From hsouter at GMAIL.COM Thu Nov 1 13:53:42 2007 From: hsouter at GMAIL.COM (Heather Souter) Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 08:53:42 -0500 Subject: Cost Performance of Video Equipment for Language Documentation Message-ID: Taanshi, all! I have a small grant to do some language documentation in my community using video as the medium. I am looking to purchase a video camera that has excellent sound recording (16 bit recording, external mic jack, etc, etc.) and is easy to use and download to computer. (I use as Mac G3.) I am committed to both creating a video record/documentary in Michif for my community and also doing some linguistic annotation as well. My budget is small and I need to honor Elders with gifts for their work in the video, so cost performance of the equipment is paramount. (Less money spent on equipment, more for the Elders. However, we all want excellent quality recordings for pedagogical and research purposes!) What would you suggest in terms of equipment and also software (iMovie for the documentary, ???? to spit off the sound, etc.)? Kihchi-maarsi por to-nadinaan! Eekushi pitamaa. Heather Souter Community-based Michif Language Video Documentation Project From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Thu Nov 1 14:34:22 2007 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (Mia Kalish) Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 08:34:22 -0600 Subject: Cost Performance of Video Equipment for Language Documentation In-Reply-To: <6d8c8c410711010653i2620952ld747a461ea8f1ae0@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Heather, Laptop magazine does some excellent reviews of digital cameras in all price ranges and with all capabilities. Also, prices and capabilities keep changing, so you might want to look for some current reviews. The reviewers have generally been doing this for quite a while, so their comments give you a good idea of the types of considerations that are available. Mia -----Original Message----- From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Heather Souter Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2007 7:54 AM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: [ILAT] Cost Performance of Video Equipment for Language Documentation Taanshi, all! I have a small grant to do some language documentation in my community using video as the medium. I am looking to purchase a video camera that has excellent sound recording (16 bit recording, external mic jack, etc, etc.) and is easy to use and download to computer. (I use as Mac G3.) I am committed to both creating a video record/documentary in Michif for my community and also doing some linguistic annotation as well. My budget is small and I need to honor Elders with gifts for their work in the video, so cost performance of the equipment is paramount. (Less money spent on equipment, more for the Elders. However, we all want excellent quality recordings for pedagogical and research purposes!) What would you suggest in terms of equipment and also software (iMovie for the documentary, ???? to spit off the sound, etc.)? Kihchi-maarsi por to-nadinaan! Eekushi pitamaa. Heather Souter Community-based Michif Language Video Documentation Project From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Thu Nov 1 15:06:49 2007 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (Mia Kalish) Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 09:06:49 -0600 Subject: legacy materials In-Reply-To: <7f53d06c0710311456n71166eb8o107d8891e120df36@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Did you really say that, Claire???!!! When the funding that is available is only for documentation, and when funding is Not available for revitalization, for materials development, and when there is no recognition of the need to engage communities in developing their own language learning materials, then there is no chance for Revitalization, which is how we bring languages “that have already ceased to be used as everyday vehicles of communication in their communities.” When Israel was re-establishing itself as a thriving nation, it did 2 things to revitalize language. First, it created a dictionary of contemporary words for contemporary things. Then, it imposed and enforced a restriction that all business done in Israel be done in Hebrew. In less than 50 years, a language that was previously only used contemporaneously by the Orthodox has become a fully living language. Maybe I’m implying that linguists have more power than they do, but there don’t seem to be many who are engaging the NSF – the primary source of funding for language document – in any discussions about Revitalization. In some research I did for a course several years ago, analysis of NSF l noted that better than 99% of the millions of dollars for language and linguistic research went to non-Indigenous scholars, lots of whom were doing field work for their doctorates . . . and none of the millions and millions went for Revitalization. Is this kind of gatekeeping not having power? Is this kind of gatekeeping not the kind that underscores the attitude that has prevailed in this country for so long, that American languages are unsophisticated and not worth saving. On a side note: Here at Diné College I am instituting a project using iPods – but maybe not podcasting – for the teaching and learning of language and culture. ALL the materials – instructions for creating iPod materials as well as the materials themselves – are in Diné Bizaad. No English is allowed, and people who are not fluent in Diné Bizaad don’t have access to the project. It’s very cool. It truly elevates the status of the local language. :-) Mia _____ From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Claire Bowern Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 3:57 PM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: Re: [ILAT] legacy materials We also snap-shot them as anthropological artifacts, ensuring that they do not change as they would if they were alive. Mia, I think this implies that linguists have much more power than they really do in communities. In my experience, the languages that die after they've been documented are the ones that have already ceased to be used as everyday vehicles of communication in their communities. That's a community decision (beit usually an unconscious one) and there's nothing much that a transient outsider visitor can do about it. Claire -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Thu Nov 1 15:15:11 2007 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (Mia Kalish) Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 09:15:11 -0600 Subject: Info for Revitalizationists In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Absolutely agree, Richard, with everything you said . . . . I have seen *u*n*b*e*l*i*e*v*a*b*l*e* techniques being used in schools to teach languages to children: Pictures with single words, and the words dropped into the middle of English sentences. . . videos about culture with no ensuing discussion . . . pictures posted on walls with the Native word underneath - but where the main event was coloring the graphic by the children. . . . Although, someone noted recently that many, many people blessed with the opportunity to teach others have never received any instruction in nor had the opportunity to engage in any research or deep thought about the psychology or neuroscience of learning. . . . Mia _____ From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Richard Smith Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 12:53 PM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: Re: [ILAT] Info for Revitalizationists this is interesting Mia, it's no wonder that little ones learn so much easier ...watching, when i'm moving all around the room and acting out the lessons. Music can play another part as an aide to learning. Which of us didn't learn our alphabet by singing it? "-L -a minnow -P-" I admit it i have no training or fancy theories - i teach the way i learn best, and singing sentences helps anchor them into my mind...even the morphology. and somehow helps in the actual retrieval from my messy memory "files/piles". Useable Memory seems to require a useful retrieval system, and this is what i look for in teaching Wyandot language to kiddos here. A Cayuga elder and teacher once warned me that "summer vacation" was the worst problem for kids learning a new language at school. that scared me a little.... But I find if i express my fears openly to the class: "I had a nightmare! OH! It was terrible! (now i have their attention) I dreamed you guys forgot everything i taught you! it was terrible..." and then I take out my waterdrum and start with one of their old songs ahhhh! it starts coming back...they remember!...and they also love to please! A complicated Navajo tongue twister is easier for me to remember/retrieve than a colorless set of numbers or someone's non descriptive name all of which seem to be tossed in the non-retrievable pile. It seems important to me to think like a child to teach a child (uhhh...not too hard for me) We are not only teaching children NEW material, but we must help them attach the best "strings" for retrieval. Richard Zane Smith Wyandotte Oklahoma On 10/31/07 8:50 AM, "Mia Kalish" wrote: Hi, Folks, This article came in today, serendipity being what it is. It strongly implies that if we want to be successful in our efforts to save and teach languages, we need to have the sound occurring simultaneously with the graphical information. I use both images and text, but some people separately present images and text. What this article is saying is that simultaneous presentation of sound will produce a better result :-) Mia _____ From: MindBrain at yahoogroups.com [mailto:MindBrain at yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Robert Karl Stonjek Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 8:57 PM To: Mind and Brain; Cognitive NeuroScience Subject: [Mind and Brain] Article: Sight, Sound Processed Together and Earlier than Previously Thought Sight, Sound Processed Together and Earlier than Previously Thought The area of the brain that processes sounds entering the ears also appears to process stimulus entering the eyes, providing a novel explanation for why many viewers believe that ventriloquists have thrown their voices to the mouths of their dummies. More generally, these findings from Duke University Medical Center offer new insights into how the brain takes in and assembles a multitude of stimuli from the outside world. By studying monkeys, the researchers found that auditory and visual information is processed together before the combined signals make it to the brain's cortex, the analytical portion of the brain that assembles the stimuli from all the senses into coherent thoughts. "The prevailing wisdom among brain scientists has been that each of the five senses - sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste - is governed by its own corresponding region of the brain," said Jennifer Groh, Ph.D., a neurobiologist in Duke's Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. "The view has been that each of these areas processes the information separately and sends that information to the cortex, which puts it all together at the end. "Now, we are beginning to appreciate that it's not that simple," Groh continued. "Our results show that there are interactions between the sensory pathways that occur very early in the process, which implies that the integration of the different senses may be a more primitive process and one not requiring high-level brain functioning." The results of Groh's experiments were published