From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Sep 1 15:33:46 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 08:33:46 -0700 Subject: School part of Dakotah language project (fwd) Message-ID: Posted on Mon, Aug. 23, 2004 School part of Dakotah language project http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/9470240.htm WAYNE HAMMOND Associated Press WATERTOWN, S.D. - Lake Area Technical Institute and Sisseton-Wahpeton College are teaming up to preserve and teach the Dakotah language. LATI media programmer Jason Julius and media specialist Bob Day will work over the next year to take information gathered by SWC and make it into a multimedia language tutorial. Day explained that the idea was developed by SWC President William Lonefight, who was interested in finding a partner with the resources able to take on such a project. While touring the innovation center on the campus of LATI, he was struck by the fact that the technology available might be able to handle the project, Day said. He said that SWC will do the initial end of capturing the information. LATI will take it from there. "They will capture their elders speaking and we will take the content and make it into a multimedia language tutorial," Day said. The goal is to provide some level of literacy in the language through the program being written by Julius and Day. It contains specific imagery for the detailed language - one which even deviates from when males and females speak - as well as some of the different characters not included on a standard keyboard. Julius is a recent computer information systems graduate from LATI who expects to see his proficiency in Dakotah increase as he works with it on a day-to-day basis. "It sounded interesting to learn a language while I write a program," he said. He explained that the program will largely be contained on disc, but that with the proper computer system, it could be fully contained on the Web, a trend LATI is becoming more a part of with Web-based classes available through its nursing programs as well as those offered in conjunction with the Midwest Dairy Institute. The program is being funded through SWC. It is scheduled for one year, at which time a review will take place and a second year is possible. Day said the school put together an initial demonstration for SWC, taking a laptop computer to the college, where some of the participants were able to give an idea of how what they say will be used in the finished product. "We looked at some other industry standards of computer-based learning tools," Day said. "We are going to include some improvements in our software that aren't a part of the other commonly used packages." Day said programs like these could prove very valuable in the preservation of the hundreds of Native American languages. LATI director Gary Williams added that the school is pleased to be working on a project of this importance. "It's a great honor for Lake Area Tech to work with our Native American friends and partner with the SWC in such a worthwhile project," he said. © 2004 AP Wire and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.aberdeennews.com From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Sep 1 15:36:38 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 08:36:38 -0700 Subject: Cultural awareness affects school success (fwd) Message-ID: Cultural awareness affects school success http://www.mnsun.com/story.asp?city=Bloomington&story=142071 By Teri Kelsh Sun Newspapers (Created 8/26/2004 8:41:53 AM) As a majority of school districts in Minnesota continue to witness increased diversity in student population, educators are becoming more aware of the need for cultural awareness. Jennifer Skuza, director of urban 4-H development at the University of Minnesota, said to help all students succeed it’s essential educators understand and embrace cultural differences. “We all want to treat everyone alike, and while this can be good in some cases, it’s not in this one.” Skuza warned, “Trying to treat all children alike can actually be a detriment to learning.” Helping a child maintain his or her cultural identity is an asset to everyone’s learning, she said, even to the point of fostering the child’s native language, which to some can be a contentious issue. Educators are becoming increasingly confronted with classrooms of immigrant students entering school with little or no English proficiency and whose cultural and educational backgrounds aren’t corresponding with established educational expectations in the United States. The U.S. Department of Education estimates the number of students in U.S. schools with limited English proficiency range from 2.3 million to much higher. Rob Metz is the principal at Aquila Primary Center, St. Louis Park, where 20 percent of students are English language learners (ELL). He refers to Aquila as an English immersion school for ELL children. He said some parents fear teachers are spending more attention on ELL children, taking time away from their child. “But that’s not the case at all. Having these kids in the classroom doesn’t slow the other guys down. It’s a fear that’s unfounded,” said Metz. “Having these kids is a benefit for everyone. It generates eagerness in the building to learn.” The other side of the coin is ELL students being left behind, creating an achievement gap. The key to making sure all children succeed, said Metz, is for teachers to “differentiate.” “What that really means is the teacher needs to present lessons that no matter what level of language understanding a student is at they can learn.” An example, he said is a hands-on experiment where language isn’t a barrier. If a child is literate in his or her own native language, research suggests they can more easily learn a new language. So the key, said Metz, is early childhood learning in every culture. “No matter what the language, a child with a 1,000-word vocabulary is going to succeed vs. a student with a 200-word vocabulary. If parents are readers and writers, the kids are much better off.” Promoting literacy skills at home can help every student succeed, said Metz, even those with little or no English proficiency. At a recent early childhood education forum held in Hopkins, a group of legislators from the bipartisan Early Childhood Education Caucus met with the community to discuss future policy decisions. Margaret Boyer from the Minnesota Dakota Ojibwe Language Revitalization Alliance told legislators for American Indian children to be ready for school and succeed inside white culture they first need the skills to operate within their native culture. “A one-size-fits-all childcare education system won’t work. We need programs that embrace a child’s native culture and language,” said Boyer, stating that the problem with the one-size-fits-all system is that children lose their sense of identity. “Since we were kids we were told in order to be successful in the white man’s world we needed to be exactly like them. Well, we’ve all come to realize now that as adults that’s not the case. Our own identity is what makes us succeed.” There have been many strategies to increase the success of American Indian children in public schools, but many were designed by a mainstream culture that does not recognize the ways of thinking and being of the American Indian community, said Boyer. According to the Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education, research shows that students in a language immersion experience have greater success in school and had consistent measurable improvement on local and national measures of achievements. Mary O’Brien, manager of St. Louis Park’s Community Education Youth and Services Program, said the School District’s family learning and school readiness programs encourage immigrant families to maintain their cultural identities. “But what’s true in all cultures is that it’s important parents be their child’s first teacher,” she said. The Minnesota Humanities Commission in St. Paul has several bilingual family literacy initiatives to help teachers, parent educators and early childhood educators provide resources and programs to recent refugee and immigrant groups. The goal is to help them develop literacy skills and promote the importance of books and reading. O’Brien said most adults taking English language learning classes through Adult Basic Education in St. Louis Park bring their children to school with them, so the School District has used the family learning program to give immigrant families the opportunity to learn early childhood family education skills as well. Fifteen to 20 children per year attend the family learning program, according to O’Brien. “The advantage of this program is we can teach parents and children ‘Here’s what schools expect.’ It’s our best way to reach diverse families in the community.” The St. Louis Park School District also offers a school readiness program where last year 50 percent of children ages 4 and 5 who attended were from a different culture. “Most have never been in a group setting before so we take them through the whole system of what it’s going to be like to be in school,” explained O’Brien. “All research tells us any preschool learning experience really does help a child be successful in school. The more experience, the better opportunities for kids to expand their horizons.” From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Sep 1 15:38:38 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 08:38:38 -0700 Subject: Dakotah language will be honored (fwd) Message-ID: Posted on Thu, Aug. 26, 2004 Dakotah language will be honored Governor declares Friday appreciation day; college, association plan events >From staff reports http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/9501502.htm Gov. Mike Rounds has declared Friday "Dakotah Language Revitalization and Appreciation Day," and Sisseton-Wahpeton College and the Association of American Indian Affairs will celebrate the occasion. The college and the association will host an event "to promote the preservation of the precious and invaluable Dakotah Language." "The language of the Dakotah people is a cultural heritage that is in danger of vanishing as the elders pass on," according to a release from the college. "Sisseton-Wahpeton College, in collaboration with the Association of American Indian Affairs, has begun a Dakotah language immersion program with our young children, which is already bearing fruit as they speak the words of their ancestors." The program begins at 11 a.m. at the library of the college near Sisseton. According to the release, activities include: • A public reading of the book "The Cat in the Hat" in Dakotah language. • A premiere showing of the animated short "Mary Tahca Skana Cistina Yuke" ("Mary had a Little Lamb"). The cartoon was recreated in the Dakotah language at SWC. • Speakers will include SWC President Bill Lone Fight; Jerry Flute, a member of the board of directors of the Association of American Indian Affairs; and Solomon Derby, a former SWC faculty member, who will talk about the children's book he wrote as part of a class he took at the college. • If time allows, a video version of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" will be shown. Narrated by staff member Bea Christopherson, the video was recorded and edited on campus. For more information, contact Tammy Decoteau, language project coordinator, or T.J. Just, public relations committee chairperson, at (605) 698-3966. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Sep 1 15:50:13 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 08:50:13 -0700 Subject: The Role of Indigenous Languages in Serving National Interest (fwd) Message-ID: The Role of Indigenous Languages in Serving National Interest Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone) DOCUMENT August 31, 2004 Posted to the web September 1, 2004 By METHAETSILE LEEPILE http://allafrica.com/stories/200409010258.html There are compelling reasons to protect indigenous languages from extinction because when a language dies, a people's knowledge dies with it, writes METHAETSILE LEEPILE I have been involved in media development for most of my adult life. It is 20 years since I first made my foray into the media. I think it was my love for taking on new challenges that spurred me to join Patrick van Rensburg, my mentor and the finest journalist I know, at Mmegi wa Dikgang. At the time, I knew Patrick only by reputation. A former South African diplomat in Lumumba's Congo, he had fled his country in protest against Apartheid to take up citizenship in Botswana where he started folk schools based on the education with production model. I am a product of one such school, Swaneng, the birthplace of Mmegi wa Dikgang - and the newspaper where I first cut my journalism teeth. Twenty years ago, more Batswana were literate in Setswana than in English. Both languages were treated as official. The colonial administration had, out of necessity, made Setswana - which was spoken by up to 90 percent of the population - a language of record. The size of the language's geography was significant. It had a large ethnic base and there were compelling reasons - social, political and economic - for using it as a national and official language. The colonial administration's pragmatism towards the language, was borne out of the realisation that Setswana was the lingua franca of the Protectorate. The regime decreed knowledge of Setswana a requirement for service in the public sector, by far the largest employer at the time. This situation was carried over into the immediate post-independence period. Whilst there was no attempt to develop the language as a national asset, there was an acknowledgment by the new administration that Setswana was of national importance. To highlight some of this acknowledgement: - A Setswana Language Council exists to spearhead the technical development of the language, especially with respect to the building of the corpora; - Most official texts were in English but there was no shortage of Setswana literature; - Tuition in primary schools was in Setswana, initially taught from grades 1 to 6 and later to 4; - Setswana was a compulsory subject in secondary school; - The language had a standard orthography; - Texts, including those in Mathematics, had been developed for use in primary and secondary schools; - The national university and teacher training colleges were offering Setswana as an optional subject and producing graduates in the language. A few years ago, I returned from Namibia after my stint at Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) headquarters. I was surprised at the level of neglect Setswana had been subjected to in the short years I had been out of the country. Unlike in the past, Government departments did not seem to be obliged to publish documents in Setswana. Commitment to the development of Setswana and other indigenous languages was couched in platitudes - like in the Vision 2016 document where it is stated that "the nation's languages must be taught to a high standard at all levels" and that "all Batswana must have access to the media through national and local radio, television and newspapers". A number of concerned Batswana approached me with the idea of resuscitating the language through the media. They wanted to start a Setswana language newspaper, but were unsure about the reception in the market. The feasibility study that followed made some interesting revelations. Among the findings: There was unanimity among political parties and local government authorities that Setswana must take its rightful place in society. This would require political will; Setswana would benefit from the development of minority languages spoken in the country, which are spoken by about 10 to 15 percent of the population; The role of language in education should be re-defined as this would unlock the potential in our learners and teachers and lead to a nation of innovators unimpeded by a foreign language they do not understand; The use of Setswana in public affairs would lead to the participation of the majority population in matters of public interest and make for informed decision-making. This particular point was identified as a serious weakness in the country's democracy; In line with the wishes of the national vision, Vision 2016, a strong culture of reading must be cultivated among the general populace. This should make for "an informed and educated nation"; The survey also revealed a nation hungry for reading Setswana. Out of the 559 respondents interviewed, 94% said they would read Setswana newspapers if these were available. A very high proportion of the interviewees (82%) felt that Setswana should be used in government business. I became involved with the Mokgósi initiative in a project management capacity, in early 2002. There were initially eight promoters, who I advised to get more Batswana involved as this was no ordinary business project. Capital would not be enough for it to succeed: Mokgósi needed as many people from as diverse a background as possible to 'buy-into' the concept. The number of shareholders today stands at 40. They are drawn from a wide range of disciplines. It was not a particularly tidy model to follow: the contributions came in dribs and drabs, which meant that the programme of action was severely compromised as a result of undercapitalisation from the beginning. Initially we used commissioned personnel to run the paper. Not even the editor was on the payroll. We also outsourced key services such as design and production, accounting, newspaper distribution and printing. The good news is that the product had market appeal. To differentiate it from existing titles, we packaged it as a broadsheet, the country's first. The writing was initially intended to be light, easy to follow. Good photography was to be an integral part of the product. This paid off. Within six months of its launch, the paper won a number of prizes sponsored by MISA (Botswana), being 'Best Designed Newspaper'; 'Journalist of the Year' and 'Photographer of the Year'. Last year it won in the 'Business Reporter of the Year' category. As a business, Mokgósi has a long way to go. The paper operates in a market that is increasingly becoming crowded and competitive. Botswana has a population of 1,7 million, with an adult literacy rate of 79 percent. Other than Mokgósi, there are seven other newspapers that compete for news and ad-spend. Publishing in Setswana is therefore no recipe for success. To the contrary, it could be a recipe for failure. In the absence of a policy framework that supports the development of the national language, the paper is a threatened species. Worse, the commercialisation of the free distribution government Daily News in recent months, has adversely affected the paper's share of the government advertising revenue, 90 percent of which was derived from this source alone during the first year. Traditionally, newspapers in small population markets like Botswana derive the bulk of their revenue from advertising. The experience of the past 12 months indicate that in so far as Mokgósi is concerned, this may not apply. Mokgósi must therefore remain in the forefront of innovation with respect to its income generating and market penetration strategies. It must be innovative in the way it looks. It must be innovative in the way it presents information to the public. It must be innovative in the way it seeks to reach out to its readers, potential and actual, literate or semi-literate; influential or the average person in the street. Any new project has the potential to unlock economic opportunities that were hitherto unknown, and Mokgósi is no exception. Among the opportunities that may emanate as a result of the popularisation of Setswana are research in the capacity building of the language, the effect of its widespread use in the media on national/local government policies and its potential impact in promoting good governance and public accountability; the development of dictionaries, the development of software to facilitate its use in the computer, translation, transcription, standardisation of Sotho-Tswana as a modern language (Sotho-Tswana is spoken by an estimated 8 - 10 million people in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe). The development of Setswana as a national language, let alone as a cross-border language, requires huge investments in advocacy initiatives. There are an estimated 7,000 languages spoken throughout the world today. Thirty-six per cent face the prospect of extinction. A third of this are said to be in Africa. It took the Welsh 50 years to appreciate the value of their language and to lobby for its resuscitation. Perhaps the most classic case in the modern era is the Hebrew language, which was but technically dead 50 years ago. Language encapsulates a people's culture, social mores, values, and knowledge. When a language dies, a people's knowledge dies with it. Language is about economic and social empowerment. More people can be brought into public and productive life by wider and more productive use of indigenous languages like Setswana. The development of language can be used to promote a sound understanding of entrepreneurship, commerce, economics, history, science and technology. More of our people need to be educated and educate themselves on issues of their material and natural environment, of economic, social and scientific development, and all aspects of culture, entertainment, sports and humour; of the importance of improving individual and societal health, and of international, regional and African affairs. The mass use of indigenous languages like Setswana can carry the population at large to realising these ideals. This is an abridged version of an acceptance speech delivered by the former editor of Mmegi, Methaetsile Leepile, at the MISA Annual Gala Dinner in Maseru on Friday after he won the MISA Press Freedom Award. The award recognises an individual or organisation that has done the most to further press freedom and freedom of expression in the Southern African region in line with the Windhoek Declaration on the Promotion of a Free, Independent and Pluralistic Press. Previous winners include the late Makani Kabwedza (editor of Zimbabwe's Moto magazine), Geoff Nyarota (editor of the defunct Daily News, in Zimbabwe), the late Carlos Cardosso (founder and editor of MediaFax, in Mozambique), Gwen Lister (publisher and editor of The Namibian), Fred M'mebe (publisher of The Post, in Zambia), and the late Bright Mwape (a former journalist at The Post). From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Sep 1 15:56:56 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 08:56:56 -0700 Subject: Eskimo traditions melt away with every generation (fwd) Message-ID: Eskimo traditions melt away with every generation Marriages were far more complex than just saying, 'I do' - Sarah Kershaw, New York Times Sunday, August 29, 2004 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/08/29/MNG108F47E1.DTL Gambell , Alaska -- When it became clear that the elders in this isolated Eskimo village on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea approved of the marriage, Clifford Apatiki's relatives did what was required of them: They bought him his bride. That meant, according to a fast-fading custom among the Siberian Yupiks, a small but sturdy native Alaskan tribe that has inhabited this treeless and brutally windy island since about A.D. 500, that Apatiki's family would spend at least a year coming up with the payment. They called on their relatives, here in Gambell, over in Savoonga, the other Yupik village on this island 38 miles from the Chukchi peninsula in Russia, and across Alaska, to send them things -- sealskins, rifles, bread, a toaster -- a house full of gifts. When the bride's family accepted the offerings, Apatiki, a skilled ivory carver and polar bear hunter, did what was required of him: He went to work for her family as a kind of indentured servant for a year, hunting seal, whale and polar bear, and doing chores around the house. The marriage between Apatiki, 30, and Jennifer Campbell, 29, a former bookkeeper for the village tribal council, was formalized five years ago, when traditional marriages such as theirs were still the norm here. But now the couple worry whether their children will follow suit because even in five years this and other centuries-old traditions in this village of 700 have been slipping away, as one of the most remote villages on Earth finally contends with the modern world. "I'm sure people will continue to do it for a while," Jennifer Apatiki said one evening in the living room of her one-story home in the village. "If the tradition isn't in effect with some families, they are whispered about. They will say about a girl, 'She was not bought.' " Still, it is of great concern to the elders of Gambell that this marriage tradition is disappearing in the face of whirlwind change here over the last decade. Life has shifted so much in Gambell, where satellite television, rising rates of alcoholism and a growing rejection by the younger generation of the Yupik language and customs have begun to chip away at tradition and at a hunting-and-gathering subsistence lifestyle, that it is as if the world here is playing on videotape stuck on fast-forward. And fewer couples are getting married in the traditional way, despite pleas from their parents and grandparents in this hard-working whaling community. The rising tension between the old ways and the new ones, between older generations and younger ones, is playing out in native villages across this state, where 16 percent of the population is indigenous Alaskan, comprising 11 distinct cultures and speaking 20 different languages. The Internet, much more regular airline travel and other modern advances are connecting even the most remote Alaskan villages to mainstream society. "Gambell, it has changed quite a bit now," said Winfred James, 82, one of the village's most knowledgeable elders, one recent evening in his living room, where he was watching a CNN interview of Sen. John Kerry and his wife. "Westernization is coming in." James said he and other elders were deeply concerned about losing the marriage customs, "but it probably will change with the next generation." "We try to teach them to do that, you know," he added. "So they can know each other, so they can stick together." Village residents say that more and more young couples are simply living together and not pursuing the traditional marriage customs or that men are working for the families of their fiancees for much shorter periods, if at all. "They work for maybe a month, and then I guess they forget," said Christopher Koonooka, 26, who teaches at the village school in a bilingual program. Koonooka said he saw many of his peers rejecting the old traditions. The Siberian Yupiks inhabit Gambell and Savoonga, a village of 700 people about 50 miles from here, and parts of the Siberian Chukchi Peninsula, where about 900 Siberian Yupiks live. Gambell was named after a Presbyterian missionary, Vene Gambell, who came to St. Lawrence Island in the late 1800s. He was followed by other missionaries, whose Western-sounding surnames made their way into the lineage of the Yupiks. The first working telephones were installed here in the 1970s, and television was not readily available until about a decade ago; running water became available to about half of the homes here about five years ago. Before satellite television, Gambell residents watched the news at least two weeks late on videotapes flown in with other supplies from Nome, the closest city on the Alaska mainland, 200 miles away and reachable only by small plane. Almost every house has a satellite dish. The first cellular telephone tower was built a few years ago, near the one-room trailer that serves as the police station. The people here generally welcome much of the technology even as the village elders and others say television is a particularly disturbing force. For example, global positioning systems now provide great assistance to hunters who might otherwise get terribly lost in the rough Bering Sea, especially because some of the old knowledge about how to find the whales, seals and walrus has been lost. And the Internet has not only allowed greater access to information, but ivory carvers, who would otherwise have to wait for the occasional tourist or birder, use it to advertise and sell their wares. (Only the hardiest birders make the trek out here from Nome, and tourists arrive only once in a while, on cruise ships that sometimes stop on the shores of Gambell.) "Technology has had a big impact, in good ways and bad ways," said Mattox Metcalf, high school program art coordinator for the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage and a Siberian Yupik who was born in Gambell. "Some of my relatives have said they are competing hard with what's on TV. "The younger people are seeing stuff on TV, and they are slowly realizing that what they do is different from what other people do in the U.S.," said Metcalf, 24, who travels here frequently to visit relatives. "And they want to be like them. The older people are trying to fight for their minds and fight for their attention. It is kind of at a stalemate right now." Carol Zane Jolles, an anthropologist at the University of Washington in Seattle who has studied the people of St. Lawrence Island and recently published a book about her research, said she had seen radical changes here, even since she first visited in the late 1980s. Returning in the last few years, Jolles was struck, she said, by how children were speaking English first with each other, rather than Siberian Yupik, the main language of their parents, and that she saw major shifts in the marriage customs and in family structure. In a society still structured around clans, the recent construction of modern houses has shifted the emphasis from the extended family to the nuclear family, she said. The newer homes, prefabricated and shipped here, replaced the small driftwood and walrus hide houses that still stand in the older part of the village, where dozens of people live and there is no running water. "Everyone now has access to the way the rest of the world lives," Jolles said. "They are American citizens and they have the same interests and values." She added, "They are watching how other people live on television, the modern movies, and there is a great impact on young people." As much as things have changed in Gambell, there are some constants, and on a recent summer afternoon, life, on the surface anyway, was unfolding much as it has for hundreds of years. Split walrus skins, used to cover and waterproof the sea hunting boats, were stretched across wooden planks, drying under the sun. Some of the women were picking greens up on the mountain, preparing to soak them in tall buckets of mountain spring water and store them for the winter. In the winter, the rocky mountain is bare, except for gravestones and above-ground coffins in the village cemetery and piles of snow. There are greens and berries to be harvested here in the summer, and sea fruits wash up on the beach in the fall, but no fruits or vegetables can be found in the winter. Other women were picking through the cache of meat carved from a 40-foot bowhead whale caught last April, contemplating dinner. The meat is kept in hand-made freezers dug out in the still frosty tundra, on a foggy landscape scattered with giant whalebones, prized trophies laid across the black gravel. Later that night, the women sliced up the whale blubber and served it on a large tray, along with bits of smoked seal and walrus flippers, a delicacy, at a party for a couple celebrating their 17th wedding anniversary. The men, meanwhile, including Kenneth James, 24, the grandson of Winfred James and an up-and-coming hunter of whales, walrus and reindeer, were checking their nets for salmon and trout, zooming back and forth between their one-story wooden houses and the beach on all-terrain vehicles that, in the summer, replace snowmobiles as the only mode of transportation in this roadless village. Others were buffing and polishing their intricate walrus ivory carvings. Kenneth James, perhaps one of the last to abide by the marriage tradition, will soon begin working for his girlfriend's family, once his grandfather gathers an acceptable amount of goods for them. He was stoic about his duty. "I will be going to work soon," James said late one evening, as the sun, which does not set here in the summer until 2 a.m., was still lighting up the village. He was eager to hop on his all-terrain vehicle and check his salmon nets. "It's what I will do," he said. This evidence that some young people are still keeping the marriage tradition makes many elders happy. Perhaps the Gambell resident most concerned about what the village is facing these days is Edmond Apassingok, 41, president of the Indian Reorganization Act Council, which, along with the Gambell City Council, governs the village. Apassingok, a whale hunter who caught a 50-foot whale last January (the meat is shared among all the residents and catching a whale is cause for a huge, emotional celebration) is deeply concerned about the rising temperatures in Alaska, he said. The annual mean temperature has risen in Alaska 5.4 degrees over the last 30 years, and the climate change has shortened the season for whale hunting because the ice that provides the right conditions for whales has begun to melt earlier in the spring. But Apassingok has other worries, as well. "Every generation is losing something," he said. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Sep 1 16:01:37 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 09:01:37 -0700 Subject: Professor works to preserve 'weird' languages (fwd link) Message-ID: Professor works to preserve 'weird' languages http://www.purdueexponent.org/interface/bebop/showstory.php?date=2004/08/30§ion=campus&storyid=benedicto161 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Sep 2 16:40:09 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Thu, 2 Sep 2004 09:40:09 -0700 Subject: Dying language gets another chance (fwd) Message-ID: Dying language gets another chance [photo inset - Jenna Hauck/Metrovalley. Seabird Island resident Elizabeth Herrling continues to keep her native Sto:lo language alive.] By Jessica Gillies MetroValley News http://www.agassizharrisonobserver.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=2&cat=23&id=290213&more= Thanks to a handful of local Sto:lo elders, the nearly extinct Halq'emeylem language has a chance to live on in future generations. The elders' work has led to the creation of a Halq'emeylem language program that will enable students to earn a Developmental Standard Teaching Certificate that will allow them to teach the language to others, says program coordinator Thelma Wenman. The language was on the verge of dying out. Only a few elders remained who could speak the language, and children had resisted learning it in school, says Elizabeth Herrling (whose traditional name is Ts'ats'elexwot) - one of the elders who speaks Halq'emeylem and who has made great contributions to the language program. She went to Seabird Island to teach it, she says, but the children were "stubborn" and didn't want to learn. "Every time you'd speak to them, they'd just laugh at you." When Ms. Herrling was a child, she was forbidden to speak Halq'emeylem at school. On Seabird Island, her friends all forgot their own language and spoke English. "I was stubborn," she says. "It was the only language my grandmothers were speaking. Every time we spoke the language we got punished [at school]." Now, there are few people to speak Halq'emeylem with. "Just me," she says. "I talk to myself sometimes." Ms. Herrling, who is now 88, had six sisters and three brothers. She has one younger brother left, who she says can understand Halq'emeylem but not speak it. "I'm the oldest and I'm still here," she says. "I don't know why." "Because you're stubborn," replies Strang Burton, a linguist working with her on the language project. Mr. Burton has been working with the language for about nine years. He started when he was doing a post-doctorate from UBC, and he was hired part-time by Sto:lo Nation five or six years ago, he says. He knows words and phrases in Halq'emeylem, he says, but "if a couple of elders were to speak fluently, I would have a hard time understanding them." Mr. Burton and Elizabeth Herrling, along with elders Elizabeth Phillips, Tillie Guitterez, and the late Rosaleen George, have collaborated to make various learning mate rials so that Halq'emeylem can be taught in schools. "I didn't want my language to fade away, so I had to do something," says Ms. Herrling. They have produced three CD-ROMS (two vocabulary/language and one sounds), three textbooks with 50 lessons each, audio CDs of phrases and language in the textbooks, and an audio dictionary, says Mr. Burton. The dictionary, he adds, has about 3,800 entries, which ends up being about 10,000 sound files. There are two speakers for each entry, because they have "noticeably different dialects" of Halq'emeylem. There is also another CD-ROM, with a book and audio CD, about a Sasquatch story told by an elder. Currently, Mr. Burton is working with Ms. Herrling and collecting her stories to put them into a similar format. In June, Ms. Herrling received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from UCFV. The Halq'emeylem program has four introductory levels and four intensive fluency levels, all of which have to be completed in order to qualify for the Developmental Standard Teaching Certificate, she says. All the levels are accredited through the Niccola Valley Institute of Technology, and the introductory levels are accredited through UCFV, says Ms. Wenman. Those eight levels satisfy the DSTC's language component, but other courses have to be completed as well. The DSTC was approved through the B.C. College of Teachers and Simon Fraser University, she says. Ten students have finished the program and nine are almost done, she says. Their courses are scattered between NVIT, UCFV, SFU, and Sto:lo Nation. "We're running three levels per year," says Ms. Wenman, so it takes a year and a half to get through the introductory levels, and a year and a half to get through the intensive fluency portion. "That's just for the language component," she says. Ms. Wenman credits the elders for their hard work and influence on the program. "It's all through the aid of our beloved elders Elizabeth Herrling, Elizabeth Phillips, and the late Rosaleen George," she says. "Without them we wouldn't have our language classes." Laura Wealick, whose traditional name is Wee Lay Laq, is one of the students who took the language classes. "I am a teacher of the language; I'm also a student of the language," she says. "I've been studying [Halq'emeylem] for the last five years." She has also studied a downriver Halq'emeylem dialect, she says, and her mother's language, Ooweekeno. She's studying Halq'emeylem because it's her father's language and because it's endangered, she says. For the past two and a half years, Ms. Wealick has been teaching community language classes at Tzeachten. In September, she says she'll be teaching Halq'emeylem at Sto:lo Shxweli. "Our students will have the opportunity to study - more importantly, to think - in their language," she says. "I felt like I was waking up my ancestors because the words I was speaking hadn't been spoken in our family for two generations. It was like using muscles in my throat, in my body, that hadn't been used for many years. That was a really moving experience. The language is an integral part of our culture." Now that she has her DSTC, Ms. Wealick will be doing the Professional Development Program, which she says is a year of intensive study, half of which is a practicum. As for Elizabeth Herrling, says Ms. Wealick, "She's my mentor. She is probably one of the most beautiful women I have ever met." Ms. Herrling, Elizabeth Phillips and Tillie Guitterez "are leaders in the language now," she says, as well as "other people, too, that have gone before them. "These three ladies have come forward, and continue to come forward and offer their knowledge. Without them, our language would not have this thread of hope." She praises Strang Burton as well. "That guy is just unreal. He's doing phenomenal work - I just can't say enough about him. He's just so giving and the stuff he's doing is just incredible. "It's my belief that it takes many hands and many minds to accomplish anything. These people are only a handful of representatives of everyone that's contributed to the language to date. There have been lots and lots of people - I don't want people to get the wrong impression that it's only these three people." From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Sep 3 14:38:19 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 3 Sep 2004 07:38:19 -0700 Subject: UNL professor aims to rescue disappearing Omaha language (fwd) Message-ID: UNL professor aims to rescue disappearing Omaha language By Travis Coleman http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2004/08/25/local/10054256.txt Adorned with several Native books and Omaha beadwork, the office of Mark Awakuni-Swetland has two photographs prominently displayed: Those of Charles and Elizabeth Stabler, his adoptive grandparents from the Omaha Tribe. "(They) made a place for me in this community," Awakuni-Swetland said. Awakuni-Swetland, a non-Native, now fights to preserve the Omaha language as aprofessor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. When taken in by his adoptive family and the Omaha Tribe, he was introduced to the Omaha language and culture at community events, ceremonies and the dinner table. "(The culture is) fed to you as much as the food." He and Omaha elders and instructors are trying to reverse 150 years of loss - of language, of culture, of people. Awakuni-Swetland said the language of the Omaha began to fade when they were moved onto the reservation in 1855. Missionary and boarding schools carefully watched the Omaha people. "They routinely punished children for behaving in any Native custom," including speaking the language, he said. An entire generation lived in fear of its own culture and made the decision to pass down English, not Omaha, to their children, he said. During the 1940s, few children were taught Omaha. Those who did learn the language often were told by their non-Native teachers that speaking Omaha was a bad thing. "We've seen the impact of the mainstream educational system, which has routinely denigrated nonmainstream culture," he said. Awakuni-Swetland learned the language in 1971, when he took an Omaha language course in Lincoln taught by his adoptive grandmother, Elizabeth Stabler. The class began with 20 students, most of them university age. Within three weeks, all of the students except Awakuni-Swetland had dropped out. "The fact that I showed an interest in the language made me acceptable," Awakuni-Swetland said. He helped Stabler compile a limited dictionary of Omaha vocabulary, published in 1977. Twenty-seven years later, the work, Umonhon iyea of Elizabeth Stabler, is still used as a source book at Omaha Nation Public Schools in Macy. Stabler's husband, Charles - a Native American Church "roadman," or minister - introduced Awakuni-Swetland to the Omaha Tribe. He was formally adopted into the tribe in 1977, after Charles Stabler had asked permission from several members. In August 1999, he was asked to come to UNL to teach an Omaha language class. After asking permission of the tribal council, elders and other Omaha, he began teaching four years ago. "The majority (of Omaha) were in favor of the language being taught here," Awakuni-Swetland said. "(They thought it would be) a good opportunity for non-Indians to learn about the early inhabitants of the state - as well as a welcoming environment for their own children coming here." He is in the same position his grandmother was more than 30 years ago: trying to pass an endangered language to the next generation. "The students have been generally pleased," Awakuni-Swetland said. "But the students who have been most difficult (to teach) have been the Omaha students." Some Omaha feel pressure to get good grades and absorb their cultural language in the distinctly non-Native environment of a college classroom. Their families push them to learn it instead at home, with other tribe members, from their elders. Awakuni-Swetland enjoys having people of all cultures in his classes. His goal is to "show students how they can be exposed to a culture that's not theirs - so they can come to understand it and co-exist with it," he said. "And in the end, become a better human being." Reach Travis Coleman at 473-7211 or tcoleman@;journalstar.com. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Sep 3 14:39:57 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 3 Sep 2004 07:39:57 -0700 Subject: Keeping alive a language and a culture (fwd) Message-ID: Keeping alive a language and a culture By Travis Coleman http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2004/08/25/local/10054255.txt MACY - An Omaha Indian Reservation high school student stares at three juice bottles and answers an instructor timidly. "Sezi ni," (sez a-nay) he says, pointing at a bottle of orange juice during a class on the Omaha language. His anxious expression melts into a grin as the instructor praises him. "Udon shkaxe," (oo-done shkaw-hay) says Vida Stabler, an Umo`nhon, (oo-mon-hon) or Omaha, language instructor. It means, "You did a good job." The student is one of 100 high school and elementary students fighting to keep the Omaha language alive by taking courses at the Omaha Tribe Public School. In 1994, the Omaha Tribe said less than 1 percent of its total enrollment - nearly 7,000 - was fluent in the language of one of Nebraska's earliest inhabitants. Of that 1 percent, only 30 lived on the Omaha reservation. The reservation's senior center is where many of the tribe's fluent speakers come to eat. The elders are keeping the language alive. "(The preservation of the Omaha language) is very important to our tribes," said Maxine Parker, 66. "We have to pick up what our ancestors left behind." Stabler and her team of 16 elders and teachers have joined Mark Awakuni-Swetland - a professor of the Omaha language at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln - and the Omaha Tribe Head Start program and Nebraska Indian Community College to save the language and, in turn, the culture. "Iknow it's a struggle," Stabler said. "But these young ones have good minds - with each day, they produce more and more." To ensure the Omaha language survives and thrives, educational and community centers on and off the reservation teach the language to youths of all ages. At the Omaha Tribe Head Start program, preschoolers are taught Omaha names for shapes, colors and numbers, said Lenna Spears, the director. Elementary school Omaha courses have been formed and will be taught this semester. Natives are exposed to further instruction in high school and can seek Omaha language courses at Nebraska Indian Community College in Macy or at UNL. The words transmit more than just commands and phrases, according to instructors. "The majority of Omahas see language and culture as two sides of the same coin," Awakuni-Swetland said. "The common phrase is, 'If you learn our language, you learn our culture.'" The way the language is spoken, Awakuni-Swetland said, is what makes it precious. "Omaha is very context-specific. When you talked Omaha, you knew what you were talking about," he said. "The jokes are funnier. The stories are more potent. The prayers are more special." The level of instruction in the classroom cannot match the level of learning in the home, Stabler said. For students to fully grasp the concepts of Omaha language and culture, a family-like environment must exist in the classroom, Stabler said. Omaha Tribe Public School language classes take place in the hutuga, (who-la-ga) or tribal circle. There are no desks or chalkboards. Few written materials exist. "I don't like tables. I see them as a deterrent to learning," Stabler said. "We try to create a family environment." Traditionally, the language has been passed to the next generation orally. This family environment, according to Stabler, ensures students are taught the language the same way their ancestors learned it. "Vida and her team of elders have been diligent in their approach to this multifaceted situation," Awakuni-Swetland said. "In every case possible, they have tried to use an Omaha-appropriate approach." The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska faces similar problems: 11 of the 4,222 people enrolled in the tribe speak fluent Ho-Chunk. Since 2003, more than 600 students have taken Ho-Chunk classes in several schools surrounding Winnebago. A federal grant pays for the Omaha Tribe's efforts to revitalize the language. But each time the $78,000 grant runs short, Stabler confidently asks the school board for help, because it fully supports the project. The financial challenges are small when compared to the work of making the Omaha language thrive again, Stabler said. "You can't let up on these efforts. The challenge is to create opportunities for people to engage in Umonhon on a day-to-day basis," Stabler said. "I have to have hope. I have to believe it will be a thriving language." Donna Parker, 64, is an elder who instructs alongside Stabler. Often, when Stabler cannot find a word or a phrase during class, she seeks guidance from Parker or Karen Tyndall, another instructor. This is the way the language should be passed down: from one generation to another, Parker said. But, the fear of losing what Omahas hold dear is strong in Parker. "It's fading away. - We would like to preserve the language. If we don't, it will be lost." And with it, a way of life. Travis Coleman was a Journal Star intern this summer. He plans to attend the University of South Dakota this fall. He can be reached through citydesk@;journalstar.com. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sat Sep 4 22:27:55 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2004 15:27:55 -0700 Subject: Language Endangerment and Language Revitalization (fwd) Message-ID: from the Mouton De Gruyter website http://www.degruyter.de/rs/bookSingle.cfm?id=IS-3110176629-1&fg=SK&l=E# ~~~ Tsunoda, Tasaku Language Endangerment and Language Revitalization 2004. 23 x 15.5 cm. Approx. VIII, 352 pages. Cloth. Approx. Euro [D] 128.00 / approx. sFr 205.00 / approx. US$ 154.00. * ISBN 3-11-017662-9 MOUTON DE GRUYTER to be published December 2004 In almost every part of the world, minority languages are threatened with extinction. At the same time, dedicated efforts are being made to document endangered languages, to maintain them, and even to revive once-extinct languages. The present volume examines a wide range of issues that concern language endangerment and  language revitalization. Among other things, it is shown that languages may be endangered to different degrees, endangerment situations in selected areas of the world are surveyed and definitions of language death and types of language death presented. The book also examines causes of language endangerment, speech behaviour in a language endangerment situation, structural changes in endangered languages, as well as types of speakers encountered in a language endangerment situation. In addition, methods of documentation and of training for linguists are proposed which will enable scholars to play an active role in the documentation of endangered languages and in language revitalization. The book presents a comprehensive overview of the field. It is clearly written and contains ample references to the relevant literature, thus providing useful guidance for further research. The author often draws on his own experience of documenting endangered languages and of language revival activities in Australia. The volume is of interest to a wide readership, including linguists, anthropologists, sociologists, and educators. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sat Sep 4 19:03:42 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2004 12:03:42 -0700 Subject: Integrating Native culture helps WASL scores (fwd) Message-ID: SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/189453_wasltulalip04.html Integrating Native culture helps WASL scores Tulalip Elementary program shows gains Saturday, September 4, 2004 By JENNIFER LANGSTON SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER A curriculum that incorporates Lushootseed language lessons, research projects on Native canoe carvers and interaction with tribal elders have contributed to dramatic test score gains at Snohomish County's Tulalip Elementary School, officials believe. Fourth-grade scores on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning at the school where nearly four out of five students are Native American still remained well below state averages last year. Forty-three percent of the school's 222 students met reading standards, 30 percent met math standards, and 35 percent passed the writing test. But that represents a big leap over the previous year, when 22 percent met reading standards, 17 percent met math standards and 15 percent passed the writing test. "Our students are excited when they see their own culture and language in the curriculum," said fourth-grade teacher David Cort. "When the kids are reading their own literature instead of something out of a textbook, they definitely become more engaged in learning." He credited the school's partnerships with the Tulalip Tribes, which provided Native language teachers and elders to teach a special curriculum last year marrying Native American literature and cultural lessons with state academic requirements. The school is on the reservation west of Marysville. That curriculum -- which requires finding teachers with that specialized cultural knowledge and financial resources to pay them -- has been used three of the last five years. Each time, there's been a noticeable rise in WASL scores, Cort said. Last year's fourth-graders were also the first to have had access all four years to a computer and technology lab that the tribes helped outfit. Students used it last year to produce a multimedia CD based on a story about a Tulalip canoe carver, he said. Don Hatch, a tribal council member and former member of the Marysville School Board, said there's been a push reservationwide to instill cultural pride in new generations of tribal members. "Are we there yet? No," he said. "It's a slow process but we've got to do just a little bit more every year." Hank Williams, a Tulalip elder and police officer who frequently visits classrooms, said a growing tribal police force has been able to focus on truancy problems. Money from the Tulalips' casino and business ventures has allowed the tribes to increase their police force over the last five years from a handful of officers to 17, he said. They've been enforcing a new curfew law and following up on parents who aren't making sure their children get to school, he said. "Before, there was hardly anybody who cared ... but we've got people now who can go in and say why aren't you in school?" P-I reporter Jennifer Langston can be reached at 425-252-5235 or jenniferlangston at seattlepi.com © 1998-2004 Seattle Post-Intelligencer From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Sep 6 16:56:24 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 6 Sep 2004 09:56:24 -0700 Subject: Elders of Oneida Tribe Try to Preserve Their Language (fwd) Message-ID: Elders of Oneida Tribe Try to Preserve Their Language Ted Landphair Oneida, New York 05 Sep 2004, 15:26 UTC http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=429E5E2A-BFB1-4783-B532469457D00496&title=Elders%20of%20Oneida%20Tribe%20Try%20to%20Preserve%20Their%20Language&catOID=45C9C784-88AD-11D4-A57200A0CC5EE46C&categoryname=Arts%20%26%20Culture# Listen to Ted Landphair's report (RealAudio) Landphair report - Download 707k (RealAudio)   [photo inset - Oneida women practice ancient Oneida language in strictly structured Berlitz classes, in hopes of learning the tongue well enough to teach it to the tribe's young people. VOA photo - T. Landphair] Off and on for 25 years, elders of the Oneida Indian Nation of about 1000 people in New York State have tried to teach the ancient Oneida language to their children. The young people have learned enough for rituals, and not much more. Only about 150 true Oneida speakers remain in the tribe's three enclaves in the United States and Canada. So, as VOA's Ted Landphair reports, the Oneidas are taking a drastic step to save their dying language. As anyone who's tried to learn a language can tell you, just memorizing lists of vocabulary words doesn't work very well. Oneida young people studied and studied, only to forget most of what they learned when they stepped back into a world awash in English. Tribal elders concluded that only serious language immersion would work. They turned for help outside the nation, to the Berlitz organization, which employs its trademark Berlitz Method at four hundred language centers in more than sixty countries. Richard Van Vliet is the instruction supervisor at the Berlitz office in Rochester. He's developing a textbook and a guide to show the Oneidas how to teach THEMSELVES their own language. "This language is very difficult, because what they do is incorporate nouns inside of verbs," he explains. "Let's say that I want to say, 'I see the cat.' You take the word 'see' and put 'cat' in between the three letters. You'd have an 's, c-a-t,' and then an 'e-e.' It makes it very difficult to learn." Brian Patterson is an elder of the Bear Clan, one of four in the Oneida Indian Nation. Mr. Patterson says when the government imposed U.S. citizenship on all Indians early in the 20th century, it took Indian children from their homes and placed them in boarding schools where it was forbidden to speak any language but English. [photo inset - Oneida Bear Clan leaders Brian Patterson and Marilyn John pushed for the language immersion program. VOA photo - T. Landphair] "A whole generation of our people missed their language," says Mr. Patterson. "And so now we're struggling to catch up. I heard a linguist say one time, 'There are no dead languages. They are just sleeping.' The first Oneida word that I learned, I was watching a Saturday-morning cartoon in which these human-looking monkeys were dancing around a fire, yelling 'OH-tuh, OH-tuh, OH-tuh.' And my mother came into the living room. She was just laughing. I couldn't understand why she was laughing at these monkeys yelling 'OH-tuh, OH-tuh, OH-tuh.' Well that's kind of a swear word in Oneida." Bear clan mother Marilyn John took some of the old lessons on the Oneida reserve, recitations that were practically useless in everyday life. "The language has a different meaning when you speak it to one another than English," she notes. "When we have our ceremonies down at our long house, or our council house, it means so much more if it's in the language than it does in English. Just talking about Mother Earth. You just can't put in English what that means." Norma Jamieson is a Canadian Oneida and one of the last remaining Oneida speakers. She was a language teacher in the old days, and now she's starting over, the Berlitz way, with lots of full sentences, role-playing, and repetition. Today's lesson for the VOA audience: a chair is not just a chair. "'Chair' is 'uh-NEETS-squah-huh-LUCK-quah' in Oneida. And 'uh-NEETS-squah-huh-LUCK-quah' means, 'You put your backside onto the chair': 'uh-NEETS-squah-huh-LUCK-quah.' And that's what 'chair' means: 'You set yourself on it.' The action involved," explains Ms. Jamieson. [photo inset - Casino money has helped the tribe prosper and pay for educational and social programs, as well as schools and other tribal buildings. VOA photo - T. Landphair] Sherri Beglin and Sunny Shenandoah are two of the eight Oneidas now learning their own complex language from Norma Jamieson and another instructor. It's not a class. This is their full-time job, all day, every day for a year. They are paid by the tribe to do it, so they're sure to be motivated. "I've dreamt it. People have told me I'm sleeping when I'm saying it," she says. "There have been a few times, like when I answer the phone or I talk to people, I just automatically speak to them in Oneida without even thinking. I even talk to my cat in Oneida!" Whenever Sunny Shenandoah's grandmother spoke Oneida as a little girl, she was beaten. Now Ms. Shenandoah has the entire tribe behind her efforts to learn, use, and teach the language. "The hard part right now is that there aren't many people who speak it," says Ms. Shenandoah. "But I think once we get more and more people speaking it, it'll just grow and grow until everyone can speak English and Oneida. And that means 'it's my responsibility to learn the Oneida language.'" There is one big disappointment about the language-immersion program so far: only women have signed up. That's partly explained by the culture's matriarchal traditions. The men complain they're too busy with their jobs at the tribe's casino or elsewhere. But this Indian nation has devised a clever way to get boys, if not men, interested. Lacrosse is a Native American game that many others have learned, and it's played with a passion on the Oneida reserve. So the newly trained Oneida speakers are helping coaches slip more and more Oneida words into a place where boys are sure to learn them, on the lacrosse field. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Sep 6 23:15:49 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 6 Sep 2004 16:15:49 -0700 Subject: San call for greater recognition of their languages (fwd) Message-ID: SOUTHERN AFRICA: San call for greater recognition of their languages The San called for more efforts to promote their languages http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43051&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=SOUTHERN_AFRICA WINDHOEK, 6 Sep 2004 (IRIN) - Representatives of the Bushman communities in Southern Africa have called on regional authorities to do more to promote and develop San languages, some of which they say are in danger of becoming extinct. San from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa ended a three-day workshop on Friday in Windhoek, the Namibian capital, where they discussed ways to achieve the tuition of San languages at primary schools. The workshop was organised by the NGO, Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa. The estimated 110,000 remaining San today live in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Angola. Their languages, although fundamentally similar, vary considerably from place to place. San is primarily a linguistic label adopted by anthropologists to describe people speaking these related but distinct languages. "We call on the government of Botswana to adopt a policy of multi-lingual education to bring the country in line with policies of African countries and of the United Nations," said the resolution adopted by the 30 participants at the workshop. In Botswana, only Setswana and English are taught in schools. The participants also urged the Namibian government to recognise the Khwedam language and introduce it at primary school level. Namibia's education policy provides for mother-tongue tuition for the first three years of school, but from the fourth grade English is used as the medium of instruction. Billies Pamo of the Northern Cape told IRIN: "The South African government planned to introduce San languages in the middle of this year [2004], but it has been delayed. We realised at this workshop that we face the same problems trying to obtain more rights for our languages and education in our mother tongue." There are 35 San languages, according to South African sociolinguist Nigel Crawhall. Language groups represented at the workshop were Khewdam, !Xun, Ju/'hoansi, Naro and Hai//om. "In Namibia and South Africa non-formal adult education programmes exist for the San, assisted by the governments. In Botswana, this does not happen," he noted. David Naude, who hails from Shakawe in northwestern Botswana, in some cases pointed out that efforts to protect San languages had emerged from abroad. "The University of Cologne in Germany has, together with us, compiled a dictionary of our Khwedam language. We hold literary workshops with San adults to enable our people to become literate in their own language," he explained. The collaborative initiative has seen the publication of a newsletter in Khwedam every two months, which is distributed in northwestern Botswana and the Caprivi Region in northwestern Namibia. Participants also blamed the high number of school dropouts in the San community on the absence of their languages as subjects in school. [ENDS] From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Sep 8 15:22:29 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 08:22:29 -0700 Subject: Ancient heritage focus in Chickaloon school (fwd) Message-ID: Ancient heritage focus in Chickaloon school By JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2004/09/07/news/news9.txt CHICKALOON VILLAGE -- For years, the language and traditions of the Ahtna Athabascan Indian culture in Chickaloon Village gradually faded away as younger generations grew up with little training about the history and ways of their ancestors. In the summer of 1992, Katherine Wade, the clan grandmother of Chickaloon Village, started a Saturday school, in which children gathered in her yard to listen to the history and stories of their Native culture. A year later, the Ya Ne Dah Ah or "Ancient Traditions" School opened full time in an effort to preserve the Ahtna Athabascan culture in Chickaloon before it completely vanished. Wade said she was inspired to start the K-eighth-grade, one-room school after visiting with Native prisoners and seeing how alcoholism, drugs and shame had ruined their lives. "Many are ashamed to be Native," Wade said. "Some of the prisoners listened but many did not." Wade decided to focus her efforts on the younger generation and when the school started, Wade was the only full-time teacher. "The time to teach is when the kids are young so you can keep them away from prison. If you pay attention to the children they can go on and be successful," Wade said. "We make them love each other. They are all relatives, more or less. We tell them to listen to the older ones and love one another like they love their own selves -- that's what I was taught." Students at Ya Ne Dah Ah School learn the traditions of their tribe but they also learn mathematics, English, science and other standard subjects. Above all, they learn respect. "Respect is the name of the game. You need to respect everyone, even the animals," Wade said. "We have strict rules and we don't let them call each other names here." Now 81 years old, Wade is no longer the primary teacher at the school but she is one of the very last people in Chickaloon who can still fluently speak the Ahtna Athabascan language, and her services are therefore still valuable. Wade just recently completed a book, "Chickaloon Spirit," chronicling her life growing up in Chickaloon. She also continues to help at the school she founded by teaching the traditional Ahtna language. Wade said she works with her nephew to record the language on tapes and CDs. The school has three regular classroom teachers with two teaching Ahtna Athabascan culture and one teaching traditional Western curriculum. Other special teachers and speakers come from around the state to teach various aspects of Native culture. According to Marilyn Staggs, the executive secretary for the school, finding people who can teach Native culture is not always easy. "Most of the special speakers are between the ages of 50 and 80 years old," Staggs said. "We have lost a lot of our culture and we have very few elders who can teach the culture." The school runs Monday through Friday, with students learning Native dance, song and other traditions while also working on their English spelling words and arithmetic problems. Wade said the children occasionally perform songs and dances they learn at special meetings and other Native gatherings. "They are not ashamed of who they are," Wade said. Currently, the school building is only big enough for eight students, with many more on a waiting list. Chickaloon Village Traditional Council is trying to raise funds for a new building this week. Last week the council hosted a fund-raiser at the Chickaloon Village office, where Native crafts, clothing, books and other items were sold to raise money. "They want to put other kids in there, but we can't take them right now," Wade said. In 2002, the Ya Ne Dah Ah School was one of eight American Indian programs nationwide to receive a $10,000 award from Harvard University for being an exemplary tribal government program. "Not too many places are doing what we are doing," Wade said. Education Director Kari Johns said the culture of Ahtna Athabascans, like many tribes in the Alaska and the Lower 48, has diminished through the influence of Western culture. "In the 1920s, the state took children away from their families in the village and put them in boarding schools," Johns said. "This caused a generation gap in our families." Wade's parents, however, did not send her to boarding school when she was a little girl and she was able to learn the language and traditions. "She was one of the chosen people to carry on our traditions," Johns said. Chickaloon Village owns and operates the Ya Ne Dah Ah School, while the Galena School District reviews educational plans for individual students and administers standardized assessment tests. Parents who enroll their children in the program receive funds through the Interior Distance Education program of Alaska to help pay for books and curriculum. IDEA is a home-school program that offers the services of certified teachers and experienced home schoolers to help parents educate their children at home, while also providing standards for parents that support statewide education standards. According to Johns, the kids at Ya Ne Dah Ah School are doing above average in most areas of the statewide benchmark tests and are right at average for language arts. Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson at frontiersman.com. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Sep 10 17:03:48 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2004 10:03:48 -0700 Subject: Extinction looms for Yukon languages: report (fwd) Message-ID: Extinction looms for Yukon languages: report Last Updated Thu, 09 Sep 2004 15:38:31 EDT http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/09/09/yukon_language040909.html WHITEHORSE - At least two First Nations languages in the Yukon are on the verge of extinction and more will follow unless something is done, according to a new study by Yukon's Aboriginal Language Services. The report's conclusions, which come after years of work and fluency assessments, says the Han and Tagish languages are in the most dire state, with only a few true speakers remaining. At least eight languages are indigenous to the Yukon. Two out of 10 aboriginal people are learning their native language, mostly through informal means such as on hunting trips in the bush and during traditional activities instead of in the classroom. Parts of the report describe the current situation as "shocking" and says there is a lack of strategic planning between all levels of government and the First Nations. Cheryl McLean, the director of Aboriginal Language Services, was one of the authors of the two-volume report. "Some distressing news out of the reports is that the parent generation, or those people 25- to 44-years-old, their language skills are extremely weak and language not being used in the home," she said. "If we have two generations of non-speakers, our languages are dead." McLean said change needs to happen and it needs to happen quickly, if languages are to survive. "It's not just for potlatches, it's not just for prayers," she said. "We have to attach functional importance." Despite the difficulties, McLean said she is optimistic. She said young people want to learn their language. "When asked...eight out of 10 aboriginal people want to learn their language," said McLean. She said it's now up to First Nations to take this report seriously and look at ways to bring those languages back from the brink. Written by CBC News Online staff From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sat Sep 11 21:37:15 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sat, 11 Sep 2004 14:37:15 -0700 Subject: Government of Canada Assists Northern Native Broadcasting, Terrace (fwd) Message-ID: Government of Canada Assists Northern Native Broadcasting, Terrace http://www.news.gc.ca/cfmx/CCP/view/en/index.cfm?articleid=96789 TERRACE, September 10, 2004 -- Minister of State (Northern Development) and Member of Parliament (Western Arctic) Ethel Blondin-Andrew, on behalf of Minister of Canadian Heritage Liza Frulla, today announced $326,855 in funding for Northern Native Broadcasting, Terrace (NNBT). "Aboriginal people need organizations like Northern Native Broadcasting, Terrace to preserve and enhance their languages and culture," said Minister of State Blondin-Andrew. "All Canadians benefit from the presence of a vibrant and living northern culture in Canada." "The Aboriginal language broadcast services provided by Northern Native Broadcasting, Terrace is the only service of its kind," said Minister Frulla. "I am proud to support this organization that has responded to the cultural, linguistic and information needs of Aboriginal people with radio programming since 1984." NNBT broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and reaches more than 60 000 Aboriginal people in British Columbia. It combines technology and tradition to provide communications services that reflect the Aboriginal cultures of Northern British Columbia. It also promotes communication between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal residents in the area. Government funding announced today will help defray the costs of producing 20 hours of weekly radio programming in a local Indigenous language. Financial assistance is provided by the Department of Canadian Heritage through its Northern Native Broadcast Access Program. The Department encourages participation in and contribution to Canadian society through support to Aboriginal representative organizations, Aboriginal women's groups, Aboriginal youth, and through the promotion of Aboriginal languages and cultural diversity. Funding was provided for in the March 2004 federal budget. Information: Donald Boulanger Press Secretary Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage (819) 997-7788 Pierre Collin Director of Communications Office of Ethel Blondin-Andrew (613) 992-4587 Myriam Brochu Chief, Media Relations Canadian Heritage (819) 997-9314 From andrekar at NCIDC.ORG Mon Sep 13 18:11:05 2004 From: andrekar at NCIDC.ORG (Andre Cramblit) Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2004 11:11:05 -0700 Subject: Language Site Message-ID: Two collections of Karuk Phrases and Vocabulary http://www.ncidc.org/karuk/index.html From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Sep 13 20:36:00 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2004 13:36:00 -0700 Subject: brief ILAT update... Message-ID: tá'c haláXp (good day), welcome to all the new ILAT subscribers! our subscriptions jumped in the past month bringing us to 160 interested and interesting people. our TELR ( http://projects.ltc.arizona.edu/gates/TELR.html ) website received a highlighted mention at: http://www.nativeweb.org/ also, some very brief updates and deadlinks were fixed on telr. thanks for all the support on putting this resource list together. in the near future, we hope to include a Language Advocacy section (anything that advocates for endangered languages, language rights) to the resource links. so keep us informed of any links on this subject or any other you come across. Andre, i just added "Karuk Language Resources on the Web" to telr, thanks. just a note on some of our recent discussions. it was noted that 90% of one of our recent ILAT digest was repetition (repeated messages). this means that old messages (the one's responded to) were included in most everyones discussion email. for some of our digest subscribers, this presents an access problem in terms of text density and bandwidth. this can be easily (did i mention easily?) aleviated by being efficient and minimalist in our future email discussions (incude only the most essential elements that you are responding to). thanx! never let our indigenous languages fade away! phil cash cash (cayuse/nez perce) phd student in anthropology and linguistics UofA, ILAT list manager From sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Sep 13 21:12:58 2004 From: sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (Susan Penfield) Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2004 14:12:58 -0700 Subject: brief ILAT update... In-Reply-To: <1095107760.8aec06e72e1bc@www.email.arizona.edu> Message-ID: All, The Karuk language page is excellent --a good model for others- thanks Andre! I just want to highlight the fact that ILAT is a great resource for everyone in this field of study and work. I also want to offer a special thank you to Phil, who keeps it up and running in his spare time--a lot of hard work. Thanks Phil! Susan Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D. Department of English University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 Quoting phil cash cash : > tá'c haláXp (good day), > > welcome to all the new ILAT subscribers! our subscriptions jumped in > the past month bringing us to 160 interested and interesting people. > > our TELR ( http://projects.ltc.arizona.edu/gates/TELR.html ) website > received a highlighted mention at: http://www.nativeweb.org/ also, some > very brief updates and deadlinks were fixed on telr. thanks for all > the support on putting this resource list together. in the near > future, we hope to include a Language Advocacy section (anything that > advocates for endangered languages, language rights) to the resource > links. so keep us informed of any links on this subject or any other > you come across. > > Andre, i just added "Karuk Language Resources on the Web" to telr, > thanks. > > just a note on some of our recent discussions. it was noted that 90% of > one of our recent ILAT digest was repetition (repeated messages). this > means that old messages (the one's responded to) were included in most > everyones discussion email. for some of our digest subscribers, this > presents an access problem in terms of text density and bandwidth. > this can be easily (did i mention easily?) aleviated by being efficient > and minimalist in our future email discussions (incude only the most > essential elements that you are responding to). thanx! > > never let our indigenous languages fade away! > > phil cash cash (cayuse/nez perce) > phd student in anthropology and linguistics > UofA, ILAT list manager > From dzo at BISHARAT.NET Tue Sep 14 06:44:48 2004 From: dzo at BISHARAT.NET (Don Osborn) Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2004 06:44:48 -0000 Subject: Fwd: Botswana: "The (Di)vision of a Culturally Diverse Nation" Message-ID: --- In AfricanLanguages at yahoogroups.com, "Don Osborn" wrote: This item from http://allafrica.com/stories/200409020836.html may be of interest. (The Mmegi website is http://www.mmegi.bw/ .) Botswana seems to be in the news a lot lately regarding language issues. DZO "The (Di)vision of a Culturally Diverse Nation" Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone) September 2, 2004 Posted to the web September 2, 2004 TSHIRELETSO MOTLOGELWA Vision 2016 envisages Botswana as a nation of a diverse mix of cultures, languages, traditions and people sharing a common destiny. Is this being achieved? There was a time when one was proud of their identity. There used to be a place where one was not ashamed of their ethnicity. That was Old Naledi in the early 1970s when a hotchpotch of ethnic groups gathered in the squatter camp searching for work and opportunities in the new capital town. That was a long time ago, as Mima Jonase, a housewife and mother of four, outlines as she sits under a tree in the centre of Old Naledi. If Vision 2016 is anything to go by, that is what it will be like in the year 2016. Jonase has not seen a copy of the document, let alone read it. It says, in what she feels is a bit too optimistic a look, "The country will possess a diverse mix of cultures, languages, traditions and peoples sharing a common destiny". Time, social reality, the frenetic pace of western modernity and national political processes have taught her that this is probably just a mirage - as distant as it is colourful, and as colourful as it is empty. "For some reason, Old Naledi was dominated by people the from so- called minorities," she gushes. "It was a beautiful period. You would speak your language when you were around people from your ethnic group, and it was very common to find people from your ethnic group." Then a descent started. It was a combination of institutionalised ethnocentricism, lack of the practice of her culture and the rush to conform so as to gain access to the mainstream identity that did the damage. Three decades and four children later, she is disillusioned with that past promise. "My own children cannot speak their mother tongue. By the time our children were born, we were so used to being shamed for speaking our language that we had completely stopped doing it," she laments. Who would shame them? "Try going to the clinic and speak Sengologa, even if it is just a Sekgalagadi accent while you are speaking Setswana, everyone would laugh at you, or castigate you," she says. Both her and her husband have not been using Sekgalagadi that much, she explains. They also cannot afford to take the children to Tsabong every school holidays to experience their culture as it is supposed to be. She frowns a bit and retorts suddenly, "Even in Tsabong, it is all different. Everyone is lost nowadays. They are also ashamed of their identity," she adds. Her son Patrick, a tall and lean man in his 20s, is evidence of a culture and language under attack. He walks with a limb not unlike American rappers', and has a soft nervous smile. As he listens to his mother, he breaks into an occasional laugh, a chewed toothpick hanging from the corner of his mouth. "I do understand Sekgalagadi," he promises unconvincingly. A little prodding reveals something else. "I can understand when someone speaks Sekgalagadi but I cannot speak it fluently," he elaborates. Just then a rap song blasts on the nearby radio set, he bops his head absentmindedly, tapping his foot to the rhythm, and soon he is whispering some lyrics, an admixture of Setswana, Zulu and English. "Hip Hop Pantsula o a ja mei brur," he screams to his friend, another young man who calls himself Fresh. "Gone mme ke Mongologa" (As a matter of fact I see myself as a Mongologa)" he announces. "Wa bona mo Zola re bua Setsotsi too much (In Old Naledi we speak Tsotsi Taal too much). Le bagolo ba setse ba tshwara style (Even our elders are starting to adopt the language)." For a young Mosarwa woman Efa Phari, it is very difficult to avoid the lure of modernity. "Even though modernity brings with it a lot of negative things such as the loss of our culture, how can one avoid it?" she asks rhetorically. Born and raised just outside Letlhakane in the Central District in a small Basarwa settlement called Metsiaela, she currently works as a domestic worker in the urbanised village of Morwa, just outside Gaborone. She thinks everyone in her situation would find it challenging. "You have both the traditional way of doing things and the modern one. For example, should one send one's child to school or let her live with one's parents in the traditional village setting?" she asks. University of Botswana academic and minority rights campaigner Prof. Lydia Nyathi-Ramahobo explains that modernity need not be unfriendly to cultural practice. "We have built institutions that are intolerant to minority cultures and languages," she explains. "All processes work towards assimilating minorities. It is as if people who belong to minority ethnic groups have to be deculturated from their cultures and be acculturated into the mainstream modernised Setswana culture before they are accepted as full citizens of Botswana." She tells the story of a newly born baby girl in Okavango who was given a Setswana name by the clinic officials without the knowledge of her parents. "Because the child had been born at home, the parents took the child to the clinic to be registered. When they got there, the nurse asked what the name of the child was. The parents said 'Maya'. 