Context
If you hear people talk about MTV being the
multicultural hubs of Canada, you know they are talking about Montreal,
Toronto, and Vancouver. Immigrants to Canada have historically clustered in and
around these big urban centers. In recent years, however, a noticeable trend
has begun to develop. A growing number of immigrants choose to settle down in
non-metropolitan areas. Atlantic Canada has seen a significant increase in
immigrant population in the past 10 years. The total number of immigrants in
these provinces in 2000 was 2424, and the number soared up to 6663 in 2009
(Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2010). Retention and integration of
immigrants has become part of the Atlantic Population Strategy (ARAISA
Settlement Conference 2006).
Despite the rapid increase in immigrant population,
the percentage distribution of immigrants in Atlantic Canada remains apparently
low compared to other areas. Let us take a look at the recent statistics. In
2009, 42.4% of the newcomers to Canada lived in Ontario, 19.6 in Quebec, 16.4
in British Columbia, 10.7 in Alberta, 5.4 in Manitoba, and 2.7 in Saskatchewan.
That did not leave much for the Atlantic region. The numbers were 0.7% in PEI,
0.8% in New Brunswick, 1.0% in Nova Scotia, and only 0.2% in Newfoundland and
Labrador (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2010).
In addition to the low distribution percentage,
retention of newcomers is a big issue. Take Newfoundland for example. A report by
Goss Gilroy Inc. (2005) points out that
in the decade before 2005, an average of 464 immigrants came to
Newfoundland and Labrador each year; however, only 36% of them stayed—a lower
retention rate than in any other province[1].
One has to ask why. The report attributes the low profile of immigration to
“limited sustained - and funded - effort to engage the community at large in
these matters” (p. ii).
What are the sustained efforts made by the
government, communities, and educational sectors to integrate newcomers into
the local society? What is the current status quo of immigrant support in
communities and of ESL teaching in schools in Newfoundland? What are the areas
for improvement to attract more newcomers and to make them call Newfoundland
home?
Immigrant
Support in Newfoundland
As the capital city, St John’s takes in the majority
of the immigrants in Newfoundland and Labrador and houses most of the services
available. Up to 1990, there were 4 language programs that catered to
immigrants and refugees in St John’s (Bassler, 1990, p. 101). These programs
served the different needs of specific communities at the time, but they were
far from sufficient to help retain the immigrants who landed in St John’s. In
recent years, more services and programs have been established, including the Office of Immigration and
Multiculturalism (OIM), the Association for New Canadians (ANC), the Coalition
on Richer Diversity (CORD), and the Refugee and Immigrant Advisory Council (RIAC).
The purposes of these and other government and non-government organizations are
to implement the Provincial Immigration Strategy, build cross-cultural
awareness in immigrants and local residents, and provide language instruction
and settlement support for immigrants. The government aims at retaining 70% of
the immigrants in the near future. How far is Newfoundland toward this goal
with the existing support programs?
The government of Newfoundland and Labrador, in
response to the population decrease caused by migration outflows, launched the Provincial
Nominee Program to
recruit immigrants with specialized skills that will benefit the Province in
fulfilling specific economic and industrial development goals. From April 1, 2007 to April 1, 2010, the province
nominated 1,279 individuals from 76 different countries. The Office of Immigration and Multiculturalism conducted
a survey in November and December 2010 to determine the retention rate of
nominees. The result indicated that a total
of 179 out of 221 (81%) of the nominee respondents were still in the province
(Power, 2011). However, these numbers can be
misleading because the nominees were the individuals who came with good
educational backgrounds and language skills, as well as promising employment
opportunities. What about those without such blessings and in need of more
support, such as refugees and families of immigrants?
The Association for New Canadians in St John’s not only provides Language
Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) programs, but also offers a variety
of settlement services to
connect immigrants to local communities, and to support immigrants in many
other ways—childcare, job-hunting, and cultural integration. However,
the adequacy of such programs in meeting immigrants’ needs is yet to be
determined. As indicated in the Goss Gilroy Inc. (2005) report, “the services (offered by ANC)
cannot help all immigrants and refugees overcome the personal or systemic
barriers they face to integration into the community and economy” (p. iv). What is more problematic is the fact
that
hardly any documents can be found on support for immigrants outside of the St
John’s area. Substantial research is needed to look into immigrant lives and
their connections with the local, immigrant services, and ESL support in
non-urban Newfoundland.