early online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Groh has a particular interest in a tiny round structure in the brain known as the inferior colliculus. This structure, less than a half-inch in diameter, is located in the most primitive area of the brain. It is one of several early stops in the brain for signals leaving the ear, headed for the cortex. "In our experiments, we found that this structure, which had been assumed to mainly process auditory information, actually responds to visual information as well," Groh explained. "In fact, about 64 percent of the neurons in the inferior colliculus can carry visual as well as auditory signals. This means that visual and auditory information gets combined quite early, and before the 'thinking part' of the brain can make sense of it." That is why ventriloquism seems to work, she said. The association between the voice and the moving mouth of the dummy is made before the viewer consciously thinks about it. The same process may also explain why the words being spoken by a talking head on television appear to be coming out of the mouth, even though the television speakers are located to the side of the set. "The eyes see the lips moving and the ears hear the sound and the brain immediately jumps to the conclusion about the origin of the voice," Groh said. Groh said that it makes logical sense for hearing and vision to have some level of integration in the monkeys she studied, and in humans. "We generally live in similar ecological niches; we are active during the day and tend to communicate vocally," she said. "The inferior colliculus is similar in both species, and with the advent of new imaging technology, like functional MRI, which can visualize brain regions in real time. We should be able to correlate what we're seeing in animal models with what happens in humans." Groh and her team are now conducting experiments to determine whether or not one of the senses influences how the other is perceived. Source: Duke University http://www.physorg.com/news112982731.html Posted by Robert Karl Stonjek __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Links | Database | Members Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity * 3 New Members Visit Your Group Yahoo! News Get it all here Breaking news to entertainment news Yahoo! Groups Moderator Central get help and provide feedback on Groups. Fitness Zone on Yahoo! Groups Find Groups all about healthy living. . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tmp at NUNASOFT.COM Thu Nov 1 22:21:43 2007 From: tmp at NUNASOFT.COM (Eric Poncet [NunaSoft]) Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 18:21:43 -0400 Subject: Cost Performance of Video Equipment for Language Documentation In-Reply-To: <6d8c8c410711010653i2620952ld747a461ea8f1ae0@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Heather, I've used our Sony HDR-SR8 for language documentation in Canada. It has all features you need, even more. Thing is, it can do Hi Definition video as well, so it's a bit expensive (in the 1600 CAN$). But Sony has lots of other models. However, I remember the survey I did before I bought our Sony, and low-cost video recorders did not have external mic plug. You may consider buying a hard-drive recorder versus tape-recorder : tapes have to be read back by the recorder for transfer to the computer, so a 30 minute-tape take 30 minutes to transfer! whereas hard-drive transfer over USB (or firewire), as quick as your USB port can go. Typically, it's 5 to 10 times quicker, and there's an infinitely lower rate of errors during transfer, compared to tapes... Everyone in the World of Language Documentation has their opinion: phonologists will tell you you need top-notch audio quality in order to not lose more than 0.01% of phonetic info (just an example), so they'll go for high quality mike and recorder; experts in other fields will tell you they only need to record "as much info as possible", with no time and/or money to go in depth... they're all right! I feel by experience it's better to spend less money on technological resources and more on human ones... The fact that there's a background noise or that the picture has imperfections definitely weighs far less than the emotion people will feel when they see themselves on the video, and when they feel they've contributed to documenting the language. Cheers, Eric Poncet www.nunasoft.ca Montreal Canada Heather Souter a écrit : > Taanshi, all! > > I have a small grant to do some language documentation in my community > using video as the medium. I am looking to purchase a video camera > that has excellent sound recording (16 bit recording, external mic > jack, etc, etc.) and is easy to use and download to computer. (I use > as Mac G3.) I am committed to both creating a video > record/documentary in Michif for my community and also doing some > linguistic annotation as well. My budget is small and I need to honor > Elders with gifts for their work in the video, so cost performance of > the equipment is paramount. (Less money spent on equipment, more for > the Elders. However, we all want excellent quality recordings for > pedagogical and research purposes!) > > What would you suggest in terms of equipment and also software (iMovie > for the documentary, ???? to spit off the sound, etc.)? > > Kihchi-maarsi por to-nadinaan! > > Eekushi pitamaa. > Heather Souter > Community-based Michif Language Video Documentation Project > From hal1403 at YAHOO.COM Fri Nov 2 01:34:01 2007 From: hal1403 at YAHOO.COM (Haley De Korne) Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 18:34:01 -0700 Subject: Native linguists In-Reply-To: <39a679e20710300847y7b1443f7xa06881eda4cfaaac@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Hello, From Michigan: Kenny Neganigwanwe Pheasant (originally from Wikwemikong First Nation) is an amazing resource for Northern Michigan Anishinaabe language learners. He's created a website www.anishinaabemdaa.com, several cdroms, runs a summer language camp, and drives great distances teaching in his own interactive style. Helen Roy, also originally from Wikwemikong, teaches 'Ojibwe'/ Anishinaabemowin at Michigan State University, participates in countless other language events, and has created several music CDs of popular songs sung in Anishinaabemowin with her group 'Diiva miinwa Davis'. To name a few... This could be a long list!!! Regards, Haley De Korne Susan Penfield wrote: Thanks for this, David.. Phil and I have had this discussion often and the term "community intellectuals' sometimes surfaces -- While I realize your list will focus on currently practicing folks, I would like to acknowledge someone who passed away a few years ago but whose knowledge and contribution still are valuable to the Mohave language community: Leona Little. Leona was an elder I worked with for some time and was the first - perhaps only- person to develop full literacy in Mohave and began, of her own intiative, to do full translations and transcriptions of traditional stories. There are others currently working in this direction and following her example (including two of her daughters who are just recently getting really interested in working with their heritage language). Please add Amelia Flores (Mohave, enrolled at Colorado River Indian Tribes where she is the tribal librarian and archivist)to your list. Amelia is finishing her MA in Native American languages at the U of Arizona and is developing a community-friendly grammar of Mohave as part of her work. As well, she is teaching classes in Mohave and developing a carefully staged curriculum for the language. Seems like she might bridge the criteria for both lists! Best, Susan On 10/30/07, David Lewis wrote: I feel that the current structure of the native linguist lists ignores the incredible contribution of natives without advanced degrees. In native society, within the Native worldview these are for many the true linguists and those who carry power within their society. I understand the concept of the list but if this is about native people how is it possible to ignore the native worldview. If this list will not create that parallel with the higher degree holders, then I will create that list. Please send me your lists of native people who are linguists within their communities, they do not have to hold a degree from a university but must be working with the linguistic field, and considered a leader. Please also send me more information about them, what languages the work on and where they work, what tribe they are a member of, etc. Thank you, David G. Lewis Manager, Cultural Resources Department Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Office 503.879.1634 David.Lewis at grandronde.org -----Original Message----- From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of William J Poser Sent: Saturday, October 27, 2007 12:10 PM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: Re: [ILAT] Native linguists >I just came across another native linguist! > >Dale Old Horn (Crow) >1974. Some Complement Constructions of the Crow Indian Language >M.S. Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Got him. My current list is at: http://ydli.org/NativeLinguists.html Anyone with additional information (including gaps in the info on people already on the list) please let me know. Bill -- ____________________________________________________________ Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D. Associate Director, Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language and Literacy (CERCLL) Department of English (Primary) American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI) Second Language Acquisition & Teaching Ph.D. Program (SLAT) Department of Language,Reading and Culture Department of Linguistics The Southwest Center (Research) Phone for messages: (520) 621-1836 "Every language is an old-growth forest of the mind, a watershed of thought, an ecosystem of spiritual possibilities." Wade Davis...(on a Starbucks cup...) "Language is not merely a body of vocabulary or a set of grammatical rules. It is a flash of the human spirit, the means by which the soul of each particular culture reaches into the material world. Every language is an old-growth forest of the mind, a watershed of thought, an entire ecosystem of spiritual possibilities." Wade Davis __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From aidan at USYD.EDU.AU Fri Nov 2 14:29:47 2007 From: aidan at USYD.EDU.AU (Aidan Wilson) Date: Sat, 3 Nov 2007 01:29:47 +1100 Subject: Yolngu video In-Reply-To: <7f53d06c0710301754i632f7a78x844372b800c3f3b4@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Check it out: ABC news have taken up this story, as it appears that the Yolngu Zorba dancers have been getting international attention. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/02/2080356.htm *Elcho Island dancers take 'Yolngu Zorba' to the world* By Anne Barker A group of traditional dancers from Arnhem Land has become a sudden smash hit on the internet, with their unique interpretation of Zorba the Greek. The 10 Yolngu dancers on Elcho Island have decided that dancing is the ideal antidote to unemployment. Their Zorba dance has gone around the world, and even been screened in a public square in Greece. The offers are now coming in for the group to perform at music festivals. They are called the Chooky Dancers, a group of young men and boys from Elcho Island, and their interpretation of the Greek Zorba is taking the internet world by storm. At the recent Ramingining Festival in Arnhem Land, there was not a Greek tunic in sight. Instead the dancers were like black stick figures, dressed only in loincloths and ceremonial paint. But their performance was captivating and very funny. Frank Djirrimbilpilwuy's son Lionel, who is 19, is the lead dancer who came up with the idea of fusing modern Yolngu dance with the Greek Zorba. "The crowd just loved it, you know. If it's three o'clock in the morning, if it's two o'clock in the morning, the crowd just loved them," he said. "They just pick up whatever style or tune they like to pick, you know, as long as it's a fast moving type, up-tempo music style with a lot of rhythm. "They do it at home, just to keep themselves busy and fit, and main thing is to keep themselves away from boredom." *International audience* This recording of the dance was uploaded to the YouTube website a few days ago. Already, it has had 40,000 hits. It has even made its way to the island of Kastelorizo in Greece, where a cafe owner screened it in the local square. "They said that they got it off the YouTube and put it on their town square," Mr Djirrimbilpilwuy said. "They have a big screen where hundreds of people go through the, past the street every day and they had a look at it and the crowd just loved it." But the Chooky Dancers are about more than just fun. Mr Djirrimbilpilwuy says the 10 young men are important role models for other youngsters facing a life of unemployment, drugs or ill health. "The statistics in Aboriginal communities is appalling, and we're trying to upgrade or we're trying educate people to promote healthy living in the community," he said. Now on the strength of the YouTube performance, the Elcho Islanders have been invited to dance at a festival in Canberra in February. Lilian Gomatos, organiser of Darwin's own Greek festival, Glenti, is determined to have them perform there next year. "The idea of Glenti is to bring out Greek culture to the wider community, and it is wonderful to incorporate the Aboriginal culture or any other culture into our Glent," she said. Claire Bowern wrote: > It's ironic - I can't get Yolngu radio here either! The station > broadcasts at Ramingining, just across the river, so if I sit at the > barge ramp with the wind in the right direction I can sometimes hear > it, but not usually, and not from my house. This is the sort of thing > that I was really hoping the 'intervention' would change (like > repeater stations for community radio), but instead it's been an > exercise in destroying trust and attempted assimilation. > Claire > > > > On 31/10/2007, *phil cash cash* > wrote: > > Deadly...while viewing this, I also noticed "Yolngu Radio" in the > listing and that too is pretty cool...most all in the aboriginal > language. > > Phil > > > Quoting Claire Bowern >: > > > Hi everyone, > > My adopted family here at Milingimbi recently put a fusion > Greek/Yolngu (NE > > Arnhem Land, Australia) video on YouTube. > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-MucVWo-Pw I haven't seen it > because YouTube > > is blocked by the Milingimbi School (where I have email access) > but I'm told > > it's quite something! > > Enjoy! > > Claire > > (ps we're making videos here to put up on Youtube too of more > traditional > > Yolngu dancing.) > > > > From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 2 17:30:53 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2007 10:30:53 -0700 Subject: Indigenous TV launch leaves some communities without a voice (fwd) Message-ID: Indigenous TV launch leaves some communities without a voice Posted Thu Nov 1, 2007 4:06pm AEDT http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/01/2079094.htm?section=entertainment Australia's first 24 hour Indigenous television channel has been beamed to millions of homes for the first time today. The station is running Indigenous programming - including sports, children's shows and documentaries - on a seven hour loop. National Indigenous Television (NITV) replaced a community television broadcast on Imparja's narrowcast service in July, but today launched on two pay TV networks. "More people than ever before will now be able to see the world through different eyes," said NITV's Pat Turner. But not everyone's happy with what's been on the black box. Aboriginal communities that were previously able to watch their home-made programs in language say the content is too mainstream and too sad. Bess Nungarrayi Price from the Indigenous Remote Communication Association says people in Central Australian communities miss seeing their own content on television. "I've heard people out in the bush communities saying that it's more or less like the mainstream stuff that we've already been seeing that doesn't make any sense to us and it's all in English which a lot of people out there wouldn't really understand." "I guess that's why they're just disappointed because it's not really what they want to see." Ms Turner says it's up to communities to produce new material for the network or work with NITV to develop new programs. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 2 17:35:29 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2007 10:35:29 -0700 Subject: 2008 - INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF LANGUAGES (fwd) Message-ID: 2008 - INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF LANGUAGES http://www.unesco.ru/eng/articles/2004/Valya02112007175015.php The year 2008 has been proclaimed International Year of Languages by the United Nations General Assembly. UNESCO, which has been entrusted with the task of coordinating activities for the Year, is determined to fulfil its role as lead agency. The Organization is fully aware of the crucial importance of languages when seen against the many challenges that humanity will have to face over the next few decades. Languages are indeed essential to the identity of groups and individuals and to their peaceful coexistence. They constitute a strategic factor of progress towards sustainable development and a harmonious relationship between the global and the local context. They are of utmost importance in achieving the six goals of education for all (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on which the United Nations agreed in 2000. As factors of social integration, languages effectively play a strategic role in the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger (MDG 1); as supports for literacy, learning and life skills, they are essential to achieving universal primary education (MDG 2); the combat against HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases (MDG 6) must be waged in the languages of the populations concerned if they are to be reached; and the safeguarding of local and indigenous knowledge and know-how with a view to ensuring environmental sustainability (MDG 7) is intrinsically linked to local and indigenous languages. Moreover, cultural diversity is closely linked to linguistic diversity, as indicated in the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity and its action plan (2001), the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005). However, within the space of a few generations, more than 50% of the 7,000 languages spoken in the world may disappear. Less than a quarter of those languages are currently used in schools and in cyberspace, and most are used only sporadically. Thousands of languages – though mastered by those populations for whom it is the daily means of expression – are absent from education systems, the media, publishing and the public domain in general. We must act now as a matter of urgency. How? By encouraging and developing language policies that enable each linguistic community to use its first language, or mother tongue, as widely and as often as possible, including in education, while also mastering a national or regional language and an international language. Also by encouraging speakers of a dominant language to master another national or regional language and one or two international languages. Only if multilingualism is fully accepted can all languages find their place in our globalized world. UNESCO therefore invites governments, United Nations organizations, civil society organizations, educational institutions, professional associations and all other stakeholders to increase their own activities to foster respect for, and the promotion and protection of all languages, particularly endangered languages, in all individual and collective contexts. Whether it be through initiatives in the fields of education, cyberspace or the literate environment; be it through projects to safeguard endangered languages or to promote languages as a tool for social integration; or to explore the relationship between languages and the economy, languages and indigenous knowledge or languages and creation, it is important that the idea that “languages matter!” be promoted everywhere. The date of 21 February 2008, that of the ninth International Mother Language Day, will have a special significance and provide a particularly appropriate deadline for the introduction of initiatives to promote languages. Our common goal is to ensure that the importance of linguistic diversity and multilingualism in educational, administrative and legal systems, cultural expressions and the media, cyberspace and trade, is recognized at the national, regional and international levels. The International Year of Languages 2008 will provide a unique opportunity to make decisive progress towards achieving these goals. Koïchiro Matsuura From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 2 18:00:51 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2007 11:00:51 -0700 Subject: Tongue Tied (fwd) Message-ID: Tongue Tied Some 200 Native American languages are dying out—and with them valuable history * By Robin T. Reid * Smithsonian.com, October 31, 2007 Like most people, Johnny Hill Jr. gets frustrated when he can't remember the correct word for something he sees or wants to express. But unlike most people, he can't get help. He is one of the last people on the planet who speak Chemehuevi, a Native American language that was once prevalent in the Southwest. "It hurts," the 53-year-old Arizonan says. "The language is gone." In that regard, Hill is not alone. The plight of Chemehuevi (chay-mah-WA-vy) is very similar to that of some 200 other Native American languages, according to Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages in Salem, Oregon. The organization's director, Gregory Anderson, estimated that almost none of those languages remain viable. Navajo and Cherokee are among the healthiest, so to speak; up to 20,000 people speak Cherokee, and he estimates that around 75,000 use Navajo. "Languages disappear when speakers abandon them," Anderson says. "When you have a situation where two or more languages are used in a community, and one is valued by the government or seen as the language of the educated, people are sensitive to this. It's usually a subconscious rejection by teenagers. Kids want to be cool; so if you have a way to remove something negative about yourself, it makes sense." Hear a Chemehuevi speaker say, "He is running." [audio inset] Hear a Chemehuevi speaker say, "The boy is running." [audio inset] Before Europeans settled in what is now the United States, Native Americans spoke as many as 500 different languages. Virtually none of them had a written component, which further imperiled their survival during colonization. "The idea was to get rid of the Indians and what made them Indian," Anderson says. "They were put into boarding schools right up until the 1960s. They'd beat up kids for speaking their languages, or wash their mouths out with soap. Hill recalls being teased for speaking another language—until his persecutors got tired of him beating them