, as she complained, she actually gained a limited chance of
having a “real talk” when customers blamed her accent and asked to change to a different
sales person who was capable of speaking “good” English, or some of them just dropped the
conversation with her and left without further engagement. Indeed, under this circumstance,
her language variations and cultural differences were identified as interference in making
effective communications with customers and economic benefits for the Company. Ming
Fang‟s occupational competencies were seen as unqualified and so her “expert” positioning
was under the shadow. In this way, assigned, but not genuinely recognized as a professional
expert on the working floor, Ming Fang made no connection between the occupational
activities and learning opportunities. This resulted in her lack of motivation in making further
investment by attending the vocational training activities even though she was clear that her
participation in the workplace training was mandatory and related to a possible opportunity
for promotion.
Taken together, Jia Wei gained a sense of occupational pride and control over his English
performance while having feelings of being accepted and respected by his local workmates
and customers. However, Ming Fang‟s communication experience on the shop floor served as
a counter example suggesting that even taking up or being assigned an “expert” positioning
might not necessarily guarantee immigrant employees acceptance in the workplace. Their
experiences shed light on the fact that accepting and recognizing existing occupational,
linguistic, and cultural qualities as valid and worthwhile was the key ingredient to a real
opportunity that allowed immigrant employees to make good use of their competencies and
enact occupational practices successfully as they were expected to do so on the working site.
Hence, acceptance and recognition was an important precondition for the legitimacy of the
position, which entailed mutual engagement in negotiation and meaning making with each
other over a set of differences and distinctions. Following this point, I shall go on to examine,
whether and how the participants were recognized or accepted while they were located in the
“apprentice” or “peer” positions in their learning maneuverings and work performance on the
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particular working site.
8.4.2 Positioning Self as Apprentice: Learning in Practice
The data in my study showed that the participants were inclined to draw from the
linguistic and cultural capital of their English-speaking workmates which they considered as
the resource pertinent to their adaptation into the new society. Most of them saw their local
workmates as their language model and the agency for practicing their spoken English. For
instance, while dealing with work-related communications was not a problem for Jian Hui, he
found that the chance of developing his English was limited at work, as he pointed out, “My
colleagues are all immigrants speaking no „good‟ English” (Interview excerpt, October 21,
2006, my literal translation). Jian Hui told me that he usually stayed a bit longer time after
finishing his daily work, in order to speak English with the cleaning worker who was the only
native-speaker of English he could connect to at work. Sounded satisfied, he reported, “The
cleaning guy frequently helped my English pronunciations in our conversations (Interview
excerpt, October 21, 2006, my literal translation). Similarly, in her encounters with unfamiliar
cultural norms, Ye Lan usually approached her supervisor for help because “she was a local
Canadian, and so she was resourceful and always patient to help me” (Interview excerpt,
March 20, 2006, my literal translation). Clearly, in their learning maneuverings, both Ye Lan
and Jian Hui were likely to position themselves as apprentices when they tried their best to
gain collegial support from their local workmates whom they identified as the holder of
linguistic and cultural capital of the dominant language of English. The story that follows
illustrates to some extent, the approach that helped not only solve immediate communication
challenges that immigrant employees faced, but also extend the possibility for making their
linguistic and social ties to the local workplace.
In several months of her employment, Yu Qing became famous among her colleagues for
her capability of troubleshooting technical problems with efficiency. While people initiatively
resorted to her for solving the technical problems they encountered, Yu Qing felt nervous that
her oral communication competence might be “under attack” if her speaking skills fell short
of expressing what exactly she wanted to say in conversations. In such a situation, Yu Qing
deliberately placed herself in a linguistically powerless position through directly confessing
to her colleagues, “Sorry. My English is not good,” or “Forgive my poor English.” In doing
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so, Yu Qing signaled herself as a novice who might necessarily encounter difficulties in
language uses and so expected the interlocutor‟s scaffolds in the process of interactions.
Yu Qing sounded positive that the conversations with her colleagues always went
smoothly with the communication goal achieved, as she pointed out, “My colleagues began
to slow down their speech and usually repeated their utterances when I told them that I did
not understand what they spoke to me because of my poor English” (Interview excerpt,
December 17, 2006, my literal translation). Although communication breakdowns occurred
sometimes during the verbal exchanges, the interlocutor‟s act of accommodating her English
competence served to lessen her anxiety during oral interactions. Yu Qing felt relieved when
her colleagues said that they understood what she spoke to them. While having a sense, “My
English was not that bad because I found what I said made sense to people,” Yu Qing
considered that the opportunities for discussing technical problems with her colleagues were
a reciprocal activity in that “we helped each other on our own right.” What Yu Qing said here
signified her feelings of achieving a breakthrough in making positive use of her English oral
communication skills in accomplishing occupational needs at work.
Yu Qing found it helpful to position herself as an ESL learner in front of people since this
kind of apprenticeship engendered extended opportunities for her to learn English on the
working site. While becoming worried about the negative impacts of her limited involvement
in casual talks in the office, Yu Qing seemed to deliberately let people know that she needed
help for correct pronunciations, appropriate vocabulary, and grammatical sentences in her
engagement in communication repertoires. As she reported, upon “broadcasting” her request
in the office, “Please repair my English if you find any mistakes in my speech,” her team
leader became her English tutor who was keen on fixing her English pronunciations here and
there. In the meantime, her office workmates provided her with quick aid when she wanted to
know “how to say this and that in English” in both verbal and written forms and asked them
about the meanings of unfamiliar expressions and idioms.
While “bits and pieces” of chances of speaking English were created in the process of
asking for help in appropriating her language uses, Yu Qing appeared to gain a sense of
comfort with people around, which, in turn, led her to make further language investments. As
she reported, she became relaxed with her “English drawbacks,” as she began to pick up the
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topic and speak out her views in the office chats. With a feeling of safety in talking with her
colleagues in English, Yu Qing was likely to act on and draw from her colleagues‟ social
expertise that helped her figure out some of the social systems and cultural norms in the new
society. She expressed with gratitude that her workmates offered useful suggestions at
particular points in her life, for instance, when she relocated her family in Waterloo, looked
for a family doctor, and purchased a house.
From Yu Qing‟s point of view, because of her orientation of learning English known in
the office, her colleagues appeared to neglect or tolerate her English drawbacks in speech.
While Yu Qing positioned herself as an ESL learner and frequently asked for language
support in the office, her colleagues seemed to take up their positioning of being “facilitator”
or “expert” who should, by nature, take on the responsibility for knowledge transfer in the
instructional way. Some of her colleagues seemed to rely on searching for relevant
information on the Internet for Yu Qing to read at the time when she encountered the
difficulty in understanding what they talked about in conversations. As Yu Qing said, “When
I encountered difficulty in understanding their remarks, my colleagues usually found me
some relevant information on the Internet. I gained a good idea of what they talked about as I
scrolled through it” (Interview excerpt, June 17, 2006, my literal translation).
While the positive cycle of learning was carried out and maintained through continuous
exchanges of literacy and oral activities between her and her colleagues in a constructive
manner, Yu Qing gained a sense of affiliation, saying, “My colleagues really wanted to help
me. I felt like getting involved in the office” (Interview excerpt, February 12, 2007, my literal
translation). In her reflective remarks, Yu Qing demonstrated a positive attitude toward her
work experience in that learning occurred in the work routines. In particular, she indicated
that her positioning of being a language novice on the working site contributed not only to
enhancing the acquisition of English skills, but also to nourishing good relationships with
colleagues whose interactive support was crucial to her language needs and participation in
the activities of the workplace community.
Learning English from my colleagues was much more effective than in the classroom.
Through learning from my colleagues, I can keep a harmonious relationship with them.
A good relationship among us brought me ample opportunities to speak English in the
office. With the increased communications with my colleagues, I made progress in
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English. To me, my office is my English class. (Interview excerpt: June 17, 2006, my
literal translation)
8.4.3 Buddying up: Seeking Possibilities for a Talking Bond
While presenting herself as a language and cultural apprentice was likely to pave a way
for Yu Qing to keep certain levels of sociability with colleagues and so initiated her into the
new working context, several participants took peer positioning as a way to secure their
employment opportunity and sociolinguistic relations in the workplace. Nonetheless, I found
that the participants‟ working identities affected their access to the social relationships and
linguistic support on the ground.
For example, hired as a contracted employee by a larger logistics company in Toronto, Li
Tao seemed to safeguard his peer positioning firmly in front of his colleagues. As he
explained, “I wanted to make things easy. If we are just colleagues, the way we communicate
is simple and efficient because it is all about work” (Interview excerpt, March 25, 2007, my
literal translation). While acknowledging that merely having a work-related peer relationship
with his colleagues provided little chance for him to exercise his English as well as to
establish friendships with people even after three years of employment in the company, Li
Tao claimed that he had no “ambition” for socializing with his workmates, underlying his
concern that his differences in language and culture from the dominant ones might interfere
in the continuity of his employment opportunity. As he put it:
I seldom said anything outside about my work with colleagues. To me, I found it
hard to talk “deep” with them, maybe because of a lack of confidence in my English
speaking skills or the different cultural things. So, I am not ambitious and do not
want to bother to socialize with them unless I want to do something wrong. Well, I
just try to keep myself in the best light, showing I work hard even though I am not a
permanent employee here. So, as long as they think I can do my work adeptly, I will
keep this job. (Interview excerpt, March 25, 2007, my literal translation)
In fact, most participants demonstrated their acute awareness that because they possessed
differences and distinctions, such as language, culture, and status quo, from the dominant,
they might be relegated to a position of outside agent acting on the margin in the particular
space. What Li Tao said above was an example underpinning this awareness. Acutely aware
of his unprivileged membership in the workplace, Li Tao presented his work performance as
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if he was equally diligent and competent as his workmates who were granted the full
membership of the organization. Doing so was no doubt related to the need that he could
keep his job. And so, as an insecure and peripheral member of the organization, Li Tao felt
safer not to invoke certain language practices and communication activities. In his view,
holding to the “simple” peer work-related relationship with colleagues was the most secure
strategy in that he could avoid getting involved in “deep” cultural contacts or conversations at
work which might expose his “weakness” to people and thereby generate side effects in
getting his work contract renewed annually.
While the above example suggested that enacting a peer relationship was part of the
immigrant employees‟ preventive way of coping with unequal occupational positioning in the
workplace, several participants adopted a peer position for building up a bonding relationship
wherein they could exercise their English skills bridging them to integrate into the host
country eventually. Nonetheless, there were cases in my data indicating that while socializing
in the workplace by taking a peer positioning, the participants tended to negotiate a learning
opportunity by drawing upon resources available at that moment and place.
As I mentioned above, most participants considered that making linguistic and cultural
contacts with their local colleagues was an appealing path to gain the feeling of being part of
the working place. However, situated in the multilingual and multicultural workplace,
identifying access to such an opportunity or resource might not be easy since most recruited
frontline workers were immigrants who spoke first languages other than English or French. In
this way, as the participants emphasized, a good peer relationship was necessary to foster
workplace solidarity, beneficial for them to seek out learning opportunities and language
supports on the working site.
Jian Hui and his workmates seemed to adopt a particular way that they could keep a good
partnership through learning from each other‟s native languages even though English was the
dominant working language on the floor. Jian Hui told how he had a fun time when his
co-worker, Yuri, taught him to sing a song in Russian, and he tutored his colleagues to speak
Chinese slang and idioms. While first-language exchanges let him work in a comfortable and
friendly atmosphere, Jian Hui claimed that he had no difficulty in making sense of “mixed
accents” when his colleagues spoke English to him. As he reported, “We were practicing our
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English as we learned from each other‟s mother tongues through English language. Over time,
this helped us to make quick sense of each other‟s non-standardized English” (Interview
excerpt, May 23, 2006, my literate translation). In this way, motivated by self-generated
learning interests, endeavors, and practices, Jian Hui and his workmates moved across
different language spaces in an equal manner through the agency of English. The
consequence of this cross-linguistic activity brought Jian Hui a sense of control of the
dominant working language of English, in association with the establishment of friendly
relationships with colleagues on the floor.
While first language exchanges helped Jian Hui seek out an opportunity of socializing
and practicing his English in the multilingual workplace, Jia Wei, however, found no such
chance available at the workplace because most of his colleagues were local Canadians. As
he explained, compared with Toronto, there were not many immigrants living in the
Kitchener-Waterloo area. Most immigrants chose to relocate in the place because they, as his
wife, Yu Qing, found a job in the Telecom Research Company which, in recent years,
recruited increased numbers of immigrant employees with high-tech occupational expertise.
Perhaps, because of this characteristic of demographic distribution that resulted from the
specific economic needs, Jia Wei hardly saw a “foreigner‟s face” while working in a food
service organization in Waterloo—different from the GTA in that immigrants were the mostly
recognized ethnolinguistic groups working in the food service sector. In this way, acutely
aware of his distinctions from his local workmates, Jia Wei deliberately positioned himself as
friendly peer in front of his colleagues, attempting to coalesce into the local working
community. However, as Jia Wei reported, when he intended to think of himself as a “buddy”
and shaped his actions as such to get into the peer group, communication breakdowns
frequently occurred, which generated his sense of non-belonging to the group of his local
workmates instead.
As Jia Wei described, there was usually no time for having a “real talk” among line cooks
at the busy working time until they completed tasks and took a break. According to his
observation, the colleagues who were buddies deliberately chose the same time slot for a
break so that they enjoyed talking together. As a newcomer in the kitchen, Jia Wei was clear
that to get involved in such a talking bond was the only way for him to stock up friendships
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with his colleagues, and hence secure the opportunity of practicing his spoken English. In the
effort to buy his time getting into the communication circle, Jia Wei initiatively invited his
colleagues to take a break with him or deliberately chose the same breaking time as his
colleagues. In order to make easy socialization into the group, he always offered his
colleagues cigarettes while hanging out with them.
After several times, however, Jia Wei realized that his self-presentation of being a
“buddy” put him in a dilemmatic situation in that a lack of cultural knowledge of the new
society seemed to hamper him to tie in with the content of the conversation of his workmates.
As he expressed with disappointment,
When I joined in my local workmates, they talked to me like a Canadian. They asked
me whether I know the bar that they shared a drink with their friends on weekends. I
have never heard of this bar because I have not ever been in a bar in my life. I asked
them where it is. They told me it was located between this and that street. I am a
newcomer in Waterloo and not familiar with the surroundings. Well, I felt they tried
to involve me in the conversation in the beginning. But, after several times, they
might consider that I was not the person sharing the same topic of conversations that
they were interested in. Gradually my colleagues became out of patience and said to
me, “Nothing” or “Never mind” and continued their speech themselves. I kept
smiling while listening to them. But, I felt that I was thrown out of the loop in their
conversations. (Interview excerpt, October 12, 2006, my literal translation)
Attributing his difficulty in getting involved in the conversation to the topic specifically
focusing on Canadian culture, Jia Wei attempted to turn the conversation to his advantage by
drawing similar cues from his previous experience in China. However, the conversational
topic which Jia Wei raised seemed not to be treated as welcome or worthwhile, since upon a
couple of turns in response to what he said, his colleagues frequently switched back to their
own topic that gave them the feeling that they held the authority of control over the content
and flow of the conversation.
Evidently, while a sense of loose connections emerged on both sides in the local
communication repertoire, the joint efforts to maintain mutual engagement in the interaction
might become weak or impossible. As indicated in Jia Wei‟s narratives, even though he
presented himself physically in the actual-moment conversation, he was isolated from the
conversational connections which operated and were manipulated by a group of people
sharing common ways of knowing, acting, and communicating, which might represent the
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values and beliefs of the dominant. In this way, while expecting that the enactment of his peer
identity would allow him to mingle with his fellow workmates, with the acute desire that he
could gain extended opportunities to exercise his spoken English and build up good
interpersonal connection in the workplace, Jia Wei came to realize that performing as a
“buddy” actually hindered him from establishing friendships with his colleagues since
situated in such an “equal participatory” context, he was marked out as an “incompatible
speaker,” because of his lack of cultural attachments to the local talking circle.
Indeed, when Jia Wei‟s peer positioning was identified as incongruous with the aspects of
cultural knowledge that mattered most in the particular space and relationship, direct
confrontation with such a dilemmatic situation might lead him to redefine his positioning in
front of his colleagues. As Jia Wei reported, because of a lack of his workmates‟ acceptance,
his self-presentation of being a “buddy” was endangered after several times of attempted
participation in these “real talks” during the break time, saying, “My colleagues did not want
to share the break time with me anymore. Whenever I invited them to smoke with me, they
gave any excuse to refuse joining me. I felt bad and isolated. You know, I have quit smoking
already” (Interview excerpt, October 12, 2006, my literal translation).
In summary, the data in my study revealed that immigrant employees‟ positionings in the
workplace had consequences for their accumulating linguistic and social capital, and
generally the levels of sociality in the workplace. The participants‟ socializing and language
learning experiences on a working site seemed to confirm Wenger‟s claim (1998) that mutual
engagement, joint enterprise, and shared repertoire played an important role in providing
newcomers with a sense of how the community of practice operates as well as in facilitating
their cultural and social apprenticeship. In particular, the findings presented in the section
concurred with Gee‟s (1999) insight that levels of sociality in specific discourses can be
considered as a “joint product” in which people co-constructed particular things and social
relationships, as well as engaged in discursive interactions on the working site. However, a
close look at the relationship between the participants‟ particular positionings and learning
opportunities extended our understandings that to gain fuller participation in a work
community was a critical process and that acceptance and legitimacy were the key factors
coming into play in the negotiation of this “product.”
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For example, Jia Wei sought out an opportunity of sharing a communicative repertoire by
joining in a “talking bond” at work. However, without his colleagues‟ mutual engagement
and appreciation of his sociocultural resources, Jia Wei‟s membership of the local community
was not accepted and legitimized even though he deliberately took up extra responsibilities
and consolidated his identity of competence at work. Thus, being excluded from a local group
not only blocked off Jia Wei‟s opportunities to exercise and further improve his agency, but
also induced embodied experiences of discomfort, isolation, or tension in the local working
community.
On the contrary, while Yu Qing‟s positioning as linguistic and cultural novice was
accepted by her colleagues, language and cultural facilitation of old-timers shaped and are
shaped by reciprocal social relationships on the site. Yu Qing‟s experience of having collegial
support from her colleagues and a sense of integration into the local work community
indicated that the legitimacy of one‟s positioning was the key to producing the meaningful
learning context, with linguistic and symbolic effects that formulated effective ways of
socialization in the workplace. Thus, the positioning that immigrant employees were located
or defined (by themselves or others) determined the types of social relationships and
outcomes of language engagements while intersecting with their learning goals and existing
capital that motivated or were reinforced by certain rules of engagement in the particular
setting. This characterized immigrant employees‟ experiences of workplace socialization as a
discursively linguistic process entailing various ideological and interpersonal functions of
language use. In the process of having their language resources and identities recognized,
immigrant employees made meaning of their experiences and practices while looking for the
possibility for change or figuring out the ways that they could make themselves more
accommodating of rules and regulations.
In the next section, I shall further explore the participants‟ strategies for seeking out the
opportunity of improving their occupational status while having awareness of their
subordinated positioning in the workplace.
8.5 Gripping the Chance: Performance Evaluation and Opportunity for Upward
Mobility
8.5.1 “Pay for Performance” and Possibility for Job Advancement
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Several participants reported that during the period of employment, they were required to
attend performance evaluations taking place once or twice per year at the workplace. The role
of job reviews for employees‟ career development and salary increases was explicitly stated
in the Employee Policy Handbook that I collected from the participants. From the
organization‟s perspective, workplace performance evaluations provided an opportunity for
employees to “learn where they stand relative to their job performance, goals, and objectives”
(Employee Policy Handbook, p.14, collected from Jian Hui). While constructing the job
review procedures as important part of the organization‟s quality control, employers claimed
that performance evaluation was designed as a positive experience for employees to “achieve
their future career development and map out ways in which they can be true participants in
the organization‟s achievement of success if they comply with the guidelines governing
operational and individual standards of conduct” (ibid, p. 15).
