A study of indigenous English speakers in the standard English classroom

This thesis explores the experience of dialect speakers of Indigenous English in the Standard English School. Indigenous English is a dialect of English spoken by many Aboriginal people in Canada; it is especially discernable in the Prairie Provinces, yet it is not widely recognized by the majority of the population. This classroom study was conducted in a semi-urban community in East Central Saskatchewan. The focus of the research was six children in a Grade 3 classroom, four of whom are First Nations and Indigenous English Speakers. The remaining two children are White and speakers of Standard English. The results of this study indicate that the First Nations children of this study speak a dialect of English that differs phonologically, morphologically, syntactically, and lexically from the Standard English spoken in Saskatchewan. These children are all below grade level in Language Arts and follow modified programs. They experience difficulty in phonics and spelling and are receiving additional support from classroom assistants, resource room teachers and speech pathologists. It would also appear that these children are experiencing institutional racism in a number of forms. Possible resolutions to the problems faced by these students may include teacher training and dialect awareness classes. This field has not been adequately explored and further research is needed to discover viable solutions to the issues experienced by dialect speakers of Indigenous English in the Standard English classroom