up. "I was raised by my grandmother, who never spoke English a day in her life," he says. "I eventually learned English. … I think mostly in English, but I mix words up." To keep Chemehuevi alive, Hill often talks to himself. "All the elders are dying off," he says. "There may be about 30 true Chemehuevi left." More than words are lost when languages die. They carry valuable information about a population's history and living environment. "These people have been living and interacting within their ecosystems for millennia," Anderson says. "There is any number of things that people have been talking about for years that we're unaware of that could help society. For example, the Maya had an extremely sophisticated knowledge of astronomy, and most of it is lost." So how do you save a language? Hill tried the obvious route—teaching his stepson—without success. "I taught him a word a day, and he used to write them down," he says. "I don't know what happened to that." Anderson and the others at the institute perform linguistic triage with technology and psychology. First they determine why a community or group has abandoned a language in the first place. Then they work to elevate its status. "Talking dictionaries help, and we're trying to build talking encyclopedias," Anderson says. "People love to play with them, especially young people. We show them that the stuff their grandparents know isn't boring." The institute goes where their assistance is wanted, from Siberia to Africa to India. In doing so, they've identified 18 "hotspots"—homes to languages on their last gasps. Two of the top five are in the United States: the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest. These are places with high concentrations of Native American populations. "It's a rescue mission," Anderson says. "But we're trying. We're trying." Robin T. Reid, a freelance writer and editor in Baltimore, Maryland, last wrote for Smithsonian.com about fossils in Kenya. Find this article at: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/200711-tonguetied.html From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 2 18:04:23 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2007 11:04:23 -0700 Subject: How speech sounds convey meaning (fwd link) Message-ID: How speech sounds convey meaning By Brian M. Schleter Researchers have known for years that young children begin acquiring language-learning abilities from a very early age. The outstanding question has always been: How early? To access article, go the link below: http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/current/research/110107.html From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 2 18:21:57 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2007 11:21:57 -0700 Subject: Belize Kriol Council launches Kriol-Inglish dikshineri (fwd) Message-ID: Belize Kriol Council launches Kriol-Inglish dikshineri Friday, 02 November 2007 By William Ysaguirre - Freelance Writer http://www.reporter.bz/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=2341&Itemid=2 [photo inset - Sylvana Woods, Myrna Manzanares and Yvette Herrera proudly display their Kriol Dikshineri.] The Belize Kriol Project launched the new ‘Kriol-Inglish dikshineri’ at the House of Culture in Belize City on Wednesday, October 31. The first 1,000 copies of the first edition were printed by Print Belize through funding from the National Institute of Culture and History (NICH) and the Ministry of Education. In its 474 pages, the ‘dikshineri’ contains over 5,000 kriol words, their English equivalents and meanings, enhanced by the use of the word in a sentence, its etymology, the parts of speech and variants. The first section, some 360 pages, lists the words alphabetically according to their ‘kriol’ spelling, while the second section lists the English word alphabetically with their ‘kriol’ equivalents. National Kriol Council President Myrna Manzanares welcomed the dignitaries, students and the general public to Wednesday’s launch. The editor-in-chief for the ‘dikshineri’ project was Paul Crosbie of Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) International, who also had some anecdotes to share with the audience at the launching. The King and Queen of ‘Kriol Kolcha’, Wilfred Peters and Leela Vernon entertained the audience with renditions of Belizean brukdown music, including Vernon’s hit called ‘kolcha’. Vernon also presented specially sculpted bookends, “A to Z”, to the Governor General Sir Colville Young, for his work in keeping the ‘kriol’ language alive. The Governor General did his doctoral thesis on the subject of the Belize ‘kriol’ language, as Minister of Education Francis Fonseca noted when he took the podium to add his thanks and acknowledgements to the National Kriol Council for their achievement. NICH director Yasser Musa also chimed in with a few choice words of praise for the National Kriol Project and the new ‘dikshineri.’ The Ministry of Education is making copies of the ‘dikshineri’ available free of cost to the school libraries of every primary, secondary, and tertiary –level school in the country. The dikshineri retails for $30.00 but was available for the wholesale price of $25.00 per copy at the launching. If you can’t afford your own copy, simply go down to the local library, as every media house, cultural organization, the National Archives Department and the National Library Service were furnished with free copies. The Belize Kriol Project is where the writing arm of the National Kriol Council meets paper, and it has published some 15 books in the ‘Kriol’ language since it began in 1993, including a ‘Kriol’ grammar book and several translations of bible passages and hymns into ‘Kriol’. The project has also maintained a presence in the local media with its weekly “Weh Ah Gat Fi Seh” column in the Reporter, and online at www.kriol.org.bz With the publication of the new ‘Kriol-Inglish dikshineri’, the Belize Kriol Council has saved the language from the fate of some 2,000 other languages spoken around the globe which are on the verge of extinction because they are not written languages. Those 2,000 other languages are dying because only the parents and the grandparents of those ethnic groups still speak their language or dialect; the younger generation understands the language but prefers to speak another more widely accepted and written language. Sylvana Woods and the National Kriol Council are to be congratulated for keeping the language alive as an intrinsic part of our Belizean culture. ‘Nuff rispek’. Last Updated ( Friday, 02 November 2007 ) From jordanlachler at GMAIL.COM Sun Nov 4 02:53:13 2007 From: jordanlachler at GMAIL.COM (Jordan Lachler) Date: Sat, 3 Nov 2007 20:53:13 -0600 Subject: Alaska's high court rules on English-only law Message-ID: Alaska's high court rules on English-only law The Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaska's highest court struck down a central provision of a state law requiring only English to be used for all government business. However, the Supreme Court in an 89-page decision Friday let much of the law stand. Attorney Doug Pope said the ruling means that his clients in Togiak can continue to conduct city council meetings largely in Yup'ik, the only language some of them speak. And while public records must be in English, versions in other languages also can be provided and maintained in the same government files. The English-only law was passed by voters through an initiative in 1998, but has never been in effect. Togiak, the North Slope Borough, the Alaska Civil Liberties Union and the Native American Rights Fund quickly challenged the new law, and won an injunction that had kept it in limbo until Friday's 4-1 decision. The dissenter, Chief Justice Alex Bryner, said the entire law should have been thrown out as violating the U.S. and Alaska constitutions. Instead, the majority focused on two sentences in a provision defining the scope of the law, the first of which reads: "The English language is the language to be used by all public agencies in all government functions and actions." The court found that to be unconstitutional because it violates federal and state rights of free speech. But a second sentence, "The English language shall be used in the preparation of all official public documents and records ..." could be kept as long as it also allows documents to be offered in other languages, the court said. The high court decided not to consider other sections of the law now, but noted that the rest of the statute would have to be enforced narrowly or other provisions also might be found unconstitutional. Both sides claimed a measure of victory in the ruling. Attorney Ken Jacobus, one of the original sponsors of the initiative, said, "The whole idea was to get people to speak English because it benefits them, not to prevent them from speaking their own language." Pope said the ruling is a clear victory for Togiak and the other plaintiffs. "What (the court has) said ... is that the person speaking and listening (during government business) have a right to speak in a language other than English," he said. "That's a great victory for Natives and non-English speakers." The case was taken to the Supreme Court by Alaskans for a Common Language, the group that pushed the original petition. ——— Information from: Anchorage Daily News, http://www.adn.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hsouter at GMAIL.COM Sun Nov 4 15:40:20 2007 From: hsouter at GMAIL.COM (Heather Souter) Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2007 09:40:20 -0600 Subject: Camcorder Question Revisited.... Message-ID: Taanshi, everyone, I recently asked a question about camcorders for language documentation purposes and recieved a number of responses. Kihchi-maarsi! Thank-you very much! Today, I would like to ask one more time about camcorders just in case anyone else would like to share their thoughts with me.... I am looking for a camcorder that has both an external microphone jack (to capture all important sound) and headset jack (to monitor all important sound), plus I would like the transfer from the camera to the computer (Mac G4) to be easy as possible. Of course, I would like all this to come at the lowest price possible! A tall order!! Anyhow, if anyone else has ideas for me, I would very much appreciate hearing from them! Eekushi pitamaa. Heather Souter Community Language Researcher--Michif Language Camperville, MB Canada PS: If there is a website(s) with info and/or tips on recording good audio when taking a video, I would love to know about it! From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sun Nov 4 18:29:48 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2007 11:29:48 -0700 Subject: Mi’kmaq stories unearthed (fwd) Message-ID: Mi’kmaq stories unearthed Author-editor Peter Sanger, working with translator Elizabeth Paul and illustrator Alan Syliboy, brings to light a pair of texts — tales from the first nation’s distant past By JODI DELONG Sun. Nov 4 - 7:33 AM http://thechronicleherald.ca/Books/976555.html [photo inset - Mi’kmaq artist Alan Syliboy, shown in this photo from 2000, has illustrated Peter Sanger’s book The Stone Canoe: Two Lost Mi’kmaq Texts. (Ted Pritchard / Herald)] "FINDING these two lost Mi’kmaq texts is the equivalent in our culture of finding a new play by Shakespeare." Peter Sanger has his listeners’ full attention as he speaks these words. We’re in a room of the Vaughn Library at Acadia University, where Gaspereau Press is launching its newest book. The Stone Canoe: Two Lost Mi’kmaq Texts is described as a story about two stories and their travels through the written record. The stories’ journey into print combined a wealth of talents: Elizabeth Paul as translator, Peter Sanger as author and editor, and Alan Syliboy as illustrator. Together, these three unique individuals have brought to life two stories that were languishing, unremembered and unread, in Acadia’s archives. The stories differ in that the older of the two, designated in the book as "from the mouth of Susan Barss" is a legend much like those found in other cultures. It’s the story of Little Thunder, a young man whose parents send him out to search for a wife. Accompanied by Wolverine, the trickster of Mi’kmaq culture, and several other equally wonderful characters, the young man borrows Gluskap’s stone canoe to go and search for a wife, which he eventually finds. The second story, from the mouth of Old Man Stevens, is said to be a "real story" about a woman abandoned by her husband on an island. The woman manages to survive until spring, when she is rescued by others from her home community, and upon her return "does not want her husband. So the husband leaves." The story finishes "This is a true story. It is not a legend. It is a true story about the old Indians." To understand the backdrop for the book’s genesis, Peter Sanger wrote two essays that begin and end The Stone Canoe. These take us on historical trip to the mid-19th century and the work of Silas Tertius Rand. Rand was a unique character in our province’s history: the son of a New England planter was born not far from Kentville in 1810; he left school at an early age and became a stonemason, at the same time hiring tutors to further his education. In his mid-teens he had a religious awakening, a phenomenon not uncommon in those times, and became a Baptist minister by the time he was in his mid-twenties. Determined to convert the Mi’kmaq to Christianity, ignoring the fact that they were already converted to Roman Catholicism, Rand set about learning their language so that he could translate the Bible into their tongue. Rand met and became friendly with Joseph Brooks, who spoke Mi’kmaq fluently and taught the minister more about the language. Rand became intrigued with the legends and stories of the first nation people, and collected nearly 100 of them together into Legends of the Micmacs, published in 1894. However, being a Victorian and a minister, Rand took some liberties with the translations, glossing and censoring some aspects of the stories. "Such good stories are both mortal and immortal," Sanger writes in the first of two essays accompanying the stories and their various translations. "To live steadily over a long span of time in one form of detail, stories need not only good tellers but also good listeners. Stories, to survive, need that act of will and belief which is faithful memory." It is this belief in the need for faithful memory, in this case faithful translation, that drove Sanger to collaborate with Mi’kmaq speaker and teacher Elizabeth Paul and noted Mi’kmaq artist Alan Syliboy to accurately bring the two stories back to life for today’s readers. Paul and her mother laboured over photocopies of the original texts and came up with translations that were accurate (and dramatically different from Rand’s versions.) Syliboy’s black and white illustrations are rich in detail and Mi’kmaq culture, incorporating traditional designs and symbols, some from ancient petrogylphs, into his work. As he told listeners during a slide presentation showing both the line drawings and further studies in colour, "I lost my language (through being forced to speak English at school) but my language has turned into making pictures." To have the two stories of The Stone Canoe come fully to life, they ought to be read aloud in Mi’kmaq, and visitors to Gaspereau Press’s annual Wayzgoose were treated to readings by Elizabeth Paul. She told her listeners that just as we don’t speak English today exactly as we did in the time of Silas Rand and Joseph Brooks, the Mi’kmaq don’t speak or write their language exactly as Susan Barss or Old Man Stephens would have done. Perhaps we can’t all understand the telling of the tales of The Stone Canoe in their native tongue. But we can be enthralled by this "story of two stories" and the place that the stories claim in indigenous literature in Canada. Jodi Delong is a freelance writer living in Scotts Bay. From aidan at USYD.EDU.AU Sun Nov 4 22:11:28 2007 From: aidan at USYD.EDU.AU (Aidan Wilson) Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2007 09:11:28 +1100 Subject: Camcorder Question Revisited.... In-Reply-To: <6d8c8c410711040740y65dc79acw62296fd2eceeca4f@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: I'm not certain about this but I'm pretty sure if you want a quick and easy (drag and drop, effectively) transfer to a computer, then the video needs to be in a compressed format, like mp4 or something. Otherwise, uncompressed video takes way too much space to fit on a video recorder with even the very best hard drive space. Tapes, dv, are probably the best quality option, but the transfer to computer has to be at actual speed, and is a bit complicated to set up (you have to set the computer to record, then 'play' the video, etc.) Having said that, I think Claire Bowern has recently been using a hard-drive mp4 video recorder and from her blog entry http://anggarrgoon.wordpress.com/2007/11/02/wednesday/ suggests she's happy with the result. I would worry about the sound quality though. Again, I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure that if you compress the video, you compress the audio. I know it's not ideal, but at the worst you could set up a small wav recorder separately, with a good mic of course, then use final cut, or whatever video editing programs are out there, to splice the video with the good audio. Sorry that I can't suggest any specific recorders at all, but there are at least a couple more considerations to take into account before buying a device. -Aidan Wilson Audio at Paradisec Heather Souter wrote: > Taanshi, everyone, > > I recently asked a question about camcorders for language > documentation purposes and recieved a number of responses. > Kihchi-maarsi! Thank-you very much! > > Today, I would like to ask one more time about camcorders just in case > anyone else would like to share their thoughts with me.... > > I am looking for a camcorder that has both an external microphone jack > (to capture all important sound) and headset jack (to monitor all > important sound), plus I would like the transfer from the camera to > the computer (Mac G4) to be easy as possible. Of course, I would like > all this to come at the lowest price possible! A tall order!! > Anyhow, if anyone else has ideas for me, I would very much appreciate > hearing from them! > > Eekushi pitamaa. > Heather Souter > Community Language Researcher--Michif Language > Camperville, MB > Canada > > PS: If there is a website(s) with info and/or tips on recording good > audio when taking a video, I would love to know about it! > From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Nov 5 00:30:30 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2007 17:30:30 -0700 Subject: Camcorder Question Revisited.... In-Reply-To: <6d8c8c410711040740y65dc79acw62296fd2eceeca4f@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Heather, just as quick note on audio.  A common phrase in the video-makers how-to says that audio is half of your production.  Or, to put it another way, capturing good audio is essential to any basic documentation project. For many digitial video cameras out in the market these days, most all come with a mounted internal mic but these tend to be of generic quality and it use limits the control you may wish to have over creating good audio.  It is better to take advantage of the mic plug-in where a quality mic can be plugged in directly to your camera.  On the low consumer end of the spectrum, video cameras usually use a "mini-plug" input.  Pro and semi-pro cameras use an XLR mic plug.  Cameras with XLR mic inputs allow the use of higher quality microphones and wireless mic systems.  An addition option is recording on a separate digital recording device, such as DAT recorder.  This gives you even greater control over the quality of the audio being recorded.  The audio can be later stitched back together with footage in the post production process.  I have not tried it myself so I can't say how easy or difficult this is.  You will also want to monitor your audio during filming.  This helps to block out external noise and as well as allow you to concentrate on the audio input that is being picked up by your microphones.   And as I have discovered myself, it will also give an additional perceptual avenue to consider as you film subjects.  My own experience in all of this is a "one-man camera crew" set up so there are additional options if and when more people assist  in the film making process (i.e. having a "sound recorded").  l8ter, Phil Cash Cash UofA   Quoting Heather Souter : > Taanshi, everyone, > > I recently asked a question about camcorders for language > documentation purposes and recieved a number of responses. > Kihchi-maarsi! Thank-you very much! > > Today, I would like to ask one more time about camcorders just in case > anyone else would like to share their thoughts with me.... > > I am looking for a camcorder that has both an external microphone jack > (to capture all important sound) and headset jack (to monitor all > important sound), plus I would like the transfer from the camera to > the computer (Mac G4) to be easy as possible. Of course, I would like > all this to come at the lowest price possible! A tall order!! > Anyhow, if anyone else has ideas for me, I would very much appreciate > hearing from them! > > Eekushi pitamaa. > Heather Souter > Community Language Researcher--Michif Language > Camperville, MB > Canada > > PS: If there is a website(s) with info and/or tips on recording good > audio when taking a video, I would love to know about it! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Nov 5 17:21:09 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2007 10:21:09 -0700 Subject: Jayapura's coastal languages on the brink of extinction (fwd) Message-ID: Jakarta, Indonesia Jayapura's coastal languages on the brink of extinction Angel Flassy, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailfeatures.asp?fileid=20071105.R02&irec=1 [photo inset - A view of Tobati on the northern coast of Papua. The indigenous language of the area is on the brink of extinction due to the dominance of Bahasa Indonesia. JP/Angel Flassy] Herman Rumadi Hamadi, 88, could not hide his anguish when asked about the number of people still speaking the local language in his village. "I'm not sure, but I guess there are only six people who can speak Tobati fluently," said Herman, the tribal chief of Tobati village on the northern coast of Papua. "Once the six die, the language will disappear," said Herman, admitting that he himself was no longer using the language of his ancestors. Herman has every reason to worry. The six people who still speak Tobati are all over 60 years old, while the young are more fluent in Bahasa Indonesia than in their mother tongue, thanks to the widespread use of the national language. That situation has been exacerbated by the fact that more and more Tobati villagers have opted to move to the provincial capital of Jayapura where they communicate in Bahasa Indonesia. "All of Jayapura and Abepura used to be our communal land, but now our sago plantations have been urbanized and we live alongside newcomers," said the ondoafi (tribal chief) who lives in Entrop, Jayapura. The Kayu Pulau tribe in Jayapura and the Nafri community in Abepura, too, are being culturally overwhelmed by the pace of development, forcing them to increasingly abandon their regional language. According to Herman, Tobati people have been in contact with the outside world since the 1600s and by the end of the 1800s, the Dutch government had made this village an administrative center, triggering rapid economic growth. It is no surprise, therefore, that Herman himself has been speaking Malay since he was a child. Intermarriages with newcomers have only hastened the desertion of the language. "Our grandchildren speak Bahasa Indonesia fluently. They seem to have no roots because even though they are Tobati people they don't speak the language. How can we perform our customs, dances and other ceremonies in the Tobati language?" asked the father of 10, who claimed to be very tough in teaching Tobati language to his children. Herman said traditional songs, poems and dances were no longer performed and Tobati songs, poems and dances showcased in various arts festivals in Jayapura or other parts of the country hailed not from Tobati village but from Papua New Guinea or were contemporary creations of Tobati artists. "This is really worrisome. If the Tobati language disappears, our culture will also vanish and we will become strangers in our own land. "The fact is many elements of our culture are no longer practiced. Our grandchildren can no longer sing and dance the Serme dance, which was usually performed to greet people coming home from fishing or the Yawo dance and song, which was performed when people brought new boats from the forest to the sea because such traditions are no longer practiced," Herman said. He said young people in the village preferred to become civil servants or work in the private sector than to become fisherman. "The forests where local people used to make boats have turned into towns," he said. Articles and dances containing magic vanished with the arrival of Christianity in Papua. "Traditions, magic and belief in the spirits of our ancestors have been replaced with Malay hymns, thus there is a gradual shift away from the use of regional languages," Herman said. Herman urges the government to help preserve the language, which is only spoken by six elderly people. "If the government could provide compensation for travel expenses and set up training centers, we would be very eager to teach this language to the younger generation," said Herman, adding that with the Tobati people living in different parts of Jayapura, meeting places were needed for the language courses. Aksamina Awinero, 41, ondoafi Obed Awinero's child in Nafri village, shares the same feeling. "We used to speak Nafri to our children, but when they went to school they spoke Bahasa Indonesia more than Nafri and now they speak very little Nafri," said the mother of seven. Data issued by the education and culture office in Jayapura revealed that in 1991 only 800 people in Tobati and Injros villages were still using the Tobati language, while other regional languages, Nafri and Kayu Pulau, were spoken by 1,630 and 573 people respectively. It also showed there were 249 regional languages in the province, meaning about the same number of tribes. According to Summer International Linguistics (SIL) in 2004, Papua has 264 languages, with Malay, later known as Bahasa Indonesia, serving as a bridge through which the hundreds of Papuan languages meet. Bahasa Indonesia also allows Papuans to communicate, interact and enter inter-tribe marriages. The widespread use of Bahasa Indonesia has not only sped up development in the province, but also killed off local languages. "This is a welcome development for Bahasa Indonesia, but not for local languages. Bahasa Indonesia has threatened the existence of local languages, especially in urban areas where interactions with outsiders (non-Papuans) are very intensive," said Supriyanto Widodo, the head of Jayapura's Language Center. The center's 2005 and 2006 research findings gave reason for concern over the serious condition of the three languages in Tobati-Injros, Kayu Pulau-Kayu Batu and Nafri. "We predict that after three generations these three regional languages will disappear unless local communities themselves and the government undertake efforts to preserve them," he said. It also found out that people who still speak local languages are above 40 years old, with younger generations having only a passive comprehension of their languages. Assuming that a generation spans about 20 years, within 60 years those regional languages will disappear, owing to local people's limited appreciation of their own languages. "Nafri has the lowest number of mothers using the language and this is alarming because mothers spearhead the use and teaching of regional languages, hence the term mother tongue," Widodo said. Widodo also said the perception that the use of regional languages hampered interactions with "outsiders" had prompted people to abandon their mother tongue. "People think using their mother tongue curtails their access to scientific, social and economic domains," continued Widodo. The Language Center has documented 180 local languages all over Papua and West Papua since its establishment in 2002. "We prioritized the vocabulary of 200 universally used words and over 1,000 cultural words, making the total entries about 1,600 per village," Widodo said, adding that they excluded standard grammatical rules. He also said some regency administrations had documented local languages. Biak regency, for instance, has produced a dictionary and grammar books. It also obliges local schools to teach Biak in schools. Fak-fak regency has funded the publication of Iha dictionary publication. With its limited resources, the Jayapura Language Center has composed the dictionaries of Maybrat/South Sorong, Sentani and Jayapura languages. "Our target is to combine these works and publish an Indonesian regional language map in 2008," Widodo said. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Nov 5 17:25:39 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2007 10:25:39 -0700 Subject: Workers in the field of languages tread new territory (fwd) Message-ID: Jakarta, Indonesia Workers in the field of languages tread new territory November 06, 2007 Janika Gelinek, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailfeatures.asp?fileid=20071105.R01&irec=0 Once upon a time, Ungan and Aw‚ decided not to go home after working in the fields. Instead, they stayed by a river and goofed around with a dog. They were sending the dog to and fro over the water when suddenly stone rain came down, turning them into stones. And their crime? They did not come home and make fun of a dog. The story could have been lost had Italian linguist Antonia Soriente from the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Jakarta not gone and documented Oma Longh and Lebu' Kulit languages in Malinau and Bulungan regency in Eastern Kalimantan. Oma Longh and Lebu' Kulit, in which the story above was narrated, are just two of the endangered languages in Indonesia, spoken only by a few thousand people in Malinau and Bulungan. "When you look at what is happening around you, you see languages dying on a large scale, especially in the eastern part of Indonesia such as Papua and the Maluku islands," said Uri Tadmor of the Jakarta Field Station. Established in 1999 by Uri Tadmor and David Gil, the Jakarta Field Station started off by collecting data on child language. In collaboration with the Jakarta Atma Jaya Catholic University, it is currently hosting about 25 researchers from Indonesia and abroad who are studying Indonesian languages from the islands of West Sumatra all the way to Papua. Indonesia has around 700 languages, but the widespread use of Bahasa Indonesia has pushed many of those languages to the brink of extinction, placing the national language on a par with English, Spanish and French as "killer" languages. According to Tadmor, there are many reasons why languages in the country are facing extinction, including people's low level of respect for indigenous languages.the speakers themselves don't attach much importance to their own languages," said Tadmor, adding that the children of inter-race couples tended to speak only Bahasa Indonesia. "Indigenous languages are also not used in the education system, and thus their survival is neither financially nor politically supported," Tadmor said. In theory, any indigenous language can be taught in a state elementary school. But in reality, schools usually offer only Javanese, Sundanese and Balinese, and rarely would these be the primary language of instruction. "It is totally meaningless to the kids and the kids hate it," Tadmor said. According to Tadmor, there is not much hope the situation will be reversed as these languages are generally considered not worth keeping. "It's a vicious circle. People who speak a small indigenous language come to look down on their language, because there is no official recognition of it," said Tadmor, adding that only non-nationals had come here to work with indigenous communities. The researchers at the field station are studying how languages cross, enrich and endanger each other, with many of them focusing on endangered languages. "Languages reflect a view of the world. They are an essential component of the living heritage of humanity, therefore they belong to the intangible cultural heritage that needs to be safeguarded," Italian linguist Antonia Soriente said. "Languages are vehicles of value systems and of cultural expressions and they constitute a determining factor in the identity of groups and individuals. They transmit knowledge, values and collective memory and play an essential role in cultural vitality." A book Soriente carefully edited - Mencaleny & Usung Bayung Marang - a collection of Kenyah stories in Oma Longh and Lebu' Kulit languagesis a first in more than one sense. Not only have these stories never been translated into Indonesian or English, they have not even been written down. In order to give access to the Kenyah stories of Ungan and Aw‚ or the clever Mp‚ and her stupid husband Buzu, Soriente had to develop a new orthographic system for the entirely oral languages. "Linguists are not really social workers. We are not activists who try to go to the field and say, hey, you need to speak your language. But we want to raise awareness of linguistic diversity and give something back to the community and some tools with which, if they want to, they can help their language to survive", says Soriente. When the book was published last year it was first sent to the communities that had been involved in the project. "They were quite startled to see that something had emerged, that their language had been written down and that it was written next to Bahasa Indonesia and English. They said, `Oh, now we can study English through our language!'" During Soriente's visit, the Malinau regent made for the very first time a speech entirely in the local language of Lebu' Kulit and people also started using the new orthographic system to send text messages. "Suddenly they realized there is no law that says you have to use only Bahasa Indonesian", Soriente said. Her colleague Betty Litamahuputty has had similar experiences. Litamahuputty participates in a team that has intensively studied the highly endangered languages of the Maluku islands, among them Kouro, spoken only in five villages on the island of Seram. Together with linguists from Australia's Monash University and the local communities, Litamahuputty developed storybooks in Kouro. Teams were formed among the villagers and sent out to