Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-v2bm5 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-10T19:24:24.628Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Indigenous Language Revitalization and Applied Linguistics: Parallel Histories, Shared Futures?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2020

Onowa McIvor
Onowa McIvor*
Affiliation:
University of Victoria
*
*Corresponding author; E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Damages done to Indigenous languages occurred due to colonial forces, some of which continue to this day, and many believe efforts to revive them should involve more than Indigenous peoples alone. Therefore, the need for learning Indigenous languages as “additional” languages is a relatively new societal phenomenon and Indigenous language revitalization (ILR) an emerging academic field of study. As the ILR body of literature has developed, it has become clear that this work does not fit neatly into any single academic discipline. While there have been substantial contributions from linguistics and education, the study and recovery of Indigenous languages are necessarily self-determined and self-governing. Also, due to the unique set of circumstances, contexts, and, therefore, solutions needed, it is argued that this discipline is separate from, yet connected to, others. Applied linguists hold specific knowledge and skills that could be extended to ILR toward great gains. This paper explores current foci within ILR, especially concepts, theories, and areas of study that connect applied linguistics and Indigenous language learning. The intention of this paper is to consider commonalities, differences, current and future interests for shared consideration of the potential of collaborations, and partnerships between applied linguistics and ILR scholars.

Type
Research Article
Information
Annual Review of Applied Linguistics , Volume 40 , March 2020 , pp. 78 - 96
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andringa, S., & Godfroid, A. (this volume). Sampling bias and the problem of generalizability in applied linguistics. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 40.Google Scholar
Atkinson, D. (2002). Toward a sociocognitive approach to second language acquisition. The Modern Language Journal, 86(4), 525–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Basham, C., & Fathman, A. (2008). The latent speaker: Attaining adult fluency in an endangered language. The International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 11(5), 577–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Battiste, M. (2013). Decolonizing education: Nourishing the learning spirit. Purich Publishing.Google Scholar
Bauman, J. J. (1980). A guide to issues in Indian language retention. Center for Applied Linguistics.Google Scholar
Bird, S., & Kell, S. (2017). The role of pronunciation in SENĆOŦEN language revitalization. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 73(4), 538–69. doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.4060CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Block, D. (2003). The social turn in second language acquisition. Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Block, D. (2007a). The rise of identity in SLA research, post Firth and Wagner (1997). The Modern Language Journal, 91(5), 863–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Block, D. (2007b). Second language identities. Continuum International Publishing Group.Google Scholar
Campbell, R., & Christian, D. (2003). Directions in research: Intergenerational transmission of heritage languages. Heritage Language Journal, 1(1), 109–44.Google Scholar
Cantoni, G. (Ed.). (1996). Stabilizing Indigenous languages. Northern Arizona University Center for Excellence in Education.Google Scholar
Churchill, W. (2004). Kill the Indian, save the man: The genocidal impact of American Indian residential schools. City Light Books.Google Scholar
Cummins, J. (1980). Ancestral-language maintenance: The roles of school and home. Multiculturalism, 14(2), 23.Google Scholar
Cummins, J. (2005). A proposal for action: Strategies for recognizing heritage language competence as a language resource within the mainstream classroom. Modern Language Journal, 89(4), 585–91.Google Scholar
Czaykowska-Higgins, E. (2009). Research models, community engagement, and linguistic fieldwork: Reflections on working within Canadian Indigenous communities. Language Documentation & Conservation, 3(1), 15–50. hdl.handle.net/10125/4423Google Scholar
Daniels-Fiss, B. (2008). Learning to be a nehiyaw (Cree) through language. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 2(3), 233–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darvin, R., & Norton, B. (2015). Identity and a model of investment in applied linguistics. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 35, 36–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Douglas Fir Group. (2016). A transdisciplinary framework for SLA in a multilingual world. The Modern Language Journal, 100(S1), 19–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duff, P. A. (2019). Social dimensions and processes in second language acquisition: Multilingual socialization in transnational contexts. The Modern Language Journal, 103, 6–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fettes, M. (1992). A guide to language strategies for First Nations communities. Assembly of First Nations: Language and Literacy Secretariat.Google Scholar
Firth, A., & Wagner, J. (2007). On discourse, communication, and (some) fundamental concepts in SLA research. The Modern Language Journal, 91(5), 757–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fishman, J. A. (1991). Reversing language shift: Theoretical and empirical foundations of assistance to threatened languages. Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Fishman, J. A. (2001). Can threatened languages be saved? Reversing language shift revisited: A 21st century perspective. Multilingual Matters.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaudry, A. (2015). Researching the resurgence: Insurgent research and community engaged methodologies in 21st century academic inquiry. In Strega, S. & Brown, L. A. (Eds.), Research as Resistance: Revisiting Critical, Indigenous, and Anti-Oppressive Approaches, (2nd ed., pp. 243–67). Canadian Scholars’ Press.Google Scholar