'What does Maya mean in Setswana?' the nurse asked. The parents said, 'Otsile'. So the nurse proceeded to write 'Otsile' as the name of the child," she says with an incredulous smile on her face. However, she feels that this intolerance is not very common among individual citizens, but rather manifests itself at an institutional level. The education system, the political structures, even the country's constitution all seem to serve the purpose of mainstreaming minorities and "are very insensitive to the needs of communities". For example the Tribal Territories Act outlines that only the eight "main" tribes can own land, she says. So what is the future of the various ethnic groupings that make up this country? "We as a group of minorities have formed an organisation called Re Teng which serves to further the development of minority cultures and languages," says Nyathi-Ramahobo. The young man Patrick Jonase is not optimistic. "I think it is getting worse with time," he says. "Right now I cannot speak Sengologa, which is my parents' language. What about my children?" His mother adds, "Dipuo tsa rona di a nyelela. Bana ba rona ba tlaa felela ba sa itse segabone" (our languages are disappearing. Our children will be lost culturally)". --- Copyright ?2004 Mmegi/The Reporter. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). Click here to contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material. --- End forwarded message --- From dzo at BISHARAT.NET Tue Sep 14 11:10:36 2004 From: dzo at BISHARAT.NET (Donald Z. Osborn) Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2004 06:10:36 -0500 Subject: Fwd: "Indigenous People and Information Technology" Message-ID: The following may be of interest (with thanks to Tobias Eigen of Kabissa.org for forwarding it. Don Osborn Bisharat.net > From: "Ann Tothill" > Date: September 13, 2004 10:40:52 PM EDT > To: "Open Knowledge Workspace" > Cc: okn at dgroups.org > Subject: [okn] CFP - "Indigenous People and Information Technology" > Reply-To: "Open Knowledge Workspace" > > This may interest some. > > a.t. > > ------- Forwarded message follows ------- > Date sent: Fri, 10 Sep 2004 14:09:06 +1000 > From: Geraldine Lefoe > Organization: University of Wollongong > To: ASCILITE general > > Subject: [ascilite-general:4645] Call for Chapters and Case > Studies: Indigenous People and Information > Technology > > Please resond directly to David Wilson, Associate Dean (Education) > Faculty of Information Technology > > Stephen Grant, Max Hendriks and I are editing a book entitled > "Indigenous People and Information Technology", which will be > published in early 2006 by the Idea Group, an American publishing > house specializing in technology, information science, education and > management. We would appreciate it if you could forward this email > to any of the listserves that you have access to in order to promote > our Call for Chapters. > > "Indigenous People and Information Technology" aims to bring together > expert and up-to-date contributions from leading researchers and > writers in the field of Indigenous people and Information Technology > from around the world. We are especially interested in contributions > from Indigenous authors. > > We invite proposals for two types of submissions: > - Full chapters > - Short case studies > > CALL FOR CHAPTERS > Chapter topics will include (but are not limited to): > - General and theoretical issues surrounding Indigenous adoption and > participation in Information Technology > - Barriers and challenges to > Indigenous access to IT > - Culturally appropriate technology design > - Computer education for Indigenous people > - Indigenous knowledge > management issues, Indigenous intellectual property and IT, and > Indigenous cultural archives > - Development of Indigenous communities > through e-commerce, remote service delivery, and the creation of > smart communities. > > CALL FOR CASE STUDIES > Short case studies describing Indigenous IT implementations in the > field will be included in the book. These will be 1~N2 - 2 pages > long. > > SUBMISSION PROCEDURE: > You are invited to submit a 1-2 page proposal by email on or before > 15th October 2004. The proposal should include: > > - A working title of your proposed chapter or case study > - An explanation of the topic in paragraph and/or point form > - Names and affiliations of authors as well as email address of first > author > - The country or area of the world to which the chapter refers, if > reporting on a specific case or implementation > - Estimated length of paper > > FOLLOWING THE SUBMISSION OF YOUR PROPOSAL > Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by 31st October 2004 > about the status of their proposals and sent chapter organizational > guidelines. Full chapters and case studies must be submitted by 1st > February 2005. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a blind > review basis by 2 expert scholars in the field. Short case studies > will be reviewed by the editors. The book is scheduled to be > published in early 2006. > > If you know of anyone who might like to submit their work for > consideration, please feel free to pass this information on to them. > Further details and a full list of suggested topics can be found at > the "Indigenous People and Information Technology" website: > http://project.it.uts.edu.au/indigenous-it > > Please forward your proposal by 15th October 2004 to: > indigenous-it at it.uts.edu.au > > Best regards, > Laurel, Max and Steve > -- > > Regards > > David Wilson > Associate Dean (Education) > Faculty of Information Technology > > University of Technology, Sydney > PO Box 123 > Broadway, NSW 2007 > Australia > > CRICOS Provider 00099F > > Tel: +61-2-9514-1832 > Fax: +61-2-9514-4699 > Mob: 0408-629-136 > > ------------------------------------------ > Dr Geraldine Lefoe > Coordinator, Academic Staff Development > http://cedir.uow.edu.au/CEDIR/programs/asd.html > > CEDIR > University of Wollongong > NSW Australia 2522 > > 61 2 42 213193 (phone) > 61 2 42 258312 (fax) > > http://rile.uow.edu.au > > http://cedir.uow.edu.au > > -------------------------------------------- > Join ascilite: improving learning through technology > http://www.ascilite.org.au > > Annual Conference: 5-8 December, 2004 in Perth > http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/perth04 > > --------------------------------------------------------------- > The views expressed in this email are solely those of the > author/sender and are not necessarily those of ASCILITE. They cannot > be interpreted or construed to do so. > ------- End of forwarded message ------- > > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > Ann Tothill > Strategic Use and Capacity Building Programme Manager > APC - The Association for Progressive Communications > La Asociación para el Progreso de las Comunicaciones > AATothill at apc.org > http://www.apc.org/ > Tel. +61 2 8920 0274 > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > ItrainOnline: Sharing Internet Knowledge > http://www.itrainonline.org/ > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > > > Dgroups is a joint initiative of Bellanet, DFID, Hivos, ICA, IICD, > OneWorld, UNAIDS and World Bank ----- End forwarded message ----- From andrekar at NCIDC.ORG Tue Sep 14 19:18:14 2004 From: andrekar at NCIDC.ORG (Andre Cramblit) Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2004 12:18:14 -0700 Subject: PROPOSAL REQUEST Message-ID: Please respond directly to David Wilson, Associate Dean (Education) Faculty of Information Technology Stephen Grant, Max Hendriks and I are editing a book entitled "Indigenous People and Information Technology", which will be published in early 2006 by the Idea Group, an American publishing house specializing in technology, information science, education and management. We would appreciate it if you could forward this email to any of the listserves that you have access to in order to promote our Call for Chapters. "Indigenous People and Information Technology" aims to bring together expert and up-to-date contributions from leading researchers and writers in the field of Indigenous people and Information Technology from around the world. We are especially interested in contributions from Indigenous authors. We invite proposals for two types of submissions: - Full chapters - Short case studies CALL FOR CHAPTERS Chapter topics will include (but are not limited to): - General and theoretical issues surrounding Indigenous adoption and participation in Information Technology - Barriers and challenges to Indigenous access to IT - Culturally appropriate technology design - Computer education for Indigenous people - Indigenous knowledge management issues, Indigenous intellectual property and IT, and Indigenous cultural archives - Development of Indigenous communities through e-commerce, remote service delivery, and the creation of smart communities. CALL FOR CASE STUDIES Short case studies describing Indigenous IT implementations in the field will be included in the book. These will be 1Ž2 - 2 pages long. SUBMISSION PROCEDURE: You are invited to submit a 1-2 page proposal by email on or before 15th October 2004. The proposal should include: - A working title of your proposed chapter or case study - An explanation of the topic in paragraph and/or point form - Names and affiliations of authors as well as email address of first author - The country or area of the world to which the chapter refers, if reporting on a specific case or implementation - Estimated length of paper FOLLOWING THE SUBMISSION OF YOUR PROPOSAL Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by 31st October 2004 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter organizational guidelines. Full chapters and case studies must be submitted by 1st February 2005. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a blind review basis by 2 expert scholars in the field. Short case studies will be reviewed by the editors. The book is scheduled to be published in early 2006. If you know of anyone who might like to submit their work for consideration, please feel free to pass this information on to them. Further details and a full list of suggested topics can be found at the "Indigenous People and Information Technology" website: http://project.it.uts.edu.au/indigenous-it Please forward your proposal by 15th October 2004 to: indigenous-it at it.uts.edu.au Best regards, Laurel, Max and Steve -- Regards David Wilson Associate Dean (Education) Faculty of Information Technology University of Technology, Sydney PO Box 123 Broadway, NSW 2007 Australia -------- per Roger. Dr Roger Atkinson Unit 5, 202 Coode Street, Como WA 6152, Australia Personal website: http://users.bigpond.net.au/atkinson-mcbeath/roger/ Tel +61 8 9367 1133 Email: rjatkinson at bigpond.com ASCILITE 2004 http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/perth04/ From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Sep 15 18:01:44 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2004 11:01:44 -0700 Subject: Uganda gets indigenous language browser (fwd) Message-ID: Uganda gets indigenous language browser Alastair Otter September 15 2004 http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=342 Uganda is today another of the countries that have made huge strides in making technology more accessible to users that do not have English as their home language. ICT Translations Uganda is today officially releasing the Mozilla Web browser in Luganda, one of the most widely spoken indigenous languages in East Africa. The browser has been christened "kayungirizi" by the translators for its ability to link users to various resources on the Internet. James Wire, a founder of ICT Translations Uganda, says the translation will "make it easier for first time Internet users to use the Internet without feeling challenged by the English language. It is going to attract many people who have been shying away from computers because of language barriers." He also says the translation efforts will very likely improve education, particularly through the possibilities now of offering interactive computer-based aids in indigenous languages. He also hopes the translation will spur users to develop more local language content. In an interview with LinuxPlanet earlier this week Wire said "Internet access is becoming a key element in the lives of all Ugandans. Just like a mobile phone, an Internet cafe has become the destination of choice for those that want to communicate internationally. "A lot of content is delivered to the locals through the use of interactive CDs that display in Internet browsers. A localised browser reduces the learning curve for that social worker in Kyanamukaka who is supposed to sensitise the wanainchi using a computer." Wire says one of the primary challenges in their translation efforts has been the lack of words for much of the widely used English language computer terminology. "Since Internet technology is a new phenomenon in Uganda, local languages are short of technological terminology ... We looked for nearly-there words or actually formulated new terminology. We blended new generation lingua with the 'academic' Luganda," he says. ICT Translations Uganda, is an indigenous organisation that hopes to translate a range of free and open source computer software into indigenous languages. Wire says the vision of the organisation is "to see that the people within the East Africa region embrace and use information and communication technologies to transact in languages they are most conversant with, for accelerated social, political and economic development." Next on the agenda for ICT Translations Uganda is a number of other indigenous language translations of Mozilla and then work will begin on translating OpenOffice.org into indigenous languages starting with Luganda and Luo. Following this the team hopes to work on translating the X-Windows interface and localise a range of applications. The translated software is available from www.translate.or.ug From dzo at BISHARAT.NET Wed Sep 15 10:09:05 2004 From: dzo at BISHARAT.NET (Donald Z. Osborn) Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2004 05:09:05 -0500 Subject: Fwd: [DDN] UN cobwebs and indigenous people Message-ID: FYI... DZO ----- Forwarded message from Claude Almansi ----- Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2004 19:03:55 +0200 From: Claude Almansi Reply-To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group Subject: [DDN] UN cobwebs and indigenous people To: BBracey at aol.com, minority at lists.nici-mc2.org, Digital Divide Network discussion group "Guess what? Yesterday I removed cobwebs at the UN", my daughter daughter wrote this morning on messenger, from Geneva. "A daunting task, dear". "Noooo,it's not a metaphor, I mean REAL cobwebs" She was helping a friend mount the exhibition « Visages d~Rune lutte pour la reconnaissance », faces of a struggle for recognition, which is being inaugurated tomorrow at the UN, to mark the end of the decade dedicated to indigenous people. And the cobwebs were in the gallery between 2 buildings where the exhibition will take place and be inaugurated tomorrow. See http://www.gfbv.ch/f/ , no English version, sorry. The inauguration and the exhibition won't be public at the UN, for security reasons - just as the official core of the World Summit on Information Society wasn't public last December, for the same reasons. Moreover, the exhibition was meant to have both photographs of people struggling for recognition, and their texts. The UN scrapped the text part. "Why on earth?" I asked. "Too militan for the UN - but they will be shown when the exhibition moves in town in its public form". There seem to be other cobwebs at the UN than the ones woven by 8-leg spiders, after all. cheers Claude Claude Almansi www.adisi.ch _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE at mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to digitaldivide-request at mailman.edc.org with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. ----- End forwarded message ----- From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Sep 16 17:07:07 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2004 10:07:07 -0700 Subject: Balinese script joins the computer age (fwd link) Message-ID: Balinese script joins the computer age http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailfeatures.asp?fileid=20040916.Q01&irec=1 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Sep 17 16:59:11 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2004 09:59:11 -0700 Subject: Kids Give Language its Shape (fwd) Message-ID: Kids Give Language its Shape By Serena Gordon, HealthDay Reporter http://www.rednova.com/news/stories/2/2004/09/17/story004.html HealthDayNews -- Children's brains are hard-wired to learn languages and, in some cases, to improve upon them. That's the conclusion of a new study that followed several generations of deaf Nicaraguan children as they created their own sign language and then continuously tinkered it with each new group of signers. "These children are actually creating language. This was a rare opportunity to discover a new language as it's emerging," said study author Ann Senghas, an assistant professor of psychology at Barnard College of Columbia University in New York City. As each generation learned the sign language, they modified it. The more they changed the original "Nicaraguan Sign Language" (NSL), the more its rules and structure resembled those of other languages, the researchers found. "From early on, from the first time the language was passed down to a new group of child learners, this language showed evidence of certain fundamental, universal hallmarks of language: discrete elements and hierarchal structure," explained study co-author Sotaro Kita, a senior lecturer in the department of experimental psychology at the University of Bristol in England. "These hallmarks that are observed in all languages of the world arose once a communication system is learned, as a language, by children. Thus, core fundamentals of language can emerge out of children's learning abilities," Kita said. The study appears in the Sept. 17 issue of Science. Before 1977, most deaf people in Nicaragua were kept at home and didn't have contact with other deaf people. In 1977, a special education elementary school was opened, and about 50 deaf children attended. In 1981, a vocational school attended by about 200 deaf children opened. The children also began to socialize after school. The schools taught the children in Spanish, with limited success. However, as they began to spend more and more time together, the modified sign language developed. Today, about 800 deaf Nicaraguans, aged 4 to 45 years old, use the sign language. For this study, Senghas, Kita and colleague Asly Ozyurek from the Max Planck Institute in the Netherlands recruited 30 deaf people of various ages. They then split the group evenly into three subgroups. The first learned to sign before 1984, the second from 1984 to 1993 and the third group learned to sign after 1993. All of the children had been using NSL since they were at least 6 years old. The researchers also compared the sign language to gestures used by hearing individuals. The study volunteers were shown a cartoon of a cat swallowing a bowling ball and then rolling down a hill in a wobbly manner. All of the hearing people and most of the first group of signers described the event by making a simultaneous gesture. But the children from the second and third groups generally described the event by breaking it down into its separate parts -- rolling, wobbling and downhill -- and then expressed those thoughts individually. "This study truly illustrates the essential properties to language," said Michael Siegal, a professor of psychology at the University of Sheffield, in England. He wrote an accompanying editorial about the study. "Once children are provided with a language community, they spontaneously create language -- either sign or spoken -- in terms of elements that meaningfully represent events in the world around them. They break down and segment a sequence that can then be embedded within another sequence to form meaningful propositions," he said. Senghas said the ability to learn and improve upon language is something people lose as they get older. Each generation of signers passed down the language, but it was the younger children who changed it, making it more language-like. "Humans lose the capacity to create the core fundamentals of language as they age," concurred Kita. Another important finding of the study is how important social interaction is to the development of language, Senghas said. It is a central motivation or instinct for humans to create language spontaneously as part of their culture, and early access to a language underscores effective communication," Siegal added. From CRANEM at MAIL.ECU.EDU Sat Sep 18 17:55:00 2004 From: CRANEM at MAIL.ECU.EDU (Bizzaro, Resa Crane) Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2004 13:55:00 -0400 Subject: FW: CFP: Indigenous Women and Feminism (conference) (10/15/04; 8/25/05-8/28/05) Message-ID: Hi, ILAT Members. I received the following Call for Proposals, and I thought some of you might be interested. If you've already seen this note, I'm sorry to send it again. Resa >INDIGENOUS WOMEN AND FEMINISM: CULTURE, ACTIVISM, POLITICS > >August 25-28, 2005 >University of Alberta >Edmonton, Alberta, Canada > >Keynote Speakers: >Minnie Grey, Chief Negotiator for Nunavik Self-Government, Makivik Corporation >Aileen Moreton-Robinson, Australian Studies Centre, University of Queensland >Rebecca Tsosie, College of Law, University of Arizona > >Developments in feminist theory and practice since the late 1980s and >1990s have enabled scholars to recognize how nationality, race, class, >sexuality, and ethnicity inform axes of gender differentiation among women >as a social class. Despite these interventions, indigenous women and >feminist issues remain undertheorized within contemporary feminist >critical theory. Although presumed to fall within normative definitions of >women of colour and postcolonial feminism, indigenous feminism remains an >important site of gender struggle that also engages the crucial issues of >cultural identity, nationalism, and decolonization. At the same time, the >growing legal recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples to cultural >and political autonomy has made increasingly important questions of >indigenous women and their work on behalf of civil rights and sovereignty. >With such intersections in mind, we invite paper and round table proposals >for an international, interdisciplinary conference focused on indigenous >feminism and its defining goals and features. Topics may include but are >not limited to the following: > >· indigenous feminism as critical practice >· indigenous feminism and literary/performance art >· historical constructions of indigenous feminist work >· strategic alliances within indigenous feminism >· non-native women and indigenous feminism >· critical intersections between indigenous feminism and women of color >feminism >· uses of indigenous feminism in the dominant culture >· indigenous feminism and the “post-feminist” state >· gender politics and indigenous feminism >· indigenous collectives and feminist alliances >· interdisciplinarity and indigenous feminism > >Papers will be no more than twenty minutes in length. Submissions for >round table and panel presentations should include an abstract for each >paper. Please send 250 word proposals by electronic submission to >csuzack at ualberta.ca. Deadline for submissions >is October 15, 2004. > >Please direct enquiries to any one of the conference organizers: >Jean Barman (Jean.Barman at ubc.ca) >Shari Huhndorf >(sharih at darkwing.uoregon.edu) >Jeanne Perreault (perreaul at ucalgary.ca) >Cheryl Suzack (csuzack at ualberta.ca) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dzo at BISHARAT.NET Sun Sep 19 01:24:15 2004 From: dzo at BISHARAT.NET (Donald Z. Osborn) Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2004 20:24:15 -0500 Subject: Internship: Rosetta Project/Long Now Foundation Message-ID: Saw this on the Linguist list and thought it was worth spreading the word about... DZO Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2004 17:17:26 -0400 (EDT) From: lbwelch Subject: Jobs: Specialization Not Required: Intern, Rosetta Project/Long Now Foundation University or Organization: Rosetta Project/Long Now Foundation Rank of Job: Intern Specialty Areas: Specialization not required Description: The Rosetta Project is a global collaboration of language specialists and native speakers working to build a publicly accessible online archive for all documented human languages. We are looking for people to help with the core task of scanning and/or typing in existing materials on a wide variety of languages of the world. Our goal is to put together the most broad and complete reference work on the languages of the world to date - a reference work of relevance both to academic linguists and to endangered language communities. After three years of collection and curation, the Rosetta online archive is already the largest descriptive linguistic resource on the Net. We currently serve over 30,000 text pages documenting writing systems, phonology, grammar, vernacular texts, core wordlists, numbering systems, maps, audio files, and demographic/historical descriptions for over 1,700 languages. A major sub-component of the Rosetta archive is the ALL Language Word List Database - a collection of 200 term core vocabulary lists for the languages of the world. As an intern with Rosetta, you will be exposed to important works on an extremely wide variety of languages, and will have the opportunity to see what goes into developing and maintaining a large, on-line, digital archive as you participate in a history-making project. Internships are typically for 1-2 months. Full-time interns (32+ hours/week) have access to preferential housing/rent pricing in the Presidio of San Francisco, where our offices are located (ask for details if this is of interest to you). In general, the work needs to be done here in our offices (unless you want to take on a much larger commitment, in which case we can consider ways to set you up to work off-site). Address for Applications: Attn: Laura Buszard-Welcher The Rosetta Project / Long Now Foundation P.O. Box 29462 San Francisco, CA 94129-0462 United States of America Position is open until filled. Contact Information: Laura Buszard-Welcher Email: lbwelch at longnow.org Tel: (415) 561-6582 Fax: (415) 561-6297 Website: http://www.rosettaproject.org/live From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sun Sep 19 01:40:33 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2004 18:40:33 -0700 Subject: Our Languages (fwd link) Message-ID: [ilat note: a very impressive website from Saskatchewan, Cananda] Our Languages A Website of the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre Languages: Cree, Dene, Dakota, Nakota, Lakota, Nakawe. http://www.sicc.sk.ca/heritage/sils/ourlanguages/index.html From andrekar at NCIDC.ORG Mon Sep 20 19:38:35 2004 From: andrekar at NCIDC.ORG (Andre Cramblit) Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 12:38:35 -0700 Subject: Language Loss Message-ID: status of different languages at http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/Status.html From mward at LUNA.CC.NM.US Mon Sep 20 22:55:56 2004 From: mward at LUNA.CC.NM.US (Matthew Ward) Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 16:55:56 -0600 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: Just wanted to mention that I've been in touch with ACLU Arizona about the issue of Prop. 203, the English-only law, affecting Native immersion programs. It does indeed seem that Window Rock Public Schools may risk losing funding by continuing their immersion programs, and the issue may have to go to court. We all need to be vigilant in letting people know that these English-only laws do not just apply to immigrants--they also endanger efforts to preserve Native American languages as well. I suspect that if Azizona voters had understood the effect of this law, they wouldn't have voted for it in the first place. Matthew Ward From sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Sep 21 01:16:14 2004 From: sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (Susan Penfield) Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 18:16:14 -0700 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: Matthew, Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention. It is particularly troubling since, in the beginning of the process, Native people were assured, repeatedly, that they would not be included in the application of this poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented (my opinion, put mildly) proposition. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Matthew Ward" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 3:55 PM Subject: English-Only laws in AZ > Just wanted to mention that I've been in touch with ACLU Arizona about > the issue of Prop. 203, the English-only law, affecting Native immersion > programs. It does indeed seem that Window Rock Public Schools may risk > losing funding by continuing their immersion programs, and the issue may > have to go to court. > > We all need to be vigilant in letting people know that these > English-only laws do not just apply to immigrants--they also endanger > efforts to preserve Native American languages as well. I suspect that > if Azizona voters had understood the effect of this law, they wouldn't > have voted for it in the first place. > > Matthew Ward From mikinakn at SHAW.CA Tue Sep 21 02:32:58 2004 From: mikinakn at SHAW.CA (Rolland Nadjiwon) Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 22:32:58 -0400 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: Interesting Anecdote: Proposition 203, English only, is not a recent proposition. My wife and I and our children were living in Tucson at the time it more of an issue. There was a major opposition to it by the Mexican Americans. One of the outspoken families was the Rhonstadt family, an old family with signatures on Spanish/ American documentation predating Texas/New Mexico/Arizona/California statehood. The protests resulted in a response of the nature that the proposition would not be rescinded but it would not be enforced. It appeared, at the time, many people did not realize the extent of the Mexican American remaining in the southwest even to this day and had intended the legislation to be used against the Dene and other native Tribes in Arizona. The Mexican American response seemed to be a total surprise to White rural populations who strongly supported it. Perhaps that is part of the reason why you find 203 is "poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented...." The only reason I am aware of this legislation, is because of the two official language legislation in Canada for French and English. That Canadian decision around the same time as Prop 203 was 'very' controversial in Canada. Here in the city where we live, we had moved to Tucson for my wife to do her Grad work at UofA, the mayor, a somewhat colourful/notorious personality, rescinded the legislation and declared Sault Ste. Marie, ON. as an English only city. Both my wife and I were unaware of the Mayor's actions. However, people who knew where relocated from were saying, "Hey, you come from that English only city up in Canada." "No. Canada has two official languages by Federal Legislation: English and French." "Oh no. Your mayor just declared your city an English only city." Of course it didn't work. I could never figure why he did that considering he is Italian and, probably, the largest language group in Sault Ste. Marie outside of English, as Hispanic is in Arizona. However, our Native Language programs are taking a beating here in Canada also because of official language legislation where we are neither included or excluded. ------- wahjeh rolland nadjiwon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Susan Penfield" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 9:16 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ > Matthew, > Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention. It is particularly > troubling since, in the beginning of the process, Native people were > assured, repeatedly, that they would not be included in the application of > this > poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented (my opinion, put mildly) > proposition. > Susan > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Matthew Ward" > To: > Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 3:55 PM > Subject: English-Only laws in AZ > > >> Just wanted to mention that I've been in touch with ACLU Arizona about >> the issue of Prop. 203, the English-only law, affecting Native immersion >> programs. It does indeed seem that Window Rock Public Schools may risk >> losing funding by continuing their immersion programs, and the issue may >> have to go to court. >> >> We all need to be vigilant in letting people know that these >> English-only laws do not just apply to immigrants--they also endanger >> efforts to preserve Native American languages as well. I suspect that >> if Azizona voters had understood the effect of this law, they wouldn't >> have voted for it in the first place. >> >> Matthew Ward > From sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Sep 21 15:37:32 2004 From: sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (Susan Penfield) Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2004 08:37:32 -0700 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ In-Reply-To: <000601c49f83$513e3520$ab394c18@yourfsyly0jtwn> Message-ID: All, I'm sure this is a pattern affecting endangered languages in many corners of the world. Thanks for this perspective on the Tucson and Canadian situations. For an indepth discussion of Prop. 203 in Arizona, see this page on James Crawford's Language Policy website: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/az-unz.htm It contains a complete explanation of the origin of Prop.203 (spinning out of California...) and the current status of this legislation. The tenor of 'English-only' arguments, although aimed at the Mexican-American population, is clearly a threat to anyone working on indigenous language revitalization and we should all be aware of the hidden agendas in this type of language policy. Best, Susan Quoting Rolland Nadjiwon : > Interesting Anecdote: > > Proposition 203, English only, is not a recent proposition. My wife and I > and our children were living in Tucson at the time it more of an issue. > There was a major opposition to it by the Mexican Americans. One of the > outspoken families was the Rhonstadt family, an old family with signatures > on Spanish/ American documentation predating Texas/New > Mexico/Arizona/California statehood. The protests resulted in a response of > the nature that the proposition would not be rescinded but it would not be > enforced. It appeared, at the time, many people did not realize the extent > of the Mexican American remaining in the southwest even to this day and had > intended the legislation to be used against the Dene and other native Tribes > in Arizona. The Mexican American response seemed to be a total surprise to > White rural populations who strongly supported it. Perhaps that is part of > the reason why you find 203 is "poorly crafted and even more poorly > implemented...." > > The only reason I am aware of this legislation, is because of the two > official language legislation in Canada for French and English. That > Canadian decision around the same time as Prop 203 was 'very' controversial > in Canada. > > Here in the city where we live, we had moved to Tucson for my wife to do her > Grad work at UofA, the mayor, a somewhat colourful/notorious personality, > rescinded the legislation and declared Sault Ste. Marie, ON. as an English > only city. Both my wife and I were unaware of the Mayor's actions. However, > people who knew where relocated from were saying, "Hey, you come from that > English only city up in Canada." > "No. Canada has two official languages by Federal Legislation: English and > French." > "Oh no. Your mayor just declared your city an English only city." > > Of course it didn't work. I could never figure why he did that considering > he is Italian and, probably, the largest language group in Sault Ste. Marie > outside of English, as Hispanic is in Arizona. > > However, our Native Language programs are taking a beating here in Canada > also because of official language legislation where we are neither included > or excluded. > > ------- > wahjeh > rolland nadjiwon > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Susan Penfield" > To: > Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 9:16 PM > Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ > > > > Matthew, > > Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention. It is particularly > > troubling since, in the beginning of the process, Native people were > > assured, repeatedly, that they would not be included in the application of > > this > > poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented (my opinion, put mildly) > > proposition. > > Susan > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Matthew Ward" > > To: > > Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 3:55 PM > > Subject: English-Only laws in AZ > > > > > >> Just wanted to mention that I've been in touch with ACLU Arizona about > >> the issue of Prop. 203, the English-only law, affecting Native immersion > >> programs. It does indeed seem that Window Rock Public Schools may risk > >> losing funding by continuing their immersion programs, and the issue may > >> have to go to court. > >> > >> We all need to be vigilant in letting people know that these > >> English-only laws do not just apply to immigrants--they also endanger > >> efforts to preserve Native American languages as well. I suspect that > >> if Azizona voters had understood the effect of this law, they wouldn't > >> have voted for it in the first place. > >> > >> Matthew Ward > > > Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D. Department of English The Writing Program Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Ph.D. Program (affiliate faculty) Indigenous Languages and Technology Southwest Center, Research Associate in Anthropology University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 From mward at LUNA.CC.NM.US Tue Sep 21 23:06:04 2004 From: mward at LUNA.CC.NM.US (Matthew Ward) Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2004 17:06:04 -0600 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: One of the depressing things about the AZ situation, for me, is that while there are still many countries with repressive laws that affect minority languages, most countries appear to be moving in a direction of more and more tolerance. It really is against a worldwide trend. Even CHINA is liberalizing its language policies to some extent--why are we falling for this stupidity, when time is so very short? It also really makes me very angry that that English-Only movement has used all of this rhetoric about helping immigrant kids learn English and used it against indigenous American languages. It's not that I support English-Only in ANY form, but I do feel quite certain that when most Americans vote for these laws, they don't intend to vote against Native American languages. It's very, very devious and evil. If I understand Prop. 203 properly, I think that it needs a 75% vote to significantly alter it. The only real hope is that lawsuits and the courts will block it. I believe that's what happened in Alaska: Native groups challenged the English-only law (another one of those laws by Unz and his gang of bullies) and it's stuck in court as a result. I remember reading an article in which some idiot representative of the English-only movement in Alaska said something like "We're not against preservation of Native languages, but they have to be practical. They couldn't use them if they go to Germany." Well, hell! You could condemn some of the largest languages on earth on that particular grounds. We all need to get a lot more politically savvy. I've found that people really respond to certain kinds of rhetoric--you can say things like "Prop. 203 reduces Navajo, an American language that helped win WWII, to the status of a foreign language." People really turn their heads when they hear statements like that. Most Americans instinctively recognize the rightness of preserving indigenous languages, but when they think that they are voting for "English for the children," then most never even think about indigenous languages. I'm not a nationalist, but we do need to point out strongly that were are preserving our own American culture here. The other side is brilliant at appealing to people's emotions--we need to do the same thing. We are, after all, on the right side of this issue. Susan Penfield wrote: >All, >I'm sure this is a pattern affecting endangered languages in many corners of the >world. Thanks for this perspective on the Tucson and Canadian situations. For >an indepth discussion of Prop. 203 in Arizona, see this page on James >Crawford's Language Policy website: > >http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/az-unz.htm > >It contains a complete explanation of the origin of Prop.203 (spinning out of >California...) and the current status of this legislation. >The tenor of 'English-only' arguments, although aimed at the Mexican-American >population, is clearly a threat to anyone working on indigenous language >revitalization and we should all be aware of the hidden agendas in this type of >language policy. > >Best, >Susan > >Quoting Rolland Nadjiwon : > > > >>Interesting Anecdote: >> >>Proposition 203, English only, is not a recent proposition. My wife and I >>and our children were living in Tucson at the time it more of an issue. >>There was a major opposition to it by the Mexican Americans. One of the >>outspoken families was the Rhonstadt family, an old family with signatures >>on Spanish/ American documentation predating Texas/New >>Mexico/Arizona/California statehood. The protests resulted in a response of >>the nature that the proposition would not be rescinded but it would not be >>enforced. It appeared, at the time, many people did not realize the extent >>of the Mexican American remaining in the southwest even to this day and had >>intended the legislation to be used against the Dene and other native Tribes >>in Arizona. The Mexican American response seemed to be a total surprise to >>White rural populations who strongly supported it. Perhaps that is part of >>the reason why you find 203 is "poorly crafted and even more poorly >>implemented...." >> >>The only reason I am aware of this legislation, is because of the two >>official language legislation in Canada for French and English. That >>Canadian decision around the same time as Prop 203 was 'very' controversial >>in Canada. >> >>Here in the city where we live, we had moved to Tucson for my wife to do her >>Grad work at UofA, the mayor, a somewhat colourful/notorious personality, >>rescinded the legislation and declared Sault Ste. Marie, ON. as an English >>only city. Both my wife and I were unaware of the Mayor's actions. However, >>people who knew where relocated from were saying, "Hey, you come from that >>English only city up in Canada." >>"No. Canada has two official languages by Federal Legislation: English and >>French." >>"Oh no. Your mayor just declared your city an English only city." >> >>Of course it didn't work. I could never figure why he did that considering >>he is Italian and, probably, the largest language group in Sault Ste. Marie >>outside of English, as Hispanic is in Arizona. >> >>However, our Native Language programs are taking a beating here in Canada >>also because of official language legislation where we are neither included >>or excluded. >> >>------- >>wahjeh >>rolland nadjiwon >> >> >>----- Original Message ----- >>From: "Susan Penfield" >>To: >>Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 9:16 PM >>Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ >> >> >> >> >>>Matthew, >>>Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention. It is particularly >>>troubling since, in the beginning of the process, Native people were >>>assured, repeatedly, that they would not be included in the application of >>>this >>>poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented (my opinion, put mildly) >>>proposition. >>>Susan >>>----- Original Message ----- >>>From: "Matthew Ward" >>>To: >>>Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 3:55 PM >>>Subject: English-Only laws in AZ >>> >>> >>> >>> >>>>Just wanted to mention that I've been in touch with ACLU Arizona about >>>>the issue of Prop. 203, the English-only law, affecting Native immersion >>>>programs. It does indeed seem that Window Rock Public Schools may risk >>>>losing funding by continuing their immersion programs, and the issue may >>>>have to go to court. >>>> >>>>We all need to be vigilant in letting people know that these >>>>English-only laws do not just apply to immigrants--they also endanger >>>>efforts to preserve Native American languages as well. I suspect that >>>>if Azizona voters had understood the effect of this law, they wouldn't >>>>have voted for it in the first place. >>>> >>>>Matthew Ward >>>> >>>> > > >Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D. >Department of English > The Writing Program > Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Ph.D. Program (affiliate faculty) > Indigenous Languages and Technology >Southwest Center, Research Associate in Anthropology >University of Arizona >Tucson, AZ 85721 > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Wed Sep 22 14:12:47 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 08:12:47 -0600 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: There is a lot of Psychology research that shows that people who master more than one language are much "smarter", to use a short-cut, than monolingual people. This research would make a stunning case if people assembled it, and I think would be much more effective than the ideological arguments people use in this type of discussion. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Matthew Ward To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 5:06 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ One of the depressing things about the AZ situation, for me, is that while there are still many countries with repressive laws that affect minority languages, most countries appear to be moving in a direction of more and more tolerance. It really is against a worldwide trend. Even CHINA is liberalizing its language policies to some extent--why are we falling for this stupidity, when time is so very short? It also really makes me very angry that that English-Only movement has used all of this rhetoric about helping immigrant kids learn English and used it against indigenous American languages. It's not that I support English-Only in ANY form, but I do feel quite certain that when most Americans vote for these laws, they don't intend to vote against Native American languages. It's very, very devious and evil. If I understand Prop. 203 properly, I think that it needs a 75% vote to significantly alter it. The only real hope is that lawsuits and the courts will block it. I believe that's what happened in Alaska: Native groups challenged the English-only law (another one of those laws by Unz and his gang of bullies) and it's stuck in court as a result. I remember reading an article in which some idiot representative of the English-only movement in Alaska said something like "We're not against preservation of Native languages, but they have to be practical. They couldn't use them if they go to Germany." Well, hell! You could condemn some of the largest languages on earth on that particular grounds. We all need to get a lot more politically savvy. I've found that people really respond to certain kinds of rhetoric--you can say things like "Prop. 203 reduces Navajo, an American language that helped win WWII, to the status of a foreign language." People really turn their heads when they hear statements like that. Most Americans instinctively recognize the rightness of preserving indigenous languages, but when they think that they are voting for "English for the children," then most never even think about indigenous languages. I'm not a nationalist, but we do need to point out strongly that were are preserving our own American culture here. The other side is brilliant at appealing to people's emotions--we need to do the same thing. We are, after all, on the right side of this issue. Susan Penfield wrote: All, I'm sure this is a pattern affecting endangered languages in many corners of the world. Thanks for this perspective on the Tucson and Canadian situations. For an indepth discussion of Prop. 203 in Arizona, see this page on James Crawford's Language Policy website: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/az-unz.htm It contains a complete explanation of the origin of Prop.203 (spinning out of California...) and the current status of this legislation. The tenor of 'English-only' arguments, although aimed at the Mexican-American population, is clearly a threat to anyone working on indigenous language revitalization and we should all be aware of the hidden agendas in this type of language policy. Best, Susan Quoting Rolland Nadjiwon : Interesting Anecdote: Proposition 203, English only, is not a recent proposition. My wife and I and our children were living in Tucson at the time it more of an issue. There was a major opposition to it by the Mexican Americans. One of the outspoken families was the Rhonstadt family, an old family with signatures on Spanish/ American documentation predating Texas/New Mexico/Arizona/California statehood. The protests resulted in a response of the nature that the proposition would not be rescinded but it would not be enforced. It appeared, at the time, many people did not realize the extent of the Mexican American remaining in the southwest even to this day and had intended the legislation to be used against the Dene and other native Tribes in Arizona. The Mexican American response seemed to be a total surprise to White rural populations who strongly supported it. Perhaps that is part of the reason why you find 203 is "poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented...." The only reason I am aware of this legislation, is because of the two official language legislation in Canada for French and English. That Canadian decision around the same time as Prop 203 was 'very' controversial in Canada. Here in the city where we live, we had moved to Tucson for my wife to do her Grad work at UofA, the mayor, a somewhat colourful/notorious personality, rescinded the legislation and declared Sault Ste. Marie, ON. as an English only city. Both my wife and I were unaware of the Mayor's actions. However, people who knew where relocated from were saying, "Hey, you come from that English only city up in Canada." "No. Canada has two official languages by Federal Legislation: English and French." "Oh no. Your mayor just declared your city an English only city." Of course it didn't work. I could never figure why he did that considering he is Italian and, probably, the largest language group in Sault Ste. Marie outside of English, as Hispanic is in Arizona. However, our Native Language programs are taking a beating here in Canada also because of official language legislation where we are neither included or excluded. ------- wahjeh rolland nadjiwon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Susan Penfield" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 9:16 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ Matthew, Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention. It is particularly troubling since, in the beginning of the process, Native people were assured, repeatedly, that they would not be included in the application of this poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented (my opinion, put mildly) proposition. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Matthew Ward" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 3:55 PM Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Just wanted to mention that I've been in touch with ACLU Arizona about the issue of Prop. 203, the English-only law, affecting Native immersion programs. It does indeed seem that Window Rock Public Schools may risk losing funding by continuing their immersion programs, and the issue may have to go to court. We all need to be vigilant in letting people know that these English-only laws do not just apply to immigrants--they also endanger efforts to preserve Native American languages as well. I suspect that if Azizona voters had understood the effect of this law, they wouldn't have voted for it in the first place. Matthew Ward Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D. Department of English The Writing Program Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Ph.D. Program (affiliate faculty) Indigenous Languages and Technology Southwest Center, Research Associate in Anthropology University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Sep 22 14:24:59 2004 From: sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (Susan Penfield) Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 07:24:59 -0700 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: Mia, You are right. However, many people (like James Crawford, Richard Ruiz, and others) have tried to do this. The problem seems to be the matter of getting it out to the general public even though numerous articles,, citing the cognitive value of being multilingual, have been published in newspapers/magazines aimed at non-academic audiences. Still, somehow it never gets for-fronted when politics becomes involved. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: MiaKalish - LFP To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 7:12 AM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ There is a lot of Psychology research that shows that people who master more than one language are much "smarter", to use a short-cut, than monolingual people. This research would make a stunning case if people assembled it, and I think would be much more effective than the ideological arguments people use in this type of discussion. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Matthew Ward To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 5:06 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ One of the depressing things about the AZ situation, for me, is that while there are still many countries with repressive laws that affect minority languages, most countries appear to be moving in a direction of more and more tolerance. It really is against a worldwide trend. Even CHINA is liberalizing its language policies to some extent--why are we falling for this stupidity, when time is so very short? It also really makes me very angry that that English-Only movement has used all of this rhetoric about helping immigrant kids learn English and used it against indigenous American languages. It's not that I support English-Only in ANY form, but I do feel quite certain that when most Americans vote for these laws, they don't intend to vote against Native American languages. It's very, very devious and evil. If I understand Prop. 203 properly, I think that it needs a 75% vote to significantly alter it. The only real hope is that lawsuits and the courts will block it. I believe that's what happened in Alaska: Native groups challenged the English-only law (another one of those laws by Unz and his gang of bullies) and it's stuck in court as a result. I remember reading an article in which some idiot representative of the English-only movement in Alaska said something like "We're not against preservation of Native languages, but they have to be practical. They couldn't use them if they go to Germany." Well, hell! You could condemn some of the largest languages on earth on that particular grounds. We all need to get a lot more politically savvy. I've found that people really respond to certain kinds of rhetoric--you can say things like "Prop. 203 reduces Navajo, an American language that helped win WWII, to the status of a foreign language." People really turn their heads when they hear statements like that. Most Americans instinctively recognize the rightness of preserving indigenous languages, but when they think that they are voting for "English for the children," then most never even think about indigenous languages. I'm not a nationalist, but we do need to point out strongly that were are preserving our own American culture here. The other side is brilliant at appealing to people's emotions--we need to do the same thing. We are, after all, on the right side of this issue. Susan Penfield wrote: All, I'm sure this is a pattern affecting endangered languages in many corners of the world. Thanks for this perspective on the Tucson and Canadian situations. For an indepth discussion of Prop. 203 in Arizona, see this page on James Crawford's Language Policy website: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/az-unz.htm It contains a complete explanation of the origin of Prop.203 (spinning out of California...) and the current status of this legislation. The tenor of 'English-only' arguments, although aimed at the Mexican-American population, is clearly a threat to anyone working on indigenous language revitalization and we should all be aware of the hidden agendas in this type of language policy. Best, Susan Quoting Rolland Nadjiwon : Interesting Anecdote: Proposition 203, English only, is not a recent proposition. My wife and I and our children were living in Tucson at the time it more of an issue. There was a major opposition to it by the Mexican Americans. One of the outspoken families was the Rhonstadt family, an old family with signatures on Spanish/ American documentation predating Texas/New Mexico/Arizona/California statehood. The protests resulted in a response of the nature that the proposition would not be rescinded but it would not be enforced. It appeared, at the time, many people did not realize the extent of the Mexican American remaining in the southwest even to this day and had intended the legislation to be used against the Dene and other native Tribes in Arizona. The Mexican American response seemed to be a total surprise to White rural populations who strongly supported it. Perhaps that is part of the reason why you find 203 is "poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented...." The only reason I am aware of this legislation, is because of the two official language legislation in Canada for French and English. That Canadian decision around the same time as Prop 203 was 'very' controversial in Canada. Here in the city where we live, we had moved to Tucson for my wife to do her Grad work at UofA, the mayor, a somewhat colourful/notorious personality, rescinded the legislation and declared Sault Ste. Marie, ON. as an English only city. Both my wife and I were unaware of the Mayor's actions. However, people who knew where relocated from were saying, "Hey, you come from that English only city up in Canada." "No. Canada has two official languages by Federal Legislation: English and French." "Oh no. Your mayor just declared your city an English only city." Of course it didn't work. I could never figure why he did that considering he is Italian and, probably, the largest language group in Sault Ste. Marie outside of English, as Hispanic is in Arizona. However, our Native Language programs are taking a beating here in Canada also because of official language legislation where we are neither included or excluded. ------- wahjeh rolland nadjiwon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Susan Penfield" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 9:16 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ Matthew, Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention. It is particularly troubling since, in the beginning of the process, Native people were assured, repeatedly, that they would not be included in the application of this poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented (my opinion, put mildly) proposition. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Matthew Ward" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 3:55 PM Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Just wanted to mention that I've been in touch with ACLU Arizona about the issue of Prop. 203, the English-only law, affecting Native immersion programs. It does indeed seem that Window Rock Public Schools may risk losing funding by continuing their immersion programs, and the issue may have to go to court. We all need to be vigilant in letting people know that these English-only laws do not just apply to immigrants--they also endanger efforts to preserve Native American languages as well. I suspect that if Azizona voters had understood the effect of this law, they wouldn't have voted for it in the first place. Matthew Ward Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D. Department of English The Writing Program Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Ph.D. Program (affiliate faculty) Indigenous Languages and Technology Southwest Center, Research Associate in Anthropology University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Wed Sep 22 14:51:18 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 08:51:18 -0600 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: I see. It's a public information issue. Too bad we can't market it like that funny Mozart Music Intelligence-enhancing program. I do wonder, though, if anyone on this list is connected with PBS? We are a PBS station here, but we don't produce much. WGBH in Boston is a Big Producer, and they have the right demographic to make something like this happen. It would be a small start, but if it were a PBS issue, it would get attention, and then perhaps it would open some of the right kind of debate. It occurs to me to note that most of the bi- and multi-lingual discussions occur about natural languages. The issues are the same in the computer languages area. Most people don't know this, but when technology changed from the linear, procedural languages like COBOL and Fortran, millions of programmers had to find another profession because they couldn't grok the new paradigm. Multi-linguality skills also seep into multi-disciplinary issues, because each discipline has its own language. . . "object" in law is NOT the same as "object" in computer science. In law, "object" is either a noun or a verb. In CS, it is an entity, with its own properties, methods and procedures. It is sharable, includable, and modifiable. The issues are huge. Now if we just had somebody who sat on one of the PBS boards. . . . ? Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Susan Penfield To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 8:24 AM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ Mia, You are right. However, many people (like James Crawford, Richard Ruiz, and others) have tried to do this. The problem seems to be the matter of getting it out to the general public even though numerous articles,, citing the cognitive value of being multilingual, have been published in newspapers/magazines aimed at non-academic audiences. Still, somehow it never gets for-fronted when politics becomes involved. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: MiaKalish - LFP To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 7:12 AM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ There is a lot of Psychology research that shows that people who master more than one language are much "smarter", to use a short-cut, than monolingual people. This research would make a stunning case if people assembled it, and I think would be much more effective than the ideological arguments people use in this type of discussion. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Matthew Ward To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 5:06 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ One of the depressing things about the AZ situation, for me, is that while there are still many countries with repressive laws that affect minority languages, most countries appear to be moving in a direction of more and more tolerance. It really is against a worldwide trend. Even CHINA is liberalizing its language policies to some extent--why are we falling for this stupidity, when time is so very short? It also really makes me very angry that that English-Only movement has used all of this rhetoric about helping immigrant kids learn English and used it against indigenous American languages. It's not that I support English-Only in ANY form, but I do feel quite certain that when most Americans vote for these laws, they don't intend to vote against Native American languages. It's very, very devious and evil. If I understand Prop. 203 properly, I think that it needs a 75% vote to significantly alter it. The only real hope is that lawsuits and the courts will block it. I believe that's what happened in Alaska: Native groups challenged the English-only law (another one of those laws by Unz and his gang of bullies) and it's stuck in court as a result. I remember reading an article in which some idiot representative of the English-only movement in Alaska said something like "We're not against preservation of Native languages, but they have to be practical. They couldn't use them if they go to Germany." Well, hell! You could condemn some of the largest languages on earth on that particular grounds. We all need to get a lot more politically savvy. I've found that people really respond to certain kinds of rhetoric--you can say things like "Prop. 203 reduces Navajo, an American language that helped win WWII, to the status of a foreign language." People really turn their heads when they hear statements like that. Most Americans instinctively recognize the rightness of preserving indigenous languages, but when they think that they are voting for "English for the children," then most never even think about indigenous languages. I'm not a nationalist, but we do need to point out strongly that were are preserving our own American culture here. The other side is brilliant at appealing to people's emotions--we need to do the same thing. We are, after all, on the right side of this issue. Susan Penfield wrote: All, I'm sure this is a pattern affecting endangered languages in many corners of the world. Thanks for this perspective on the Tucson and Canadian situations. For an indepth discussion of Prop. 203 in Arizona, see this page on James Crawford's Language Policy website: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/az-unz.htm It contains a complete explanation of the origin of Prop.203 (spinning out of California...) and the current status of this legislation. The tenor of 'English-only' arguments, although aimed at the Mexican-American population, is clearly a threat to anyone working on indigenous language revitalization and we should all be aware of the hidden agendas in this type of language policy. Best, Susan Quoting Rolland Nadjiwon : Interesting Anecdote: Proposition 203, English only, is not a recent proposition. My wife and I and our children were living in Tucson at the time it more of an issue. There was a major opposition to it by the Mexican Americans. One of the outspoken families was the Rhonstadt family, an old family with signatures on Spanish/ American documentation predating Texas/New Mexico/Arizona/California statehood. The protests resulted in a response of the nature that the proposition would not be rescinded but it would not be enforced. It appeared, at the time, many people did not realize the extent of the Mexican American remaining in the southwest even to this day and had intended the legislation to be used against the Dene and other native Tribes in Arizona. The Mexican American response seemed to be a total surprise to White rural populations who strongly supported it. Perhaps that is part of the reason why you find 203 is "poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented...." The only reason I am aware of this legislation, is because of the two official language legislation in Canada for French and English. That Canadian decision around the same time as Prop 203 was 'very' controversial in Canada. Here in the city where we live, we had moved to Tucson for my wife to do her Grad work at UofA, the mayor, a somewhat colourful/notorious personality, rescinded the legislation and declared Sault Ste. Marie, ON. as an English only city. Both my wife and I were unaware of the Mayor's actions. However, people who knew where relocated from were saying, "Hey, you come from that English only city up in Canada." "No. Canada has two official languages by Federal Legislation: English and French." "Oh no. Your mayor just declared your city an English only city." Of course it didn't work. I could never figure why he did that considering he is Italian and, probably, the largest language group in Sault Ste. Marie outside of English, as Hispanic is in Arizona. However, our Native Language programs are taking a beating here in Canada also because of official language legislation where we are neither included or excluded. ------- wahjeh rolland nadjiwon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Susan Penfield" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 9:16 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ Matthew, Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention. It is particularly troubling since, in the beginning of the process, Native people were assured, repeatedly, that they would not be included in the application of this poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented (my opinion, put mildly) proposition. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Matthew Ward" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 3:55 PM Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Just wanted to mention that I've been in touch with ACLU Arizona about the issue of Prop. 203, the English-only law, affecting Native immersion programs. It does indeed seem that Window Rock Public Schools may risk losing funding by continuing their immersion programs, and the issue may have to go to court. We all need to be vigilant in letting people know that these English-only laws do not just apply to immigrants--they also endanger efforts to preserve Native American languages as well. I suspect that if Azizona voters had understood the effect of this law, they wouldn't have voted for it in the first place. Matthew Ward Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D. Department of English The Writing Program Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Ph.D. Program (affiliate faculty) Indigenous Languages and Technology Southwest Center, Research Associate in Anthropology University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Rrlapier at AOL.COM Wed Sep 22 15:28:43 2004 From: Rrlapier at AOL.COM (Rrlapier at AOL.COM) Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 11:28:43 EDT Subject: (no subject) Message-ID: Below is a good basic book for the non-academic (with plenty of studies cited) on the educational/cognitive benefits of teaching in two languages. Dual Language Instruction: A Handbook for Enriched Education by Nancy Cloud, Fred Genesee & Else Hamayan Rosalyn LaPier Piegan Institute www.pieganinstitute.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mward at LUNA.CC.NM.US Wed Sep 22 16:59:00 2004 From: mward at LUNA.CC.NM.US (Matthew Ward) Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 10:59:00 -0600 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: Another thought on this issue: the opening of the Museum of the American Indian is resulting in articles in most major newspapers and magazines, and as a result, the media is paying more attention than usual to indigenous Americans. It may be a very good time to write letters to the editor or op-ed pieces to newspapers and magazines, pointing out the effect of English-Only laws on American languages. I would be against English-Only laws even if they did not apply to indigenous languages, but I do believe that most Americans vote for such laws believing that they are applying only to immigrant languages, and if they understood that these laws are being used against indigenous languages, support for such laws would drop. I do wonder, for example, if Colorado's recent defeat of an Unz-backed law didn't have a lot to do with questions of whether these laws could affect Native Americans and Hispanics in the southern part of the state--people who were speaking their native languages before English even showed up. Anyway, it's just a thought: I've already written to Time magazine and USA today, saying something to the effect that "The opening of this museum is a wonderful and long-overdue event, but Native American culture is under renewed attack," citing the effects of Arizona's Prop. 203 as an example. The more letters or articles written, the bigger chance that some will be printed and will be read by the general public. Copied below is the Navajo Times article that appeared here last spring--a good summary of this issue. Matthew Ward AZ AG: public schools not exempt from Prop. 203 By Bill Donovan - Navajo Times WINDOW ROCK - A couple of years ago, educators went on the offensive when Arizona voters went to the polls to decide whether English would be the only language that classes would be taught in. At that time, a compromise was reached that public school educators thought would allow them an exemption so they could provide instruction in Native American languages in the early grades. Boy, were they wrong. Education officials for the state of Arizona are now saying that based on an opinion by the state's attorney general, public schools on the reservation have to comply with the English Only law (Proposition 203). Only Bureau of Indian Affairs schools are exempt. "This is a major step backwards," said Deborah Jackson-Dennison, superintendent of the Window Rock Unified School District. Jackson-Dennison has got President Joe Shirley Jr. involved in her efforts to get the state to change its policy and exempt public schools on reservations that have a large Native American student population. Shirley and other tribal officials were in Phoenix Tuesday meeting with state education officials to get the matter clarified. What's at risk, Jackson-Dennison said, were Navajo language immersion programs like the one at Window Rock where students in the primary grades get instruction in their native language. As they get into higher grades, they receive more and more instruction in English. By doing this, she said, it now appears that school districts will be putting in jeopardy some of their state funding. She said that on many state funding requests, the Arizona Department of Education has placed a new item asking districts if they are complying with the English Only law. "The form gives us only two options - yes or no," said Jackson-Dennison. "There is not a third option labeled 'exempt.'" By filling out the "no" blank, public schools on reservations within the state are taking a definite risk of getting their application denied. If they mark "yes," programs like Window Rock's Navajo Immersion Program will be eliminated. State school officials have made it very clear that classes - all classes - will be taught only in English. Margaret Garcia-Dugan, associate superintendent for the Arizona Department of Education, said that while BIA schools are exempt from complying with Proposition 203, public schools are not. In a written statement, she said that "if a public school has a large Native American student population, it must still adhere to the provisions set forth in Proposition 203 regardless of whether or not that school is on a reservation. "Proposition 203 does allow teaching other languages besides English as an elective (such as Navajo Language and Cultural Instruction)," she said. "All other courses such as history, math, English, and physical education are to be in (English Only) unless the student receives a waiver." This, said Jackson-Dennison, doesn't make a lot of sense since federal statutes contain provisions that protect and encourage the development of native languages such as those offered within the Window Rock school district. "The No Child Left Behind Act also encourages the teaching of native languages," she said. Now, the state is coming in and saying that the school district could lose some of its state funding by following the federal laws and this isn't right, she said. From dzo at BISHARAT.NET Wed Sep 22 17:08:28 2004 From: dzo at BISHARAT.NET (Donald Z. Osborn) Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 12:08:28 -0500 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ In-Reply-To: <01a901c4a0b3$9e960b00$6400a8c0@computer> Message-ID: This is a very interesting thread with some very important strands, if you will, that it would help to sort out. Or at least I'm needing to do that and hope it will be useful for me to share it. 1. Bilingualism is good for you. I'd tend to agree with what Mia said on this, without denying Susan's reference to failed efforts to focus on such a message. It seems to be a much surer long-term foundation (or part of it) for arguing for bilingual education than otherwise clever arguments such as what Matthew suggested (e.g., that English-only laws make Navajo a foreign language). Such reasoning risks dividing support for indigenous languages in education from support for immigrant languages (an unintended message). The basic cause of bilingual education probably needs to be broader to succeed. 2. First-language education is a matter of quality education as well as a matter of human (linguistic) rights. This would be the other part of the foundation for the case for bilingual education. 3. What is really being argued against can therefore be recast as "monolingual non-first-language education," which in the US puts children of non-English speaking households at a disadvantage (per #2) and removes a potential advantage (per #1). This not an arguement against English, of course, but English-only. 4. Monolongual paradigm. One of the challenges of pursuing this line of reasoning (nos. 1-3) is that it runs up against what I think of as a paradigm that considers more than one language to be a disadvantage to individuals and societies, and that having more than one language means learning one or both/all less well. This is not just a US phenomenon, but held in some other countries, even multilingual ones (the notion of a single language for nation-building came from Europe, for instance). 5. "English fever." Another seemingly distant but very real consideration is that there seems to be an organic need in today's globalizing human society for an international lingua franca. English for better or worse (let's not get into that discussion now) is for the moment at least, spreading to fill that role. It's easy for people looking at that to think that the best thing in the world for their kids and the other kids in their society is to learn English really well. This thought manifests itself in different forms as it passes through geographic and political prisms (to stretch a metaphor), from "English only" in some dominantly English first-language contries (notably the US), to parents in countries where English is a language trying to speak English only and not their first languages to their children in the hopes that that will benefit them later on in life (some examples in urban Africa), to the increased importance of teaching English to non-English speakers (examples worldwide, including China, where there are a lot of English learning schools, programs, etc.). 6. Matthew's example of someone saying "We're not against preservation of Native languages, but they have to be practical. They couldn't use them if they go to Germany," is an example of nos. 4&5 above, and also probably an unstated hierarchy of languages. The speaker would probably not say something similar to Germans. this kind of thinking, which if you look at it is fundamentally a monolingual paradigm. 7. Language rights and bilingual education are international issues too, like English fever. IOW, I'd agree with what Susan wrote about endangered languages but take it a step further. It may be that proponents of indigenous and endangered languages are more conscious of the international dimensions than others focusing on bilingual education in particular countries. In any event, more could be done. 8. There is another hidden strand here and that is the less extreme position of English-only (and similar propositions) that reduces first language (L1) education to a stepping stone to fluency in a second/additional language (L2). This of course is opposed to "additive bilingual" approaches that recognize the intrinsic importance of L1. Don Osborn From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Sep 22 19:21:12 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 12:21:12 -0700 Subject: Senate Floor statement by Sen. Tom Daschle on 9-21-04 (fwd) Message-ID: OPENING OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION'S NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN -- (Senate - September 21, 2004) [Page: S9396] ---    Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, this is a happy and historic day for all Americans, and especially for the First Americans. Right now, about a dozen blocks from this Capitol, an estimated 15- to 20,000 Native Americans representing tribes from South Dakota to South America are beginning a grand procession down Pennsylvania Avenue. The procession is the largest gathering ever of American Indians in our Nation's Capital. As someone from South Dakota, proud homeland of the Great Sioux Nation, I can tell you, it is an incredibly beautiful sight.    The procession marks the beginning of a week-long festival in Washington celebrating the opening of the spectacular new National Museum of the American Indian. The new museum--part of the Smithsonian Institution--is America's only national museum dedicated to Native Americans. And it is the largest museum in the world dedicated to telling the story of indigenous people in their own authentic voices. Every detail reflects the views of Native people, from the text of the exhibits to the menu in the museum restaurant. The building itself was designed by the famed Native architect, Douglas Cardinal. Its curved exterior walls, made of rough-hewn limestone, suggest the ancient cliff dwellings of the American Southwest.    Inside those walls are 8,000 extraordinary artifacts representing more than 10,000 years of history from more than 1,000 indigenous communities fromas far north as Alaska and as far south as Chile. The museum includes three permanent exhibits. ``Our Universes'' features the spiritual beliefs of native communities, including the Oglala Sioux Tribe. ``Our Peoples'' looks at historical events through native eyes. ``Our Lives'' focuses on native people today. There is also space for changing exhibits of artwork by contemporary Native artists, and large spaces for Native American ceremonies and performances. In this museum, Native people and communities are not anthropological oddities or historical footnotes. They are not stereotypes. They are vibrant, living cultures.    I want to commend the museum's director, Dr. Richard West, a member of the Southern Cheyenne nation, and all of museum's dedicated staff and volunteers, who have worked so hard to make the dream a reality, including assistant curator Emil Her Many [Page: S9397] Horses, a native of Pine Ridge, who was raised on Rosebud.    I also want to thank our colleague, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a long-time champion of the museum. I especially want to thank my dear friend, Senator Dan Inouye, co-chairman, with Senator Campbell, of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and the original sponsor in 1987 of the bill creating the National Museum of the American Indian. No Senator has ever worked longer or harder to get our government to honor its trust and treaty obligations to Native American tribes, to Native Hawaiians and Alaska Natives than Danny Inouye, and I am proud to be able to work with him to keep those sacred commitments.    As many as 6 million visitors are expected to visit the National Museum of the American Indian every year. They will come away with a deeper understanding of America's rich Native cultures. It will lead, it is hoped, to a healing and reconciliation between Native Americans and those of us whose families came here from other nations.    It is moving to see this living monument to the First Americans take its rightful place on our National Mall, along side our Nation's other great monuments. At the same time, we know that there are priceless cultural and historical artifacts all across Indian Country that also must be preserved.    I would like to tell you about one such treasure: an extraordinary collection of letters known as ``The Dakota Letters.'' They were written 140 years ago by members of the Dakota Nation, the original inhabitants of what is now Minnesota. Four years ago, copies of 150 of the Dakota Letters found their way to the home of some of the descendants of the original letter writers: the Sisseton Wahpeton reservation in eastern South Dakota. What makes these letters rare--and possibly unique--is that they provide first-person, written accounts of a tragic and little-known chapter in our Nation's history--as seen through Native eyes.    That chapter has been called many things. The first accounts, written by white historians in the 1880s and 1890s, referred to it as ``the Great Sioux Massacre.'' Later, it was called ``the Sioux Uprising.'' Today, it is known as ``the U.S.-Dakota Conflict--some say the U.S. -Dakota War--of 1862. It was the opening of the Great Plains Indian Wars, three decades of armed resistance by Plains Indians against white settlers and government soldiers.    The roots of the Dakota Conflict stretch back to 1851, when the Dakota were coerced into signing treaties giving 90 percent of their land, including their hunting grounds, to the U.S. government. The government promised the Dakota annual payments of gold and goods for the land, as well as help building schools and farms. The promises were never kept.    A decade later, in August of 1862, the Dakota were starving. The annuity payments were late and the government agent refused to sell on credit food that was being stored in warehouses for sale to the Dakota. When Dakotas complained, he stunned them by telling them to ``eat grass.'' Four days later, a hunting party of hungry Dakota youth killed five white settlers in a dispute over some stolen eggs. It was the spark that ignited the war.    Reluctantly, some of the Dakota chiefs chose to go to war rather than surrender the young men for hanging. Some hoped that the Army might be so distracted by the Civil War that the Dakota could drive them from the Plains. That was a tragic miscalculation.    The fighting lasted 38 days, raging across the Minnesota River Valley, south to Iowa and west to the Dakotas. Most Dakota people opposed the war and did not fight. Many risked their lives to save white settlers. When the war ended, nearly 100 American soldiers, approximately 359 settlers and an estimated 29 Dakota soldiers were dead.    Most of the Dakota warriors who led the fighting escaped north. Nearly 400 men who remained were captured and taken to a prison in Mankato, MN, where they were tried by a military commission. As many as 40 trials were conducted in a single day--a single day. The prisoners were all denied counsel. Many spoke no English and most likely did not understand the charges against them.    Of the 393 men tried, 323 were convicted, and 303 were sentenced to die. President Lincoln commuted all but 38 of the death sentences. The 38 condemned men were hanged in the Mankato prison the morning after Christmas of 1862 in what remains the largest public execution in our Nation's history. Among the 38 were men who almost certainly had not taken part in the fighting and two men whose names were not even on the list of the condemned.    For the rest of the Dakota people, the worst was still to come. After losing the war, they lost their nation. In March of 1863, the Dakota prisoners at Mankato were sent to Camp McClellan in Davenport, IA. More than 1,600 other Dakota people who had nothing to do with the war were also taken captive after the war and held at Fort Snelling, MN. In April of 1863, they were forcibly removed to Crow Creek, SD. That same month, Congress cancelled all treaties with the Dakota and used the money that had been promised to the Dakota to pay claims by settlers. Hundreds of Dakota family members died at Fort Snelling. Hundreds more died on the way to Crow Creek, and many more died on the Crow Creek reservation. Eventually, some of the families moved from Crow Creek to Sisseton Wahpeton. It is there, 140 years later, that the letters of the Dakota prisoners have been translated into modern English by their descendants.    Like the exhibits in the new museum, the Dakota Letters speak in the authentic voices of the First Americans. The writers speak of their love and concern for their families. They also speak of their uncertainty and their fears. One of the most extraordinary of the letters was written 3 days after the assassination of President Lincoln, whom the Dakota call respectfully ``Grandfather.'' The letter was written by a man named Moses Many Lightning Face to a missionary the Dakota prisoners trusted and referred to as a relative. The writer expresses fear about what might happen to the Dakota prisoners now that the man who had spared their life once was dead. These are his words:    Well, my relative, I wish to write you a letter. We have heard the news. They say that Grandfather was killed. But someone of authority should tell us if this is not true. Thus, I write to you this letter. Also, I have heard some rumors. Grandfather has compassion for us and, so far, we are still alive. But they told us he was killed, and we are saddened. Those of us here think if this is so, we are heartbroken. Perhaps the attitude of the cavalry soldiers may change toward us. Tell me what your thoughts are; I want to know; that's why I write to you. Then I wish to hear exactly how they killed Grandfather. ..... This is all I am going to say. I shake all your hands. Moses Many Lightning Face. This is me.    What makes the Dakota Letters so rare is that, like most Native American languages, Dakota in the mid-1800s was not a written language. Missionaries developed a written form of the language to teach the Bible to the Dakota. The missionaries who visited the Dakota prisoners taught it to them.    In Sisseton Wahpeton, the letters were translated by five tribal elders, working with Dakota language and history experts from Sisseton Wahpeton College. It was a complicated process more like code-breaking than simple translation. The words are first translated from Dakota, then into literal English, then into modern English. The translation of the letter to President Lincoln shows this process. I ask consent that it be printed in the RECORD immediately following my remarks.    The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.    (See exhibit 1.)    Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, like the exhibits in the new museum, the Dakota Letters illustrate in a powerful way that we do not have separate histories, but we see the same history through different eyes. This gift of being able to see our history from others' perspectives can only help heal our Nation and make us stronger.    I believe strongly that the Federal Government, which had such a direct hand, for so long, in efforts to destroy Native cultures, has a responsibility to help preserve these cultures not just on the National Mall in Washington, but in tribal communities throughout America. And we are making a start.    Next month, the first applications will go out for a new grant programs [Page: S9398] for tribal museums. Under the Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services Program, tribes can receive grants of up to $20,000 a year. The museum program, and a similar program to support tribal libraries, are both administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences.    The Tribal Historic Preservation Program in the National Park Service gives tribes control of decisions about cultural preservation on tribal lands by establishing tribal historic preservation offices, just like State historic preservation offices.    The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, passed in 1990, lays out a process to identify Native American sacred and funerary objects and return them to their people.    In Sisseton Wahpeton, tribal elders and educators hope to use technology to record translation sessions of the Dakota Letters and use the recordings to teach the Dakota language. They also want to use distance learning to teach Dakota history and culture lessons based on the letters. They can't do that now because they have run out of money for the Dakota Letters project. An amendment Senator Inouye is sponsoring to the Native American Languages Act might help the tribe finish the Dakota Letters project. It would provide additional resources for immersion schools and other intensive efforts to save Native American languages--which we are now losing at the alarming rate of one each month.    All of these efforts, and more, need and deserve the support of Congress.    Newspaper accounts of the executions of the Dakota prisoners at Mankato note that the men met their deaths with courage and dignity, chanting a Dakota death song. One reporter recorded that their final words were a simple plea for recognition: ``I am here.''    Those same words echo from every ancient corner of this Nation. Long before Europeans and others arrived, Native Americans were here. And they are still here today, greatly enriching our national identity and culture. On this happy and historic day, as we celebrate the opening of America's spectacular new National Museum of the American Indian, let us also celebrate the Native American history and culture that exists all across America. And let us vow to work together to preserve that history and culture everywhere it exists.    EXHIBIT 1    1. mitakuye ito wowapi cicage kta wacin nakaha wotanin naonhonpi    2. Well, my relative, I want to give you this paper now we have heard news    3. Well, my relative I wish to write you a letter, we have heard news.    1. tonkansidon ktepi keyapi    2. They said they killed Grandfather.    3. They have said that Grandfather (Abraham Lincoln) was killed.    1. tuka hecen tuwe taku tanyan onkokiyakapi kta iyecece sni    2. But then someone should tell us if this is not true.    3. But someone of authority should tell us if this is not true.    1. hecen mitakuye wowapi cicu    2. Thus, my relative, I give you this paper    3. Thus, I write to you this letter.    1. eya taku wanjikj nawahon    2. To say, I have heard several rumors    3. Also I have heard some rumors    1. tonkansidan he onsiondapi qa dehanyan nionyakonpi    2. Grandfather had compassion for us, and so far we are still alive    3. Grandfather has compassion for us, and so far we are still alive.    1. tuka hecen nakaha ktepi keyapi heon cante onsicapi    2. but then now they killed him they said therefore our hearts are sad.    3. but they told us he was killed, and we are saddened.    1. tona onkiyukcanpi hecinhan ehna cante onsicapi    2. Some we think if this is so, we are heartbroken.    3. Those of us here think if this is so, we are heartbroken.    1. hehan hecan isantanka kin hecen tokan kante onkiyuzapi kta naceca    2. Then this Big Knives the thus how heart hold us will maybe    3. Perhaps the attitude of the calvary soldiers may change toward us.    1. idukcan hecinhan omayakidaka wacin qa heon wowapi cicage ye do    2. what you think, if you tell me, I want, therefore paper I make for you.    3. Tell me what your thoughts are, I want to know, that's why I write to you.    1. hehan tonkansidan token ktepi hecinhan he tanyan nawahon kta wacin    2. then Grandfather how they killed him if this is good I hear will I want.    3. Then I wish to hear exact1y how they killed Grandfather.    1. hehan eya anpetu waken eca token owakihi waokun wicawakiye    2. Then to say day holy when how I am able to preach to them    3. Then, also on Sundays when I am able I do the preach to them.    1. henana epe kte owasin nape ciyuzapi    2. That's all, I say will all hand they shake,    3. This is all I'm going to say, I shake all your hands.    Mowis Itewakanhdiota--he miye    Moses Many Lightning Face--This is me.    Translation key:    1. original Dakota    2. Dakota to English    3. English translation    Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that my leader comments not be taken from the first hour of the Democratic allocation of time.    The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.    Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, will the minority leader yield?    Mr. DASCHLE. I am happy to yield to the Senator from Delaware. END No. 7 OPENING OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION'S NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN -- (Senate - September 21, 2004) http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/B?r108:@FIELD(FLD003+s)+ at FIELD(DDATE+20040921) From mward at LUNA.CC.NM.US Wed Sep 22 22:35:07 2004 From: mward at LUNA.CC.NM.US (Matthew Ward) Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 16:35:07 -0600 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: Thanks for your thoughts, Don. On one issue that we are discussing--the idea that bilingualism or multilingulaism is good for an individual, I do think that serious progress has been in terms of public attitudes. It's very rare anymore for people to argue that it somehow confuses children or such. Even in the tiny rural corner of Washington State where I'm originally from, I've heard parents bragging about their (native English speaking) children's ability to speak Spanish, and they seem to recognize that earlier is better. As a person who speaks a few languages, I personally get ridiculous amounts of praise for doing something that comes naturally for many people in parts of the world like South Asia or Africa. It seems that, in concept, American society values being able to speak more than one language. I do hope that more and more of this research showing bi and multilinguals having cognitive benefits is publicized, but I think that a surprising number of people already understand this instinctively. Even the English-Only movement does not generally argue against bilingualism, it just insists that English is so important to immigrant children that they should be in an all-English environment as soon as possible--assuming, of course, that being in an all-English environment is the best way for them to learn. I won't even get into that particular debate right now. My concern is their obviously implied definition of English as the only American language, and then their writing laws that are so badly written and overreaching that they end up applying to indigenous languages, although the laws are claimed to be directed at immigrant children and languages. I could, perhaps, give them the benefit of the doubt when they say that they support efforts of Native Americans to preserve their own languages, but if their laws are in fact working against that end, then all the good intentions in the world mean nothing. What really offends me is the combination of the continual equation of English with American nationhood, as if no other language could possibility considered "American" (here, I'm using "American" in the sense of "United States," obviously) with laws that in fact harm non-English American languages. It's like a kinder, friendlier cultural genocide: you can re-write history so that English is our only legitimate language, and at the same time, you can help wipe out indigenous languages so that, in the end, you can say "Well, we don't HAVE any indigenous languages." Seems like the two goals work together very nicely, whether they are intended to or not. The end result seems to be wiping cultures and their languages (which, of course, contain much of any culture's content, in terms of songs, stories, proverbs, histories, poems, etc.) off the face of the earth and then rewriting history so that we don't even remember that those cultures existed--cultural genocide, done in a less violent, more "civilized" way. "English for the Children," doesn't that sound nice? I remember getting in a debate about this on the Internet a few years back, and one person's comment was "I never met an Indian who couldn't speak English." Well, obviously that person hadn't spent much time in the Southwest, but what really struck me was how much of a self-fulfilling prophecy his attitude amounted to: if all Native Americans can speak English (in itself, a positive enough goal) then there is no need to preserve their languages. One goal justifies the next goal. One thing you do hear from the English-Only people is things like "We're not against them teaching their own languages." Well, of course you're not. You can have a class teaching Hopi, just like you can have a class teaching German or Japanese. In recent history, people generally haven't argued with the idea of having a few hours a week to teach a "foreign" language. Acting like you're being tolerant for allowing people to do that is totally disingenous. It's a totally false argument. Sure, you allow them a few hours a week to teach their own languages. But, is that really going to preserve languages in the long term? Would Hawaiian even exist today if not for the language nests? It may well be that these people actually know very well what they are doing--they know that pretending to give people something by "allowing" them to have classes teaching Navajo (rather than classes that are conducted in the MEDIUM of Navajo) actually furthers their goals in the long run. Sure, having a class is far better than not teaching it at all, but if that's all you're allowed to do in public schools, then you are effectively dooming languages. On a hopeful note, I think that English-Only can be discredited and defeated, and that, next time Unz and his bullies try to pass a law, there should be ads on TV letting people know, in language that everyone can easily understand, what has happened in Arizona. "We aren't against preserving Indian languages." "Well, actually, you've already passed a law that, in the name of helping immigrant kids learn English, is actually working against an indigenous American language that helped win WWII. You are demoting American languages to the status of foreign languages like French, and how can we trust your next law to not do the same?" That's a crude, nationalistic way of putting it, but it's also based on fact. The English-Only people will use far cruder nationalism and back it up with baldfaced lies. I've tried these arguments out on a wide variety of individuals in my daily life, and when you put it in those terms, people look at the whole issue in a very different way "Oh no, those laws shouldn't apply to Indian languages!" It simply never occurs to most people that those laws might end up applying to indigenous languages that pre-date English. As for "English Fever," it is indeed very real, but it mostly affects people in countries where English is an official second language--that's why it affect some urban Africans. Of course, it affects people where English is a foreign language, but it mostly involves things like having their kids start learning English in elementary school instead of high-schools, and few would argue with the wisdom of that. For linguistic minorities in countries where English is the dominant native language, it's more of a question of survival rather than dealing with internationalism; obviously, if it's a country speaking another dominant national language, then the choice they are facing involves the indigenous languages vs. the dominant national language, rather than vs. English. For the English-only people, the argument usually focuses on the status of English as the de-facto national language of the US. I have sometimes heard them use the "English is an international language argument," but I think that they are aware that this argument is a double-edged sword: you could very well argue "Spanish is an international language, so we should encourage our Spanish-speaking immigrants to keep their language while learning English." On a side note, several years ago, "English Fever" reached a point in S. Korea where a few wingnuts actually proposed making it an "official second language," something which, understandably, made a lot of Koreans very upset (very proud people who know what it's like to have a language imposed on them--given another 50 years of Japanese occupation, and Korean could well have been endangered!). The whole idea, of course, was science-fiction from any realistic language-planning perspective. The ironic thing is that now, only a half-decade later, China has replaced the US as S. Korea's biggest trading partner, and there is a growing trend of people choosing Chinese over English for foreign-language studies. The same thing happened in Japan a few years back, with some polls even suggesting more interest in studying Chinese than English. I do not believe that Chinese is under any position to replace English in any time for the foreseeable future, but I do think that English will find itself increasinly challenged by global multilingualism--in a shinking, multilingual world, it simply makes good business sense for countries to have their citizens able to speak a variety of foreign languages, rather than just having everybody learn the same language. Send two identical corporations to do business in Brazil, one with Portuguese-speaking employees, and the other with English-speaking employees, and see which one does better business. That's one reason why I think that English-Only avoids talking too much about English being an international language: doing so not only contradicts their ridiculous "English is endangered" arguments, it also would seemingly support certain kinds of bilingual education that support immigrant kids keeping their native languages--why spend a lot of effort trying to get English-speaking people to learn foreign languages and simultanously support policies that encourage immigrants speaking the same languages to forget those languages? It's just an enormous and silly waste of resources. I'd like to see the English-only movement discredited across the board, but obviously, the most crucial thing for now is to keep them from affecting efforts to preserve indigenous languages in any way. PS: Don, do feel free to re-post any of my posts anywhere you want. Donald Z. Osborn wrote: >This is a very interesting thread with some very important strands, if you will, >that it would help to sort out. Or at least I'm needing to do that and hope it >will be useful for me to share it. > >1. Bilingualism is good for you. I'd tend to agree with what Mia said on this, >without denying Susan's reference to failed efforts to focus on such a message. >It seems to be a much surer long-term foundation (or part of it) for arguing >for bilingual education than otherwise clever arguments such as what Matthew >suggested (e.g., that English-only laws make Navajo a foreign language). Such >reasoning risks dividing support for indigenous languages in education from >support for immigrant languages (an unintended message). The basic cause of >bilingual education probably needs to be broader to succeed. > >2. First-language education is a matter of quality education as well as a matter >of human (linguistic) rights. This would be the other part of the foundation >for the case for bilingual education. > >3. What is really being argued against can therefore be recast as "monolingual >non-first-language education," which in the US puts children of non-English >speaking households at a disadvantage (per #2) and removes a potential >advantage (per #1). This not an arguement against English, of course, but >English-only. > >4. Monolongual paradigm. One of the challenges of pursuing this line of >reasoning (nos. 1-3) is that it runs up against what I think of as a paradigm >that considers more than one language to be a disadvantage to individuals and >societies, and that having more than one language means learning one or >both/all less well. This is not just a US phenomenon, but held in some other >countries, even multilingual ones (the notion of a single language for >nation-building came from Europe, for instance). > >5. "English fever." Another seemingly distant but very real consideration is >that there seems to be an organic need in today's globalizing human society for >an international lingua franca. English for better or worse (let's not get into >that discussion now) is for the moment at least, spreading to fill that role. >It's easy for people looking at that to think that the best thing in the world >for their kids and the other kids in their society is to learn English really >well. This thought manifests itself in different forms as it passes through >geographic and political prisms (to stretch a metaphor), from "English only" in >some dominantly English first-language contries (notably the US), to parents in >countries where English is a language trying to speak English only and not >their first languages to their children in the hopes that that will benefit >them later on in life (some examples in urban Africa), to the increased >importance of teaching English to non-English speakers (examples worldwide, >including China, where there are a lot of English learning schools, programs, >etc.). > >6. Matthew's example of someone saying "We're not against preservation of Native >languages, but they have to be practical. They couldn't use them if they go to >Germany," is an example of nos. 4&5 above, and also probably an unstated >hierarchy of languages. The speaker would probably not say something similar to >Germans. this kind of thinking, which if you look at it is fundamentally a >monolingual paradigm. > >7. Language rights and bilingual education are international issues too, like >English fever. IOW, I'd agree with what Susan wrote about endangered languages >but take it a step further. It may be that proponents of indigenous and >endangered languages are more conscious of the international dimensions than >others focusing on bilingual education in particular countries. In any event, >more could be done. > >8. There is another hidden strand here and that is the less extreme position of >English-only (and similar propositions) that reduces first language (L1) >education to a stepping stone to fluency in a second/additional language (L2). >This of course is opposed to "additive bilingual" approaches that recognize the >intrinsic importance of L1. > >Don Osborn > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Sep 23 02:41:54 2004 From: sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (Susan Penfield) Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 19:41:54 -0700 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: Matthew, Thank you for your thoughts and insights...I'm in total agreement on all but one point. There are many people still telling me that 'more than one language is confusing for children' and often these are the tribal elders I work with. I am pretty sure these are attitudes forged from boarding school experiences but they continue to be reinforced through local language policy. Therefore, some of the people who are really in key positions to help with revitalization efforts are unsure and occasionally reluctant to get involved.( Certainly, this is not true of everyone and I'm not claiming to know all the dynamics at work here.) We (meaning the community members I work with who are most involved in language revitalization) are continually in a position of having to educate those in the local schools, in the migrant community and in the tribal community about the clear benefits of bi-or multi-lingualism. I think that most local folks, tribal members and others, argue for the value of language preservation from the position of wanting to document and, perhaps put to limited use, a cultural artifact. Very,very few ever argue that it will benefit the children's cognitive growth tremendously (as the research clearly shows). Changing attitudes is slow work but without it, native languages will continue to be viewed as 'artifacts'. After working for over thirty years in a rural Arizona community, I can reflect on the fact that we were able to make more headway for Native languages in the public schools then than we can now with Prop 203 in place. Today, there is a growing willingness to include 'culture' into the cirriculum, but to clearly exclude language. (This is true for both the migrant and tribal populations). In 1973, I directed a federally-funded program designed to teach native languages and cultures in the public schools --in any venue approved by the tribes. I can't imagine that kind of blanket acceptance in Arizona today. (Of course, public schools may not be the best place for native language instruction, but that is another discussion altogether). BTW, Mia's ideas about putting a more public face through the media about the cognitive benefits of bilingualism I fully support. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: Matthew Ward To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 3:35 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ Thanks for your thoughts, Don. On one issue that we are discussing--the idea that bilingualism or multilingulaism is good for an individual, I do think that serious progress has been in terms of public attitudes. It's very rare anymore for people to argue that it somehow confuses children or such. Even in the tiny rural corner of Washington State where I'm originally from, I've heard parents bragging about their (native English speaking) children's ability to speak Spanish, and they seem to recognize that earlier is better. As a person who speaks a few languages, I personally get ridiculous amounts of praise for doing something that comes naturally for many people in parts of the world like South Asia or Africa. It seems that, in concept, American society values being able to speak more than one language. I do hope that more and more of this research showing bi and multilinguals having cognitive benefits is publicized, but I think that a surprising number of people already understand this instinctively. Even the English-Only movement does not generally argue against bilingualism, it just insists that English is so important to immigrant children that they should be in an all-English environment as soon as possible--assuming, of course, that being in an all-English environment is the best way for them to learn. I won't even get into that particular debate right now. My concern is their obviously implied definition of English as the only American language, and then their writing laws that are so badly written and overreaching that they end up applying to indigenous languages, although the laws are claimed to be directed at immigrant children and languages. I could, perhaps, give them the benefit of the doubt when they say that they support efforts of Native Americans to preserve their own languages, but if their laws are in fact working against that end, then all the good intentions in the world mean nothing. What really offends me is the combination of the continual equation of English with American nationhood, as if no other language could possibility considered "American" (here, I'm using "American" in the sense of "United States," obviously) with laws that in fact harm non-English American languages. It's like a kinder, friendlier cultural genocide: you can re-write history so that English is our only legitimate language, and at the same time, you can help wipe out indigenous languages so that, in the end, you can say "Well, we don't HAVE any indigenous languages." Seems like the two goals work together very nicely, whether they are intended to or not. The end result seems to be wiping cultures and their languages (which, of course, contain much of any culture's content, in terms of songs, stories, proverbs, histories, poems, etc.) off the face of the earth and then rewriting history so that we don't even remember that those cultures existed--cultural genocide, done in a less violent, more "civilized" way. "English for the Children," doesn't that sound nice? I remember getting in a debate about this on the Internet a few years back, and one person's comment was "I never met an Indian who couldn't speak English." Well, obviously that person hadn't spent much time in the Southwest, but what really struck me was how much of a self-fulfilling prophecy his attitude amounted to: if all Native Americans can speak English (in itself, a positive enough goal) then there is no need to preserve their languages. One goal justifies the next goal. One thing you do hear from the English-Only people is things like "We're not against them teaching their own languages." Well, of course you're not. You can have a class teaching Hopi, just like you can have a class teaching German or Japanese. In recent history, people generally haven't argued with the idea of having a few hours a week to teach a "foreign" language. Acting like you're being tolerant for allowing people to do that is totally disingenous. It's a totally false argument. Sure, you allow them a few hours a week to teach their own languages. But, is that really going to preserve languages in the long term? Would Hawaiian even exist today if not for the language nests? It may well be that these people actually know very well what they are doing--they know that pretending to give people something by "allowing" them to have classes teaching Navajo (rather than classes that are conducted in the MEDIUM of Navajo) actually furthers their goals in the long run. Sure, having a class is far better than not teaching it at all, but if that's all you're allowed to do in public schools, then you are effectively dooming languages. On a hopeful note, I think that English-Only can be discredited and defeated, and that, next time Unz and his bullies try to pass a law, there should be ads on TV letting people know, in language that everyone can easily understand, what has happened in Arizona. "We aren't against preserving Indian languages." "Well, actually, you've already passed a law that, in the name of helping immigrant kids learn English, is actually working against an indigenous American language that helped win WWII. You are demoting American languages to the status of foreign languages like French, and how can we trust your next law to not do the same?" That's a crude, nationalistic way of putting it, but it's also based on fact. The English-Only people will use far cruder nationalism and back it up with baldfaced lies. I've tried these arguments out on a wide variety of individuals in my daily life, and when you put it in those terms, people look at the whole issue in a very different way "Oh no, those laws shouldn't apply to Indian languages!" It simply never occurs to most people that those laws might end up applying to indigenous languages that pre-date English. As for "English Fever," it is indeed very real, but it mostly affects people in countries where English is an official second language--that's why it affect some urban Africans. Of course, it affects people where English is a foreign language, but it mostly involves things like having their kids start learning English in elementary school instead of high-schools, and few would argue with the wisdom of that. For linguistic minorities in countries where English is the dominant native language, it's more of a question of survival rather than dealing with internationalism; obviously, if it's a country speaking another dominant national language, then the choice they are facing involves the indigenous languages vs. the dominant national language, rather than vs. English. For the English-only people, the argument usually focuses on the status of English as the de-facto national language of the US. I have sometimes heard them use the "English is an international language argument," but I think that they are aware that this argument is a double-edged sword: you could very well argue "Spanish is an international language, so we should encourage our Spanish-speaking immigrants to keep their language while learning English." On a side note, several years ago, "English Fever" reached a point in S. Korea where a few wingnuts actually proposed making it an "official second language," something which, understandably, made a lot of Koreans very upset (very proud people who know what it's like to have a language imposed on them--given another 50 years of Japanese occupation, and Korean could well have been endangered!). The whole idea, of course, was science-fiction from any realistic language-planning perspective. The ironic thing is that now, only a half-decade later, China has replaced the US as S. Korea's biggest trading partner, and there is a growing trend of people choosing Chinese over English for foreign-language studies. The same thing happened in Japan a few years back, with some polls even suggesting more interest in studying Chinese than English. I do not believe that Chinese is under any position to replace English in any time for the foreseeable future, but I do think that English will find itself increasinly challenged by global multilingualism--in a shinking, multilingual world, it simply makes good business sense for countries to have their citizens able to speak a variety of foreign languages, rather than just having everybody learn the same language. Send two identical corporations to do business in Brazil, one with Portuguese-speaking employees, and the other with English-speaking employees, and see which one does better business. That's one reason why I think that English-Only avoids talking too much about English being an international language: doing so not only contradicts their ridiculous "English is endangered" arguments, it also would seemingly support certain kinds of bilingual education that support immigrant kids keeping their native languages--why spend a lot of effort trying to get English-speaking people to learn foreign languages and simultanously support policies that encourage immigrants speaking the same languages to forget those languages? It's just an enormous and silly waste of resources. I'd like to see the English-only movement discredited across the board, but obviously, the most crucial thing for now is to keep them from affecting efforts to preserve indigenous languages in any way. PS: Don, do feel free to re-post any of my posts anywhere you want. Donald Z. Osborn wrote: This is a very interesting thread with some very important strands, if you will, that it would help to sort out. Or at least I'm needing to do that and hope it will be useful for me to share it. 1. Bilingualism is good for you. I'd tend to agree with what Mia said on this, without denying Susan's reference to failed efforts to focus on such a message. It seems to be a much surer long-term foundation (or part of it) for arguing for bilingual education than otherwise clever arguments such as what Matthew suggested (e.g., that English-only laws make Navajo a foreign language). Such reasoning risks dividing support for indigenous languages in education from support for immigrant languages (an unintended message). The basic cause of bilingual education probably needs to be broader to succeed. 2. First-language education is a matter of quality education as well as a matter of human (linguistic) rights. This would be the other part of the foundation for the case for bilingual education. 3. What is really being argued against can therefore be recast as "monolingual non-first-language education," which in the US puts children of non-English speaking households at a disadvantage (per #2) and removes a potential advantage (per #1). This not an arguement against English, of course, but English-only. 4. Monolongual paradigm. One of the challenges of pursuing this line of reasoning (nos. 1-3) is that it runs up against what I think of as a paradigm that considers more than one language to be a disadvantage to individuals and societies, and that having more than one language means learning one or both/all less well. This is not just a US phenomenon, but held in some other countries, even multilingual ones (the notion of a single language for nation-building came from Europe, for instance). 5. "English fever." Another seemingly distant but very real consideration is that there seems to be an organic need in today's globalizing human society for an international lingua franca. English for better or worse (let's not get into that discussion now) is for the moment at least, spreading to fill that role. It's easy for people looking at that to think that the best thing in the world for their kids and the other kids in their society is to learn English really well. This thought manifests itself in different forms as it passes through geographic and political prisms (to stretch a metaphor), from "English only" in some dominantly English first-language contries (notably the US), to parents in countries where English is a language trying to speak English only and not their first languages to their children in the hopes that that will benefit them later on in life (some examples in urban Africa), to the increased importance of teaching English to non-English speakers (examples worldwide, including China, where there are a lot of English learning schools, programs, etc.). 6. Matthew's example of someone saying "We're not against preservation of Native languages, but they have to be practical. They couldn't use them if they go to Germany," is an example of nos. 4&5 above, and also probably an unstated hierarchy of languages. The speaker would probably not say something similar to Germans. this kind of thinking, which if you look at it is fundamentally a monolingual paradigm. 7. Language rights and bilingual education are international issues too, like English fever. IOW, I'd agree with what Susan wrote about endangered languages but take it a step further. It may be that proponents of indigenous and endangered languages are more conscious of the international dimensions than others focusing on bilingual education in particular countries. In any event, more could be done. 8. There is another hidden strand here and that is the less extreme position of English-only (and similar propositions) that reduces first language (L1) education to a stepping stone to fluency in a second/additional language (L2). This of course is opposed to "additive bilingual" approaches that recognize the intrinsic importance of L1. Don Osborn -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dzo at BISHARAT.NET Thu Sep 23 03:26:31 2004 From: dzo at BISHARAT.NET (Donald Z. Osborn) Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 22:26:31 -0500 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ In-Reply-To: <004701c4a116$e39064e0$e6b38945@CRIT01> Message-ID: Susan describes attitudes about monolingual vs. bilingual education that from my impression (as a foreigner who has worked in West Africa for 11 years, though not specifically on formal education) are also at play in much of Africa. Indeed the example I cited earlier of parents trying to raise their children in English only (there are also examples where it is French) to the exclusion of their maternal languages has been mentioned by others, e.g. in South Africa (for French it is pretty well known for southern Cote d'Ivoire). The African context is different, however, in that people are generally multi/bilingual even when they think or plan in terms of monolingual formal education. From observation and discussions with people in the region it seems that African languages are discounted to one degree or another even by many (but definitely not all) native speakers. Senegalese Pres. Wade recently made an extraordinary statement in a visit to Nigeria that it's a pity that Africans are not bilingual - what he meant of course was that they did not speak both English and French, but the underlying assumption seems to be that that's all that really counts linguistically (even though in fact a large majority don't really speak either English or French well, from what I've seen and read). Ultimately it's the speakers' decisions what to do with their maternal languages, though there as in the US people with more influence who think one way can make hard-to-reverse decisions that limit the possibilities of those who think another way. Part of why I have focused on multilingual ICT, aside from its potential for development communication, is that it's a way to open up possibilities for use of Africa's indigenous languages in various new ways. The issue comes full circle to education (and the attitudes and policies shaping its approach), however, in that for instance you hear educated people say they never learned to read their first language. Don Osborn Bisharat.net Quoting Susan Penfield : > Matthew, > Thank you for your thoughts and insights...I'm in total agreement on all but > one point. There are many people still telling me that 'more than one > language is confusing for children' and often these are the tribal elders I > work with. I am pretty sure these are attitudes forged from boarding school > experiences but they continue to be reinforced through local language policy. [ . . . ] From dzo at BISHARAT.NET Thu Sep 23 06:47:30 2004 From: dzo at BISHARAT.NET (Donald Z. Osborn) Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 01:47:30 -0500 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: Thanks, Matthew, for the info and insights. In retrospect I probably stretched the English fever analogy too far. Responses to a couple of your comments below. Don Osborn Bisharat.net Quoting Matthew Ward : ... > On one issue that we are discussing--the idea that bilingualism or > multilingulaism is good for an individual, I do think that serious > progress has been in terms of public attitudes. It's very rare anymore > for people to argue that it somehow confuses children or such. Even in > the tiny rural corner of Washington State where I'm originally from, > I've heard parents bragging about their (native English speaking) > children's ability to speak Spanish, and they seem to recognize that > earlier is better. ... Susan already replied to this. All I would add is a question as to whether anyone has surveyed such attitudes and levels of understanding and whether there are demographic patterns. IOW, you and Susan are probably both right, but in different contexts, and it would be helpful to understand those better. > ... I remember > getting in a debate about this on the Internet a few years back, and one > person's comment was "I never met an Indian who couldn't speak English." > Well, obviously that person hadn't spent much time in the Southwest, > but what really struck me was how much of a self-fulfilling prophecy his > attitude amounted to: if all Native Americans can speak English (in > itself, a positive enough goal) then there is no need to preserve their > languages. One goal justifies the next goal. Again this echoes of situations in Africa. I have frequently encountered analagous arguments among foreigners working in African development on the topic of ICT: Why would you need to have content/software in x language if most of its speakers who can access computers/internet have some ability in English or French (or if not can have someone translate verbally for them)? It is interesting that there are now more OSS and MS softwares being developed for African languages (most recently a Mozilla browser for Luganda, the press release/announcement for which made the point that some of us have been talking about for a while, that it makes access easier and more friendly for a great many people - in this case in Uganda who are not that comfortable with English). In addition to self-fulfilling prophecies, as you put it, there are also vicious circle arguments. One of my favorite examples is hearing from some colleagues over a short span of weeks 1) that it didn't make sense to translate & print something in the two main languages of the country we worked in (Hausa & Zarma) because "no one can read it" and most people who could read could read French anyway, and 2) that it didn't make sense to do literacy in either Hausa or Zarma because there was so little printed in either.* Of course both arguments have huge holes in them, but the effect of such reasoning and self fulfilling prophecies is to deaden potential for development, education, cultural expression, etc. even in languages that are not in immediate danger of extinction - all the more so for languages that have few speakers. > ... > PS: Don, do feel free to re-post any of my posts anywhere you want. Thanks. I intended simply to repost your first message to MultiEd-L, but the thread has covered so much ground that I will also reference the subject and give a pointer to the ILAT archives. All the best. Don Osborn Bisharat.net * Happily I was able to prevail in both cases, in part for having pointed out the vicious circle. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Sep 23 17:12:06 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 10:12:06 -0700 Subject: Plains aborigines propose Cabinet-level recognition (fwd) Message-ID: Published on TaipeiTimes http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2004/09/23/2003203987 Plains aborigines propose Cabinet-level recognition PETITION: Members of the 10 `pingpu' tribes yesterday called for formation of a committee under the Cabinet to help preserve their heritage By Ko Shu-ling STAFF REPORTER Thursday, Sep 23, 2004,Page 4 The 10 pingpu (??) Aboriginal tribes yesterday launched a signature drive to petition for the establishment of a pingpu Aboriginal tribe committee under the Executive Yuan to preserve their languages and heritage. "Our ancestors came to this island about 4,000 years ago, about 3,600 to 3,800 years earlier than the Han and Hakka people," said Stephen Pan (???) of the Babuza tribe from Miaoli County. "Although we're a minority group, it's unfair that the government totally ignores our existence." Restructuring Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Tsai Huang-liang (???) said he supported the tribes' cause and would help push for the passage of the law to establish the committee in the legislature. "While the Executive Yuan is trying to streamline itself from the current 36 entities down to 22, I thought it'd be a better idea to establish the committee under the proposed culture and sports ministry instead of as a new commission," he told the Taipei Times. Chanting "pingpu people are the mother of Taiwanese people" and "we want to live here forever," about 20 pingpu Aborigines gathered in downtown Taipei yesterday afternoon to call on the Executive Yuan and Legislative Yuan to support their cause. The Chinese immigrants used the terms pingpu fan (???), or "savages on the plain," to describe the lowland Aborigines and kaoshan fan (???) to describe the indigenous people living in mountain areas. Unlike the kaoshan Aborigines, whose livelihood depended on hunting, the pingpu Aborigines are described in historical documents as fishermen, with few agricultural skills. Over the centuries, the pingpu interbred with Han Chinese and most of their language and customs have been lost. Like the kaoshan Aborigines' 10 sub-tribes -- all of which have already been recognized as official tribes -- the pingpu people also consist of 10 sub-tribes. The 10 recognized kaoshan Aboriginal tribes are the Atayal, Saisiyat, Bunun, Tsou, Paiwan, Rukai, Puyuma, Amis, Tao and Thao. The 10 pingpu tribes are the Kavalan, Siraya, Makatao, Hoanya, Babuza, Kakabu, Pazeh, Papora, Ketagalan and Taokas. Recognition In 2001, the DPP-led government recognized the Thao (?) of Sun Moon Lake in Nantou County as the nation's 10th official tribe, and in 2002 it recognized the Kavalan (???), an assimilated plains tribe, as the 11th. The Truku (???) people of Hualien County were recognized as the nation's 12th indigenous tribe in January this year following a controversial, decade-long effort by activist Pan Wen-kuei (???) of the Makatao tribe from Pingtung County. Pan said that if the DPP government really means what it says about "localization," it should make efforts to establish the pingpu Aboriginal tribe committee. "The government should face the issue fair and square," he said. "I'm afraid if we don't do it now, it'll be too late." Copyright © 1999-2004 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Sep 23 17:18:09 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 10:18:09 -0700 Subject: Chief Seeks Code Talker Recognition (fwd) Message-ID: Chief Seeks Code Talker Recognition By Alison Vekshin Stephens Washington Bureau avekshin at stephensmedia.com http://www.swtimes.com/archive/2004/September/23/news/chief.html WASHINGTON — During World War I, 18 soldiers from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma stumped the Germans by using their native language as a code for relaying U.S. combat information. The Choctaws made history by being the first American Indian “code talkers,” a group later expanded to include members of about 20 tribes who served in World War I and World War II. But because their work was an official military secret, the now-deceased Choctaw code talkers were never properly recognized for their efforts, an oversight that Indian leaders are looking to correct. Choctaw Chief Gregory Pyle and representatives of other tribes sought federal recognition for the code talkers at a hearing Wednesday before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. “During the darkest hours of our nation’s history, they had tricked the country’s enemies through the use of their most basic tool, the language of their forefathers,” Pyle said. “Their actions were an official military secret, and their service went unacknowledged,” Pyle told the panel. The 18 Choctaw men volunteered for the U.S. Army years before American Indians were recognized as U.S. citizens in 1924. They belonged to 36th Division and served in France. When one of their officers overheard them speaking in their native language, he got the idea to set them up as a separate unit in the front lines to convey messages over telephone lines in Choctaw. The Germans, who often tapped the phone lines, had cracked all the codes used by the Allied forces. But the Choctaw language confounded the Germans, who failed to recognize and translate it. “The experiment worked so well that a regimental commander attributed the success of a delicate, nighttime tactical withdrawal — and again a major assault on the following day — to the complete surprise achieved by using the Choctaw language to coordinate operations,” said retired Brig. Gen. John Brown, U.S. Army chief of military history. “The idea caught on,” Brown said. “By the end of World War I, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Comanche, Osage and Yankton soldiers were also serving as code talkers.” After the war ended, the U.S. military asked the code talkers to keep their work a secret so the technique could be used in future military operations. The Defense Department declassified the use of American Indian code talkers in 1968. Congressional medals have been awarded to the Navajo code talkers and their families, Pyle said. Hundreds of Navajos serving in the Marine Corps worked as code talkers in World War II and were spotlighted in the movie, “Windtalkers.” Pyle said he would like to see the Choctaw recognition come in the form of a medal to the code talkers’ descendants and a permanent plaque in a prominent location in Washington. “We’re going to proceed on all fronts,” said Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., the committee’s chairman. He said the panel would work to gain approval for plaques and medals before Congress adjourns in a couple of weeks. “We’ve been concerned about this for a long time,” said Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla. “This gathering is long overdue.” Inhofe has introduced a bill that authorizes the presentation of a congressional gold medal to code talkers from the Choctaw, Comanche, Sioux and other tribes. The bill has 24 co-sponsors but needs 67 to be considered by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. The Rev. Bertram Bobb of the Christian Indian Ministries in Antlers, Okla., a relative of three Choctaw code talkers, also attended the hearing. “They were there and did their service and came back and never advertised (their work),” Bobb said. “A lot of people don’t know they had a great part in World War I.” While some family members knew, Bobb said he was never told directly about his family’s contribution to World War I. The French government recognized the Choctaw code talkers in 1989 with the Knight of the National Order of Merit, the country’s second-highest honor. The Choctaw Nation has placed a memorial bearing the code talkers’ names at the entrance to its tribal complex in Durant, Okla. From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Fri Sep 24 13:22:52 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 07:22:52 -0600 Subject: Dual Language Instruction: A Handbook for Enriched Education Message-ID: Hello, ILAT List members, I looked up the book Rosalyn suggested and it got me to thinking: Since language is dynamic and visual and sound-based, why, why, why are all the "how-to" books based on text in this time of rich technology? Amazon didn't have the book in the "examine" format, but I looked at the index, and there is not one single thing about multi-media for sounds and lexical development, there is no mention, at least in a heading, about using the computer for sound repetition and learning, nor did there seem to be an idea about self-directed learning. It seems to be that bi/multi lingual learning always, always, always requires a teacher. This seems to be a constraint rather than a benefit. Is there some kind of bias out there that says since text is an elite representational system, language learning can only occur in this difficult context? Even the stuff I have seen on the web is convoluted and often difficult and slow, bogged down by the technology. . . rather than a beautiful artistic construction of the technologies that facilitates rather than impedes apprehension of the languages. Sigh. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Rrlapier at AOL.COM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 9:28 AM Subject: (no subject) Below is a good basic book for the non-academic (with plenty of studies cited) on the educational/cognitive benefits of teaching in two languages. Dual Language Instruction: A Handbook for Enriched Education by Nancy Cloud, Fred Genesee & Else Hamayan Rosalyn LaPier Piegan Institute www.pieganinstitute.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Fri Sep 24 13:53:03 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 07:53:03 -0600 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: Hi, Susan, I checked on these two people, and we have 5 books by James Crawford, but none by Richard Ruiz. A Google search showed him up as a professor in the LRC with lots of awards. I also found an article he wrote for the Arizona Star. In it was this very remarkable paragraph, remarkable in the sense that like Vygotsky's knowledge that text was a second order process 100 years ago, people knew 30 years ago that if you don't understand the vehicle language, you can't apprehend what it is transporting: "Lau v. Nichols was decided by the Supreme Court 30 years ago in 1974. It relied on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (yet another anniversary) to reverse a practice by San Francisco schools that provided no educational services to Chinese children that would allow them to understand the language of instruction. While Lau is often seen as mandating bilingual education, it did not; it did, however, say this: "There is no equality of treatment merely by providing the students with the same facilities, textbooks, teachers and curriculum; for students who do not understand English are effectively foreclosed from any meaningful education." " I didn't know this was a law. I don't know why we are still battling the issue if there was a Supreme Court decision 30 years ago. Even though we have technology, and even though we have native speakers of multiple languages in the academy, and even though there is much research that shows that the transport language is irrelevant in learning mathematics and the sciences, we still try to cope with the masked bigotry and discrimination of English-only materials. I think people need to re-think the paradigms of learning. Today, for the first time ever in history, younger people know more are many things than younger people. This is especially true in technology. If we are going to save the languages and the cultures, I think we need to find ways to incorporate the skills of the younger people, those "kids" who don't want to learn their native language and culture because it doesn't seem to fit with what is current, into developing vibrant, meaningful, useful content. This includes repetition and recursion from computer science, osmosis and diffusion from biology, epidemiology, diabetes and multiple sclerosis from medicine. Alzheimers, and on a fun day, making traditional foods. Here, believe it or not, "traditional food" has come to mean "fry bread"! Just my thoughts from the isolated, lonely room of Technology for Meaningful Learning. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Susan Penfield To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 8:24 AM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ Mia, You are right. However, many people (like James Crawford, Richard Ruiz, and others) have tried to do this. The problem seems to be the matter of getting it out to the general public even though numerous articles,, citing the cognitive value of being multilingual, have been published in newspapers/magazines aimed at non-academic audiences. Still, somehow it never gets for-fronted when politics becomes involved. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: MiaKalish - LFP To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 7:12 AM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ There is a lot of Psychology research that shows that people who master more than one language are much "smarter", to use a short-cut, than monolingual people. This research would make a stunning case if people assembled it, and I think would be much more effective than the ideological arguments people use in this type of discussion. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Matthew Ward To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 5:06 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ One of the depressing things about the AZ situation, for me, is that while there are still many countries with repressive laws that affect minority languages, most countries appear to be moving in a direction of more and more tolerance. It really is against a worldwide trend. Even CHINA is liberalizing its language policies to some extent--why are we falling for this stupidity, when time is so very short? It also really makes me very angry that that English-Only movement has used all of this rhetoric about helping immigrant kids learn English and used it against indigenous American languages. It's not that I support English-Only in ANY form, but I do feel quite certain that when most Americans vote for these laws, they don't intend to vote against Native American languages. It's very, very devious and evil. If I understand Prop. 203 properly, I think that it needs a 75% vote to significantly alter it. The only real hope is that lawsuits and the courts will block it. I believe that's what happened in Alaska: Native groups challenged the English-only law (another one of those laws by Unz and his gang of bullies) and it's stuck in court as a result. I remember reading an article in which some idiot representative of the English-only movement in Alaska said something like "We're not against preservation of Native languages, but they have to be practical. They couldn't use them if they go to Germany." Well, hell! You could condemn some of the largest languages on earth on that particular grounds. We all need to get a lot more politically savvy. I've found that people really respond to certain kinds of rhetoric--you can say things like "Prop. 203 reduces Navajo, an American language that helped win WWII, to the status of a foreign language." People really turn their heads when they hear statements like that. Most Americans instinctively recognize the rightness of preserving indigenous languages, but when they think that they are voting for "English for the children," then most never even think about indigenous languages. I'm not a nationalist, but we do need to point out strongly that were are preserving our own American culture here. The other side is brilliant at appealing to people's emotions--we need to do the same thing. We are, after all, on the right side of this issue. Susan Penfield wrote: All, I'm sure this is a pattern affecting endangered languages in many corners of the world. Thanks for this perspective on the Tucson and Canadian situations. For an indepth discussion of Prop. 203 in Arizona, see this page on James Crawford's Language Policy website: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/az-unz.htm It contains a complete explanation of the origin of Prop.203 (spinning out of California...) and the current status of this legislation. The tenor of 'English-only' arguments, although aimed at the Mexican-American population, is clearly a threat to anyone working on indigenous language revitalization and we should all be aware of the hidden agendas in this type of language policy. Best, Susan Quoting Rolland Nadjiwon : Interesting Anecdote: Proposition 203, English only, is not a recent proposition. My wife and I and our children were living in Tucson at the time it more of an issue. There was a major opposition to it by the Mexican Americans. One of the outspoken families was the Rhonstadt family, an old family with signatures on Spanish/ American documentation predating Texas/New Mexico/Arizona/California statehood. The protests resulted in a response of the nature that the proposition would not be rescinded but it would not be enforced. It appeared, at the time, many people did not realize the extent of the Mexican American remaining in the southwest even to this day and had intended the legislation to be used against the Dene and other native Tribes in Arizona. The Mexican American response seemed to be a total surprise to White rural populations who strongly supported it. Perhaps that is part of the reason why you find 203 is "poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented...." The only reason I am aware of this legislation, is because of the two official language legislation in Canada for French and English. That Canadian decision around the same time as Prop 203 was 'very' controversial in Canada. Here in the city where we live, we had moved to Tucson for my wife to do her Grad work at UofA, the mayor, a somewhat colourful/notorious personality, rescinded the legislation and declared Sault Ste. Marie, ON. as an English only city. Both my wife and I were unaware of the Mayor's actions. However, people who knew where relocated from were saying, "Hey, you come from that English only city up in Canada." "No. Canada has two official languages by Federal Legislation: English and French." "Oh no. Your mayor just declared your city an English only city." Of course it didn't work. I could never figure why he did that considering he is Italian and, probably, the largest language group in Sault Ste. Marie outside of English, as Hispanic is in Arizona. However, our Native Language programs are taking a beating here in Canada also because of official language legislation where we are neither included or excluded. ------- wahjeh rolland nadjiwon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Susan Penfield" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 9:16 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ Matthew, Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention. It is particularly troubling since, in the beginning of the process, Native people were assured, repeatedly, that they would not be included in the application of this poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented (my opinion, put mildly) proposition. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Matthew Ward" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 3:55 PM Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Just wanted to mention that I've been in touch with ACLU Arizona about the issue of Prop. 203, the English-only law, affecting Native immersion programs. It does indeed seem that Window Rock Public Schools may risk losing funding by continuing their immersion programs, and the issue may have to go to court. We all need to be vigilant in letting people know that these English-only laws do not just apply to immigrants--they also endanger efforts to preserve Native American languages as well. I suspect that if Azizona voters had understood the effect of this law, they wouldn't have voted for it in the first place. Matthew Ward Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D. Department of English The Writing Program Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Ph.D. Program (affiliate faculty) Indigenous Languages and Technology Southwest Center, Research Associate in Anthropology University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mikinakn at SHAW.CA Fri Sep 24 14:13:43 2004 From: mikinakn at SHAW.CA (Rolland Nadjiwon) Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 10:13:43 -0400 Subject: Dual Language Instruction: A Handbook for Enriched Education Message-ID: In my opinion, you are correct. Text centered thinking, in the literate world, has replaced orality, but, with the erroneous assumption, insidiously imbedded in praxis, that the text superseded orality, and, that the text is superior to orality. An anthropologist friend of mine often suggested the problem of the modern world, in addition to being in a spiritual crisis, is in a technological crisis in that our primitive(preliterate) mentality has not kept pace with our modern technology. In his book, Ong, Walter J. Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word. New York: Methune & Co. Ltd. 1982 addresses much of this thinking. Some very interesting posts...thank you all for your thoughts. ------- wahjeh rolland nadjiwon ----- Original Message ----- From: MiaKalish - LFP To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Friday, September 24, 2004 9:22 AM Subject: Dual Language Instruction: A Handbook for Enriched Education Hello, ILAT List members, I looked up the book Rosalyn suggested and it got me to thinking: Since language is dynamic and visual and sound-based, why, why, why are all the "how-to" books based on text in this time of rich technology? Amazon didn't have the book in the "examine" format, but I looked at the index, and there is not one single thing about multi-media for sounds and lexical development, there is no mention, at least in a heading, about using the computer for sound repetition and learning, nor did there seem to be an idea about self-directed learning. It seems to be that bi/multi lingual learning always, always, always requires a teacher. This seems to be a constraint rather than a benefit. Is there some kind of bias out there that says since text is an elite representational system, language learning can only occur in this difficult context? Even the stuff I have seen on the web is convoluted and often difficult and slow, bogged down by the technology. . . rather than a beautiful artistic construction of the technologies that facilitates rather than impedes apprehension of the languages. Sigh. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Rrlapier at AOL.COM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 9:28 AM Subject: (no subject) Below is a good basic book for the non-academic (with plenty of studies cited) on the educational/cognitive benefits of teaching in two languages. Dual Language Instruction: A Handbook for Enriched Education by Nancy Cloud, Fred Genesee & Else Hamayan Rosalyn LaPier Piegan Institute www.pieganinstitute.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From HeitshuS at U.LIBRARY.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Sep 24 16:01:17 2004 From: HeitshuS at U.LIBRARY.ARIZONA.EDU (Heitshu, Sara) Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 09:01:17 -0700 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: Richard Ruiz has published several very important journal articles. Use the data base LLBA here at the University of Arizona Library to identify and find these. Search his name, Ruiz, Richard, as AUTHOR. Sara Sara C. Heitshu Librarian, Social Science Team American Indian Studies, Linguistics, Anthropology heitshus at u.library.arizona.edu 520-621-2297 fax 520-621-9733 University of Arizona Main Library PO Box 210055 Tucson, AZ 85721-0055 -----Original Message----- From: MiaKalish - LFP [mailto:MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US] Sent: Friday, September 24, 2004 6:53 AM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ Hi, Susan, I checked on these two people, and we have 5 books by James Crawford, but none by Richard Ruiz. A Google search showed him up as a professor in the LRC with lots of awards. I also found an article he wrote for the Arizona Star. In it was this very remarkable paragraph, remarkable in the sense that like Vygotsky's knowledge that text was a second order process 100 years ago, people knew 30 years ago that if you don't understand the vehicle language, you can't apprehend what it is transporting: "Lau v. Nichols was decided by the Supreme Court 30 years ago in 1974. It relied on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (yet another anniversary) to reverse a practice by San Francisco schools that provided no educational services to Chinese children that would allow them to understand the language of instruction. While Lau is often seen as mandating bilingual education, it did not; it did, however, say this: "There is no equality of treatment merely by providing the students with the same facilities, textbooks, teachers and curriculum; for students who do not understand English are effectively foreclosed from any meaningful education." " I didn't know this was a law. I don't know why we are still battling the issue if there was a Supreme Court decision 30 years ago. Even though we have technology, and even though we have native speakers of multiple languages in the academy, and even though there is much research that shows that the transport language is irrelevant in learning mathematics and the sciences, we still try to cope with the masked bigotry and discrimination of English-only materials. I think people need to re-think the paradigms of learning. Today, for the first time ever in history, younger people know more are many things than younger people. This is especially true in technology. If we are going to save the languages and the cultures, I think we need to find ways to incorporate the skills of the younger people, those "kids" who don't want to learn their native language and culture because it doesn't seem to fit with what is current, into developing vibrant, meaningful, useful content. This includes repetition and recursion from computer science, osmosis and diffusion from biology, epidemiology, diabetes and multiple sclerosis from medicine. Alzheimers, and on a fun day, making traditional foods. Here, believe it or not, "traditional food" has come to mean "fry bread"! Just my thoughts from the isolated, lonely room of Technology for Meaningful Learning. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Susan Penfield To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 8:24 AM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ Mia, You are right. However, many people (like James Crawford, Richard Ruiz, and others) have tried to do this. The problem seems to be the matter of getting it out to the general public even though numerous articles,, citing the cognitive value of being multilingual, have been published in newspapers/magazines aimed at non-academic audiences. Still, somehow it never gets for-fronted when politics becomes involved. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: MiaKalish - LFP To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 7:12 AM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ There is a lot of Psychology research that shows that people who master more than one language are much "smarter", to use a short-cut, than monolingual people. This research would make a stunning case if people assembled it, and I think would be much more effective than the ideological arguments people use in this type of discussion. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Matthew Ward To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 5:06 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ One of the depressing things about the AZ situation, for me, is that while there are still many countries with repressive laws that affect minority languages, most countries appear to be moving in a direction of more and more tolerance. It really is against a worldwide trend. Even CHINA is liberalizing its language policies to some extent--why are we falling for this stupidity, when time is so very short? It also really makes me very angry that that English-Only movement has used all of this rhetoric about helping immigrant kids learn English and used it against indigenous American languages. It's not that I support English-Only in ANY form, but I do feel quite certain that when most Americans vote for these laws, they don't intend to vote against Native American languages. It's very, very devious and evil. If I understand Prop. 203 properly, I think that it needs a 75% vote to significantly alter it. The only real hope is that lawsuits and the courts will block it. I believe that's what happened in Alaska: Native groups challenged the English-only law (another one of those laws by Unz and his gang of bullies) and it's stuck in court as a result. I remember reading an article in which some idiot representative of the English-only movement in Alaska said something like "We're not against preservation of Native languages, but they have to be practical. They couldn't use them if they go to Germany." Well, hell! You could condemn some of the largest languages on earth on that particular grounds. We all need to get a lot more politically savvy. I've found that people really respond to certain kinds of rhetoric--you can say things like "Prop. 203 reduces Navajo, an American language that helped win WWII, to the status of a foreign language." People really turn their heads when they hear statements like that. Most Americans instinctively recognize the rightness of preserving indigenous languages, but when they think that they are voting for "English for the children," then most never even think about indigenous languages. I'm not a nationalist, but we do need to point out strongly that were are preserving our own American culture here. The other side is brilliant at appealing to people's emotions--we need to do the same thing. We are, after all, on the right side of this issue. Susan Penfield wrote: All, I'm sure this is a pattern affecting endangered languages in many corners of the world. Thanks for this perspective on the Tucson and Canadian situations. For an indepth discussion of Prop. 203 in Arizona, see this page on James Crawford's Language Policy website: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/az-unz.htm It contains a complete explanation of the origin of Prop.203 (spinning out of California...) and the current status of this legislation. The tenor of 'English-only' arguments, although aimed at the Mexican-American population, is clearly a threat to anyone working on indigenous language revitalization and we should all be aware of the hidden agendas in this type of language policy. Best, Susan Quoting Rolland Nadjiwon : Interesting Anecdote: Proposition 203, English only, is not a recent proposition. My wife and I and our children were living in Tucson at the time it more of an issue. There was a major opposition to it by the Mexican Americans. One of the outspoken families was the Rhonstadt family, an old family with signatures on Spanish/ American documentation predating Texas/New Mexico/Arizona/California statehood. The protests resulted in a response of the nature that the proposition would not be rescinded but it would not be enforced. It appeared, at the time, many people did not realize the extent of the Mexican American remaining in the southwest even to this day and had intended the legislation to be used against the Dene and other native Tribes in Arizona. The Mexican American response seemed to be a total surprise to White rural populations who strongly supported it. Perhaps that is part of the reason why you find 203 is "poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented...." The only reason I am aware of this legislation, is because of the two official language legislation in Canada for French and English. That Canadian decision around the same time as Prop 203 was 'very' controversial in Canada. Here in the city where we live, we had moved to Tucson for my wife to do her Grad work at UofA, the mayor, a somewhat colourful/notorious personality, rescinded the legislation and declared Sault Ste. Marie, ON. as an English only city. Both my wife and I were unaware of the Mayor's actions. However, people who knew where relocated from were saying, "Hey, you come from that English only city up in Canada." "No. Canada has two official languages by Federal Legislation: English and French." "Oh no. Your mayor just declared your city an English only city." Of course it didn't work. I could never figure why he did that considering he is Italian and, probably, the largest language group in Sault Ste. Marie outside of English, as Hispanic is in Arizona. However, our Native Language programs are taking a beating here in Canada also because of official language legislation where we are neither included or excluded. ------- wahjeh rolland nadjiwon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Susan Penfield" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 9:16 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ Matthew, Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention. It is particularly troubling since, in the beginning of the process, Native people were assured, repeatedly, that they would not be included in the application of this poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented (my opinion, put mildly) proposition. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Matthew Ward" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 3:55 PM Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Just wanted to mention that I've been in touch with ACLU Arizona about the issue of Prop. 203, the English-only law, affecting Native immersion programs. It does indeed seem that Window Rock Public Schools may risk losing funding by continuing their immersion programs, and the issue may have to go to court. We all need to be vigilant in letting people know that these English-only laws do not just apply to immigrants--they also endanger efforts to preserve Native American languages as well. I suspect that if Azizona voters had understood the effect of this law, they wouldn't have voted for it in the first place. Matthew Ward Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D. Department of English The Writing Program Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Ph.D. Program (affiliate faculty) Indigenous Languages and Technology Southwest Center, Research Associate in Anthropology University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Sat Sep 25 12:49:08 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 06:49:08 -0600 Subject: John Bransford? Message-ID: One more question: Does anyone know the work of John Bransford? I just noticed that he has quite a collection of books on computer supported learning, the psychology of learning, etc, and I wondered if people have combined any of this with L&C Revitalization, or multi-lingual educational materials. Maybe just one more question: Does anyone out there work on multi-lingual educational materials? Computer-based? Jon: Thanks for the note. I will read the items you suggested. I am currently moving from Tularosa to San Miguel, over 100 miles away, and writing my Dissertation proposal AND a foundation fellowship application all at the same time. I keep my sanity in a small jar so won't lose it. :-) Thanks again, Mia "Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them. Alfred North Whitehead Mia Kalish, M.A. PhD Student, C&J Tularosa, New Mexico USA 88352 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Ivy.gif Type: image/gif Size: 5665 bytes Desc: not available URL: From sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sat Sep 25 13:57:46 2004 From: sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (Susan Penfield) Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 06:57:46 -0700 Subject: Prop 203 in Arizona Message-ID: Here is some more info. for those of you who want to know more about Arizona's prop 203: ... the best source of information is the AZBLE listserve (Arizona Bilingual Education listserve) which is run out of ASU. It's got some extraneous stuff from time to time, but most of the postings have to do specifically with 203. For instance, there's something going on right now with ADE and the SEI endorsement. Tim Hogan (Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest) has just been granted a pre-trial hearing in Tucson, which is required before he formally sues the State. Anyway, there's been lots of traffic on the listserve about this. The best way to join is to contact Jeff Macswan. He's the manager, and can be reached macswan at asu.edu. Susan Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D. Department of English Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Indigenous Languages and Technology University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sat Sep 25 18:04:45 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 11:04:45 -0700 Subject: School to revive Indigenous language (fwd) Message-ID: School to revive Indigenous language Friday, 24 September 2004 http://www.abc.net.au/southeastnsw/news/200409/s1206404.htm A Eurobodalla primary school at Broulee, in south-east NSW, is pioneering the introduction of Aboriginal languages as part of the state school curriculum next year. The school is leading the way with the Dhurga tongue, native to the south coast, set to become the school's second language. Indigenous studies teacher Kerry Boyenga says the language studies will have a number of spin-offs. "We teach German as another language, as our learn language, and we just feel we have a living language in our community and we have a fairly high population of Aboriginal people and we just feel we would like to revive it. "It certainly hasn't died, but we would like to revive what we do have and build on to it so we can teach other people about our language and probably a little bit about our culture." From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sat Sep 25 18:08:55 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 11:08:55 -0700 Subject: Sign squabble threatens to divide Metis (fwd) Message-ID: Sign squabble threatens to divide Metis Buffalo Narrows Local 62 wants to declare village a Metis community By Lee Kaiser http://www.meadowlakeprogress.com/story.php?id=118769 [photo inset -Buffalo Narrows Metis Local 62 planned to erect welcome signs such as the one above on the outskirts of the village Friday.] Meadow Lake Progress — Citizens of Buffalo Narrows are in the midst of a schism over whether to declare themselves a Metis community. On Friday some members of the Metis Nation Local 62, led by president Philip Chartier, were planning to erect signs at each end of the village declaring it a Metis community. But that doesn’t sit well with mayor Bob Woods, who says it will do nothing but damage to the village, both economically and for relations between Metis, First Nations and non-native citizens. “Our council supports some of the Metis Nation’s initiative’s but we don’t want to be portrayed as a Metis community. We want our doors open to everyone and to move forward and attract new business in the community.” He fears this could hurt their efforts to attract another grocery store to the village. Metis Local 62 figures show a populace of 80 per cent Metis, 10 per cent First Nation and 10 per cent non-native. “I don’t want to count people as Metis or not. What’s important is that we live together as people.” He prefers stating these are “Metis traditional lands” rather than the politically charged overtones of “Metis community,” he says. “Metis politics have been a major interference with local politics because the issue is over power and control ... it should be up to the people to decide what they want – a municipal council or Metis leaders.” The mayor and all of council are also of Metis descent. He said the sign request first surfaced at the most recent meeting of the Association of Northwest Municipalities and he expects other northwest communities with large Metis populations will soon be facing the same choice. “Mr. Chartier came to council and said he wouldn’t be asking for permission, he was just going to do it anyway.” Depending on whether the signs are erected on village property or Crown land, he says the village can order them to be removed. Days before the sign ceremony, promoted as a celebration of culture and heritage, Chartier appeared upbeat and downplayed the village’s opposition. “In no way is it done to challenge or jeopardize municipal jurisdiction. People have to understand that. “Our intent is that through history it is a Metis community, that’s number one.” Metis signs are becoming common, he says. “It’s about time we let people know Buffalo Narrows is one of the Metis communities on the northwest side. “You see in Green Lake a sign saying the Metis (settlements) and as you drive north you see (a Metis language sign) which means Ile a la Crosse Metis Land and to the north of us La Loche I believe has a sign saying welcome to the Dene Community of La Loche.” He says Local 62 is also motivated by last year’s Supreme Court Powley decision which stated a Metis individual’s hunting and fishing rights could only be derived from those communities identified specifically as Metis. That high court ruled in favor of Metis hunting rights in the Sault Ste. Marie area being on par with status Indians. Metis Nation lawyers contend that applies across the country. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sat Sep 25 18:15:20 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 11:15:20 -0700 Subject: Advocates: Honor all 'code talkers' (fwd) Message-ID: Advocates: Honor all 'code talkers' Activists and lawmakers say American Indians' efforts in World War II should be honored. By JANE NORMAN REGISTER WASHINGTON BUREAU September 23, 2004 http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040923/NEWS11/409230358/1001 Washington, D.C. - Hollywood and the publishing industry have chronicled how Navajo "code talkers" foiled the enemy by sending radio messages in their tribal language during World War II. Much less known is that American Indians from at least 18 other tribes, including the Meskwaki Nation in Iowa, played the same crucial role on the battlefield - and many of them carried the classified military secrets to their graves. Now American Indian advocates and members of Congress - including Iowa's two senators - are seeking recognition for code talkers such as the eight young Meskwaki men who enlisted in the Iowa National Guard in January 1941. They trained at Camp Dodge in Johnston and in Louisiana, then were shipped overseas with the 168th Infantry, 34th Division, for grim and difficult duty. [SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER - Without recognition: A photo from a Marshalltown newspaper shows eight Meskwaki men who enlisted in the Iowa National Guard in January 1941 and were being trained as "code talkers" during World War II. From left are Mike Wayne Wabaunasee, Edward Benson, Dewey Roberts, Frank Sanache, Judy Wayne Wabaunasee (reclining) and Melvin Twin. Standing, from left, are Willard Sanache and Dewey Youngbear. American Indian advocates and members of Congress are now seeking recognition for all the code talkers.] Robin Lee Roberts of Montour told the Senate Indian Affairs Committee at a Wednesday hearing how the Meskwaki were used as scouts in lead assaults, carrying heavy backpacks and radios. They fought through the deserts of North Africa and the mountains of Italy, targeted for capture so the enemy could try to break the code. "When they came back, they were scarred, mentally and physically," said Roberts, whose uncle, Dewey Roberts, was one of the code talkers. "I think it's time they give them their national recognition." Samson Keahna of Tama, another Meskwaki, said the veterans settled back into their lives in Iowa and said nothing about their service, even to their wives. "Instead, they lived humbly among us as friends, brothers, uncles, fathers and grandfathers," Keahna said. Navajo code talkers were featured in the movie "Windtalkers," and 29 of them were awarded congressional gold medals in 1999. But both of Iowa's senators, Republican Charles Grassley and Democrat Tom Harkin, are pushing hard for legislation that would award congressional gold medals to the rest of the code talkers as well. Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Ia., also has introduced legislation in the House. The Iowa state Senate and House both have passed resolutions urging Congress to award the medals, symbolic of the highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions. Greg Pyle, chief of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, said military leaders realized American Indian languages were useful as codes because they were based on a different linguistic root and syntax from European languages. "You couldn't go anywhere to learn about them since they were oral languages," he said. "In fact, they were the perfect languages for transmission of secrets." According to a printed statement by Charles Chibitty, a Comanche code talker too ill to attend the hearing, an example of a message radioed from one Comanche to another may have been, "A turtle is coming down the hedgerow. Get that stovepipe and shoot him." A "turtle" was a tank and a "stovepipe" a bazooka, since there were no equivalent words in Comanche. Comanches used the word "sewing machine" for a machine gun because of the noise made by the weapon. Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler was called "posah-tai-vo," which means "crazy white man." William Meadows, an assistant professor of anthropology at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, said most code talkers had attended schools where the use of their languages was banned and their culture discredited. Nonetheless they were eager to serve, and none of the American Indian languages or codes used by the armed forces is known to ever have been broken, he said. The eight Meskwaki code talkers, among 52 Meskwaki to serve in World War II, were brothers Frank and Willard Sanache, Dewey Roberts, Edward Benson, Melvin Twin, Dewey Youngbear and brothers Judy Wayne Wabaunasee and Mike Wayne Wabaunasee. Frank Sanache, the last survivor, died a month ago at 86. Their experiences are related in an article by Mary Bennett, special collections coordinator at the State Historical Society of Iowa, in the current issue of Iowa Heritage Illustrated. Bennett writes that several code talkers were captured by the Italians and Germans, and they not only suffered beatings and near starvation but also faced racial prejudice. Youngbear tried three times to escape and died in 1948 of tuberculosis contracted in the POW camp. Keahna, himself a Vietnam veteran, told senators that all code talkers deserve the same recognition as the Navajo. "Time is of the essence," he said. "Each of the men who served as a code talker deserves to know that the nation they served honors their sacrifices." From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sat Sep 25 18:25:05 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 11:25:05 -0700 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ In-Reply-To: Message-ID: [note: here is a brief august news article on AZ state policy with regard to English-only. phil] Evidence won't support Horne's language policy http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0828satlet6-281.html From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sun Sep 26 17:01:46 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2004 10:01:46 -0700 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ (fwd on behalf of Rudy Trioke) Message-ID: I'm delighted with Mia's insightful input. I wanted to comment on several points that she raised.         1. With regard to why the English as a Second Language field is behind the times in the use of technology, I think that it is partly a result of the fact that few programs training people have any specialists in this field. There is also a natural cultural lag. But Mia is 100% right that computer technology allows for excellent teaching of oral language. Susan Penfield and Phil Cash Cash have been working on precisely this topic, and in the AILDI summer program you can see native teachers learning exciting techniques for this very purpose. But this is only a start.         2. The Supreme Court decision in Lau v. Nichols in 1974 (we marked the 30th anniversary this year) was only an advisory opinion, which depended on the Justice Department developing guidelines for enforcing it. The original case was brought against the San Francisco schools, and I was involved (as Director of the Center for Applied Linguistics at the time) in working with the SF schools in developing a plan for bilingual education to respond to the Supreme Court decision. But in 1980, after Reagan was elected, the Justice Dept., which had been actively enforcing the decision, started back-tracking and watering down their enforcement, and eventually the whole issue more or less disappeared and was forgotten.         3. A dissertation I directed at the University of Illinois, by Antonio Gonzalez, demonstrated that children from Mexico who attend school there for two years before immigrating to the US do better in school than their siblings who begin school here (and have two years more of English). Navajo children who were exposed to Head Start in English did not develop full control of Navajo grammar, and did worse in school than children who were left alone and developed the Navajo better. The Rock Point school proved that dual language instruction in Navajo and English produced better results than an ESL program alone, but in spite of this evidence, the community eventually back-slid in its support of the program. Just being bilingual does not make one smarter, as it is common for speakers of minority languages to suffer from what Wallace Lambert called "subtractive bilingualism", in which they lose their native language as they gain more command of the dominant language. It is "additive bilingualism" that has cognitive benefits, and this comes from cultivating competence in the native language alongside the dominant language.         Rudy Troike         University of Arizona From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sun Sep 26 17:06:51 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2004 10:06:51 -0700 Subject: Many ethnic minority languages facing extinction (fwd) Message-ID: Many ethnic minority languages facing extinction Published on Sep 27, 2004 http://nationmultimedia.com/page.news.php3?clid=2&id=121543&usrsess=1 At least 14 languages spoken in Thailand are on the brink of extinction, a linguist at Mahidol University said at a recent meeting. Suwilai Premsrirat, who heads Mahidol’s Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development, blamed the education system as the main reason that the languages were at risk of fading away. The country’s education regulations require that lessons at schools be conducted in the country’s official language, Thai, although some schools also offer Chinese and English-language programmes. “The Education Ministry should pay more attention to ethnic-minority languages and the Culture Ministry should do something before they disappear,” Suwilai said. She said some languages, such as the Chong language spoken in Chanthaburi, had been spoken in what is now Thailand for more than 1,000 years. “Now only some 500 people can speak Chong and most are over 50 years old,” she said. Mahidol University has been trying to revive Chong in Khao Khitchakood by introducing the language as a subject among primary students in grades three, four and five, she said. Suwilai said there were in fact more than 60 minority languages spoken in Thailand, but most were used by very small groups of people. She said the threat of language extinction existed across the world, as the mass media, controlled by a few powerful countries, penetrated into smaller nations and affected local people’s lives. Suwilai quoted American linguist Michel Krauss as estimating that 90 per cent of languages around the globe were in crisis, with only major and official national languages safe from the risk of extinction. “It’s [almost to the point where] a language is going to disappear every day,” she said. Pakamas Jaichalard The Nation Nakhon Pathom From iackerman at ROSETTASTONE.COM Mon Sep 27 12:41:16 2004 From: iackerman at ROSETTASTONE.COM (Ilse Ackerman) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 08:41:16 -0400 Subject: John Bransford? In-Reply-To: <050d01c4a2fe$0cc20010$6400a8c0@computer> Message-ID: On Sep 25, 2004, at 8:49 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: > One more question: Does anyone know the work of John Bransford? I just > noticed that he has quite a collection of books on computer supported > learning, the psychology of learning, etc, and I wondered if people > have combined any of this with L&C Revitalization, or multi-lingual > educational materials. >   > Maybe just one more question: Does anyone out there work on > multi-lingual educational materials? Computer-based? Dear Mia, I've enjoyed reading your posts. I work on computer-based immersion software for language revitalization. Two indigenous language projects are underway, about six months from completion. The software has been successful for teaching mainstream languages, and I'm eager to see the results in the Mohawk and Iñupiaq communities. Best wishes on your move and studies.... ilse ____________________________ Ilse Ackerman Program Manager Endangered Language Program Fairfield Language Technologies Harrisonburg, VA 22802 USA Tel 1.800.788.0822 Ext. 3318 Tel 1.540.432.6166 Ext. 3318 Fax 1.540.432.0953 www.rosettastone.com/languagerescue _______________________________ -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 1565 bytes Desc: not available URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Mon Sep 27 13:38:09 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 07:38:09 -0600 Subject: John Bransford? Message-ID: Hi, Ilse, I looked up your company. You make quite a number of language learning products. They seem to me a bit expensive, though, especially for the Indigenous learner. How will the new products be priced? Also, I didn't see any "try before you buy" downloads. How do they work? Thanks, and thanks for your kind words. Sometimes the list is so quiet, I'm not sure anyone is there, but I am very glad to see there is. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Ilse Ackerman To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 6:41 AM Subject: Re: John Bransford? On Sep 25, 2004, at 8:49 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: One more question: Does anyone know the work of John Bransford? I just noticed that he has quite a collection of books on computer supported learning, the psychology of learning, etc, and I wondered if people have combined any of this with L&C Revitalization, or multi-lingual educational materials. Maybe just one more question: Does anyone out there work on multi-lingual educational materials? Computer-based? Dear Mia, I've enjoyed reading your posts. I work on computer-based immersion software for language revitalization. Two indigenous language projects are underway, about six months from completion. The software has been successful for teaching mainstream languages, and I'm eager to see the results in the Mohawk and Iñupiaq communities. Best wishes on your move and studies.... ilse ____________________________ Ilse Ackerman Program Manager Endangered Language Program Fairfield Language Technologies Harrisonburg, VA 22802 USA Tel 1.800.788.0822 Ext. 3318 Tel 1.540.432.6166 Ext. 3318 Fax 1.540.432.0953 www.rosettastone.com/languagerescue _______________________________ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From iackerman at ROSETTASTONE.COM Mon Sep 27 14:25:19 2004 From: iackerman at ROSETTASTONE.COM (Ilse Ackerman) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 10:25:19 -0400 Subject: John Bransford? In-Reply-To: <010901c4a497$3b5e4fb0$6400a8c0@computer> Message-ID: Hi Mia, Good question -- the indigenous language software isn't offered under the same terms as our other languages. We don't produce indigenous language software to sell directly to consumers. We're contracted by indigenous language groups to produce the software, and they own the final software and can replicate it and distribute it however they wish, whether at cost to their community, or free to their schools, or hosted online for a wider audience. So it requires an initial investment of labor and money, and then the product can be used as widely as desired. The software works by immersion because it uses images to convey meaning. Then it uses those language elements as building blocks to introduce further language step by step. There is actually an online demo accessible at the following url. Although there's a form to fill out, it only requires your name and email (not shared with third parties). http://www.rosettastone.com/ind/free_demo Let me know if you have any questions. I'd be interested in your feedback, too! ilse On Sep 27, 2004, at 9:38 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: > Hi, Ilse, >   > I looked up your company. You make quite a number of language learning > products. They seem to me a bit expensive, though, especially for the > Indigenous learner. How will the new products be priced? >   > Also, I didn't see any "try before you buy" downloads. How do they > work? >   > Thanks, and thanks for your kind words. Sometimes the list is so > quiet, I'm not sure anyone is there, but I am very glad to see there > is. >   > Mia >   >   >   > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Ilse Ackerman > To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU > Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 6:41 AM > Subject: Re: John Bransford? > > > On Sep 25, 2004, at 8:49 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: > > > One more question: Does anyone know the work of John Bransford? I just > noticed that he has quite a collection of books on computer supported > learning, the psychology of learning, etc, and I wondered if people > have combined any of this with L&C Revitalization, or multi-lingual > educational materials. >   > Maybe just one more question: Does anyone out there work on > multi-lingual educational materials? Computer-based? > > Dear Mia, > > I've enjoyed reading your posts. I work on computer-based immersion > software for language revitalization. Two indigenous language projects > are underway, about six months from completion. The software has been > successful for teaching mainstream languages, and I'm eager to see the > results in the Mohawk and Iñupiaq communities. > > Best wishes on your move and studies.... > > ilse > ____________________________ > Ilse Ackerman > Program Manager > Endangered Language Program > Fairfield Language Technologies > Harrisonburg, VA 22802 USA > > Tel 1.800.788.0822 Ext. 3318 > Tel 1.540.432.6166 Ext. 3318 > Fax 1.540.432.0953 > > www.rosettastone.com/languagerescue > _______________________________ -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 3994 bytes Desc: not available URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Mon Sep 27 14:28:36 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 08:28:36 -0600 Subject: John Bransford? Message-ID: This is cool. I am replying Before I see the link, because from your description, the software sounds a bit like what I did with my thesis: pictures, with simultaneous sound and text, in Macromedia Flash. 77.8% effective across populations. In fact, we hit a ceiling, where 25% of the paricipants scored 100%. I think the arrangements you have with the Tribes are splendid. I am glad the languages are Not For Sale to the public. I think that is sensitive and caring, very Human. Now I am going to go Check It Out! Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Ilse Ackerman To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 8:25 AM Subject: Re: John Bransford? Hi Mia, Good question -- the indigenous language software isn't offered under the same terms as our other languages. We don't produce indigenous language software to sell directly to consumers. We're contracted by indigenous language groups to produce the software, and they own the final software and can replicate it and distribute it however they wish, whether at cost to their community, or free to their schools, or hosted online for a wider audience. So it requires an initial investment of labor and money, and then the product can be used as widely as desired. The software works by immersion because it uses images to convey meaning. Then it uses those language elements as building blocks to introduce further language step by step. There is actually an online demo accessible at the following url. Although there's a form to fill out, it only requires your name and email (not shared with third parties). http://www.rosettastone.com/ind/free_demo Let me know if you have any questions. I'd be interested in your feedback, too! ilse On Sep 27, 2004, at 9:38 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: Hi, Ilse, I looked up your company. You make quite a number of language learning products. They seem to me a bit expensive, though, especially for the Indigenous learner. How will the new products be priced? Also, I didn't see any "try before you buy" downloads. How do they work? Thanks, and thanks for your kind words. Sometimes the list is so quiet, I'm not sure anyone is there, but I am very glad to see there is. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Ilse Ackerman To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 6:41 AM Subject: Re: John Bransford? On Sep 25, 2004, at 8:49 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: One more question: Does anyone know the work of John Bransford? I just noticed that he has quite a collection of books on computer supported learning, the psychology of learning, etc, and I wondered if people have combined any of this with L&C Revitalization, or multi-lingual educational materials. Maybe just one more question: Does anyone out there work on multi-lingual educational materials? Computer-based? Dear Mia, I've enjoyed reading your posts. I work on computer-based immersion software for language revitalization. Two indigenous language projects are underway, about six months from completion. The software has been successful for teaching mainstream languages, and I'm eager to see the results in the Mohawk and Iñupiaq communities. Best wishes on your move and studies.... ilse ____________________________ Ilse Ackerman Program Manager Endangered Language Program Fairfield Language Technologies Harrisonburg, VA 22802 USA Tel 1.800.788.0822 Ext. 3318 Tel 1.540.432.6166 Ext. 3318 Fax 1.540.432.0953 www.rosettastone.com/languagerescue _______________________________ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Mon Sep 27 14:53:31 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 08:53:31 -0600 Subject: "Come on Baby Light My Fire" Message-ID: Robert Mirabal has a new album, "Indians, Indians", and on it is a song called Morrison, where he tells the story of Morrison and his uncle in Albuquerque. On the album, Mirabal sings in English, and in his native Tiwa. On one song, the two languages are layered together, with one voice, a woman, singing in English, and Mirabal in Tiwa. When Ilse replied to my post earlier, I Googled "Fairfield Language Technologies", and retrieval algorithms being what they are today, I was given opportunities to explore products characterised as "the best" in some way. I encountered this: "Choose any dialect in the world, and you're virtually assured of finding it among Instant Immersion™ 33 Languages, the revolution in foreign language learning. Ideal for travel or scholarly pursuits, each of the 33 CD-ROMs is devoted to one global language, exploring essential vocabulary and phrases in subjects ranging from Food to First Words; Colors to Countries." The underlinings are mine, and I call your attention specifically to the sequence. The initial mention of "scholarly pursuits" leads one to believe that you will be able to converse with your peers and colleagues after having mastered the lessons. But look at the content: "essential vocabularly" is very basic. "Concept" and "anthropomorphize" are not food nor first words, not colors or countries, and there is no mentioned category that would be a placeholder for words such as these. A bit ago, I asked if anyone on the list had a strong, indigenous lexicon for representing arithmetic and mathematics. I received a few replies, but there is apparently nothing sufficiently robust (lexicon, native speakers, cultural concepts) that would faciliate the development of math .learning materials in an Indigenous language. Here, we are looking at building it from scratch. The Kauffman Foundation Thoughtbook noted that if intellectuals and academics are convinced of something, then others follow. Every revolution has demonstrated its latent belief in this precept by eliminating intellectuals as one of its first steps. And this takes me back to Morrison, to Robert Mirabal, and the sentiment of the Doors ever-popular song: The time to hesitate is through. (The entire song is easily found by Googling the title of this email). Day after day, Phil sends out articles and links to articles that talk about how languages are dying. I believe, especially after the informative comments I have received in response to my earlier posts, that we as academincs need to be rethinking how we are concepualizing what we do with indigenous languages. Language information that sits on a page like yesterday's dead fish may be very helpful to generative linguists, but it doesn't help solve the problem of insufficient lexicon to do even the most basic learning materials. Personally, I think Revitalization will happen if people can create Teams, instead of top-down structures that are limited by the expertise of the person at the top. (This is where lots of people will feel immediately intimidated and perhaps angry, says the Cognitive Psychologist in me). But think about it: Good learning materials require knowledge of the IL, knowledge of the subject matter, and a solid grounding at the level of Native Speaker in Technology. Not too many people have all of that. So if the Teams took advantage of the strong skills of each participant, we could reduce the number of links to sad and desperate articles that Phil sends out. Best to all, Mia "Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them. Alfred North Whitehead Mia Kalish, M.A. PhD Student, C&J Tularosa, New Mexico USA 88352 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Ivy.gif Type: image/gif Size: 5665 bytes Desc: not available URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Mon Sep 27 15:50:35 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 09:50:35 -0600 Subject: John Bransford? Message-ID: Hi, Ilse, I downloaded the Shockwave, and then the special software for Fairfield. The pictures are nice. I liked that they are culturally-specific (Kiswahilli & Latin). I liked the relational learning (puer et canis, puella et femina, vir et femina, vir et puer; "puer" and "puella" are the 2 knowns at this point). I liked that people had choices of the interface language, although the learning languages were not interface options (should be :-), how Else will people learn the words for technology? The navigation wasn't intuitive for me. It seemed to be sequentially controlled, and wasn't easy for me to get back to the lexical learning area. I did find the "Preview/exercise toggle", finally. Also, the sounds only repeated once, in sequence. For speaking, I would have wanted them to repeat over and over. That would allow me the learner to control hearing what was difficult for me more than what was easy for me. For example, in Apache we have a voiceless l that is very difficult for people, and they have to hear it and say it over and over. Also, for some of the items, for example in Hebrew, I couldn't tell what I was learning. Was I learning to say that "The girl was studying"? "The girl was reading"? "The girl was comparing her notes to a good source"? "The girl was looking at notes in the library/office/room"? Was the boy riding the horse? Breaking the horse? Riding in a rodeo? It was funny to see a soccer ball in Latin, although I know that Latin is a full second language in Rome, so there has to have been some extension. Overall, this is pretty good. I think it merits 83-87. It could score higher by being more user-responsive. Don't get discouraged. Most language learning materials don't rate above a 45-50. Many, especially the text one, where a teacher is absolutely required, as is a good memory, and the students don't really have a chance, don't get above a 20. Suggested improvements: *** Improve the Nav *** Target language interface *** Greater technological support for improved distinctions (motion for verbs, etc). *** Word discrimination (I couldn't tell where the word breaks were in Hebrew) I did find the repeat sound option, though. [The relationships weren't as good in the Hebrew as in Latin. They appear to start with a cat, add the woman to the girl, add a man to the woman, and then add A Different Man to the boy. In Latin, the similarity in the pictures provides a scaffolding. In Hebrew, the visual scaffolding goes awry.) Sometimes, people who are native speakers of a language make loose and wide assumptions about what it immediately apprehensible or intuitively others. I generally find that speaking to them in Technologicalese brings the problem home. Thanks, this was fun and informative. I hope others try it out. Best, Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Ilse Ackerman To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 8:25 AM Subject: Re: John Bransford? Hi Mia, Good question -- the indigenous language software isn't offered under the same terms as our other languages. We don't produce indigenous language software to sell directly to consumers. We're contracted by indigenous language groups to produce the software, and they own the final software and can replicate it and distribute it however they wish, whether at cost to their community, or free to their schools, or hosted online for a wider audience. So it requires an initial investment of labor and money, and then the product can be used as widely as desired. The software works by immersion because it uses images to convey meaning. Then it uses those language elements as building blocks to introduce further language step by step. There is actually an online demo accessible at the following url. Although there's a form to fill out, it only requires your name and email (not shared with third parties). http://www.rosettastone.com/ind/free_demo Let me know if you have any questions. I'd be interested in your feedback, too! ilse On Sep 27, 2004, at 9:38 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: Hi, Ilse, I looked up your company. You make quite a number of language learning products. They seem to me a bit expensive, though, especially for the Indigenous learner. How will the new products be priced? Also, I didn't see any "try before you buy" downloads. How do they work? Thanks, and thanks for your kind words. Sometimes the list is so quiet, I'm not sure anyone is there, but I am very glad to see there is. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Ilse Ackerman To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 6:41 AM Subject: Re: John Bransford? On Sep 25, 2004, at 8:49 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: One more question: Does anyone know the work of John Bransford? I just noticed that he has quite a collection of books on computer supported learning, the psychology of learning, etc, and I wondered if people have combined any of this with L&C Revitalization, or multi-lingual educational materials. Maybe just one more question: Does anyone out there work on multi-lingual educational materials? Computer-based? Dear Mia, I've enjoyed reading your posts. I work on computer-based immersion software for language revitalization. Two indigenous language projects are underway, about six months from completion. The software has been successful for teaching mainstream languages, and I'm eager to see the results in the Mohawk and Iñupiaq communities. Best wishes on your move and studies.... ilse ____________________________ Ilse Ackerman Program Manager Endangered Language Program Fairfield Language Technologies Harrisonburg, VA 22802 USA Tel 1.800.788.0822 Ext. 3318 Tel 1.540.432.6166 Ext. 3318 Fax 1.540.432.0953 www.rosettastone.com/languagerescue _______________________________ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Sep 27 17:34:22 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 10:34:22 -0700 Subject: It all starts by looking a baby right in the eyes (fwd link) Message-ID: It all starts by looking a baby right in the eyes The origin of language stemmed from relationships, not genes By Ruth Walker http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0914/p11s01-bogn.html [a book review - THE FIRST IDEA: How Symbols, Language, and Intelligence Evolved from our Primate Ancestors to Modern Humans By Stanley Greenspan and Stuart Shanker, Da Capo Press, 320 pp., $25] From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Mon Sep 27 17:40:39 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 11:40:39 -0600 Subject: . . . looking a baby right in the eyes: Pat Kuhl Message-ID: Pat Kuhl says that babies watch your face and eyes, and then model what they see in their minds. When they have mapped the physical movements to what they see (she is working on describing this internal mapping mechanism more precisely) then they exhibit the movements. Thus much, much more is happening beneath the surface, and long before anything is actually visible. This is a gem from my psychology days. Pat Kuhl is worth checking out for all the language learning people. She is great. And Right-On! Mia PS: By the way, Phil, thanks for your tireless devotion in finding things and sending them along to the rest of us. I know Sue appreciates you; I just wanted to send along a small at-a-boy from a list member. :-) ----- Original Message ----- From: "phil cash cash" To: Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 11:34 AM Subject: It all starts by looking a baby right in the eyes (fwd link) > It all starts by looking a baby right in the eyes > The origin of language stemmed from relationships, not genes > By Ruth Walker > > http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0914/p11s01-bogn.html > > [a book review - THE FIRST IDEA: How Symbols, Language, and Intelligence > Evolved from our Primate Ancestors to Modern Humans By Stanley > Greenspan and Stuart Shanker, Da Capo Press, 320 pp., $25] > > From rtroike at U.ARIZONA.EDU Sat Sep 25 08:47:45 2004 From: rtroike at U.ARIZONA.EDU (Rudolph C Troike) Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 01:47:45 -0700 Subject: Lau v. Nichols Supreme Court decision and bilingual advantages In-Reply-To: <20040925070139.9C152144B8@listserv.arizona.edu> Message-ID: I'm delighted with Mia's insightful input. I wanted to comment on several points that she raised. 1. With regard to why the English as a Second Language field is behind the times in the use of technology, I think that it is partly a result of the fact that few programs training people have any specialists in this field. There is also a natural cultural lag. But Mia is 100% right that computer technology allows for excellent teaching of oral language. Susan Penfield and Phil Cash Cash have been working on precisely this topic, and in the AILDI summer program you can see native teachers learning exciting techniques for this very purpose. But this is only a start. 2. The Supreme Court decision in Lau v. Nichols in 1974 (we marked the 30th anniversary this year) was only an advisory opinion, which depended on the Justice Department developing guidelines for enforcing it. The original case was brought against the San Francisco schools, and I was involved (as Director of the Center for Applied Linguistics at the time) in working with the SF schools in developing a plan for bilingual education to respond to the Supreme Court decision. But in 1980, after Reagan was elected, the Justice Dept., which had been actively enforcing the decision, started back-tracking and watering down their enforcement, and eventually the whole issue more or less disappeared and was forgotten. 3. A dissertation I directed at the University of Illinois, by Antonio Gonzalez, demonstrated that children from Mexico who attend school there for two years before immigrating to the US do better in school than their siblings who begin school here (and have two years more of English). Navajo children who were exposed to Head Start in English did not develop full control of Navajo grammar, and did worse in school than children who were left alone and developed the Navajo better. The Rock Point school proved that dual language instruction in Navajo and English produced better results than an ESL program alone, but in spite of this evidence, the community eventually back-slid in its support of the program. Just being bilingual does not make one smarter, as it is common for speakers of minority languages to suffer from what Wallace Lambert called "subtractive bilingualism", in which they lose their native language as they gain more command of the dominant language. It is "additive bilingualism" that has cognitive benefits, and this comes from cultivating competence in the native language alongside the dominant language. Rudy Troike University of Arizona From iackerman at ROSETTASTONE.COM Mon Sep 27 19:38:00 2004 From: iackerman at ROSETTASTONE.COM (Ilse Ackerman) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 15:38:00 -0400 Subject: John Bransford? In-Reply-To: <01fb01c4a4a9$ba7d0400$6400a8c0@computer> Message-ID: Dear Mia, Thanks for your thoughtful reply. We are developing the next version of the software, and I will also share your feedback with the R&D group.... : ) I'm curious, what's the rating system you used? Best regards, ilse > Overall, this is pretty good. I think it merits 83-87. It could score > higher by being more user-responsive. Don't get discouraged. Most > language learning materials don't rate above a 45-50. Many, especially > the text one, where a teacher is absolutely required, as is a good > memory, and the students don't really have a chance, don't get above a > 20. >   > Suggested improvements: >     *** Improve the Nav >     *** Target language interface >     *** Greater technological support for improved distinctions > (motion for verbs, etc). >     *** Word discrimination (I couldn't tell where the word breaks > were in Hebrew)  I did find the repeat sound option, though. [The > relationships weren't as good in the Hebrew as in Latin. They appear > to start with a cat, add the woman to the girl, add a man to the > woman, and then add A Different Man to the boy. In Latin, the > similarity in the pictures provides a scaffolding. In Hebrew, the > visual scaffolding goes awry.) >   > Sometimes, people who are native speakers of a language make loose and > wide assumptions about what it immediately apprehensible or > intuitively others. I generally find that speaking to them in > Technologicalese brings the problem home. >   > Thanks, this was fun and informative. I hope others try it out. >   > Best, > Mia >   > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Ilse Ackerman > To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU > Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 8:25 AM > Subject: Re: John Bransford? > > > Hi Mia, > > Good question -- the indigenous language software isn't offered under > the same terms as our other languages. We don't produce indigenous > language software to sell directly to consumers. We're contracted by > indigenous language groups to produce the software, and they own the > final software and can replicate it and distribute it however they > wish, whether at cost to their community, or free to their schools, or > hosted online for a wider audience. So it requires an initial > investment of labor and money, and then the product can be used as > widely as desired. > > The software works by immersion because it uses images to convey > meaning. Then it uses those language elements as building blocks to > introduce further language step by step. There is actually an online > demo accessible at the following url. Although there's a form to fill > out, it only requires your name and email (not shared with third > parties). > > http://www.rosettastone.com/ind/free_demo > > Let me know if you have any questions. I'd be interested in your > feedback, too! > > ilse > > On Sep 27, 2004, at 9:38 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: > > > Hi, Ilse, >   > I looked up your company. You make quite a number of language learning > products. They seem to me a bit expensive, though, especially for the > Indigenous learner. How will the new products be priced? >   > Also, I didn't see any "try before you buy" downloads. How do they > work? >   > Thanks, and thanks for your kind words. Sometimes the list is so > quiet, I'm not sure anyone is there, but I am very glad to see there > is. >   > Mia >   >   >   > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Ilse Ackerman > To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU > Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 6:41 AM > Subject: Re: John Bransford? > > > On Sep 25, 2004, at 8:49 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: > > > One more question: Does anyone know the work of John Bransford? I just > noticed that he has quite a collection of books on computer supported > learning, the psychology of learning, etc, and I wondered if people > have combined any of this with L&C Revitalization, or multi-lingual > educational materials. >   > Maybe just one more question: Does anyone out there work on > multi-lingual educational materials? Computer-based? > > Dear Mia, > > I've enjoyed reading your posts. I work on computer-based immersion > software for language revitalization. Two indigenous language projects > are underway, about six months from completion. The software has been > successful for teaching mainstream languages, and I'm eager to see the > results in the Mohawk and Iñupiaq communities. > > Best wishes on your move and studies.... > > ilse > ____________________________ > Ilse Ackerman > Program Manager > Endangered Language Program > Fairfield Language Technologies > Harrisonburg, VA 22802 USA > > Tel 1.800.788.0822 Ext. 3318 > Tel 1.540.432.6166 Ext. 3318 > Fax 1.540.432.0953 > > www.rosettastone.com/languagerescue > _______________________________ -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 5815 bytes Desc: not available URL: From gforger at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Sep 27 19:51:11 2004 From: gforger at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (Garry Forger) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 12:51:11 -0700 Subject: Language instruction and technology In-Reply-To: <1096136705.b9293b3dd629d@www.email.arizona.edu> Message-ID: I had the privilege of working with Sue Penfield and Phil Cash Cash here at the Learning Technologies Center of the University of Arizona on Sue�~@~Ys Gates Foundation grant dealing with Native Language Teaching and Preservation using technology. The project looked at a variety of ways that technology can be used towards this end. As part of the project we created the Online Language Environments website http://www.ole.arizona.edu While by no means comprehensive, we intend for this site to collect and disseminate information on technology that supports language instruction, preservation and research. There is also information on this site about a tool that we are developing and testing, the OLE Board, which is a tool based on Macromedia technology to enable voice, video and text to be used for online instruction. At this time the focus of the site is the University of Arizona, but we are adding more information on sites outside our institution. Please feel free to browse the site send me any comments on additions and improvements or big gaps that we missed. Thank you, Garry Forger -- "There's many a knave concealed under a surplice." Danish Proverb ______________________ Garry J. Forger, MLS Assistant Director Learning Technologies Center The University of Arizona 1077 N. Highland Ave Tucson, AZ 85721-0073 gforger at u.arizona.edu http://www.ltc.arizona.edu/ Phone 520-626-7761 Fax 520-626-8220 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Tue Sep 28 05:46:23 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 23:46:23 -0600 Subject: Language instruction and technology Message-ID: Hi, Garry, I checked out this board. I wanted to check out the Tools, but it turned out I needed a Login Id and then I couldn't Back out of the page. (http://oradb.faccenter.arizona.edu/ole/oleboard.html) I apparently went somewhere far, far away from where I started, because I couldn't even find myself in the History. Also, I would like to see more Show and less Tell. I think that those of us who espouse technology need to use it so others can see what can be done. Most people do better at reproduction than creation, especially when working with new things. Just some thoughts. I don't Really want to sound like the local kvetch. best, Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Garry Forger To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 1:51 PM Subject: Language instruction and technology I had the privilege of working with Sue Penfield and Phil Cash Cash here at the Learning Technologies Center of the University of Arizona on Sue’s Gates Foundation grant dealing with Native Language Teaching and Preservation using technology. The project looked at a variety of ways that technology can be used towards this end. As part of the project we created the Online Language Environments website http://www.ole.arizona.edu While by no means comprehensive, we intend for this site to collect and disseminate information on technology that supports language instruction, preservation and research. There is also information on this site about a tool that we are developing and testing, the OLE Board, which is a tool based on Macromedia technology to enable voice, video and text to be used for online instruction. At this time the focus of the site is the University of Arizona, but we are adding more information on sites outside our institution. Please feel free to browse the site send me any comments on additions and improvements or big gaps that we missed. Thank you, Garry Forger -- "There's many a knave concealed under a surplice." Danish Proverb ______________________ Garry J. Forger, MLS Assistant Director Learning Technologies Center The University of Arizona 1077 N. Highland Ave Tucson, AZ 85721-0073 gforger at u.arizona.edu http://www.ltc.arizona.edu/ Phone 520-626-7761 Fax 520-626-8220 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Tue Sep 28 06:10:49 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 00:10:49 -0600 Subject: John Bransford? Message-ID: Hi, Ilse, I don't have a nice, formal instrument. But now that you mention it, developing one wouldn't be a bad idea. I did my master's thesis on precisely this paradigm. My interface looked different, because it was set up for an experiment, but it has all the same essential elements. So based on the extensive work I did there, here is how I evaluate, pretty much in order of priority: 1. Is the mode sound-picture-text, presented simultaneously 2. Can the learner interact with the material at will, studying sound & text patterns 3. Can the learner use the material without the aid of a teacher, supplementing regular course work 4. Are the references clear, for example, can the learner tell the difference between what we call a "noun" and an action word ("verb")? 5. Does the learner have disambiguation exercises? (This is where they train their brains how to discriminate the words in context. Initially, a new language sounds like an unbroken stream. It derives meaning when we can detect the patterns created by the different words and inflections.) 6. Are the visuals precise enough that the learner can derive an exact meaning. For example, if the visual is a complete place setting, with dinner plate, knife, fork, and spoon, the presented word Should NOT be any of these individual items, because the learner can't yet distinguish and make the correct relation. 7. Are there training groups and exercises that give the learner additional practice in discriminating words that are similar along visual, tonal, and semantic dimensions? 8. Is the interface intuitive? It should not get in the way of the learnng process, nor should it be a learning process unto itself. 9. Is the interface learner-centered, allowing the learner to return to those areas where he or she needs to go (+ points) or does it constrain the learner to a path, direction or mode prescribed by someone or some thing external to the current learning process (BIG - points). 10. Is the interface English-only (- points) or is it available in the target languages (BIG bonus points). Yours is nice because it gives the learner a choice of a nice collection of interface languages. 11. Does it make you smile? People study (play, really) more with learning materials that they enjoy. My regression analysis showed that text was a 2nd order process. What this means is that an additional level/layer of understanding is required to assimilate the text. Since sight and sound are first order, preceptual processes, they don't require the additional assimilation effort, and will show higher, faster response rates than will text. I thought I had discovered something that needed further research, and then I read Vygotsky, Thought and Language, and he knew this 100 years ago. Saved me endless hours of devising and running another experiment. ;-0 Anyway, these categories are worth more or less 10 points apiece. Unless one is particularly well-done or particularly poorly done, bonus or Penalty points may be awarded. How did Virginia fare in the lastest onslaught of weather from the south, by the way. Are you all fine and well up there? Still have the beautiful trees and beaches? best, Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Ilse Ackerman To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 1:38 PM Subject: Re: John Bransford? Dear Mia, Thanks for your thoughtful reply. We are developing the next version of the software, and I will also share your feedback with the R&D group.... : ) I'm curious, what's the rating system you used? Best regards, ilse Overall, this is pretty good. I think it merits 83-87. It could score higher by being more user-responsive. Don't get discouraged. Most language learning materials don't rate above a 45-50. Many, especially the text one, where a teacher is absolutely required, as is a good memory, and the students don't really have a chance, don't get above a 20. Suggested improvements: *** Improve the Nav *** Target language interface *** Greater technological support for improved distinctions (motion for verbs, etc). *** Word discrimination (I couldn't tell where the word breaks were in Hebrew) I did find the repeat sound option, though. [The relationships weren't as good in the Hebrew as in Latin. They appear to start with a cat, add the woman to the girl, add a man to the woman, and then add A Different Man to the boy. In Latin, the similarity in the pictures provides a scaffolding. In Hebrew, the visual scaffolding goes awry.) Sometimes, people who are native speakers of a language make loose and wide assumptions about what it immediately apprehensible or intuitively others. I generally find that speaking to them in Technologicalese brings the problem home. Thanks, this was fun and informative. I hope others try it out. Best, Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Ilse Ackerman To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 8:25 AM Subject: Re: John Bransford? Hi Mia, Good question -- the indigenous language software isn't offered under the same terms as our other languages. We don't produce indigenous language software to sell directly to consumers. We're contracted by indigenous language groups to produce the software, and they own the final software and can replicate it and distribute it however they wish, whether at cost to their community, or free to their schools, or hosted online for a wider audience. So it requires an initial investment of labor and money, and then the product can be used as widely as desired. The software works by immersion because it uses images to convey meaning. Then it uses those language elements as building blocks to introduce further language step by step. There is actually an online demo accessible at the following url. Although there's a form to fill out, it only requires your name and email (not shared with third parties). http://www.rosettastone.com/ind/free_demo Let me know if you have any questions. I'd be interested in your feedback, too! ilse On Sep 27, 2004, at 9:38 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: Hi, Ilse, I looked up your company. You make quite a number of language learning products. They seem to me a bit expensive, though, especially for the Indigenous learner. How will the new products be priced? Also, I didn't see any "try before you buy" downloads. How do they work? Thanks, and thanks for your kind words. Sometimes the list is so quiet, I'm not sure anyone is there, but I am very glad to see there is. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Ilse Ackerman To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 6:41 AM Subject: Re: John Bransford? On Sep 25, 2004, at 8:49 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: One more question: Does anyone know the work of John Bransford? I just noticed that he has quite a collection of books on computer supported learning, the psychology of learning, etc, and I wondered if people have combined any of this with L&C Revitalization, or multi-lingual educational materials. Maybe just one more question: Does anyone out there work on multi-lingual educational materials? Computer-based? Dear Mia, I've enjoyed reading your posts. I work on computer-based immersion software for language revitalization. Two indigenous language projects are underway, about six months from completion. The software has been successful for teaching mainstream languages, and I'm eager to see the results in the Mohawk and Iñupiaq communities. Best wishes on your move and studies.... ilse ____________________________ Ilse Ackerman Program Manager Endangered Language Program Fairfield Language Technologies Harrisonburg, VA 22802 USA Tel 1.800.788.0822 Ext. 3318 Tel 1.540.432.6166 Ext. 3318 Fax 1.540.432.0953 www.rosettastone.com/languagerescue _______________________________ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Sep 28 13:45:08 2004 From: sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (Susan Penfield) Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 06:45:08 -0700 Subject: Language instruction and technology Message-ID: Mia, Your thoughts on this are certainly welcome as it is all still under development. I really appreciate you r bringing all this issues to everyone's attention. I think this thread of discussion has been very beneficial for all of us interested in how to better support language learning through online sources. Best, Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: MiaKalish - LFP To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 10:46 PM Subject: Re: Language instruction and technology Hi, Garry, I checked out this board. I wanted to check out the Tools, but it turned out I needed a Login Id and then I couldn't Back out of the page. (http://oradb.faccenter.arizona.edu/ole/oleboard.html) I apparently went somewhere far, far away from where I started, because I couldn't even find myself in the History. Also, I would like to see more Show and less Tell. I think that those of us who espouse technology need to use it so others can see what can be done. Most people do better at reproduction than creation, especially when working with new things. Just some thoughts. I don't Really want to sound like the local kvetch. best, Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Garry Forger To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 1:51 PM Subject: Language instruction and technology I had the privilege of working with Sue Penfield and Phil Cash Cash here at the Learning Technologies Center of the University of Arizona on Sue’s Gates Foundation grant dealing with Native Language Teaching and Preservation using technology. The project looked at a variety of ways that technology can be used towards this end. As part of the project we created the Online Language Environments website http://www.ole.arizona.edu While by no means comprehensive, we intend for this site to collect and disseminate information on technology that supports language instruction, preservation and research. There is also information on this site about a tool that we are developing and testing, the OLE Board, which is a tool based on Macromedia technology to enable voice, video and text to be used for online instruction. At this time the focus of the site is the University of Arizona, but we are adding more information on sites outside our institution. Please feel free to browse the site send me any comments on additions and improvements or big gaps that we missed. Thank you, Garry Forger -- "There's many a knave concealed under a surplice." Danish Proverb ______________________ Garry J. Forger, MLS Assistant Director Learning Technologies Center The University of Arizona 1077 N. Highland Ave Tucson, AZ 85721-0073 gforger at u.arizona.edu http://www.ltc.arizona.edu/ Phone 520-626-7761 Fax 520-626-8220 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dzo at BISHARAT.NET Wed Sep 29 07:02:49 2004 From: dzo at BISHARAT.NET (Donald Z. Osborn) Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 02:02:49 -0500 Subject: Fwd: Fellowships in language resources and tools Message-ID: FYI (from the linguist list). There is some limited eligibility for people not from the EU - see the site... DZO Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2004 03:49:24 -0400 (EDT) From: Gisle Andersen Subject: Fellowships in language resources and tools MULTILINGUA is a Marie Curie training site at the University of Bergen, Norway, and offers interdisciplinary training in multilingual resources, language processing and knowledge tools. Multilingua gives an opportunity for guest researchers to come to Bergen to carry out parts of their research projects. The training site provides training through courses, project work and individual supervision. Researchers at doctorate level from EU member states and associated states are welcome to apply for vacant positions in 2004-2008. Accepted applicants will receive a monthly subsistence allowance, and will be refunded travel expenses. For more information about eligibility and how to apply, go to http://multilingua.uib.no/, or send a message to multilingua at uib.no. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Sep 29 16:06:33 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 09:06:33 -0700 Subject: Call for proposals for a CALICO book project (fwd) Message-ID: [fwd from the CALICO-L, CALL is "Computer Assisted Language Learning"] Please excuse the multiple postings. In response to the need for a publication that can serve as an introduction to the field of CALL, CALICO invites proposals for a book-length project to meet this need. The book should be designed as a general survey of the field that introduces teachers, faculty, graduate students to the major issues and various subfields in CALL. Individual chapters should address the subfields such as CMC, Internet-based learning, programming and/or authoring tools, digital/digitizing media, streaming media, CALL and assessment, course management systems, national foreign language standards and CALL, specific language proficiencies--listening, reading, writing, and speaking--and CALL, and so on. Each chapter should follow the same format: a literature review, discussion of the essential principles of the subfield under consideration, questions for reflections, and relevant bibliography. Discussion by CALICO's Executive and Editorial boards over the past four months have led to the formulation of a working title, "Language teaching and technology: From theory to practice." This title is meant more to suggest the nature and scope of the project rather than specify the actual title of the publication. Proposals should include the following information: 1. name of the editor(s), 2. tentative title, 3. description of the scope and sequence of the book, including the number of chapters, their titles, and a very brief synopsis of each, and 4. description of the procedures for soliciting and refereeing manuscripts for the chapters. Proposals should be submitted as a word document attached to a message to execdir at calico.org by December 3, 2004. Final decisions will be made by the end of January 2005. ---------------------------------- Robert Fischer, Executive Director CALICO 214 Centennial Hall Texas State University 601 University Drive San Marcos TX 78666 Phone: 512/245-1417 Fax: 512/245-9089 Email: execdir at calico.org Web: http://www.calico.org From dzo at BISHARAT.NET Thu Sep 30 01:32:48 2004 From: dzo at BISHARAT.NET (Donald Z. Osborn) Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 20:32:48 -0500 Subject: UNESCO's handbook on language preservation & documentation Message-ID: UNESCO's B at bel Initiative was set to release their new handbook on language preservation and documentation at the end of this month. From the news release at http://www.noticias.info/Asp/aspComunicados.asp?nid=30621&src=0 - "This project is one of the activities carried out by UNESCO~Rs Initiative B at bel which seeks to promote multilingualism in cyberspace and preserve endangered languages." Currently their website at http://www.unesco.org/webworld/babel/ is down with an undated notice that it will be back up in a week. Those interested may want to check later. Don Osborn Bisharat.net From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Sep 30 21:15:50 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 14:15:50 -0700 Subject: Navajo language video: Pledge of Allegiance (fwd link) Message-ID: fyi, Video of students performing, the video is in MPEG-1 format. Chinle Unified School District#24, Chinle, Arizona http://www.chinleusd.k12.az.us/ces/navajopledge.html From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Sep 1 15:33:46 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 08:33:46 -0700 Subject: School part of Dakotah language project (fwd) Message-ID: Posted on Mon, Aug. 23, 2004 School part of Dakotah language project http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/9470240.htm WAYNE HAMMOND Associated Press WATERTOWN, S.D. - Lake Area Technical Institute and Sisseton-Wahpeton College are teaming up to preserve and teach the Dakotah language. LATI media programmer Jason Julius and media specialist Bob Day will work over the next year to take information gathered by SWC and make it into a multimedia language tutorial. Day explained that the idea was developed by SWC President William Lonefight, who was interested in finding a partner with the resources able to take on such a project. While touring the innovation center on the campus of LATI, he was struck by the fact that the technology available might be able to handle the project, Day said. He said that SWC will do the initial end of capturing the information. LATI will take it from there. "They will capture their elders speaking and we will take the content and make it into a multimedia language tutorial," Day said. The goal is to provide some level of literacy in the language through the program being written by Julius and Day. It contains specific imagery for the detailed language - one which even deviates from when males and females speak - as well as some of the different characters not included on a standard keyboard. Julius is a recent computer information systems graduate from LATI who expects to see his proficiency in Dakotah increase as he works with it on a day-to-day basis. "It sounded interesting to learn a language while I write a program," he said. He explained that the program will largely be contained on disc, but that with the proper computer system, it could be fully contained on the Web, a trend LATI is becoming more a part of with Web-based classes available through its nursing programs as well as those offered in conjunction with the Midwest Dairy Institute. The program is being funded through SWC. It is scheduled for one year, at which time a review will take place and a second year is possible. Day said the school put together an initial demonstration for SWC, taking a laptop computer to the college, where some of the participants were able to give an idea of how what they say will be used in the finished product. "We looked at some other industry standards of computer-based learning tools," Day said. "We are going to include some improvements in our software that aren't a part of the other commonly used packages." Day said programs like these could prove very valuable in the preservation of the hundreds of Native American languages. LATI director Gary Williams added that the school is pleased to be working on a project of this importance. "It's a great honor for Lake Area Tech to work with our Native American friends and partner with the SWC in such a worthwhile project," he said. ? 