literally document their language. "We gave them some cameras and they had to figure out what kind of event they wanted to document. It was the clove-harvest season. They were taking pictures of what they thought was important about the harvest. And then they had to ask the village people or somebody who knew the language how to say this or that in Kouro. And then they tried to write it down. In this way they were able to make their own storybooks bilingual, in Malay and the local language. And that was to show that by very simple means they could make their own storybook, which they could use in school for instance. Just with a notebook, a camera and a pen you can make a book about whatever you want," said Litamahuputty. Furthermore a story in Malay has been developed by project leader Margaret Florey about a family going in the woods and working there in a garden, the "garden story". This story has been "fed" with significant linguistic structures to find out how speakers from different local communities on Seram island would translate the same story in their language. Additionally the linguists made vitality tests in order to see whether the inhabitants could still communicate in their language or only knew a few words. As expected it turned out that in many cases elderly people still had some knowledge of the language, but only a few people were actually able to have a conversation in it. Surprisingly the patterns were the same in Christian and Muslim villages, such as in Allang and Ruta. "People always thought indigenous languages were more likely to be preserved in Muslim villages, but instead they had the same curve as the Christian villages, where we already know that the language has died out," said Litamahuputty. A workbook used in workshops with local communities will be published next year to demonstrate not only how to learn a language, but also how to gather information from local speakers - how to make sentences, how to figure out their structure and what the grammar might be like. "Thus, local communities might take the survival of their language into their own hands," Litamahuputty said. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Nov 5 20:39:07 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2007 13:39:07 -0700 Subject: Conference on Endangered Languages and Cultures of Native America 2008 (fwd link) Message-ID: CONFERENCE ON ENDANGERED LANGUAGES AND CULTURES OF NATIVE AMERICA 2008 http://hum.utah.edu/display.php?pageId=1049 Dates: (4th annual CELCNA), March 28-30, 2008, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah. Call for papers: Papers or posters are invited on any aspect of American Indian languages, in particular on documentation or revitalization. American Indian participants are especially invited. Papers are 20 minutes each in length, with an additional 10 minutes for discussion. Deadline: for ABSTRACTS : Jan. 18, 2008. The Program Committee will announce results about Feb. 1. Additional information: Contact Tamrika Khvtisiashvili , or for particular questions, Lyle Campbell at lyle.campbell at linguistics.utah.edu. If you need information not easily arranged via e-mail, please call: Tel. 801-587-0720 or 801-581-3441 during business hours, or Fax 801-585-7351. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Nov 5 20:50:55 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2007 13:50:55 -0700 Subject: 15th Annual Stabilizing Indigenous Languages Symposium (fwd link) Message-ID: 15th Annual Stabilizing Indigenous Languages Symposium Language is Life: Strategies for Language Revitalization High Country Conference Center, Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, Arizona, May 2 & 3, 2008 http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/SIL9brochure.html From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Nov 6 17:29:51 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 6 Nov 2007 10:29:51 -0700 Subject: Bridging the language gap (fwd) Message-ID: Last updated at 5:19 PM on 05/11/07 Bridging the language gap Torngasok Cultural Centre unveils new learning tools [photo inset - NEW LEARNING – Tim McNeal, Nunatsiavut Minister of Education and Culture holds the new Inuit dictionary. The book is one of four learning tools unveiled recently by the Nunatsiavut Government aimed to help to Labrador Inuit stay in touch with their language. Jamie Tarrant photo] JAMIE TARRANT The Labradorian http://www.thelabradorian.ca/index.cfm?sid=77533&sc=347 Nunatsiavut's Torngasok Cultural Centre recently unveiled four new language tools Labrador Inuit can use to learn about their language. At a ceremony held last Monday at the Aboriginal Friendship Centre, a Rosetta Stone CD-Rom, Inuktitut dictionary, children's book "Atuagaga uKausinnut," and a book of stories gathered from the Unikkalautta storytelling festival last May, were made available to schools and Inuit beneficiaries. Director Catharyn Andersen admits that it took a lot of people, planning and funding to accomplish this goal. "I'm really excited and proud of the work that we've done, and the people that worked on it for years," she said. Work on creating a dictionary began in 1985, shortly after there was an Inuit standardized writing system put into place. A lot of the words in the new dictionary are based on the Lucien Schneider dictionary - a missionary in northern Quebec that developed the Slavic writing system from translating Inuit language into written form. The Rosetta Stone CD is software that makes learning a language easy. It offers ten learning levels and uses visual and audio concepts to help participants read, spell, pronounce, and write. After each level the CD provides a short quiz. The children's and story telling book were developed because of the lack of appropriate language learning material for young Inuit children on the coast. Nunatsiavut Government Upper Lake Melville member, Keith Russell hopes, this software will help bridge the language gap with children in Labrador. When he was growing up, language wasn't practiced as much as he feels it should have been. "For whatever reason, whether your parents moved down from Nunatsiavut into Upper Lake Melville, or wherever, the language never made it from the parents to the younger generation," explained Mr. Russell. When he was first introduced to the Rosetta Stone language CDs during a conference seven years ago, he wasn't impressed. It was only later after he tested the software that his opinion quickly changed. "It became very clear to me as I was looking at level two and exercise three, that I was very quickly put out of my league by this kind of software," explained Mr. Russell. "I could pull out a few names and interactions. As you advance it becomes more difficult. With these options, which are easy to use, I think it is going to catch on with children." The only drawback about these learning tools is the cost. The CD ROM itself will run about $50.00 (for beneficiaries) the dictionary $30.00 and the children's and story telling book will be 15.00 each. Mr. Russell hopes these prices won't turn people away. "There is definitely going to be divided feelings about this. Some people think this should be free. I myself am one of them. I agree with the Nunatsiavut Government that we have to recoup some of the costs to continue work on these kinds of initiatives." Mr. Russell is confident that these learning tools will be made public for beneficiaries in schools and community resource centres that don't have computer access or funds to buy the entire package. Tim McNeal, Nunatsiavut Minister of Education thinks the new learning curriculum will be a huge asset for Inuktitut teachers in Labrador's school system. "We already arranged to offer teachers training in the software. We did that in early September. I think there may be plans to do another in-servicing after they had a chance to see what's working and what's not," he said. There will be a second edition of the Rosetta Stone CD made available by the end of 2008. The same is true for the Inuit dictionary. Mrs. Andersen realizes that, as with all dictionaries,they are works in progress. "We realize that there will be mistakes and corrections that will have to be made because there are new words coming out all the time in Inuktitut," she explained. "We are planning on holding a workshop within the next couple of years to work with the dictionary to make corrections and additions that are necessary." Mrs. Andersen hopes these learning tools will play a huge role in helping the next generation not only hear Inuit language, but also learn how to speak and write it. "I think what we got to remember is that these are tools to help us learn. It is going to take more than just these tools. At least this is a huge stepping stone to getting where we want to be." reporter at thelabradorian.ca From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Nov 6 17:30:00 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 6 Nov 2007 10:30:00 -0700 Subject: With the Help of GPS, Amazonian Tribes Reclaim the Rain Forest (fwd) Message-ID: With the Help of GPS, Amazonian Tribes Reclaim the Rain Forest Wired Magazine Issue 15.11 By Andy Isaacson Email 11.06.07 | 12:00 AM Illustration: Evah Fan http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/magazine/15-11/ps_amazon Wuta is practically naked, except for the red cotton breechcloth strung around his waist and the yellow beaded necklaces that drape his muscular torso. In his hands, though, he's holding something that places him firmly in the 21st century: a new gray Garmin GPS device. A member of the Trio tribe, he's leading me through the rain forest near his village in southern Suriname — a two-hour Cessna flight from the closest road. At the foot of a large tree that dangles a cascade of liana vines, Wuta points his GPS toward the sky: no signal. He fiddles with a button and a few minutes later gets a reading. He relays the coordinates to a fellow Trio cartographer beside him, who dutifully jots them down. Wuta then tramps on, demonstrating how he and other tribesmen have charted, by foot and canoe, some 20 million acres of land here at Amazonia's northern fringe. To avoid getting steamrollered by developers, ranchers, loggers, miners, oilmen, and biopirates, tribes across the Amazon Basin have begun acquiring high tech tools to defend themselves. Much of the help in this effort has come from the Amazon Conservation Team, a Virginia environmental and cultural preservation organization, which provided equipment, cartographic expertise, and financial assistance. Now dozens of men like Wuta are walking the forests, mapping their lands with the aid of portable GPS devices. Of course, just because the tribes have mapped the lands doesn't mean they control all the legal rights to them. But it's a step in that direction. Suriname now uses maps generated by the Trio and other groups as official government documents. In Ecuador, the Shuar tribe, long embroiled in a struggle with American oil companies, was recently granted title to its communal lands, as mapped by GPS. The massive sandals-on-the-ground charting campaign and delineation of once imprecise boundaries have also given the tribes greater confidence in asserting their interests — in some instances, natives have driven out illegal miners and have established settlements and guard posts on their borders. In addition to GPS mapping, tribes are using Google Earth as a tool for territorial vigilance. The app's satellite imagery can identify threats — an encroaching soy farm, say, or a river stained by the runoff from a gold mine. A few tribes in Brazil with Internet access are marking the coordinates of