The dismantling of ethnic borders within multiracial, postcolonial Fiji: Classroom interaction in an era of new nationalism

While the ‘multilingual turn’ in classroom interaction research has led many contemporary studies to focus on the increased linguistic diversity that arises from migration across national borders, there has been limited... [ view full abstract ]

While the ‘multilingual turn’ in classroom interaction research has led many contemporary studies to focus on the increased linguistic diversity that arises from migration across national borders, there has been limited attention paid to linguistic changes resulting from the dismantling of ethnic borders within individual countries. This paper reports on a study into the language practices of Grade 1 teachers in Fiji, a multiracial, postcolonial context in which new nationalist discourses are serving to quash multilingualism far more comprehensively than the colonial era that ended in 1970. Since the official reclassification of ‘Fijian’ as a marker of nationality rather than ethnicity in 2010, the government has taken steps to minimise practices that could be construed as marking difference between the two major ethnic groups of the indigenous iTaukei (formerly known as Fijians) and the Indo-Fijians (formerly known as Indians), as well as Rotumans, part-Europeans, and minority groups such as Banabans and Chinese (all formerly classified officially as ‘Others’). Of relevance to this study have been the renaming and reclassification of schools to do away with the colonial categories of ‘Fijian’ and ‘Indian’ schools, the practice of posting teachers to schools that predominantly cater for children of a different ethnic group from them, and the zoning policy through which urban children are expected to attend a school within 2kms of their home, rather than entering schools typically catering to one or other of the two major ethnic groups. The language-in-education policy states that education for 3 to 8 year-olds should be “conducted in the children’s vernacular or whichever applicable language, whenever necessary”, an ambiguous provision that is supported only by curriculum materials written in English. Very little has been documented about how this rather flexible language policy plays out in practice in the early years, but public perception has long been that the use of languages other than English is too complex, particularly in the context of new Fijian nationalism. This study set out to answer the very simple question: How complex? This paper presents preliminary findings from this research, drawing on data from a range of urban and rural classrooms.