2004 AP Wire and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.aberdeennews.com From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Sep 1 15:36:38 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 08:36:38 -0700 Subject: Cultural awareness affects school success (fwd) Message-ID: Cultural awareness affects school success http://www.mnsun.com/story.asp?city=Bloomington&story=142071 By Teri Kelsh Sun Newspapers (Created 8/26/2004 8:41:53 AM) As a majority of school districts in Minnesota continue to witness increased diversity in student population, educators are becoming more aware of the need for cultural awareness. Jennifer Skuza, director of urban 4-H development at the University of Minnesota, said to help all students succeed it?s essential educators understand and embrace cultural differences. ?We all want to treat everyone alike, and while this can be good in some cases, it?s not in this one.? Skuza warned, ?Trying to treat all children alike can actually be a detriment to learning.? Helping a child maintain his or her cultural identity is an asset to everyone?s learning, she said, even to the point of fostering the child?s native language, which to some can be a contentious issue. Educators are becoming increasingly confronted with classrooms of immigrant students entering school with little or no English proficiency and whose cultural and educational backgrounds aren?t corresponding with established educational expectations in the United States. The U.S. Department of Education estimates the number of students in U.S. schools with limited English proficiency range from 2.3 million to much higher. Rob Metz is the principal at Aquila Primary Center, St. Louis Park, where 20 percent of students are English language learners (ELL). He refers to Aquila as an English immersion school for ELL children. He said some parents fear teachers are spending more attention on ELL children, taking time away from their child. ?But that?s not the case at all. Having these kids in the classroom doesn?t slow the other guys down. It?s a fear that?s unfounded,? said Metz. ?Having these kids is a benefit for everyone. It generates eagerness in the building to learn.? The other side of the coin is ELL students being left behind, creating an achievement gap. The key to making sure all children succeed, said Metz, is for teachers to ?differentiate.? ?What that really means is the teacher needs to present lessons that no matter what level of language understanding a student is at they can learn.? An example, he said is a hands-on experiment where language isn?t a barrier. If a child is literate in his or her own native language, research suggests they can more easily learn a new language. So the key, said Metz, is early childhood learning in every culture. ?No matter what the language, a child with a 1,000-word vocabulary is going to succeed vs. a student with a 200-word vocabulary. If parents are readers and writers, the kids are much better off.? Promoting literacy skills at home can help every student succeed, said Metz, even those with little or no English proficiency. At a recent early childhood education forum held in Hopkins, a group of legislators from the bipartisan Early Childhood Education Caucus met with the community to discuss future policy decisions. Margaret Boyer from the Minnesota Dakota Ojibwe Language Revitalization Alliance told legislators for American Indian children to be ready for school and succeed inside white culture they first need the skills to operate within their native culture. ?A one-size-fits-all childcare education system won?t work. We need programs that embrace a child?s native culture and language,? said Boyer, stating that the problem with the one-size-fits-all system is that children lose their sense of identity. ?Since we were kids we were told in order to be successful in the white man?s world we needed to be exactly like them. Well, we?ve all come to realize now that as adults that?s not the case. Our own identity is what makes us succeed.? There have been many strategies to increase the success of American Indian children in public schools, but many were designed by a mainstream culture that does not recognize the ways of thinking and being of the American Indian community, said Boyer. According to the Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education, research shows that students in a language immersion experience have greater success in school and had consistent measurable improvement on local and national measures of achievements. Mary O?Brien, manager of St. Louis Park?s Community Education Youth and Services Program, said the School District?s family learning and school readiness programs encourage immigrant families to maintain their cultural identities. ?But what?s true in all cultures is that it?s important parents be their child?s first teacher,? she said. The Minnesota Humanities Commission in St. Paul has several bilingual family literacy initiatives to help teachers, parent educators and early childhood educators provide resources and programs to recent refugee and immigrant groups. The goal is to help them develop literacy skills and promote the importance of books and reading. O?Brien said most adults taking English language learning classes through Adult Basic Education in St. Louis Park bring their children to school with them, so the School District has used the family learning program to give immigrant families the opportunity to learn early childhood family education skills as well. Fifteen to 20 children per year attend the family learning program, according to O?Brien. ?The advantage of this program is we can teach parents and children ?Here?s what schools expect.? It?s our best way to reach diverse families in the community.? The St. Louis Park School District also offers a school readiness program where last year 50 percent of children ages 4 and 5 who attended were from a different culture. ?Most have never been in a group setting before so we take them through the whole system of what it?s going to be like to be in school,? explained O?Brien. ?All research tells us any preschool learning experience really does help a child be successful in school. The more experience, the better opportunities for kids to expand their horizons.? From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Sep 1 15:38:38 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 08:38:38 -0700 Subject: Dakotah language will be honored (fwd) Message-ID: Posted on Thu, Aug. 26, 2004 Dakotah language will be honored Governor declares Friday appreciation day; college, association plan events >From staff reports http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/9501502.htm Gov. Mike Rounds has declared Friday "Dakotah Language Revitalization and Appreciation Day," and Sisseton-Wahpeton College and the Association of American Indian Affairs will celebrate the occasion. The college and the association will host an event "to promote the preservation of the precious and invaluable Dakotah Language." "The language of the Dakotah people is a cultural heritage that is in danger of vanishing as the elders pass on," according to a release from the college. "Sisseton-Wahpeton College, in collaboration with the Association of American Indian Affairs, has begun a Dakotah language immersion program with our young children, which is already bearing fruit as they speak the words of their ancestors." The program begins at 11 a.m. at the library of the college near Sisseton. According to the release, activities include: ??A public reading of the book "The Cat in the Hat" in Dakotah language. ??A premiere showing of the animated short "Mary Tahca Skana Cistina Yuke" ("Mary had a Little Lamb"). The cartoon was recreated in the Dakotah language at SWC. ??Speakers will include SWC President Bill Lone Fight; Jerry Flute, a member of the board of directors of the Association of American Indian Affairs; and Solomon Derby, a former SWC faculty member, who will talk about the children's book he wrote as part of a class he took at the college. ??If time allows, a video version of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" will be shown. Narrated by staff member Bea Christopherson, the video was recorded and edited on campus. For more information, contact Tammy Decoteau, language project coordinator, or T.J. Just, public relations committee chairperson, at (605) 698-3966. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Sep 1 15:50:13 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 08:50:13 -0700 Subject: The Role of Indigenous Languages in Serving National Interest (fwd) Message-ID: The Role of Indigenous Languages in Serving National Interest Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone) DOCUMENT August 31, 2004 Posted to the web September 1, 2004 By METHAETSILE LEEPILE http://allafrica.com/stories/200409010258.html There are compelling reasons to protect indigenous languages from extinction because when a language dies, a people's knowledge dies with it, writes METHAETSILE LEEPILE I have been involved in media development for most of my adult life. It is 20 years since I first made my foray into the media. I think it was my love for taking on new challenges that spurred me to join Patrick van Rensburg, my mentor and the finest journalist I know, at Mmegi wa Dikgang. At the time, I knew Patrick only by reputation. A former South African diplomat in Lumumba's Congo, he had fled his country in protest against Apartheid to take up citizenship in Botswana where he started folk schools based on the education with production model. I am a product of one such school, Swaneng, the birthplace of Mmegi wa Dikgang - and the newspaper where I first cut my journalism teeth. Twenty years ago, more Batswana were literate in Setswana than in English. Both languages were treated as official. The colonial administration had, out of necessity, made Setswana - which was spoken by up to 90 percent of the population - a language of record. The size of the language's geography was significant. It had a large ethnic base and there were compelling reasons - social, political and economic - for using it as a national and official language. The colonial administration's pragmatism towards the language, was borne out of the realisation that Setswana was the lingua franca of the Protectorate. The regime decreed knowledge of Setswana a requirement for service in the public sector, by far the largest employer at the time. This situation was carried over into the immediate post-independence period. Whilst there was no attempt to develop the language as a national asset, there was an acknowledgment by the new administration that Setswana was of national importance. To highlight some of this acknowledgement: - A Setswana Language Council exists to spearhead the technical development of the language, especially with respect to the building of the corpora; - Most official texts were in English but there was no shortage of Setswana literature; - Tuition in primary schools was in Setswana, initially taught from grades 1 to 6 and later to 4; - Setswana was a compulsory subject in secondary school; - The language had a standard orthography; - Texts, including those in Mathematics, had been developed for use in primary and secondary schools; - The national university and teacher training colleges were offering Setswana as an optional subject and producing graduates in the language. A few years ago, I returned from Namibia after my stint at Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) headquarters. I was surprised at the level of neglect Setswana had been subjected to in the short years I had been out of the country. Unlike in the past, Government departments did not seem to be obliged to publish documents in Setswana. Commitment to the development of Setswana and other indigenous languages was couched in platitudes - like in the Vision 2016 document where it is stated that "the nation's languages must be taught to a high standard at all levels" and that "all Batswana must have access to the media through national and local radio, television and newspapers". A number of concerned Batswana approached me with the idea of resuscitating the language through the media. They wanted to start a Setswana language newspaper, but were unsure about the reception in the market. The feasibility study that followed made some interesting revelations. Among the findings: There was unanimity among political parties and local government authorities that Setswana must take its rightful place in society. This would require political will; Setswana would benefit from the development of minority languages spoken in the country, which are spoken by about 10 to 15 percent of the population; The role of language in education should be re-defined as this would unlock the potential in our learners and teachers and lead to a nation of innovators unimpeded by a foreign language they do not understand; The use of Setswana in public affairs would lead to the participation of the majority population in matters of public interest and make for informed decision-making. This particular point was identified as a serious weakness in the country's democracy; In line with the wishes of the national vision, Vision 2016, a strong culture of reading must be cultivated among the general populace. This should make for "an informed and educated nation"; The survey also revealed a nation hungry for reading Setswana. Out of the 559 respondents interviewed, 94% said they would read Setswana newspapers if these were available. A very high proportion of the interviewees (82%) felt that Setswana should be used in government business. I became involved with the Mokg?si initiative in a project management capacity, in early 2002. There were initially eight promoters, who I advised to get more Batswana involved as this was no ordinary business project. Capital would not be enough for it to succeed: Mokg?si needed as many people from as diverse a background as possible to 'buy-into' the concept. The number of shareholders today stands at 40. They are drawn from a wide range of disciplines. It was not a particularly tidy model to follow: the contributions came in dribs and drabs, which meant that the programme of action was severely compromised as a result of undercapitalisation from the beginning. Initially we used commissioned personnel to run the paper. Not even the editor was on the payroll. We also outsourced key services such as design and production, accounting, newspaper distribution and printing. The good news is that the product had market appeal. To differentiate it from existing titles, we packaged it as a broadsheet, the country's first. The writing was initially intended to be light, easy to follow. Good photography was to be an integral part of the product. This paid off. Within six months of its launch, the paper won a number of prizes sponsored by MISA (Botswana), being 'Best Designed Newspaper'; 'Journalist of the Year' and 'Photographer of the Year'. Last year it won in the 'Business Reporter of the Year' category. As a business, Mokg?si has a long way to go. The paper operates in a market that is increasingly becoming crowded and competitive. Botswana has a population of 1,7 million, with an adult literacy rate of 79 percent. Other than Mokg?si, there are seven other newspapers that compete for news and ad-spend. Publishing in Setswana is therefore no recipe for success. To the contrary, it could be a recipe for failure. In the absence of a policy framework that supports the development of the national language, the paper is a threatened species. Worse, the commercialisation of the free distribution government Daily News in recent months, has adversely affected the paper's share of the government advertising revenue, 90 percent of which was derived from this source alone during the first year. Traditionally, newspapers in small population markets like Botswana derive the bulk of their revenue from advertising. The experience of the past 12 months indicate that in so far as Mokg?si is concerned, this may not apply. Mokg?si must therefore remain in the forefront of innovation with respect to its income generating and market penetration strategies. It must be innovative in the way it looks. It must be innovative in the way it presents information to the public. It must be innovative in the way it seeks to reach out to its readers, potential and actual, literate or semi-literate; influential or the average person in the street. Any new project has the potential to unlock economic opportunities that were hitherto unknown, and Mokg?si is no exception. Among the opportunities that may emanate as a result of the popularisation of Setswana are research in the capacity building of the language, the effect of its widespread use in the media on national/local government policies and its potential impact in promoting good governance and public accountability; the development of dictionaries, the development of software to facilitate its use in the computer, translation, transcription, standardisation of Sotho-Tswana as a modern language (Sotho-Tswana is spoken by an estimated 8 - 10 million people in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe). The development of Setswana as a national language, let alone as a cross-border language, requires huge investments in advocacy initiatives. There are an estimated 7,000 languages spoken throughout the world today. Thirty-six per cent face the prospect of extinction. A third of this are said to be in Africa. It took the Welsh 50 years to appreciate the value of their language and to lobby for its resuscitation. Perhaps the most classic case in the modern era is the Hebrew language, which was but technically dead 50 years ago. Language encapsulates a people's culture, social mores, values, and knowledge. When a language dies, a people's knowledge dies with it. Language is about economic and social empowerment. More people can be brought into public and productive life by wider and more productive use of indigenous languages like Setswana. The development of language can be used to promote a sound understanding of entrepreneurship, commerce, economics, history, science and technology. More of our people need to be educated and educate themselves on issues of their material and natural environment, of economic, social and scientific development, and all aspects of culture, entertainment, sports and humour; of the importance of improving individual and societal health, and of international, regional and African affairs. The mass use of indigenous languages like Setswana can carry the population at large to realising these ideals. This is an abridged version of an acceptance speech delivered by the former editor of Mmegi, Methaetsile Leepile, at the MISA Annual Gala Dinner in Maseru on Friday after he won the MISA Press Freedom Award. The award recognises an individual or organisation that has done the most to further press freedom and freedom of expression in the Southern African region in line with the Windhoek Declaration on the Promotion of a Free, Independent and Pluralistic Press. Previous winners include the late Makani Kabwedza (editor of Zimbabwe's Moto magazine), Geoff Nyarota (editor of the defunct Daily News, in Zimbabwe), the late Carlos Cardosso (founder and editor of MediaFax, in Mozambique), Gwen Lister (publisher and editor of The Namibian), Fred M'mebe (publisher of The Post, in Zambia), and the late Bright Mwape (a former journalist at The Post). From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Sep 1 15:56:56 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 08:56:56 -0700 Subject: Eskimo traditions melt away with every generation (fwd) Message-ID: Eskimo traditions melt away with every generation Marriages were far more complex than just saying, 'I do' - Sarah Kershaw, New York Times Sunday, August 29, 2004 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/08/29/MNG108F47E1.DTL Gambell , Alaska -- When it became clear that the elders in this isolated Eskimo village on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea approved of the marriage, Clifford Apatiki's relatives did what was required of them: They bought him his bride. That meant, according to a fast-fading custom among the Siberian Yupiks, a small but sturdy native Alaskan tribe that has inhabited this treeless and brutally windy island since about A.D. 500, that Apatiki's family would spend at least a year coming up with the payment. They called on their relatives, here in Gambell, over in Savoonga, the other Yupik village on this island 38 miles from the Chukchi peninsula in Russia, and across Alaska, to send them things -- sealskins, rifles, bread, a toaster -- a house full of gifts. When the bride's family accepted the offerings, Apatiki, a skilled ivory carver and polar bear hunter, did what was required of him: He went to work for her family as a kind of indentured servant for a year, hunting seal, whale and polar bear, and doing chores around the house. The marriage between Apatiki, 30, and Jennifer Campbell, 29, a former bookkeeper for the village tribal council, was formalized five years ago, when traditional marriages such as theirs were still the norm here. But now the couple worry whether their children will follow suit because even in five years this and other centuries-old traditions in this village of 700 have been slipping away, as one of the most remote villages on Earth finally contends with the modern world. "I'm sure people will continue to do it for a while," Jennifer Apatiki said one evening in the living room of her one-story home in the village. "If the tradition isn't in effect with some families, they are whispered about. They will say about a girl, 'She was not bought.' " Still, it is of great concern to the elders of Gambell that this marriage tradition is disappearing in the face of whirlwind change here over the last decade. Life has shifted so much in Gambell, where satellite television, rising rates of alcoholism and a growing rejection by the younger generation of the Yupik language and customs have begun to chip away at tradition and at a hunting-and-gathering subsistence lifestyle, that it is as if the world here is playing on videotape stuck on fast-forward. And fewer couples are getting married in the traditional way, despite pleas from their parents and grandparents in this hard-working whaling community. The rising tension between the old ways and the new ones, between older generations and younger ones, is playing out in native villages across this state, where 16 percent of the population is indigenous Alaskan, comprising 11 distinct cultures and speaking 20 different languages. The Internet, much more regular airline travel and other modern advances are connecting even the most remote Alaskan villages to mainstream society. "Gambell, it has changed quite a bit now," said Winfred James, 82, one of the village's most knowledgeable elders, one recent evening in his living room, where he was watching a CNN interview of Sen. John Kerry and his wife. "Westernization is coming in." James said he and other elders were deeply concerned about losing the marriage customs, "but it probably will change with the next generation." "We try to teach them to do that, you know," he added. "So they can know each other, so they can stick together." Village residents say that more and more young couples are simply living together and not pursuing the traditional marriage customs or that men are working for the families of their fiancees for much shorter periods, if at all. "They work for maybe a month, and then I guess they forget," said Christopher Koonooka, 26, who teaches at the village school in a bilingual program. Koonooka said he saw many of his peers rejecting the old traditions. The Siberian Yupiks inhabit Gambell and Savoonga, a village of 700 people about 50 miles from here, and parts of the Siberian Chukchi Peninsula, where about 900 Siberian Yupiks live. Gambell was named after a Presbyterian missionary, Vene Gambell, who came to St. Lawrence Island in the late 1800s. He was followed by other missionaries, whose Western-sounding surnames made their way into the lineage of the Yupiks. The first working telephones were installed here in the 1970s, and television was not readily available until about a decade ago; running water became available to about half of the homes here about five years ago. Before satellite television, Gambell residents watched the news at least two weeks late on videotapes flown in with other supplies from Nome, the closest city on the Alaska mainland, 200 miles away and reachable only by small plane. Almost every house has a satellite dish. The first cellular telephone tower was built a few years ago, near the one-room trailer that serves as the police station. The people here generally welcome much of the technology even as the village elders and others say television is a particularly disturbing force. For example, global positioning systems now provide great assistance to hunters who might otherwise get terribly lost in the rough Bering Sea, especially because some of the old knowledge about how to find the whales, seals and walrus has been lost. And the Internet has not only allowed greater access to information, but ivory carvers, who would otherwise have to wait for the occasional tourist or birder, use it to advertise and sell their wares. (Only the hardiest birders make the trek out here from Nome, and tourists arrive only once in a while, on cruise ships that sometimes stop on the shores of Gambell.) "Technology has had a big impact, in good ways and bad ways," said Mattox Metcalf, high school program art coordinator for the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage and a Siberian Yupik who was born in Gambell. "Some of my relatives have said they are competing hard with what's on TV. "The younger people are seeing stuff on TV, and they are slowly realizing that what they do is different from what other people do in the U.S.," said Metcalf, 24, who travels here frequently to visit relatives. "And they want to be like them. The older people are trying to fight for their minds and fight for their attention. It is kind of at a stalemate right now." Carol Zane Jolles, an anthropologist at the University of Washington in Seattle who has studied the people of St. Lawrence Island and recently published a book about her research, said she had seen radical changes here, even since she first visited in the late 1980s. Returning in the last few years, Jolles was struck, she said, by how children were speaking English first with each other, rather than Siberian Yupik, the main language of their parents, and that she saw major shifts in the marriage customs and in family structure. In a society still structured around clans, the recent construction of modern houses has shifted the emphasis from the extended family to the nuclear family, she said. The newer homes, prefabricated and shipped here, replaced the small driftwood and walrus hide houses that still stand in the older part of the village, where dozens of people live and there is no running water. "Everyone now has access to the way the rest of the world lives," Jolles said. "They are American citizens and they have the same interests and values." She added, "They are watching how other people live on television, the modern movies, and there is a great impact on young people." As much as things have changed in Gambell, there are some constants, and on a recent summer afternoon, life, on the surface anyway, was unfolding much as it has for hundreds of years. Split walrus skins, used to cover and waterproof the sea hunting boats, were stretched across wooden planks, drying under the sun. Some of the women were picking greens up on the mountain, preparing to soak them in tall buckets of mountain spring water and store them for the winter. In the winter, the rocky mountain is bare, except for gravestones and above-ground coffins in the village cemetery and piles of snow. There are greens and berries to be harvested here in the summer, and sea fruits wash up on the beach in the fall, but no fruits or vegetables can be found in the winter. Other women were picking through the cache of meat carved from a 40-foot bowhead whale caught last April, contemplating dinner. The meat is kept in hand-made freezers dug out in the still frosty tundra, on a foggy landscape scattered with giant whalebones, prized trophies laid across the black gravel. Later that night, the women sliced up the whale blubber and served it on a large tray, along with bits of smoked seal and walrus flippers, a delicacy, at a party for a couple celebrating their 17th wedding anniversary. The men, meanwhile, including Kenneth James, 24, the grandson of Winfred James and an up-and-coming hunter of whales, walrus and reindeer, were checking their nets for salmon and trout, zooming back and forth between their one-story wooden houses and the beach on all-terrain vehicles that, in the summer, replace snowmobiles as the only mode of transportation in this roadless village. Others were buffing and polishing their intricate walrus ivory carvings. Kenneth James, perhaps one of the last to abide by the marriage tradition, will soon begin working for his girlfriend's family, once his grandfather gathers an acceptable amount of goods for them. He was stoic about his duty. "I will be going to work soon," James said late one evening, as the sun, which does not set here in the summer until 2 a.m., was still lighting up the village. He was eager to hop on his all-terrain vehicle and check his salmon nets. "It's what I will do," he said. This evidence that some young people are still keeping the marriage tradition makes many elders happy. Perhaps the Gambell resident most concerned about what the village is facing these days is Edmond Apassingok, 41, president of the Indian Reorganization Act Council, which, along with the Gambell City Council, governs the village. Apassingok, a whale hunter who caught a 50-foot whale last January (the meat is shared among all the residents and catching a whale is cause for a huge, emotional celebration) is deeply concerned about the rising temperatures in Alaska, he said. The annual mean temperature has risen in Alaska 5.4 degrees over the last 30 years, and the climate change has shortened the season for whale hunting because the ice that provides the right conditions for whales has begun to melt earlier in the spring. But Apassingok has other worries, as well. "Every generation is losing something," he said. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Sep 1 16:01:37 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 09:01:37 -0700 Subject: Professor works to preserve 'weird' languages (fwd link) Message-ID: Professor works to preserve 'weird' languages http://www.purdueexponent.org/interface/bebop/showstory.php?date=2004/08/30§ion=campus&storyid=benedicto161 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Sep 2 16:40:09 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Thu, 2 Sep 2004 09:40:09 -0700 Subject: Dying language gets another chance (fwd) Message-ID: Dying language gets another chance [photo inset - Jenna Hauck/Metrovalley. Seabird Island resident Elizabeth Herrling continues to keep her native Sto:lo language alive.] By Jessica Gillies MetroValley News http://www.agassizharrisonobserver.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=2&cat=23&id=290213&more= Thanks to a handful of local Sto:lo elders, the nearly extinct Halq'emeylem language has a chance to live on in future generations. The elders' work has led to the creation of a Halq'emeylem language program that will enable students to earn a Developmental Standard Teaching Certificate that will allow them to teach the language to others, says program coordinator Thelma Wenman. The language was on the verge of dying out. Only a few elders remained who could speak the language, and children had resisted learning it in school, says Elizabeth Herrling (whose traditional name is Ts'ats'elexwot) - one of the elders who speaks Halq'emeylem and who has made great contributions to the language program. She went to Seabird Island to teach it, she says, but the children were "stubborn" and didn't want to learn. "Every time you'd speak to them, they'd just laugh at you." When Ms. Herrling was a child, she was forbidden to speak Halq'emeylem at school. On Seabird Island, her friends all forgot their own language and spoke English. "I was stubborn," she says. "It was the only language my grandmothers were speaking. Every time we spoke the language we got punished [at school]." Now, there are few people to speak Halq'emeylem with. "Just me," she says. "I talk to myself sometimes." Ms. Herrling, who is now 88, had six sisters and three brothers. She has one younger brother left, who she says can understand Halq'emeylem but not speak it. "I'm the oldest and I'm still here," she says. "I don't know why." "Because you're stubborn," replies Strang Burton, a linguist working with her on the language project. Mr. Burton has been working with the language for about nine years. He started when he was doing a post-doctorate from UBC, and he was hired part-time by Sto:lo Nation five or six years ago, he says. He knows words and phrases in Halq'emeylem, he says, but "if a couple of elders were to speak fluently, I would have a hard time understanding them." Mr. Burton and Elizabeth Herrling, along with elders Elizabeth Phillips, Tillie Guitterez, and the late Rosaleen George, have collaborated to make various learning mate rials so that Halq'emeylem can be taught in schools. "I didn't want my language to fade away, so I had to do something," says Ms. Herrling. They have produced three CD-ROMS (two vocabulary/language and one sounds), three textbooks with 50 lessons each, audio CDs of phrases and language in the textbooks, and an audio dictionary, says Mr. Burton. The dictionary, he adds, has about 3,800 entries, which ends up being about 10,000 sound files. There are two speakers for each entry, because they have "noticeably different dialects" of Halq'emeylem. There is also another CD-ROM, with a book and audio CD, about a Sasquatch story told by an elder. Currently, Mr. Burton is working with Ms. Herrling and collecting her stories to put them into a similar format. In June, Ms. Herrling received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from UCFV. The Halq'emeylem program has four introductory levels and four intensive fluency levels, all of which have to be completed in order to qualify for the Developmental Standard Teaching Certificate, she says. All the levels are accredited through the Niccola Valley Institute of Technology, and the introductory levels are accredited through UCFV, says Ms. Wenman. Those eight levels satisfy the DSTC's language component, but other courses have to be completed as well. The DSTC was approved through the B.C. College of Teachers and Simon Fraser University, she says. Ten students have finished the program and nine are almost done, she says. Their courses are scattered between NVIT, UCFV, SFU, and Sto:lo Nation. "We're running three levels per year," says Ms. Wenman, so it takes a year and a half to get through the introductory levels, and a year and a half to get through the intensive fluency portion. "That's just for the language component," she says. Ms. Wenman credits the elders for their hard work and influence on the program. "It's all through the aid of our beloved elders Elizabeth Herrling, Elizabeth Phillips, and the late Rosaleen George," she says. "Without them we wouldn't have our language classes." Laura Wealick, whose traditional name is Wee Lay Laq, is one of the students who took the language classes. "I am a teacher of the language; I'm also a student of the language," she says. "I've been studying [Halq'emeylem] for the last five years." She has also studied a downriver Halq'emeylem dialect, she says, and her mother's language, Ooweekeno. She's studying Halq'emeylem because it's her father's language and because it's endangered, she says. For the past two and a half years, Ms. Wealick has been teaching community language classes at Tzeachten. In September, she says she'll be teaching Halq'emeylem at Sto:lo Shxweli. "Our students will have the opportunity to study - more importantly, to think - in their language," she says. "I felt like I was waking up my ancestors because the words I was speaking hadn't been spoken in our family for two generations. It was like using muscles in my throat, in my body, that hadn't been used for many years. That was a really moving experience. The language is an integral part of our culture." Now that she has her DSTC, Ms. Wealick will be doing the Professional Development Program, which she says is a year of intensive study, half of which is a practicum. As for Elizabeth Herrling, says Ms. Wealick, "She's my mentor. She is probably one of the most beautiful women I have ever met." Ms. Herrling, Elizabeth Phillips and Tillie Guitterez "are leaders in the language now," she says, as well as "other people, too, that have gone before them. "These three ladies have come forward, and continue to come forward and offer their knowledge. Without them, our language would not have this thread of hope." She praises Strang Burton as well. "That guy is just unreal. He's doing phenomenal work - I just can't say enough about him. He's just so giving and the stuff he's doing is just incredible. "It's my belief that it takes many hands and many minds to accomplish anything. These people are only a handful of representatives of everyone that's contributed to the language to date. There have been lots and lots of people - I don't want people to get the wrong impression that it's only these three people." From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Sep 3 14:38:19 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 3 Sep 2004 07:38:19 -0700 Subject: UNL professor aims to rescue disappearing Omaha language (fwd) Message-ID: UNL professor aims to rescue disappearing Omaha language By Travis Coleman http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2004/08/25/local/10054256.txt Adorned with several Native books and Omaha beadwork, the office of Mark Awakuni-Swetland has two photographs prominently displayed: Those of Charles and Elizabeth Stabler, his adoptive grandparents from the Omaha Tribe. "(They) made a place for me in this community," Awakuni-Swetland said. Awakuni-Swetland, a non-Native, now fights to preserve the Omaha language as aprofessor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. When taken in by his adoptive family and the Omaha Tribe, he was introduced to the Omaha language and culture at community events, ceremonies and the dinner table. "(The culture is) fed to you as much as the food." He and Omaha elders and instructors are trying to reverse 150 years of loss - of language, of culture, of people. Awakuni-Swetland said the language of the Omaha began to fade when they were moved onto the reservation in 1855. Missionary and boarding schools carefully watched the Omaha people. "They routinely punished children for behaving in any Native custom," including speaking the language, he said. An entire generation lived in fear of its own culture and made the decision to pass down English, not Omaha, to their children, he said. During the 1940s, few children were taught Omaha. Those who did learn the language often were told by their non-Native teachers that speaking Omaha was a bad thing. "We've seen the impact of the mainstream educational system, which has routinely denigrated nonmainstream culture," he said. Awakuni-Swetland learned the language in 1971, when he took an Omaha language course in Lincoln taught by his adoptive grandmother, Elizabeth Stabler. The class began with 20 students, most of them university age. Within three weeks, all of the students except Awakuni-Swetland had dropped out. "The fact that I showed an interest in the language made me acceptable," Awakuni-Swetland said. He helped Stabler compile a limited dictionary of Omaha vocabulary, published in 1977. Twenty-seven years later, the work, Umonhon iyea of Elizabeth Stabler, is still used as a source book at Omaha Nation Public Schools in Macy. Stabler's husband, Charles - a Native American Church "roadman," or minister - introduced Awakuni-Swetland to the Omaha Tribe. He was formally adopted into the tribe in 1977, after Charles Stabler had asked permission from several members. In August 1999, he was asked to come to UNL to teach an Omaha language class. After asking permission of the tribal council, elders and other Omaha, he began teaching four years ago. "The majority (of Omaha) were in favor of the language being taught here," Awakuni-Swetland said. "(They thought it would be) a good opportunity for non-Indians to learn about the early inhabitants of the state - as well as a welcoming environment for their own children coming here." He is in the same position his grandmother was more than 30 years ago: trying to pass an endangered language to the next generation. "The students have been generally pleased," Awakuni-Swetland said. "But the students who have been most difficult (to teach) have been the Omaha students." Some Omaha feel pressure to get good grades and absorb their cultural language in the distinctly non-Native environment of a college classroom. Their families push them to learn it instead at home, with other tribe members, from their elders. Awakuni-Swetland enjoys having people of all cultures in his classes. His goal is to "show students how they can be exposed to a culture that's not theirs - so they can come to understand it and co-exist with it," he said. "And in the end, become a better human being." Reach Travis Coleman at 473-7211 or tcoleman@;journalstar.com. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Sep 3 14:39:57 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 3 Sep 2004 07:39:57 -0700 Subject: Keeping alive a language and a culture (fwd) Message-ID: Keeping alive a language and a culture By Travis Coleman http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2004/08/25/local/10054255.txt MACY - An Omaha Indian Reservation high school student stares at three juice bottles and answers an instructor timidly. "Sezi ni," (sez a-nay) he says, pointing at a bottle of orange juice during a class on the Omaha language. His anxious expression melts into a grin as the instructor praises him. "Udon shkaxe," (oo-done shkaw-hay) says Vida Stabler, an Umo`nhon, (oo-mon-hon) or Omaha, language instructor. It means, "You did a good job." The student is one of 100 high school and elementary students fighting to keep the Omaha language alive by taking courses at the Omaha Tribe Public School. In 1994, the Omaha Tribe said less than 1 percent of its total enrollment - nearly 7,000 - was fluent in the language of one of Nebraska's earliest inhabitants. Of that 1 percent, only 30 lived on the Omaha reservation. The reservation's senior center is where many of the tribe's fluent speakers come to eat. The elders are keeping the language alive. "(The preservation of the Omaha language) is very important to our tribes," said Maxine Parker, 66. "We have to pick up what our ancestors left behind." Stabler and her team of 16 elders and teachers have joined Mark Awakuni-Swetland - a professor of the Omaha language at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln - and the Omaha Tribe Head Start program and Nebraska Indian Community College to save the language and, in turn, the culture. "Iknow it's a struggle," Stabler said. "But these young ones have good minds - with each day, they produce more and more." To ensure the Omaha language survives and thrives, educational and community centers on and off the reservation teach the language to youths of all ages. At the Omaha Tribe Head Start program, preschoolers are taught Omaha names for shapes, colors and numbers, said Lenna Spears, the director. Elementary school Omaha courses have been formed and will be taught this semester. Natives are exposed to further instruction in high school and can seek Omaha language courses at Nebraska Indian Community College in Macy or at UNL. The words transmit more than just commands and phrases, according to instructors. "The majority of Omahas see language and culture as two sides of the same coin," Awakuni-Swetland said. "The common phrase is, 'If you learn our language, you learn our culture.'" The way the language is spoken, Awakuni-Swetland said, is what makes it precious. "Omaha is very context-specific. When you talked Omaha, you knew what you were talking about," he said. "The jokes are funnier. The stories are more potent. The prayers are more special." The level of instruction in the classroom cannot match the level of learning in the home, Stabler said. For students to fully grasp the concepts of Omaha language and culture, a family-like environment must exist in the classroom, Stabler said. Omaha Tribe Public School language classes take place in the hutuga, (who-la-ga) or tribal circle. There are no desks or chalkboards. Few written materials exist. "I don't like tables. I see them as a deterrent to learning," Stabler said. "We try to create a family environment." Traditionally, the language has been passed to the next generation orally. This family environment, according to Stabler, ensures students are taught the language the same way their ancestors learned it. "Vida and her team of elders have been diligent in their approach to this multifaceted situation," Awakuni-Swetland said. "In every case possible, they have tried to use an Omaha-appropriate approach." The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska faces similar problems: 11 of the 4,222 people enrolled in the tribe speak fluent Ho-Chunk. Since 2003, more than 600 students have taken Ho-Chunk classes in several schools surrounding Winnebago. A federal grant pays for the Omaha Tribe's efforts to revitalize the language. But each time the $78,000 grant runs short, Stabler confidently asks the school board for help, because it fully supports the project. The financial challenges are small when compared to the work of making the Omaha language thrive again, Stabler said. "You can't let up on these efforts. The challenge is to create opportunities for people to engage in Umonhon on a day-to-day basis," Stabler said. "I have to have hope. I have to believe it will be a thriving language." Donna Parker, 64, is an elder who instructs alongside Stabler. Often, when Stabler cannot find a word or a phrase during class, she seeks guidance from Parker or Karen Tyndall, another instructor. This is the way the language should be passed down: from one generation to another, Parker said. But, the fear of losing what Omahas hold dear is strong in Parker. "It's fading away. - We would like to preserve the language. If we don't, it will be lost." And with it, a way of life. Travis Coleman was a Journal Star intern this summer. He plans to attend the University of South Dakota this fall. He can be reached through citydesk@;journalstar.com. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sat Sep 4 22:27:55 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2004 15:27:55 -0700 Subject: Language Endangerment and Language Revitalization (fwd) Message-ID: from the Mouton De Gruyter website http://www.degruyter.de/rs/bookSingle.cfm?id=IS-3110176629-1&fg=SK&l=E# ~~~ Tsunoda, Tasaku Language Endangerment and Language Revitalization 2004. 23 x 15.5 cm. Approx. VIII, 352 pages. Cloth. Approx. Euro [D] 128.00 / approx. sFr 205.00 / approx. US$ 154.00. * ISBN 3-11-017662-9 MOUTON DE GRUYTER to be published December 2004 In almost every part of the world, minority languages are threatened with extinction. At the same time, dedicated efforts are being made to document endangered languages, to maintain them, and even to revive once-extinct languages. The present volume examines a wide range of issues that concern language endangerment and? language revitalization. Among other things, it is shown that languages may be endangered to different degrees, endangerment situations in selected areas of the world are surveyed and definitions of language death and types of language death presented. The book also examines causes of language endangerment, speech behaviour in a language endangerment situation, structural changes in endangered languages, as well as types of speakers encountered in a language endangerment situation. In addition, methods of documentation and of training for linguists are proposed which will enable scholars to play an active role in the documentation of endangered languages and in language revitalization. The book presents a comprehensive overview of the field. It is clearly written and contains ample references to the relevant literature, thus providing useful guidance for further research. The author often draws on his own experience of documenting endangered languages and of language revival activities in Australia. The volume is of interest to a wide readership, including linguists, anthropologists, sociologists, and educators. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sat Sep 4 19:03:42 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2004 12:03:42 -0700 Subject: Integrating Native culture helps WASL scores (fwd) Message-ID: SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/189453_wasltulalip04.html Integrating Native culture helps WASL scores Tulalip Elementary program shows gains Saturday, September 4, 2004 By JENNIFER LANGSTON SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER A curriculum that incorporates Lushootseed language lessons, research projects on Native canoe carvers and interaction with tribal elders have contributed to dramatic test score gains at Snohomish County's Tulalip Elementary School, officials believe. Fourth-grade scores on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning at the school where nearly four out of five students are Native American still remained well below state averages last year. Forty-three percent of the school's 222 students met reading standards, 30 percent met math standards, and 35 percent passed the writing test. But that represents a big leap over the previous year, when 22 percent met reading standards, 17 percent met math standards and 15 percent passed the writing test. "Our students are excited when they see their own culture and language in the curriculum," said fourth-grade teacher David Cort. "When the kids are reading their own literature instead of something out of a textbook, they definitely become more engaged in learning." He credited the school's partnerships with the Tulalip Tribes, which provided Native language teachers and elders to teach a special curriculum last year marrying Native American literature and cultural lessons with state academic requirements. The school is on the reservation west of Marysville. That curriculum -- which requires finding teachers with that specialized cultural knowledge and financial resources to pay them -- has been used three of the last five years. Each time, there's been a noticeable rise in WASL scores, Cort said. Last year's fourth-graders were also the first to have had access all four years to a computer and technology lab that the tribes helped outfit. Students used it last year to produce a multimedia CD based on a story about a Tulalip canoe carver, he said. Don Hatch, a tribal council member and former member of the Marysville School Board, said there's been a push reservationwide to instill cultural pride in new generations of tribal members. "Are we there yet? No," he said. "It's a slow process but we've got to do just a little bit more every year." Hank Williams, a Tulalip elder and police officer who frequently visits classrooms, said a growing tribal police force has been able to focus on truancy problems. Money from the Tulalips' casino and business ventures has allowed the tribes to increase their police force over the last five years from a handful of officers to 17, he said. They've been enforcing a new curfew law and following up on parents who aren't making sure their children get to school, he said. "Before, there was hardly anybody who cared ... but we've got people now who can go in and say why aren't you in school?" P-I reporter Jennifer Langston can be reached at 425-252-5235 or jenniferlangston at seattlepi.com ? 1998-2004 Seattle Post-Intelligencer From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Sep 6 16:56:24 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 6 Sep 2004 09:56:24 -0700 Subject: Elders of Oneida Tribe Try to Preserve Their Language (fwd) Message-ID: Elders of Oneida Tribe Try to Preserve Their Language Ted Landphair Oneida, New York 05 Sep 2004, 15:26 UTC http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=429E5E2A-BFB1-4783-B532469457D00496&title=Elders%20of%20Oneida%20Tribe%20Try%20to%20Preserve%20Their%20Language&catOID=45C9C784-88AD-11D4-A57200A0CC5EE46C&categoryname=Arts%20%26%20Culture# Listen to Ted Landphair's report (RealAudio) Landphair report - Download 707k (RealAudio) ? [photo inset - Oneida women practice ancient Oneida language in strictly structured Berlitz classes, in hopes of learning the tongue well enough to teach it to the tribe's young people. VOA photo - T. Landphair] Off and on for 25 years, elders of the Oneida Indian Nation of about 1000 people in New York State have tried to teach the ancient Oneida language to their children. The young people have learned enough for rituals, and not much more. Only about 150 true Oneida speakers remain in the tribe's three enclaves in the United States and Canada. So, as VOA's Ted Landphair reports, the Oneidas are taking a drastic step to save their dying language. As anyone who's tried to learn a language can tell you, just memorizing lists of vocabulary words doesn't work very well. Oneida young people studied and studied, only to forget most of what they learned when they stepped back into a world awash in English. Tribal elders concluded that only serious language immersion would work. They turned for help outside the nation, to the Berlitz organization, which employs its trademark Berlitz Method at four hundred language centers in more than sixty countries. Richard Van Vliet is the instruction supervisor at the Berlitz office in Rochester. He's developing a textbook and a guide to show the Oneidas how to teach THEMSELVES their own language. "This language is very difficult, because what they do is incorporate nouns inside of verbs," he explains. "Let's say that I want to say, 'I see the cat.' You take the word 'see' and put 'cat' in between the three letters. You'd have an 's, c-a-t,' and then an 'e-e.' It makes it very difficult to learn." Brian Patterson is an elder of the Bear Clan, one of four in the Oneida Indian Nation. Mr. Patterson says when the government imposed U.S. citizenship on all Indians early in the 20th century, it took Indian children from their homes and placed them in boarding schools where it was forbidden to speak any language but English. [photo inset - Oneida Bear Clan leaders Brian Patterson and Marilyn John pushed for the language immersion program. VOA photo - T. Landphair] "A whole generation of our people missed their language," says Mr. Patterson. "And so now we're struggling to catch up. I heard a linguist say one time, 'There are no dead languages. They are just sleeping.' The first Oneida word that I learned, I was watching a Saturday-morning cartoon in which these human-looking monkeys were dancing around a fire, yelling 'OH-tuh, OH-tuh, OH-tuh.' And my mother came into the living room. She was just laughing. I couldn't understand why she was laughing at these monkeys yelling 'OH-tuh, OH-tuh, OH-tuh.' Well that's kind of a swear word in Oneida." Bear clan mother Marilyn John took some of the old lessons on the Oneida reserve, recitations that were practically useless in everyday life. "The language has a different meaning when you speak it to one another than English," she notes. "When we have our ceremonies down at our long house, or our council house, it means so much more if it's in the language than it does in English. Just talking about Mother Earth. You just can't put in English what that means." Norma Jamieson is a Canadian Oneida and one of the last remaining Oneida speakers. She was a language teacher in the old days, and now she's starting over, the Berlitz way, with lots of full sentences, role-playing, and repetition. Today's lesson for the VOA audience: a chair is not just a chair. "'Chair' is 'uh-NEETS-squah-huh-LUCK-quah' in Oneida. And 'uh-NEETS-squah-huh-LUCK-quah' means, 'You put your backside onto the chair': 'uh-NEETS-squah-huh-LUCK-quah.' And that's what 'chair' means: 'You set yourself on it.' The action involved," explains Ms. Jamieson. [photo inset - Casino money has helped the tribe prosper and pay for educational and social programs, as well as schools and other tribal buildings. VOA photo - T. Landphair] Sherri Beglin and Sunny Shenandoah are two of the eight Oneidas now learning their own complex language from Norma Jamieson and another instructor. It's not a class. This is their full-time job, all day, every day for a year. They are paid by the tribe to do it, so they're sure to be motivated. "I've dreamt it. People have told me I'm sleeping when I'm saying it," she says. "There have been a few times, like when I answer the phone or I talk to people, I just automatically speak to them in Oneida without even thinking. I even talk to my cat in Oneida!" Whenever Sunny Shenandoah's grandmother spoke Oneida as a little girl, she was beaten. Now Ms. Shenandoah has the entire tribe behind her efforts to learn, use, and teach the language. "The hard part right now is that there aren't many people who speak it," says Ms. Shenandoah. "But I think once we get more and more people speaking it, it'll just grow and grow until everyone can speak English and Oneida. And that means 'it's my responsibility to learn the Oneida language.'" There is one big disappointment about the language-immersion program so far: only women have signed up. That's partly explained by the culture's matriarchal traditions. The men complain they're too busy with their jobs at the tribe's casino or elsewhere. But this Indian nation has devised a clever way to get boys, if not men, interested. Lacrosse is a Native American game that many others have learned, and it's played with a passion on the Oneida reserve. So the newly trained Oneida speakers are helping coaches slip more and more Oneida words into a place where boys are sure to learn them, on the lacrosse field. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Sep 6 23:15:49 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 6 Sep 2004 16:15:49 -0700 Subject: San call for greater recognition of their languages (fwd) Message-ID: SOUTHERN AFRICA: San call for greater recognition of their languages The San called for more efforts to promote their languages http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43051&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=SOUTHERN_AFRICA WINDHOEK, 6 Sep 2004 (IRIN) - Representatives of the Bushman communities in Southern Africa have called on regional authorities to do more to promote and develop San languages, some of which they say are in danger of becoming extinct. San from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa ended a three-day workshop on Friday in Windhoek, the Namibian capital, where they discussed ways to achieve the tuition of San languages at primary schools. The workshop was organised by the NGO, Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa. The estimated 110,000 remaining San today live in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Angola. Their languages, although fundamentally similar, vary considerably from place to place. San is primarily a linguistic label adopted by anthropologists to describe people speaking these related but distinct languages. "We call on the government of Botswana to adopt a policy of multi-lingual education to bring the country in line with policies of African countries and of the United Nations," said the resolution adopted by the 30 participants at the workshop. In Botswana, only Setswana and English are taught in schools. The participants also urged the Namibian government to recognise the Khwedam language and introduce it at primary school level. Namibia's education policy provides for mother-tongue tuition for the first three years of school, but from the fourth grade English is used as the medium of instruction. Billies Pamo of the Northern Cape told IRIN: "The South African government planned to introduce San languages in the middle of this year [2004], but it has been delayed. We realised at this workshop that we face the same problems trying to obtain more rights for our languages and education in our mother tongue." There are 35 San languages, according to South African sociolinguist Nigel Crawhall. Language groups represented at the workshop were Khewdam, !Xun, Ju/'hoansi, Naro and Hai//om. "In Namibia and South Africa non-formal adult education programmes exist for the San, assisted by the governments. In Botswana, this does not happen," he noted. David Naude, who hails from Shakawe in northwestern Botswana, in some cases pointed out that efforts to protect San languages had emerged from abroad. "The University of Cologne in Germany has, together with us, compiled a dictionary of our Khwedam language. We hold literary workshops with San adults to enable our people to become literate in their own language," he explained. The collaborative initiative has seen the publication of a newsletter in Khwedam every two months, which is distributed in northwestern Botswana and the Caprivi Region in northwestern Namibia. Participants also blamed the high number of school dropouts in the San community on the absence of their languages as subjects in school. [ENDS] From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Sep 8 15:22:29 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 08:22:29 -0700 Subject: Ancient heritage focus in Chickaloon school (fwd) Message-ID: Ancient heritage focus in Chickaloon school By JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2004/09/07/news/news9.txt CHICKALOON VILLAGE -- For years, the language and traditions of the Ahtna Athabascan Indian culture in Chickaloon Village gradually faded away as younger generations grew up with little training about the history and ways of their ancestors. In the summer of 1992, Katherine Wade, the clan grandmother of Chickaloon Village, started a Saturday school, in which children gathered in her yard to listen to the history and stories of their Native culture. A year later, the Ya Ne Dah Ah or "Ancient Traditions" School opened full time in an effort to preserve the Ahtna Athabascan culture in Chickaloon before it completely vanished. Wade said she was inspired to start the K-eighth-grade, one-room school after visiting with Native prisoners and seeing how alcoholism, drugs and shame had ruined their lives. "Many are ashamed to be Native," Wade said. "Some of the prisoners listened but many did not." Wade decided to focus her efforts on the younger generation and when the school started, Wade was the only full-time teacher. "The time to teach is when the kids are young so you can keep them away from prison. If you pay attention to the children they can go on and be successful," Wade said. "We make them love each other. They are all relatives, more or less. We tell them to listen to the older ones and love one another like they love their own selves -- that's what I was taught." Students at Ya Ne Dah Ah School learn the traditions of their tribe but they also learn mathematics, English, science and other standard subjects. Above all, they learn respect. "Respect is the name of the game. You need to respect everyone, even the animals," Wade said. "We have strict rules and we don't let them call each other names here." Now 81 years old, Wade is no longer the primary teacher at the school but she is one of the very last people in Chickaloon who can still fluently speak the Ahtna Athabascan language, and her services are therefore still valuable. Wade just recently completed a book, "Chickaloon Spirit," chronicling her life growing up in Chickaloon. She also continues to help at the school she founded by teaching the traditional Ahtna language. Wade said she works with her nephew to record the language on tapes and CDs. The school has three regular classroom teachers with two teaching Ahtna Athabascan culture and one teaching traditional Western curriculum. Other special teachers and speakers come from around the state to teach various aspects of Native culture. According to Marilyn Staggs, the executive secretary for the school, finding people who can teach Native culture is not always easy. "Most of the special speakers are between the ages of 50 and 80 years old," Staggs said. "We have lost a lot of our culture and we have very few elders who can teach the culture." The school runs Monday through Friday, with students learning Native dance, song and other traditions while also working on their English spelling words and arithmetic problems. Wade said the children occasionally perform songs and dances they learn at special meetings and other Native gatherings. "They are not ashamed of who they are," Wade said. Currently, the school building is only big enough for eight students, with many more on a waiting list. Chickaloon Village Traditional Council is trying to raise funds for a new building this week. Last week the council hosted a fund-raiser at the Chickaloon Village office, where Native crafts, clothing, books and other items were sold to raise money. "They want to put other kids in there, but we can't take them right now," Wade said. In 2002, the Ya Ne Dah Ah School was one of eight American Indian programs nationwide to receive a $10,000 award from Harvard University for being an exemplary tribal government program. "Not too many places are doing what we are doing," Wade said. Education Director Kari Johns said the culture of Ahtna Athabascans, like many tribes in the Alaska and the Lower 48, has diminished through the influence of Western culture. "In the 1920s, the state took children away from their families in the village and put them in boarding schools," Johns said. "This caused a generation gap in our families." Wade's parents, however, did not send her to boarding school when she was a little girl and she was able to learn the language and traditions. "She was one of the chosen people to carry on our traditions," Johns said. Chickaloon Village owns and operates the Ya Ne Dah Ah School, while the Galena School District reviews educational plans for individual students and administers standardized assessment tests. Parents who enroll their children in the program receive funds through the Interior Distance Education program of Alaska to help pay for books and curriculum. IDEA is a home-school program that offers the services of certified teachers and experienced home schoolers to help parents educate their children at home, while also providing standards for parents that support statewide education standards. According to Johns, the kids at Ya Ne Dah Ah School are doing above average in most areas of the statewide benchmark tests and are right at average for language arts. Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson at frontiersman.com. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Sep 10 17:03:48 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2004 10:03:48 -0700 Subject: Extinction looms for Yukon languages: report (fwd) Message-ID: Extinction looms for Yukon languages: report Last Updated Thu, 09 Sep 2004 15:38:31 EDT http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/09/09/yukon_language040909.html WHITEHORSE - At least two First Nations languages in the Yukon are on the verge of extinction and more will follow unless something is done, according to a new study by Yukon's Aboriginal Language Services. The report's conclusions, which come after years of work and fluency assessments, says the Han and Tagish languages are in the most dire state, with only a few true speakers remaining. At least eight languages are indigenous to the Yukon. Two out of 10 aboriginal people are learning their native language, mostly through informal means such as on hunting trips in the bush and during traditional activities instead of in the classroom. Parts of the report describe the current situation as "shocking" and says there is a lack of strategic planning between all levels of government and the First Nations. Cheryl McLean, the director of Aboriginal Language Services, was one of the authors of the two-volume report. "Some distressing news out of the reports is that the parent generation, or those people 25- to 44-years-old, their language skills are extremely weak and language not being used in the home," she said. "If we have two generations of non-speakers, our languages are dead." McLean said change needs to happen and it needs to happen quickly, if languages are to survive. "It's not just for potlatches, it's not just for prayers," she said. "We have to attach functional importance." Despite the difficulties, McLean said she is optimistic. She said young people want to learn their language. "When asked...eight out of 10 aboriginal people want to learn their language," said McLean. She said it's now up to First Nations to take this report seriously and look at ways to bring those languages back from the brink. Written by CBC News Online staff From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sat Sep 11 21:37:15 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sat, 11 Sep 2004 14:37:15 -0700 Subject: Government of Canada Assists Northern Native Broadcasting, Terrace (fwd) Message-ID: Government of Canada Assists Northern Native Broadcasting, Terrace http://www.news.gc.ca/cfmx/CCP/view/en/index.cfm?articleid=96789 TERRACE, September 10, 2004 -- Minister of State (Northern Development) and Member of Parliament (Western Arctic) Ethel Blondin-Andrew, on behalf of Minister of Canadian Heritage Liza Frulla, today announced $326,855 in funding for Northern Native Broadcasting, Terrace (NNBT). "Aboriginal people need organizations like Northern Native Broadcasting, Terrace to preserve and enhance their languages and culture," said Minister of State Blondin-Andrew. "All Canadians benefit from the presence of a vibrant and living northern culture in Canada." "The Aboriginal language broadcast services provided by Northern Native Broadcasting, Terrace is the only service of its kind," said Minister Frulla. "I am proud to support this organization that has responded to the cultural, linguistic and information needs of Aboriginal people with radio programming since 1984." NNBT broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and reaches more than 60 000 Aboriginal people in British Columbia. It combines technology and tradition to provide communications services that reflect the Aboriginal cultures of Northern British Columbia. It also promotes communication between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal residents in the area. Government funding announced today will help defray the costs of producing 20 hours of weekly radio programming in a local Indigenous language. Financial assistance is provided by the Department of Canadian Heritage through its Northern Native Broadcast Access Program. The Department encourages participation in and contribution to Canadian society through support to Aboriginal representative organizations, Aboriginal women's groups, Aboriginal youth, and through the promotion of Aboriginal languages and cultural diversity. Funding was provided for in the March 2004 federal budget. Information: Donald Boulanger Press Secretary Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage (819) 997-7788 Pierre Collin Director of Communications Office of Ethel Blondin-Andrew (613) 992-4587 Myriam Brochu Chief, Media Relations Canadian Heritage (819) 997-9314 From andrekar at NCIDC.ORG Mon Sep 13 18:11:05 2004 From: andrekar at NCIDC.ORG (Andre Cramblit) Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2004 11:11:05 -0700 Subject: Language Site Message-ID: Two collections of Karuk Phrases and Vocabulary http://www.ncidc.org/karuk/index.html From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Sep 13 20:36:00 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2004 13:36:00 -0700 Subject: brief ILAT update... Message-ID: t?'c hal?Xp (good day), welcome to all the new ILAT subscribers! our subscriptions jumped in the past month bringing us to 160 interested and interesting people. our TELR ( http://projects.ltc.arizona.edu/gates/TELR.html ) website received a highlighted mention at: http://www.nativeweb.org/ also, some very brief updates and deadlinks were fixed on telr. thanks for all the support on putting this resource list together. in the near future, we hope to include a Language Advocacy section (anything that advocates for endangered languages, language rights) to the resource links. so keep us informed of any links on this subject or any other you come across. Andre, i just added "Karuk Language Resources on the Web" to telr, thanks. just a note on some of our recent discussions. it was noted that 90% of one of our recent ILAT digest was repetition (repeated messages). this means that old messages (the one's responded to) were included in most everyones discussion email. for some of our digest subscribers, this presents an access problem in terms of text density and bandwidth. this can be easily (did i mention easily?) aleviated by being efficient and minimalist in our future email discussions (incude only the most essential elements that you are responding to). thanx! never let our indigenous languages fade away! phil cash cash (cayuse/nez perce) phd student in anthropology and linguistics UofA, ILAT list manager From sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Sep 13 21:12:58 2004 From: sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (Susan Penfield) Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2004 14:12:58 -0700 Subject: brief ILAT update... In-Reply-To: <1095107760.8aec06e72e1bc@www.email.arizona.edu> Message-ID: All, The Karuk language page is excellent --a good model for others- thanks Andre! I just want to highlight the fact that ILAT is a great resource for everyone in this field of study and work. I also want to offer a special thank you to Phil, who keeps it up and running in his spare time--a lot of hard work. Thanks Phil! Susan Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D. Department of English University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 Quoting phil cash cash : > t?'c hal?Xp (good day), > > welcome to all the new ILAT subscribers! our subscriptions jumped in > the past month bringing us to 160 interested and interesting people. > > our TELR ( http://projects.ltc.arizona.edu/gates/TELR.html ) website > received a highlighted mention at: http://www.nativeweb.org/ also, some > very brief updates and deadlinks were fixed on telr. thanks for all > the support on putting this resource list together. in the near > future, we hope to include a Language Advocacy section (anything that > advocates for endangered languages, language rights) to the resource > links. so keep us informed of any links on this subject or any other > you come across. > > Andre, i just added "Karuk Language Resources on the Web" to telr, > thanks. > > just a note on some of our recent discussions. it was noted that 90% of > one of our recent ILAT digest was repetition (repeated messages). this > means that old messages (the one's responded to) were included in most > everyones discussion email. for some of our digest subscribers, this > presents an access problem in terms of text density and bandwidth. > this can be easily (did i mention easily?) aleviated by being efficient > and minimalist in our future email discussions (incude only the most > essential elements that you are responding to). thanx! > > never let our indigenous languages fade away! > > phil cash cash (cayuse/nez perce) > phd student in anthropology and linguistics > UofA, ILAT list manager > From dzo at BISHARAT.NET Tue Sep 14 06:44:48 2004 From: dzo at BISHARAT.NET (Don Osborn) Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2004 06:44:48 -0000 Subject: Fwd: Botswana: "The (Di)vision of a Culturally Diverse Nation" Message-ID: --- In AfricanLanguages at yahoogroups.com, "Don Osborn" wrote: This item from http://allafrica.com/stories/200409020836.html may be of interest. (The Mmegi website is http://www.mmegi.bw/ .) Botswana seems to be in the news a lot lately regarding language issues. DZO "The (Di)vision of a Culturally Diverse Nation" Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone) September 2, 2004 Posted to the web September 2, 2004 TSHIRELETSO MOTLOGELWA Vision 2016 envisages Botswana as a nation of a diverse mix of cultures, languages, traditions and people sharing a common destiny. Is this being achieved? There was a time when one was proud of their identity. There used to be a place where one was not ashamed of their ethnicity. That was Old Naledi in the early 1970s when a hotchpotch of ethnic groups gathered in the squatter camp searching for work and opportunities in the new capital town. That was a long time ago, as Mima Jonase, a housewife and mother of four, outlines as she sits under a tree in the centre of Old Naledi. If Vision 2016 is anything to go by, that is what it will be like in the year 2016. Jonase has not seen a copy of the document, let alone read it. It says, in what she feels is a bit too optimistic a look, "The country will possess a diverse mix of cultures, languages, traditions and peoples sharing a common destiny". Time, social reality, the frenetic pace of western modernity and national political processes have taught her that this is probably just a mirage - as distant as it is colourful, and as colourful as it is empty. "For some reason, Old Naledi was dominated by people the from so- called minorities," she gushes. "It was a beautiful period. You would speak your language when you were around people from your ethnic group, and it was very common to find people from your ethnic group." Then a descent started. It was a combination of institutionalised ethnocentricism, lack of the practice of her culture and the rush to conform so as to gain access to the mainstream identity that did the damage. Three decades and four children later, she is disillusioned with that past promise. "My own children cannot speak their mother tongue. By the time our children were born, we were so used to being shamed for speaking our language that we had completely stopped doing it," she laments. Who would shame them? "Try going to the clinic and speak Sengologa, even if it is just a Sekgalagadi accent while you are speaking Setswana, everyone would laugh at you, or castigate you," she says. Both her and her husband have not been using Sekgalagadi that much, she explains. They also cannot afford to take the children to Tsabong every school holidays to experience their culture as it is supposed to be. She frowns a bit and retorts suddenly, "Even in Tsabong, it is all different. Everyone is lost nowadays. They are also ashamed of their identity," she adds. Her son Patrick, a tall and lean man in his 20s, is evidence of a culture and language under attack. He walks with a limb not unlike American rappers', and has a soft nervous smile. As he listens to his mother, he breaks into an occasional laugh, a chewed toothpick hanging from the corner of his mouth. "I do understand Sekgalagadi," he promises unconvincingly. A little prodding reveals something else. "I can understand when someone speaks Sekgalagadi but I cannot speak it fluently," he elaborates. Just then a rap song blasts on the nearby radio set, he bops his head absentmindedly, tapping his foot to the rhythm, and soon he is whispering some lyrics, an admixture of Setswana, Zulu and English. "Hip Hop Pantsula o a ja mei brur," he screams to his friend, another young man who calls himself Fresh. "Gone mme ke Mongologa" (As a matter of fact I see myself as a Mongologa)" he announces. "Wa bona mo Zola re bua Setsotsi too much (In Old Naledi we speak Tsotsi Taal too much). Le bagolo ba setse ba tshwara style (Even our elders are starting to adopt the language)." For a young Mosarwa woman Efa Phari, it is very difficult to avoid the lure of modernity. "Even though modernity brings with it a lot of negative things such as the loss of our culture, how can one avoid it?" she asks rhetorically. Born and raised just outside Letlhakane in the Central District in a small Basarwa settlement called Metsiaela, she currently works as a domestic worker in the urbanised village of Morwa, just outside Gaborone. She thinks everyone in her situation would find it challenging. "You have both the traditional way of doing things and the modern one. For example, should one send one's child to school or let her live with one's parents in the traditional village setting?" she asks. University of Botswana academic and minority rights campaigner Prof. Lydia Nyathi-Ramahobo explains that modernity need not be unfriendly to cultural practice. "We have built institutions that are intolerant to minority cultures and languages," she explains. "All processes work towards assimilating minorities. It is as if people who belong to minority ethnic groups have to be deculturated from their cultures and be acculturated into the mainstream modernised Setswana culture before they are accepted as full citizens of Botswana." She tells the story of a newly born baby girl in Okavango who was given a Setswana name by the clinic officials without the knowledge of her parents. "Because the child had been born at home, the parents took the child to the clinic to be registered. When they got there, the nurse asked what the name of the child was. The parents said 'Maya'. 