Jane Griffith, Words Have a Past: The English Language, Colonialism, and the Newspapers of Indian Boarding Schools

This article examines the appropriation and redirection of the Gothic in two contemporary, Native-centered feature films that concern a history that can be said to haunt many Native North American communities today: the history of Indian boarding schools. Georgina Lightning’s Older than America (2008) and Kevin Willmott’s The Only Good Indian (2009) make use of Gothic conventions and the figures of the ghost and the vampire to visually relate the history and horrors of Indian boarding schools. Each of these Native-centered films displays a cinematic desire to decenter Eurocentric histories and to counter mainstream American genres with histories and forms of importance to Native North American peoples. Willmott’s film critiques mythologies of the West and frontier heroism, and Lightning attempts to sensitize non-Native viewers to contemporary Native North American concerns while also asserting visual sovereignty and affirming spiritual values.

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IMPROVING STUDENTS’ ENGLISH-SPEAKING SKILLS THROUGH BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION IN INDONESIAN ISLAMIC BOARDING SCHOOLS

IJET (Indonesian Journal of English Teaching) ◽

10.15642/ijet2.2018.7.2.146-156 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 146-156

Author(s):

Izzuddin A

Keyword(s):

English Language ◽

Language Teaching ◽

Boarding Schools ◽

English Language Teaching ◽

Daily Activities ◽

Behaviour Modification ◽

English Speaking ◽

Speaking Skills

A number of modern Islamic Boarding Schools (IBS) have long implemented a unique English Language Teaching (ELT) strategy in improving their students’ English-speaking skills. In IBS, for example, head of language department requires the students to communicate in English in daily activities, and punishment is imposed to those who do not speak English. However, there was no specifically academic term used to describe such strategy, nor was there a study to investigate the effectiveness of the strategy. This essay investigates what IBS-applied ELT strategy is, and to what extent it is effective in improving speaking skills of the students. It is found that IBS has made use of a behaviour modification as ELT strategy. The behaviour modification is able to encourage students to communicate in English in their daily activities. It also leads students to acquire accuracy, complexity and fluency in speaking.

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