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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Fyi item. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Thanks<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Carolyn <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>___________________________<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>AKWESASNE, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">Quebec</st1:State></st1:place> - An elementary immersion program for
Mohawk students will be returning this fall under an innovative program that
was implemented last year. The program has been a success and it has received
more praise than criticism in the Akwesasne community in the past year. <br>
<br>
The immersion program is for students in first through fourth grades, with a
separate, less intensive program for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten
students. Part of the program's uniqueness is that the children are kept in one
double-sized classroom, learning the language together and enforcing the one
family - one nation way of life. <br>
<br>
''It was tough in the beginning, but it got easier as the year went on,'' said
Margaret Peters, the Akwesasne Mohawk Board of Education's kanienkeha (Mohawk
language) specialist. <br>
<br>
The program is held at one of the AMBE school district's three elementary
schools in the Tsi Snaihne district of Akwesasne. Teachers and program
coordinators did their best last summer to turn the classroom into a home-like
environment, with sofas and home decorations, which they believe is crucial to
the children's ability to pick up Mohawk as a second language to English. <br>
<br>
''It made a big difference,'' said Peters. ''I think it really helped the kids
learn the language on a daily basis.'' <br>
<br>
Most of the children entering the immersion program have had only minimal
exposure to the Mohawk language which, like many other Native languages, faces
extinction if programs like the immersion program aren't successful. <br>
<br>
AMBE's immersion program was first implemented in 1995 with some success
stories, but none as profound as this year. Children have begun to converse
with one another in Mohawk, and parents and community members have been nothing
short of impressed by the fluency that is emerging. <br>
<br>
A video produced by Peters through AMBE was made specifically to show how the
students use the language with little need for translation during the day. The
video features classroom footage, a music video and other clips that illustrate
what's going on at AMBE's Mohawk immersion program. <br>
<br>
''We wanted to show that our students are speaking the Mohawk language,''
Peters said. ''We're showing that. They are speaking and using the Mohawk
language.'' <br>
<br>
A typical day of school for students in the immersion program begins with the
traditional Mohawk opening address. Students sit as they would in a Mohawk
longhouse, with boys on one side and girls on another, according to clan. As is
the tradition of the longhouse, the girls choose which boy will be the speaker.
<br>
<br>
Several teachers assigned to the immersion program converse with each other and
the students in Mohawk, teaching them the same subjects being learned by the
non-immersion program students. Whenever possible, culture is incorporated into
the lesson plan, as culture and language go hand in hand, Peters said. For
instance, everyone in the school is required to have a few minutes of physical
activity at the start of each day. In the immersion classroom, this time is
spent doing traditional social dancing. <br>
<br>
''There's culture consistently going on in our classroom,'' Peters said. <br>
<br>
In the past year, the way the immersion program is viewed has changed and it
has earned more and more respect in the school system and with community
members and parents. <br>
<br>
''The attitude is getting better and teachers are noticing that these kids are
speaking Mohawk,'' Peters said. <br>
<br>
The program still faces opposition from some parents who fear their child will
be behind academically by being in an immersion program, a belief with which
Peters strongly disagrees. <br>
<br>
''The fact that they're learning two languages already puts them ahead,'' she
said. ''They're becoming bilingual.'' <br>
<br>
Other children in the community have completed immersion programs within the
AMBE district or at the Akwesasne Freedom School - a Mohawk immersion school -
and have proven that academic success is just as attainable for them as for
English-language students. Many have gone on to college where they have
continued to succeed, and a number of them have returned to the community to
pass the language on to other children in immersion programs. <br>
<br>
''For a long time the speaking skills of Kanienkehaka students have been
criticized because they mispronounce words,'' Peters said. ''The saddest part
is the criticism is usually by people who are already naturally fluent in their
language. People have to understand that it is different to learn a second
language. Our Hotinonshon:ni languages are difficult to learn, as many adults
know. It's difficult but not impossible. The best advice I can give to speakers
is to be more patient and helpful to all learners, instead of critical; and to
the learners, don't give up. Fluency is a lifelong learning process.'' <br>
<br>
AMBE's immersion program is gaining acceptance, but is still growing and
changing to find the best possible curriculum and format. Peters hopes to see
the program grow to include children up to sixth grade - something AMBE is
still holding off on. <br>
<br>
''They want to see us have success with these kids first,'' Peters said. <br>
<br>
However, with growing support for the effort, more funds are made available for
the immersion program to develop resources. The video showing what's going on
at the program was just one in a series Peters and others in the language field
have been developing. Another video teaches viewers the traditional Iroquois
social dances, and a new video in the works will feature puppet shows performed
in the Mohawk language. <br>
<br>
''There are no resources for teaching the Mohawk language,'' Peters said. <br>
<br>
Word of Akwesasne's immersion program has been spreading, and it often receives
visitors from other tribes and Native communities where loss of language is
also a threat. Each community is seeking new ways to preserve its dying
language and many are willing to work together to find successful programs.</span></font><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><strong><b><font size=3 color=maroon face="Arial Narrow"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow";color:maroon'>Carolyn
Hepburn</span></font></b></strong><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Director, Native Education and Training</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on"><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Sault</span></font></st1:PlaceName><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">College</st1:PlaceType></span></font></st1:place><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> of Applied
Arts and Technology</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>443 Northern Avenue</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Sault Ste. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Marie</st1:City>,
<st1:State w:st="on">ON</st1:State> <st1:PostalCode w:st="on">P6A 5L3</st1:PostalCode></st1:place></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Phone: (705) 759-2554 ext. 2499</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Fax: (705) 759-0175</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Web: </span></font><a
href="http://www.saultcollege.ca/NativeEducation"><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>www.saultcollege.ca/NativeEducation</span></font></a><font
face="Arial Narrow"><span style='font-family:"Arial Narrow"'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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