As the consequence of this kind of management operation, promotion and salary
increases were regulated and controlled, according to the organization‟s philosophy of “pay
for performance.” Based on the competence-based approaches to measuring individual
employees‟ work performance, employers claimed that salary increases were the transparent
and effective way of rewarding those employees who chose to work to a high professional
standard and made contributions to the workplace‟s economic needs. Although performance
evaluations were designed for decision making for annual pay increases, the positive
economic outcomes were not guaranteed, as the Employee Handbook announced, “if any
forms of language and physical behaviors were identified as violations of the organization‟s
policy” (ibid, p. 15). It was then evident that workers who wanted to be included in the pool
of the privileged in the assessment process must align with the “normal” standards for
success.
When the organization advocated the positive relationships of job performance
evaluations to occupational advancement and salary increases, most participants expressed
their uncertainty of having “this kind of high hope,” even though they were confident of their
occupational competencies in delivering optimal work performance in accordance with the
standards and values of the organization. To their mind, because they were newcomers in the
workplace, there would arise no promotion opportunity from performance assessment.
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Specifically, they emphasized that they usually saw no “foreigners‟ faces” in supervisory and
managerial positions in the companies where they worked.
Such an observation accords with the surveys and reports indicating that immigrant
employees are usually under-represented in high-income occupational positions, including
senior managers, middle managers, and supervisors in the workplace. In particular, Human
Resources and Skills Development Canada (2001) reported that white male non-visible
minorities represented 74.9 percent of all senior managers across Canada, in comparison to
only 8.2 percent for visible minorities. Among middle-level managerial and supervisory
positions, white male non-visible minorities accounted for 62.5 percent in comparison to 11.8
percent for immigrant employees. While the data indicated the concentration of visible
minorities in low-income occupations or sectors with an impact on their social and economic
status, lack of the linguistic and social capital of the dominant has been identified as the
causal factor resulting in the unbalanced distributions in the labor market. In particular,
characterized as “workaholic, but quiet or invisible” in the workplace, immigrant employees
have long been viewed as uncompetitive players for a position on a higher level with greater
responsibilities because their language deficiency usually resulted in a lack of self initiatives
and confidence for them to grasp an opportunity for occupational advancement within and
across the workplace.
In my study, however, there was strong evidence showing that although the participants
saw no direct linkage between job reviews and chance of promotion for a higher occupational
position, most of them shared the expectation that performance evaluations have potential to
lift them out of a situation where they worked a low-waged job with powerless status in the
workplace. In this way, while performance evaluations were constructed as a particular
regulatory practice of the organization, the participants considered that this kind of
assessment, which placed emphasis on “pay for performance,” was the route to get rid of
their disadvantaged economic position and so have their competencies recognized in a
genuine way.
In keeping with these different agendas related to performance evaluations as well as the
participants‟ awareness that their English competencies and employment status might be
made to matter in the assessment process, this section will explore the question, what
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strategies were employed by the participants when they behaved in conformity with the
requirements of the organization‟s accountability? Through the lens of their language and
literacy practices in dealing with performance evaluations, I uncovered three major strategies
that the participants deployed, in their attempts to make full demonstration of their
occupational competencies as well as to avoid being caught up in the situation that they might
be displaced and excluded in the process. These strategies were 1) fitting into the standards, 2)
revealing potential capabilities, and 3) asking for a raise. I lay out these strategies in detail as
follows.
8.5.2 Fitting into the Standards
While talking about their experiences of attending performance evaluation, most
participants demonstrated their acute awareness that the job appraisal procedures acted as a
managerial process of measuring and monitoring whether their work performance fitted into
the quality standards that the workplace had established. For instance, Xiang Dong
considered his strategy of hanging onto the economic needs of the company as a key to
bringing him the job security when his professional competencies were closely scrutinized
and double checked in the written test. Likewise, Yu Qing believed that she was allowed to
work on regular shifts after one year in the company because of the positive outcome of the
evaluation on her work performance. To her mind, the act of writing a work report served to
highlight her capabilities of maintaining high standards of performance consistent with the
workplace‟s norms. The following quote indicated that by making literate preparation for the
job review in advance, Yu Qing wanted to secure a fair outcome of the job evaluation on her
work performance since she was concerned that her oral communication skills in English
might throw her in a disadvantaged position in this high-stake context.
雨晴 其实写这个 work report 是不需要的。但是我想着 job evaluation 应该是很正规的嘛。那万一要让我说一说我的工作表现,我怕我的英文不行,说不到点子上。这个后果可能就会影响人家对我一年的工作表现的评估。本来自己工作一直兢兢业业的 … 所以为了防患于未然,我想还是写个work report 先交给他们,这样做一下准备比较好。
(Interview excerpt: February 17, 2006)
Yu Qing:
In fact, I was not required to write a work
report in the evaluation. But, I think that the
job evaluation can be very formal. I was
afraid that my poor spoken English could not
help me to clearly describe my achievement
when I was asked to talk about my work
performance in the meeting. This might have
negative impacts on the outcome of their
evaluation. You know, I have worked hard all
the times… So, to prevent the possible
trouble in advance, I decided that I would
better write a work report and submit it to
them. This is the best way for me to prepare
for the good.
(My literal translation)
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Keeping these goals in mind, Yu Qing summarized her work achievements in the way that
she adapted her daily operations to the organization‟s requirements for the position, as she
wrote her opening remarks on the work report:
The biggest achievement I did last year was that I never made a wrong operation at
work because I always follow instructions and procedures at work. Reviewing what I
have achieved so far, I am confident that I have performed as a qualified Operations
Administrator. (Yu Qing‟s Writing Sample, “My Work Report 2005,” collected on
January 25, 2006)
Reflecting upon her experience in the job review meeting, Yu Qing indicated that her
language and literacy practices in the job assessment activity created the moments of mutual
communication and a space of knowing between her and the people who had the power to
judge her work performance. As she described, at the beginning of the meeting, she submitted
her work report to each member of the panel while she was given their evaluation report on
her performance to read in return. From Yu Qing‟s point of view, the act of exchanging the
written texts helped lessen the level of her anxiety, since she gained a sense of equality in the
reading repertoire. As she recalled,
When I was reading their evaluative remarks on my work performance, I recognized
that there were a lot of overlaps with both my report and their assessment. I can see that
they made fine observations on me. I think, their review was objective and fair. After I
read their evaluation, I was not nervous any more. (Interview excerpt, February 17,
2006, my literal translation)
When Yu Qing enlisted and justified her work achievements in accordance with the
regulations of the organization on her work report, the semantic and lexical choices she made
probably bridged both the reviewers‟ observations of her work performance and her own. The
linguistic convergence might help signify her professional identity with knowledge and
expertise that the organization required. In consequence, the panel perceived that Yu Qing
had a clear understanding of the relationship between the goals of the job review and the
importance of fulfilling workplace requirements. As she reported, “The panel said that they
were glad that I treated the job evaluation in a positive way. They praised my act of writing
the work report, since they saw it as the good example that I undertook my work with active
attitudes” (Interview excerpt, February 17, 2006, my literal translation).
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While the positive outcomes of the job evaluation might lead Yu Qing and Xiang Dong to
believe in the usefulness of their alignment with the organization‟s economic and managerial
agenda, some participants complained that even with their well-intentioned efforts to fit into
the standards of the workplace, their engagement with job evaluations did not bring an equal
opportunity for a better working condition. In this respect, Jia Wei and Jian Hui reported that
it was because of the matter of performance evaluation that they decided to quit their job,
although they acknowledged that in the beginning, job reviews inspired them to envision the
potential opportunity for the increase of their wages1.
As Jian Hui recalled, one year after he worked at the Toronto Sports Club, he was
required to self evaluate his work performance and write his report on the Performance
Review and Goal Setting Form of the Club (see Appendix O). Initially, Jian Hui saw the job
review as a door open to him for increasing his wages, given that he was assigned a heavy
workload as if he was seen as a core member in the kitchen. However, there emerged a bitter
disappointment when he learned that his occupational competence was undermined in his
chef‟s evaluation.
While recalling his job review meeting with his chef, upon the submission of his
self-evaluation report, Jian Hui uttered helplessly,
The chef totally ignored what I wrote on the self-evaluation form. In fact, he did not
mention about it at all in our conversation. He just wanted to look for and point out
my faults. Say, something like, I did not taste food when I was cooking dishes. And,
I was usually joking around with my colleagues while working in the kitchen.
Anyway, he said that I was not as good as he expected, even though he
acknowledged that I was capable of accomplishing my work with good quality. I did
not understand what he talked about. Do you think that he was contradicting himself
in his evaluation? Anyway, he told me that he would suspend raising my wages this
time and wait to see what would happen in the next job review. (Interview excerpt,
October 18, 2006, my literal translation)
Even though he saw the Chef‟s judgment as unfair and superficial, Jian Hui decided not to
speak up in defence of his work performance, since he was acutely aware of the asymmetry
of power relations between him and his chef, saying, “I did not defend myself in front of him.
1 Jia Wei and Jian Hui shared the similar experience that the professional credentials they gained from Metrolinx
College failed to locate them a good job from the outset. As a result, they each had to start with the position of
restaurant line cook, the job that was usually physically demanding, with the wages starting as low as $9 per
hour.
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You know, he is chef. He is the person with authority to judge and decide who should deserve
a raise, and who should not” (Interview excerpt, October 18, 2006, my literal translation).
However, when asked what he thought of the “drawbacks” that the chef pointed out, Jian
Hui could not hide his dismay, indicating that he was actually annoyed at not being given a
raise because of those trivial things, like not tasting food. In particular, he voiced with
frustration that while the first-language exchanges between him and his colleagues helped
make sense of English communications in the kitchen in a practical way as well as create a
friendly working environment, such a linguistic engagement on the floor was not accepted as
a legitimate behavior, since his chef identified his maneuverings of making adaptation to
language variations as “joking around” at work. At this point, some background information
about the workplace can help unravel Jian Hui‟s puzzle about the contradictory result of the
job review to the efforts he made in his everyday work.
In the Employee Policy Handbook that I collected from Jian Hui, the Toronto Sports Club
was described as a private, membership-driven athletic and social organization, located in the
southwest region of the GTA. Founded in 1827, the Club was known for its good reputation
by providing top-quality, multi-dimensional facilities, activities, and services. Because of its
accessible services for members and guests, the Club gained continuing opportunities to host
a variety of local, national and international athletic events and matches all year round.
Putting the growth of the numbers of its members to the fore, the Club emphasized that
employees‟ alignment with its values, objectives, policies, and procedures was the most
valued for the achievement of this mission. Specifically, the dominant working language of
English was considered as the key to adhering to performance standards and creating a
comfortable, friendly, and welcoming atmosphere for customers. Thus, while seeing that
another language might have the greater risk of causing misunderstandings and offence, the
Club mandated that speaking English was the discipline for the staff at the workplace, in
order to eliminate all types of misunderstandings. As the Employee Policy Handbook clearly
stated:
All staff should restrict themselves to using English for both work- and
non-work-related conversations (unless a member or visitor specifically requests
service in another language that you speak). Other than English, a different language
has no place in this workplace and will not be accepted under any circumstance.
(The Employee Policy Handbook, p. 32, collected from Jian Hui)
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Under the “English only” policy, the Club warned that the conversation in a different
language might be perceived as a “joke, horseplay, and gossip that will cause uncomfortable
feelings and offence to those who do not speak that language” (ibid, p. 33).
However, it was true that not all members and staff speak English as their first language
in the multicultural workplace like the Toronto Sports Club. As Jian Hui reported, there were
twelve full-time cooks in the Kitchen. They were divided into two working teams for daily
operations that ran dining and catering services for their regular members every day and for
the people coming for special social and athletic events. Except for Executive Chef and Sous
Chef who were native speakers of English, the rest of the kitchen staff, including Jian Hui,
were immigrants coming from Philippines, Spain, Bangladesh, Romania, India, and China.
Indeed, working with colleagues with diverse ethnolinguistic backgrounds made Jian Hui
believe that speaking no good English might not prevent him from working as a competent
cook, as he asserted, “who cares how well you speak English as long as you can complete
your work with good quality. You know, everybody here speaks English with accents and
grammatical errors” (Interview excerpt, April 24, 2006, my literal translation).
Having said that, Jian Hui reported that the conflict over the standard of English
frequently happened and ran through daily interactions among staff. As he observed,
workplace colleagues usually blamed or disputed against each other‟s non-standardized
English speech when miscommunications occurred. In fact, although English was
emphasized as the only working language according to the Club‟s policy, Jian Hui heard that
Filipino was the language frequently spoken on the floor since the Club had a long history of
hiring Filipinos who resided in the neighborhood. To Jian Hui, the prevalent use of Filipino
on the floor was attributed to the workplace reality that “most supervisory positions were
occupied by Filipino colleagues who obviously became the influential group with much
power in the Club” (Interview excerpt, October 23, 2006, my literal translation).
While speaking English or Filipino became a privileged language that ensured employees
to maintain their good relationships in the workplace or to each other at work, Jian Hui
seemed to strive for an equal opportunity for language uses on the floor. As mentioned in the
previous section, Jian Hui made use of his first language resources as his tactic in getting
familiar with language variations in his co-workers‟ English speech. However, when the
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first-language exchanges between Jian Hui and his colleagues generated a cheerful working
atmosphere containing giggles and laughter once in a while, this atmosphere might cause
confusion, if not uncomfortable feelings, to the Chef who obviously did not understand the
language other than English. This had the consequence that in the context of performance
evaluations, the chef appeared to define Jian Hui‟s cross-linguistic practice as an act of joking
around which was identified as unacceptable behavior, according to the Club‟s policy.
In retrospect, Jian Hui realized that when colleagues made fun of words and phrases in
their imitation of each other‟s first language, his chef actually tried to exercise some control
by saying, “Is that English?” or “Are you speaking in English?”. Speaking of this, Jian Hui
admitted that he did not perceive his chef‟s words as a big deal since he never expected that
the act of first-language exchanges become a problematic issue related to his earnings
prospects. However, while comparing his cross-linguistic practices with Filipino that was
frequently spoken on the floor, Jian Hui interpreted the chef‟s decision as blatant unfairness.
As he indicated, “The Chef said nothing when he heard our team lead was speaking to her
folks in Filipino in the kitchen” (Interview excerpt, October 23, 2006, my literal translation).
Indeed, the perception of unfair treatment might have a result of creating a negative work
environment for all employees. As Jian Hui further maintained,
Shielding from the Chef, the team lead always behaved like somebody in charge of the
kitchen and ordered us to do this and that. I argued with her several times because she
treated me with no respect. Last time, she even wrote me a warning letter blaming my
“insubordination” and reported against me to the Chef. (Interview excerpt, October 23,
2006, my literal translation)
Evidently, both in the organization‟s policy and in the working reality, language became a
crucial site of contestation in which workplace members in the position of domination gained
the power to decide which language should be legitimately used on the ground. Central to the
contestation, however, was the hegemonic control of English that manifested in the rhetorical
form of the Club‟s policy which penetrated onto the floor. In this way, the process of
performance management might be manipulated and operated beyond the evaluation of
individual employees‟ occupational competencies and achievements. Jian Hui‟s experience
indicated that while performance evaluations acted as an institutional mechanism that
managed differences existing between the diverse immigrant employees, its outcomes were
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affected by the contestation over language uses interlocking with a complex of racial-ethnic
relations on the local site.
Perhaps, because of the awareness that they worked within a dominant order of English,
Jian Hui and his co-workers seemed to struggle for a space between globally dominant
variations and local ones. The act of linguistic crossings became their means of meaning
making and negotiation within a multilingual and multicultural workplace. However, for the
team lead, her first-language use seemed to endow her with relatively high status, solidarity,
and power over the use of English because it symbolized collective voices intertwined with
power relations at the grassroots levels in the Club. For Jian Hui and his colleagues who did
not belong to either the dominant groups of English or Filipino, speaking their first languages
was considered to subvert the Club‟s mandate as well as to challenge the authority of the
local group on the working site. As shown in the case of Jian Hui, they might pay the
economic consequence of their language-crossing act, with a disadvantaged position in the
discourse of job assessment.
While his work performance was shadowed by his act of “joking around” or
“insubordination” in the eyes of the chef and team lead, Jian Hui‟s engagement with the
rhetorical form that demonstrated and justified his capability of making alignment with the
professional standards of the organization was fruitless. Although he used literate means to
partake in the dominant activity of accountability, in hope of taking hold of the opportunity of
moving upward economically, Jian Hui realized that his efforts to attune to the standardized
textual format of job evaluations made no difference to his employment circumstance. Rather,
he had feelings that his opportunity for improvement of his economic status was entrenched
in the mechanism of job assessment in that the Chef actually used it as an opportunity to pick
on him and so deprive him of his chance of being rewarded for his work achievements. Under
this circumstance, Jian Hui‟s investment in the process of performance evaluation failed to
gain him a voice that protected him from marginalization in the accountability activity, with a
result of being excluded from an equal opportunity for advancement in the workplace. This
consequence confirmed the point as indicated above that the local regulatory activities, such
as performance evaluations, were controlled by the people who were in positions of power in
making judgments on what counts as the “normal” performance mediated by the institution‟s
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ideological forces and by the structural relations operating on the particular working site.
Drawing from his experiences with job performance reviews, Jian Hui reflected,
I found how stupid I was. I used to believe, if I had worked hard and accomplished
my tasks in good quality, I would have grasped the opportunity for salary increases.
This is a trick. The job review is a trick. If they thought I was the one to fit into the
categories of their preference, they would find any chance for me. If they already
decided to reject you, they utilized the job review as their weapon to discount your
performance and then kick you out of the circle. It is the way the game is played.
(Interview excerpt, October 18, 2006, my literal translation)
In this way, Jian Hui opined that his professional expertise was actually devalued through the
institutional activity of accountability that was constructed in the way that the dominant
determined who should be included or excluded from the particular categories of
opportunities. While expressing disappointment with the organization‟s mechanism of
performance evaluation, Jian Hui considered his participation in the job review as a waste of
time, since he believed that it would never reflect the true consequence of his work
performance. Unsatisfied by the Chef‟s judgment, Jian Hui decided to quit his job since he
was afraid that the negative stereotypes of his job performance might place continuous
barriers to his advancement opportunities within the workplace in the future. As he put it,
The Chef spent most of time sitting in his office and had no idea what really happened
in the kitchen. But, he placed biases and tight control of what and how to cook, and
even what and how we can speak in the kitchen. This is ridiculous. I just do not see a
future if I continue to work in the place like this. (Interview excerpt, March 21, 2007,
my literal translation)
8.5.3 Writing Down: Revealing Potential Capabilities
The second strategy that the participants deployed to deal with the job review of the
workplace was to create pieces of work-related texts, such as the record of their work routines,
flyers, or proposals, in order to demonstrate their occupational competence as well as to
reveal their potential capabilities for the job. Ye Lan and Li Tao, who worked the part-time or
contracted position, frequently adopted this strategy for maintaining a high standard of work
performance while at the same time avoiding marginality and risking exclusion.
While the precarious job usually left them the feelings that they worked in a peripheral
condition at the workplace, both Ye Lan and Li Tao saw that the job review was a matter of
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whether they could keep their job or not, rather than a kind of available assistance in
ratcheting up the possibilities for promotion. In order to get well prepared for the annual
review as well as to escape the pressure of it, they kept records of what they did in their
routine operations at work and managed them as important working files. For Ye Lan who
usually took on two part-time jobs at a time, maintaining a habit of writing work logs was a
useful strategy that enabled her to readily track and report her achievements in each position.
Similarly, Li Tao documented the working tasks he handled everyday and recorded the
timeline he completed each on the electronic table that he created on the first day of his work.
As he explained, “The accuracy and efficiency with which I handle each transit of products is
highly valued and critical to an inventory planner. I must demonstrate I have the competence
in doing so since it is the crucial part in the company‟s job review each year” (Interview
excerpt, May 23, 2006, my literal translation). To Li Tao‟s mind, his personal recordings
contained “real data” that he could draw on when he wrote about his achievements in the
annual job evaluation.
Working as a part-time or contracted employee, both Ye Lan and Li Tao were keenly
aware that the danger of losing their jobs always lurked in any situations even though they
were holding the position for the time being. Under this employment circumstance, they
desired that the ways in which they performed at work could be recognized not only as part
of shared practices, but also as useful resources for changes in the workplace. Speaking of
this, Ye Lan and Li Tao shared the concern that the annual job review was not enough for
them to shine with their occupational competencies that were central to the success of
forming tight relationships with organizations. In this way, they appeared to depend on the
“writing-down” strategy when they moved on to the explicit display of their potential to excel
in accomplishing the work, in order to heighten the value of their existence in the position.
For example, while taking up her current part-time position at a resource center at a larger
university, Ye Lan located a new 4-month contract job that she worked as technical supporter
in an academic department at another city university in Toronto in January 2007. Because this
was a new position that was specifically created for the faculty who needed assistance in
applying computer software to their classroom teaching, Ye Lan was told that the frequency
that the faculty made use of her services was counted as the important precondition to renew
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her contract. Through the brief orientation on the first day of her work, she gained a strong
sense that her autonomy and creativity were highly valued and significant in promoting her
services among the faculty, as she learned, “No one will teach me how to operate the job well,
since this is a new position. So, I need to create my own way of how and what I should do
with the work” (Ye Lan‟s diary, January 3, 2007).
Taking into account some of challenges that she might encounter in the new working
environment, Ye Lan emphasized the usefulness of the “writing-down” strategy in facilitating
her to achieve goals at work:
Since professors are usually busy, I cannot directly go to their office and ask whether
they need my help. In addition, some of them might be the blackboard-and-chalk
type of professors, and do not actually see the advantages of the applications of
computers to their classroom teaching. So, I think, creating flyers and handouts
could make a breakthrough for the difficulty I faced. They are like a double-edged
sword that can support me not only to arouse the faculty‟s interest in applying
computer software to their teaching practices, but also to remind them all the times,
„I am here! I can help!‟ Hopefully, the little flyer would help promote my service
among faculty. (Interview excerpt, January 25, 2007, my literal translation)
In the course of four months of working in the position, Ye Lan made efforts to give her a
secure place and develop an occupational identity as competent through a set of innovative
approaches. As she described, upon her early arrival, she requested a time slot in the faculty
meeting to make a good self introduction of her skills in computer education while giving an
oral presentation and distributing pieces of flyers and handouts that she created in advance.
Through designing and distributing handouts and flyers on the regular basis, Ye Lan
introduced a set of computer software useful to the faculty‟s specific teaching activities.
With the help of literacy artifacts she created, Ye Lan marketed herself and get on with
the work successfully. As she described, things went well upon her advertisement that “more
and more faculty in the department wanted to give a try to the new technology in their
classroom teaching. They counted on me while doing this” (Interview excerpt, January 25,
2007, my literal translation). As several faculty requested, Ye Lan was invited to run
workshops about using particular teaching software in the faculty meeting many times. In
addition, tutoring appointments with individual faculty were frequently scheduled upon
request. In this way, by making effective use of her language and literacy that helped relocate
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her competencies into new situations, Ye Lan gained a sense that she had access to fuller
participation in the unfamiliar working context in the process of establishing and sustaining
work contacts with the faculty. In this respect, the handouts and flyers she created acted as
mediating artifacts which symbolized her reproductive engagements with language and
literacy while strengthening her to solve problems while achieving her goals effectively in the
new working environment.
While Ye Lan tended to secure a niche in the new working context through formulating
new practices of language and literacy in the process of searching for opportunities of making
work-related contacts with others, Li Tao seemed to count on the “writing-down” strategy to
forge his active occupational identity at work. In our conversational meeting of January 2007,
Li Tao told me with excitement that his new supervisor took up the post and began to arrange
face-to-face meetings with individual employees. To his mind, while the new supervisor
might want to scan and evaluate employees‟ competencies and potential for the position
through conversations, he would be given a good opportunity to justify the value of his
existence in the position and so promote his active self image in the workplace.
While seeing that his local workmates merely sat with the supervisor and talked about
their work with ease, Li Tao was afraid that his English speech might not be well organized or
coherent enough, which could result in negative impacts on “selling” his potential to his
supervisor. In figuring out an appropriate way that he could make good impressions on his
supervisor, Li Tao decided to write a proposal that would serve to present his achievement as
well as to deliver his knowledge in the field. The following quote detailed the goals of his
writing activity.
李涛： 我写这个 proposal 是不仅让我 supervisor
更清楚地了解我做的工作，而且让他读完了也学些东西。给他一定的启发怎么更好地改进我们的工作。不能让他认为我是contract 的，只知道做事。我想证明我对我的工作也有一定的理论知识和想法，这样也能呈现我的 potential 。我希望这样supervisor 可能会对我产生一些好印象，觉得我做什么事情都能做好。
(Interview excerpt: January 26, 2007)
Li Tao:
My purpose in writing this proposal was not
only to let my supervisor to have a clear idea of
what I have done at work, but also to make him
feel that he could learn something from me. He
could gain some inspiration from my proposal,
in terms of how to improve our working
methods. I do not want him to have an
impression that because I work by contract, I
merely do what I am assigned to do. Rather, I
wanted to prove that I have worked hard based
on my theoretical knowledge as well as that I
am capable of offering constructive suggestions
on how to make improvement at work. I think,
this is the way that I could reveal my potential
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to him. I am hoping that through writing this
proposal, my supervisor would have a good
impression of me and believe that I am
competent in accomplishing anything with good
quality.
(My literal translation)
There were several times in our conversational meetings when Li Tao expressed that
because he worked by contract, he frequently chose to hide his voices in the monthly team
meeting or not to speak up when the amount of work was assigned unequally. As he made
clear, “I work by contract. So, even when they assigned me much more work to do than other
people, I had nothing to complain of. I know, I was hired for doing work, but not for making
a complaint here” (Interview excerpt, August 22, 2006, my literal translation). His awareness
of the relationship between a lower status at workplace and his contract position was also
related to his strategy that he tended to maintain “simple” work-related relationships with his
colleagues, in order to secure the possibility for his contract to be renewed annually (see
Section 8.4.3, this chapter). Although his immersion in work might serve to demonstrate his
diligence and competence in fulfilling the requirements of work tasks, Li Tao was actually
worried that this strategy might generate some side-effect in the annual performance
evaluation since his supervisor might misunderstand why he held himself back from a high
level of participation, and assume he lacked commitments to the work.
In fact, even though he attempted to reduce his linguistic and cultural contacts with
workmates in his work routines or to present himself reticently in the contexts where he
sensed his limited power and low status in front of his workmates, Li Tao‟s decision to
impress his new supervisor through writing a proposal actually identified him as an active
agent who was eager to reveal his potential capabilities when he recognized that there was a
possible chance or space available to him. From this perspective, writing a proposal entailed
Li Tao‟s hope for the change of his self image shaped by his low-end occupation status at
work. While the underlying motivational factor stemmed from his orientation to shed light on
his desire to make upward economic mobility and to share in the organization‟s vision and
values, Li Tao‟s act of writing down his work achievements and knowledge display in the
professional area reflected his acute desire for an appropriate recognition and re-articulation
of his already established work identity in front of people. In this way, his literacy practice of
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writing a proposal can be understood as a creative activity that reflected his implicit
resistance to the negative stereotypes on his employment identity and commitments to work.
Taken together, in reflecting upon the effectiveness of making use of their language and
literacy in such a situation, both Ye Lan and Li Tao agreed that the “writing-down” strategy
was helpful to reveal their potential in the context of performance management while they
strived for the acquisition of a new working identity from the outset. Upon the positive
evaluation of her performance at work, Ye Lan was informed that her contract was renewed
till the end of the year. In a similar vein, Li Tao believed that his proposal did help give good
impressions to his new supervisor, as he reported, “Our meeting went smoothly. My
supervisor was interested in my proposal. He asked me to talk about my suggestions in our
next team meeting. I am preparing an oral presentation for it. I hope it will make something
different this time” (Interview excerpt, March 15, 2007, my literal translation). These
examples suggested that some of the challenges they faced could indeed be dissolved through
their meaning-making practices with language and literacy.
However, when Ye Lan failed to extend her contract of the part-time job anymore because
of the budgetary limits of the position, and when Li Tao realized that his proposal made no
substantial improvement in his powerless status as a contracted employee at the workplace,
neither of them thought that the strategy made a long-term reproductive effect on their
employment circumstances. As they complained, they suffered from the stagnated
employment identity that locked them in to the part-time or contract position forever within
which they had little chance for occupational advancement.
8.5.4 Asking for a Raise
Several participants reported that when hired in a privately owned company or a
small-size enterprise like restaurant, they were not required to take performance assessment
by employers. They became aware that working in such a workplace, they had no chance to
minimize the income gaps unless they took the initiative to go and ask for a raise directly in
front of the boss. Inevitably, this was the activity involving oral interactions and negotiations
that needed immigrant employees to draw upon their prior similar experiences as well as
appropriate techniques of language use, the important precondition to ensure a positive
outcome of their engagement.
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However, all participants in my study claimed that they had no expertise in asking for
salary increases drawn from their prior work experience in China wherein personal requests
for any forms of promotion were typically regarded as behavior conflicting with the
collective interest of the institution. Meanwhile, they pointed out that to hold the bargaining
power on the negotiation scene, they needed to sharpen their communication skills in English.
Despite the shortage of linguistic and social capital in the discourse of negotiating an
opportunity for their professional upward mobility, the participants considered their diligence
and competencies in handling work tasks with good quality as their strength in their struggles
to narrow down the gap between what they were paid and what they felt they deserved.
Several participants reported that as immigrant newcomers who were desperate for entry
into the Canadian labor market, their anxiety for holding onto an employment opportunity
made them powerless to negotiate for equal pay. Xiang Dong reflected upon his early
experience that he was offered $12 per hour as a software developer, far less than the
minimum payment for the same employment position in the labor market,
I know, because I am an immigrant newcomer without Canadian work experience, I
cannot expect too much. I cannot compete for the equal work and equal pay with local
people because I realize it is impossible … If I wanted a job here, I had to accept this
unfairness. However, I believe, no matter what I do, I must try my best to make profits
for my boss. This is my admission ticket to ask the boss to increase my salary in the
future. (Interview excerpt, February 19, 2006, my literal translation)
While realizing that they were hard hit by displacement and wage depreciation in the
given labor market, the participants made great efforts to shine in their occupational
competencies as well as to highlight their work achievements. Within these engagements, the
participants‟ literacy and language engagements helped carve out a space for them to
negotiate with the institutional agent for equal treatments. For example, Jian Hui reported that
in spite of his weak speaking competence in English in his early arrival, his hourly wages
were raised from $8.25 to $9.75 within the first year of his employment in the Metrotown
Restaurant in Toronto2. While attributing this positive outcome to his diligence and
occupational competencies, Jian Hui emphasized that he made good use of the praise letters
and certificates complimenting his good performance on the working floor.
2 Jian Hui worked at the Metrotown Restaurant in Toronto for almost two years. When the restaurant was closed,
he decided to go to Metrolinx College for a chef certificate.
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Indeed, earning $8.25 per hour, Jian Hui must work overtime, in order to accumulate as
many hours as possible so that he could bring home enough money to cover the monthly
living expenses. Because of his diligence and flexibility in working times, Jian Hui was seen
as a reliable and trustworthy employee in dealing with demanding and fast-paced work
routines in the kitchen. During the first summer of his employment in the Metrotown
restaurant, Jian Hui was praised and rewarded several times as “the Monthly Excellent Staff.”
Jian Hui carefully recorded and saved rewarded certificates and praise letters, since he saw
these documents as the proof of his alignment with the requirements of the workplace as well
as the evidence of his achievements. While reflecting upon his first time of asking for a raise,
Jian Hui recalled that he used those certificates and praise letters as his guard to secure him
the extended possibilities for better wages. As he said,
Well, you know, asking for a raise was a kind of challenge to me since I did not speak
that much English at that time and did not have any idea of how to negotiate for it with
my boss. But, I think I pushed them hard as I made use of those praise letters and
certificates as good evidence. I brought those proofs with me when I negotiated with
my boss and chef. When I displayed the evidence in front of them, I asked, “If you
really think I am good and work hard as you indicate on these papers, you need to
prove it to me. So, why not give me a raise, boss?” (Interview excerpt, March 18, 2006,
my literal translation)
While Jian Hui sought out the improvement of his economic status at work by making
good use of the institutional appraisal documents in his own right, Xiang Dong approached
his boss for a better pay by writing a list of projects he undertook in the first year of his
employment. Considering that this was the first time for him to ask for pay increases, he
wanted to use the project list as supporting evidence, in order to justify his contributions to
the company. In his view, the project list gained him an opportunity for reviewing what he
had accomplished in a substantial way. His literacy engagement in the self-evaluation activity
served to strengthen him to negotiate salary increases with his boss in confidence.
Jian Hui‟s and Xiang Dong‟s early experience of asking for salary increases indicated that
literacy engagement played a key role in getting them well prepared for negotiations on the
scene as well as in highlighting their contributions to the workplace in an explicit way.
However, demonstrated as follows, this strategy might not always ensure a positive economic
outcome in the participants‟ continuous efforts to strive for equal pay.
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Jian Hui had his wages increased twice within a year, with the help of those praise letters
and complimentary certificates. However, he found that the level of his income became fixed
thereafter. He recalled the failure of his further engagements,
I found that no matter how much I asked, I was the one who earned the lowest wages,
but I was the one assigned heavy workloads to do in the restaurant. When I attempted
to catch up to the normal level of income, things became more and more difficult, like,
trying to reach the upper bar in the ladder. (Interview excerpt, March 18, 2006, my
literal translation)
Although his excellent performance continued to gain him compliments and rewards, Jian
Hui found that this kind of institutional appraisal brought him little chance of advancement
any more. As he reflected upon the situation that the possibility for improving his low
employment status was circumscribed,
They do not really care how hard I worked, and how well I performed all the way. In
fact, in the restaurant, they do not want a professional. They merely needed cheap
laborers because they are unwilling to pay more. They think most immigrants speak
no good English, and so they hire them and force the wages farther down than the
average level because they know, we need a job desperately. So, the truth is that we
are actually not paid for our performance. (Interview excerpt, March 18, 2006, my
literal translation)
While sharing Jian Hui‟s view that immigrants were marginalized or disenfranchised for
equal pay in the organizational regulatory process, Xiang Dong had his boss increase his
wages successfully in his further engagement by taking advantage of certain changes in the
economic environment. When many IT companies started resuming and expanding their
business after the year 2005, because of the recovery in the IT marketplace, computer
professionals became the much needed workforce in the job market. At that time, Xiang
Dong saw some of his colleagues leaving the company for a better job in a larger company.
Such a circumstance exerted pressures on Xiang Dong in many ways. First, as the vacant
positions cannot be refilled quickly, the boss placed increased responsibilities and so heavy
workloads on Xiang Dong who turned out to be a senior employee in the company, upon his
colleagues leaving. Meanwhile, after knowing that some of their friends seized the economic
chance and found a competitive employment opportunity, Ming Fang started exhorting Xiang
Dong to leave the small company for a better position in a larger business enterprise which
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was willing to offer him reasonable salaries and good benefits. In fact, there were several
times that Ming Fang mentioned to me that she always worried about the insecurity of Xiang
Dong‟s job because the small private company had no union‟s protection at all and provided
no benefits for employees.
Nonetheless, Xiang Dong had no intention to change his job at that time. As he explained,
his current position provided him with ample opportunities for making use of his professional
knowledge and skills on difference scales, including researching a potential product, creating
and programming codes, and promoting a product on the market. To his mind, in a small
company, his potential and value could be readily recognized by his boss. As he maintained,
“Because in the small company, the boss always oversees our work performance directly, he
can quickly identify your potential if your projects can make money for the company when
they are out in the market. In this way, whether you can speak good English or not is not that
important as long as you can make money for your boss” (Interview excerpt, February 19,
2007, my literal translation). Although he decided to stay in the company, Xiang Dong
thought that he should not put up with this inequality any more. In his journal, Xiang Dong
recorded how he confronted his boss in order to repair the unequal treatment.
Aside 8.4
How did I Survive in a Small Company? (Excerpt)
…
When I sat in front of my boss, I just wanted to speak out what I have thought in my mind, the
fact and the current situation.
I told my boss that the job market is becoming better. Several colleagues left the company
because they were offered a better job. I was facing a lot of pressures from my family and thinking I
should also need to find a better job.
I told my boss that I like my job. I was grateful to him for giving me an opportunity when I was
a newcomer without local work experience. But now, I am not a new immigrant anymore. I have
worked in the company for more than 3 years. I got the local work experience. I completed many
projects. They are making a lot of money for him. I am an expert in the company. So, my market
values should be recognized and increased too.
However, I had feelings that what I got was not equal to my values and contributions to the
company. I wanted a change in this regard. I then asked my boss to increase my salary. But, I told him
that I hoped both the company and I should have a win-and-win situation.
(From Xiang Dong‟s journal, March 5, 2007)
Perhaps, because of the challenges of the shortage of employees in the company and the
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increased orders from clients that his boss received, Xiang Dong got a raise again this time
and stayed in the company as he expected. It was evident that the increasing competition for
IT professionals in the labor market became the resistance point that enabled Xiang Dong to
launch his actions for equality. Situating his negotiations in a broader social and economic
context did create a solid ground for him to achieve his goals without difficulty. Xiang
Dong‟s act of asking for a raise not only involved his self-evaluation of his work performance,
but also reflected his better understandings of how to justify his know-how and adapt it to the
economic needs of the company. While his struggle for equal pay led him to engage in the
process of negotiating for the recognition and rewards of his self value in the workplace,
Xiang Dong made himself confront his boss in the way that he worked in, through, and
against the unfair treatment. Even though he was clear that his wages were still much lower
than the average incomes for the same position in the labor market, Xiang Dong considered
that the positive outcome of his negotiation for his wage increase symbolized the boss‟s
recognition of his excellent work performance and economic values of his occupational skills
for the company. As he commented,
I know, I do not have power to decide how much my wages should be increased. But, to
me, no matter how much the boss gave me, the fact that I got my wages increased
meant a kind of recognition from my boss. (Interview excerpt, February 19, 2007, my
literal translation)
Whereas Xiang Dong hoped that through asking for a raise, he could grasp an opportunity
to locate himself in “a win-and-win” situation in the workplace, Ming Fang doubted that such
an effort would automatically undo the effects of the socio-economic gap between what he
deserved according to his contributions and skills and what he was offered by the company.
In this way, Ming Fang complained that Xiang Dong did not give himself a real push unless
he took into serious account the stability of their family‟s life. As Ming Fang asserted,
I told Xiang Dong many times that with his local work experience, he should have
found a job in a larger company for good benefits. But, Xiang Dong did not listen to
me. I just do not understand why he kept accepting this unfair situation. You know,
when Xiang Dong was offered the job, he started with the wages at the very low
level. So, no matter how many times he asked for a raise, this situation was fixed. To
an extent, his wages were locked up in a certain range. Obviously, he has been
exploited unfairly by his boss. When he is paid with minimum salaries, he helped
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maximize the economic profits for the company. Of course, the boss wants Xiang
Dong to stay for making more money for his business. Otherwise, the boss would
not give Xiang Dong a raise. (Interview excerpt, March 12, 2007, my literal
translation)
To summarize, this section paid particular attention to the participants‟ engagements in
seeking, negotiating, and anchoring the possibilities for upward economic mobility in the
discourse of performance assessment in the workplace. Having a close look at the
organization‟s mandates related to performance assessment and the participants‟ strategies for
coping with the institutional operations of accountability helped uncover how the differing
agenda of employers, managers and supervisors, and immigrant employees converged and
collided in the context of performance evaluations.
My analyses revealed that the neutrality of performance evaluations was asserted in the
textual mechanism of the organization wherein both the interests of organizations, such as
professional standards, high performance, and commitments, and occupational advancement
of employees, were claimed as closely related, and hence can be achieved simultaneously
through this mechanism. In particular, the advocate of “pay for performance” that was reified
in the skill-based approaches to promotion and salary increases led the participants to believe
that there was an opportunity available to them to improve their low economic status at the
workplace. Motivated by this convergence, the participants deployed such strategies, fitting
into the standards, revealing potential capabilities, and asking for a raise, that they wished to
change their disadvantaged economic and social positions in the workplace.
One common theme drawn from these strategies was that most participants were likely to
employ literacy as their point of entry as they were motivated by the wish to get along with
the already established regulations in the rhetoric of the measurement of performance.
Meanwhile, through their literacy engagements, they tried their best to demonstrate and
justify their occupational achievements, in order to secure good and fair ratings in the process.
This finding can be exemplified by individual participants‟ act of writing a work report or
proposal, composing flyers and handouts, and keeping the records of work logs or making
use of “official documents” for the recognition of their professional identities and for the
success of negotiations with those in power in the evaluation process.
At this point, it should be noted that when driven by the kind of hope for a better-off
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economic status in the labor market, the participants‟ engagements in appropriating their
language and literacy cannot be understood as a simple reproduction of the dominant order ‟s
values or their compensatory strategy for a lack of oral interaction skills in the context of
negotiations. Rather, it reflected immigrant employees‟ active participation in dealing with
the institutional activity of accountability while they were drawing on and displaying their
existing competencies in their attempts to avoid being placed at a disadvantage. In this
respect, their literacy practices symbolized their resourcefulness in solving problems that they
encountered in the process. Thus, the strategies that the participants deployed to meet the
requirements of performance evaluations brought to light the tactic and reinvention of their
language and literacy practices, which shed light on their engagements in creating a space or
opportunity in which they could reach their particular goals within the limitation of the
dominant orders.
Nevertheless, the preceding analyses revealed that the outcomes of the participants‟
engagements in coping with performance evaluations were unpredictable to them and varied
across space and time, determined by the effect of their ethnolinguistic identities,
employment status, and the hegemonic power of the dominant language of English. To
several participants in my study, even with their active linguistic engagements in the process
of performance assessment, there existed strong feelings of “being locked out of the
opportunity for occupational advancement,” as shown in the case of Ye Lan and Li Tao, or of
“being kicked out of the circle” as indicated by Jian Hui, when their disadvantaged
employment status and language variations impinged on their access to opportunities in the
process of institutional accountability.
In particular, Jian Hui‟s case provided a concrete example of how his literacy
engagements became invisible, and his voices were muted in the process of job reviews,
under the “English only” policy that aimed to foster and reinforce the naturalization of the
dominant language ideology on the local working site. Indeed, when the uniformity and
normality of work performance was sustained and manipulated through the discipline of
English in a multicultural/multilingual workforce, we need to question the neutrality of
performance management: Whose interests were really represented and served in
performance evaluations? What constituted valid or accepted performances in reference to the
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standards of professional and linguistic competencies that were put in place in the assessment?
And, what were the real purposes of performance evaluations?
My data suggested that while the hegemonic power of English was a significant factor in
legitimizing certain language use and power relations on the work floor, the performance
evaluation actually had the effect of exacerbating the complexity of social and linguistic
relations among frontline workers who pushed against the imposed limits for their own space
as they seek to secure the hegemony of their own strategic agendas. In this way, Jian Hui‟s
narrations on the different consequences of his first language use compared to Filipinos
revealed that even divergence from the discipline of English was recognized as more or less
legitimate; others were marked as interference and a boycott of the already established
standards in rhetoric and on the working site. What is significant here is that language use
and literacy practice on the ground might become a backdrop that sustained and reproduced
multiple forms of tensions and discrimination in many different ways.
While reflecting on the implications of differing power relationships that operated and
manifested in daily work routines, this phenomenon highlighted that the ideological construct
of performance evaluations generated the outcomes mediating managers‟ or supervisors‟
perceptions in association with their biases, stereotypes, or prejudices. The case of Jian Hui
illuminated how job reviews acted as a denial while prejudices and biases were exercised
under the guise of his failure in making convergence of his language use to conform to the
ideology of the dominant language of English. Sustained through the ideology of the
privileged, the measurement of performance was utilized to continue the marginalization and
exclusion of “underclass” groups who looked forward to an equal opportunity for positive
economic returns for their work achievements.
To this end, while the participants‟ act of asking for a raise might symbolize their subtle,
strategic, resistant activity for equality of opportunity, it should be noted that immigrant
employees‟ access to equal occupational status and better pay might be fended off or even
eliminated from consideration, when there was the absence of performance evaluations at the
workplace or no acceptance and recognition of their existing linguistic and social capital. Jia
Wei‟s unsuccessful experience of asking for a raise reminded us that although there was a job
review administered at work, such a chance might be blocked off when his language
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variations became an issue in the eyes of the people with power in the workplace. As Jia Wei
reflected, without his boss‟s acceptance of his language variations, he was not allowed to
have access to any chance of attending the job review that was considered to provide “hard
data” proving the credibility of his work performance. Jian Hui‟s experience that institutional
artifacts produced no consistent result in his wage increases further indicated that immigrants‟
racial identities, rather than their existing knowledge and skills, was key in determining and
sustaining their certain positions in the local working community. In these ways, the
dominant language of English was utilized as a tool to organize and retain the social,
economic, and linguistic marginalization and exclusion of ethnolinguistic minorities. The
case of Xiang Dong, however, suggested that a positive outcome of negotiations might be
possible if an immigrant worker used and maneuvered around the broader social and
economic structures in association with the local needs of the business. This finding shed
strong light on the social, economic, and political characteristics of evaluation mechanisms of
workplace.
8.6 Summary
In this chapter, I have illustrated the ways that the participants adapted to and socialized
in the new working environment. The data showed that the participants‟ literacy skills in
English played a key role in their early adjustment to a new workplace. In examining the
ways that the participants socialized in the workplace, I have highlighted the importance of
acceptance and recognition, implying that values of language and literacy were weighted
differentially in forms of participation and types of association, reinforced by ideological and
power relations on the ground. To further explore the participants‟ integration into the
workplace, I have described the ways that they deployed their institutional language skills in
the struggle for equal economic position at work. Situated in their language and literacy
practices in the discourse of job evaluation and salary increases, I have demonstrated that the
ideology of the globalized economy was maintained through language and literacy in the
rhetoric and on the particular working site, and that discursive practices in language and
literacy can be used by those perceived as powerless for the purpose of striving for equal
opportunities. While revealing the participants‟ strategies of coping with job evaluations
related to their earning prospects and career advancement, I have shed light on the fact that
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immigrant employees were the active language users while looking for an equal opportunity
for positive economic returns for their work achievements. The consequences of their
linguistic efforts for upward economic mobility, however, were unpredictable when job
reviews and evaluations served to formalize and discipline a multilingual and multicultural
workforce, not only to ensure quality control in the new capitalism, but also to sustain the
hegemonic power relations through the dominant language ideologies.
Integral to the globalized economy that emphasized high performance and commitments,
I argue that embedded in the language ideologies of the dominant, performance evaluations
serve as part of the gatekeeping process that contributes to continually devalue knowledge
and skills of immigrant employees. Under this circumstance, the unequal distribution of
resources and opportunities would be open to contestation and negotiation, as immigrant
employees keep on seeking out fuller participation and equal opportunities for positive
economic returns and equal occupational status, and generally for personal empowerment in
the process of upward socio-economic mobility in the host country.
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Chapter 9
Conclusions
In this dissertation, I have interrogated the claim made by policy makers and widely
adopted by the public that immigrants‟ language and literacy proficiency in the dominant
language is insufficient and so produces negative impacts on their academic achievement,
social advancement, economic gains, and generally, their successful integration into Canadian
society. I have documented seven well-educated Chinese immigrants‟ trajectories as they took
advantage of their language and literacy competencies in English across several social
domains such as home, school, job market, and workplace. I have demonstrated many
different ways that the participants‟ language use and literacy practice acted as leverage in
their efforts to seek, negotiate, and take hold of opportunities within certain social settings. I
have also described and analyzed the situations in which language and literacy engagements
might not always generate the positive consequences for social networks, job opportunities,
and upward economic mobility. I have shown that a monolithic assumption of the dominant
language shaped and reinforced many different barriers to language learning, literacy
engagement, and social networking at the varied sites wherein tensions and constraints
occurred and recurred, along with the issues of access, participation, and recognition.
By examining the trans-contextual patterning of the participants‟ language and literacy
activities across space and time, I have revealed that the dominant ideologies of homogeneity
and standardization were the most powerful forces that shadowed and hindered immigrant
professionals‟ knowledge display, literacy practice, and opportunities to learn in their
endeavors to access linguistic, cultural, social, and economic capital in the new society. This
investigation highlights that language ideology, identity construction, and power relations are
inextricably interlocked and give shape to the integration process of immigrants. My analyses
show that language and literacy create the complex web of discursive spaces wherein
institutional agendas and personal desires intertwine in many complicated ways that
constitute conditions and processes of social economic mobility of immigrant populations.
This ideological complex produces a critical linkage, with consequences for immigrants,
materially and ideologically, in the short and the long term. Based on the data in my study, I
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argue that the deficit assumption about immigrants‟ proficiency in the dominant language
creates a basis for linguistic stereotypes and economic marginalization that affect social
participation, decision making, and learning practice of skilled immigrants in their paths to
partake in the globalized new economy.
In this concluding chapter, I shall focus on some of the broader themes that emerged from
the study as a whole. As I followed the paths that the participants went through across a set of
social contexts over time, three major themes stood out. They are 1) institutional
arrangements, ideological forces, and structured trajectories, 2) multiplicity of literacy and
levels of contradictions, and 3) participation, acceptance, and opportunity to learn. Below, I
discuss each theme, followed by the implications of my study. I conclude the chapter with my
suggestion for future research.
9.1 Summary of Findings
9.1.1 Institutional Arrangements, Ideological Forces, and Structured Trajectories
The data in my study show that individual participants intended to launch their journeys
into the new country with two major orientations: finding a professional job directly or
improving their English competencies in the first place. Although at the outset they decided
upon the ways of making entry into the new society differently, I found that all participants
actually followed the same route along the way while having a strong desire of entering into
the Canadian labor market. They shared sequential experiences that they went to LINC/ESL
schools, continued their higher education for local credentials, had to accept a downward
occupational position with minimum wages, and faced difficulties in upward mobility at
work. By unpacking the locally specific ways of the participants‟ choices and actions, I found
that this similarly integrating track was managed and reinforced by institutional arrangements
and ideological forces. The discourses and practices involved in this route entailed the
complicated interplay between the deficit assumption of immigrants‟ proficiency in English
and the participants‟ response to local constraints they encountered.
All participants enrolled in ESL/LINC programs when they realized that as immigrant
newcomers, there was no direct access to the new labor market. The social and institutional
discourses that labeled immigrants with “language insufficiency” and “lack of local
credentials and work experiences” served the function to heighten the causal relationship
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between English language proficiency and social economic mobility. As a result of their daily
language encounters and first-hand experiences of job search in the early settlement period,
most participants came to perceive their journeys into the new society as a hierarchy. In
particular, they contended that learning as much English as they could, obtaining local
credentials, and satisfying every step they took in the job finding process were imperative, in
order to place them in a niche in the new labor market. Meanwhile, the openness of language
programs and the availability of job preparation workshops offered by government agencies
seemed to map out the necessary route that immigrant newcomers must take. That is, if they
attended these state-structured services that aimed to help remedy their lack, immigrant
newcomers would gain credits for having access to potential employment opportunities.
The convergence of the institutional arrangements and well-educated immigrants‟ belief
in the significance of education in their linguistic and economic transfers into the new society
became the powerful guiding force that drove most participants to continue their study at
post-secondary schools in Canada, a “bypass” strategy for employment in the new labor
market. They expected that through learning in the academic environment, they could gain
local credentials, formal language training, and resources for cultural knowledge that were
assumed valued, even necessary, to their linguistic adaptation and social economic integration
in the host country.
While LINC/ESL programs and post-secondary schools were considered as a key site
from which immigrants could gain supportive facilitation and scaffolding in the process of
mobilizing into the labor market, they were riddled with constraints and contradictions, as
demonstrated in this thesis. A close look at the participants‟ learning experiences in
ESL/LINC programs and at post-secondary schools revealed that immigrants‟ integration and
investment efforts were often relegated to the operation of bureaucratic mechanisms in the
ways that they were selected, categorized, and classified, according to the established rules of
the dominant language of English. Specifically, we saw that the ways in which the
participants gained access to knowledge and skills were regulated by and detracted from the
structural forces of school policies, curriculum arrangements, pedagogical practices,
classroom activities, and assessment procedures, along with the negative attitudes of
instructors and fellow students toward their cultural and linguistic differences. The
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prioritization of the dominant discourse of linguistic and cultural acquisition created the
situation in which immigrant learners were usually identified as inferior language users and
cultural novices, regardless of the knowledge and skills they brought into the classroom.
While having little chance to draw upon their existing knowledge and language skills in
English, most participants had minimal opportunities for achieving their learning goals and
taking part in social interactions that might serve them to build linguistic and social networks
in one way or another. Although the participants made do with their limited and hard-won
opportunities by negotiating a good student identity in many different ways (e.g., making
alignment with pedagogical instruction, taking advantage of their literacy skills in English,
making use of their first language, and finding an English language broker) across a range of
learning contexts and activities, their efforts were often curtailed in that they were
stigmatized as passive recipients by the homogenous rules and procedures of the dominant
discourses of knowledge distribution and power relations. These findings shed light on the
fact that based on arbitrary distinction and selection, educational mechanisms and local
practices of teaching and learning served the surveillance function of privileging certain ways
of knowledge distribution at the expense of other forms of knowledge display and linguistic
engagements. In this respect, my research illuminates that language programs and schools are
an intricate part of the bureaucratic mechanisms sustaining the domination of institutional
discourses through the imposition of its language norms and cultural values (Heller, 2007,
2008).
In tracing the participants into job market and workplace, I found that the dominant
language ideology of English continued to marginalize immigrants across a range of
discursive spaces. While navigating their ways of entry into the new labor market as
professionals, the participants‟ Canadian education credentials gained them no privileged
access to the opportunities that enabled them to convert their existing knowledge and skills
into symbolic and social economic capital. The possibility of having access to social
networks or even support and assistance of employment agencies was severely constrained by
ideological forces of the dominant language of English. That is, when identified as
unqualified speakers of English, most participants were subjected to a process of deskilling,
marginalization or even exclusion, with a result of the drastic curtailment of employment
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opportunities, regardless of their previous work and educational experiences. Although the
participants tried to manage the settlement processes by finding entry-level jobs or adjusting
their employment options, they usually found themselves in the displaced and precarious
situation that they faced continued challenges of misrecognition. These observations not only
problematize the assumed relationship between the acquisition of social capital (e.g., local
educational credentials) and the opportunities for upward social and economic mobility of
immigrants in the host country, but also highlight the issue of language authenticity (how
purely and fluently job seekers can speak English) in sustaining and reproducing difference
and inequality in relational and economic orders.
In the discussion of the participants‟ experiences in the workplace, I focused on the ways
that they attempted to anchor extended possibilities for job security, learning opportunities,
social networks, and economic advancement by taking advantage of their language and
literacy competencies in English. From there, we learned that the dominant language
ideologies flowed and permeated into multiple local discourses in varied forms (such as,
organizational regulations, the distribution of work responsibility, workplace interactions, and
performance evaluation) wherein English-only work rules served the function to make
uniform immigrants‟ knowledge and skills required in the globalized new economy, solidify
the hierarchical order of communications, and reinforce unequal relations of power on the
ground. Indeed, the participants‟ language and literacy engagements in negotiating spaces and
work identities as competent indicated their acute desire and continued investments to
become full members in the community of practice. Nonetheless, the complex relationships
between the kinds of subject positions (such as expert, novice, and peer), work identities (e.g.,
immigrant employees, low-wage workers, and employee on contract), and the identification
of English language and cultural novice revealed that institutional arrangements and
ideological forces left little room for ethnolinguistic minorities to maneuver into the context
of a new culture, a new language, and new communities of practices. Lack of opportunities
for moving from peripheral to full participation had a long-lasting consequence that affected
immigrants‟ identity (re)construction and meaning making activities, including their further
investments of language use and learning, in the course of their engagements in social
practices in the host country.
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Taken together, these findings provide strong evidence that immigrant newcomers
experienced structured trajectories of integration shaped by a combination of economic forces
of globalization as well as of reproductive and hegemonic forces of local linguistic, social,
and economic orders (Luke, 2004; Warriner, 2007a). Within this broader institutional
structure, language and literacy in the dominant language of English serves both surveillance
and gatekeeping functions that define, regulate, and evaluate the legitimacy of immigrants‟
performance in local contexts. Hence, the ways of ethnolinguistic minorities‟ actions and
positions are the many consequences of multilayered unequal discourses and power relations
intertwined with ideological forces necessary to the reproduction of social categorization and
economic orders. Such structural forces formulate a set of conditions and processes
producing profound impacts on the ways in which immigrant professionals accessed
resources and opportunities as they deployed their institutional language skills as a strategy
for extended possibilities.
Institutional agendas and personal expectations sometimes differ, collide, or converge in
varying degrees across space. I argue against the perception that immigrants‟ integration
processes in general and learning practices, job findings, and economic performance in
particular have only to do with individuals‟ proficiency in English and are therefore apolitical.
As demonstrated by my analyses here and throughout this dissertation, the pathway that the
participants followed in order to integrate, linguistically, socially, and economically, into the
new society was regulated and severely circumscribed by the circulation of social, political,
and discursive rules and forces. The complex of ideological forces was played out and
maintained through the complicated intersection of institutional arrangements and immigrant
newcomers‟ tactical practices in negotiating trans-institutional contexts.
9.1.2 Multiplicity of Literacy and Levels of Contradictions
Within the structured and regulated trajectories, immigrants experienced the continuously
changing conditions while mobilizing themselves into sets of new environments and places.
Their sequential crossing activities brought to light three recurrent, interrelated themes, 1) the
multimodal uses of literacy, 2) the discursive relationship between literacy and orality, and 3)
levels of contradictions.
First, this dissertation provided substantial examples showing that the participants
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deployed their existing language and literacy skills in English as a medium of learning and as
a tool that they used to carve out a niche for themselves in the new environment. Their act of
moving across the boundaries of discursive spaces brought out the highly multimodal nature
of their literacy practices, implying their sophisticated meaning-making capacity as well as
their continuous efforts at adaptation and reinvestment strategies for having access to
resources and opportunities in the globalized new economy.
