Indigenous language immersion in Hawai'i: A case study of Kula Kaiapuni Hawai'i, an effort to save the indigenous language of Hawai'i

1997 ◽  
pp. 105-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen B. Slaughter
2021 ◽  
pp. 194277862110228
Author(s):  
Susan Chiblow ◽  
Paul J. Meighan

This collaborative opinion piece, written from the authors’ personal perspectives (Anishinaabe and Gàidheal) on Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe language) and Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic language), discusses the importance of maintaining and revitalizing Indigenous languages, particularly in these times of climate and humanitarian crises. The authors will give their personal responses, rooted in lived experiences, on five areas they have identified as a starting point for their discussion: (1) why Indigenous languages are important; (2) the effects of colonization on Indigenous languages; (3) the connections/responsibilities to the land, such as Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), embedded in Indigenous languages; (4) the importance of land-based learning and education, full language immersion, and the challenges associated with implementing these strategies for Indigenous language maintenance and revitalization; and (5) where we can go from here.


Author(s):  
Alina Slapac ◽  
Sujin Kim

This chapter examined the development of a classroom community through a case study of a kindergarten teacher in a Spanish language immersion school. Case study data includes observational field notes, classroom artifacts, informal conversations, and interviews with an immersion kindergarten classroom teacher. Additionally, interviews with the two administrators from the Spanish and French immersion schools (networking schools) were collected and analyzed to learn about their perspectives regarding culturally and linguistically responsive teaching practices and their commitment to encouraging the creation of classroom communities within their schools. The results revealed both the administrators and the case teacher in the kindergarten classroom supported practices of drawing from their own and students' cultural identities and resources to create a culturally responsive learning and social environment, in partnership with students and families. Recommendations for future studies on diverse early childhood settings are discussed in regards to teacher preparation and policy enactment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Amani Juma Abu-Irmies ◽  
Rajai Rasheed Al-Khanji

This study investigates factors motivating the Chechen people in Jordan to use their indigenous language in social media such as WhatsApp and Facebook. It also explores their attitudes towards using the Chechen language in social media. In order to achieve the aims of this study, the researchers have selected a sample that consists of 340 Chechen people who reside in the Jordanian cities and towns: Al-Suknah, Sweileh and Az zarqa. The instruments of the study were a sociolinguistic questionnaire and an open-ended interview. The findings reveal that Chechens use social media such as Facebook and WhatsApp to preserve the Chechen language and their culture. Also, Chechens of Jordan use their ethnic language to communicate with their friends who understand the Chechen language. Besides, the Chechen language has been used in whatsApp and Facebook to promote unity among family members. Moreover, many Chechen people use social media to communicate with other Chechen speakers regardless of familial ties. Results also indicate that Chechens of Jordan have a high positive attitude towards including the Chechen language in social media.


2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rukmini Becerra-Lubies ◽  
Aliza Fones

Several studies have examined the lack of or the insufficient preparation of K-12 educators to work in intercultural and bilingual (IBE) schools in Chile, but little is known about the preparation of educators to teach in IBE preschools. Even less is known about teachers’ perceptions of their own preparation. This work contributes to a growing body of literature that examines the experiences and practice of second language teachers in Indigenous language education settings from a sociocultural perspective. This qualitative case study focuses on teachers’ perceptions of their preparation to teach Mapudungun, the language of the Mapuche people, in urban IBE preschools in Chile. Three research questions guide this study: What are teachers’ perceptions of their needs regarding their preparation to teach Mapudungun in urban IBE preschools? What are the current challenges that teachers face teaching Mapudungun in urban IBE preschools? Which experiences fostered their ability to teach Mapudungun? The findings of this study have implications for the incorporation of more complex notions of Indigenous language learning that are linked directly to Mapuche culture and its sociopolitical context, as well as the inclusion of teachers’ experiential knowledge in the preparation of teachers for work in IBE schools.


Author(s):  
Apay Tang

This study explores whether a Truku Seediq kindergarten immersion program in Taiwan has contributed to stemming indigenous language erosion. The preliminary results suggest areas for improvement in the ongoing project, and may serve as a starting point for future preschool indigenous language immersion programs. The project centers on five activities: (1) weekly culture-based language classes, (2) bimonthly teachers’ empowerment workshops, (3) online documentation of teaching processes and activities, (4) advisory visits and evaluations, and (5) development of pedagogical materials. Data were collected through focus group interviews, observations, advisory visits, and proficiency tests. The results show both that the immersion program improves the children’s proficiency and that it faces obstacles: lack of qualified teachers proficient in the language and culture-based teaching, insufficient hours of immersion and co-teaching with elders, imperfect communication in the administrative system, obstacles to collaboration with families and communities, and lack of effective pedagogical materials and proficiency tests.


Author(s):  
Sonya Bird

Abstract This paper describes the features that set adult Indigenous language learning apart from other types second language learning, examining in particular the role that unique teaching and learning contexts might play in the acquisition of pronunciation. As a case study, the pronunciation of SENĆOŦEN (Coast Salish) /t’/ is compared across four groups of speakers, including two groups of adult learners. Acoustic analysis shows that /t’/, described as a weak ejective in previous work, is now consistently realized as a strong ejective, especially among learners and teachers. These findings are discussed with reference to factors relevant to language learning and teaching in general, as well as to ones relevant to Indigenous language learning and teaching in particular.


1999 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-60
Author(s):  
Maya F. Watters ◽  
Paul A. Watters

ABSTRACTThe Internet is a potentially non-coercive technology which has the capacity to facilitate the development and dissemination of locally-relevant and culturally-appropriate discourse. Many countries, especially those in Europe, have moved to utilise the Internet as a resource for expressing and revitalising their autochthonous languages, in response to cultural pressures from globalisation. However, there has been little evaluation of whether the Internet might give rise to a renaissance of indigenous language use in the postcolonial Asia-Pacific region. In this paper, we examine the case of the Philippines, which this year celebrates a centenary of independence from Spain, to determine whether introduction of the Internet has in fact enhanced the provision of indigenous language information services. We sampled 1% of the Internet sites listed in a popular search engine, in each second-level domain (educational, commercial, government and non-government organisations), and found very little evidence of indigenous language use in any of the sites in these categories. This suggests that the Internet has not yet realised its potential as a medium for indigenous language use in the Philippines, but that greater awareness of its capabilities in this arena might change the situation in the future.


1999 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 44-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arlene Stairs ◽  
Margaret Peters ◽  
Elizabeth Perkins

At the outset I (Stairs) want to describe my relationship to the indigenous educators with whom I work and the nature of the account which follows. I have worked with the Mohawk community and school which focuses this paper over many years as consultant, researcher, resource provider, among other forms of being there, but most centrally as co-reflector with several key "culture-makers" I have come to know. Our co-reflections share these culture-makers' visions of what Mohawk life and education is and might be. Whatever I re-present of our sharings is to be seen, as Rabinow and Sullivan note in their 1987 volume Interpretive Social Science (Berkeley: University of California Press), as "interpretations of interpretations" on my part, not positivistic description or assumption of insiders' voices.


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