'What does Maya mean in Setswana?' the nurse asked. The parents said, 'Otsile'. So the nurse proceeded to write 'Otsile' as the name of the child," she says with an incredulous smile on her face. However, she feels that this intolerance is not very common among individual citizens, but rather manifests itself at an institutional level. The education system, the political structures, even the country's constitution all seem to serve the purpose of mainstreaming minorities and "are very insensitive to the needs of communities". For example the Tribal Territories Act outlines that only the eight "main" tribes can own land, she says. So what is the future of the various ethnic groupings that make up this country? "We as a group of minorities have formed an organisation called Re Teng which serves to further the development of minority cultures and languages," says Nyathi-Ramahobo. The young man Patrick Jonase is not optimistic. "I think it is getting worse with time," he says. "Right now I cannot speak Sengologa, which is my parents' language. What about my children?" His mother adds, "Dipuo tsa rona di a nyelela. Bana ba rona ba tlaa felela ba sa itse segabone" (our languages are disappearing. Our children will be lost culturally)". --- Copyright ?2004 Mmegi/The Reporter. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). Click here to contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material. --- End forwarded message --- From dzo at BISHARAT.NET Tue Sep 14 11:10:36 2004 From: dzo at BISHARAT.NET (Donald Z. Osborn) Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2004 06:10:36 -0500 Subject: Fwd: "Indigenous People and Information Technology" Message-ID: The following may be of interest (with thanks to Tobias Eigen of Kabissa.org for forwarding it. Don Osborn Bisharat.net > From: "Ann Tothill" > Date: September 13, 2004 10:40:52 PM EDT > To: "Open Knowledge Workspace" > Cc: okn at dgroups.org > Subject: [okn] CFP - "Indigenous People and Information Technology" > Reply-To: "Open Knowledge Workspace" > > This may interest some. > > a.t. > > ------- Forwarded message follows ------- > Date sent: Fri, 10 Sep 2004 14:09:06 +1000 > From: Geraldine Lefoe > Organization: University of Wollongong > To: ASCILITE general > > Subject: [ascilite-general:4645] Call for Chapters and Case > Studies: Indigenous People and Information > Technology > > Please resond directly to David Wilson, Associate Dean (Education) > Faculty of Information Technology > > Stephen Grant, Max Hendriks and I are editing a book entitled > "Indigenous People and Information Technology", which will be > published in early 2006 by the Idea Group, an American publishing > house specializing in technology, information science, education and > management. We would appreciate it if you could forward this email > to any of the listserves that you have access to in order to promote > our Call for Chapters. > > "Indigenous People and Information Technology" aims to bring together > expert and up-to-date contributions from leading researchers and > writers in the field of Indigenous people and Information Technology > from around the world. We are especially interested in contributions > from Indigenous authors. > > We invite proposals for two types of submissions: > - Full chapters > - Short case studies > > CALL FOR CHAPTERS > Chapter topics will include (but are not limited to): > - General and theoretical issues surrounding Indigenous adoption and > participation in Information Technology > - Barriers and challenges to > Indigenous access to IT > - Culturally appropriate technology design > - Computer education for Indigenous people > - Indigenous knowledge > management issues, Indigenous intellectual property and IT, and > Indigenous cultural archives > - Development of Indigenous communities > through e-commerce, remote service delivery, and the creation of > smart communities. > > CALL FOR CASE STUDIES > Short case studies describing Indigenous IT implementations in the > field will be included in the book. These will be 1~N2 - 2 pages > long. > > SUBMISSION PROCEDURE: > You are invited to submit a 1-2 page proposal by email on or before > 15th October 2004. The proposal should include: > > - A working title of your proposed chapter or case study > - An explanation of the topic in paragraph and/or point form > - Names and affiliations of authors as well as email address of first > author > - The country or area of the world to which the chapter refers, if > reporting on a specific case or implementation > - Estimated length of paper > > FOLLOWING THE SUBMISSION OF YOUR PROPOSAL > Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by 31st October 2004 > about the status of their proposals and sent chapter organizational > guidelines. Full chapters and case studies must be submitted by 1st > February 2005. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a blind > review basis by 2 expert scholars in the field. Short case studies > will be reviewed by the editors. The book is scheduled to be > published in early 2006. > > If you know of anyone who might like to submit their work for > consideration, please feel free to pass this information on to them. > Further details and a full list of suggested topics can be found at > the "Indigenous People and Information Technology" website: > http://project.it.uts.edu.au/indigenous-it > > Please forward your proposal by 15th October 2004 to: > indigenous-it at it.uts.edu.au > > Best regards, > Laurel, Max and Steve > -- > > Regards > > David Wilson > Associate Dean (Education) > Faculty of Information Technology > > University of Technology, Sydney > PO Box 123 > Broadway, NSW 2007 > Australia > > CRICOS Provider 00099F > > Tel: +61-2-9514-1832 > Fax: +61-2-9514-4699 > Mob: 0408-629-136 > > ------------------------------------------ > Dr Geraldine Lefoe > Coordinator, Academic Staff Development > http://cedir.uow.edu.au/CEDIR/programs/asd.html > > CEDIR > University of Wollongong > NSW Australia 2522 > > 61 2 42 213193 (phone) > 61 2 42 258312 (fax) > > http://rile.uow.edu.au > > http://cedir.uow.edu.au > > -------------------------------------------- > Join ascilite: improving learning through technology > http://www.ascilite.org.au > > Annual Conference: 5-8 December, 2004 in Perth > http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/perth04 > > --------------------------------------------------------------- > The views expressed in this email are solely those of the > author/sender and are not necessarily those of ASCILITE. They cannot > be interpreted or construed to do so. > ------- End of forwarded message ------- > > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > Ann Tothill > Strategic Use and Capacity Building Programme Manager > APC - The Association for Progressive Communications > La Asociaci?n para el Progreso de las Comunicaciones > AATothill at apc.org > http://www.apc.org/ > Tel. +61 2 8920 0274 > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > ItrainOnline: Sharing Internet Knowledge > http://www.itrainonline.org/ > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > > > Dgroups is a joint initiative of Bellanet, DFID, Hivos, ICA, IICD, > OneWorld, UNAIDS and World Bank ----- End forwarded message ----- From andrekar at NCIDC.ORG Tue Sep 14 19:18:14 2004 From: andrekar at NCIDC.ORG (Andre Cramblit) Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2004 12:18:14 -0700 Subject: PROPOSAL REQUEST Message-ID: Please respond directly to David Wilson, Associate Dean (Education) Faculty of Information Technology Stephen Grant, Max Hendriks and I are editing a book entitled "Indigenous People and Information Technology", which will be published in early 2006 by the Idea Group, an American publishing house specializing in technology, information science, education and management. We would appreciate it if you could forward this email to any of the listserves that you have access to in order to promote our Call for Chapters. "Indigenous People and Information Technology" aims to bring together expert and up-to-date contributions from leading researchers and writers in the field of Indigenous people and Information Technology from around the world. We are especially interested in contributions from Indigenous authors. We invite proposals for two types of submissions: - Full chapters - Short case studies CALL FOR CHAPTERS Chapter topics will include (but are not limited to): - General and theoretical issues surrounding Indigenous adoption and participation in Information Technology - Barriers and challenges to Indigenous access to IT - Culturally appropriate technology design - Computer education for Indigenous people - Indigenous knowledge management issues, Indigenous intellectual property and IT, and Indigenous cultural archives - Development of Indigenous communities through e-commerce, remote service delivery, and the creation of smart communities. CALL FOR CASE STUDIES Short case studies describing Indigenous IT implementations in the field will be included in the book. These will be 1?2 - 2 pages long. SUBMISSION PROCEDURE: You are invited to submit a 1-2 page proposal by email on or before 15th October 2004. The proposal should include: - A working title of your proposed chapter or case study - An explanation of the topic in paragraph and/or point form - Names and affiliations of authors as well as email address of first author - The country or area of the world to which the chapter refers, if reporting on a specific case or implementation - Estimated length of paper FOLLOWING THE SUBMISSION OF YOUR PROPOSAL Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by 31st October 2004 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter organizational guidelines. Full chapters and case studies must be submitted by 1st February 2005. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a blind review basis by 2 expert scholars in the field. Short case studies will be reviewed by the editors. The book is scheduled to be published in early 2006. If you know of anyone who might like to submit their work for consideration, please feel free to pass this information on to them. Further details and a full list of suggested topics can be found at the "Indigenous People and Information Technology" website: http://project.it.uts.edu.au/indigenous-it Please forward your proposal by 15th October 2004 to: indigenous-it at it.uts.edu.au Best regards, Laurel, Max and Steve -- Regards David Wilson Associate Dean (Education) Faculty of Information Technology University of Technology, Sydney PO Box 123 Broadway, NSW 2007 Australia -------- per Roger. Dr Roger Atkinson Unit 5, 202 Coode Street, Como WA 6152, Australia Personal website: http://users.bigpond.net.au/atkinson-mcbeath/roger/ Tel +61 8 9367 1133 Email: rjatkinson at bigpond.com ASCILITE 2004 http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/perth04/ From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Sep 15 18:01:44 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2004 11:01:44 -0700 Subject: Uganda gets indigenous language browser (fwd) Message-ID: Uganda gets indigenous language browser Alastair Otter September 15 2004 http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=342 Uganda is today another of the countries that have made huge strides in making technology more accessible to users that do not have English as their home language. ICT Translations Uganda is today officially releasing the Mozilla Web browser in Luganda, one of the most widely spoken indigenous languages in East Africa. The browser has been christened "kayungirizi" by the translators for its ability to link users to various resources on the Internet. James Wire, a founder of ICT Translations Uganda, says the translation will "make it easier for first time Internet users to use the Internet without feeling challenged by the English language. It is going to attract many people who have been shying away from computers because of language barriers." He also says the translation efforts will very likely improve education, particularly through the possibilities now of offering interactive computer-based aids in indigenous languages. He also hopes the translation will spur users to develop more local language content. In an interview with LinuxPlanet earlier this week Wire said "Internet access is becoming a key element in the lives of all Ugandans. Just like a mobile phone, an Internet cafe has become the destination of choice for those that want to communicate internationally. "A lot of content is delivered to the locals through the use of interactive CDs that display in Internet browsers. A localised browser reduces the learning curve for that social worker in Kyanamukaka who is supposed to sensitise the wanainchi using a computer." Wire says one of the primary challenges in their translation efforts has been the lack of words for much of the widely used English language computer terminology. "Since Internet technology is a new phenomenon in Uganda, local languages are short of technological terminology ... We looked for nearly-there words or actually formulated new terminology. We blended new generation lingua with the 'academic' Luganda," he says. ICT Translations Uganda, is an indigenous organisation that hopes to translate a range of free and open source computer software into indigenous languages. Wire says the vision of the organisation is "to see that the people within the East Africa region embrace and use information and communication technologies to transact in languages they are most conversant with, for accelerated social, political and economic development." Next on the agenda for ICT Translations Uganda is a number of other indigenous language translations of Mozilla and then work will begin on translating OpenOffice.org into indigenous languages starting with Luganda and Luo. Following this the team hopes to work on translating the X-Windows interface and localise a range of applications. The translated software is available from www.translate.or.ug From dzo at BISHARAT.NET Wed Sep 15 10:09:05 2004 From: dzo at BISHARAT.NET (Donald Z. Osborn) Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2004 05:09:05 -0500 Subject: Fwd: [DDN] UN cobwebs and indigenous people Message-ID: FYI... DZO ----- Forwarded message from Claude Almansi ----- Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2004 19:03:55 +0200 From: Claude Almansi Reply-To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group Subject: [DDN] UN cobwebs and indigenous people To: BBracey at aol.com, minority at lists.nici-mc2.org, Digital Divide Network discussion group "Guess what? Yesterday I removed cobwebs at the UN", my daughter daughter wrote this morning on messenger, from Geneva. "A daunting task, dear". "Noooo,it's not a metaphor, I mean REAL cobwebs" She was helping a friend mount the exhibition ? Visages d~Rune lutte pour la reconnaissance ?, faces of a struggle for recognition, which is being inaugurated tomorrow at the UN, to mark the end of the decade dedicated to indigenous people. And the cobwebs were in the gallery between 2 buildings where the exhibition will take place and be inaugurated tomorrow. See http://www.gfbv.ch/f/ , no English version, sorry. The inauguration and the exhibition won't be public at the UN, for security reasons - just as the official core of the World Summit on Information Society wasn't public last December, for the same reasons. Moreover, the exhibition was meant to have both photographs of people struggling for recognition, and their texts. The UN scrapped the text part. "Why on earth?" I asked. "Too militan for the UN - but they will be shown when the exhibition moves in town in its public form". There seem to be other cobwebs at the UN than the ones woven by 8-leg spiders, after all. cheers Claude Claude Almansi www.adisi.ch _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE at mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to digitaldivide-request at mailman.edc.org with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. ----- End forwarded message ----- From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Sep 16 17:07:07 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2004 10:07:07 -0700 Subject: Balinese script joins the computer age (fwd link) Message-ID: Balinese script joins the computer age http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailfeatures.asp?fileid=20040916.Q01&irec=1 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Sep 17 16:59:11 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2004 09:59:11 -0700 Subject: Kids Give Language its Shape (fwd) Message-ID: Kids Give Language its Shape By Serena Gordon, HealthDay Reporter http://www.rednova.com/news/stories/2/2004/09/17/story004.html HealthDayNews -- Children's brains are hard-wired to learn languages and, in some cases, to improve upon them. That's the conclusion of a new study that followed several generations of deaf Nicaraguan children as they created their own sign language and then continuously tinkered it with each new group of signers. "These children are actually creating language. This was a rare opportunity to discover a new language as it's emerging," said study author Ann Senghas, an assistant professor of psychology at Barnard College of Columbia University in New York City. As each generation learned the sign language, they modified it. The more they changed the original "Nicaraguan Sign Language" (NSL), the more its rules and structure resembled those of other languages, the researchers found. "From early on, from the first time the language was passed down to a new group of child learners, this language showed evidence of certain fundamental, universal hallmarks of language: discrete elements and hierarchal structure," explained study co-author Sotaro Kita, a senior lecturer in the department of experimental psychology at the University of Bristol in England. "These hallmarks that are observed in all languages of the world arose once a communication system is learned, as a language, by children. Thus, core fundamentals of language can emerge out of children's learning abilities," Kita said. The study appears in the Sept. 17 issue of Science. Before 1977, most deaf people in Nicaragua were kept at home and didn't have contact with other deaf people. In 1977, a special education elementary school was opened, and about 50 deaf children attended. In 1981, a vocational school attended by about 200 deaf children opened. The children also began to socialize after school. The schools taught the children in Spanish, with limited success. However, as they began to spend more and more time together, the modified sign language developed. Today, about 800 deaf Nicaraguans, aged 4 to 45 years old, use the sign language. For this study, Senghas, Kita and colleague Asly Ozyurek from the Max Planck Institute in the Netherlands recruited 30 deaf people of various ages. They then split the group evenly into three subgroups. The first learned to sign before 1984, the second from 1984 to 1993 and the third group learned to sign after 1993. All of the children had been using NSL since they were at least 6 years old. The researchers also compared the sign language to gestures used by hearing individuals. The study volunteers were shown a cartoon of a cat swallowing a bowling ball and then rolling down a hill in a wobbly manner. All of the hearing people and most of the first group of signers described the event by making a simultaneous gesture. But the children from the second and third groups generally described the event by breaking it down into its separate parts -- rolling, wobbling and downhill -- and then expressed those thoughts individually. "This study truly illustrates the essential properties to language," said Michael Siegal, a professor of psychology at the University of Sheffield, in England. He wrote an accompanying editorial about the study. "Once children are provided with a language community, they spontaneously create language -- either sign or spoken -- in terms of elements that meaningfully represent events in the world around them. They break down and segment a sequence that can then be embedded within another sequence to form meaningful propositions," he said. Senghas said the ability to learn and improve upon language is something people lose as they get older. Each generation of signers passed down the language, but it was the younger children who changed it, making it more language-like. "Humans lose the capacity to create the core fundamentals of language as they age," concurred Kita. Another important finding of the study is how important social interaction is to the development of language, Senghas said. It is a central motivation or instinct for humans to create language spontaneously as part of their culture, and early access to a language underscores effective communication," Siegal added. From CRANEM at MAIL.ECU.EDU Sat Sep 18 17:55:00 2004 From: CRANEM at MAIL.ECU.EDU (Bizzaro, Resa Crane) Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2004 13:55:00 -0400 Subject: FW: CFP: Indigenous Women and Feminism (conference) (10/15/04; 8/25/05-8/28/05) Message-ID: Hi, ILAT Members. I received the following Call for Proposals, and I thought some of you might be interested. If you've already seen this note, I'm sorry to send it again. Resa >INDIGENOUS WOMEN AND FEMINISM: CULTURE, ACTIVISM, POLITICS > >August 25-28, 2005 >University of Alberta >Edmonton, Alberta, Canada > >Keynote Speakers: >Minnie Grey, Chief Negotiator for Nunavik Self-Government, Makivik Corporation >Aileen Moreton-Robinson, Australian Studies Centre, University of Queensland >Rebecca Tsosie, College of Law, University of Arizona > >Developments in feminist theory and practice since the late 1980s and >1990s have enabled scholars to recognize how nationality, race, class, >sexuality, and ethnicity inform axes of gender differentiation among women >as a social class. Despite these interventions, indigenous women and >feminist issues remain undertheorized within contemporary feminist >critical theory. Although presumed to fall within normative definitions of >women of colour and postcolonial feminism, indigenous feminism remains an >important site of gender struggle that also engages the crucial issues of >cultural identity, nationalism, and decolonization. At the same time, the >growing legal recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples to cultural >and political autonomy has made increasingly important questions of >indigenous women and their work on behalf of civil rights and sovereignty. >With such intersections in mind, we invite paper and round table proposals >for an international, interdisciplinary conference focused on indigenous >feminism and its defining goals and features. Topics may include but are >not limited to the following: > >? indigenous feminism as critical practice >? indigenous feminism and literary/performance art >? historical constructions of indigenous feminist work >? strategic alliances within indigenous feminism >? non-native women and indigenous feminism >? critical intersections between indigenous feminism and women of color >feminism >? uses of indigenous feminism in the dominant culture >? indigenous feminism and the ?post-feminist? state >? gender politics and indigenous feminism >? indigenous collectives and feminist alliances >? interdisciplinarity and indigenous feminism > >Papers will be no more than twenty minutes in length. Submissions for >round table and panel presentations should include an abstract for each >paper. Please send 250 word proposals by electronic submission to >csuzack at ualberta.ca. Deadline for submissions >is October 15, 2004. > >Please direct enquiries to any one of the conference organizers: >Jean Barman (Jean.Barman at ubc.ca) >Shari Huhndorf >(sharih at darkwing.uoregon.edu) >Jeanne Perreault (perreaul at ucalgary.ca) >Cheryl Suzack (csuzack at ualberta.ca) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dzo at BISHARAT.NET Sun Sep 19 01:24:15 2004 From: dzo at BISHARAT.NET (Donald Z. Osborn) Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2004 20:24:15 -0500 Subject: Internship: Rosetta Project/Long Now Foundation Message-ID: Saw this on the Linguist list and thought it was worth spreading the word about... DZO Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2004 17:17:26 -0400 (EDT) From: lbwelch Subject: Jobs: Specialization Not Required: Intern, Rosetta Project/Long Now Foundation University or Organization: Rosetta Project/Long Now Foundation Rank of Job: Intern Specialty Areas: Specialization not required Description: The Rosetta Project is a global collaboration of language specialists and native speakers working to build a publicly accessible online archive for all documented human languages. We are looking for people to help with the core task of scanning and/or typing in existing materials on a wide variety of languages of the world. Our goal is to put together the most broad and complete reference work on the languages of the world to date - a reference work of relevance both to academic linguists and to endangered language communities. After three years of collection and curation, the Rosetta online archive is already the largest descriptive linguistic resource on the Net. We currently serve over 30,000 text pages documenting writing systems, phonology, grammar, vernacular texts, core wordlists, numbering systems, maps, audio files, and demographic/historical descriptions for over 1,700 languages. A major sub-component of the Rosetta archive is the ALL Language Word List Database - a collection of 200 term core vocabulary lists for the languages of the world. As an intern with Rosetta, you will be exposed to important works on an extremely wide variety of languages, and will have the opportunity to see what goes into developing and maintaining a large, on-line, digital archive as you participate in a history-making project. Internships are typically for 1-2 months. Full-time interns (32+ hours/week) have access to preferential housing/rent pricing in the Presidio of San Francisco, where our offices are located (ask for details if this is of interest to you). In general, the work needs to be done here in our offices (unless you want to take on a much larger commitment, in which case we can consider ways to set you up to work off-site). Address for Applications: Attn: Laura Buszard-Welcher The Rosetta Project / Long Now Foundation P.O. Box 29462 San Francisco, CA 94129-0462 United States of America Position is open until filled. Contact Information: Laura Buszard-Welcher Email: lbwelch at longnow.org Tel: (415) 561-6582 Fax: (415) 561-6297 Website: http://www.rosettaproject.org/live From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sun Sep 19 01:40:33 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2004 18:40:33 -0700 Subject: Our Languages (fwd link) Message-ID: [ilat note: a very impressive website from Saskatchewan, Cananda] Our Languages A Website of the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre Languages: Cree, Dene, Dakota, Nakota, Lakota, Nakawe. http://www.sicc.sk.ca/heritage/sils/ourlanguages/index.html From andrekar at NCIDC.ORG Mon Sep 20 19:38:35 2004 From: andrekar at NCIDC.ORG (Andre Cramblit) Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 12:38:35 -0700 Subject: Language Loss Message-ID: status of different languages at http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/Status.html From mward at LUNA.CC.NM.US Mon Sep 20 22:55:56 2004 From: mward at LUNA.CC.NM.US (Matthew Ward) Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 16:55:56 -0600 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: Just wanted to mention that I've been in touch with ACLU Arizona about the issue of Prop. 203, the English-only law, affecting Native immersion programs. It does indeed seem that Window Rock Public Schools may risk losing funding by continuing their immersion programs, and the issue may have to go to court. We all need to be vigilant in letting people know that these English-only laws do not just apply to immigrants--they also endanger efforts to preserve Native American languages as well. I suspect that if Azizona voters had understood the effect of this law, they wouldn't have voted for it in the first place. Matthew Ward From sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Sep 21 01:16:14 2004 From: sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (Susan Penfield) Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 18:16:14 -0700 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: Matthew, Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention. It is particularly troubling since, in the beginning of the process, Native people were assured, repeatedly, that they would not be included in the application of this poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented (my opinion, put mildly) proposition. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Matthew Ward" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 3:55 PM Subject: English-Only laws in AZ > Just wanted to mention that I've been in touch with ACLU Arizona about > the issue of Prop. 203, the English-only law, affecting Native immersion > programs. It does indeed seem that Window Rock Public Schools may risk > losing funding by continuing their immersion programs, and the issue may > have to go to court. > > We all need to be vigilant in letting people know that these > English-only laws do not just apply to immigrants--they also endanger > efforts to preserve Native American languages as well. I suspect that > if Azizona voters had understood the effect of this law, they wouldn't > have voted for it in the first place. > > Matthew Ward From mikinakn at SHAW.CA Tue Sep 21 02:32:58 2004 From: mikinakn at SHAW.CA (Rolland Nadjiwon) Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 22:32:58 -0400 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: Interesting Anecdote: Proposition 203, English only, is not a recent proposition. My wife and I and our children were living in Tucson at the time it more of an issue. There was a major opposition to it by the Mexican Americans. One of the outspoken families was the Rhonstadt family, an old family with signatures on Spanish/ American documentation predating Texas/New Mexico/Arizona/California statehood. The protests resulted in a response of the nature that the proposition would not be rescinded but it would not be enforced. It appeared, at the time, many people did not realize the extent of the Mexican American remaining in the southwest even to this day and had intended the legislation to be used against the Dene and other native Tribes in Arizona. The Mexican American response seemed to be a total surprise to White rural populations who strongly supported it. Perhaps that is part of the reason why you find 203 is "poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented...." The only reason I am aware of this legislation, is because of the two official language legislation in Canada for French and English. That Canadian decision around the same time as Prop 203 was 'very' controversial in Canada. Here in the city where we live, we had moved to Tucson for my wife to do her Grad work at UofA, the mayor, a somewhat colourful/notorious personality, rescinded the legislation and declared Sault Ste. Marie, ON. as an English only city. Both my wife and I were unaware of the Mayor's actions. However, people who knew where relocated from were saying, "Hey, you come from that English only city up in Canada." "No. Canada has two official languages by Federal Legislation: English and French." "Oh no. Your mayor just declared your city an English only city." Of course it didn't work. I could never figure why he did that considering he is Italian and, probably, the largest language group in Sault Ste. Marie outside of English, as Hispanic is in Arizona. However, our Native Language programs are taking a beating here in Canada also because of official language legislation where we are neither included or excluded. ------- wahjeh rolland nadjiwon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Susan Penfield" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 9:16 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ > Matthew, > Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention. It is particularly > troubling since, in the beginning of the process, Native people were > assured, repeatedly, that they would not be included in the application of > this > poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented (my opinion, put mildly) > proposition. > Susan > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Matthew Ward" > To: > Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 3:55 PM > Subject: English-Only laws in AZ > > >> Just wanted to mention that I've been in touch with ACLU Arizona about >> the issue of Prop. 203, the English-only law, affecting Native immersion >> programs. It does indeed seem that Window Rock Public Schools may risk >> losing funding by continuing their immersion programs, and the issue may >> have to go to court. >> >> We all need to be vigilant in letting people know that these >> English-only laws do not just apply to immigrants--they also endanger >> efforts to preserve Native American languages as well. I suspect that >> if Azizona voters had understood the effect of this law, they wouldn't >> have voted for it in the first place. >> >> Matthew Ward > From sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Sep 21 15:37:32 2004 From: sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (Susan Penfield) Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2004 08:37:32 -0700 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ In-Reply-To: <000601c49f83$513e3520$ab394c18@yourfsyly0jtwn> Message-ID: All, I'm sure this is a pattern affecting endangered languages in many corners of the world. Thanks for this perspective on the Tucson and Canadian situations. For an indepth discussion of Prop. 203 in Arizona, see this page on James Crawford's Language Policy website: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/az-unz.htm It contains a complete explanation of the origin of Prop.203 (spinning out of California...) and the current status of this legislation. The tenor of 'English-only' arguments, although aimed at the Mexican-American population, is clearly a threat to anyone working on indigenous language revitalization and we should all be aware of the hidden agendas in this type of language policy. Best, Susan Quoting Rolland Nadjiwon : > Interesting Anecdote: > > Proposition 203, English only, is not a recent proposition. My wife and I > and our children were living in Tucson at the time it more of an issue. > There was a major opposition to it by the Mexican Americans. One of the > outspoken families was the Rhonstadt family, an old family with signatures > on Spanish/ American documentation predating Texas/New > Mexico/Arizona/California statehood. The protests resulted in a response of > the nature that the proposition would not be rescinded but it would not be > enforced. It appeared, at the time, many people did not realize the extent > of the Mexican American remaining in the southwest even to this day and had > intended the legislation to be used against the Dene and other native Tribes > in Arizona. The Mexican American response seemed to be a total surprise to > White rural populations who strongly supported it. Perhaps that is part of > the reason why you find 203 is "poorly crafted and even more poorly > implemented...." > > The only reason I am aware of this legislation, is because of the two > official language legislation in Canada for French and English. That > Canadian decision around the same time as Prop 203 was 'very' controversial > in Canada. > > Here in the city where we live, we had moved to Tucson for my wife to do her > Grad work at UofA, the mayor, a somewhat colourful/notorious personality, > rescinded the legislation and declared Sault Ste. Marie, ON. as an English > only city. Both my wife and I were unaware of the Mayor's actions. However, > people who knew where relocated from were saying, "Hey, you come from that > English only city up in Canada." > "No. Canada has two official languages by Federal Legislation: English and > French." > "Oh no. Your mayor just declared your city an English only city." > > Of course it didn't work. I could never figure why he did that considering > he is Italian and, probably, the largest language group in Sault Ste. Marie > outside of English, as Hispanic is in Arizona. > > However, our Native Language programs are taking a beating here in Canada > also because of official language legislation where we are neither included > or excluded. > > ------- > wahjeh > rolland nadjiwon > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Susan Penfield" > To: > Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 9:16 PM > Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ > > > > Matthew, > > Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention. It is particularly > > troubling since, in the beginning of the process, Native people were > > assured, repeatedly, that they would not be included in the application of > > this > > poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented (my opinion, put mildly) > > proposition. > > Susan > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Matthew Ward" > > To: > > Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 3:55 PM > > Subject: English-Only laws in AZ > > > > > >> Just wanted to mention that I've been in touch with ACLU Arizona about > >> the issue of Prop. 203, the English-only law, affecting Native immersion > >> programs. It does indeed seem that Window Rock Public Schools may risk > >> losing funding by continuing their immersion programs, and the issue may > >> have to go to court. > >> > >> We all need to be vigilant in letting people know that these > >> English-only laws do not just apply to immigrants--they also endanger > >> efforts to preserve Native American languages as well. I suspect that > >> if Azizona voters had understood the effect of this law, they wouldn't > >> have voted for it in the first place. > >> > >> Matthew Ward > > > Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D. Department of English The Writing Program Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Ph.D. Program (affiliate faculty) Indigenous Languages and Technology Southwest Center, Research Associate in Anthropology University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 From mward at LUNA.CC.NM.US Tue Sep 21 23:06:04 2004 From: mward at LUNA.CC.NM.US (Matthew Ward) Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2004 17:06:04 -0600 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: One of the depressing things about the AZ situation, for me, is that while there are still many countries with repressive laws that affect minority languages, most countries appear to be moving in a direction of more and more tolerance. It really is against a worldwide trend. Even CHINA is liberalizing its language policies to some extent--why are we falling for this stupidity, when time is so very short? It also really makes me very angry that that English-Only movement has used all of this rhetoric about helping immigrant kids learn English and used it against indigenous American languages. It's not that I support English-Only in ANY form, but I do feel quite certain that when most Americans vote for these laws, they don't intend to vote against Native American languages. It's very, very devious and evil. If I understand Prop. 203 properly, I think that it needs a 75% vote to significantly alter it. The only real hope is that lawsuits and the courts will block it. I believe that's what happened in Alaska: Native groups challenged the English-only law (another one of those laws by Unz and his gang of bullies) and it's stuck in court as a result. I remember reading an article in which some idiot representative of the English-only movement in Alaska said something like "We're not against preservation of Native languages, but they have to be practical. They couldn't use them if they go to Germany." Well, hell! You could condemn some of the largest languages on earth on that particular grounds. We all need to get a lot more politically savvy. I've found that people really respond to certain kinds of rhetoric--you can say things like "Prop. 203 reduces Navajo, an American language that helped win WWII, to the status of a foreign language." People really turn their heads when they hear statements like that. Most Americans instinctively recognize the rightness of preserving indigenous languages, but when they think that they are voting for "English for the children," then most never even think about indigenous languages. I'm not a nationalist, but we do need to point out strongly that were are preserving our own American culture here. The other side is brilliant at appealing to people's emotions--we need to do the same thing. We are, after all, on the right side of this issue. Susan Penfield wrote: >All, >I'm sure this is a pattern affecting endangered languages in many corners of the >world. Thanks for this perspective on the Tucson and Canadian situations. For >an indepth discussion of Prop. 203 in Arizona, see this page on James >Crawford's Language Policy website: > >http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/az-unz.htm > >It contains a complete explanation of the origin of Prop.203 (spinning out of >California...) and the current status of this legislation. >The tenor of 'English-only' arguments, although aimed at the Mexican-American >population, is clearly a threat to anyone working on indigenous language >revitalization and we should all be aware of the hidden agendas in this type of >language policy. > >Best, >Susan > >Quoting Rolland Nadjiwon : > > > >>Interesting Anecdote: >> >>Proposition 203, English only, is not a recent proposition. My wife and I >>and our children were living in Tucson at the time it more of an issue. >>There was a major opposition to it by the Mexican Americans. One of the >>outspoken families was the Rhonstadt family, an old family with signatures >>on Spanish/ American documentation predating Texas/New >>Mexico/Arizona/California statehood. The protests resulted in a response of >>the nature that the proposition would not be rescinded but it would not be >>enforced. It appeared, at the time, many people did not realize the extent >>of the Mexican American remaining in the southwest even to this day and had >>intended the legislation to be used against the Dene and other native Tribes >>in Arizona. The Mexican American response seemed to be a total surprise to >>White rural populations who strongly supported it. Perhaps that is part of >>the reason why you find 203 is "poorly crafted and even more poorly >>implemented...." >> >>The only reason I am aware of this legislation, is because of the two >>official language legislation in Canada for French and English. That >>Canadian decision around the same time as Prop 203 was 'very' controversial >>in Canada. >> >>Here in the city where we live, we had moved to Tucson for my wife to do her >>Grad work at UofA, the mayor, a somewhat colourful/notorious personality, >>rescinded the legislation and declared Sault Ste. Marie, ON. as an English >>only city. Both my wife and I were unaware of the Mayor's actions. However, >>people who knew where relocated from were saying, "Hey, you come from that >>English only city up in Canada." >>"No. Canada has two official languages by Federal Legislation: English and >>French." >>"Oh no. Your mayor just declared your city an English only city." >> >>Of course it didn't work. I could never figure why he did that considering >>he is Italian and, probably, the largest language group in Sault Ste. Marie >>outside of English, as Hispanic is in Arizona. >> >>However, our Native Language programs are taking a beating here in Canada >>also because of official language legislation where we are neither included >>or excluded. >> >>------- >>wahjeh >>rolland nadjiwon >> >> >>----- Original Message ----- >>From: "Susan Penfield" >>To: >>Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 9:16 PM >>Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ >> >> >> >> >>>Matthew, >>>Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention. It is particularly >>>troubling since, in the beginning of the process, Native people were >>>assured, repeatedly, that they would not be included in the application of >>>this >>>poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented (my opinion, put mildly) >>>proposition. >>>Susan >>>----- Original Message ----- >>>From: "Matthew Ward" >>>To: >>>Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 3:55 PM >>>Subject: English-Only laws in AZ >>> >>> >>> >>> >>>>Just wanted to mention that I've been in touch with ACLU Arizona about >>>>the issue of Prop. 203, the English-only law, affecting Native immersion >>>>programs. It does indeed seem that Window Rock Public Schools may risk >>>>losing funding by continuing their immersion programs, and the issue may >>>>have to go to court. >>>> >>>>We all need to be vigilant in letting people know that these >>>>English-only laws do not just apply to immigrants--they also endanger >>>>efforts to preserve Native American languages as well. I suspect that >>>>if Azizona voters had understood the effect of this law, they wouldn't >>>>have voted for it in the first place. >>>> >>>>Matthew Ward >>>> >>>> > > >Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D. >Department of English > The Writing Program > Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Ph.D. Program (affiliate faculty) > Indigenous Languages and Technology >Southwest Center, Research Associate in Anthropology >University of Arizona >Tucson, AZ 85721 > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Wed Sep 22 14:12:47 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 08:12:47 -0600 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: There is a lot of Psychology research that shows that people who master more than one language are much "smarter", to use a short-cut, than monolingual people. This research would make a stunning case if people assembled it, and I think would be much more effective than the ideological arguments people use in this type of discussion. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Matthew Ward To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 5:06 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ One of the depressing things about the AZ situation, for me, is that while there are still many countries with repressive laws that affect minority languages, most countries appear to be moving in a direction of more and more tolerance. It really is against a worldwide trend. Even CHINA is liberalizing its language policies to some extent--why are we falling for this stupidity, when time is so very short? It also really makes me very angry that that English-Only movement has used all of this rhetoric about helping immigrant kids learn English and used it against indigenous American languages. It's not that I support English-Only in ANY form, but I do feel quite certain that when most Americans vote for these laws, they don't intend to vote against Native American languages. It's very, very devious and evil. If I understand Prop. 203 properly, I think that it needs a 75% vote to significantly alter it. The only real hope is that lawsuits and the courts will block it. I believe that's what happened in Alaska: Native groups challenged the English-only law (another one of those laws by Unz and his gang of bullies) and it's stuck in court as a result. I remember reading an article in which some idiot representative of the English-only movement in Alaska said something like "We're not against preservation of Native languages, but they have to be practical. They couldn't use them if they go to Germany." Well, hell! You could condemn some of the largest languages on earth on that particular grounds. We all need to get a lot more politically savvy. I've found that people really respond to certain kinds of rhetoric--you can say things like "Prop. 203 reduces Navajo, an American language that helped win WWII, to the status of a foreign language." People really turn their heads when they hear statements like that. Most Americans instinctively recognize the rightness of preserving indigenous languages, but when they think that they are voting for "English for the children," then most never even think about indigenous languages. I'm not a nationalist, but we do need to point out strongly that were are preserving our own American culture here. The other side is brilliant at appealing to people's emotions--we need to do the same thing. We are, after all, on the right side of this issue. Susan Penfield wrote: All, I'm sure this is a pattern affecting endangered languages in many corners of the world. Thanks for this perspective on the Tucson and Canadian situations. For an indepth discussion of Prop. 203 in Arizona, see this page on James Crawford's Language Policy website: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/az-unz.htm It contains a complete explanation of the origin of Prop.203 (spinning out of California...) and the current status of this legislation. The tenor of 'English-only' arguments, although aimed at the Mexican-American population, is clearly a threat to anyone working on indigenous language revitalization and we should all be aware of the hidden agendas in this type of language policy. Best, Susan Quoting Rolland Nadjiwon : Interesting Anecdote: Proposition 203, English only, is not a recent proposition. My wife and I and our children were living in Tucson at the time it more of an issue. There was a major opposition to it by the Mexican Americans. One of the outspoken families was the Rhonstadt family, an old family with signatures on Spanish/ American documentation predating Texas/New Mexico/Arizona/California statehood. The protests resulted in a response of the nature that the proposition would not be rescinded but it would not be enforced. It appeared, at the time, many people did not realize the extent of the Mexican American remaining in the southwest even to this day and had intended the legislation to be used against the Dene and other native Tribes in Arizona. The Mexican American response seemed to be a total surprise to White rural populations who strongly supported it. Perhaps that is part of the reason why you find 203 is "poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented...." The only reason I am aware of this legislation, is because of the two official language legislation in Canada for French and English. That Canadian decision around the same time as Prop 203 was 'very' controversial in Canada. Here in the city where we live, we had moved to Tucson for my wife to do her Grad work at UofA, the mayor, a somewhat colourful/notorious personality, rescinded the legislation and declared Sault Ste. Marie, ON. as an English only city. Both my wife and I were unaware of the Mayor's actions. However, people who knew where relocated from were saying, "Hey, you come from that English only city up in Canada." "No. Canada has two official languages by Federal Legislation: English and French." "Oh no. Your mayor just declared your city an English only city." Of course it didn't work. I could never figure why he did that considering he is Italian and, probably, the largest language group in Sault Ste. Marie outside of English, as Hispanic is in Arizona. However, our Native Language programs are taking a beating here in Canada also because of official language legislation where we are neither included or excluded. ------- wahjeh rolland nadjiwon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Susan Penfield" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 9:16 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ Matthew, Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention. It is particularly troubling since, in the beginning of the process, Native people were assured, repeatedly, that they would not be included in the application of this poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented (my opinion, put mildly) proposition. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Matthew Ward" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 3:55 PM Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Just wanted to mention that I've been in touch with ACLU Arizona about the issue of Prop. 203, the English-only law, affecting Native immersion programs. It does indeed seem that Window Rock Public Schools may risk losing funding by continuing their immersion programs, and the issue may have to go to court. We all need to be vigilant in letting people know that these English-only laws do not just apply to immigrants--they also endanger efforts to preserve Native American languages as well. I suspect that if Azizona voters had understood the effect of this law, they wouldn't have voted for it in the first place. Matthew Ward Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D. Department of English The Writing Program Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Ph.D. Program (affiliate faculty) Indigenous Languages and Technology Southwest Center, Research Associate in Anthropology University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Sep 22 14:24:59 2004 From: sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (Susan Penfield) Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 07:24:59 -0700 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: Mia, You are right. However, many people (like James Crawford, Richard Ruiz, and others) have tried to do this. The problem seems to be the matter of getting it out to the general public even though numerous articles,, citing the cognitive value of being multilingual, have been published in newspapers/magazines aimed at non-academic audiences. Still, somehow it never gets for-fronted when politics becomes involved. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: MiaKalish - LFP To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 7:12 AM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ There is a lot of Psychology research that shows that people who master more than one language are much "smarter", to use a short-cut, than monolingual people. This research would make a stunning case if people assembled it, and I think would be much more effective than the ideological arguments people use in this type of discussion. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Matthew Ward To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 5:06 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ One of the depressing things about the AZ situation, for me, is that while there are still many countries with repressive laws that affect minority languages, most countries appear to be moving in a direction of more and more tolerance. It really is against a worldwide trend. Even CHINA is liberalizing its language policies to some extent--why are we falling for this stupidity, when time is so very short? It also really makes me very angry that that English-Only movement has used all of this rhetoric about helping immigrant kids learn English and used it against indigenous American languages. It's not that I support English-Only in ANY form, but I do feel quite certain that when most Americans vote for these laws, they don't intend to vote against Native American languages. It's very, very devious and evil. If I understand Prop. 203 properly, I think that it needs a 75% vote to significantly alter it. The only real hope is that lawsuits and the courts will block it. I believe that's what happened in Alaska: Native groups challenged the English-only law (another one of those laws by Unz and his gang of bullies) and it's stuck in court as a result. I remember reading an article in which some idiot representative of the English-only movement in Alaska said something like "We're not against preservation of Native languages, but they have to be practical. They couldn't use them if they go to Germany." Well, hell! You could condemn some of the largest languages on earth on that particular grounds. We all need to get a lot more politically savvy. I've found that people really respond to certain kinds of rhetoric--you can say things like "Prop. 203 reduces Navajo, an American language that helped win WWII, to the status of a foreign language." People really turn their heads when they hear statements like that. Most Americans instinctively recognize the rightness of preserving indigenous languages, but when they think that they are voting for "English for the children," then most never even think about indigenous languages. I'm not a nationalist, but we do need to point out strongly that were are preserving our own American culture here. The other side is brilliant at appealing to people's emotions--we need to do the same thing. We are, after all, on the right side of this issue. Susan Penfield wrote: All, I'm sure this is a pattern affecting endangered languages in many corners of the world. Thanks for this perspective on the Tucson and Canadian situations. For an indepth discussion of Prop. 203 in Arizona, see this page on James Crawford's Language Policy website: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/az-unz.htm It contains a complete explanation of the origin of Prop.203 (spinning out of California...) and the current status of this legislation. The tenor of 'English-only' arguments, although aimed at the Mexican-American population, is clearly a threat to anyone working on indigenous language revitalization and we should all be aware of the hidden agendas in this type of language policy. Best, Susan Quoting Rolland Nadjiwon : Interesting Anecdote: Proposition 203, English only, is not a recent proposition. My wife and I and our children were living in Tucson at the time it more of an issue. There was a major opposition to it by the Mexican Americans. One of the outspoken families was the Rhonstadt family, an old family with signatures on Spanish/ American documentation predating Texas/New Mexico/Arizona/California statehood. The protests resulted in a response of the nature that the proposition would not be rescinded but it would not be enforced. It appeared, at the time, many people did not realize the extent of the Mexican American remaining in the southwest even to this day and had intended the legislation to be used against the Dene and other native Tribes in Arizona. The Mexican American response seemed to be a total surprise to White rural populations who strongly supported it. Perhaps that is part of the reason why you find 203 is "poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented...." The only reason I am aware of this legislation, is because of the two official language legislation in Canada for French and English. That Canadian decision around the same time as Prop 203 was 'very' controversial in Canada. Here in the city where we live, we had moved to Tucson for my wife to do her Grad work at UofA, the mayor, a somewhat colourful/notorious personality, rescinded the legislation and declared Sault Ste. Marie, ON. as an English only city. Both my wife and I were unaware of the Mayor's actions. However, people who knew where relocated from were saying, "Hey, you come from that English only city up in Canada." "No. Canada has two official languages by Federal Legislation: English and French." "Oh no. Your mayor just declared your city an English only city." Of course it didn't work. I could never figure why he did that considering he is Italian and, probably, the largest language group in Sault Ste. Marie outside of English, as Hispanic is in Arizona. However, our Native Language programs are taking a beating here in Canada also because of official language legislation where we are neither included or excluded. ------- wahjeh rolland nadjiwon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Susan Penfield" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 9:16 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ Matthew, Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention. It is particularly troubling since, in the beginning of the process, Native people were assured, repeatedly, that they would not be included in the application of this poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented (my opinion, put mildly) proposition. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Matthew Ward" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 3:55 PM Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Just wanted to mention that I've been in touch with ACLU Arizona about the issue of Prop. 203, the English-only law, affecting Native immersion programs. It does indeed seem that Window Rock Public Schools may risk losing funding by continuing their immersion programs, and the issue may have to go to court. We all need to be vigilant in letting people know that these English-only laws do not just apply to immigrants--they also endanger efforts to preserve Native American languages as well. I suspect that if Azizona voters had understood the effect of this law, they wouldn't have voted for it in the first place. Matthew Ward Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D. Department of English The Writing Program Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Ph.D. Program (affiliate faculty) Indigenous Languages and Technology Southwest Center, Research Associate in Anthropology University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Wed Sep 22 14:51:18 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 08:51:18 -0600 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: I see. It's a public information issue. Too bad we can't market it like that funny Mozart Music Intelligence-enhancing program. I do wonder, though, if anyone on this list is connected with PBS? We are a PBS station here, but we don't produce much. WGBH in Boston is a Big Producer, and they have the right demographic to make something like this happen. It would be a small start, but if it were a PBS issue, it would get attention, and then perhaps it would open some of the right kind of debate. It occurs to me to note that most of the bi- and multi-lingual discussions occur about natural languages. The issues are the same in the computer languages area. Most people don't know this, but when technology changed from the linear, procedural languages like COBOL and Fortran, millions of programmers had to find another profession because they couldn't grok the new paradigm. Multi-linguality skills also seep into multi-disciplinary issues, because each discipline has its own language. . . "object" in law is NOT the same as "object" in computer science. In law, "object" is either a noun or a verb. In CS, it is an entity, with its own properties, methods and procedures. It is sharable, includable, and modifiable. The issues are huge. Now if we just had somebody who sat on one of the PBS boards. . . . ? Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Susan Penfield To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 8:24 AM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ Mia, You are right. However, many people (like James Crawford, Richard Ruiz, and others) have tried to do this. The problem seems to be the matter of getting it out to the general public even though numerous articles,, citing the cognitive value of being multilingual, have been published in newspapers/magazines aimed at non-academic audiences. Still, somehow it never gets for-fronted when politics becomes involved. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: MiaKalish - LFP To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 7:12 AM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ There is a lot of Psychology research that shows that people who master more than one language are much "smarter", to use a short-cut, than monolingual people. This research would make a stunning case if people assembled it, and I think would be much more effective than the ideological arguments people use in this type of discussion. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Matthew Ward To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 5:06 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ One of the depressing things about the AZ situation, for me, is that while there are still many countries with repressive laws that affect minority languages, most countries appear to be moving in a direction of more and more tolerance. It really is against a worldwide trend. Even CHINA is liberalizing its language policies to some extent--why are we falling for this stupidity, when time is so very short? It also really makes me very angry that that English-Only movement has used all of this rhetoric about helping immigrant kids learn English and used it against indigenous American languages. It's not that I support English-Only in ANY form, but I do feel quite certain that when most Americans vote for these laws, they don't intend to vote against Native American languages. It's very, very devious and evil. If I understand Prop. 203 properly, I think that it needs a 75% vote to significantly alter it. The only real hope is that lawsuits and the courts will block it. I believe that's what happened in Alaska: Native groups challenged the English-only law (another one of those laws by Unz and his gang of bullies) and it's stuck in court as a result. I remember reading an article in which some idiot representative of the English-only movement in Alaska said something like "We're not against preservation of Native languages, but they have to be practical. They couldn't use them if they go to Germany." Well, hell! You could condemn some of the largest languages on earth on that particular grounds. We all need to get a lot more politically savvy. I've found that people really respond to certain kinds of rhetoric--you can say things like "Prop. 203 reduces Navajo, an American language that helped win WWII, to the status of a foreign language." People really turn their heads when they hear statements like that. Most Americans instinctively recognize the rightness of preserving indigenous languages, but when they think that they are voting for "English for the children," then most never even think about indigenous languages. I'm not a nationalist, but we do need to point out strongly that were are preserving our own American culture here. The other side is brilliant at appealing to people's emotions--we need to do the same thing. We are, after all, on the right side of this issue. Susan Penfield wrote: All, I'm sure this is a pattern affecting endangered languages in many corners of the world. Thanks for this perspective on the Tucson and Canadian situations. For an indepth discussion of Prop. 203 in Arizona, see this page on James Crawford's Language Policy website: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/az-unz.htm It contains a complete explanation of the origin of Prop.203 (spinning out of California...) and the current status of this legislation. The tenor of 'English-only' arguments, although aimed at the Mexican-American population, is clearly a threat to anyone working on indigenous language revitalization and we should all be aware of the hidden agendas in this type of language policy. Best, Susan Quoting Rolland Nadjiwon : Interesting Anecdote: Proposition 203, English only, is not a recent proposition. My wife and I and our children were living in Tucson at the time it more of an issue. There was a major opposition to it by the Mexican Americans. One of the outspoken families was the Rhonstadt family, an old family with signatures on Spanish/ American documentation predating Texas/New Mexico/Arizona/California statehood. The protests resulted in a response of the nature that the proposition would not be rescinded but it would not be enforced. It appeared, at the time, many people did not realize the extent of the Mexican American remaining in the southwest even to this day and had intended the legislation to be used against the Dene and other native Tribes in Arizona. The Mexican American response seemed to be a total surprise to White rural populations who strongly supported it. Perhaps that is part of the reason why you find 203 is "poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented...." The only reason I am aware of this legislation, is because of the two official language legislation in Canada for French and English. That Canadian decision around the same time as Prop 203 was 'very' controversial in Canada. Here in the city where we live, we had moved to Tucson for my wife to do her Grad work at UofA, the mayor, a somewhat colourful/notorious personality, rescinded the legislation and declared Sault Ste. Marie, ON. as an English only city. Both my wife and I were unaware of the Mayor's actions. However, people who knew where relocated from were saying, "Hey, you come from that English only city up in Canada." "No. Canada has two official languages by Federal Legislation: English and French." "Oh no. Your mayor just declared your city an English only city." Of course it didn't work. I could never figure why he did that considering he is Italian and, probably, the largest language group in Sault Ste. Marie outside of English, as Hispanic is in Arizona. However, our Native Language programs are taking a beating here in Canada also because of official language legislation where we are neither included or excluded. ------- wahjeh rolland nadjiwon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Susan Penfield" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 9:16 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ Matthew, Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention. It is particularly troubling since, in the beginning of the process, Native people were assured, repeatedly, that they would not be included in the application of this poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented (my opinion, put mildly) proposition. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Matthew Ward" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 3:55 PM Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Just wanted to mention that I've been in touch with ACLU Arizona about the issue of Prop. 203, the English-only law, affecting Native immersion programs. It does indeed seem that Window Rock Public Schools may risk losing funding by continuing their immersion programs, and the issue may have to go to court. We all need to be vigilant in letting people know that these English-only laws do not just apply to immigrants--they also endanger efforts to preserve Native American languages as well. I suspect that if Azizona voters had understood the effect of this law, they wouldn't have voted for it in the first place. Matthew Ward Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D. Department of English The Writing Program Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Ph.D. Program (affiliate faculty) Indigenous Languages and Technology Southwest Center, Research Associate in Anthropology University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Rrlapier at AOL.COM Wed Sep 22 15:28:43 2004 From: Rrlapier at AOL.COM (Rrlapier at AOL.COM) Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 11:28:43 EDT Subject: (no subject) Message-ID: Below is a good basic book for the non-academic (with plenty of studies cited) on the educational/cognitive benefits of teaching in two languages. Dual Language Instruction: A Handbook for Enriched Education by Nancy Cloud, Fred Genesee & Else Hamayan Rosalyn LaPier Piegan Institute www.pieganinstitute.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mward at LUNA.CC.NM.US Wed Sep 22 16:59:00 2004 From: mward at LUNA.CC.NM.US (Matthew Ward) Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 10:59:00 -0600 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: Another thought on this issue: the opening of the Museum of the American Indian is resulting in articles in most major newspapers and magazines, and as a result, the media is paying more attention than usual to indigenous Americans. It may be a very good time to write letters to the editor or op-ed pieces to newspapers and magazines, pointing out the effect of English-Only laws on American languages. I would be against English-Only laws even if they did not apply to indigenous languages, but I do believe that most Americans vote for such laws believing that they are applying only to immigrant languages, and if they understood that these laws are being used against indigenous languages, support for such laws would drop. I do wonder, for example, if Colorado's recent defeat of an Unz-backed law didn't have a lot to do with questions of whether these laws could affect Native Americans and Hispanics in the southern part of the state--people who were speaking their native languages before English even showed up. Anyway, it's just a thought: I've already written to Time magazine and USA today, saying something to the effect that "The opening of this museum is a wonderful and long-overdue event, but Native American culture is under renewed attack," citing the effects of Arizona's Prop. 203 as an example. The more letters or articles written, the bigger chance that some will be printed and will be read by the general public. Copied below is the Navajo Times article that appeared here last spring--a good summary of this issue. Matthew Ward AZ AG: public schools not exempt from Prop. 203 By Bill Donovan - Navajo Times WINDOW ROCK - A couple of years ago, educators went on the offensive when Arizona voters went to the polls to decide whether English would be the only language that classes would be taught in. At that time, a compromise was reached that public school educators thought would allow them an exemption so they could provide instruction in Native American languages in the early grades. Boy, were they wrong. Education officials for the state of Arizona are now saying that based on an opinion by the state's attorney general, public schools on the reservation have to comply with the English Only law (Proposition 203). Only Bureau of Indian Affairs schools are exempt. "This is a major step backwards," said Deborah Jackson-Dennison, superintendent of the Window Rock Unified School District. Jackson-Dennison has got President Joe Shirley Jr. involved in her efforts to get the state to change its policy and exempt public schools on reservations that have a large Native American student population. Shirley and other tribal officials were in Phoenix Tuesday meeting with state education officials to get the matter clarified. What's at risk, Jackson-Dennison said, were Navajo language immersion programs like the one at Window Rock where students in the primary grades get instruction in their native language. As they get into higher grades, they receive more and more instruction in English. By doing this, she said, it now appears that school districts will be putting in jeopardy some of their state funding. She said that on many state funding requests, the Arizona Department of Education has placed a new item asking districts if they are complying with the English Only law. "The form gives us only two options - yes or no," said Jackson-Dennison. "There is not a third option labeled 'exempt.'" By filling out the "no" blank, public schools on reservations within the state are taking a definite risk of getting their application denied. If they mark "yes," programs like Window Rock's Navajo Immersion Program will be eliminated. State school officials have made it very clear that classes - all classes - will be taught only in English. Margaret Garcia-Dugan, associate superintendent for the Arizona Department of Education, said that while BIA schools are exempt from complying with Proposition 203, public schools are not. In a written statement, she said that "if a public school has a large Native American student population, it must still adhere to the provisions set forth in Proposition 203 regardless of whether or not that school is on a reservation. "Proposition 203 does allow teaching other languages besides English as an elective (such as Navajo Language and Cultural Instruction)," she said. "All other courses such as history, math, English, and physical education are to be in (English Only) unless the student receives a waiver." This, said Jackson-Dennison, doesn't make a lot of sense since federal statutes contain provisions that protect and encourage the development of native languages such as those offered within the Window Rock school district. "The No Child Left Behind Act also encourages the teaching of native languages," she said. Now, the state is coming in and saying that the school district could lose some of its state funding by following the federal laws and this isn't right, she said. From dzo at BISHARAT.NET Wed Sep 22 17:08:28 2004 From: dzo at BISHARAT.NET (Donald Z. Osborn) Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 12:08:28 -0500 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ In-Reply-To: <01a901c4a0b3$9e960b00$6400a8c0@computer> Message-ID: This is a very interesting thread with some very important strands, if you will, that it would help to sort out. Or at least I'm needing to do that and hope it will be useful for me to share it. 1. Bilingualism is good for you. I'd tend to agree with what Mia said on this, without denying Susan's reference to failed efforts to focus on such a message. It seems to be a much surer long-term foundation (or part of it) for arguing for bilingual education than otherwise clever arguments such as what Matthew suggested (e.g., that English-only laws make Navajo a foreign language). Such reasoning risks dividing support for indigenous languages in education from support for immigrant languages (an unintended message). The basic cause of bilingual education probably needs to be broader to succeed. 