I AM CANADIAN, EH? How Canadians Are Perceived TESL Ontario Conference, Toronto, Oct. 27 th -29 th, 2011 Shira Packer & Dana Lynch York University English Language Institute Toronto, ON NOT FOR REPRODUCTION OR CIRCULATION WITHOUT THE EXPLICIT PERMISSION OF THE AUTHORS

Warm-up Question! Think about all the people you’ve met in Canada. What are 5 personality traits that you immediately think of to describe them? (Keep in mind, personality traits are those that describe the way that people act, not look.)

Agenda Research question Influencing literature – Social and cross-cultural psychology – SLA Methodology & survey questions Data analysis & results Limitations Results & Interpretations Discussion

Research Question How do (1) native-born Canadian postsecondary students’ and recent graduates’ (CBs) perceptions AND (2) non-native-born Canadian postsecondary students’ and recent graduates’ (NCBs) perceptions (3) of people living in Canada DIFFER? (if at all) TO ANSWER OUR RESEARCH QUESTION, WE CONDUCTED AN ONLINE SURVEY!

Relevant Literature Social & Cross-Cultural Psychology Second Language Acquisition

Social & Cross-Cultural Psychology Katz and Braly & follow up studies (1933 onwards) – 100 Princeton undergrads – List traits of 10 social and ethnic groups Acculturation & Adaptation (Berry & Sam, 1980) =cultural changes resulting from intercultural encounter

Social & Cross-Cultural Psychology (cont.) Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions (1980) 1.Power Distance 2.Individualism 3.Masculinity 4.Uncertainty Avoidance 5.Long-term Orientation Five-factor model of personality (McCrae & Costa, 1987) 1.Conscientiousness 2.Openness to experience 3.Neuroticism 4.Agreeableness 5.Extraversion

Second Language Acquisition Social identity, investment, and language learning (Bonnie Norton, 1995) Language as access to learner’s social identity and social world Towards a better understanding of academic acculturation: Second Language Students in Canadian Universities (Cheng & Fox, 2008) Factors which affect acculturation in Canadian EAP Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters (Language Policy Division, Council of Europe, 2009)

Methodology Consent and research ethics – Rec’d consent from York’s Office of Research Ethics Platform – Survey Monkey online survey tool Outreach 1.Video: Facebook: a)Page b)personal messages c)status updates 4.Twitter

Survey Questions 1.Background 2.Unprompted adjective ranking 3.30 Likert-scale questions (5-point scale) 4.E-interview qualitative questions

Adjective Ranking Question Think about all the people you’ve met in Canada. What are 5 personality traits (characteristics or adjectives) that you think of to describe them? 1.____________ 2.____________ 3.____________ 4.____________ 5.____________

Likert-scale Question To what extent do you agree with the following statements, where 1 represents strongly disagree and 5 represents strongly agree: People in Canada are….. Friendly Peaceful Helpful Polite Selfish Respectful Loyal Competitive Open-minded Caring Modest Funny Hardworking Self-confident Boring Cooperative Optimistic Dissatisfied Materialistic Risk-taking Easygoing Patient Outgoing Generous Cold Afraid Individualistic Reliable Intelligent

Respondent Background Info Sample Size: n= 299(Ss who completed survey) CBs = 130(43.48% of responses) NCBs = 169(56.52% of responses)

Respondent Background Profile

Canadian Post-Sec Institutions Represented 1.Acadia University 2.Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology 3.Athabasca University 4.Aurora College 5.Bishop's University 6.Brandon University 7.British Columbia Institute of Technology 8.Brock University 9.Canadian Mennonite University 10.Canadore College of Applied Arts and Technology 11.Cape Breton University 12.Capilano College 13.Capilano University 14.Carleton University 15.Centennial College of Applied Arts and Technology 16.Collège universitaire de Saint- Boniface 17.College of New Caledonia 18.College of the North Atlantic 19.Concordia University 20.Crandall University 21.Dalhousie University (10) 22.École polytechnique de Montréal 23.Fanshawe College of Applied Arts and Technology 24.George Brown College of Applied Arts and Technology 25.HEC Montréal 26.Humber College of Applied Arts and Technology (10) 27.Huron College 28.Keyano College 29.Kwantlen Polytechnic University 30.Langara College 31.Laurentian University 32.McGill University (11) 33.McMaster University 34.Medicine Hat College 35.Memorial University of Newfoundland 36.Mohawk College of Applied Arts and Technology 37.Mount Royal University 38.Mount Saint Vincent University 39.MTI Community College 40.Nipissing University 41.North Island College 42.Northern Alberta Institute of Technology 43.Nova Scotia Community College (various campuses) 44.OCAD University 45.Queen's University (14) 46.Redeemer University College 47.Ryerson University 48.Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology 49.Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology 50.Simon Fraser UniversitySimon Fraser University 51.Sir Sandford Fleming College of Applied Arts and Technology 52.Southern Alberta Institute of Technology 53.St. Lawrence College 54.St. Thomas University 55.Thompson Rivers University 56.Trent University 57.Université de Montréal 58.Université de Sherbrooke 59.Université du Québec à Chicoutimi 60.Université du Québec à Montréal 61.Université Laval 62.University College of the Fraser Valley 63.University of Alberta (6) 64.University of British Columbia (6) 65.University of Calgary 66.University of Guelph 67.University of King's College 68.University of Lethbridge 69.University of Manitoba 70.University of New Brunswick 71.University of Northern British Columbia 72.University of Ontario Institute of Technology 73.University of Prince Edward Island 74.University of Regina 75.University of Saskatchewan 76.University of Toronto (UofT) (36) 77.University of Victoria 78.University of Waterloo 79.University of Western Ontario (Western) 80.University of Windsor 81.Vancouver Community College 82.Wilfrid Laurier University 83.York University (119) 84.Yukon College