Green, J. (Tehota'kerá:tonh) & Maracle, B. (Owennatékha). (2018). The Root-Word Method for building proficient second-language speakers of polysynthetic languages: Onkwawén:na Kentyókhwa adult Mohawk language immersion program. In Hinton, L., Huss, L. M., & Roche, G. (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of language revitalization (1st ed., pp. 146–55). Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315561271Google Scholar
Grenoble, L. A., & Whaley, L. J. (Eds.). (1998). Endangered languages: Language loss and community response. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
He, A. W. (2008). Heritage language learning and socialization. In Duff, P. A. & Hornberger, N. H. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of language and education (2nd ed., pp. 201–13). Springer.Google Scholar
Hinton, L. (2003). How to teach when the teacher isn't fluent. In Reyhner, J., Trujillo, O., Carrasco, R. L., & Lockard, L. (Eds.), Nurturing Native Languages (pp. 79–92). Northern Arizona University.Google Scholar
Hinton, L. (2008). Learning and teaching endangered Indigenous languages. In Hornberger, N. H. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of language and education (pp. 157–67). Springer.Google Scholar
Hinton, L. (2011). Language revitalization and language pedagogy: New teaching and learning strategies. Language and Education, 25(4), 307–18. doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2011.577220CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hinton, L., Florey, M., Gessner, S. & Manatowa-Bailey, J. (2018a). The Master-Apprentice language learning program. In Hinton, L., Huss, L. M., & Roche, G. (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of language revitalization (1st ed., pp. 127–36). Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315561271CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hinton, L., Huss, L., & Roche, G. (2018b). The Routledge handbook of language revitalization. Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hornberger, N. H. (Ed.). (1996). Indigenous literacies in the Americas: Language planning from the bottom up. Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Ignace, M. B. (1998). Handbook for Aboriginal language program planning in British Columbia. First Nations Education Steering Committee: Aboriginal language subcommittee.Google Scholar
Jamieson, M. E. (1988). National Aboriginal language policy study. Assembly of First Nations.Google Scholar
Jenni, B., Anisman, A., McIvor, O., & Jacobs, P. (2017). An exploration of the effects of mentor-apprentice programs on mentors & apprentices’ wellbeing. International Journal of Indigenous Health, 12(2), 25–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, S. M. K. (2017). Syilx language house: How and why we are delivering 2,000 decolonizing hours in Nsyilxcn. Canadian Modern Language Review, 73(4), 509–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahakalau, K. (2017). Developing an Indigenous proficiency scale. Cogent Education, 4(1), 1–11. doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2017.1377508CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, K. A., & Hermes, M. (2014). Why is this so hard? Ideologies of endangerment, passive language learning approaches, and Ojibwe in the United States. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 13(4), 268–82. doi:10.1080/15348458.2014.939029CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kinginger, C. (2004). Alice doesn't live here anymore: Foreign language learning and identity reconstruction. In Pavlenko, A. & Blackledge, A. (Eds.), Negotiation of identities in multilingual contexts (pp. 219–42). Multilingual Matters.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirkness, V. (1998). The critical state of Aboriginal languages in Canada. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 22(1), 93–108.Google Scholar
Krauss, M. (1998). The condition of native North American languages: The need for realistic assessment and action. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 132, 9–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kumaravadivelu, B. (2006). Understanding language teaching: From method to post-method. Lawrence Erlbaum.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackey, A. (2020). Interaction, feedback, and task research in second language learning. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martinez Agudo, J. D. D. (Ed.) (2017). Native and non-native teachers in second language classrooms: Professional challenges and teacher education. De Gruyter Mouton.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maurais, J. (1996). The situation of Aboriginal languages in the Americas. In Maurais, J. (Ed.), Quebec's Aboriginal languages: History, planning and development (pp. 1–42). Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
May, S. (2019). Negotiating the multilingual turn in SLA. Modern Language Journal, 103(S1), 122–29. doi.org/10.1111/modl.12531CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCarty, T. (2008). Native American languages as heritage mother tongues. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 21(3), 201–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McIvor, O. (2015). Adult Indigenous language learning in Western Canada: What is holding us back? In Michel, K. A., Walton, P. D., Bourassa, E., & Miller, J. (Eds.), Living our languages: Papers from the 19th Stabilizing Indigenous Languages Symposium (pp. 37–49). Linus Learning.Google Scholar
McIvor, O. (2018). Indigenous languages in Canada: What you need to know. CCUNESCO. https://en.ccunesco.ca/-/media/Files/Unesco/Resources/2018/09/IndigenousLanguagesCCUNESCO.pdfGoogle Scholar
McIvor, O. & Anisman, A. (2018). Keeping our languages alive: Strategies for Indigenous language revitalization and maintenance. In Watanabe, Y. (Ed.), Handbook of Cultural Security, (pp. 90–109). Edward Elgar Publishing.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McIvor, O., & Ball, J. (2019). Language-in-education policies and Indigenous language revitalization efforts in Canada: Considerations for non-dominant language education in the Global South. FIRE: Forum for international research in education. In Wong, K. M. & Benson, C. (Eds.), Policy and practice in the use of non-dominant languages in comparative education [Special issue], 5(3), 12–28.Google Scholar