The participants in my study demonstrated how through the interweaving of different
modes of literacy uses, they drew on and mobilized their resources, in their attempts not only
to accumulate forms of capital, but also to gain acceptance and recognition while locating in
varied social contexts and communities. Having a close look at the participants‟ sequential
crossings of language and literacy activities revealed the pattern that collecting and reading
textual materials of their everyday lives (from handouts and notes that came from their
children‟s school, to books, newspapers and magazines, to government paper work, to
shopping flyers) became a useful access point for immigrant newcomers for sense making of
their new surroundings. This type of meaning making practice was usually integrated with a
range of combinations of language representations. The multimodal use of literacy was
essential and became a habitual practice whenever the participants engaged in the
problem-solving activity. This act was usually motivated by a set of particular purposes,
including fitting into the structural regulations of new social systems, having access to
information resources, displaying their knowledge and skills, negotiating positionings and
memberships in certain spaces, and securing learning opportunities. Wresting the space for
achieving their own goals allowed for innovations through which immigrants enacted the
complex of goal-directed activities with language and literacy.
For example, in Chapter 8, I highlighted the multiple ways that the participants performed
work tasks, engaged in interpersonal communicative practices, and negotiated opportunities
for personal and occupational growth. While reading written materials (e.g., manual books
and policy handbooks) allowed the participants to fit their knowledge and skills into the
particular requirements of employers, their self-initiated multimodal literacy practices served
them to catch up in fast-changing working conditions effectively. As the data showed, some
participants constructed their working identities as competent through their literacy practices
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on cyberspaces, including collecting and reading information resources on the Internet,
building communicative ties with their colleagues through email messages, creating work
blogs on the intranet of the company, and composing and uploading their occupational
journals onto the work blog regularly. Others displayed their professional strengths through
the mixture of oral and literate uses (e.g., writing a work report, designing flyers and
handouts, and doing an oral presentation in front of colleagues), embedded in particular
social contexts, specific purposes, and certain kinds of structural constraints. Jian Hui‟s
experience of jotting down notes, taking photographs of dishes, and engaging in language
crossing activities exemplified the ways that the participants employed multiple modes,
media, and language forms, in order to position them as competent as well as to claim
membership of the local working community.
These examples signified that the participants were active agents; they not only
strategically manipulated available resources, but also skillfully reconfigured the ways that
they coordinated particular requirements of a changing social context in which they situated.
In this sense, the act of recombining and making use of the multimodal resources for
achieving particular goals underlined the nature of literacy as a fund of knowledge that
skilled immigrants drew upon while moving across the boundaries of varied social discourses.
From this perspective, multimodal literacy practices of the participants acted as a useful
strategy, the strategy that people deployed to work with and against institutional agents as
they constantly derived meanings from their experiences of interactions with gatekeepers as
well as strived for small openings for fuller participation and recognition in varying social
and economic contexts.
Second, in analyzing the participants‟ multiple modalities of language uses, I identified
that written and spoken language sustained each other and jointly shaped the lived
experiences of immigrants in new environments. This finding aligned with the social practice
perspective on literacy and highlighted the necessary interplay between literate and oral
practices while people make sense, comprehend, negotiate, and act in the given
communication repertoire. The overlap of communication modalities not only reflected the
basis of everyday acts of agency, but also indicated the immigrants‟ critical awareness of their
disadvantaged positioning imposed by a range of stereotypes.
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Throughout this dissertation, we saw that the participants drew on and combined specific
aspects of their language competencies needed to access resources and opportunities that
fostered greater control of their lives in a variety of social contexts. Chapter 5 described how
immigrant couples‟ literate and oral communicative skills in English played a key role in
forming the division of linguistic labors that helped deal with the complex of language
demands effectively, and how individual immigrant parents used literacy and orality not only
to maintain their parental role in the family, but also to identify learning opportunities with
their children at home. When the participants endeavored to move into new social
environments, literacy and orality usually reinforced each other, with the consequence of
employment and learning. Both Xiang Dong and Yu Qing appreciated the written test that
preluded them to the new labor market successfully. They saw this kind of literacy practice as
the opportunity for displaying their knowledge, which helped reduce the level of anxiety in
the job interview setting to some extent. Several participants employed their literacy skills in
English as a tool not only to hone and refine their language performance in pursuit of
interactional exchanges on the site, but also to cash in for language learning opportunities.
While obtaining the information of merchandised items from flyers and handouts or reading
and memorizing recipes and menus facilitated Ming Fang and Jia Wei to deal with oral
interactions on the work floor, Yu Qing‟s literacy practices generated ample opportunities for
sharing dialogues that helped build a mutually rewarding relation between her and
colleagues.
One line of scholarly thinking that makes the binary classification of orality and literacy
might simply characterize this kind of language tactic as a complementary strategy for poor
speaking skills in English. However, closely examining the intertwining of the participants‟
oral and literate practices across space and time revealed their critical understandings of
which aspects of their institutional language skills might allow them to placate or resist
gatekeepers‟ demands as well as to negotiate fuller participation. Chapter 6 showed that Ming
Fang tried hard to secure the legitimacy of her participation in writing group assignments in
attempting to demonstrate her language competence when she was aware of being identified
as an unqualified English speaker in the classroom. Located in the similar situation, Jian Hui
gripped a chance to “show off” his English grammatical knowledge as a backdrop against the
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imposition of stereotypes. Chapter 7 highlighted the participants‟ engagements in polishing
their résumés as a strategy to catch employers‟ good attention to their competencies while
having acute awareness that gatekeepers might judge their qualifications through measuring
their speaking skills in the job interview context where they were usually placed at a
disadvantage. Chapter 8 provided substantial examples that the participants socialized people
around them in the mix of oral and literate forms in a variety of communication contexts.
They took advantage of the mutually influential relationship between orality and literacy, in
their attempts to anchor the positive consequences of negotiating with hegemonic social and
economic structures. The outcomes of their particular language uses informed their verbal
and literate meaning-making activities. Recall, for example, how Jia Wei altered his linguistic
strategy by taking extra responsibility for doing inventory work in the kitchen, in order to
objectify his work identity as competent, when he learned that his oral communication
competence in English was identified as a drawback and so positioned him as “unfavorable.”
When Jian Hui made use of literacy artifacts from institutions (as in the case of the praise
letters and complimentary certificates collection for wages increases, and subsequently
created a personal portfolio for a better job), he employed literate representations in his
interactions with stakeholders, in order to push beyond the limitation and so created a space
for re-articulating the values of his knowledge and skills in his own right.
These are some of the examples manifesting the discursive relationship between literacy
and orality. They highlighted immigrants‟ critical awareness of how the stereotypes hidden in
social and economic orders might affect their language uses and restricted the possibility of
their participation in a new social context. From these examples, we can see that in
combining, choosing, deploying, and revamping specific aspects of communication
modalities, the participants did not just appropriate their acts in response to the requirements
of social systems. They accounted for the reality that language reflected, engaged in a new
combination of language and literacy, and evaluated the emergence of outcomes that were
produced by the privileged aspects of language modalities and the existence of relations of
power, as they undertook deep and subtle analyses that tested the limits of what might be
possible in their continued pursuit of certain consequences. In this way, the discursive use of
orality and literacy suggests immigrants‟ strong desires and efforts to participate and be
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recognized in the context of connectivity and mobility in the new economy.
Third, one of the major themes coming from the participants‟ experiences was that the
consequences of their literacy engagements were unpredictable, implying that literacy might
not help nail down a positive consequence for having access to resources and opportunities or
empowerment. By bringing together institutions‟ and individual participants‟ trajectories, I
found that this phenomenon underlay the fact that the participants‟ language and literacy
engagements were usually trapped within institutional webs of discourses where the
dominant language of English had pervasive power of control, with multiple levels of
contradictions sustained on the ground.
By reviewing and analyzing a wide range of documents (e.g., governments‟ policies,
reports, surveys, organization‟s manuals, and employees‟ handbooks), I have demonstrated
that the institutional language plays a prominent part in the globalization process and
becomes essential not only to forge the constant flow of intellectuals transnationally, but also
to guard interactional and economic orders of the dominant on the ground. In these contexts,
the dominant language serves the function to monitor and measure the employability of
immigrants‟ capital and the appropriateness of their social practices that fit in the shifting
conditions of the globalized new economy. While setting up to achieve specific institutional
goals including selection, categorization, evaluation, and legitimation, the institutional
agenda with language and literacy results in contradictions in political and economic
discourses. As I pointed out in Chapter 3, when Canada‟s immigration policies identified
well-educated immigrant professionals‟ existing knowledge and language skills as much
needed human capital for the nation‟s economic development, other policy discourses such as
language and literacy blamed these competencies as “deficits” that hindered this group of
immigrant populations from making economic contribution and constructing new identities as
the nation required. This contradiction resulted from the State‟s focus on the role of language
in facilitating economic reproduction and civic responsibility for the nation-state.
Echoing the ideologies of nation and knowledge, organizations faced a dilemma when the
dominant language of English was taken up so as to control the performance of identities tied
to linguistic and economic mobility of immigrants on the local site. My analyses of
organizations‟ regulations and the participants‟ experiences revealed that facing the intensive
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competition in the market, organizations and enterprises anchored professional standards and
expectations firmly, in response to the needs of “new forms of oral skills and literacy, new
measures of control, and new combinations of languages” (Duff, 2005, p. 354). In accordance
with the diverse needs in the globalized markets, skilled immigrants‟ existing linguistic and
occupational resources seemed to be considered as the essential exchangeable capital for the
reproduction of profits. As several participants pointed out, their occupational expertise,
abilities to speak Mandarin, and reading and writing proficiency in English influenced their
employment opportunities when their existing competencies were considered as the handy
resources fulfilling specific needs of employers.
Jian Hui‟s experience of attending performance evaluation, however, highlighted that a
contested terrain existed with the emergence of the contradiction between the Company‟s
need for immigrant employees whose ethnolinguistic and cultural resources were considered
as necessary to serve diverse needs of customers and its tight control over linguistic orders
through imposing the “English only” discipline on the ground. Throughout the dissertation,
we saw that the standardized “monolingual” form of language skills was reinforced in many
different ways (e.g., job interview, face-to-face interactions, form filling, standardized testing,
performance evaluation) across a set of social contexts, thus revealing the symbolic power of
the dominant language of English in maintaining the new communicative and language
orders in the “new work order” (Gee, Hull, & Lankshear, 1996). The linguistic domination
made the participants‟ efforts to enter and participate in new discourses full of struggle, since
they were located in the middle ground with the conflict between alignment with regulations
and rules of the institution and resistance to constraints in using of a range of skills, in order
to demonstrate their competencies in their continued pursuit of effective communicative and
economic mobility. Under the linguistic and symbolic domination of dialogic power relations,
the participants‟ efforts and strategies were counterbalanced with the consequence of being
placed in the situation of displacement, isolation, or even exclusion.
The institutional influences and contradictions worked together as a powerful form of
reification that induced a set of paradoxes and contradictions impinging on immigrants‟ lived
experiences. For instance, Chapter 5 identified Ming Fang and Yu Qing as the active users of
literacy at home. Their existing literacy competencies supported them in incorporating the
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values, stances, and actions of the school into their children‟s school work and literacy
development. In their desire to maintain the role of mothering in the new society through
attending home literacy activities with their children, both Ming Fang and Yu Qing, however,
had to confront their literate identities as being seen skeptically by their children who
evaluated their mother as an unqualified English user. While this paradoxical situation drew
attention to how the institutional ideologies of the dominant language shaped and penetrated
people‟s interactions and activities in the home, Chapters 6, 7, and 8 shed light on the fact
that the paradox of literacy resided in the contested terrain of what counts as legitimate
competence and knowledge in a particular social setting in which people might hold different
agendas and expectations. As shown in these chapters, as they resolved their different roles as
a student, a job-seeker, and an employee through drawing on, exercising, and engaging in
language and literacy effectively, the participants found their literacy skills in English were
not equally “useful” within and across social discourses, and the consequences of their
literacy engagements were not under their own control, despite their proficiencies. For
example, when the participants‟ literacy competence brought them an admission ticket to the
post-secondary school, the strength of their literate abilities did not result in entry into other
social discourses (e.g., co-op programs or the TOEFL preparation class in LINC/ESL
programs, and employment agency) as well as in opportunities for being accepted as full
members of new environments and places.
One major paradox related to this uncertain consequence of literacy was that when most
participants believed in the value of Canadian education credentials as a means of connecting
to an employment opportunity, the school‟s responsibility for preserving the dominant
group‟s values and norms responded little to this desire and so failed to provide them with
access to information, social networks, or cultural fluency that were critical for people‟s
social and economic mobility. When relegated to low-wage jobs or unstable occupational
positions as the material consequence of the discrepancy, the participants learned that their
competencies had little value or meaning in the eyes of institutional agents. As we saw, while
the participants resorted to their prior knowledge and language skills in their struggle over
better access or control of tools, resources, and identities necessary for participation and full
membership in a set of social discourses, they considered their existing competencies as
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“useless,” and found it hard to have their competencies shine or “jump.” This awareness of
discursive displacement had implications for their understanding of their positionings in
social reality, their strategy of enacting an identity of their choosing, and their continued
learning engagements involving a complex of social relationships on the pathway.
9.1.3 Participation, Acceptance, and Opportunity to Learn
This thesis research revealed that immigrants‟ lives encompassed a complex process of
learning within the context of structural forces and of negotiating their needs and identities
across space and time. The orientation of learning activities was not only about accumulating
and complying with information, values, and rules of new Discourses, but also about
exercising, appropriating, and reframing what they had already acquired. In this respect, Gee
(1996) recognized the distinction between “learning” and “acquisition” through the concept
of Primary Discourses and Secondary Discourses. He provided the definitions as follows:
Acquisition is a process of acquiring something (usually, subconsciously) by
exposure to models, a process of trial and error, and practice within social groups,
without formal teaching. It happens in natural settings which are meaningful and
functional in the sense that acquirers know that they need to acquire the thing they
are exposed to in order to function and they in fact want to so function. This is how
people come to control their first language.
Learning is a process that involves conscious knowledge gained through teaching
(though not necessarily from someone officially designated a teacher) or through
certain life-experiences that trigger conscious reflection. This teaching or reflection
involves explanation and analysis, that is, breaking down the thing to be learned into
its analytic parts. It inherently involves attaining, along with the matter being taught,
some degree of meta-knowledge about the matter.
(Gee, 1996, p. 138, Italics original)
In Gee‟s view, people acquire their primary Discourses (e.g., family) readily since they gain
better access to meaningful learning opportunities through exposure, immersion, and practice.
Secondary Discourses (e.g., schools, public services, and government agencies) are formal
contexts where individuals consciously take on their knowledge of primary Discourses in the
process of learning new ways of knowing, thinking, believing, acting, and communicating via
enculturation or apprenticeship. Because of the potential conflict between Primary Discourse
and Secondary Discourse, learning in secondary Discourses involves “the acts of taking up
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and taking on existing discourses or disrupting and transforming fixed discourses” (Moje &
Lewis, 2007, p. 18), and hence is a power-imbued process embedded in multi-level
interactions and complex social relationships.
In my thesis research, I found little distinction between the participants‟ primary and
secondary Discourses, and the boundaries between learning and acquisition across Discourses
were not fixed, and hence fluid and dynamic (Rogers, 2003). As we saw throughout this
dissertation, immigrants tried hard to achieve varied learning goals through the negotiation of
language and literacy within and across Discourses. Integral to their experiences of linguistic
adaptation and economic integration, learning was usually motivated by their desire for full
participation and being accepted, which involved struggle for gaining access to resources and
opportunities. In this dissertation, there were many examples showing that learning is a
situated social practice shaped by globalized economic needs and supported and affected by
relations of power on the local sites simultaneously.
For instance, as shown in Chapter 8, certain positions might help individual participants
to reach some of their goals, depending on whether this positioning, either assigned or self
choosing, was accepted as valid and worthwhile (Moje & Lewis, 2007). Learning as well as
recognition seemed to take place when the participants placed them in a “right” position in
front of people, for instance, presenting self as a language novice or ESL learner, as a
hard-working and skilled employee, or as an immigrant worker sharing a set of variations
with other ethnic groups of colleagues. These patterns can be understood as the positive
examples of the way that the participants could gain mutual engagement with their
interlocutors, based on their symbolic and interactional practices that matched to the
positioning as expected, if not imposed, on them both within and across the social context.
From this perspective, the positive outcome might imply that the positioning that immigrants
took up in front of people should fit in to the stereotypical assumptions about them (e.g., ESL
learner, language apprentice, or immigrant employee working hard) or in the specific
circumstance that allowed for particular uses of agency. Recall the case that Yu Qing gained a
sense of integration into the working context through positioning herself as a language
apprentice, whereas Ming Fang found that positioning herself as language apprentice was not
a workable strategy for obtaining collegial support from customers. The counter examples of
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Yu Qing and Ming Fang suggested that learning might not necessarily occur in apprenticeship
(cf. Lave & Wenger, 1991). Rather, it was related to whether the way that immigrants
positioned themselves and presented their knowledge and skills, as other people would expect,
was accepted and legitimized on a particular site, embedded in the wider institutional agendas
and given communicative activities.
This analysis can be verified by Jian Hui‟s on-site learning experience that his first
language became the agency that helped him gain opportunities for exercising his spoken
English and building up partnerships at work, whereas in the discourse of accountability, his
language crossing practices were not accepted as a shared linguistic enterprise and learning
activity in relation to values sustained at work. In the same vein, the case of Ming Fang who
was not accepted as “professional expert” because of her language variations, and of Jia Wei
who gained no access to the conversational circle as he was identified as an incompatible
speaker with cultural gaps by his local workmates served as concrete examples further
indicating that an open access to particular learning opportunities or resources cannot be
ensured based on immigrant employees‟ desire or even their active engagement in social
interactions. In such a situation, language variations and cultural differences became an
important identity marker that determined who should have access to what forms of
participation, which had profound implications for opportunities to learn. While Yu Qing‟s
experiences of learning from her friend, Lao Zhao and colleagues responded to what Lave
and Wenger (1991) claimed the role of expertise in learning (newcomer versus old timer),
these examples indicated that ethnolinguistic minorities‟ learning endeavors might not always
provide them with access to or participation in certain Discourses that might have potential
for their further learning investments and economic opportunities.
Indeed, the participants in my study demonstrated their strong desires for quick
adaptation and full participation in the new society. They carried over their eagerness to learn
and acquire knowledge and skills that allowed them to fit in to the established standards of
Discourses through daily communicative routines and discursive practices while seeking
entry into specific social Discourses. Through their experiences of learning of and from
interactions with people and through language and literacy within a set of institutional
contexts (e.g., home, school, job market, and workplace), the participants learned the
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assumptions about their abilities, identities, and achievements.
For instance, Chapter 5 demonstrated how the primary Discourse of language and literacy
practices at home was structured by the ideologies of schooling and the dominant language of
English. In particular, I illustrated how the participants‟ learning opportunities were both
supported by family members and were constrained by the role of power relations in the
learning activities of immigrant parents and their children that were shaped by the
institutional assumptions of language acquisition. In Chapter 6, I highlighted immigrants‟
learning trajectories across educational Discourses wherein they learned the assumptions
about their existing competencies and learning identities as not qualified language users.
Chapter 7 analyzed how well educated immigrants negotiated the opportunities for acquiring
the experiential knowledge in relation to the new labor market while they learned how their
language and professional advantages became invisible in the power structures of linguistic
and economic orders. Furthermore, as I pointed out in Chapter 8, although it seemed that they
gained opportunities to learn how to make and remake their “toolkits” to satisfy the
requirements of new working Discourses, the participants acquired that the ideological
constraints impinged on their upward social and economic mobility in the host country. Their
experiences in such unequal discourses/Discourses became part of ideological forces that
made them learn, accept, or resist stereotypes in one way or another.
Taken together, a salient point that can be taken from the above analyses is that learning
opportunity not only was shaped by the particular types of relationships with people around
them, but also was affected by whether differences such as race, language, or economic status
were accepted or mattered across many different social discourses. The consequences of this
can be seen within and across space, in terms of immigrants‟ ways of affiliating with people
around them, of their shifting perceptions of the role of their English competencies in their
lived experiences of integration, and of reframing their learning habitus in their continued
pursuit of acceptance and participation in the new economic order.
9.2 Implications of the Research
In the literature on literacy as social practice, there is a debate remaining with regard to
the relationship between the global and the local. As I reviewed in Chapter 2, the
sociocultural approach to literacy emphasizes the ways that people take hold of their
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language and literacy skills and adapt them to local circumstances. While agreeing upon the
value of the social practice approach to literacy, some researchers argue that by merely
situating literacy and language practices in local contexts, researchers might not fully
understand how literacy is socially constructed, and how it has operated as symbolic
domination imposing on the local. For example, Brandt and Clinton (2002) point out that a
focus on the local in the study of literacy might cause a failure to recognize relations of
power in local-global encounters around literacy, arguing that “[l]iteracy in use more often
than not serves multiple interests, incorporating individual agents and their locales into larger
enterprises that play out away from the immediate scene” (Brandt & Clinton, 2002, p. 1).
Collins and Blot (2003) hold the similar concern that merely focusing on the local context,
the sociocultural approach might simply accumulate descriptions of local literacies without
addressing general questions of both theory and practice. They further maintain that the
context-bounded view of literacy is insufficient for uncovering the complexity of inherited
dominant assumptions of literacy, such as the notions of a great divide between orality and
literacy.
In response to these critiques, Street (2003) emphasizes that the social practice
perspective on literacy adopts the “situated” approach to literacies in relation to broader
movements towards a “social turn” (see also Barton, Hamilton, & Ivanič, 2000; Gee, 2000;
Maybin, 2000). In his view, it is the recognition of literacy practices of the local that
strengthens the researchers to shed light on the contradiction between local literacy practices
and institutional ideological assumptions of literacy. In this way, research with a focus on
“the local” could help both to reveal the hidden complexities of language and literacy
practices within a particular social context and to draw people‟s sensitivity to the local,
multiple-dimensioned variations of a dynamic social interaction. Thus, the “situated”
approach to literacy allows researchers to articulate how different discourses are interwoven
in people‟s everyday literacy activities, contradictory to the formalized, determined, and
normative consequences held in institutional and dominant Discourses (Gee, 2000; Street,
2003).
Recent work challenges the theoretical orientations limited to dichotomies between the
global and the local, the micro and the macro, the peripheral and the center, the ideological
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and the material, and structure and agency. Warriner and her colleagues (2007), for instance,
contribute a set of ethnographic studies that examine how immigration as a global process
and practice influences and shapes people‟s language learning and identity formation in the
transnational context. Based on their ethnographic descriptions that indicate the interactive
relationships between the large-scale institutional arrangements and local practices oriented
toward language learning, these researchers argue that “it is crucial to move beyond such
dichotomies … to explain how ideological processes influence social and interactional
practices (and vice versa), how hegemony works in specific „local‟ contexts, and how
individual actors and their practices are not only interpolated by but further act upon larger
historical, political, cultural, and social relations and events” (Warriner, 2007b, p. 206-207).
My research responds to this call for moving away from dichotomies and binaries, and
shifting toward an emphasis on processes and practices, by empirically tracking how
immigrants‟ integration processes in general and language and literacy practices in particular
operate and work across a range of contexts of home, school, job market, and workplace.
Through the lens of literacy as social practice, this dissertation illuminates the complicated
and consequential relationships between global/institutional processes, immigrants‟ language
and literacy engagements, learning practices, and social economic mobility. By focusing on
the participants‟ strategies in response to structural barriers they encountered across social
contexts, the research provides insights into the situated and contested ways of how skilled
immigrants draw on and mobilize their resources within constraints and possibilities, and
how their engagements are influenced and circumscribed by the global and institutional
arrangements. As a result, the qualitative ethnographic study makes it salient that the
consequences of literacy cannot be taken for granted and predicable, since they depend on
whether those literacy practices are valued as legitimate resources, and whether legitimacy is
granted to the user of that language in particular contexts. Hence, by tracking immigrants‟
trajectories with language and literacy across webs of discursive spaces, my research sheds
light on the ways that the ideologies of the dominant language circulate globally and locally,
and produce differences and social inequality through the multiple ways of devaluing
ethnolinguistic minorities‟ practices and regulating their pathways for having access to
resources and opportunities.
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Furthermore, the reciprocal relationship between the global and the local provides a lens
from which we can see the continuum of language and literacy practices of the participants.
This approach led me to uncover the dualities of literacy between the structuring ideology of
institutions and the linguistic practices of recent Chinese immigrants living in the situated
contexts. From there, I argue that literacy and orality is interwoven in such a way that
institutions impose power relations on people as well as facilitate people‟s interactions with
institutional representatives in the given communicative repertoires and their socio-economic
mobility in the new society. That is, literacy and orality, when they are brought together,
mutually inform the many ways of meaning-making exchanges between institutions and local
people in the process of control over orders of D/discourses.
In these ways, through examining “local contentious practices” defined and framed by
globalization processes, socio-economic practices, and ideological forces, this thesis research
offers detailed ethnographic accounts of the actual experiences of well-educated Chinese
immigrants‟ language uses and literacy practices across social spaces over time. In this
respect, the study opens up the possibility of appreciating and valuing the nuances of the
daily linguistic, rhetorical, and political tactics of ethnolinguistic minorities in the context of
asymmetrical power relationships. More importantly, this thesis research contributes not only
insights to better understanding why inequalities occur in Canada where immigrants are
“welcome,” but also a lens to unravel the root of the issue.
Along with the theoretical implications, this study brings to light the questionable
assumptions made about the language and literacy of immigrants. This dissertation set out to
interrogate the “language problem” discourse by looking at literacy on the local and
institutional sites. The juxtaposing reviews of Canadian immigration policies and the
evolving significance of literacy in the sociopolitical context, as I presented in Chapter 3,
demonstrate that immigration and literacy are the two interactive and interconnected policy
discourses. Driven by the market economy ideology, literacy has long been used as an
institutional strategy to address the economic needs of the country. In the Canadian
immigration policy context, literacy serves as a bureaucratic mechanism to keep the
“undesirable” out. Meanwhile, the governments‟ reports and documents on immigrants‟
literacy proficiency levels conduct top-down measurements of immigrants‟ existing resources,
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which serve the functions of the globalized new economy and thereby contribute to continued
marginalization and stereotypes across a range of socio-economic contexts. Thus, when the
policies emphasize the cause and effect relationships between literacy and economic growth,
and between dominant language proficiency and social economic mobility of individuals,
they become the powerful forms of reification, since the language and literacy practices of
ethnolinguistic minorities are necessary to be materialized along the line of race. This
dissertation provided substantial examples that uncovered this issue.
The systematic study of well-educated Chinese immigrants‟ experiences of linguistic
adaptation and economic integration presented in this dissertation highlights immigrants‟
active engagements with language and literacy across space and time. By paying attention to
my participants‟ specific ways of choosing, acting, and positioning in response to institutional
processes and local constraints they encountered, my research raises important questions
about what counts as legitimate “competence,” “knowledge,” and useful capital at the
intersection between the globalized economy and the particular communicative context, what
counts as a successful mobilization of resources for immigrants in the shifting conditions of
the new economy, and in what ways immigrants‟ practices and identities can be valued as
legitimate and productive resources in the larger institutional structures. In light of these
questions, I suggest that argument and suggestion on policies must be based on a true
understanding of the complexity of immigrants‟ lived experiences, in particular, how
language and literacy shape immigrants‟ everyday practices, in what ways language and
literacy are utilized to disadvantage and dominate people, and what contradictions and
tensions occur between the reality and the rhetoric. Better understanding these questions can
provide an alternative perspective and rich evidence in the policy making and implementing
process on the ground of benefits and rights of immigrant populations. Thus, I urge policy
makers, stakeholders, researchers, and educators to rethink where their underpinning values
and assumptions about literacy lie, and how to articulate these within the policy context.
The educational implications of this research are also important. In this dissertation, I
have indicated that schools (ESL/LINC programs and post-secondary schools) are the
gateway for Chinese immigrant professionals to anchor extended possibilities for linguistic
adaptation and social economic mobility in the new society. However, the negative effects of
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ESL/LINC programs and institutional marginalization of immigrant learners into certain
courses, as I showed in Chapter 6, draw critical attention not only to the policies and
pedagogical practices sustained in the educational contexts, but also to the issues of equal
access to learning opportunities associated with the recognition of what immigrant students
bring into the school and the classroom. Moreover, as I have demonstrated in this study,
schools are just one of many sites where learning occurs. What emerged from my data is that
immigrants are active agents in seeking, identifying, and taking hold of learning opportunities
while traveling across and between social domains. In this respect, my research sheds light on
the fact that skilled immigrants‟ multimodal uses of literacy serve as the effective agency and
funds of knowledge (Moll, 1992) crucial in acquiring language and cultural familiarity with
new environments and places in supporting and sustaining learning in their everyday lives. In
particular, literacy artifacts play an important role in making learning accessible and
sustainable across space and time.
These findings contribute insights to better understanding learning as fluid and dynamic,
a process which entails multidimensional collaborations between immigrant learners, teachers,
and other people (institutional agents, employers, peer students, team workers, and family
members) and constitutes “a complex weaving between learning and teaching across different
written and spoken language occurring in different locations: at home, at school, in the
community, and as ESL learners” (Appleby & Hamilton, 2006, p. 204). In this respect, this
study challenges the boundary, or dichotomy between formal and informal learning in and out
of school, by building “stronger bridges across the variety of contexts for learning” (Appleby
& Hamilton, 2006, p. 205), as well as by opening up possibilities for effective mutual
recognition of learning practices across sites.
These analyses convey three particular implications. First, the goals of educational
policies in general and ESL/LINC programs in particular need to pay attention to the “trans-”
character of language use and literacy practice of immigrants, rather than only focusing on
repairing immigrant newcomers‟ technical skills in the dominant language. Doing so requires
policy makers and educators to take into careful account the complex orientations and goals
of adult immigrant students attending schooling in the new society, what skills they bring into
the classroom, and in what ways teaching and learning can serve as a powerful intervention
319
that facilitates immigrants‟ settlement and integration processes with a result of increasing
control over their own life circumstances. To truly and effectively recognize and incorporate
immigrant learners‟ goals and existing skills and knowledge into the policy making process
entails systematic collection of information and sources of knowledge in the ongoing
processes of analyzing “what problems constitute cause for action, what kinds of knowledge
and representation of experience inform action and what kinds of action are warranted” (Lo
Bianco, 2001, p. 226). This kind of policy making process certainly involves multiple
collaborations among academics, teachers, and immigrant learners in the equal manner,
beyond the fulfillment of institutional goals for measurements and economic development on
a global scale. Attention may be profitably focused on how to incorporate the complex
interplay between immigrants‟ language and literacy engagements and their goal-directed
learning activities into settlement policies and educational programs, since the operations of
educational policies and the implementation of language and literacy programs will
undoubtedly produce a series of outcomes with profound and direct implications for
immigrants‟ integration processes and socio-economic mobility in the new country.
Second, this thesis research provides substantial examples indicating multimodal uses of
language and literacy of immigrants as they attempted to secure the opportunities for learning,
employment, networks, and economic upwards. Meanwhile, it shows that how curriculum,
pedagogy, and gatekeeping evaluation turned away from real life needs of immigrants. As
indicated in this research, the mismatch between the uniformity of curriculum and real life
needs of immigrants results in disengagement, resistance, and tension in pedagogical and
learning processes. These findings remind us the importance of understanding social theories
of literacy and situated learning in that they provide theoretical underpinnings and insights
that can help reveal and analyze the remarkable variations and complexities of everyday
language use and literacy practice that present significant challenges to classroom teachers. In
this way, the everyday literacy practices documented in this study and my reflection upon the
role of literacy artifacts in the participants‟ lived experiences have useful and important
implications for a new, facilitating curriculum and pedagogy as they can be drawn on and
adopted as teaching and learning materials relevant to immigrant students‟ lives. The
usefulness of Webpage, blogs, photographs, and textual materials in the settlement and
320
integration processes suggests that an emphasis on real uses of language and literacy and
attention to the situated contexts of language and literacy activities would help create a
pedagogical site in which “teachers and students become „ethnographers,‟ exploring the
various meanings and uses of literacy in the social context of the school and its surrounding
communities” (Street, 1997, p. 54).
In this respect, I suggest that the goals of teachers‟ instructional practices shift from how
to repair immigrant learners‟ insufficient oral communicative skills in English or French to
how to motivate them to make good use of their existing language capabilities, such as their
literacy competencies, in a set of social contexts. From the social practice perspective on
literacy that suggests the linkage between literacy and orality, the innovative approach that I
suggest here would be significant in improving immigrants‟ overall language proficiency
levels effectively, since it can help create and sustain positive language-use environments in
which immigrants students learn to take advantage of their knowledge and language
resources in dealing with situated social interactions and specific problems that they
encountered. Particularly, for immigrant newcomers who attend LINC/ESL programs, this
interactive approach to orality and literacy not only can facilitate their linguistic and social
adaptation to the new environment in the early settlement period in the practical way, but also
can raise their awareness of extended possibilities for strategically overcoming varied
challenges and hurdles they might confront over the course of their social economic mobility
in the host country. Hence, to provide immigrant students with opportunities of making use of
their funds of knowledge in the class is the key to making close connections between
curriculum, instructional practices, and immigrant students‟ goals and needs. Based on the
genuine recognition of immigrants‟ existing competencies, this kind of connection would
contribute to establishing a positive learning and communicative space in which immigrant
students are motivated and empowered to reflect upon, critique, and refine the language and
literacy practices that they engaged in the real world (Currie & Cray, 2004).
Third, the recognition of the usefulness of language and literacy of immigrant students
requires educators and teachers to develop their critical awareness of current curriculum and
assessment for measuring learning outcomes, and to “privilege the dialogic, contestable and
social nature of language and literacy” (Street, 1997, p. 52). The finding that immigrant
321
parents learn from and through their children draws attention to the breadth and depth of
these efforts. In this way, teacher education and teacher development should take active role
in developing teachers‟ (novices and the experienced) theoretical knowledge as well as
research strategies that help capture the richness and complexity of actual language and
literacy practices of immigrant learners. The combination between teaching and research can
be fruitful in that it can result in insights and innovative strategies not only for creating
effective dialogues between teachers and students in the classroom, but also for raising
teachers‟ awareness of the critical linkages among students‟ learning goals, instructional
practice, and underlying assumptions about language and literacy in curriculum and
textbooks. This ongoing teaching and research practice can equip teachers with a useful tool
that helps challenge the dominant language ideology, by emphasizing the heterogeneity of
learning and communicative practices, as well as by including themselves as active
participants in diverse networks of teaching, learning, research, and political engagement in
social equity.
9.3 Directions for Future Research
Researchers in the field of immigration, adult education, and second language learning
have discussed the issues of immigrants‟ language practices, socio-economic integration, and
identity formation in the new society for years. However, the situation that ethnolinguistic
minorities have confronted many forms of inequalities and discrimination has not been
improved much. As I have argued in Chapter 1, one of the hurdles that prevent us from truly
recognizing immigrants‟ existing resources is that researchers work within the deficit model
of differences and distinctions, and “language learning” is usually associated with “language
problems” or “barriers,” which are overemphasized in the academic field. As a result, such
findings of research into language use and literacy practice have failed to provide an in-depth
understanding of the root of the issues that ethnolinguistic minorities encountered, but they
become the agency for reproducing and disseminating social inequalities and dominant
ideologies.
In line with Street (1996) who suggests that research about people‟s lived experiences
focus more on what people already have rather than what they lack, the ethnographic
accounts presented in this dissertation provide detailed portraits of the lived experiences of
322
well-educated Chinese immigrants currently living in Canada. Despite their lives being full of
struggles and changes, these people demonstrated their abilities to refigure new ways of
dealing with continuously changing material and social conditions. While moving across
space and time, they drew upon, combined, and created their resources in many innovative
ways, in order to shift away from structural barriers and achieve their own goals. Based on
this important finding, I suggest that researchers develop an alternative perspective of seeing
and interpreting ethnolinguistic minorities‟ lived experiences by focusing on the role of daily
language and literacy activities of this particular group of people as it plays out in their socia l
economic mobility. More empirical research is needed to investigate under what circumstance
and for what particular reason immigrants invest and reinvest in language learning (Pierce,
1995), and what are the material and ideological consequences in the short and the long term.
For researchers who are interested in skilled immigrants‟ language practices and learning
activities, I suggest that literacy can be a promising and useful concept and tool of inquiry,
not only to reveal the ways in which skilled immigrants draw on their knowledge and skills
for equal opportunities, but also to gain insights into how ideologies, identity, and power are
intertwined and form multilayered contested sites that reproduce social categories. Through a
critical ethnographic lens of tracing and examining trajectories and storylines in situated
contexts, researchers can link literacy to broader social political discourses where lives of
immigrants are shaped and influenced by the process of the globalized new economy. In this
respect, it would be interesting to follow immigrants‟ lives over time, in order to examine
how the changing social, political, and economic conditions influence and mediate their
language and literacy practices, social identity formation, and learning endeavors. It is also
important to gain a more in-depth understanding of the transformative role of immigrants‟
multimodal uses of language and literacy through a transnational lens. Doing so allows
researchers not only to capture the connection between social practices, ideological
influences, and institutional arrangements, but also to address questions about immigrants‟
upward social economic mobility in global and transnational processes and practices in
general and multilingual and multicultural contexts in particular.
This thesis research contributes theoretical and methodological insights to practical
questions of access and recognition of immigrants‟ existing resources. Drawing from multiple
323
sources of data, my dissertation presents a well-focused study of the language adaptation and
social economic integration processes of well-educated Chinese immigrants. While
performing close analyses of the voices of the participants and their interpretations of their
social engagements, future research can collect more language and interactive data from other
people (such as, immigrant children, community members, classroom teachers, job
interviewers, employers, colleagues, and workplace trainers) that are involved in immigrants‟
lives to some extent. This approach would be significant in locating and analyzing a set of
contested terrains existing between institutional processes and practices and people‟s
engagements in having access to and sustaining social relations and particular identities in
their continued pursuit of participation and recognition across trans-institutional contexts.
More importantly, it may have potential to foster the supportive networking that forms
synergy among peoples who can make a contribution to the true recognition and genuine
value of resources and practices of immigrants.
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Epilogue
Immigrant professionals in this study demonstrated their abilities to make adjustments
and act upon the multi-dimensional expectations and requirements they confronted in the host
country. The strategies identified throughout this dissertation reflected their active responses
to changes and challenges across social contexts. However, confined by their disadvantaged
social and economic status, these strategies might have limited power in contributing to the
overall and continuing improvement of their circumstances and conditions. Indeed, despite
their entry into the Canadian labor market and a relatively longer period of living in Canada,
most of the participants revealed that they still lacked the sense of belonging or feelings of
being truly settled down. Employment alone, therefore, is not a panacea and cannot solve the
problems that immigrants encountered in the process of socio-economic mobility, since
having a job is not the end, but the beginning of their integration into the host country.
In light of so many institutional influences in their lives, the participants made efforts to
improve and refine their English skills in a cyclic process. Even though they emphasized that
they had no language problems dealing with routine communications and challenges they
encountered at work, most participants believed that they needed to develop further their oral
communication skills in English if they wanted to change to a better employment position.
Although Xiang Dong negotiated a raise with his boss successfully, the fear that the small
company would be easily attacked in the economic recession made him rethink Ming Fang‟s
advice on finding a job in a larger business enterprise.
In May 2007, Xiang Dong became a volunteer instructor teaching the course about C++
on
weekends at a private technical school well-known in the Chinese community. Despite Ming
Fang‟s recommendation that he directly register in an English public speech course, the one
that she had taken at Gainsway College, Xiang Dong said that he wanted to make a practical
choice as he saw that being a class instructor was similar to taking the supervisory position
that he might want to apply for in the future. As he indicated,
If I applied for a higher position, say, supervisor or manager, I needed not only to have
management abilities, but also to be capable of using English in an appropriate way. So,
through working as a class instructor, I have an opportunity to learn and practice my
325
speech competencies, in terms of how to manage my class, how to explain things
clearly, and how to engage with people through oral interactions. To train my speech
competence at Gainsway College? No way! See, Ming Fang. She went there and still
could not find a job. I do not see why I should spend money for nothing. (Telephone
conversation, May 27, 2007, my literal translation)
Although the lectures were delivered in Mandarin rather than in English, Xiang Dong
believed, “Giving a lecture in my first language was the quickest way to establish my courage
of giving a speech in public. This can help me make good sense of how I can market myself
with confidence in front of people” (Telephone conversation, May 27, 2007, my literal
translation).
In the same vein, after working several temporary, part-time positions, Ye Lan still could
not get a chance to locate a permanent full-time job with her local work experience.
Nonetheless, the experiences with these positions made her realize that having strong oral
communication skills in English was essential to ensure the quality of her services that
depended on how successfully she could engage with different people in conversations.
While hoping that having the well-trained speaking skills in English would add credit to her
competition for a full-time employment position in the future, Ye Lan enrolled herself in a
series of workshops on campus, in order to upgrade her techniques of making oral
presentations and public speech in a professional manner.
While some participants made investment in strengthening their communication skills
either in English or in Mandarin, others believed that gaining extra or higher professional
credentials was the means of securing a positive economic outcome in the future. For
example, in August 2007, Li Tao enrolled him in a part-time course that prepared him for an
assessment test for an advanced professional certificate in the field of production
management. As he explained, this advanced credential would allow him to compete for a
relatively higher, well-paid occupational position, such as Production Manager or even
Consultant. Likewise, Jian Hui reported that he was preparing for an evaluation test for a
national chef certificate so that he was able to apply for the position of first cook in a hotel. In
September 2007, the second year after he graduated from Metrolinx College, Jian Hui, while
keeping two jobs at the time, went back to the college and studied part-time in the diploma
program in the Food and Beverage Management Department. Attributing his low wages to
326
the position of being a cook, Jian Hui hoped that he would not be “trapped in the kitchen”
any more. He learned that people with the credential in the field of food and beverage could
gain better employment opportunities and higher levels of wages in the labor market.
Similarly, after two years of working as cook in different scales of food services
organizations, Jia Wei had only gained a slim chance for improving his occupational status, in
spite of his credential in the field of Culinary Management earned from Metrolinx College.
Although he claimed that he learned to accept this reality, Jia Wei expressed his frustration
that because of his social identity as an immigrant, he was given no chance to fulfill his self
actualization in the host labor market. As he pointed out,
Finding a cook job is not difficult. But, I know, few Chinese immigrants will have a
chance to be promoted as a chef even though we work here for more than ten years in
the field. …So, we always lead a life on the survival level. We are just not allowed to
reach a higher level position. See, Yu Qing, she was offered a job to work as
maintenance administrator, but no chance to be promoted at a managerial level. Being
an immigrant, we just have no chance. (MSN Conversation, October 21, 2007)
In September 2008, Jia Wei went back to Metrolinx College where he registered in a full-time
program majoring in bakery while keeping a part-time job at the Club. Although commuting
between Waterloo and Toronto back and forth three times a week made him exhausted, Jia
Wei thought that his experience of re-entering into the college for an extra credential would
strengthen his ability to remove some of the obstacles to his continuous pursuit of
occupational advancement in the workplace.
Ming Fang quit her job after three months of working at the Welland‟s Furniture Store, in
spite of the fact that she gained extended opportunities of speaking English on the working
site. In retrospect, Ming Fang learned that effective communication was hard to achieve since
her language differences in association with her social identity of being immigrant were
usually recognized as interference in building up a “trust” relationship with people on the
shop floor. Reflecting on the negative impact of her spoken English on her relations with the
given working context, Ming Fang seemed to change her attitude toward her literacy
competence, the very competence that assisted her in quickly adapting to the requirements of
the organization. As she commented,
I relied too much on something in the written form. When people spoke of something to
327
me, I always wanted to confirm what I heard. This thought really bothered me and
made me not confident in my listening skills. When I asked them to repeat, some
customers became impatient. They must think that my English is so bad that I am a
salesperson at the lowest level. So, they distrusted me. This made the job hard to do.
(Interview excerpt, October 26, 2006, my literal translation)
Having said that, Ming Fang told me, “I am thinking to go back to college to study
accounting because it might lead me to find a job easily” (Interview excerpt, February 26,
2007, my literal translation). To her mind, being an accountant might be an occupation that
would allow her to use her literate skills as well as to avoid “speaking a lot” in front of people,
while saying, “but being a salesperson, I have to speak a lot and to figure out what they think,
behave, and say. This is so complicated” (Interview excerpt, February 26, 2007, my literal
translation).
Indeed, different learning endeavors and language practices intersecting with certain
relations with a particular workplace might lead to the participants‟ different perceptions of
their English competencies as well as of their social positioning at work. Among the
participants, Yu Qing reported that she had no plan to take any courses in and out of school,
since she believed that her spoken English was making good progress with collegial support
in her learning practices at work. Her positive learning experience on the working site
seemed to become a powerful motivator and stress reliever for her to deal with the problems
that she encountered in daily life. Yu Qing reported, with a touch of pride, that she became
brave enough to make a phone call to the credit card center of the CIBC bank and indicated
an extra charge on her bill statement, in contrast to her previous experience that she had
avoided picking up a phone call, in fear of speaking English. While keeping good
relationships with her colleagues through asking for language support, Yu Qing affirmed,
I did not feel I was treated unequally at work because of my English. In fact, I think, it
was because they knew I did not speak fluent English that my colleagues were kind and
patient to me. So, from my point of view, to gain the recognition from my colleagues,
working hard was much more important than speaking good English. (Telephone
conversation, December 17, 2007, my literal translation)
In terms of updates on the participants as of January 2009, Li Tao did not get a chance to
locate a full-time position although he successfully passed the test for the advanced certificate
in production management. While nothing was changed for improving his employment status,
328
Li Tao seemed to become relaxed about his situation. He was happy when he told me that his
wife found a well-paid job in the IBM Company right after she earned her Master‟s degree in
computer science in spring 2008. They moved into their new house in August 2008 and were
eager to plan their future family life. In a similar vein, Ye Lan complained that there were few
full-time job openings available in her area. Despite several employment opportunities for
part-time positions, Ye Lan decided not to accept them since she wanted to concentrate on
looking for a full-time position.
After their second child was born, Xiang Dong and Ming Fang rented a two-bedroom
apartment near to Xiang Dong‟s working place in summer 2008. Because of the change in his
family life, and because of the global economic recession at that time, Xiang Dong
considered that holding a job with stable incomes was much more important than looking for
a higher position that might throw him into an uncertain situation again. Upon moving into
the new place, Ming Fang called me several times, complaining that there were not enough
useful resources available to her, such as free newspapers and flyers, in the neighborhood,
and she found limited opportunities to speak English with her neighbors because most of
them were immigrants speaking Russian and Arabic. On New Year‟s Day of 2009, Xiang
Dong and I bumped into each other on the MSN. He told me that he was still keeping the old
track of his life, and Ming Fang stayed at home and was busy looking after their two children
everyday. In ten minutes of our chats, Ming Fang joined in and wrote, “I am thinking to
register in a part-time program at college this year. But, I have no clear idea what I am going
to study??? Any suggestion for me???” (MSN Conversation, January 2, 2009).
Jia Wei and Yu Qing bought a house in spring 2008 in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. While
settling down, Yu Qing appeared to enjoy her family life after a busy working day. While Jia
Wei became busy between work and school, Yu Qing took all responsibilities for their
daughter‟s education while picking up learning moments for practicing her English. However,
Jia Wei felt disappointed when his wages were not improved much after he earned his second
diploma in the program of bakery at Metrolinx College. In the 2009 Chinese New Year, Jia
Wei called and told me that he was thinking of changing his career path, to study computer
science at college, since he came to realize that his diplomas were “no use” for better
economic returns. While his wife and friends supported his decision, Jia Wei seemed to face a
329
dilemma, as he said, “I am afraid, when I come out of the school, I still cannot get a good job
because they might think I am too old to work in the IT field. I need to think about it
carefully this time” (Telephone Conversation, January 26, 2009, my literal translation).
In October 2007, Jian Hui found a full-time cook position with wages $18 per hour in a
larger university in Toronto, and dropped out of Metrolinx College, half way through his
study. Although his wife pushed him to complete his study at college, Jian Hui seemed to
become decisive, saying, “It is not necessary to stay at school as long as I got a good job. I do
not understand why I continue to waste my money and time for nothing” (Telephone
Conversation, January 26, 2008, my literal translation). In July 2009, when his wages were
automatically increased to $21 per hour, Jian Hui told me joyfully, “I am satisfied for
everything right now. I decided to sell myself to my boss and stay there forever” (Telephone
Conversation, July 16, 2009, my literal translation).
330
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Appendix A
Information Letter for Participants
Volunteers Requested
(English Version)
Dear Sir or Madam:
My name is Lurong Wang, a Ph.D. student at the Ontario Institute for Studies in
Education, University of Toronto (OISE/UT). I am conducting a study as the dissertation
component of my doctoral degree requirements. In this study, I am interested in learning how
well-educated Chinese immigrants‟ language abilities in English that they had gained in
Mainland China influence their lived experiences in Canada, and what roles of their reading
and writing abilities play in their everyday activities in a set of social contexts in Canadian
society. The research is supervised by Professor Monica Heller, who can be contacted, if you
wish, at (416) 923-6641 ext. 2549 or [email protected].
The project will last 9 months. It will be divided into 2 phases. In the first phase (the first
3 months), you, as a participant, will be asked to talk about your language learning
experiences in Mainland China prior to your immigration and language uses in the early
settlement experience in Canada. I will focus on your lived experiences in the past in this
phase. In our meeting, you and I will also discuss the roles of your English abilities in
motivating you to immigrate to Canada, as well as in helping and/or hindering you in
participating in social activities in Canadian society. To facilitate our conversation, I will
offer you a guideline with a list of topic questions that we are going to talk. Based on what
we talk in each meeting, I will ask you to write a short story with focusing on your English
learning experiences in Mainland China or language uses in specific social contexts in
Canada. You can write either in English or in Chinese. There is no word limitation. Before
you start writing journals, you and I will discuss, identify, and decide particular topics
relevant to your personal experiences. So, I hope it will not take much amount of time for you
to write a journal. In the first phase, you and I will meet every two weeks, to talk about your
English learning experiences in Mainland China and language uses in Canada, and share your
journal entries with me.
The second phase will last for about five or six months. You will be asked to keep writing
journals every four weeks and share your writings with me every four weeks in our meeting.
In this phase, I will shift my focus from what you experienced in the past both in Mainland
China and in Canada to how you engage in your everyday activities at present in Canadian
society. You are asked to record a couple of particular events related to your language uses in
a set of specific public contexts, such as stores, hospitals, libraries, schools, workplaces,
community centers, and so on every two weeks. You are also asked to document what
strategies you use while engaging in reading and writing activities in a particular social
setting. We will meet every two weeks, to talk about how you use your language abilities in
English and what you think about the role of language uses in these contexts. All meetings
will last around 1.5 hour and will be recorded, then transcribed for analysis.
346
The participation in this study will be voluntary. You may withdraw at any time, for any
reason without consequence. I will try my best to protect your privacy throughout the study. I
will use pseudonyms in all my notes. I will use your pseudonyms when discussing my
research with my thesis supervisor and committee members. I will use your pseudonyms in
writing up the results of the study. For the purpose of the study, I will keep your journals as
important data resources for my analysis. If you want me to return your journals to you, I
would like to do so as long as the study is completed. The original audiotapes, transcriptions,
and other written documents will be destroyed five years after completion of the study. When
I‟m done writing up the individual participants‟ section, I would like to show it to you for
your feedback. You are free to ask that any parts be deleted.
For the purpose of the study, I am interested in working with 6 to 8 Chinese immigrants.
If you are aged between the early 30‟s and 40‟s, if you landed in Canada between the late
1990s and early 2000s, if you have stayed in Toronto for about three to five years, and if you
would like to write and share your life experiences with me, please contact me.
If you are interested and willing to be a voluntary participant in the study, please sign two
copies of the form of this letter below and then fill out a questionnaire attached. When you
finish signing the form and filling out the questionnaire, please keep one copy of the letter
and form for your record. And, please use the stamped envelope enclosed to mail the other
copy of the signed letter and the questionnaire to the following address. Or you could contact
me by telephone at (416) 515-1958 or e-mail ([email protected]) and ask me to pick it
up in person. Please contact me if you would like to know more information of the project, or
if you have any questions and concerns about the study.
Sincerely,
Lurong Wang
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Adult Education and Counseling Psychology
Ontario Institution for Studies in Education
University of Toronto
Mailing Address:
Lurong Wang
507-35 Charles Street West
Toronto, ON
M4Y 1R6
347
Please sign below if you are interested in the study and agree to fill out the questionnaire and
provide a way I could contact you.
You could contact me by
Phone: _______________________________________________________
E-mail: _______________________________________________________
Mailing Address: _________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Fax: ___________________________________________________________
_____________________________ ____________________________
Your signature Date
348
Appendix B
Information Letter for Participants
Volunteers Requested
(Chinese Version)
邀 请 信
亲爱的朋友：
我叫王璐瑢。现正在多伦多大学教育学院攻读博士学位。目前本人正在从事毕业论文课题的
研究工作。这项研究是关于中国移民在加拿大的生活，学习，和就业经历的研究。本人希望通过这
项研究能够了解在加拿大生活的中国移民是怎样利用他们已有的英语语言能力来适应加拿大社会
的。我的论文的指导老师是 Monica Heller 教授。她的电话是（416）923-6641，分机号是 2549。她
的电子邮件信箱是 [email protected]。我非常愿意为您提供此项研究的详细情况。以此，我
真诚地邀请您与我合作共同参与我的研究工作。
这想研究计划持续九个月，共分两个阶段。在最初的三个月里我们将主要通过对话采访和周记
的方式（书写语言和字数不限）对我们在中国和加拿大的学习，工作，和生活情况做一个回忆和总
结。在此基础上我们将共同研究与此有关的一系列的问题。例如，我们在中国所接受的教育，尤其
是英文语言教育对我们在加拿大的移民生活，包括定居，就业，学习，和工作过程中起的的作用。
我将根据我个人的移民经历为您提供一系列相关写作题目。同时，根据我们的谈话内容，我将和您
共同讨论与您生活经历有关的写作题目。我们将每两个星期聚会一次。我们共同讨论我们在加拿大
的生活经历和与此有关的一系列有关的问题和感受。我们的每此聚会将持续一到两个小时。我将会
对我们的讨论的内容录音并做为数据进行分析。
在第二个研究阶段，我们将在五到六个月的时间里，对我们已有的英文语言能力在我们日常生
活，工作，和学习中的作用进行深入的研究。我将为您提供一下方便条件帮助您记载日常生活情况。
第一，我将为您提供表格来帮助您记载每天的英语语言使用情况。第二，您也可以用录音的方式详
细记录您每天的生活情况。您也可以通过电话或电子邮件的形式描述您一天的生活情况。我们将两
星期聚会一次。共同研究我们的英语语言能力在我们日常生活中的作用。在此过程中，我希望您将
收集您生活中的相关资料，包括书信，照片，文件，和相关表格，作为记载您日常生活中英语使用
情况的相关辅助资料。在这个期间，您将继续进行周记写作。我们将每两周聚会一次，并对周记和
您的日常英语使用经历进行讨论。
在第二研究阶段的后一到两个月里，我将邀请您参与我分析数据的工作。在此过程中您将对您
在加拿大的英语语言使用和变化过程做一个总结。在此基础上我将对您的英语语言使用和变化过程
与您在加拿大的生活，学习，和就业进行系统深入的分析。此外，我们将交换我们共同参与此项研
究的感受和体会。
为了保护您的个人隐私，我将在我的论文中删除有关您身份的一切相关资料，其中包括您的姓
名，家庭地址，学校，和工作单位名称。我将对所有的研究资料做谨慎处理。所有的研究资料和数
据均存锁在本人的文件柜中。仅供本人和本人的指导老师参考。您有权审阅有关您的研究记录，并
且要求得知研究结果。在整个过程中您有权随时退出参与此项研究。
如果您愿意参与此项研究，请您在下面的表格内签字并注明我与您联系方式。为了对您有一个
初步的了解，请您抽时间填写问卷调查。填写完毕后，请您将填好的表格和问卷调查方入我已为您
准备好的信封内在一个星期内邮寄给我。或者，如果您愿意也可以当面交给我。如果您有什么问题
349
或疑问可以通过电话（416-515-1958）或电子邮件（[email protected]）与我联系。如果您愿意
也可以与我的导师 Monica Heller 教授联系。她的电话是（416）923-6641，分机号是 2549。她的电
子邮件信箱是 [email protected]。
如果您对这项研究有任何疑问，我非常愿意为您解答。
此致
敬礼
王璐瑢
2006 年 月 日
我的邮寄地址：
Lurong Wang
507-35 Charles Street West
Toronto, ON
M4Y 1R6
如果您愿意参与此项研究，请在下面的表格内签字并注明我与您的联系方式。
您的电话： ——————————————————————————
您的 email 地址： ——————————————————————————
您的邮寄地址： ____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
您的传真： ____________________________________________________
_____________________________ __________________________
签字 日期
350
Appendix C
Aa
351
352
353
Appendix D
Background Information of Individual Participants
After about one month of searching, I secured one participant, Jian Hui who had attended
my previous research project in 2001 (Wang, 2002), and was interested in joining in my
current thesis study as well. I first met Jian Hui at an ESL school in 2001 when I undertook
the data collection for my Master‟s thesis. Since then, we became friends and have kept
regular contacts.
Jian Hui
Jian Hui had earned his mechanical engineering diploma at a university in Hubei
Province. He was employed as mechanic technician and then was promoted as a manager in
the technical department by a telecom company in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.
Jian Hui came to Canada in May 1999 when he was 30 years old. He first landed in
Vancouver, and then moved to Toronto in August 2000 when his wife decided to study at a
university in Toronto.
At the time when I asked Jian Hui to join in the research, he was a full-time student
studying in a Chef Training Program in the Department of Hospitality at Metrolinx College
in Toronto.
Jian Hui introduced my research to his fellow classmate, Jia Wei who was studying in the
program of culinary management in the Department of Hospitality at Metrolinx College.
They registered in some same courses and became friends thereafter. Jia Wei showed his
enthusiasm about the project. He immediately introduced his wife, Yu Qing to me since he
thought that Yu Qing might fit my criteria for the research. Jia Wei and I arranged a time that
I paid a visit to his family. After we talked for about two hours, I decided to recruit the couple
to my project.
The Jia Wei Household
The Jia Wei household is composed of three people: Jia Wei, aged 38, his wife, Yu Qing,
aged 35, and their 7 year-old daughter, Amy. The family came from Zhengzhou, the capital
city of Henan province and immigrated to Canada in the early 2003. When I visited the
family in December of 2005, they lived in a basement with one bedroom in the east part of
Toronto. At that time, Jia Wei was in his first year of study at college. Yu Qing was working
as technical maintenance administrator in a large telecom company in Waterloo. Amy, their
daughter, was a Grade 2 student at a school, ten-minute walk from their place.
