Reflecting on the Official Languages Act at 50: Was the Advent of the Charter so Great After All?

This piece examines more closely the relationship between the OLA and the Charter, arguing that the relationship between the two rights instruments is much more fraught than commonly believed. The advent of the Charter and its entrenchment of language rights have always been seen as unquestionably positive for the OLA. However, it may be time to re-evaluate that belief. Using the concept of “constitutional displacement,” the article suggests that the Charter also had the effect of overshadowing the OLA, which limits its potential for reform. A similar fate befell other statutes, such as the Canadian Bill of Rights. By way of contrast, the OLA is compared to the Inuit Language Protection Act (ILPA) in Nunavut to suggest that the latter enjoys a higher profile in the territory and has more potential for expansion precisely because of the lack of clearly defined, entrenched Indigenous language rights in the constitution.

Documenting Linguistic Knowledge in an Inuit Language Atlas

The traditional method of orally transmitting language is weakening with the passing of fluent Elders and language erosion in contemporary Inuit society. Language documentation is a vital component of language maintenance and revitalization. In this paper we present a pilot online, multimedia cybercartographic Atlas of the Inuit Language in Canada, the goal of which is to help protect and strengthen the vitality of Inuit dialects through the documentation of their words. The main component of the atlas is a multidialectal database of written and spoken words. We discuss the role of dictionaries in language documentation, introduce the features of the atlas, explore the appeal of the atlas to different types of users (in particular, language learners), and present future directions for the atlas project.

The Subjectivity of the Notion of Polysynthesis

It is argued that no quantitative measures, nor any simple structural distinctions, can accurately separate languages that we would impressionistically count as polysynthetic from those that we would not. Rather, our intuitions are influenced by the type of morphology a language presents, by the phonological and lexical facts associated with its morphology, and by the degree to which its morphology does the work of syntax. Disregarding such features, it can be argued that biblical Hebrew is more synthetic than the Inuit language Kalaallisut, a conclusion that I, and perhaps most typologists would reject. I conclude that a thorough description of the morphology of language and its relation to the other components of grammar is superior to any method of placing that language on a scale of syntheticity.

On the Morphosyntactic Reflexes of Information Structure in the Ergative Patterning of Inuit Language

This chapter argues – closely following the insights of Berge (2011) – that the ergative clause structure of the Inuit language is conditioned by information structure properties, more precisely by its topic comment properties. It articulates a formal model where the morphosyntactic properties result from this information structure trigger. Furthermore it shows that not only does the model correctly account for the split case and agreement properties of the Inuit language, but also other relevant properties discussed in the literature, i.e., scope properties of objects and aspect. It is also argued that objects in this language are introduced through an applicative head (Basilico 2012), after which they either topicalize or get assigned oblique case.

Ergativity in Inuktitut

This chapter provides an overview of ergativity in Inuktitut, a dialect group of the Inuit language (Eskimo-Aleut), spoken in the Eastern Canadian Arctic. The various manifestations of ergativity in the language are examined, including the ergative alignment of case assignment as well as verbal agreement morphology. Evidence for absolutive case being structural, as opposed to a morphological default, is presented using evidence from ditransitives and causatives. Bittner and Hale’s (1996a,b) influential account of ergativity in West Greenlandic is discussed and several points of their analysis are shown to be problematic as applied to Inuktitut. The ergative organization of verbal agreement and its origin in possessor agreement is also examined. Finally, the use of the antipassive construction as a type of differential object marking to indicate an indefinite or non-specific object is presented and proposals linking antipassive marking and aspect are considered.

Inuit principals and the changing context of bilingual education in Nunavut

Although positive policies and laws promote the Inuit language and Inuit qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) in all sectors of Nunavut society, including at all levels of Inuit schooling, many Nunavut schools are still struggling to overturn colonizing practices and mindsets that have hindered effective education of Inuit youth. In this article, we document perceptions of students, teachers, principals, parents, and community members related to school transformation under the leadership of an Inuk principal and and Inuk co-principal in two Nunavut high schools. These oral accounts show that having an Inuit principal enhanced students’ opportunities to learn and practise the Inuit language and IQ through enhanced, localized programming and increased exposure to Inuit ways of speaking and being. Parents were mobilized and equipped to support and advocate for their children, including joining local District Education Authorities, when they were able to communicate easily and effectively with the principal, and saw their knowledge, culture, and language valued and practised in the school system. We argue that the strong, community-anchored leadership modelled in these two schools transformed the context for effective intercultural, bilingual education. Results point to the importance of leadership by school principals in actualizing the goals set out in Nunavut’s Education Act (2008), governmental mandates, and language laws.

Situating Educational Issues in Nunavut: Perceptions of School Leaders and Teachers

The purpose of this article is to describe some educational contexts and challenges experienced by students and educators who live in Nunavut. The data for this qualitative study include twenty-four semi-structured interviews involving fourteen principals, vice-principals, and teachers from Nunavut. Four themes surfaced: student attendance, legacy of residential schools, lack of Inuktitut/Inuinnaqtun resources, and transient teachers. With regard to student attendance, participants viewed this issue as one of the most challenging aspects of their education system. Second, participants emphasized that the Nunavut Department of Education was promoting fluent Inuktitut/Inuinnaqtun and English learners. While participants valued the importance of maintaining the vitality of the Inuit language, they believed resources to promote the Inuit language were limited. Third, many principals indicated that the legacy of residential schools was a reason some school-parent relationships lacked an element of trust. Last, participants explained that the constant teacher turnover caused relational strains between educators, students, parents, and community members. Cultural compatibility theory was employed as the philosophical basis to conceptualize findings. This theory assumes that a student needs an educational experience where that learner can see, feel, hear, taste, and touch his/her cultural values and beliefs. The design of educational programs need to foster the unique identities of Inuit peoples through the implementation of curricula built upon local Inuit culture, language, and knowledge. In doing so, attendance issues within school can be addressed, for example. Also, when parents see their culture within the school curriculum and environment, they will feel more welcomed and at home in this familiar context.