CBs Profile (n=130)

NCBs Profile: in Canada (n=169)

NCB Profile: English Education (n=169)

Adjective Ranking Question Think about all the people you’ve met in Canada. What are 5 personality traits (characteristics or adjectives) that you think of to describe them? 1.____________ 2.____________ 3.____________ 4.____________ 5.____________

Comparison CBs vs. NCBs: Total # of Mentions - Top 5 CBs NCBs

‘Weighted Ranking’ Method We gave adj.s scores as follows: If a S’s 1 st choice:5 2 nd choice:4 3 rd choice:3 4 th choice:2 5 th choice:1 e.g. “ACTIVE” S’s ChoiceScore Student 15 th choice=1 Student 24 th choice=2 Student 34 th choice=2 Student 42 nd choice=4 Total Score:9

Comparison CBs vs. NCBs: Weighted Rankings - Top 5 CBs NCBs

Likert-scale Question To what extent do you agree with the following statements, where 1 represents strongly disagree and 5 represents strongly agree: People in Canada are….. Friendly Peaceful Helpful Polite Selfish Respectful Loyal Competitive Open-minded Caring Modest Funny Hardworking Self-confident Boring Cooperative Optimistic Dissatisfied Materialistic Risk-taking Easygoing Patient Outgoing Generous Cold Afraid Individualistic Reliable Intelligent

Likert-scale results: Highest & lowest means (n=299)

Significant Differences in Perceptions 95% confidence interval CB mean (n=130) NCB mean (n=169) Intelligent< Funny< Caring Hardworking Loyal Reliable Generous Friendly Cold % confidence interval CB mean (n=130) NCB mean (n=169) Positive Characteristics Negative Characteristics

CB & NCB E-Interview Sample Quotes (+ experiences) CB “I walk in, wait in line and see that the tellers are pleasant... That person took the time to look into my eyes and make a connection even though she didn’t ‘need’ to. She didn’t seem to be worried about the long line behind me and whatever else she had to get done that day.” “I was walking through my grocery store one day with my mom and we saw a man accidentally bump into a girl... The girl explained about the man saying sorry, and the friend just said, “oh, yeah, we have to say ‘sorry’ here, it’s a Canadian thing.”” NCB “When i came to Canada many people in University helped me to adapt to the environment and to reduce the culture shock.” “My very first day at york... Just as I came to my residence people were there to help. Everyone was a complete stranger yet so friendly.... The people helping me did the heavy lifting of my things, yet they seemed to enjoy it. I was a positive experience cause coming from a different continent a different culture this was not expected. It did represent the typical friendly and nice nature of Canadians.”

CB & NCB E-Interview Sample Quotes (- experiences) CB “I was at work and someone and someone asked for my assistance on a project... I was really confused, but I suppose because I wasn’t very perky they interpreted me as being cold. This is typical of seme general bad things I’ve experienced in Canada—being scared to offend someone else to the point of being overly nice and worried, which makes me feel uncomfortable.” “... many Canadians seem to have an impenetrable wall that keeps them from showing others who they really are” NCB “Even though Canadians generally seems to be acceptance of others, deep down the heart, they do not really understand others.” “I do not really informed of political, historical, and any general knowledge about Canada and Canadians. It is hard to mingle and mix without knowing of these things especially about North American entertainment industry and sports.”

Limitations of Study Sample size (n=299) Sample of convenience Significant York U and other urban representation CBs and NCBs are heterogeneous groups Our video may have promoted positive responses Respondents with frequent social media access may be more likely to respond

Results & Interpretations 1.Overall, CBs and NCBs similarly perceive people in Canada 2.CBs may experience “inflated” self-perceptions for specific character traits 3.NCBs may be well-acculturated, but potential exists for further social integration and classroom acculturation of NCBs 4.Canadian content curriculum development

Discussion Questions 1.How, if at all, do you address Canadian culture in your classroom and/or at your institution? 2.To what extent do you feel that your students (and/or students at your institution) have an “accurate” understanding of Canadian culture/perception of Canadians? 3.To what extent can ESL instructors and administrators assist acculturation?

Works Cited Berry, J. W. & Sam, D. L. (1980). Acculturation and adaptation. In J.W. Berry, Segall, M. H., Kagitcibasi, C. (Eds.), Cross-cultural psychology: Social behaviour and application (Vol. 3, p ). Needham Heights: Allyn and Bacon. Cheng, L. & Fox, J. (2008). Towards a better understanding of academic acculturation: Second Language Students in Canadian Universities. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 65(2), p Council of Europe (2009). Autobiography of intercultural encounters. Language Policy Division. Katz, D., & Braly, K. W. (1933). Racial stereotypes of one hundred college students. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 28, McCrae, R. R., & Costa, R. T., Jr. (1987). Validation of the five-factor model of personality across instruments and observers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, Norton, B. P. (1995). Social identity, investment, and language learning. TESOL Quarterly, 29(1), p Paunonen, S. V., Jackson, D. N., Trzebinski, J., & Forsterling, F. (1992). Personality structure across cultures: A multimethod evaluation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62(3), Schumann, J. (1976). Social distance as a factor in second language acquisition. Language Learning, 26, p

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