Subtractive Schooling and Identity: A Case Study of Ethnic Minority Students in Vietnam

Type Journal Article - Journal of Language, Identity & Education
Title Subtractive Schooling and Identity: A Case Study of Ethnic Minority Students in Vietnam
Author(s)
Volume 16
Issue 3
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2017
Page numbers 1-15
URL http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15348458.2017.1286990
Abstract
This article examines the impact of subtractive schooling, including language use in education, on the identity of a group of ethnic minority students in Central Highlands of Vietnam. Drawing on semistructured interview data, a deeper look is taken into the ways in which these students identify themselves with their languages, cultures, and social relations. Findings reveal that the subtractive power of the school language and the institutional milieu profoundly influenced their identity construction by creating the conditions for (a) the devaluation of their language and cultural identity as a consequence of the invasion of their sociocultural territory by the dominant language and culture and (b) the segregation and disunity that affected their identity construction through social relations. Although subtractive schooling apparently facilitated students’ integration into the mainstream, its invisible power forced them not only to integrate but also to bear the full burden of constructing new identities to adjust to the school environment and the mainstream society.

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