Employing critical discourse analysis (CDA), this paper examines the attempt to bridge a Canadian adult second language policy with an employment skills policy. The result is a third policy intended to improve language education and employment skills training for immigrants. The analysis reveals that the knowledge economy and human capital theory are the predominant discourses embedded in the policy documents. The paper argues that predominant discourses perpetuate power imbalances and essentialize worker and migrant subjectivities. Engaging in postcolonial theories of second language learning, the paper proposes another way of conceiving adult second language learning and its potential for policy development.
Bannerji, H. (2000). The dark side of the nation: Essays on multiculturalism, nationalism, and gender. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Canadian Scholars' Press.
2.
Baptiste, I. (2001). Educating lone wolves: Pedagogical implications of human capital theory. Adult Education Quarterly, 51, 184-201.
3.
Chouliaraki, L. & Fairclough, N. (1999). Discourse in late modernity: Rethinking critical discourse analysis. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press.
4.
Crump, S.J. (1992). Pragmatic policy development: Problems and solutions in educational policy making. Journal of Education Policy , 7, 415-425.
5.
Dei, G.J.S. (2006). Language, race and anti-racism: Making important connections. In N. Amin & G. J. S. Dei (Eds.), The poetics of anti-racism , (pp. 24-30). Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada: Fernwood.
6.
Dei, G.J.S., & Lordan, M. (2006). Language, linguistic discrimination and polyvocality: Bringing language into discussions of discrimination and racism. In N. Amin & G. J. S.Dei (Eds.), The poetics of anti-racism, (pp. 31-42). Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada: Fernwood.
7.
Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing discourse: Textual analysis for social research. New York: Routledge.
8.
Fairclough, N. (2001). Language and power (2nd ed.). Harlow, UK: Pearson.
9.
Federighi, P. (1997). Building the transnational dimension of adult education. Convergence, 30 (2/3), 3-15.
10.
Fenwick, T. (2006). Control, contradiction and ambivalence: Skill initiatives in Canada. In L. English & J. Groen (Eds.), 25th Annual conference: Proceedings of the Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education (CASAE; pp. 85-90). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: York University.
11.
Gale, T. (2001). Critical policy sociology: Historiography, archaeology and genealogy as methods of policy analysis. Journal of Education Policy16, 379-393.
12.
Guo, S. (2006). Adult education in the changing context of immigration: New challenges in a new era. In T. Fenwick , T. Nesbit, & B. Spencer (Eds.), Contexts of adult education: Canadian perspectives (pp. 198-207). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Thompson Education.
13.
Guo, Y. (2006). Beyond language skills: Challenges for professional immigrants in Canada. Proceedings from SCUTREA 2006 36th Annual Conference. Leeds, UK: The Media Services.
14.
Haque, E., & Cray, E. (2006). Putting them in their place: Language policies and newcomers to Canada. In N. Amin & G. J. S. Dei (Eds.), The poetics of anti-racism, (pp. 73-84). Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada: Fernwood.
15.
Harrison, T. W., & Kachur, J. L. (Eds). (1999). Contested classrooms: Education, globalization, and democracy in Alberta. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: The University of Alberta Press.
16.
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. ( 2005). Relating Canadian language benchmarks to essential skills: A comparative framework. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks.
17.
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada: Essential Skills. ( 2005). Retrieved January 27, 2005 from http://www.15.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/English/general/default.asp
18.
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. ( 2004). Meeting the challenge: A guide to working with essential skills (Government of Canada HIP-007-03-04). Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.
19.
Ibrahim, A. (2006). Rethinking displacement, language and culture shock: Towards a pedagogy of cultural translation and negotiation. In N. Amin & G. J. S. Dei (Eds.), The poetics of anti-racism, (pp. 43-58). Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada: Fernwood.
20.
Kincheloe, J.L. (2004). Critical pedagogy. New York : Peter Lang.
21.
Korsgaard, O. (1997). The impact of globalization on adult education . In S. Walters (Ed.), Globalization, adult education & raining: Impacts and issues (pp. 15-26). London : Zed Books.
22.
Li, P.S. (2003). Deconstructing Canada's discourse of immigrant integration. Journal of International Migration and Integration , 4, 315-333.
23.
Luke, A. (1996). Text and discourse in education: An introduction to critical discourse analysis. Review of Research in Education21, 3-48.
24.
Mojab, S. (2006). Adult education without borders. In T. Fenwick, T. Nesbit, & B. Spencer (Eds.), Contexts of adult education: Canadian perspectives (pp. 347-356). Toronto, Ontario , Canada: Thompson Education.
25.
Mojab, S. (1999). De-skilling immigrant women. Canadian Women Studies, 19 (3), 123-128.
26.
Olssen, M., Codd, J.A., & O'Neill, A. (2004). Education policy: Globalization, citizenship and democracy. London: Sage.
27.
Pavlenko, A. & Lantolf, J.P. (2000). Second language learning as participation and the (re)construction of selves. In J. P. Lantolf (Ed.) Sociocultural theory and second language learning (pp. 155-177). New York: Oxford University Press.
28.
Pawlikowska-Smith, G. (2005). Canadian language benchmarks 2000: English as a second Language- for adults. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Citizen and Immigration Canada.
29.
Reitz, J.G. (2003). Host societies and the reception of immigrants . San Diego, CA: Center for Comparative Immigration Studies.
30.
Rogers, R. (2004). An introduction to critical discourse analysis in education. In R. Rogers (Ed.), An introduction to critical discourse analysis in education (pp. 1-18). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
31.
Rubenson, K. & Walker, J. (2006). The political economy of adult learning in Canada . In T. Fenwick, T. Nesbit, & B. Spencer (Eds.), Contexts of adult education: Canadian perspectives (pp. 173-186). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Thompson Education.
32.
Scheurich, J.J. (1994). Policy archaeology: A new policy studies methodology . Journal of Education Policy9, 297-316.
33.
Sumner, J. (2003). Charting the course from the knowledge economy to the learning society: Adult educators as map makers. Retrieved June 25, 2007 from http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/CASAE/cnf2003/2003_papers/jennifersumnerCAS03a.pdf
34.
Tanesini, A. (1999). An introduction to feminist epistemologies. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
35.
Threadgold, T. (1997). Critical discourse analysis: A condition of doubt . Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education , 18, 425-435.
36.
Threadgold, T. (2003). Cultural studies, critical theory and critical discourse analysis: Histories, remembering and futures. Linguistik Online, 14(2), 5-37.
37.
Welton, M. (1997). In defence of civil society: Canadian adult education in neo-conservative times. In Walters (Ed.), Globalization, adult education & training: Impacts and issues (pp. 27-38). London: Zed Books Ltd.
38.
Wilson, A.L. (1999). Creating identities of dependency: Adult education as a knowledge-power regime. International Journal of Lifelong Learning, 18, 85-93.
39.
Woodside-Jiron, H. (2004). Language, power, and participation: Using critical discourse analysis to make sense of public policy. In R. Rogers (Ed.), An introduction to critical discourse analysis in education (pp. 173-205). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
40.
Zuengler, J. & Miller, E.R. (2006). Cognitive and sociological perspectives: Two parallel SLA worlds? TESOL Quarterly, 40(1), 35-58.