2. First-language education is a matter of quality education as well as a matter of human (linguistic) rights. This would be the other part of the foundation for the case for bilingual education. 3. What is really being argued against can therefore be recast as "monolingual non-first-language education," which in the US puts children of non-English speaking households at a disadvantage (per #2) and removes a potential advantage (per #1). This not an arguement against English, of course, but English-only. 4. Monolongual paradigm. One of the challenges of pursuing this line of reasoning (nos. 1-3) is that it runs up against what I think of as a paradigm that considers more than one language to be a disadvantage to individuals and societies, and that having more than one language means learning one or both/all less well. This is not just a US phenomenon, but held in some other countries, even multilingual ones (the notion of a single language for nation-building came from Europe, for instance). 5. "English fever." Another seemingly distant but very real consideration is that there seems to be an organic need in today's globalizing human society for an international lingua franca. English for better or worse (let's not get into that discussion now) is for the moment at least, spreading to fill that role. It's easy for people looking at that to think that the best thing in the world for their kids and the other kids in their society is to learn English really well. This thought manifests itself in different forms as it passes through geographic and political prisms (to stretch a metaphor), from "English only" in some dominantly English first-language contries (notably the US), to parents in countries where English is a language trying to speak English only and not their first languages to their children in the hopes that that will benefit them later on in life (some examples in urban Africa), to the increased importance of teaching English to non-English speakers (examples worldwide, including China, where there are a lot of English learning schools, programs, etc.). 6. Matthew's example of someone saying "We're not against preservation of Native languages, but they have to be practical. They couldn't use them if they go to Germany," is an example of nos. 4&5 above, and also probably an unstated hierarchy of languages. The speaker would probably not say something similar to Germans. this kind of thinking, which if you look at it is fundamentally a monolingual paradigm. 7. Language rights and bilingual education are international issues too, like English fever. IOW, I'd agree with what Susan wrote about endangered languages but take it a step further. It may be that proponents of indigenous and endangered languages are more conscious of the international dimensions than others focusing on bilingual education in particular countries. In any event, more could be done. 8. There is another hidden strand here and that is the less extreme position of English-only (and similar propositions) that reduces first language (L1) education to a stepping stone to fluency in a second/additional language (L2). This of course is opposed to "additive bilingual" approaches that recognize the intrinsic importance of L1. Don Osborn From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Sep 22 19:21:12 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 12:21:12 -0700 Subject: Senate Floor statement by Sen. Tom Daschle on 9-21-04 (fwd) Message-ID: OPENING OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION'S NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN -- (Senate - September 21, 2004) [Page: S9396] --- ???Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, this is a happy and historic day for all Americans, and especially for the First Americans. Right now, about a dozen blocks from this Capitol, an estimated 15- to 20,000 Native Americans representing tribes from South Dakota to South America are beginning a grand procession down Pennsylvania Avenue. The procession is the largest gathering ever of American Indians in our Nation's Capital. As someone from South Dakota, proud homeland of the Great Sioux Nation, I can tell you, it is an incredibly beautiful sight. ???The procession marks the beginning of a week-long festival in Washington celebrating the opening of the spectacular new National Museum of the American Indian. The new museum--part of the Smithsonian Institution--is America's only national museum dedicated to Native Americans. And it is the largest museum in the world dedicated to telling the story of indigenous people in their own authentic voices. Every detail reflects the views of Native people, from the text of the exhibits to the menu in the museum restaurant. The building itself was designed by the famed Native architect, Douglas Cardinal. Its curved exterior walls, made of rough-hewn limestone, suggest the ancient cliff dwellings of the American Southwest. ???Inside those walls are 8,000 extraordinary artifacts representing more than 10,000 years of history from more than 1,000 indigenous communities fromas far north as Alaska and as far south as Chile. The museum includes three permanent exhibits. ``Our Universes'' features the spiritual beliefs of native communities, including the Oglala Sioux Tribe. ``Our Peoples'' looks at historical events through native eyes. ``Our Lives'' focuses on native people today. There is also space for changing exhibits of artwork by contemporary Native artists, and large spaces for Native American ceremonies and performances. In this museum, Native people and communities are not anthropological oddities or historical footnotes. They are not stereotypes. They are vibrant, living cultures. ???I want to commend the museum's director, Dr. Richard West, a member of the Southern Cheyenne nation, and all of museum's dedicated staff and volunteers, who have worked so hard to make the dream a reality, including assistant curator Emil Her Many [Page: S9397] Horses, a native of Pine Ridge, who was raised on Rosebud. ???I also want to thank our colleague, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a long-time champion of the museum. I especially want to thank my dear friend, Senator Dan Inouye, co-chairman, with Senator Campbell, of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and the original sponsor in 1987 of the bill creating the National Museum of the American Indian. No Senator has ever worked longer or harder to get our government to honor its trust and treaty obligations to Native American tribes, to Native Hawaiians and Alaska Natives than Danny Inouye, and I am proud to be able to work with him to keep those sacred commitments. ???As many as 6 million visitors are expected to visit the National Museum of the American Indian every year. They will come away with a deeper understanding of America's rich Native cultures. It will lead, it is hoped, to a healing and reconciliation between Native Americans and those of us whose families came here from other nations. ???It is moving to see this living monument to the First Americans take its rightful place on our National Mall, along side our Nation's other great monuments. At the same time, we know that there are priceless cultural and historical artifacts all across Indian Country that also must be preserved. ???I would like to tell you about one such treasure: an extraordinary collection of letters known as ``The Dakota Letters.'' They were written 140 years ago by members of the Dakota Nation, the original inhabitants of what is now Minnesota. Four years ago, copies of 150 of the Dakota Letters found their way to the home of some of the descendants of the original letter writers: the Sisseton Wahpeton reservation in eastern South Dakota. What makes these letters rare--and possibly unique--is that they provide first-person, written accounts of a tragic and little-known chapter in our Nation's history--as seen through Native eyes. ???That chapter has been called many things. The first accounts, written by white historians in the 1880s and 1890s, referred to it as ``the Great Sioux Massacre.'' Later, it was called ``the Sioux Uprising.'' Today, it is known as ``the U.S.-Dakota Conflict--some say the U.S. -Dakota War--of 1862. It was the opening of the Great Plains Indian Wars, three decades of armed resistance by Plains Indians against white settlers and government soldiers. ???The roots of the Dakota Conflict stretch back to 1851, when the Dakota were coerced into signing treaties giving 90 percent of their land, including their hunting grounds, to the U.S. government. The government promised the Dakota annual payments of gold and goods for the land, as well as help building schools and farms. The promises were never kept. ???A decade later, in August of 1862, the Dakota were starving. The annuity payments were late and the government agent refused to sell on credit food that was being stored in warehouses for sale to the Dakota. When Dakotas complained, he stunned them by telling them to ``eat grass.'' Four days later, a hunting party of hungry Dakota youth killed five white settlers in a dispute over some stolen eggs. It was the spark that ignited the war. ???Reluctantly, some of the Dakota chiefs chose to go to war rather than surrender the young men for hanging. Some hoped that the Army might be so distracted by the Civil War that the Dakota could drive them from the Plains. That was a tragic miscalculation. ???The fighting lasted 38 days, raging across the Minnesota River Valley, south to Iowa and west to the Dakotas. Most Dakota people opposed the war and did not fight. Many risked their lives to save white settlers. When the war ended, nearly 100 American soldiers, approximately 359 settlers and an estimated 29 Dakota soldiers were dead. ???Most of the Dakota warriors who led the fighting escaped north. Nearly 400 men who remained were captured and taken to a prison in Mankato, MN, where they were tried by a military commission. As many as 40 trials were conducted in a single day--a single day. The prisoners were all denied counsel. Many spoke no English and most likely did not understand the charges against them. ???Of the 393 men tried, 323 were convicted, and 303 were sentenced to die. President Lincoln commuted all but 38 of the death sentences. The 38 condemned men were hanged in the Mankato prison the morning after Christmas of 1862 in what remains the largest public execution in our Nation's history. Among the 38 were men who almost certainly had not taken part in the fighting and two men whose names were not even on the list of the condemned. ???For the rest of the Dakota people, the worst was still to come. After losing the war, they lost their nation. In March of 1863, the Dakota prisoners at Mankato were sent to Camp McClellan in Davenport, IA. More than 1,600 other Dakota people who had nothing to do with the war were also taken captive after the war and held at Fort Snelling, MN. In April of 1863, they were forcibly removed to Crow Creek, SD. That same month, Congress cancelled all treaties with the Dakota and used the money that had been promised to the Dakota to pay claims by settlers. Hundreds of Dakota family members died at Fort Snelling. Hundreds more died on the way to Crow Creek, and many more died on the Crow Creek reservation. Eventually, some of the families moved from Crow Creek to Sisseton Wahpeton. It is there, 140 years later, that the letters of the Dakota prisoners have been translated into modern English by their descendants. ???Like the exhibits in the new museum, the Dakota Letters speak in the authentic voices of the First Americans. The writers speak of their love and concern for their families. They also speak of their uncertainty and their fears. One of the most extraordinary of the letters was written 3 days after the assassination of President Lincoln, whom the Dakota call respectfully ``Grandfather.'' The letter was written by a man named Moses Many Lightning Face to a missionary the Dakota prisoners trusted and referred to as a relative. The writer expresses fear about what might happen to the Dakota prisoners now that the man who had spared their life once was dead. These are his words: ???Well, my relative, I wish to write you a letter. We have heard the news. They say that Grandfather was killed. But someone of authority should tell us if this is not true. Thus, I write to you this letter. Also, I have heard some rumors. Grandfather has compassion for us and, so far, we are still alive. But they told us he was killed, and we are saddened. Those of us here think if this is so, we are heartbroken. Perhaps the attitude of the cavalry soldiers may change toward us. Tell me what your thoughts are; I want to know; that's why I write to you. Then I wish to hear exactly how they killed Grandfather. ..... This is all I am going to say. I shake all your hands. Moses Many Lightning Face. This is me. ???What makes the Dakota Letters so rare is that, like most Native American languages, Dakota in the mid-1800s was not a written language. Missionaries developed a written form of the language to teach the Bible to the Dakota. The missionaries who visited the Dakota prisoners taught it to them. ???In Sisseton Wahpeton, the letters were translated by five tribal elders, working with Dakota language and history experts from Sisseton Wahpeton College. It was a complicated process more like code-breaking than simple translation. The words are first translated from Dakota, then into literal English, then into modern English. The translation of the letter to President Lincoln shows this process. I ask consent that it be printed in the RECORD immediately following my remarks. ???The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. ???(See exhibit 1.) ???Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, like the exhibits in the new museum, the Dakota Letters illustrate in a powerful way that we do not have separate histories, but we see the same history through different eyes. This gift of being able to see our history from others' perspectives can only help heal our Nation and make us stronger. ???I believe strongly that the Federal Government, which had such a direct hand, for so long, in efforts to destroy Native cultures, has a responsibility to help preserve these cultures not just on the National Mall in Washington, but in tribal communities throughout America. And we are making a start. ???Next month, the first applications will go out for a new grant programs [Page: S9398] for tribal museums. Under the Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services Program, tribes can receive grants of up to $20,000 a year. The museum program, and a similar program to support tribal libraries, are both administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences. ???The Tribal Historic Preservation Program in the National Park Service gives tribes control of decisions about cultural preservation on tribal lands by establishing tribal historic preservation offices, just like State historic preservation offices. ???The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, passed in 1990, lays out a process to identify Native American sacred and funerary objects and return them to their people. ???In Sisseton Wahpeton, tribal elders and educators hope to use technology to record translation sessions of the Dakota Letters and use the recordings to teach the Dakota language. They also want to use distance learning to teach Dakota history and culture lessons based on the letters. They can't do that now because they have run out of money for the Dakota Letters project. An amendment Senator Inouye is sponsoring to the Native American Languages Act might help the tribe finish the Dakota Letters project. It would provide additional resources for immersion schools and other intensive efforts to save Native American languages--which we are now losing at the alarming rate of one each month. ???All of these efforts, and more, need and deserve the support of Congress. ???Newspaper accounts of the executions of the Dakota prisoners at Mankato note that the men met their deaths with courage and dignity, chanting a Dakota death song. One reporter recorded that their final words were a simple plea for recognition: ``I am here.'' ???Those same words echo from every ancient corner of this Nation. Long before Europeans and others arrived, Native Americans were here. And they are still here today, greatly enriching our national identity and culture. On this happy and historic day, as we celebrate the opening of America's spectacular new National Museum of the American Indian, let us also celebrate the Native American history and culture that exists all across America. And let us vow to work together to preserve that history and culture everywhere it exists. ???EXHIBIT 1 ???1. mitakuye ito wowapi cicage kta wacin nakaha wotanin naonhonpi ???2. Well, my relative, I want to give you this paper now we have heard news ???3. Well, my relative I wish to write you a letter, we have heard news. ???1. tonkansidon ktepi keyapi ???2. They said they killed Grandfather. ???3. They have said that Grandfather (Abraham Lincoln) was killed. ???1. tuka hecen tuwe taku tanyan onkokiyakapi kta iyecece sni ???2. But then someone should tell us if this is not true. ???3. But someone of authority should tell us if this is not true. ???1. hecen mitakuye wowapi cicu ???2. Thus, my relative, I give you this paper ???3. Thus, I write to you this letter. ???1. eya taku wanjikj nawahon ???2. To say, I have heard several rumors ???3. Also I have heard some rumors ???1. tonkansidan he onsiondapi qa dehanyan nionyakonpi ???2. Grandfather had compassion for us, and so far we are still alive ???3. Grandfather has compassion for us, and so far we are still alive. ???1. tuka hecen nakaha ktepi keyapi heon cante onsicapi ???2. but then now they killed him they said therefore our hearts are sad. ???3. but they told us he was killed, and we are saddened. ???1. tona onkiyukcanpi hecinhan ehna cante onsicapi ???2. Some we think if this is so, we are heartbroken. ???3. Those of us here think if this is so, we are heartbroken. ???1. hehan hecan isantanka kin hecen tokan kante onkiyuzapi kta naceca ???2. Then this Big Knives the thus how heart hold us will maybe ???3. Perhaps the attitude of the calvary soldiers may change toward us. ???1. idukcan hecinhan omayakidaka wacin qa heon wowapi cicage ye do ???2. what you think, if you tell me, I want, therefore paper I make for you. ???3. Tell me what your thoughts are, I want to know, that's why I write to you. ???1. hehan tonkansidan token ktepi hecinhan he tanyan nawahon kta wacin ???2. then Grandfather how they killed him if this is good I hear will I want. ???3. Then I wish to hear exact1y how they killed Grandfather. ???1. hehan eya anpetu waken eca token owakihi waokun wicawakiye ???2. Then to say day holy when how I am able to preach to them ???3. Then, also on Sundays when I am able I do the preach to them. ???1. henana epe kte owasin nape ciyuzapi ???2. That's all, I say will all hand they shake, ???3. This is all I'm going to say, I shake all your hands. ???Mowis Itewakanhdiota--he miye ???Moses Many Lightning Face--This is me. ???Translation key: ???1. original Dakota ???2. Dakota to English ???3. English translation ???Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that my leader comments not be taken from the first hour of the Democratic allocation of time. ???The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. ???Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, will the minority leader yield? ???Mr. DASCHLE. I am happy to yield to the Senator from Delaware. END No. 7 OPENING OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION'S NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN -- (Senate - September 21, 2004) http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/B?r108:@FIELD(FLD003+s)+ at FIELD(DDATE+20040921) From mward at LUNA.CC.NM.US Wed Sep 22 22:35:07 2004 From: mward at LUNA.CC.NM.US (Matthew Ward) Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 16:35:07 -0600 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: Thanks for your thoughts, Don. On one issue that we are discussing--the idea that bilingualism or multilingulaism is good for an individual, I do think that serious progress has been in terms of public attitudes. It's very rare anymore for people to argue that it somehow confuses children or such. Even in the tiny rural corner of Washington State where I'm originally from, I've heard parents bragging about their (native English speaking) children's ability to speak Spanish, and they seem to recognize that earlier is better. As a person who speaks a few languages, I personally get ridiculous amounts of praise for doing something that comes naturally for many people in parts of the world like South Asia or Africa. It seems that, in concept, American society values being able to speak more than one language. I do hope that more and more of this research showing bi and multilinguals having cognitive benefits is publicized, but I think that a surprising number of people already understand this instinctively. Even the English-Only movement does not generally argue against bilingualism, it just insists that English is so important to immigrant children that they should be in an all-English environment as soon as possible--assuming, of course, that being in an all-English environment is the best way for them to learn. I won't even get into that particular debate right now. My concern is their obviously implied definition of English as the only American language, and then their writing laws that are so badly written and overreaching that they end up applying to indigenous languages, although the laws are claimed to be directed at immigrant children and languages. I could, perhaps, give them the benefit of the doubt when they say that they support efforts of Native Americans to preserve their own languages, but if their laws are in fact working against that end, then all the good intentions in the world mean nothing. What really offends me is the combination of the continual equation of English with American nationhood, as if no other language could possibility considered "American" (here, I'm using "American" in the sense of "United States," obviously) with laws that in fact harm non-English American languages. It's like a kinder, friendlier cultural genocide: you can re-write history so that English is our only legitimate language, and at the same time, you can help wipe out indigenous languages so that, in the end, you can say "Well, we don't HAVE any indigenous languages." Seems like the two goals work together very nicely, whether they are intended to or not. The end result seems to be wiping cultures and their languages (which, of course, contain much of any culture's content, in terms of songs, stories, proverbs, histories, poems, etc.) off the face of the earth and then rewriting history so that we don't even remember that those cultures existed--cultural genocide, done in a less violent, more "civilized" way. "English for the Children," doesn't that sound nice? I remember getting in a debate about this on the Internet a few years back, and one person's comment was "I never met an Indian who couldn't speak English." Well, obviously that person hadn't spent much time in the Southwest, but what really struck me was how much of a self-fulfilling prophecy his attitude amounted to: if all Native Americans can speak English (in itself, a positive enough goal) then there is no need to preserve their languages. One goal justifies the next goal. One thing you do hear from the English-Only people is things like "We're not against them teaching their own languages." Well, of course you're not. You can have a class teaching Hopi, just like you can have a class teaching German or Japanese. In recent history, people generally haven't argued with the idea of having a few hours a week to teach a "foreign" language. Acting like you're being tolerant for allowing people to do that is totally disingenous. It's a totally false argument. Sure, you allow them a few hours a week to teach their own languages. But, is that really going to preserve languages in the long term? Would Hawaiian even exist today if not for the language nests? It may well be that these people actually know very well what they are doing--they know that pretending to give people something by "allowing" them to have classes teaching Navajo (rather than classes that are conducted in the MEDIUM of Navajo) actually furthers their goals in the long run. Sure, having a class is far better than not teaching it at all, but if that's all you're allowed to do in public schools, then you are effectively dooming languages. On a hopeful note, I think that English-Only can be discredited and defeated, and that, next time Unz and his bullies try to pass a law, there should be ads on TV letting people know, in language that everyone can easily understand, what has happened in Arizona. "We aren't against preserving Indian languages." "Well, actually, you've already passed a law that, in the name of helping immigrant kids learn English, is actually working against an indigenous American language that helped win WWII. You are demoting American languages to the status of foreign languages like French, and how can we trust your next law to not do the same?" That's a crude, nationalistic way of putting it, but it's also based on fact. The English-Only people will use far cruder nationalism and back it up with baldfaced lies. I've tried these arguments out on a wide variety of individuals in my daily life, and when you put it in those terms, people look at the whole issue in a very different way "Oh no, those laws shouldn't apply to Indian languages!" It simply never occurs to most people that those laws might end up applying to indigenous languages that pre-date English. As for "English Fever," it is indeed very real, but it mostly affects people in countries where English is an official second language--that's why it affect some urban Africans. Of course, it affects people where English is a foreign language, but it mostly involves things like having their kids start learning English in elementary school instead of high-schools, and few would argue with the wisdom of that. For linguistic minorities in countries where English is the dominant native language, it's more of a question of survival rather than dealing with internationalism; obviously, if it's a country speaking another dominant national language, then the choice they are facing involves the indigenous languages vs. the dominant national language, rather than vs. English. For the English-only people, the argument usually focuses on the status of English as the de-facto national language of the US. I have sometimes heard them use the "English is an international language argument," but I think that they are aware that this argument is a double-edged sword: you could very well argue "Spanish is an international language, so we should encourage our Spanish-speaking immigrants to keep their language while learning English." On a side note, several years ago, "English Fever" reached a point in S. Korea where a few wingnuts actually proposed making it an "official second language," something which, understandably, made a lot of Koreans very upset (very proud people who know what it's like to have a language imposed on them--given another 50 years of Japanese occupation, and Korean could well have been endangered!). The whole idea, of course, was science-fiction from any realistic language-planning perspective. The ironic thing is that now, only a half-decade later, China has replaced the US as S. Korea's biggest trading partner, and there is a growing trend of people choosing Chinese over English for foreign-language studies. The same thing happened in Japan a few years back, with some polls even suggesting more interest in studying Chinese than English. I do not believe that Chinese is under any position to replace English in any time for the foreseeable future, but I do think that English will find itself increasinly challenged by global multilingualism--in a shinking, multilingual world, it simply makes good business sense for countries to have their citizens able to speak a variety of foreign languages, rather than just having everybody learn the same language. Send two identical corporations to do business in Brazil, one with Portuguese-speaking employees, and the other with English-speaking employees, and see which one does better business. That's one reason why I think that English-Only avoids talking too much about English being an international language: doing so not only contradicts their ridiculous "English is endangered" arguments, it also would seemingly support certain kinds of bilingual education that support immigrant kids keeping their native languages--why spend a lot of effort trying to get English-speaking people to learn foreign languages and simultanously support policies that encourage immigrants speaking the same languages to forget those languages? It's just an enormous and silly waste of resources. I'd like to see the English-only movement discredited across the board, but obviously, the most crucial thing for now is to keep them from affecting efforts to preserve indigenous languages in any way. PS: Don, do feel free to re-post any of my posts anywhere you want. Donald Z. Osborn wrote: >This is a very interesting thread with some very important strands, if you will, >that it would help to sort out. Or at least I'm needing to do that and hope it >will be useful for me to share it. > >1. Bilingualism is good for you. I'd tend to agree with what Mia said on this, >without denying Susan's reference to failed efforts to focus on such a message. >It seems to be a much surer long-term foundation (or part of it) for arguing >for bilingual education than otherwise clever arguments such as what Matthew >suggested (e.g., that English-only laws make Navajo a foreign language). Such >reasoning risks dividing support for indigenous languages in education from >support for immigrant languages (an unintended message). The basic cause of >bilingual education probably needs to be broader to succeed. > >2. First-language education is a matter of quality education as well as a matter >of human (linguistic) rights. This would be the other part of the foundation >for the case for bilingual education. > >3. What is really being argued against can therefore be recast as "monolingual >non-first-language education," which in the US puts children of non-English >speaking households at a disadvantage (per #2) and removes a potential >advantage (per #1). This not an arguement against English, of course, but >English-only. > >4. Monolongual paradigm. One of the challenges of pursuing this line of >reasoning (nos. 1-3) is that it runs up against what I think of as a paradigm >that considers more than one language to be a disadvantage to individuals and >societies, and that having more than one language means learning one or >both/all less well. This is not just a US phenomenon, but held in some other >countries, even multilingual ones (the notion of a single language for >nation-building came from Europe, for instance). > >5. "English fever." Another seemingly distant but very real consideration is >that there seems to be an organic need in today's globalizing human society for >an international lingua franca. English for better or worse (let's not get into >that discussion now) is for the moment at least, spreading to fill that role. >It's easy for people looking at that to think that the best thing in the world >for their kids and the other kids in their society is to learn English really >well. This thought manifests itself in different forms as it passes through >geographic and political prisms (to stretch a metaphor), from "English only" in >some dominantly English first-language contries (notably the US), to parents in >countries where English is a language trying to speak English only and not >their first languages to their children in the hopes that that will benefit >them later on in life (some examples in urban Africa), to the increased >importance of teaching English to non-English speakers (examples worldwide, >including China, where there are a lot of English learning schools, programs, >etc.). > >6. Matthew's example of someone saying "We're not against preservation of Native >languages, but they have to be practical. They couldn't use them if they go to >Germany," is an example of nos. 4&5 above, and also probably an unstated >hierarchy of languages. The speaker would probably not say something similar to >Germans. this kind of thinking, which if you look at it is fundamentally a >monolingual paradigm. > >7. Language rights and bilingual education are international issues too, like >English fever. IOW, I'd agree with what Susan wrote about endangered languages >but take it a step further. It may be that proponents of indigenous and >endangered languages are more conscious of the international dimensions than >others focusing on bilingual education in particular countries. In any event, >more could be done. > >8. There is another hidden strand here and that is the less extreme position of >English-only (and similar propositions) that reduces first language (L1) >education to a stepping stone to fluency in a second/additional language (L2). >This of course is opposed to "additive bilingual" approaches that recognize the >intrinsic importance of L1. > >Don Osborn > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Sep 23 02:41:54 2004 From: sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (Susan Penfield) Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 19:41:54 -0700 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: Matthew, Thank you for your thoughts and insights...I'm in total agreement on all but one point. There are many people still telling me that 'more than one language is confusing for children' and often these are the tribal elders I work with. I am pretty sure these are attitudes forged from boarding school experiences but they continue to be reinforced through local language policy. Therefore, some of the people who are really in key positions to help with revitalization efforts are unsure and occasionally reluctant to get involved.( Certainly, this is not true of everyone and I'm not claiming to know all the dynamics at work here.) We (meaning the community members I work with who are most involved in language revitalization) are continually in a position of having to educate those in the local schools, in the migrant community and in the tribal community about the clear benefits of bi-or multi-lingualism. I think that most local folks, tribal members and others, argue for the value of language preservation from the position of wanting to document and, perhaps put to limited use, a cultural artifact. Very,very few ever argue that it will benefit the children's cognitive growth tremendously (as the research clearly shows). Changing attitudes is slow work but without it, native languages will continue to be viewed as 'artifacts'. After working for over thirty years in a rural Arizona community, I can reflect on the fact that we were able to make more headway for Native languages in the public schools then than we can now with Prop 203 in place. Today, there is a growing willingness to include 'culture' into the cirriculum, but to clearly exclude language. (This is true for both the migrant and tribal populations). In 1973, I directed a federally-funded program designed to teach native languages and cultures in the public schools --in any venue approved by the tribes. I can't imagine that kind of blanket acceptance in Arizona today. (Of course, public schools may not be the best place for native language instruction, but that is another discussion altogether). BTW, Mia's ideas about putting a more public face through the media about the cognitive benefits of bilingualism I fully support. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: Matthew Ward To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 3:35 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ Thanks for your thoughts, Don. On one issue that we are discussing--the idea that bilingualism or multilingulaism is good for an individual, I do think that serious progress has been in terms of public attitudes. It's very rare anymore for people to argue that it somehow confuses children or such. Even in the tiny rural corner of Washington State where I'm originally from, I've heard parents bragging about their (native English speaking) children's ability to speak Spanish, and they seem to recognize that earlier is better. As a person who speaks a few languages, I personally get ridiculous amounts of praise for doing something that comes naturally for many people in parts of the world like South Asia or Africa. It seems that, in concept, American society values being able to speak more than one language. I do hope that more and more of this research showing bi and multilinguals having cognitive benefits is publicized, but I think that a surprising number of people already understand this instinctively. Even the English-Only movement does not generally argue against bilingualism, it just insists that English is so important to immigrant children that they should be in an all-English environment as soon as possible--assuming, of course, that being in an all-English environment is the best way for them to learn. I won't even get into that particular debate right now. My concern is their obviously implied definition of English as the only American language, and then their writing laws that are so badly written and overreaching that they end up applying to indigenous languages, although the laws are claimed to be directed at immigrant children and languages. I could, perhaps, give them the benefit of the doubt when they say that they support efforts of Native Americans to preserve their own languages, but if their laws are in fact working against that end, then all the good intentions in the world mean nothing. What really offends me is the combination of the continual equation of English with American nationhood, as if no other language could possibility considered "American" (here, I'm using "American" in the sense of "United States," obviously) with laws that in fact harm non-English American languages. It's like a kinder, friendlier cultural genocide: you can re-write history so that English is our only legitimate language, and at the same time, you can help wipe out indigenous languages so that, in the end, you can say "Well, we don't HAVE any indigenous languages." Seems like the two goals work together very nicely, whether they are intended to or not. The end result seems to be wiping cultures and their languages (which, of course, contain much of any culture's content, in terms of songs, stories, proverbs, histories, poems, etc.) off the face of the earth and then rewriting history so that we don't even remember that those cultures existed--cultural genocide, done in a less violent, more "civilized" way. "English for the Children," doesn't that sound nice? I remember getting in a debate about this on the Internet a few years back, and one person's comment was "I never met an Indian who couldn't speak English." Well, obviously that person hadn't spent much time in the Southwest, but what really struck me was how much of a self-fulfilling prophecy his attitude amounted to: if all Native Americans can speak English (in itself, a positive enough goal) then there is no need to preserve their languages. One goal justifies the next goal. One thing you do hear from the English-Only people is things like "We're not against them teaching their own languages." Well, of course you're not. You can have a class teaching Hopi, just like you can have a class teaching German or Japanese. In recent history, people generally haven't argued with the idea of having a few hours a week to teach a "foreign" language. Acting like you're being tolerant for allowing people to do that is totally disingenous. It's a totally false argument. Sure, you allow them a few hours a week to teach their own languages. But, is that really going to preserve languages in the long term? Would Hawaiian even exist today if not for the language nests? It may well be that these people actually know very well what they are doing--they know that pretending to give people something by "allowing" them to have classes teaching Navajo (rather than classes that are conducted in the MEDIUM of Navajo) actually furthers their goals in the long run. Sure, having a class is far better than not teaching it at all, but if that's all you're allowed to do in public schools, then you are effectively dooming languages. On a hopeful note, I think that English-Only can be discredited and defeated, and that, next time Unz and his bullies try to pass a law, there should be ads on TV letting people know, in language that everyone can easily understand, what has happened in Arizona. "We aren't against preserving Indian languages." "Well, actually, you've already passed a law that, in the name of helping immigrant kids learn English, is actually working against an indigenous American language that helped win WWII. You are demoting American languages to the status of foreign languages like French, and how can we trust your next law to not do the same?" That's a crude, nationalistic way of putting it, but it's also based on fact. The English-Only people will use far cruder nationalism and back it up with baldfaced lies. I've tried these arguments out on a wide variety of individuals in my daily life, and when you put it in those terms, people look at the whole issue in a very different way "Oh no, those laws shouldn't apply to Indian languages!" It simply never occurs to most people that those laws might end up applying to indigenous languages that pre-date English. As for "English Fever," it is indeed very real, but it mostly affects people in countries where English is an official second language--that's why it affect some urban Africans. Of course, it affects people where English is a foreign language, but it mostly involves things like having their kids start learning English in elementary school instead of high-schools, and few would argue with the wisdom of that. For linguistic minorities in countries where English is the dominant native language, it's more of a question of survival rather than dealing with internationalism; obviously, if it's a country speaking another dominant national language, then the choice they are facing involves the indigenous languages vs. the dominant national language, rather than vs. English. For the English-only people, the argument usually focuses on the status of English as the de-facto national language of the US. I have sometimes heard them use the "English is an international language argument," but I think that they are aware that this argument is a double-edged sword: you could very well argue "Spanish is an international language, so we should encourage our Spanish-speaking immigrants to keep their language while learning English." On a side note, several years ago, "English Fever" reached a point in S. Korea where a few wingnuts actually proposed making it an "official second language," something which, understandably, made a lot of Koreans very upset (very proud people who know what it's like to have a language imposed on them--given another 50 years of Japanese occupation, and Korean could well have been endangered!). The whole idea, of course, was science-fiction from any realistic language-planning perspective. The ironic thing is that now, only a half-decade later, China has replaced the US as S. Korea's biggest trading partner, and there is a growing trend of people choosing Chinese over English for foreign-language studies. The same thing happened in Japan a few years back, with some polls even suggesting more interest in studying Chinese than English. I do not believe that Chinese is under any position to replace English in any time for the foreseeable future, but I do think that English will find itself increasinly challenged by global multilingualism--in a shinking, multilingual world, it simply makes good business sense for countries to have their citizens able to speak a variety of foreign languages, rather than just having everybody learn the same language. Send two identical corporations to do business in Brazil, one with Portuguese-speaking employees, and the other with English-speaking employees, and see which one does better business. That's one reason why I think that English-Only avoids talking too much about English being an international language: doing so not only contradicts their ridiculous "English is endangered" arguments, it also would seemingly support certain kinds of bilingual education that support immigrant kids keeping their native languages--why spend a lot of effort trying to get English-speaking people to learn foreign languages and simultanously support policies that encourage immigrants speaking the same languages to forget those languages? It's just an enormous and silly waste of resources. I'd like to see the English-only movement discredited across the board, but obviously, the most crucial thing for now is to keep them from affecting efforts to preserve indigenous languages in any way. PS: Don, do feel free to re-post any of my posts anywhere you want. Donald Z. Osborn wrote: This is a very interesting thread with some very important strands, if you will, that it would help to sort out. Or at least I'm needing to do that and hope it will be useful for me to share it. 1. Bilingualism is good for you. I'd tend to agree with what Mia said on this, without denying Susan's reference to failed efforts to focus on such a message. It seems to be a much surer long-term foundation (or part of it) for arguing for bilingual education than otherwise clever arguments such as what Matthew suggested (e.g., that English-only laws make Navajo a foreign language). Such reasoning risks dividing support for indigenous languages in education from support for immigrant languages (an unintended message). The basic cause of bilingual education probably needs to be broader to succeed. 2. First-language education is a matter of quality education as well as a matter of human (linguistic) rights. This would be the other part of the foundation for the case for bilingual education. 3. What is really being argued against can therefore be recast as "monolingual non-first-language education," which in the US puts children of non-English speaking households at a disadvantage (per #2) and removes a potential advantage (per #1). This not an arguement against English, of course, but English-only. 4. Monolongual paradigm. One of the challenges of pursuing this line of reasoning (nos. 1-3) is that it runs up against what I think of as a paradigm that considers more than one language to be a disadvantage to individuals and societies, and that having more than one language means learning one or both/all less well. This is not just a US phenomenon, but held in some other countries, even multilingual ones (the notion of a single language for nation-building came from Europe, for instance). 5. "English fever." Another seemingly distant but very real consideration is that there seems to be an organic need in today's globalizing human society for an international lingua franca. English for better or worse (let's not get into that discussion now) is for the moment at least, spreading to fill that role. It's easy for people looking at that to think that the best thing in the world for their kids and the other kids in their society is to learn English really well. This thought manifests itself in different forms as it passes through geographic and political prisms (to stretch a metaphor), from "English only" in some dominantly English first-language contries (notably the US), to parents in countries where English is a language trying to speak English only and not their first languages to their children in the hopes that that will benefit them later on in life (some examples in urban Africa), to the increased importance of teaching English to non-English speakers (examples worldwide, including China, where there are a lot of English learning schools, programs, etc.). 6. Matthew's example of someone saying "We're not against preservation of Native languages, but they have to be practical. They couldn't use them if they go to Germany," is an example of nos. 4&5 above, and also probably an unstated hierarchy of languages. The speaker would probably not say something similar to Germans. this kind of thinking, which if you look at it is fundamentally a monolingual paradigm. 7. Language rights and bilingual education are international issues too, like English fever. IOW, I'd agree with what Susan wrote about endangered languages but take it a step further. It may be that proponents of indigenous and endangered languages are more conscious of the international dimensions than others focusing on bilingual education in particular countries. In any event, more could be done. 8. There is another hidden strand here and that is the less extreme position of English-only (and similar propositions) that reduces first language (L1) education to a stepping stone to fluency in a second/additional language (L2). This of course is opposed to "additive bilingual" approaches that recognize the intrinsic importance of L1. Don Osborn -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dzo at BISHARAT.NET Thu Sep 23 03:26:31 2004 From: dzo at BISHARAT.NET (Donald Z. Osborn) Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 22:26:31 -0500 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ In-Reply-To: <004701c4a116$e39064e0$e6b38945@CRIT01> Message-ID: Susan describes attitudes about monolingual vs. bilingual education that from my impression (as a foreigner who has worked in West Africa for 11 years, though not specifically on formal education) are also at play in much of Africa. Indeed the example I cited earlier of parents trying to raise their children in English only (there are also examples where it is French) to the exclusion of their maternal languages has been mentioned by others, e.g. in South Africa (for French it is pretty well known for southern Cote d'Ivoire). The African context is different, however, in that people are generally multi/bilingual even when they think or plan in terms of monolingual formal education. From observation and discussions with people in the region it seems that African languages are discounted to one degree or another even by many (but definitely not all) native speakers. Senegalese Pres. Wade recently made an extraordinary statement in a visit to Nigeria that it's a pity that Africans are not bilingual - what he meant of course was that they did not speak both English and French, but the underlying assumption seems to be that that's all that really counts linguistically (even though in fact a large majority don't really speak either English or French well, from what I've seen and read). Ultimately it's the speakers' decisions what to do with their maternal languages, though there as in the US people with more influence who think one way can make hard-to-reverse decisions that limit the possibilities of those who think another way. Part of why I have focused on multilingual ICT, aside from its potential for development communication, is that it's a way to open up possibilities for use of Africa's indigenous languages in various new ways. The issue comes full circle to education (and the attitudes and policies shaping its approach), however, in that for instance you hear educated people say they never learned to read their first language. Don Osborn Bisharat.net Quoting Susan Penfield : > Matthew, > Thank you for your thoughts and insights...I'm in total agreement on all but > one point. There are many people still telling me that 'more than one > language is confusing for children' and often these are the tribal elders I > work with. I am pretty sure these are attitudes forged from boarding school > experiences but they continue to be reinforced through local language policy. [ . . . ] From dzo at BISHARAT.NET Thu Sep 23 06:47:30 2004 From: dzo at BISHARAT.NET (Donald Z. Osborn) Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 01:47:30 -0500 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: Thanks, Matthew, for the info and insights. In retrospect I probably stretched the English fever analogy too far. Responses to a couple of your comments below. Don Osborn Bisharat.net Quoting Matthew Ward : ... > On one issue that we are discussing--the idea that bilingualism or > multilingulaism is good for an individual, I do think that serious > progress has been in terms of public attitudes. It's very rare anymore > for people to argue that it somehow confuses children or such. Even in > the tiny rural corner of Washington State where I'm originally from, > I've heard parents bragging about their (native English speaking) > children's ability to speak Spanish, and they seem to recognize that > earlier is better. ... Susan already replied to this. All I would add is a question as to whether anyone has surveyed such attitudes and levels of understanding and whether there are demographic patterns. IOW, you and Susan are probably both right, but in different contexts, and it would be helpful to understand those better. > ... I remember > getting in a debate about this on the Internet a few years back, and one > person's comment was "I never met an Indian who couldn't speak English." > Well, obviously that person hadn't spent much time in the Southwest, > but what really struck me was how much of a self-fulfilling prophecy his > attitude amounted to: if all Native Americans can speak English (in > itself, a positive enough goal) then there is no need to preserve their > languages. One goal justifies the next goal. Again this echoes of situations in Africa. I have frequently encountered analagous arguments among foreigners working in African development on the topic of ICT: Why would you need to have content/software in x language if most of its speakers who can access computers/internet have some ability in English or French (or if not can have someone translate verbally for them)? It is interesting that there are now more OSS and MS softwares being developed for African languages (most recently a Mozilla browser for Luganda, the press release/announcement for which made the point that some of us have been talking about for a while, that it makes access easier and more friendly for a great many people - in this case in Uganda who are not that comfortable with English). In addition to self-fulfilling prophecies, as you put it, there are also vicious circle arguments. One of my favorite examples is hearing from some colleagues over a short span of weeks 1) that it didn't make sense to translate & print something in the two main languages of the country we worked in (Hausa & Zarma) because "no one can read it" and most people who could read could read French anyway, and 2) that it didn't make sense to do literacy in either Hausa or Zarma because there was so little printed in either.* Of course both arguments have huge holes in them, but the effect of such reasoning and self fulfilling prophecies is to deaden potential for development, education, cultural expression, etc. even in languages that are not in immediate danger of extinction - all the more so for languages that have few speakers. > ... > PS: Don, do feel free to re-post any of my posts anywhere you want. Thanks. I intended simply to repost your first message to MultiEd-L, but the thread has covered so much ground that I will also reference the subject and give a pointer to the ILAT archives. All the best. Don Osborn Bisharat.net * Happily I was able to prevail in both cases, in part for having pointed out the vicious circle. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Sep 23 17:12:06 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 10:12:06 -0700 Subject: Plains aborigines propose Cabinet-level recognition (fwd) Message-ID: Published on TaipeiTimes http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2004/09/23/2003203987 Plains aborigines propose Cabinet-level recognition PETITION: Members of the 10 `pingpu' tribes yesterday called for formation of a committee under the Cabinet to help preserve their heritage By Ko Shu-ling STAFF REPORTER Thursday, Sep 23, 2004,Page 4 The 10 pingpu (??) Aboriginal tribes yesterday launched a signature drive to petition for the establishment of a pingpu Aboriginal tribe committee under the Executive Yuan to preserve their languages and heritage. "Our ancestors came to this island about 4,000 years ago, about 3,600 to 3,800 years earlier than the Han and Hakka people," said Stephen Pan (???) of the Babuza tribe from Miaoli County. "Although we're a minority group, it's unfair that the government totally ignores our existence." Restructuring Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Tsai Huang-liang (???) said he supported the tribes' cause and would help push for the passage of the law to establish the committee in the legislature. "While the Executive Yuan is trying to streamline itself from the current 36 entities down to 22, I thought it'd be a better idea to establish the committee under the proposed culture and sports ministry instead of as a new commission," he told the Taipei Times. Chanting "pingpu people are the mother of Taiwanese people" and "we want to live here forever," about 20 pingpu Aborigines gathered in downtown Taipei yesterday afternoon to call on the Executive Yuan and Legislative Yuan to support their cause. The Chinese immigrants used the terms pingpu fan (???), or "savages on the plain," to describe the lowland Aborigines and kaoshan fan (???) to describe the indigenous people living in mountain areas. Unlike the kaoshan Aborigines, whose livelihood depended on hunting, the pingpu Aborigines are described in historical documents as fishermen, with few agricultural skills. Over the centuries, the pingpu interbred with Han Chinese and most of their language and customs have been lost. Like the kaoshan Aborigines' 10 sub-tribes -- all of which have already been recognized as official tribes -- the pingpu people also consist of 10 sub-tribes. The 10 recognized kaoshan Aboriginal tribes are the Atayal, Saisiyat, Bunun, Tsou, Paiwan, Rukai, Puyuma, Amis, Tao and Thao. The 10 pingpu tribes are the Kavalan, Siraya, Makatao, Hoanya, Babuza, Kakabu, Pazeh, Papora, Ketagalan and Taokas. Recognition In 2001, the DPP-led government recognized the Thao (?) of Sun Moon Lake in Nantou County as the nation's 10th official tribe, and in 2002 it recognized the Kavalan (???), an assimilated plains tribe, as the 11th. The Truku (???) people of Hualien County were recognized as the nation's 12th indigenous tribe in January this year following a controversial, decade-long effort by activist Pan Wen-kuei (???) of the Makatao tribe from Pingtung County. Pan said that if the DPP government really means what it says about "localization," it should make efforts to establish the pingpu Aboriginal tribe committee. "The government should face the issue fair and square," he said. "I'm afraid if we don't do it now, it'll be too late." Copyright ? 1999-2004 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Sep 23 17:18:09 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 10:18:09 -0700 Subject: Chief Seeks Code Talker Recognition (fwd) Message-ID: Chief Seeks Code Talker Recognition By Alison Vekshin Stephens Washington Bureau avekshin at stephensmedia.com http://www.swtimes.com/archive/2004/September/23/news/chief.html WASHINGTON ? During World War I, 18 soldiers from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma stumped the Germans by using their native language as a code for relaying U.S. combat information. The Choctaws made history by being the first American Indian ?code talkers,? a group later expanded to include members of about 20 tribes who served in World War I and World War II. But because their work was an official military secret, the now-deceased Choctaw code talkers were never properly recognized for their efforts, an oversight that Indian leaders are looking to correct. Choctaw Chief Gregory Pyle and representatives of other tribes sought federal recognition for the code talkers at a hearing Wednesday before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. ?During the darkest hours of our nation?s history, they had tricked the country?s enemies through the use of their most basic tool, the language of their forefathers,? Pyle said. ?Their actions were an official military secret, and their service went unacknowledged,? Pyle told the panel. The 18 Choctaw men volunteered for the U.S. Army years before American Indians were recognized as U.S. citizens in 1924. They belonged to 36th Division and served in France. When one of their officers overheard them speaking in their native language, he got the idea to set them up as a separate unit in the front lines to convey messages over telephone lines in Choctaw. The Germans, who often tapped the phone lines, had cracked all the codes used by the Allied forces. But the Choctaw language confounded the Germans, who failed to recognize and translate it. ?The experiment worked so well that a regimental commander attributed the success of a delicate, nighttime tactical withdrawal ? and again a major assault on the following day ? to the complete surprise achieved by using the Choctaw language to coordinate operations,? said retired Brig. Gen. John Brown, U.S. Army chief of military history. ?The idea caught on,? Brown said. ?By the end of World War I, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Comanche, Osage and Yankton soldiers were also serving as code talkers.? After the war ended, the U.S. military asked the code talkers to keep their work a secret so the technique could be used in future military operations. The Defense Department declassified the use of American Indian code talkers in 1968. Congressional medals have been awarded to the Navajo code talkers and their families, Pyle said. Hundreds of Navajos serving in the Marine Corps worked as code talkers in World War II and were spotlighted in the movie, ?Windtalkers.? Pyle said he would like to see the Choctaw recognition come in the form of a medal to the code talkers? descendants and a permanent plaque in a prominent location in Washington. ?We?re going to proceed on all fronts,? said Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., the committee?s chairman. He said the panel would work to gain approval for plaques and medals before Congress adjourns in a couple of weeks. ?We?ve been concerned about this for a long time,? said Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla. ?This gathering is long overdue.? Inhofe has introduced a bill that authorizes the presentation of a congressional gold medal to code talkers from the Choctaw, Comanche, Sioux and other tribes. The bill has 24 co-sponsors but needs 67 to be considered by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. The Rev. Bertram Bobb of the Christian Indian Ministries in Antlers, Okla., a relative of three Choctaw code talkers, also attended the hearing. ?They were there and did their service and came back and never advertised (their work),? Bobb said. ?A lot of people don?t know they had a great part in World War I.? While some family members knew, Bobb said he was never told directly about his family?s contribution to World War I. The French government recognized the Choctaw code talkers in 1989 with the Knight of the National Order of Merit, the country?s second-highest honor. The Choctaw Nation has placed a memorial bearing the code talkers? names at the entrance to its tribal complex in Durant, Okla. From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Fri Sep 24 13:22:52 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 07:22:52 -0600 Subject: Dual Language Instruction: A Handbook for Enriched Education Message-ID: Hello, ILAT List members, I looked up the book Rosalyn suggested and it got me to thinking: Since language is dynamic and visual and sound-based, why, why, why are all the "how-to" books based on text in this time of rich technology? Amazon didn't have the book in the "examine" format, but I looked at the index, and there is not one single thing about multi-media for sounds and lexical development, there is no mention, at least in a heading, about using the computer for sound repetition and learning, nor did there seem to be an idea about self-directed learning. It seems to be that bi/multi lingual learning always, always, always requires a teacher. This seems to be a constraint rather than a benefit. Is there some kind of bias out there that says since text is an elite representational system, language learning can only occur in this difficult context? Even the stuff I have seen on the web is convoluted and often difficult and slow, bogged down by the technology. . . rather than a beautiful artistic construction of the technologies that facilitates rather than impedes apprehension of the languages. Sigh. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Rrlapier at AOL.COM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 9:28 AM Subject: (no subject) Below is a good basic book for the non-academic (with plenty of studies cited) on the educational/cognitive benefits of teaching in two languages. Dual Language Instruction: A Handbook for Enriched Education by Nancy Cloud, Fred Genesee & Else Hamayan Rosalyn LaPier Piegan Institute www.pieganinstitute.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Fri Sep 24 13:53:03 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 07:53:03 -0600 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: Hi, Susan, I checked on these two people, and we have 5 books by James Crawford, but none by Richard Ruiz. A Google search showed him up as a professor in the LRC with lots of awards. I also found an article he wrote for the Arizona Star. In it was this very remarkable paragraph, remarkable in the sense that like Vygotsky's knowledge that text was a second order process 100 years ago, people knew 30 years ago that if you don't understand the vehicle language, you can't apprehend what it is transporting: "Lau v. Nichols was decided by the Supreme Court 30 years ago in 1974. It relied on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (yet another anniversary) to reverse a practice by San Francisco schools that provided no educational services to Chinese children that would allow them to understand the language of instruction. While Lau is often seen as mandating bilingual education, it did not; it did, however, say this: "There is no equality of treatment merely by providing the students with the same facilities, textbooks, teachers and curriculum; for students who do not understand English are effectively foreclosed from any meaningful education." " I didn't know this was a law. I don't know why we are still battling the issue if there was a Supreme Court decision 30 years ago. Even though we have technology, and even though we have native speakers of multiple languages in the academy, and even though there is much research that shows that the transport language is irrelevant in learning mathematics and the sciences, we still try to cope with the masked bigotry and discrimination of English-only materials. I think people need to re-think the paradigms of learning. Today, for the first time ever in history, younger people know more are many things than younger people. This is especially true in technology. If we are going to save the languages and the cultures, I think we need to find ways to incorporate the skills of the younger people, those "kids" who don't want to learn their native language and culture because it doesn't seem to fit with what is current, into developing vibrant, meaningful, useful content. This includes repetition and recursion from computer science, osmosis and diffusion from biology, epidemiology, diabetes and multiple sclerosis from medicine. Alzheimers, and on a fun day, making traditional foods. Here, believe it or not, "traditional food" has come to mean "fry bread"! Just my thoughts from the isolated, lonely room of Technology for Meaningful Learning. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Susan Penfield To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 8:24 AM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ Mia, You are right. However, many people (like James Crawford, Richard Ruiz, and others) have tried to do this. The problem seems to be the matter of getting it out to the general public even though numerous articles,, citing the cognitive value of being multilingual, have been published in newspapers/magazines aimed at non-academic audiences. Still, somehow it never gets for-fronted when politics becomes involved. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: MiaKalish - LFP To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 7:12 AM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ There is a lot of Psychology research that shows that people who master more than one language are much "smarter", to use a short-cut, than monolingual people. This research would make a stunning case if people assembled it, and I think would be much more effective than the ideological arguments people use in this type of discussion. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Matthew Ward To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 5:06 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ One of the depressing things about the AZ situation, for me, is that while there are still many countries with repressive laws that affect minority languages, most countries appear to be moving in a direction of more and more tolerance. It really is against a worldwide trend. Even CHINA is liberalizing its language policies to some extent--why are we falling for this stupidity, when time is so very short? It also really makes me very angry that that English-Only movement has used all of this rhetoric about helping immigrant kids learn English and used it against indigenous American languages. It's not that I support English-Only in ANY form, but I do feel quite certain that when most Americans vote for these laws, they don't intend to vote against Native American languages. It's very, very devious and evil. If I understand Prop. 203 properly, I think that it needs a 75% vote to significantly alter it. The only real hope is that lawsuits and the courts will block it. I believe that's what happened in Alaska: Native groups challenged the English-only law (another one of those laws by Unz and his gang of bullies) and it's stuck in court as a result. I remember reading an article in which some idiot representative of the English-only movement in Alaska said something like "We're not against preservation of Native languages, but they have to be practical. They couldn't use them if they go to Germany." Well, hell! You could condemn some of the largest languages on earth on that particular grounds. We all need to get a lot more politically savvy. I've found that people really respond to certain kinds of rhetoric--you can say things like "Prop. 203 reduces Navajo, an American language that helped win WWII, to the status of a foreign language." People really turn their heads when they hear statements like that. Most Americans instinctively recognize the rightness of preserving indigenous languages, but when they think that they are voting for "English for the children," then most never even think about indigenous languages. I'm not a nationalist, but we do need to point out strongly that were are preserving our own American culture here. The other side is brilliant at appealing to people's emotions--we need to do the same thing. We are, after all, on the right side of this issue. Susan Penfield wrote: All, I'm sure this is a pattern affecting endangered languages in many corners of the world. Thanks for this perspective on the Tucson and Canadian situations. For an indepth discussion of Prop. 203 in Arizona, see this page on James Crawford's Language Policy website: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/az-unz.htm It contains a complete explanation of the origin of Prop.203 (spinning out of California...) and the current status of this legislation. The tenor of 'English-only' arguments, although aimed at the Mexican-American population, is clearly a threat to anyone working on indigenous language revitalization and we should all be aware of the hidden agendas in this type of language policy. Best, Susan Quoting Rolland Nadjiwon : Interesting Anecdote: Proposition 203, English only, is not a recent proposition. My wife and I and our children were living in Tucson at the time it more of an issue. There was a major opposition to it by the Mexican Americans. One of the outspoken families was the Rhonstadt family, an old family with signatures on Spanish/ American documentation predating Texas/New Mexico/Arizona/California statehood. The protests resulted in a response of the nature that the proposition would not be rescinded but it would not be enforced. It appeared, at the time, many people did not realize the extent of the Mexican American remaining in the southwest even to this day and had intended the legislation to be used against the Dene and other native Tribes in Arizona. The Mexican American response seemed to be a total surprise to White rural populations who strongly supported it. Perhaps that is part of the reason why you find 203 is "poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented...." The only reason I am aware of this legislation, is because of the two official language legislation in Canada for French and English. That Canadian decision around the same time as Prop 203 was 'very' controversial in Canada. Here in the city where we live, we had moved to Tucson for my wife to do her Grad work at UofA, the mayor, a somewhat colourful/notorious personality, rescinded the legislation and declared Sault Ste. Marie, ON. as an English only city. Both my wife and I were unaware of the Mayor's actions. However, people who knew where relocated from were saying, "Hey, you come from that English only city up in Canada." "No. Canada has two official languages by Federal Legislation: English and French." "Oh no. Your mayor just declared your city an English only city." Of course it didn't work. I could never figure why he did that considering he is Italian and, probably, the largest language group in Sault Ste. Marie outside of English, as Hispanic is in Arizona. However, our Native Language programs are taking a beating here in Canada also because of official language legislation where we are neither included or excluded. ------- wahjeh rolland nadjiwon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Susan Penfield" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 9:16 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ Matthew, Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention. It is particularly troubling since, in the beginning of the process, Native people were assured, repeatedly, that they would not be included in the application of this poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented (my opinion, put mildly) proposition. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Matthew Ward" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 3:55 PM Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Just wanted to mention that I've been in touch with ACLU Arizona about the issue of Prop. 203, the English-only law, affecting Native immersion programs. It does indeed seem that Window Rock Public Schools may risk losing funding by continuing their immersion programs, and the issue may have to go to court. We all need to be vigilant in letting people know that these English-only laws do not just apply to immigrants--they also endanger efforts to preserve Native American languages as well. I suspect that if Azizona voters had understood the effect of this law, they wouldn't have voted for it in the first place. Matthew Ward Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D. Department of English The Writing Program Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Ph.D. Program (affiliate faculty) Indigenous Languages and Technology Southwest Center, Research Associate in Anthropology University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mikinakn at SHAW.CA Fri Sep 24 14:13:43 2004 From: mikinakn at SHAW.CA (Rolland Nadjiwon) Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 10:13:43 -0400 Subject: Dual Language Instruction: A Handbook for Enriched Education Message-ID: In my opinion, you are correct. Text centered thinking, in the literate world, has replaced orality, but, with the erroneous assumption, insidiously imbedded in praxis, that the text superseded orality, and, that the text is superior to orality. An anthropologist friend of mine often suggested the problem of the modern world, in addition to being in a spiritual crisis, is in a technological crisis in that our primitive(preliterate) mentality has not kept pace with our modern technology. In his book, Ong, Walter J. Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word. New York: Methune & Co. Ltd. 1982 addresses much of this thinking. Some very interesting posts...thank you all for your thoughts. ------- wahjeh rolland nadjiwon ----- Original Message ----- From: MiaKalish - LFP To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Friday, September 24, 2004 9:22 AM Subject: Dual Language Instruction: A Handbook for Enriched Education Hello, ILAT List members, I looked up the book Rosalyn suggested and it got me to thinking: Since language is dynamic and visual and sound-based, why, why, why are all the "how-to" books based on text in this time of rich technology? Amazon didn't have the book in the "examine" format, but I looked at the index, and there is not one single thing about multi-media for sounds and lexical development, there is no mention, at least in a heading, about using the computer for sound repetition and learning, nor did there seem to be an idea about self-directed learning. It seems to be that bi/multi lingual learning always, always, always requires a teacher. This seems to be a constraint rather than a benefit. Is there some kind of bias out there that says since text is an elite representational system, language learning can only occur in this difficult context? Even the stuff I have seen on the web is convoluted and often difficult and slow, bogged down by the technology. . . rather than a beautiful artistic construction of the technologies that facilitates rather than impedes apprehension of the languages. Sigh. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Rrlapier at AOL.COM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 9:28 AM Subject: (no subject) Below is a good basic book for the non-academic (with plenty of studies cited) on the educational/cognitive benefits of teaching in two languages. Dual Language Instruction: A Handbook for Enriched Education by Nancy Cloud, Fred Genesee & Else Hamayan Rosalyn LaPier Piegan Institute www.pieganinstitute.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From HeitshuS at U.LIBRARY.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Sep 24 16:01:17 2004 From: HeitshuS at U.LIBRARY.ARIZONA.EDU (Heitshu, Sara) Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 09:01:17 -0700 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Message-ID: Richard Ruiz has published several very important journal articles. Use the data base LLBA here at the University of Arizona Library to identify and find these. Search his name, Ruiz, Richard, as AUTHOR. Sara Sara C. Heitshu Librarian, Social Science Team American Indian Studies, Linguistics, Anthropology heitshus at u.library.arizona.edu 520-621-2297 fax 520-621-9733 University of Arizona Main Library PO Box 210055 Tucson, AZ 85721-0055 -----Original Message----- From: MiaKalish - LFP [mailto:MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US] Sent: Friday, September 24, 2004 6:53 AM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ Hi, Susan, I checked on these two people, and we have 5 books by James Crawford, but none by Richard Ruiz. A Google search showed him up as a professor in the LRC with lots of awards. I also found an article he wrote for the Arizona Star. In it was this very remarkable paragraph, remarkable in the sense that like Vygotsky's knowledge that text was a second order process 100 years ago, people knew 30 years ago that if you don't understand the vehicle language, you can't apprehend what it is transporting: "Lau v. Nichols was decided by the Supreme Court 30 years ago in 1974. It relied on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (yet another anniversary) to reverse a practice by San Francisco schools that provided no educational services to Chinese children that would allow them to understand the language of instruction. While Lau is often seen as mandating bilingual education, it did not; it did, however, say this: "There is no equality of treatment merely by providing the students with the same facilities, textbooks, teachers and curriculum; for students who do not understand English are effectively foreclosed from any meaningful education." " I didn't know this was a law. I don't know why we are still battling the issue if there was a Supreme Court decision 30 years ago. Even though we have technology, and even though we have native speakers of multiple languages in the academy, and even though there is much research that shows that the transport language is irrelevant in learning mathematics and the sciences, we still try to cope with the masked bigotry and discrimination of English-only materials. I think people need to re-think the paradigms of learning. Today, for the first time ever in history, younger people know more are many things than younger people. This is especially true in technology. If we are going to save the languages and the cultures, I think we need to find ways to incorporate the skills of the younger people, those "kids" who don't want to learn their native language and culture because it doesn't seem to fit with what is current, into developing vibrant, meaningful, useful content. This includes repetition and recursion from computer science, osmosis and diffusion from biology, epidemiology, diabetes and multiple sclerosis from medicine. Alzheimers, and on a fun day, making traditional foods. Here, believe it or not, "traditional food" has come to mean "fry bread"! Just my thoughts from the isolated, lonely room of Technology for Meaningful Learning. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Susan Penfield To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 8:24 AM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ Mia, You are right. However, many people (like James Crawford, Richard Ruiz, and others) have tried to do this. The problem seems to be the matter of getting it out to the general public even though numerous articles,, citing the cognitive value of being multilingual, have been published in newspapers/magazines aimed at non-academic audiences. Still, somehow it never gets for-fronted when politics becomes involved. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: MiaKalish - LFP To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 7:12 AM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ There is a lot of Psychology research that shows that people who master more than one language are much "smarter", to use a short-cut, than monolingual people. This research would make a stunning case if people assembled it, and I think would be much more effective than the ideological arguments people use in this type of discussion. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Matthew Ward To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 5:06 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ One of the depressing things about the AZ situation, for me, is that while there are still many countries with repressive laws that affect minority languages, most countries appear to be moving in a direction of more and more tolerance. It really is against a worldwide trend. Even CHINA is liberalizing its language policies to some extent--why are we falling for this stupidity, when time is so very short? It also really makes me very angry that that English-Only movement has used all of this rhetoric about helping immigrant kids learn English and used it against indigenous American languages. It's not that I support English-Only in ANY form, but I do feel quite certain that when most Americans vote for these laws, they don't intend to vote against Native American languages. It's very, very devious and evil. If I understand Prop. 203 properly, I think that it needs a 75% vote to significantly alter it. The only real hope is that lawsuits and the courts will block it. I believe that's what happened in Alaska: Native groups challenged the English-only law (another one of those laws by Unz and his gang of bullies) and it's stuck in court as a result. I remember reading an article in which some idiot representative of the English-only movement in Alaska said something like "We're not against preservation of Native languages, but they have to be practical. They couldn't use them if they go to Germany." Well, hell! You could condemn some of the largest languages on earth on that particular grounds. We all need to get a lot more politically savvy. I've found that people really respond to certain kinds of rhetoric--you can say things like "Prop. 203 reduces Navajo, an American language that helped win WWII, to the status of a foreign language." People really turn their heads when they hear statements like that. Most Americans instinctively recognize the rightness of preserving indigenous languages, but when they think that they are voting for "English for the children," then most never even think about indigenous languages. I'm not a nationalist, but we do need to point out strongly that were are preserving our own American culture here. The other side is brilliant at appealing to people's emotions--we need to do the same thing. We are, after all, on the right side of this issue. Susan Penfield wrote: All, I'm sure this is a pattern affecting endangered languages in many corners of the world. Thanks for this perspective on the Tucson and Canadian situations. For an indepth discussion of Prop. 203 in Arizona, see this page on James Crawford's Language Policy website: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/az-unz.htm It contains a complete explanation of the origin of Prop.203 (spinning out of California...) and the current status of this legislation. The tenor of 'English-only' arguments, although aimed at the Mexican-American population, is clearly a threat to anyone working on indigenous language revitalization and we should all be aware of the hidden agendas in this type of language policy. Best, Susan Quoting Rolland Nadjiwon : Interesting Anecdote: Proposition 203, English only, is not a recent proposition. My wife and I and our children were living in Tucson at the time it more of an issue. There was a major opposition to it by the Mexican Americans. One of the outspoken families was the Rhonstadt family, an old family with signatures on Spanish/ American documentation predating Texas/New Mexico/Arizona/California statehood. The protests resulted in a response of the nature that the proposition would not be rescinded but it would not be enforced. It appeared, at the time, many people did not realize the extent of the Mexican American remaining in the southwest even to this day and had intended the legislation to be used against the Dene and other native Tribes in Arizona. The Mexican American response seemed to be a total surprise to White rural populations who strongly supported it. Perhaps that is part of the reason why you find 203 is "poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented...." The only reason I am aware of this legislation, is because of the two official language legislation in Canada for French and English. That Canadian decision around the same time as Prop 203 was 'very' controversial in Canada. Here in the city where we live, we had moved to Tucson for my wife to do her Grad work at UofA, the mayor, a somewhat colourful/notorious personality, rescinded the legislation and declared Sault Ste. Marie, ON. as an English only city. Both my wife and I were unaware of the Mayor's actions. However, people who knew where relocated from were saying, "Hey, you come from that English only city up in Canada." "No. Canada has two official languages by Federal Legislation: English and French." "Oh no. Your mayor just declared your city an English only city." Of course it didn't work. I could never figure why he did that considering he is Italian and, probably, the largest language group in Sault Ste. Marie outside of English, as Hispanic is in Arizona. However, our Native Language programs are taking a beating here in Canada also because of official language legislation where we are neither included or excluded. ------- wahjeh rolland nadjiwon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Susan Penfield" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 9:16 PM Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ Matthew, Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention. It is particularly troubling since, in the beginning of the process, Native people were assured, repeatedly, that they would not be included in the application of this poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented (my opinion, put mildly) proposition. Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Matthew Ward" To: Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 3:55 PM Subject: English-Only laws in AZ Just wanted to mention that I've been in touch with ACLU Arizona about the issue of Prop. 203, the English-only law, affecting Native immersion programs. It does indeed seem that Window Rock Public Schools may risk losing funding by continuing their immersion programs, and the issue may have to go to court. We all need to be vigilant in letting people know that these English-only laws do not just apply to immigrants--they also endanger efforts to preserve Native American languages as well. I suspect that if Azizona voters had understood the effect of this law, they wouldn't have voted for it in the first place. Matthew Ward Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D. Department of English The Writing Program Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Ph.D. Program (affiliate faculty) Indigenous Languages and Technology Southwest Center, Research Associate in Anthropology University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Sat Sep 25 12:49:08 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 06:49:08 -0600 Subject: John Bransford? Message-ID: One more question: Does anyone know the work of John Bransford? I just noticed that he has quite a collection of books on computer supported learning, the psychology of learning, etc, and I wondered if people have combined any of this with L&C Revitalization, or multi-lingual educational materials. Maybe just one more question: Does anyone out there work on multi-lingual educational materials? Computer-based? Jon: Thanks for the note. I will read the items you suggested. I am currently moving from Tularosa to San Miguel, over 100 miles away, and writing my Dissertation proposal AND a foundation fellowship application all at the same time. I keep my sanity in a small jar so won't lose it. :-) Thanks again, Mia "Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them. Alfred North Whitehead Mia Kalish, M.A. PhD Student, C&J Tularosa, New Mexico USA 88352 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Ivy.gif Type: image/gif Size: 5665 bytes Desc: not available URL: From sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sat Sep 25 13:57:46 2004 From: sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (Susan Penfield) Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 06:57:46 -0700 Subject: Prop 203 in Arizona Message-ID: Here is some more info. for those of you who want to know more about Arizona's prop 203: ... the best source of information is the AZBLE listserve (Arizona Bilingual Education listserve) which is run out of ASU. It's got some extraneous stuff from time to time, but most of the postings have to do specifically with 203. For instance, there's something going on right now with ADE and the SEI endorsement. Tim Hogan (Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest) has just been granted a pre-trial hearing in Tucson, which is required before he formally sues the State. Anyway, there's been lots of traffic on the listserve about this. The best way to join is to contact Jeff Macswan. He's the manager, and can be reached macswan at asu.edu. Susan Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D. Department of English Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Indigenous Languages and Technology University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sat Sep 25 18:04:45 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 11:04:45 -0700 Subject: School to revive Indigenous language (fwd) Message-ID: School to revive Indigenous language Friday, 24 September 2004 http://www.abc.net.au/southeastnsw/news/200409/s1206404.htm A Eurobodalla primary school at Broulee, in south-east NSW, is pioneering the introduction of Aboriginal languages as part of the state school curriculum next year. The school is leading the way with the Dhurga tongue, native to the south coast, set to become the school's second language. Indigenous studies teacher Kerry Boyenga says the language studies will have a number of spin-offs. "We teach German as another language, as our learn language, and we just feel we have a living language in our community and we have a fairly high population of Aboriginal people and we just feel we would like to revive it. "It certainly hasn't died, but we would like to revive what we do have and build on to it so we can teach other people about our language and probably a little bit about our culture." From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sat Sep 25 18:08:55 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 11:08:55 -0700 Subject: Sign squabble threatens to divide Metis (fwd) Message-ID: Sign squabble threatens to divide Metis Buffalo Narrows Local 62 wants to declare village a Metis community By Lee Kaiser http://www.meadowlakeprogress.com/story.php?id=118769 [photo inset -Buffalo Narrows Metis Local 62 planned to erect welcome signs such as the one above on the outskirts of the village Friday.] Meadow Lake Progress???Citizens of Buffalo Narrows are in the midst of a schism over whether to declare themselves a Metis community. On Friday some members of the Metis Nation Local 62, led by president Philip Chartier, were planning to erect signs at each end of the village declaring it a Metis community. But that doesn?t sit well with mayor Bob Woods, who says it will do nothing but damage to the village, both economically and for relations between Metis, First Nations and non-native citizens. ?Our council supports some of the Metis Nation?s initiative?s but we don?t want to be portrayed as a Metis community. We want our doors open to everyone and to move forward and attract new business in the community.? He fears this could hurt their efforts to attract another grocery store to the village. Metis Local 62 figures show a populace of 80 per cent Metis, 10 per cent First Nation and 10 per cent non-native. ?I don?t want to count people as Metis or not. What?s important is that we live together as people.? He prefers stating these are ?Metis traditional lands? rather than the politically charged overtones of ?Metis community,? he says. ?Metis politics have been a major interference with local politics because the issue is over power and control ... it should be up to the people to decide what they want ? a municipal council or Metis leaders.? The mayor and all of council are also of Metis descent. He said the sign request first surfaced at the most recent meeting of the Association of Northwest Municipalities and he expects other northwest communities with large Metis populations will soon be facing the same choice. ?Mr. Chartier came to council and said he wouldn?t be asking for permission, he was just going to do it anyway.? Depending on whether the signs are erected on village property or Crown land, he says the village can order them to be removed. Days before the sign ceremony, promoted as a celebration of culture and heritage, Chartier appeared upbeat and downplayed the village?s opposition. ?In no way is it done to challenge or jeopardize municipal jurisdiction. People have to understand that. ?Our intent is that through history it is a Metis community, that?s number one.? Metis signs are becoming common, he says. ?It?s about time we let people know Buffalo Narrows is one of the Metis communities on the northwest side. ?You see in Green Lake a sign saying the Metis (settlements) and as you drive north you see (a Metis language sign) which means Ile a la Crosse Metis Land and to the north of us La Loche I believe has a sign saying welcome to the Dene Community of La Loche.? He says Local 62 is also motivated by last year?s Supreme Court Powley decision which stated a Metis individual?s hunting and fishing rights could only be derived from those communities identified specifically as Metis. That high court ruled in favor of Metis hunting rights in the Sault Ste. Marie area being on par with status Indians. Metis Nation lawyers contend that applies across the country. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sat Sep 25 18:15:20 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 11:15:20 -0700 Subject: Advocates: Honor all 'code talkers' (fwd) Message-ID: Advocates: Honor all 'code talkers' Activists and lawmakers say American Indians' efforts in World War II should be honored. By JANE NORMAN REGISTER WASHINGTON BUREAU September 23, 2004 http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040923/NEWS11/409230358/1001 Washington, D.C. - Hollywood and the publishing industry have chronicled how Navajo "code talkers" foiled the enemy by sending radio messages in their tribal language during World War II. Much less known is that American Indians from at least 18 other tribes, including the Meskwaki Nation in Iowa, played the same crucial role on the battlefield - and many of them carried the classified military secrets to their graves. Now American Indian advocates and members of Congress - including Iowa's two senators - are seeking recognition for code talkers such as the eight young Meskwaki men who enlisted in the Iowa National Guard in January 1941. They trained at Camp Dodge in Johnston and in Louisiana, then were shipped overseas with the 168th Infantry, 34th Division, for grim and difficult duty. [SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER - Without recognition: A photo from a Marshalltown newspaper shows eight Meskwaki men who enlisted in the Iowa National Guard in January 1941 and were being trained as "code talkers" during World War II. From left are Mike Wayne Wabaunasee, Edward Benson, Dewey Roberts, Frank Sanache, Judy Wayne Wabaunasee (reclining) and Melvin Twin. Standing, from left, are Willard Sanache and Dewey Youngbear. American Indian advocates and members of Congress are now seeking recognition for all the code talkers.] Robin Lee Roberts of Montour told the Senate Indian Affairs Committee at a Wednesday hearing how the Meskwaki were used as scouts in lead assaults, carrying heavy backpacks and radios. They fought through the deserts of North Africa and the mountains of Italy, targeted for capture so the enemy could try to break the code. "When they came back, they were scarred, mentally and physically," said Roberts, whose uncle, Dewey Roberts, was one of the code talkers. "I think it's time they give them their national recognition." Samson Keahna of Tama, another Meskwaki, said the veterans settled back into their lives in Iowa and said nothing about their service, even to their wives. "Instead, they lived humbly among us as friends, brothers, uncles, fathers and grandfathers," Keahna said. Navajo code talkers were featured in the movie "Windtalkers," and 29 of them were awarded congressional gold medals in 1999. But both of Iowa's senators, Republican Charles Grassley and Democrat Tom Harkin, are pushing hard for legislation that would award congressional gold medals to the rest of the code talkers as well. Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Ia., also has introduced legislation in the House. The Iowa state Senate and House both have passed resolutions urging Congress to award the medals, symbolic of the highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions. Greg Pyle, chief of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, said military leaders realized American Indian languages were useful as codes because they were based on a different linguistic root and syntax from European languages. "You couldn't go anywhere to learn about them since they were oral languages," he said. "In fact, they were the perfect languages for transmission of secrets." According to a printed statement by Charles Chibitty, a Comanche code talker too ill to attend the hearing, an example of a message radioed from one Comanche to another may have been, "A turtle is coming down the hedgerow. Get that stovepipe and shoot him." A "turtle" was a tank and a "stovepipe" a bazooka, since there were no equivalent words in Comanche. Comanches used the word "sewing machine" for a machine gun because of the noise made by the weapon. Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler was called "posah-tai-vo," which means "crazy white man." William Meadows, an assistant professor of anthropology at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, said most code talkers had attended schools where the use of their languages was banned and their culture discredited. Nonetheless they were eager to serve, and none of the American Indian languages or codes used by the armed forces is known to ever have been broken, he said. The eight Meskwaki code talkers, among 52 Meskwaki to serve in World War II, were brothers Frank and Willard Sanache, Dewey Roberts, Edward Benson, Melvin Twin, Dewey Youngbear and brothers Judy Wayne Wabaunasee and Mike Wayne Wabaunasee. Frank Sanache, the last survivor, died a month ago at 86. Their experiences are related in an article by Mary Bennett, special collections coordinator at the State Historical Society of Iowa, in the current issue of Iowa Heritage Illustrated. Bennett writes that several code talkers were captured by the Italians and Germans, and they not only suffered beatings and near starvation but also faced racial prejudice. Youngbear tried three times to escape and died in 1948 of tuberculosis contracted in the POW camp. Keahna, himself a Vietnam veteran, told senators that all code talkers deserve the same recognition as the Navajo. "Time is of the essence," he said. "Each of the men who served as a code talker deserves to know that the nation they served honors their sacrifices." From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sat Sep 25 18:25:05 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 11:25:05 -0700 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ In-Reply-To: Message-ID: [note: here is a brief august news article on AZ state policy with regard to English-only. phil] Evidence won't support Horne's language policy http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0828satlet6-281.html From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sun Sep 26 17:01:46 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2004 10:01:46 -0700 Subject: English-Only laws in AZ (fwd on behalf of Rudy Trioke) Message-ID: I'm delighted with Mia's insightful input. I wanted to comment on several points that she raised. ?? ? ? ?1. With regard to why the English as a Second Language field is behind the times in the use of technology, I think that it is partly a result of the fact that few programs training people have any specialists in this field. There is also a natural cultural lag. But Mia is 100% right that computer technology allows for excellent teaching of oral language. Susan Penfield and Phil Cash Cash have been working on precisely this topic, and in the AILDI summer program you can see native teachers learning exciting techniques for this very purpose. But this is only a start. ?? ? ? ?2. The Supreme Court decision in Lau v. Nichols in 1974 (we marked the 30th anniversary this year) was only an advisory opinion, which depended on the Justice Department developing guidelines for enforcing it. The original case was brought against the San Francisco schools, and I was involved (as Director of the Center for Applied Linguistics at the time) in working with the SF schools in developing a plan for bilingual education to respond to the Supreme Court decision. But in 1980, after Reagan was elected, the Justice Dept., which had been actively enforcing the decision, started back-tracking and watering down their enforcement, and eventually the whole issue more or less disappeared and was forgotten. ?? ? ? ?3. A dissertation I directed at the University of Illinois, by Antonio Gonzalez, demonstrated that children from Mexico who attend school there for two years before immigrating to the US do better in school than their siblings who begin school here (and have two years more of English). Navajo children who were exposed to Head Start in English did not develop full control of Navajo grammar, and did worse in school than children who were left alone and developed the Navajo better. The Rock Point school proved that dual language instruction in Navajo and English produced better results than an ESL program alone, but in spite of this evidence, the community eventually back-slid in its support of the program. Just being bilingual does not make one smarter, as it is common for speakers of minority languages to suffer from what Wallace Lambert called "subtractive bilingualism", in which they lose their native language as they gain more command of the dominant language. It is "additive bilingualism" that has cognitive benefits, and this comes from cultivating competence in the native language alongside the dominant language. ?? ? ? ?Rudy Troike ?? ? ? ?University of Arizona From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sun Sep 26 17:06:51 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2004 10:06:51 -0700 Subject: Many ethnic minority languages facing extinction (fwd) Message-ID: Many ethnic minority languages facing extinction Published on Sep 27, 2004 http://nationmultimedia.com/page.news.php3?clid=2&id=121543&usrsess=1 At least 14 languages spoken in Thailand are on the brink of extinction, a linguist at Mahidol University said at a recent meeting. Suwilai Premsrirat, who heads Mahidol?s Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development, blamed the education system as the main reason that the languages were at risk of fading away. The country?s education regulations require that lessons at schools be conducted in the country?s official language, Thai, although some schools also offer Chinese and English-language programmes. ?The Education Ministry should pay more attention to ethnic-minority languages and the Culture Ministry should do something before they disappear,? Suwilai said. She said some languages, such as the Chong language spoken in Chanthaburi, had been spoken in what is now Thailand for more than 1,000 years. ?Now only some 500 people can speak Chong and most are over 50 years old,? she said. Mahidol University has been trying to revive Chong in Khao Khitchakood by introducing the language as a subject among primary students in grades three, four and five, she said. Suwilai said there were in fact more than 60 minority languages spoken in Thailand, but most were used by very small groups of people. She said the threat of language extinction existed across the world, as the mass media, controlled by a few powerful countries, penetrated into smaller nations and affected local people?s lives. Suwilai quoted American linguist Michel Krauss as estimating that 90 per cent of languages around the globe were in crisis, with only major and official national languages safe from the risk of extinction. ?It?s [almost to the point where] a language is going to disappear every day,? she said. Pakamas Jaichalard The Nation Nakhon Pathom From iackerman at ROSETTASTONE.COM Mon Sep 27 12:41:16 2004 From: iackerman at ROSETTASTONE.COM (Ilse Ackerman) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 08:41:16 -0400 Subject: John Bransford? In-Reply-To: <050d01c4a2fe$0cc20010$6400a8c0@computer> Message-ID: On Sep 25, 2004, at 8:49 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: > One more question: Does anyone know the work of John Bransford? I just > noticed that he has quite a collection of books on computer supported > learning, the psychology of learning, etc, and I wondered if people > have combined any of this with L&C Revitalization, or multi-lingual > educational materials. > ? > Maybe just one more question: Does anyone out there work on > multi-lingual educational materials? Computer-based? Dear Mia, I've enjoyed reading your posts. I work on computer-based immersion software for language revitalization. Two indigenous language projects are underway, about six months from completion. The software has been successful for teaching mainstream languages, and I'm eager to see the results in the Mohawk and I?upiaq communities. Best wishes on your move and studies.... ilse ____________________________ Ilse Ackerman Program Manager Endangered Language Program Fairfield Language Technologies Harrisonburg, VA 22802 USA Tel 1.800.788.0822 Ext. 3318 Tel 1.540.432.6166 Ext. 3318 Fax 1.540.432.0953 www.rosettastone.com/languagerescue _______________________________ -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 1565 bytes Desc: not available URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Mon Sep 27 13:38:09 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 07:38:09 -0600 Subject: John Bransford? Message-ID: Hi, Ilse, I looked up your company. You make quite a number of language learning products. They seem to me a bit expensive, though, especially for the Indigenous learner. How will the new products be priced? Also, I didn't see any "try before you buy" downloads. How do they work? Thanks, and thanks for your kind words. Sometimes the list is so quiet, I'm not sure anyone is there, but I am very glad to see there is. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Ilse Ackerman To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 6:41 AM Subject: Re: John Bransford? On Sep 25, 2004, at 8:49 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: One more question: Does anyone know the work of John Bransford? I just noticed that he has quite a collection of books on computer supported learning, the psychology of learning, etc, and I wondered if people have combined any of this with L&C Revitalization, or multi-lingual educational materials. Maybe just one more question: Does anyone out there work on multi-lingual educational materials? Computer-based? Dear Mia, I've enjoyed reading your posts. I work on computer-based immersion software for language revitalization. Two indigenous language projects are underway, about six months from completion. The software has been successful for teaching mainstream languages, and I'm eager to see the results in the Mohawk and I?upiaq communities. Best wishes on your move and studies.... ilse ____________________________ Ilse Ackerman Program Manager Endangered Language Program Fairfield Language Technologies Harrisonburg, VA 22802 USA Tel 1.800.788.0822 Ext. 3318 Tel 1.540.432.6166 Ext. 3318 Fax 1.540.432.0953 www.rosettastone.com/languagerescue _______________________________ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From iackerman at ROSETTASTONE.COM Mon Sep 27 14:25:19 2004 From: iackerman at ROSETTASTONE.COM (Ilse Ackerman) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 10:25:19 -0400 Subject: John Bransford? In-Reply-To: <010901c4a497$3b5e4fb0$6400a8c0@computer> Message-ID: Hi Mia, Good question -- the indigenous language software isn't offered under the same terms as our other languages. We don't produce indigenous language software to sell directly to consumers. We're contracted by indigenous language groups to produce the software, and they own the final software and can replicate it and distribute it however they wish, whether at cost to their community, or free to their schools, or hosted online for a wider audience. So it requires an initial investment of labor and money, and then the product can be used as widely as desired. The software works by immersion because it uses images to convey meaning. Then it uses those language elements as building blocks to introduce further language step by step. There is actually an online demo accessible at the following url. Although there's a form to fill out, it only requires your name and email (not shared with third parties). http://www.rosettastone.com/ind/free_demo Let me know if you have any questions. I'd be interested in your feedback, too! ilse On Sep 27, 2004, at 9:38 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: > Hi, Ilse, > ? > I looked up your company. You make quite a number of language learning > products. They seem to me a bit expensive, though, especially for the > Indigenous learner. How will the new products be priced? > ? > Also, I didn't see any "try before you buy" downloads. How do they > work? > ? > Thanks, and thanks for your kind words. Sometimes the list is so > quiet, I'm not sure anyone is there, but I am very glad to see there > is. > ? > Mia > ? > ? > ? > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Ilse Ackerman > To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU > Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 6:41 AM > Subject: Re: John Bransford? > > > On Sep 25, 2004, at 8:49 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: > > > One more question: Does anyone know the work of John Bransford? I just > noticed that he has quite a collection of books on computer supported > learning, the psychology of learning, etc, and I wondered if people > have combined any of this with L&C Revitalization, or multi-lingual > educational materials. > ? > Maybe just one more question: Does anyone out there work on > multi-lingual educational materials? Computer-based? > > Dear Mia, > > I've enjoyed reading your posts. I work on computer-based immersion > software for language revitalization. Two indigenous language projects > are underway, about six months from completion. The software has been > successful for teaching mainstream languages, and I'm eager to see the > results in the Mohawk and I?upiaq communities. > > Best wishes on your move and studies.... > > ilse > ____________________________ > Ilse Ackerman > Program Manager > Endangered Language Program > Fairfield Language Technologies > Harrisonburg, VA 22802 USA > > Tel 1.800.788.0822 Ext. 3318 > Tel 1.540.432.6166 Ext. 3318 > Fax 1.540.432.0953 > > www.rosettastone.com/languagerescue > _______________________________ -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 3994 bytes Desc: not available URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Mon Sep 27 14:28:36 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 08:28:36 -0600 Subject: John Bransford? Message-ID: This is cool. I am replying Before I see the link, because from your description, the software sounds a bit like what I did with my thesis: pictures, with simultaneous sound and text, in Macromedia Flash. 77.8% effective across populations. In fact, we hit a ceiling, where 25% of the paricipants scored 100%. I think the arrangements you have with the Tribes are splendid. I am glad the languages are Not For Sale to the public. I think that is sensitive and caring, very Human. Now I am going to go Check It Out! Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Ilse Ackerman To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 8:25 AM Subject: Re: John Bransford? Hi Mia, Good question -- the indigenous language software isn't offered under the same terms as our other languages. We don't produce indigenous language software to sell directly to consumers. We're contracted by indigenous language groups to produce the software, and they own the final software and can replicate it and distribute it however they wish, whether at cost to their community, or free to their schools, or hosted online for a wider audience. So it requires an initial investment of labor and money, and then the product can be used as widely as desired. The software works by immersion because it uses images to convey meaning. Then it uses those language elements as building blocks to introduce further language step by step. There is actually an online demo accessible at the following url. Although there's a form to fill out, it only requires your name and email (not shared with third parties). http://www.rosettastone.com/ind/free_demo Let me know if you have any questions. I'd be interested in your feedback, too! ilse On Sep 27, 2004, at 9:38 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: Hi, Ilse, I looked up your company. You make quite a number of language learning products. They seem to me a bit expensive, though, especially for the Indigenous learner. How will the new products be priced? Also, I didn't see any "try before you buy" downloads. How do they work? Thanks, and thanks for your kind words. Sometimes the list is so quiet, I'm not sure anyone is there, but I am very glad to see there is. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Ilse Ackerman To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 6:41 AM Subject: Re: John Bransford? On Sep 25, 2004, at 8:49 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: One more question: Does anyone know the work of John Bransford? I just noticed that he has quite a collection of books on computer supported learning, the psychology of learning, etc, and I wondered if people have combined any of this with L&C Revitalization, or multi-lingual educational materials. Maybe just one more question: Does anyone out there work on multi-lingual educational materials? Computer-based? Dear Mia, I've enjoyed reading your posts. I work on computer-based immersion software for language revitalization. Two indigenous language projects are underway, about six months from completion. The software has been successful for teaching mainstream languages, and I'm eager to see the results in the Mohawk and I?upiaq communities. Best wishes on your move and studies.... ilse ____________________________ Ilse Ackerman Program Manager Endangered Language Program Fairfield Language Technologies Harrisonburg, VA 22802 USA Tel 1.800.788.0822 Ext. 3318 Tel 1.540.432.6166 Ext. 3318 Fax 1.540.432.0953 www.rosettastone.com/languagerescue _______________________________ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Mon Sep 27 14:53:31 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 08:53:31 -0600 Subject: "Come on Baby Light My Fire" Message-ID: Robert Mirabal has a new album, "Indians, Indians", and on it is a song called Morrison, where he tells the story of Morrison and his uncle in Albuquerque. On the album, Mirabal sings in English, and in his native Tiwa. On one song, the two languages are layered together, with one voice, a woman, singing in English, and Mirabal in Tiwa. When Ilse replied to my post earlier, I Googled "Fairfield Language Technologies", and retrieval algorithms being what they are today, I was given opportunities to explore products characterised as "the best" in some way. I encountered this: "Choose any dialect in the world, and you're virtually assured of finding it among Instant Immersion? 33 Languages, the revolution in foreign language learning. Ideal for travel or scholarly pursuits, each of the 33 CD-ROMs is devoted to one global language, exploring essential vocabulary and phrases in subjects ranging from Food to First Words; Colors to Countries." The underlinings are mine, and I call your attention specifically to the sequence. The initial mention of "scholarly pursuits" leads one to believe that you will be able to converse with your peers and colleagues after having mastered the lessons. But look at the content: "essential vocabularly" is very basic. "Concept" and "anthropomorphize" are not food nor first words, not colors or countries, and there is no mentioned category that would be a placeholder for words such as these. A bit ago, I asked if anyone on the list had a strong, indigenous lexicon for representing arithmetic and mathematics. I received a few replies, but there is apparently nothing sufficiently robust (lexicon, native speakers, cultural concepts) that would faciliate the development of math .learning materials in an Indigenous language. Here, we are looking at building it from scratch. The Kauffman Foundation Thoughtbook noted that if intellectuals and academics are convinced of something, then others follow. Every revolution has demonstrated its latent belief in this precept by eliminating intellectuals as one of its first steps. And this takes me back to Morrison, to Robert Mirabal, and the sentiment of the Doors ever-popular song: The time to hesitate is through. (The entire song is easily found by Googling the title of this email). Day after day, Phil sends out articles and links to articles that talk about how languages are dying. I believe, especially after the informative comments I have received in response to my earlier posts, that we as academincs need to be rethinking how we are concepualizing what we do with indigenous languages. Language information that sits on a page like yesterday's dead fish may be very helpful to generative linguists, but it doesn't help solve the problem of insufficient lexicon to do even the most basic learning materials. Personally, I think Revitalization will happen if people can create Teams, instead of top-down structures that are limited by the expertise of the person at the top. (This is where lots of people will feel immediately intimidated and perhaps angry, says the Cognitive Psychologist in me). But think about it: Good learning materials require knowledge of the IL, knowledge of the subject matter, and a solid grounding at the level of Native Speaker in Technology. Not too many people have all of that. So if the Teams took advantage of the strong skills of each participant, we could reduce the number of links to sad and desperate articles that Phil sends out. Best to all, Mia "Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them. Alfred North Whitehead Mia Kalish, M.A. PhD Student, C&J Tularosa, New Mexico USA 88352 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Ivy.gif Type: image/gif Size: 5665 bytes Desc: not available URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Mon Sep 27 15:50:35 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 09:50:35 -0600 Subject: John Bransford? Message-ID: Hi, Ilse, I downloaded the Shockwave, and then the special software for Fairfield. The pictures are nice. I liked that they are culturally-specific (Kiswahilli & Latin). I liked the relational learning (puer et canis, puella et femina, vir et femina, vir et puer; "puer" and "puella" are the 2 knowns at this point). I liked that people had choices of the interface language, although the learning languages were not interface options (should be :-), how Else will people learn the words for technology? The navigation wasn't intuitive for me. It seemed to be sequentially controlled, and wasn't easy for me to get back to the lexical learning area. I did find the "Preview/exercise toggle", finally. Also, the sounds only repeated once, in sequence. For speaking, I would have wanted them to repeat over and over. That would allow me the learner to control hearing what was difficult for me more than what was easy for me. For example, in Apache we have a voiceless l that is very difficult for people, and they have to hear it and say it over and over. Also, for some of the items, for example in Hebrew, I couldn't tell what I was learning. Was I learning to say that "The girl was studying"? "The girl was reading"? "The girl was comparing her notes to a good source"? "The girl was looking at notes in the library/office/room"? Was the boy riding the horse? Breaking the horse? Riding in a rodeo? It was funny to see a soccer ball in Latin, although I know that Latin is a full second language in Rome, so there has to have been some extension. Overall, this is pretty good. I think it merits 83-87. It could score higher by being more user-responsive. Don't get discouraged. Most language learning materials don't rate above a 45-50. Many, especially the text one, where a teacher is absolutely required, as is a good memory, and the students don't really have a chance, don't get above a 20. Suggested improvements: *** Improve the Nav *** Target language interface *** Greater technological support for improved distinctions (motion for verbs, etc). *** Word discrimination (I couldn't tell where the word breaks were in Hebrew) I did find the repeat sound option, though. [The relationships weren't as good in the Hebrew as in Latin. They appear to start with a cat, add the woman to the girl, add a man to the woman, and then add A Different Man to the boy. In Latin, the similarity in the pictures provides a scaffolding. In Hebrew, the visual scaffolding goes awry.) Sometimes, people who are native speakers of a language make loose and wide assumptions about what it immediately apprehensible or intuitively others. I generally find that speaking to them in Technologicalese brings the problem home. Thanks, this was fun and informative. I hope others try it out. Best, Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Ilse Ackerman To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 8:25 AM Subject: Re: John Bransford? Hi Mia, Good question -- the indigenous language software isn't offered under the same terms as our other languages. We don't produce indigenous language software to sell directly to consumers. We're contracted by indigenous language groups to produce the software, and they own the final software and can replicate it and distribute it however they wish, whether at cost to their community, or free to their schools, or hosted online for a wider audience. So it requires an initial investment of labor and money, and then the product can be used as widely as desired. The software works by immersion because it uses images to convey meaning. Then it uses those language elements as building blocks to introduce further language step by step. There is actually an online demo accessible at the following url. Although there's a form to fill out, it only requires your name and email (not shared with third parties). http://www.rosettastone.com/ind/free_demo Let me know if you have any questions. I'd be interested in your feedback, too! ilse On Sep 27, 2004, at 9:38 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: Hi, Ilse, I looked up your company. You make quite a number of language learning products. They seem to me a bit expensive, though, especially for the Indigenous learner. How will the new products be priced? Also, I didn't see any "try before you buy" downloads. How do they work? Thanks, and thanks for your kind words. Sometimes the list is so quiet, I'm not sure anyone is there, but I am very glad to see there is. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Ilse Ackerman To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 6:41 AM Subject: Re: John Bransford? On Sep 25, 2004, at 8:49 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: One more question: Does anyone know the work of John Bransford? I just noticed that he has quite a collection of books on computer supported learning, the psychology of learning, etc, and I wondered if people have combined any of this with L&C Revitalization, or multi-lingual educational materials. Maybe just one more question: Does anyone out there work on multi-lingual educational materials? Computer-based? Dear Mia, I've enjoyed reading your posts. I work on computer-based immersion software for language revitalization. Two indigenous language projects are underway, about six months from completion. The software has been successful for teaching mainstream languages, and I'm eager to see the results in the Mohawk and I?upiaq communities. Best wishes on your move and studies.... ilse ____________________________ Ilse Ackerman Program Manager Endangered Language Program Fairfield Language Technologies Harrisonburg, VA 22802 USA Tel 1.800.788.0822 Ext. 3318 Tel 1.540.432.6166 Ext. 3318 Fax 1.540.432.0953 www.rosettastone.com/languagerescue _______________________________ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Sep 27 17:34:22 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 10:34:22 -0700 Subject: It all starts by looking a baby right in the eyes (fwd link) Message-ID: It all starts by looking a baby right in the eyes The origin of language stemmed from relationships, not genes By Ruth Walker http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0914/p11s01-bogn.html [a book review - THE FIRST IDEA: How Symbols, Language, and Intelligence Evolved from our Primate Ancestors to Modern Humans By Stanley Greenspan and Stuart Shanker, Da Capo Press, 320 pp., $25] From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Mon Sep 27 17:40:39 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 11:40:39 -0600 Subject: . . . looking a baby right in the eyes: Pat Kuhl Message-ID: Pat Kuhl says that babies watch your face and eyes, and then model what they see in their minds. When they have mapped the physical movements to what they see (she is working on describing this internal mapping mechanism more precisely) then they exhibit the movements. Thus much, much more is happening beneath the surface, and long before anything is actually visible. This is a gem from my psychology days. Pat Kuhl is worth checking out for all the language learning people. She is great. And Right-On! Mia PS: By the way, Phil, thanks for your tireless devotion in finding things and sending them along to the rest of us. I know Sue appreciates you; I just wanted to send along a small at-a-boy from a list member. :-) ----- Original Message ----- From: "phil cash cash" To: Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 11:34 AM Subject: It all starts by looking a baby right in the eyes (fwd link) > It all starts by looking a baby right in the eyes > The origin of language stemmed from relationships, not genes > By Ruth Walker > > http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0914/p11s01-bogn.html > > [a book review - THE FIRST IDEA: How Symbols, Language, and Intelligence > Evolved from our Primate Ancestors to Modern Humans By Stanley > Greenspan and Stuart Shanker, Da Capo Press, 320 pp., $25] > > From rtroike at U.ARIZONA.EDU Sat Sep 25 08:47:45 2004 From: rtroike at U.ARIZONA.EDU (Rudolph C Troike) Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 01:47:45 -0700 Subject: Lau v. Nichols Supreme Court decision and bilingual advantages In-Reply-To: <20040925070139.9C152144B8@listserv.arizona.edu> Message-ID: I'm delighted with Mia's insightful input. I wanted to comment on several points that she raised. 1. With regard to why the English as a Second Language field is behind the times in the use of technology, I think that it is partly a result of the fact that few programs training people have any specialists in this field. There is also a natural cultural lag. But Mia is 100% right that computer technology allows for excellent teaching of oral language. Susan Penfield and Phil Cash Cash have been working on precisely this topic, and in the AILDI summer program you can see native teachers learning exciting techniques for this very purpose. But this is only a start. 2. The Supreme Court decision in Lau v. Nichols in 1974 (we marked the 30th anniversary this year) was only an advisory opinion, which depended on the Justice Department developing guidelines for enforcing it. The original case was brought against the San Francisco schools, and I was involved (as Director of the Center for Applied Linguistics at the time) in working with the SF schools in developing a plan for bilingual education to respond to the Supreme Court decision. But in 1980, after Reagan was elected, the Justice Dept., which had been actively enforcing the decision, started back-tracking and watering down their enforcement, and eventually the whole issue more or less disappeared and was forgotten. 3. A dissertation I directed at the University of Illinois, by Antonio Gonzalez, demonstrated that children from Mexico who attend school there for two years before immigrating to the US do better in school than their siblings who begin school here (and have two years more of English). Navajo children who were exposed to Head Start in English did not develop full control of Navajo grammar, and did worse in school than children who were left alone and developed the Navajo better. The Rock Point school proved that dual language instruction in Navajo and English produced better results than an ESL program alone, but in spite of this evidence, the community eventually back-slid in its support of the program. Just being bilingual does not make one smarter, as it is common for speakers of minority languages to suffer from what Wallace Lambert called "subtractive bilingualism", in which they lose their native language as they gain more command of the dominant language. It is "additive bilingualism" that has cognitive benefits, and this comes from cultivating competence in the native language alongside the dominant language. Rudy Troike University of Arizona From iackerman at ROSETTASTONE.COM Mon Sep 27 19:38:00 2004 From: iackerman at ROSETTASTONE.COM (Ilse Ackerman) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 15:38:00 -0400 Subject: John Bransford? In-Reply-To: <01fb01c4a4a9$ba7d0400$6400a8c0@computer> Message-ID: Dear Mia, Thanks for your thoughtful reply. We are developing the next version of the software, and I will also share your feedback with the R&D group.... : ) I'm curious, what's the rating system you used? Best regards, ilse > Overall, this is pretty good. I think it merits 83-87. It could score > higher by being more user-responsive. Don't get discouraged. Most > language learning materials don't rate above a 45-50. Many, especially > the text one, where a teacher is absolutely required, as is a good > memory, and the students don't really have a chance, don't get above a > 20. > ? > Suggested improvements: > ??? *** Improve the Nav > ??? *** Target language interface > ??? *** Greater technological support for improved distinctions > (motion for verbs, etc). > ??? *** Word discrimination (I couldn't tell where the word breaks > were in Hebrew)? I did find the repeat sound option, though. [The > relationships weren't as good in the Hebrew as in Latin. They appear > to start with a cat, add the woman to the girl, add a man to the > woman, and then add A Different Man to the boy. In Latin, the > similarity in the pictures provides a scaffolding. In Hebrew, the > visual scaffolding goes awry.) > ? > Sometimes, people who are native speakers of a language make loose and > wide assumptions about what it immediately apprehensible or > intuitively others. I generally find that speaking to them in > Technologicalese brings the problem home. > ? > Thanks, this was fun and informative. I hope others try it out. > ? > Best, > Mia > ? > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Ilse Ackerman > To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU > Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 8:25 AM > Subject: Re: John Bransford? > > > Hi Mia, > > Good question -- the indigenous language software isn't offered under > the same terms as our other languages. We don't produce indigenous > language software to sell directly to consumers. We're contracted by > indigenous language groups to produce the software, and they own the > final software and can replicate it and distribute it however they > wish, whether at cost to their community, or free to their schools, or > hosted online for a wider audience. So it requires an initial > investment of labor and money, and then the product can be used as > widely as desired. > > The software works by immersion because it uses images to convey > meaning. Then it uses those language elements as building blocks to > introduce further language step by step. There is actually an online > demo accessible at the following url. Although there's a form to fill > out, it only requires your name and email (not shared with third > parties). > > http://www.rosettastone.com/ind/free_demo > > Let me know if you have any questions. I'd be interested in your > feedback, too! > > ilse > > On Sep 27, 2004, at 9:38 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: > > > Hi, Ilse, > ? > I looked up your company. You make quite a number of language learning > products. They seem to me a bit expensive, though, especially for the > Indigenous learner. How will the new products be priced? > ? > Also, I didn't see any "try before you buy" downloads. How do they > work? > ? > Thanks, and thanks for your kind words. Sometimes the list is so > quiet, I'm not sure anyone is there, but I am very glad to see there > is. > ? > Mia > ? > ? > ? > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Ilse Ackerman > To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU > Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 6:41 AM > Subject: Re: John Bransford? > > > On Sep 25, 2004, at 8:49 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: > > > One more question: Does anyone know the work of John Bransford? I just > noticed that he has quite a collection of books on computer supported > learning, the psychology of learning, etc, and I wondered if people > have combined any of this with L&C Revitalization, or multi-lingual > educational materials. > ? > Maybe just one more question: Does anyone out there work on > multi-lingual educational materials? Computer-based? > > Dear Mia, > > I've enjoyed reading your posts. I work on computer-based immersion > software for language revitalization. Two indigenous language projects > are underway, about six months from completion. The software has been > successful for teaching mainstream languages, and I'm eager to see the > results in the Mohawk and I?upiaq communities. > > Best wishes on your move and studies.... > > ilse > ____________________________ > Ilse Ackerman > Program Manager > Endangered Language Program > Fairfield Language Technologies > Harrisonburg, VA 22802 USA > > Tel 1.800.788.0822 Ext. 3318 > Tel 1.540.432.6166 Ext. 3318 > Fax 1.540.432.0953 > > www.rosettastone.com/languagerescue > _______________________________ -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 5815 bytes Desc: not available URL: From gforger at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Sep 27 19:51:11 2004 From: gforger at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (Garry Forger) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 12:51:11 -0700 Subject: Language instruction and technology In-Reply-To: <1096136705.b9293b3dd629d@www.email.arizona.edu> Message-ID: I had the privilege of working with Sue Penfield and Phil Cash Cash here at the Learning Technologies Center of the University of Arizona on Sue?~@~Ys Gates Foundation grant dealing with Native Language Teaching and Preservation using technology. The project looked at a variety of ways that technology can be used towards this end. As part of the project we created the Online Language Environments website http://www.ole.arizona.edu While by no means comprehensive, we intend for this site to collect and disseminate information on technology that supports language instruction, preservation and research. There is also information on this site about a tool that we are developing and testing, the OLE Board, which is a tool based on Macromedia technology to enable voice, video and text to be used for online instruction. At this time the focus of the site is the University of Arizona, but we are adding more information on sites outside our institution. Please feel free to browse the site send me any comments on additions and improvements or big gaps that we missed. Thank you, Garry Forger -- "There's many a knave concealed under a surplice." Danish Proverb ______________________ Garry J. Forger, MLS Assistant Director Learning Technologies Center The University of Arizona 1077 N. Highland Ave Tucson, AZ 85721-0073 gforger at u.arizona.edu http://www.ltc.arizona.edu/ Phone 520-626-7761 Fax 520-626-8220 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Tue Sep 28 05:46:23 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 23:46:23 -0600 Subject: Language instruction and technology Message-ID: Hi, Garry, I checked out this board. I wanted to check out the Tools, but it turned out I needed a Login Id and then I couldn't Back out of the page. (http://oradb.faccenter.arizona.edu/ole/oleboard.html) I apparently went somewhere far, far away from where I started, because I couldn't even find myself in the History. Also, I would like to see more Show and less Tell. I think that those of us who espouse technology need to use it so others can see what can be done. Most people do better at reproduction than creation, especially when working with new things. Just some thoughts. I don't Really want to sound like the local kvetch. best, Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Garry Forger To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 1:51 PM Subject: Language instruction and technology I had the privilege of working with Sue Penfield and Phil Cash Cash here at the Learning Technologies Center of the University of Arizona on Sue?s Gates Foundation grant dealing with Native Language Teaching and Preservation using technology. The project looked at a variety of ways that technology can be used towards this end. As part of the project we created the Online Language Environments website http://www.ole.arizona.edu While by no means comprehensive, we intend for this site to collect and disseminate information on technology that supports language instruction, preservation and research. There is also information on this site about a tool that we are developing and testing, the OLE Board, which is a tool based on Macromedia technology to enable voice, video and text to be used for online instruction. At this time the focus of the site is the University of Arizona, but we are adding more information on sites outside our institution. Please feel free to browse the site send me any comments on additions and improvements or big gaps that we missed. Thank you, Garry Forger -- "There's many a knave concealed under a surplice." Danish Proverb ______________________ Garry J. Forger, MLS Assistant Director Learning Technologies Center The University of Arizona 1077 N. Highland Ave Tucson, AZ 85721-0073 gforger at u.arizona.edu http://www.ltc.arizona.edu/ Phone 520-626-7761 Fax 520-626-8220 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Tue Sep 28 06:10:49 2004 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (MiaKalish - LFP) Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 00:10:49 -0600 Subject: John Bransford? Message-ID: Hi, Ilse, I don't have a nice, formal instrument. But now that you mention it, developing one wouldn't be a bad idea. I did my master's thesis on precisely this paradigm. My interface looked different, because it was set up for an experiment, but it has all the same essential elements. So based on the extensive work I did there, here is how I evaluate, pretty much in order of priority: 1. Is the mode sound-picture-text, presented simultaneously 2. Can the learner interact with the material at will, studying sound & text patterns 3. Can the learner use the material without the aid of a teacher, supplementing regular course work 4. Are the references clear, for example, can the learner tell the difference between what we call a "noun" and an action word ("verb")? 5. Does the learner have disambiguation exercises? (This is where they train their brains how to discriminate the words in context. Initially, a new language sounds like an unbroken stream. It derives meaning when we can detect the patterns created by the different words and inflections.) 6. Are the visuals precise enough that the learner can derive an exact meaning. For example, if the visual is a complete place setting, with dinner plate, knife, fork, and spoon, the presented word Should NOT be any of these individual items, because the learner can't yet distinguish and make the correct relation. 7. Are there training groups and exercises that give the learner additional practice in discriminating words that are similar along visual, tonal, and semantic dimensions? 8. Is the interface intuitive? It should not get in the way of the learnng process, nor should it be a learning process unto itself. 9. Is the interface learner-centered, allowing the learner to return to those areas where he or she needs to go (+ points) or does it constrain the learner to a path, direction or mode prescribed by someone or some thing external to the current learning process (BIG - points). 10. Is the interface English-only (- points) or is it available in the target languages (BIG bonus points). Yours is nice because it gives the learner a choice of a nice collection of interface languages. 11. Does it make you smile? People study (play, really) more with learning materials that they enjoy. My regression analysis showed that text was a 2nd order process. What this means is that an additional level/layer of understanding is required to assimilate the text. Since sight and sound are first order, preceptual processes, they don't require the additional assimilation effort, and will show higher, faster response rates than will text. I thought I had discovered something that needed further research, and then I read Vygotsky, Thought and Language, and he knew this 100 years ago. Saved me endless hours of devising and running another experiment. ;-0 Anyway, these categories are worth more or less 10 points apiece. Unless one is particularly well-done or particularly poorly done, bonus or Penalty points may be awarded. How did Virginia fare in the lastest onslaught of weather from the south, by the way. Are you all fine and well up there? Still have the beautiful trees and beaches? best, Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Ilse Ackerman To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 1:38 PM Subject: Re: John Bransford? Dear Mia, Thanks for your thoughtful reply. We are developing the next version of the software, and I will also share your feedback with the R&D group.... : ) I'm curious, what's the rating system you used? Best regards, ilse Overall, this is pretty good. I think it merits 83-87. It could score higher by being more user-responsive. Don't get discouraged. Most language learning materials don't rate above a 45-50. Many, especially the text one, where a teacher is absolutely required, as is a good memory, and the students don't really have a chance, don't get above a 20. Suggested improvements: *** Improve the Nav *** Target language interface *** Greater technological support for improved distinctions (motion for verbs, etc). *** Word discrimination (I couldn't tell where the word breaks were in Hebrew) I did find the repeat sound option, though. [The relationships weren't as good in the Hebrew as in Latin. They appear to start with a cat, add the woman to the girl, add a man to the woman, and then add A Different Man to the boy. In Latin, the similarity in the pictures provides a scaffolding. In Hebrew, the visual scaffolding goes awry.) Sometimes, people who are native speakers of a language make loose and wide assumptions about what it immediately apprehensible or intuitively others. I generally find that speaking to them in Technologicalese brings the problem home. Thanks, this was fun and informative. I hope others try it out. Best, Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Ilse Ackerman To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 8:25 AM Subject: Re: John Bransford? Hi Mia, Good question -- the indigenous language software isn't offered under the same terms as our other languages. We don't produce indigenous language software to sell directly to consumers. We're contracted by indigenous language groups to produce the software, and they own the final software and can replicate it and distribute it however they wish, whether at cost to their community, or free to their schools, or hosted online for a wider audience. So it requires an initial investment of labor and money, and then the product can be used as widely as desired. The software works by immersion because it uses images to convey meaning. Then it uses those language elements as building blocks to introduce further language step by step. There is actually an online demo accessible at the following url. Although there's a form to fill out, it only requires your name and email (not shared with third parties). http://www.rosettastone.com/ind/free_demo Let me know if you have any questions. I'd be interested in your feedback, too! ilse On Sep 27, 2004, at 9:38 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: Hi, Ilse, I looked up your company. You make quite a number of language learning products. They seem to me a bit expensive, though, especially for the Indigenous learner. How will the new products be priced? Also, I didn't see any "try before you buy" downloads. How do they work? Thanks, and thanks for your kind words. Sometimes the list is so quiet, I'm not sure anyone is there, but I am very glad to see there is. Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Ilse Ackerman To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 6:41 AM Subject: Re: John Bransford? On Sep 25, 2004, at 8:49 AM, MiaKalish - LFP wrote: One more question: Does anyone know the work of John Bransford? I just noticed that he has quite a collection of books on computer supported learning, the psychology of learning, etc, and I wondered if people have combined any of this with L&C Revitalization, or multi-lingual educational materials. Maybe just one more question: Does anyone out there work on multi-lingual educational materials? Computer-based? Dear Mia, I've enjoyed reading your posts. I work on computer-based immersion software for language revitalization. Two indigenous language projects are underway, about six months from completion. The software has been successful for teaching mainstream languages, and I'm eager to see the results in the Mohawk and I?upiaq communities. Best wishes on your move and studies.... ilse ____________________________ Ilse Ackerman Program Manager Endangered Language Program Fairfield Language Technologies Harrisonburg, VA 22802 USA Tel 1.800.788.0822 Ext. 3318 Tel 1.540.432.6166 Ext. 3318 Fax 1.540.432.0953 www.rosettastone.com/languagerescue _______________________________ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Sep 28 13:45:08 2004 From: sdp at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (Susan Penfield) Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 06:45:08 -0700 Subject: Language instruction and technology Message-ID: Mia, Your thoughts on this are certainly welcome as it is all still under development. I really appreciate you r bringing all this issues to everyone's attention. I think this thread of discussion has been very beneficial for all of us interested in how to better support language learning through online sources. Best, Susan ----- Original Message ----- From: MiaKalish - LFP To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 10:46 PM Subject: Re: Language instruction and technology Hi, Garry, I checked out this board. I wanted to check out the Tools, but it turned out I needed a Login Id and then I couldn't Back out of the page. (http://oradb.faccenter.arizona.edu/ole/oleboard.html) I apparently went somewhere far, far away from where I started, because I couldn't even find myself in the History. Also, I would like to see more Show and less Tell. I think that those of us who espouse technology need to use it so others can see what can be done. Most people do better at reproduction than creation, especially when working with new things. Just some thoughts. I don't Really want to sound like the local kvetch. best, Mia ----- Original Message ----- From: Garry Forger To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 1:51 PM Subject: Language instruction and technology I had the privilege of working with Sue Penfield and Phil Cash Cash here at the Learning Technologies Center of the University of Arizona on Sue?s Gates Foundation grant dealing with Native Language Teaching and Preservation using technology. The project looked at a variety of ways that technology can be used towards this end. As part of the project we created the Online Language Environments website http://www.ole.arizona.edu While by no means comprehensive, we intend for this site to collect and disseminate information on technology that supports language instruction, preservation and research. There is also information on this site about a tool that we are developing and testing, the OLE Board, which is a tool based on Macromedia technology to enable voice, video and text to be used for online instruction. At this time the focus of the site is the University of Arizona, but we are adding more information on sites outside our institution. Please feel free to browse the site send me any comments on additions and improvements or big gaps that we missed. Thank you, Garry Forger -- "There's many a knave concealed under a surplice." Danish Proverb ______________________ Garry J. Forger, MLS Assistant Director Learning Technologies Center The University of Arizona 1077 N. Highland Ave Tucson, AZ 85721-0073 gforger at u.arizona.edu http://www.ltc.arizona.edu/ Phone 520-626-7761 Fax 520-626-8220 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dzo at BISHARAT.NET Wed Sep 29 07:02:49 2004 From: dzo at BISHARAT.NET (Donald Z. Osborn) Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 02:02:49 -0500 Subject: Fwd: Fellowships in language resources and tools Message-ID: FYI (from the linguist list). There is some limited eligibility for people not from the EU - see the site... DZO Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2004 03:49:24 -0400 (EDT) From: Gisle Andersen Subject: Fellowships in language resources and tools MULTILINGUA is a Marie Curie training site at the University of Bergen, Norway, and offers interdisciplinary training in multilingual resources, language processing and knowledge tools. Multilingua gives an opportunity for guest researchers to come to Bergen to carry out parts of their research projects. The training site provides training through courses, project work and individual supervision. Researchers at doctorate level from EU member states and associated states are welcome to apply for vacant positions in 2004-2008. Accepted applicants will receive a monthly subsistence allowance, and will be refunded travel expenses. For more information about eligibility and how to apply, go to http://multilingua.uib.no/, or send a message to multilingua at uib.no. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Sep 29 16:06:33 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 09:06:33 -0700 Subject: Call for proposals for a CALICO book project (fwd) Message-ID: [fwd from the CALICO-L, CALL is "Computer Assisted Language Learning"] Please excuse the multiple postings. In response to the need for a publication that can serve as an introduction to the field of CALL, CALICO invites proposals for a book-length project to meet this need. The book should be designed as a general survey of the field that introduces teachers, faculty, graduate students to the major issues and various subfields in CALL. Individual chapters should address the subfields such as CMC, Internet-based learning, programming and/or authoring tools, digital/digitizing media, streaming media, CALL and assessment, course management systems, national foreign language standards and CALL, specific language proficiencies--listening, reading, writing, and speaking--and CALL, and so on. Each chapter should follow the same format: a literature review, discussion of the essential principles of the subfield under consideration, questions for reflections, and relevant bibliography. Discussion by CALICO's Executive and Editorial boards over the past four months have led to the formulation of a working title, "Language teaching and technology: From theory to practice." This title is meant more to suggest the nature and scope of the project rather than specify the actual title of the publication. Proposals should include the following information: 1. name of the editor(s), 2. tentative title, 3. description of the scope and sequence of the book, including the number of chapters, their titles, and a very brief synopsis of each, and 4. description of the procedures for soliciting and refereeing manuscripts for the chapters. Proposals should be submitted as a word document attached to a message to execdir at calico.org by December 3, 2004. Final decisions will be made by the end of January 2005. ---------------------------------- Robert Fischer, Executive Director CALICO 214 Centennial Hall Texas State University 601 University Drive San Marcos TX 78666 Phone: 512/245-1417 Fax: 512/245-9089 Email: execdir at calico.org Web: http://www.calico.org From dzo at BISHARAT.NET Thu Sep 30 01:32:48 2004 From: dzo at BISHARAT.NET (Donald Z. Osborn) Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 20:32:48 -0500 Subject: UNESCO's handbook on language preservation & documentation Message-ID: UNESCO's B at bel Initiative was set to release their new handbook on language preservation and documentation at the end of this month. From the news release at http://www.noticias.info/Asp/aspComunicados.asp?nid=30621&src=0 - "This project is one of the activities carried out by UNESCO~Rs Initiative B at bel which seeks to promote multilingualism in cyberspace and preserve endangered languages." Currently their website at http://www.unesco.org/webworld/babel/ is down with an undated notice that it will be back up in a week. Those interested may want to check later. Don Osborn Bisharat.net From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Sep 30 21:15:50 2004 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 14:15:50 -0700 Subject: Navajo language video: Pledge of Allegiance (fwd link) Message-ID: fyi, Video of students performing, the video is in MPEG-1 format. Chinle Unified School District#24, Chinle, Arizona http://www.chinleusd.k12.az.us/ces/navajopledge.html