Jia Wei was born into an intellectual family in Henan Province. After he graduated
from a high school, he decided not to continue his education. He became an
354
apprentice in a factory. After two years of working in the factory, Jia Wei made a decision to
go back to school. As Jia Wei said, working at a factory made him realize that education is
significant in becoming a successful person in society. At the time when he had obtained his
mechanical engineering diploma, he made up his mind to open his own business.
Yu Qing was born into an army officer‟s family. She used to be Jia Wei‟s classmate in
the high school, and they met again after five years at an alumni party. Upon graduation
from a prestigious university in Henan province, Yu Qing was immediately employed as
computer engineer by a nation-owned company. After two years of working at the company,
she was promoted as a departmental supervisor. A year after her promotion, Yu Qing decided
to immigrate to Canada and persuaded Jia Wei to go with her.
Two days after our meeting, Yu Qing called and told me that her friend, Xiang Dong and
his wife, Ming Fang would like to take part in the project. I made a phone call immediately.
Xiang Dong and I scheduled a time that I paid a home visit to his family in the east end of
Toronto.
The Xiang Dong Household
The Xiang Dong household was composed of three people: Xiang Dong, aged 35, his
wife, Ming Fang, aged 34, and their 7-year-old daughter, June. When I met them in
December of 2005, the family rented a one-bedroom apartment in the east end of Toronto. At
the time we met, Xiang Dong was working as a computer programmer in a privately owned
company. Ming Fang was a housewife. She had been looking for a job for about eight
months since she graduated from Gainsway College in Toronto. Their daughter, June, was a
student of Grade 2 at an elementary school in the neighborhood.
Xiang Dong came from a small village in Liaoning Province. His father was a principal
of an elementary school in the village, and his mother was a housewife. Xiang Dong was the
most diligent one among four children in the family. He became the first and the only one to
receive higher education in the village. After his graduation from the university, he was hired
as a computer engineer by a big nation-owned company in Zhengzhou, the capital city of
Henan province, and became Yu Qing‟s colleague. Xiang Dong had been promoted to be the
departmental supervisor because of his excellent work performance.
Ming Fang was born into a medical family. She came from Hunan province. Ming Fang
left her family and went to Henan province for her higher education. After she had earned a
diploma in business management, Ming Fang was employed as assessor by a big insurance
company in Zhengzhou. Ming Fang met Xiang Dong when she was working in Henan
province.
Two years after their daughter was born, Ming Fang persuaded Xiang Dong to apply as
an independent immigrant to Canada. After he submitted an application to an immigration
agency, Xiang Dong quit his job in the company, left Ming Fang and his daughter behind,
and went to Beijing. Xiang Dong was employed as departmental manager in a telecom
company in Beijing. Xiang Dong and Ming Fang, with their daughter, landed in Toronto in
the early 2002.
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I first came cross the name of Li Tao through a friend who is Li Tao‟s nephew. I
introduced my research to my friend and gave him several copies of the solicitation letter and
questionnaire to distribute among his friends. A few days later, my friend called telling me
that his uncle, Li Tao, would like to take part in the research.
Li Tao
Li Tao was born into an intellectual family in Tianjin. He had earned a Degree of
Bachelor of Science from a prestigious university in Tianjin. After graduation, Li Tao was
employed as engineer and then promoted as supervisor in a world-famous company. Two
years later, Li Tao went back to the university to study for the MBA. In 1998, Li Tao
submitted his application as an independent immigrant to the Canadian Embassy in Beijing
and landed in Toronto with his wife in 1999.
After one-year experience of looking for a job in Toronto, Li Tao decided to go back to
school. He started his undergraduate program in the Department of Computer Science at a
larger university in Toronto in fall 2001. Three years later, he completed his undergraduate
study successfully. At the time when he joined in the research project, Li Tao was working as
an inventory planner, by contract, at a larger company in Toronto.
While continuing to make contact with Chinese immigrants through taking part in social
events, I met Ye Lan who fit my selection criteria and would like to share her time with me in
the research.
Ye Lan
Ye Lan, aged 31, came from Beijing and landed in Toronto in 2001. Ye Lan was working
as part-time web designer in a research institute at the time when I started the project. After
she had earned her degree of Bachelor of Science from a university in Beijing, Ye Lan
worked as pre-sale engineer for a well-known telecom company in Beijing. Ye Lan planned
to study abroad and thought immigrating to Canada might be the best and quick way to turn
her dream into reality. After she submitted her application to an immigration agency, Ye Lan
started to prepare for the TOEFL and GRE tests.
In 2001, as soon as she landed in Toronto, Ye Lan applied for her postgraduate study at
university. With relatively high GRE and TOEFL test scores, Ye Lan received an offer in two
months from a larger university in Toronto. In fall 2002, Ye Lan became a Master‟s student
at the Department of Information Science at the university. At the time when I met her, Ye
Lan had worked on her current position for four months.
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Appendix E
Interview Guideline
Below are the range of topic questions. They cover varied aspects of your life both in
Mainland China and in Canada. These topic questions aim to help you recall your life stories
in your memory and to prompt our conversations in the meeting. After you read these topic
questions, please let me know what other particular topics relevant to your own personal
experiences, especially your learning and using English both in Mainland China and in
Canada.
In Mainland China
1. Describe your general educational (learning) experiences
Any particular events, persons, ideas, and perceptions that influenced your
experiences in this process?
2. Describe your professional experiences
Any particular reasons that lead you to make the decision to choose the job?
3. Describe your language (Chinese and English) learning experiences
Any particular perceptions and plans when you learned the language?
Language that you frequently use at home, at school, and in the workplace?
Feelings, views, and perceptions that you had when you use a particular language at
home, at school, and in the workplace?
Your self-evaluation on your language abilities (Chinese, English). Particular events
related to your description and self-evaluation?
4. Describe why and how you made a decision to immigrate to Canada?
Your ideas what (things, resources) you thought you have and lack before you came to
Canada?
Your plans and strategies to make use of what you had?
Your plans and strategies to make up what you lack?
5. Focus on language and literacy practices in Mainland China
Your views on roles of reading, writing, speaking activities (Chinese and English) in
your lived experiences in Mainland China?
Describe particular events related to reading, writing, speaking activities (Chinese and
English) in your life in Mainland China?
6. Other relevant topics?
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In Canada
1. Describe your own experience when you came to Canada in the first week, first month,
or first year…
Any particular events related to your description?
Describe your feelings in this period?
2. Describe barriers, difficulties, and challenges that you face over time.
in the first month
in the first year
in the second year
…
at present
3. Describe your language learning experiences in Canada
Where and how you made up what you lacked?
Feelings, views, and perceptions that you had when you use a particular language
(English or Chinese) at home, at school, and in the workplace?
Your views on your language abilities, where, how you made use of your existed
language abilities?
4. Your self-evaluation on your language abilities (Chinese, English)
5. Focus on language and literacy practices in Canada
Which aspects of language abilities in English helped you in the early time of your
arrival in Canada?
Did your existing language abilities in English help you in your everyday life? How
did they help you?
How did your language abilities help you cope with the difficulties? Give me
examples.
Your views of roles of reading, writing, speaking activities in your lived experiences
in the early time of your arrival in Canada, and over time?
Describe particular events, activities related to reading, writing, and speaking
activities in different contexts?
6. Describe any events and experiences in 2nd year, 3rd year, 4th year, 5th year…
Any changes and challenges in learning and using the language across these years?
Any same and differences from what you expected before you immigrated to Canada?
7. Other relevant topics?
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Appendix F
Logbook Diary Sheet
Writer’s Name Date
Time Activity: what/where/with whom Reading/Writing: Which Language Speaking: Which Language
Morning
Noon
Afternoon
Evening
(Contact: Lurong Wang, OISE/UT) Thank You!
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Appendix G
Event Table
Questions to answer about your chosen event of language use!
Writer’s Name Date
What event did you choose?
Who was involved in this event?
Where did it take place?
Why did it happen?
What did lead up to this event and what did exactly happen?
How was it being carried out? (Please give examples of the artifacts used, including texts, tools, books, documents, and so on)
How did you feel when you took part in the event?
How did other people behave or feel when they took part in the event?
How did you know how to act in this situation and
how did you learn to do it?
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Were there any difficulties or gaps in what you took
part in? Did you overcome the difficulties? If yes, what strategies did you use? If not, why and what did happen?
What was the history behind this event? How did things come to be organized or happen in this way? And were there any changes in the situation similar to this event?
Who did decide what people should do in this setting and how were these decisions made? (What is your reflection on this event or this situation?)
Can you identify points of tension or conflict associated with this activity/setting? What are they?
Are there other people connected to this event who are not present? How are they connected to it?
Were there any rules about who could take part in this event and what they could or could not do?
What will happen (happened) as a result of this event
of language use?
Do you have any questions related to the event you have chosen?
Write your reflection here.
(Contact: Lurong Wang, OISE/UT) Thank You!
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Appendix H
Transcription Conventions
CAPITAL speaker‟s emphasis in the utterance
( ) researcher‟s comments, notes, and translation.
… speech pause
[ ] paralinguistic behaviors
Italic researcher‟s observational descriptions
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Appendix I
Logbook Diaries, Journal Writing, and Literacy Artifacts: An Example
Xiang Dong, like other participants, was afraid that he had nothing to write because his life
fell into the trap of his routines. He usually said that his daily activities followed a simple line
between life and work. Nonetheless, Xiang Dong kept writing a journal every two weeks which
he submitted to me in our meeting. He wrote his journal on a piece of paper with stripes, on
every other line, double-sided, with clean and good handwriting. He wrote his journal both in
English and in Chinese. Xiang Dong usually said,
项东: 我知道我写的很简单。花了很长时间考虑，但是，还是不知道有什么值得写的。
(Interview excerpt, March 12, 2006)
Xiang Dong:
I know what I wrote in my journal is simple. It
took me a long time to think of what I should
write. But, I still had no idea of what was worth
writing.
(My literal translation)
One night in March 2006, Xiang Dong called telling me that his car was hit by a truck on a
parking lot in front of a supermarket. He told me that he was writing a report to his insurance
company and asked me whether I had time to revise it for him.
项东: 你知道吗？当时，警察说这是我的责任。这太不公平了！我要尽快把这件事报告给保险公司，把事情说清楚。
(Interview excerpt, June 3, 2006)
Xiang Dong:
You know what? The policeman said that it was
my fault in the accident. This is unfair! I must
report to my insurance company and clarify the
truth as soon as possible.
(My literal translation)
After hearing his brief description of the accident, I asked Xiang Dong to send me the report as
soon as he completed it. Five minutes after we hung up the phone, I received his email message
attached with the report. In the next two hours, I revised Xiang Dong‟s report and discussed the
details with him over the phone.
Two days after the accident, Xiang Dong and I had an interview meeting as we had
scheduled. In the beginning, he gave me a piece of paper on which he wrote the scripts of his
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interactions with the truck driver and the policeman on the spot of the accident. On the other
paper, Xiang Dong drew a set of sketches recording the sequence of the accident. With
reference to the sketches he drew, Xiang Dong gave me a detailed illustration of how the
accident happened. The scripts initiated Xiang Dong‟s description regarding what he did after
the accident happened, what the truck driver and the policeman said to him, and what he felt
when the policeman came and judged that it was Xiang Dong‟s fault in the accident. While
reading his sketches, I asked him to give me a more detailed explanation of how the accident
happened. Once in a while, I interrupted him and asked some questions for his clarification.
The next day after our meeting, Xiang Dong called me:
项东: 保险公司打电话让我去 the Collision Report
Centre 照相。我去了，把我画的那些图也留给他们了。我想这些图和拍的照片会帮助他们了解真相的。
(Interview excerpt, June 21, 2006)
Xiang Dong:
My insurance company called today requiring me
to take some photos of my car‟s damages at the
Collision Report Center. I went and left them those
sketches about how the car accident happened. I
think that the sketches plus those photos they took
can help them know the truth.
(My literal translation)
Our discussions of the accident continued over two months, till Xiang Dong got a final
judgment from his insurance company. During this time, Xiang Dong kept records of the
progressive sequence of his dealing with the accident in his logbooks in terms of the
information he identified from varied resources and his interactions with institutional agents.
He sometimes sent me an article or passage that he downloaded from an official website via
email asking for my explanation when he was uncertain of his understanding. He jotted down
the utterances with which he interacted with institutional agents and asked me whether his
language delivered his goal clearly.
These articles, passages, and bits and pieces of papers that Xiang Dong used to record his
exchanges with institutional representatives became a set of literacy artifacts that allowed me to
observe and trace how he made efforts to deploy his language and literacy skills as his symbolic
system of resistance when he realized that he would be positioned subordinately in institutional
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structures. One night on the tenth week after the accident, my phone rang. I heard the voice of
Xiang Dong from the other end:
项东: 今天，保险公司打电话告诉我，The accident is
not my fault. 他们过几天会寄 张支票给我修车。按理我应该谢谢他们。可是，我当时一点迟疑都没有，对他们说：事实就是这样的。
(Interview excerpt, August 5, 2006)
Xiang Dong:
My insurance company called today telling me:
The accident is not my fault. They will mail a
cheque to me for the expense of my car fixing. I
should have thanked them. But, without thinking
for a second, I said, “I have told you the truth.”
(My literal translation)
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Appendix J
Consent Letter
（English Version）
I, ______________________, agree to participate in Lurong Wang‟s doctoral research.
(Please Print Your Name Here)
I understand that this is a nine-month study which will be divided into two phases. I
understand that for the purpose of the study, the first phase will last for three months, the
second phase for six months. I understand, in the first three months, I will be asked to
1) recall my experiences of learning and using English in the past, both in Mainland China
and in Canada. I will share my English learning experiences in Mainland China prior to
my immigration and language uses in the early settlement experience in Canada, with
Ms. Wang in a biweekly interviewing meeting of two hours or less each, and
2) write journals every two weeks in the first phase, to recall and reflect upon my English
learning experiences in Mainland China prior to my immigration and language uses in
specific sets of social settings in Canada since arrival.
In the second phase (last for about five or six months), I will be asked to
3) keep writing journals every four weeks and share my writings with Ms. Wang every four
weeks in our meeting,
4) record a couple of my daily events and activities related to my language uses in a
specific social setting every two weeks, and share with Ms. Wang in a biweekly
interviewing meeting of two hours or less each, and
5) document my strategies that I use while engaging reading and writing activities in a
particular social setting, and share with Ms. Wang in a biweekly interviewing meeting of
two hours or less each.
I understand that as a voluntary participant, I may withdraw from the study at any time, for
any reason without consequence. I may refuse to answer any questions, or to stop the interview
at any time. I understand that my specific answers and comments will be kept confidential. I
understand that my name will not be identified in any report or presentation that may arise from
the study. I understand that only Ms. Wang, the principal investigator and her thesis committee
will have access to the information collected during the study. I understand that a summary of
the findings of the study will be sent to me, and that, if I wish, I may upon request ask Ms Wang
to return my journals to me as long as the study is completed.
If I have any further questions and concerns regarding this study, I can contact Ms. Lurong
Wang by calling her at (416) 515-1958, or by emailing her at [email protected]. I can
366
also contact her supervisor Dr. Monica Heller by phone (416) 923-6641, ext. 2549, or by
emailing [email protected].
Hereby, upon my understandings, I am interested in participating in this study. I would like
to sign on the two copies of the consent form. After Ms Wang and I sign the consent form, I will
keep one copy for my own record and return the other one to Ms Wang for her record. I will
contact her if I have any questions and concerns about the study.
Mailing Address
Lurong Wang Prof. Monica Heller
507-35 Charles Street West CREFO, OISE/UT
Toronto, ON M4Y 1R6 252 Bloor Street West
Tel: (416) 515-1958 Toronto, ON M5S 1V6
Informed Consent Form
I, ___________________, have read the “Information Letter for Participants,” carefully, written
by Ms. Lurong Wang. I agree to participate in the study under the conditions outlined above.
______________________ ______________________ ______________
Participant‟s Name (Print) Participant‟s Signature Date
______________________ ______________________ ______________
Researcher‟s Name (Print) Researcher‟s Signature Date
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Appendix K
Consent Letter
（Chinese Version）
合 作 书
（致被访者）
本人 （ ）同意与王璐瑢女士合作参与她的博士论文的研究工作。本人在通过认真仔细
的阅读王女士的邀请信后对她的研究课题有了一定的了解。我明白在今后的九个月里我将与王女士合
作共同完成她的课题的研究工作。在项课题共分两个阶段。
1) 在最初的三个月里我将和王女士通过交谈和写周记的方式对我在中国和加拿大的学习，工
作，和生活情况做一个回忆和总结。我可以自由选择书写语言，字数不限。我将和王女士
每两个聚会一次。届时我将讲述我的经历，并且与王女士讨论与此有关的一系列问题。例
如，我们在中国所接受的教育，尤其是英文语言教育对我们在加拿大的移民生活，包括定
居，就业，学习，和工作过程中起的的作用。我们的每此聚会将持续一到两个小时。在此
过程中，王女士将会对我们的讨论的内容录音并做为数据进行分析。
2) 在第二个研究阶段，王女士将在五到六个月的时间里对我的英语语言在日常的工作，学习，
和生活的应用进行观察和研究。我将用表格的方式记载我每天使用英文的情况。我也可以
用录音的方式详细记录我每天的生活情况。我也可以通过电话或电子邮件的形式向王女士
描述我一天的生活情况。
3) 在此期间，我还将收集我生活中的相关资料，包括书信，照片，文件，和相关表格，作为
记载您日常生活中英语使用情况的相关辅助资料。
4) 在这个期间，我将继续进行周记写作。我和王女士将每两周聚会一次。王女士将对周记和
我的日常英语使用经历和我进行深入讨论。
5) 在第二研究阶段的后一到两个月里，王女士将邀请我参与她的数据分析的研究工作。在此
过程中，我和王女士将对我在加拿大的英语语言使用和变化过程做一个总结。此外，我和
王女士将交换我们共同参与此项研究的感受和体会。
为了保护我的个人隐私，王女士将在她的论文中删除有关我身份的一切相关资料，其中包括我的姓
名，家庭地址，学校，和工作单位名称。王女士将对所有的研究资料做谨慎处理。所有的研究资料和数
据均存锁在她的文件柜中。仅供她本人和她的指导老师参考。如将需要我有权审阅有关我的研究记录，
368
并且要求得知研究结果。在整个过程中我有权随时退出参与此项研究。
如果我还对这项研究有任何问题或疑问我可以通过电话（ 416-515-1958 ）或电子邮件
（[email protected]）与王璐瑢女士联系。我也可以与她的导师 Monica Heller 教授联系。她的电话
是（416）923-6641，分机号是 2549。她的电子邮件信箱是 [email protected]。我也可以通过书
信方式与他们联系。她们的邮寄地址是：
Lurong Wang Professor Monica Heller
507-35 Charles Street West CREFO, OISE/UT
Toronto, ON 252 Bloor Street West
M4Y 1R6 Toronto, ON M5S 1V6
谨此我愿意与王璐瑢女士合作参与她的博士论文的研究工作。
—————————— —————————— ————————— 您的姓名 您的签字 日期
—————————— —————————— ————————— 我的姓名 我的签字 日期
369
Appendix L
Transcription Table
Participant‟s Name: Date of Transcription:
Meeting Date
Location
Research Phase
Sequence No.
Topics/Sequences/Possible Themes Journal and Diary Topics
Other Relevant Artifacts
Researcher’s Comments
370
Appendix M
Theme Table for Individual Participants
Participant‟s Name:
Research
Phase
Themes
Events/Interview Topics/Excerpts Researcher’s Comments
371
Appendix N
Table of a Matrix of Themes
Social Domain:
Yu Qing
Ye Lan
Xiang Dong Li Tao Jia Wei Jian Hui Ming Fang
Theme 1 Interview Date:
Event:
Sequence No.:
Theme 2
Theme 3
Reminder/Comments:
372
Appendix O
Performance Review and Goal Setting Form (Jian Hui)
373