Negotiating the Identity of Place: Language Policy and Internal Colonization in Cajun French Louisiana

• In Event: Critical Perspectives in Curriculum Development

Abstract

South Louisiana ethnic Cajun natives were interviewed in order to record their experiences as Cajun French speakers in Louisiana public schools during language prohibitions in the early 20th century and the repercussions their language had on their personal and cultural identity. The cultural region studied has experienced a century of English-only legislation, explored here through the lens of internal colonization and a phenomenological qualitative approach. Findings of this case in assimilation provides an example of the effects of educational language policy on the identity, language, and culture of an ethnic minority.

Author

• Jenna Michelle LaChenaye, University of Alabama at Birmingham