ESL
Teaching at Schools
In the education sector, apart from Memorial
University’s ESL department offered to international students and ANC’s ESL
programs offered to adult immigrants, the Eastern District School Board offers ESL
programs for international and immigrant students in primary and secondary
schools.
The K-12 ESL student population in the province is
concentrated primarily in the Eastern School District, according to the
provincial immigration strategy 2007 document entitled Diversity ~ “Opportunity and Growth”. As of June 2006, there were
193 ESL students from Colombia (42), Sudan (29), Liberia (15), China (11),
Libya (9), Egypt (7), Russia (7), Turkmenistan (6), and other places. Among
them 42 were studying in the only high school offering ESL courses in St
John’s— Holy Heart of Mary (OIM, 2007, p. 10). In 2010, the ESL students’
number went up to 277 and around 60 of them were in Holy Heart.
Let’s take a closer look at the numbers of students
and their home countries and see what researchers have said about cross-cultural
migration and students’ success in education.
Among the factors influencing academic performance,
language proficiency and family influence are most frequently discussed. A
higher level of English proficiency is a significant factor in academic
performance (Chow, 2000; Mullins, 2010). Family support is another crucial
factor in students’ achievement. East Asian students work harder to live up to
parental expectations, and newcomers from China, Taiwan, and Korea out-perform
students from other places and are the most likely to attend university (with a
rate of 70%) while their Caribbean and African classmates tend to drop out of
high school (Chow, 2000; Crystal, et al., 1994; Mullins, 2010; Wong, 1990).
Moreover, the socio-economic status of the family is
strongly correlated to ESL students’ grades. Students from refugee families
that lack financial resources are more vulnerable to dropout (Chow, 2000;
Duffy, 2004). Immigrant students with traumatic experiences may face additional
language challenges and mental health issues that need to be addressed (Beiser,
Dion, Gotowiec, Hyman, & Vu, 1995; Cole, 1998; Stermac, Brazeau, &
Martin, 2008). War-zone refugees, particularly ones from some African
countries, experience difficulties in school as a result of cultural clashes
and social struggles (Berthold, 2000; De Gourville, 2002; Hersi, 2005).
Considering the above research findings, we have to
assume that most of the immigrant students in Newfoundland are faced with big
academic challenges.
The Department of Education of Newfoundland and Labrador
published a handbook in 2002 “to guide administrators and classroom teachers in
the reception and orientation of ESL students and families into schools and
communities” (OIM, 2007, p. 10). The high school curriculum was revised and a
new English Second Language Literature course (ESL 3206) was implemented in
2006. Meanwhile, “stakeholders have identified the need to increase access to
ESL and to better prepare classroom teachers to address other cultural issues
faced by students from other countries” (p. 10).
However, challenges remain in spite of the above
efforts. On the one hand, classroom teachers, who are not generally trained to
teach multicultural classrooms, are under pressure to help their newcomer
students cope with the new learning context when they themselves feel helpless
of what to do. On the other hand, students sitting in such classrooms are
placed at an immense disadvantage when they do not share common past or
cultural practices with local classmates and teachers, not to mention the fact
that they have to deal with a new language. In particular, refugee children who have a range of
special needs challenge the capacity of the school system.
Limited ESL support and services available at
schools in smaller cities hinder immigrant students’ learning (Karanja, 2007). There
is urgency for the provincial government to update its education policy and for
the education sector to enhance support for immigrant students at schools. Bridge
programs need to be established to allow students and parents to interact with
schools and local communities more closely than a few meetings or gatherings in
the year, and at the same time to assist school staff, teachers, and community
service providers in understanding and appreciating cultural differences and
diversity. Sound research involving the stakeholders—immigrant students, their
parents, classmates, teachers, school administration, community supporting
staff, and government agencies is called upon to look into such issues.
