Community language schools in Australia: Investigating the role of textbooks in shaping the construction of cultural identities of Sri Lankan and Indian Tamil students

Abstract

Children of immigrants can be taught to accept diversity and multiculturalism by clearly understanding who they are and what adjustments they need to make in their socialisation process. Teaching programs at community language schools in Australia are part of the maintenance of languages and cultures of children with an immigrant background. As a community organisation, one of the roles of a community language school is preparing the younger generations of migrants to clearly understand their own identity and thereby make them ready to accept and respect the diversity in Australian society. Tamils are seen as one of the new waves of mass migration in Australia. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021), there were 95,404 Tamil-speaking people in Australia. This was 30.4% higher than in 2016. More than 1,000 students and around 100 teachers are actively involved in the Tamil community language schools in New South Wales. As the aims and objectives of the Tamil community language schools indicate, students are expected to learn more about their own identity and heritage at the Tamil schools so that they prepare themselves to effectively live as Australian Tamils within the diverse Australian society. Nevertheless, and even though Tamils are one of the major emerging communities in New South Wales (NSW), there has not been any study about the Tamil-speaking communities in terms of language education practices. Therefore, this research has investigated how textbooks, shape the identity formation of students attending NSW Tamil schools. This study has focused on the textbooks (Years 4 to 8) used in Tamil community language schools in NSW. The research design has involved analysing the selected textbooks and conducting interviews with the principal and teachers at a NSW Tamil community language school, using the textbooks, regarding their experiences in relation to these teaching tools. Drawing on critical discourse analysis the data have been analysed as to how or whether the content of the textbooks could influence the identity formation process of the learners. The findings revealed that the content of the textbooks had been purposely chosen to represent elements of Tamil language, culture and identity, despite some overlapping between these elements. The results also indicated that grading of the contents and organisation of topics could have been made to better match with the learners’ cognitive levels. Inclusion of tasks for conversations would have enhanced opportunities for the learners to put language skills into practice and develop their abilities in spoken Tamil. The study recommends that the voices of learners and parents systematically be used to redesign the contents of the textbooks to make them more relevant and attractive, and better meet the learning needs of new generations of Tamils in appropriate ways.