McIvor, O., & Jacobs, P. (2018). Adult Indigenous contributions to reviving languages in British Columbia through mentor-apprentice style learning: Assessment tool. University of Victoria. www.netolnew.ca/resourcesGoogle Scholar
McIvor, O., Jacobs, P., & Jenni, B. (2018). Adult Indigenous contributions to reviving languages in British Columbia through mentor-apprentice style learning: Research report. University of Victoria. www.netolnew.ca/resourcesGoogle Scholar
McIvor, O. & McCarty, T. (2016). Indigenous bilingual and revitalization-immersion education in Canada and the USA. In García, O., Lin, A., & May, S. (Eds.), Bilingual and multilingual education, Encyclopedia of Language and Education (3rd ed., pp. 1–17). Springer International Publishing.Google Scholar
Milloy, J. S. (1999). “A national crime”: The Canadian government and the residential school system, 1879 to 1986. University of Manitoba Press.Google Scholar
Mitchell, R., & Myles, F. (2004). Second language learning theories. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Norris, M. J. (1998). Canada's Aboriginal languages. Canadian Social Trends 51 (Winter), 51. Statistics Canada, Catalogue No. 11–008.Google Scholar
Norton, B. (2000). Identity and language learning: Gender, ethnicity and educational change. Pearson Education.Google Scholar
Norton, B. (2019). Identity and language learning: A 2019 retrospective account. Canadian Modern Language Review, 75(4), 299–307. doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.2019-0287CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ortega, L. (2019). SLA and the study of equitable multilingualism. Modern Language Journal, 103(Supplement 2019), 23–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pavlenko, A. (2005). Emotions and multilingualism. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pavlenko, A., & Blackledge, A. (Eds.). (2004). Negotiation of identities in multilingual contexts. Multilingual Matters.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pavlenko, A., & Lantolf, J. P. (2000). Second language learning as participation and the (re)construction of selves. In Lantolf, J. P. (Ed.), Sociocultural theory and second language learning (pp. 155–77). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Penfield, S. D., & Tucker, B. V. (2011). From documenting to revitalizing an endangered language: Where do applied linguists fit? Language and Education, 25(4), 291–305. doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2011.577219CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reyhner, J. A. (1995). Maintaining and renewing native languages. Bilingual Research Journal, 19(2), 279–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ricento, T. (2005). Considerations of identity in L2 learning. In Hinkel, E. (Ed.), Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning (pp. 895–910). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Riddell, J., Salamanca, A., Pepler, D., Cardinal, S. & McIvor, O. (2017). Laying the groundwork: A practical guide for ethical research with Indigenous communities. International Indigenous Policy Journal, 8(2), 1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rorick, C. L. (2019). wałyaʕasukʔi naananiqsakqin: At the home of our ancestors: Ancestral continuity in Indigenous land-based language immersion. In Smith, L. T., Tuck, T., & Yang, K. W. (Eds.), Indigenous and decolonizing studies in education: Mapping the long view (pp. 224–37). Routledge.Google Scholar
Rosborough, T. Ł. Ł. P., & Rorick, Č. L. (2017). Following in the footsteps of the wolf: Connecting scholarly minds to ancestors in Indigenous language revitalization. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 13(1), 11–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sarkar, M. (2017). Ten years of Mi'gmaq language revitalization work: A non-Indigenous applied linguist reflects on building research relationships. Canadian Modern Language Review, 73(4), 488–508. doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.4082CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simpson, L. (2011). Dancing on our turtle's back: Stories of Nishnaabeg re-creation, resurgence and a new emergence. Arbeiter Ring Publishers.Google Scholar
Spolsky, B. (1999). Second-language learning. In Fishman, J. A. (Ed.), Handbook of language and ethnic identity (pp. 181–92). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Stacey, K. I. (2016). Ientsitewate'nikonhraié:ra'te Tsi Nonkwá:ti Ne Á:se Tahatikonhsontóntie We will turn our minds there once again, to the faces yet to come: Second language speakers and language revitalization in Kahnawà:ke. Master's thesis, University of Victoria, BC, Canada. UVicSpace.Google Scholar
Swain, M., & Deters, P. (2007). “New” mainstream SLA theory: Expanded and enriched. The Modern Language Journal, 91(5), 820–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SX̱EDŦELISIYE (Sampson, R.). (2014). W̱IÁLḴEN NE SḰÁL: SX̱EDŦELISIYE's SENĆOŦEN auto-ethnography. Master's thesis, University of Victoria, BC, Canada. UVicSpace.Google Scholar
Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (2012). Decolonization is not a metaphor. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 1(1), 1–40.Google Scholar
Weinberg, M., & De Korne, H. (2016). Who can speak Lenape in Pennsylvania? Authentication and language learning in an endangered language community of practice. Language & Communication, 47, 124–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zahir, Z. (2018). Language nesting in the home. In Hinton, L., Huss, L. M., & Roche, G. (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of language revitalization (1st ed., pp. 156–65). Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315561271CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zuengler, J., & Miller, E. R. (2006). Cognitive and sociocultural perspectives: Two parallel SLA worlds? TESOL Quarterly, 40(1), 35–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar