ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE:

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ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE

• COMMUNICATION AND CULTURAL BARRIERS OF HIGHLY
  QUALIFIED IMMIGRANT PROFESSIONALS IN WINNIPEG,
  MANITOBA, CANADA

Lei Wang Faculty of Education, University of
Manitoba estella_88_at_hotmail.com Phone
204-293-6188
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Outline

• Overarching research topic
• Theoretical framework
• Methodology
• Findings
• Implication and suggestions
• Future research directions

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Overarching Research Topics

• What are the experiences and perceptions of new
  immigrant professionals enrolled in ELT programs
  of the communication and cultural challenges when
  trying to re-enter their professions in Canada?
  And what are the perceived roles the ELT programs
  played in their re-entry?

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Background Information

• Background Language training services
• - LINC (Language Instruction for Newcomers to
  Canada)
• focus on developing basic English skills for
  settlement1992.
• - ELT (Enhanced Language Training) initiatives
• Launched in 2003
• Starting in 2004, the federal government invest
  20 million annually
• Higher levelled (CLB 7-10)
• Occupational-specific language training
• Targeting immigrant professionals integrating
  into Canadian labour market
• (CCLB ELT project final report, 2004 CIC, 2005)

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Theoretical Framework

• Language Socialization theory (Gumperz, 1982
  Schieffelin Ochs, 1986 Duff, 2001)
• Community of Practices theory (COP) (Lave
  Wenger, 1991)
• Community of practice
• Apprentice and mentors
• Legitimate peripheral participation (LPP)

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Methodology

• Research method case study
• Study contexts (three Enhanced Language
  Training/ELT programs)

• Framing my study
• Three professional communities of practices
  (COP)
• Six immigrant professionals two from each
  profession
• Trying to re-enter their target professional
  COPs
• Communication and cultural barriers
  encountered in re-entry

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Methodology

• Data sources
• Interviews
• With six immigrant professionals- two from each
  profession
• With three ELT program instructors- one from each
  program
• Documentation
• Course descriptions
• Part of the course materials
• Available information about the three ELT
  programs on the internet

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Findings

• Finding 1 Aspects of communication and cultural
  challenges in re-entry (blocking fully
  demonstrating and using professional skills)

Working in Canada
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Findings

• Finding 2 Professional language re-socialization
  provided in three ELT programs

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Implication and Suggestions

• ELT programs
• equips immigrant professionals with the language
  and culturally recognized tools needed to make
  full use of their professional skills and talents
  in Canada.
• should be further developed and continued made
  more accessible and ultimately benefit the
  Canadian economy by increasing the integration
  and utilization of these highly qualified skilled
  people.

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Implication and Suggestions

• LPP opportunities a model similar to ELT Banking
  should be promoted across all other ELT fields,
• pre-training in the classroom
• followed by a paid internship in the working
  environment
• with assigned mentors to each student
• Employing this model across other ELT fields
  would require the active involvement of the
  respective employers for delivery

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Implication and Suggestions

• Cross-cultural education from the other end
• Employers in various fields should be made aware
  of the initial efforts made by the involved banks
  in the ELT Banking programs, and encouraged to
  follow-suit by educating their existing staff and
  increasing their cross-cultural awareness
• Only through mutual efforts from both sides will
  an environment be created in which professionals
  from various socio-cultural backgrounds can
  thrive together.

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Future Research Directions

• Very little research using the Language
  Socialization and Communities of Practice
  theories has been conducted outside academic
  settings.
• The two theories have proven very useful in the
  area of immigrant professionals integration into
  Canadian labor market.
• There is a lot of room in this area that calls
  for more investigation, especially by
  incorporating ethnographic investigation with
  field observations on all aspects of the re-entry
  process.
• Could provide a deeper understanding on issues of
  integrating highly skilled, internationally
  trained professional into the Canadian labor
  market, and can also extend the use of these two
  theories into more diverse fields.