References
ARAISA
Settlement Conference (2006). Knowledge
mobilization: Making the most of who and what we know—Conference report.
Retrieved from http://www.peianc.com/sitefiles/File/araisa/ASC2006/Report.pdf
Bassler,
T. (1990). English language programs for refugees in St John’s, Newfoundland. TESL Canada Journal, 8 (1), 101-113.
Beiser,
M., Dion, R., Gotowiec, A., Hyman, I., & Vu, N. (1995). Immigrant and
refugee children in Canada. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 40, 67–72.
Berthold,
S.M. (2000). War traumas and community violence: Psychological, behavioral, and
academic outcomes among Khmer refugee adolescents. Journal of Multicultural
Social Work, 8, 15–46.
Chow,
H. P. H. (2000). The
determinants of academic performance: Hong Kong immigrant students in Canadian
schools. Canadian Ethnic Studies Journal.
Retrieved November 16, 2010 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb039/is_3_32/ai_n28814745/.
Citizenship
and Immigration Canada (2010). Facts and
figures 2009 – Immigration overview. Retrieved from http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/statistics/facts2009/permanent/11.asp.
Cole,
E. (1998). Immigrant and refugee children: Challenges and opportunities for
education and mental health services. Canadian Journal of School Psychology,
18, 243–252.
Crystal,
D. S., Chen, C., Fuligni, A. J., Stevenson, H. W., Hsu, C. C., Ko, H. J.,
Kitamura, S., & Kimura, S. (1994). Psychological maladjustment and academic
achievement: A cross-cultural study of Japanese, Chinese, and American high
school students. Child Development, 65,
738-753.
De
Gourville, R. (2002). Social and academic experiences of Liberian students
adapting to their cultural literacies to a U.S. urban high school: A critical
inquiry. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Pennsylvania State University,
State Park, PA.
Duffy, A. (2004). Why are ESL students left behind?
Retrieved November 16, 2010 from http://www.amssa.org/ancie/docs/236.pdf.
Goss Gilroy Inc. (2005). Retention and integration of immigrants in Newfoundland and Labrador –
Are we ready? Retrieved November 23, 2010 from http://www.nlimmigration.ca/media/2854/immigrationstudyfinal.pdf
Hersi,
A. A. (2005). Educational challenges and sociocultural experiences of Somali
students in an urban high school. In V. Gonzalez & J. Tinajero (Eds.), NABE
review of research and practice, volume 3 (pp. 125–143). Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Karanja,
L. (2007). ESL learning experiences of immigrant students in high schools in a
small city. TESL Canada Journal, 24
(2), 23-41.
Mullins,
K. J. (2010). Where students are from makes a difference says Toronto study. Digital Journal. Retrieved November 16, 2010 from http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/298589.
Office of Immigration and
Multiculturalism (OIM) (2007). Diversity—“opportunity
and growth”: An immigration strategy for Newfoundland and Labrador. Department
of Human Resources, Labour and Employment, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Power, Bradley (2011). Retention of Immigrants a Strong Point of the
Provincial Nominee Program. Retrieved from http://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2011/hrle/0415n03.htm.
Stermac,
L., Brazeau, P., & Martin, K. (2008). Educational experiences and mental
health among war-zone immigrants in Toronto. Education Research and Reviews,
3, 370–377.
Wong,
M. G. (1990). The education of white, Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese students:
A look at “high school and beyond.” Sociological
Perspectives, 33(3), 355-374.
Li, Xuemei (2012). Immigrant Integration and ESL Support in Atlantic Canada: The Case of Newfoundland. Education Letter, Spring, 6-9.
Dr. Xuemei Li is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education, Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her areas of expertise include identity issues in cross-cultural contexts,second/additional language writing,TESL/TEFL curriculum and methodology, and newcomer integration.
Dr. Xuemei Li is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education, Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her areas of expertise include identity issues in cross-cultural contexts,second/additional language writing,TESL/TEFL curriculum and methodology, and newcomer integration.
[1]
Prepared for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Coordinating Committee on Newcomer Integration.
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