surreptitious activity they see in the images, then investigating on foot or passing the information to government enforcers. For Wuta, the global positioning device he cradles is a handheld life insurance policy. "I make maps because I don't want the companies to come — when they come, maybe the water will be dirty," he says as we walk back from the forest, across a grassy airstrip that was cleared 40 years ago by American evangelicals, the first outsiders to want a piece of the land and its people. Ultimately, though, this advanced technology may just help the Indians turn on the forest to enrich themselves. (And who can blame them, really?) Carrying a carved wooden cane and wearing slacks, a plaid shirt, and a Casio watch, the Trio's chief hints at this uncertain future when I ask whether his newfound territorial security makes him more likely to get into the business of extracting natural resources. Education and technology, he says, have helped his tribe make more-responsible decisions. He then adds, "The maps have helped us realize our assets." From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Nov 6 17:34:37 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 6 Nov 2007 10:34:37 -0700 Subject: Alaska's high court backs part of English-only law (fwd) Message-ID: Alaska's high court backs part of English-only law By The Associated Press 11.06.07 http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=19294 ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaska's highest court struck down a central provision of a state law requiring only English to be used for all government business. However, the Alaska Supreme Court in an 89-page decision in Alaskans for a Common Language v. Kritz Nov. 2 let much of the law stand. Attorney Doug Pope said the ruling means that his clients in Togiak can continue to conduct city council meetings largely in Yup'ik, the only language some of them speak. And while public records must be in English, versions in other languages also can be provided and maintained in the same government files. The English-only law was passed by voters through an initiative in 1998, but has never been in effect. Togiak, the North Slope Borough, the Alaska Civil Liberties Union and the Native American Rights Fund quickly challenged the new law, and won an injunction that had kept it in limbo until the 4-1 decision Nov. 2. The dissenter, Chief Justice Alex Bryner, said the entire law should have been thrown out as violating the U.S. and Alaska constitutions. Instead, the majority focused on two sentences in a provision defining the scope of the law, the first of which reads: "The English language is the language to be used by all public agencies in all government functions and actions." The court found that to be unconstitutional because it violates federal and state rights of free speech. But a second sentence, "The English language shall be used in the preparation of all official public documents and records," could be kept as long as it also allows documents to be offered in other languages, the court said. The state high court decided not to consider other sections of the law now, but noted that the rest of the statute would have to be enforced narrowly or other provisions also might be found unconstitutional. Both sides claimed a measure of victory in the ruling. Attorney Ken Jacobus, one of the original sponsors of the initiative, said, "The whole idea was to get people to speak English because it benefits them, not to prevent them from speaking their own language." Pope called the ruling a clear victory for Togiak and the other plaintiffs. "What [the court has] said ... is that the person speaking and listening (during government business) [has] a right to speak in a language other than English," he said. "That's a great victory for Natives and non-English speakers." Alaskans for a Common Language v. Kritz was taken to the Supreme Court by Alaskans for a Common Language, the group that pushed the original petition. Moses Kritz is a lifelong resident of Togiak. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Nov 6 17:40:34 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 6 Nov 2007 10:40:34 -0700 Subject: Government of Canada Supports The Métis Nation of Alberta (fwd) Message-ID: Government of Canada Supports The Métis Nation of Alberta http://news.gc.ca/web/view/en/index.jsp?articleid=358769&categoryid=16 EDMONTON, November 5, 2007 - On behalf of the Honourable Josée Verner, Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages, Laurie Hawn, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence and Member of Parliament (Edmonton Centre), today announced funding for the Métis Nation of Alberta Association. Funding of $315,000 will go toward activities that preserve and promote Métis language, culture, and heritage. It will fund a three-year project that includes the publication of a book called Michif in Alberta, the organization of linguistic immersion camps, and support for a provincial conference about the Michif language. "The Métis people have a rich cultural heritage," said Minister Verner. "We are proud to support this organization to ensure that they continue to have a voice in Alberta and in Canada." "Our Government is committed to enabling Aboriginal people to fully participate in the social, political, economic, and cultural life of the country," said Mr. Hawn. "We are pleased to support the Métis Nation of Alberta." "Unfortunately, as many of our Elders pass away without sharing their language with the next generation, a part of our history is slipping away,"' said Audrey Poitras, President of the Métis Nation of Alberta Association. "It is up to us to protect this important part of our heritage, and this funding from Canadian Heritage will assist us in doing exactly that." The Government of Canada has provided this funding through the Aboriginal Peoples Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage, which supports the full participation and cultural revitalization of Aboriginal people in Canadian society. It enables Aboriginal peoples to address the social, cultural, economic, and political issues affecting their lives. Information: Richard Walker Press Secretary Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages 819 997-7788 Oula Sanduga Constituency Assistant Office of Laurrie Hawn, MP Edmonton Centre 780 442-1888 Donald Boulanger A/Chief, Media Relations Canadian Heritage 819 994-9101 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Nov 6 18:08:22 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 6 Nov 2007 11:08:22 -0700 Subject: New dictionary breathes life into language (fwd) Message-ID: New dictionary breathes life into language [photo inset - Members of the Nippik Inuit Drummers perform in the Inco Innovation Centre on Monday, Oct. 29. Photo by Chris Hibbs.] By Jeff Green http://today.mun.ca/news.php?news_id=3344 It was decades in the making and now the Nunatsiavut Government is confident the first-ever Labrador Inuit dictionary reflecting the Labrador Inuit Standardized Writing System will be around for a long time to come, inspiring generations of young minds to embrace the almost-forgotten language of their grandparents. On Monday, Oct. 29, the dictionary – along with several other new interactive learning tools – was officially unveiled in Nain and seven other sites including on Memorial’s St. John’s campus. Labradorimi Ulinnaisigutet Inuktitut – English Dictionary has been a dream for more than 20 years. Its launch will help preserve the Inuktitut language for generations, noted Daniel Pottle, deputy speaker of the Nunatsiavut Assembly at the event on Monday. A new interactive CD-Rom was also launched. Rosetta Stone is designed to teach people the Inuktitut language by using pictures to establish the meaning of words and phrases so that there is no translation. In addition to the new CD-Rom, a new children’s book and a book of stories generated from a Labrador storytelling festival were launched at the Beatrice Watts Boardroom in the Inco Innovation Centre. It was fitting the launch was held there. Dr. Watts – who received an honorary degree from Memorial in 1992 – is listed as one of the editors of the new dictionary. Dr. Watts was renowned throughout Labrador as a skilled educator and passionate community leader. She devoted her life to preserving and restoring the Inuktitut language of the Inuit. Early in her teaching career, she observed that Inuktitut was at risk. Dr. Watts committed herself to reinstating the native language in school curriculum, and opening the door for a whole new generation of Labradorians to learn to speak and appreciate their native language. She passed away in April 2004. Catharyn Andersen, an MA student in linguistics at Memorial and director of the Torngâsok Cultural Centre in Nain, is one of the project co-ordinators of the dictionary. Dr. Axel Meisen, president of Memorial, spoke at the launch, which was also attended by Dr. Reeta Tremblay, dean of Arts, as well as students, staff and faculty members of Memorial. The Nippik Inuit Drummers also performed at the launch in the lobby of the Inco Innovation Centre. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Nov 7 17:51:57 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2007 10:51:57 -0700 Subject: Worldwide, a Language Dies Every Two Weeks (fwd link) Message-ID: Worldwide, a Language Dies Every Two Weeks Over half of the 7,000 languages in the world are in danger of disappearing. Transcript of radio broadcast: 06 November 2007 http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2007-11-06-voa1.cfm From maiaponsonnet at HOTMAIL.COM Wed Nov 7 18:05:57 2007 From: maiaponsonnet at HOTMAIL.COM (Ponsonnet Maia) Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2007 18:05:57 +0000 Subject: French linguist (Sth Am) on endangered languages Message-ID: Better late than never, French journalists have done their bit too regarding endangered languages. Probably following the same National Geographic trend, we had this yesterday within a very good program on France Inter, our major national radio: http://www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/em/lateteaucarre/index.php?id=60721 Maïa _________________________________________________________________ What are you waiting for? Join Lavalife FREE http://a.ninemsn.com.au/b.aspx?URL=http%3A%2F%2Flavalife9%2Eninemsn%2Ecom%2Eau%2Fclickthru%2Fclickthru%2Eact%3Fid%3Dninemsn%26context%3Dan99%26locale%3Den%5FAU%26a%3D30288&_t=764581033&_r=email_taglines_Join_free_OCT07&_m=EXT -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Nov 7 22:34:43 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2007 15:34:43 -0700 Subject: Teaching Oregon Native Languages (fwd) Message-ID: TEACHING OREGON NATIVE LANGUAGES Edited by Joan Gross 2007. 5-3/4 x 9-1/4 inches. 176 pages. Map. B&W photographs. Index. ISBN 978-0-87071-193-0. Paperback, $24.95 In a world where over half of the remaining six thousand languages will most likely disappear by the end of the century, attention has finally begun to focus on the struggles of indigenous people to save their languages. Lack of knowledge concerning the vast linguistic diversity of Oregon's languages has been a major obstacle to language revitalization in this state. Native peoples were subjected to disease, displacement, and forced linguistic assimilation, leaving many languages with only a few speakers. Some languages died out, but others prevailed in the privacy of homes and longhouses. This book tells the story of perseverance and survival against unbelievable odds, using the words of today's speakers and learners of Oregon's languages. Interviews with fifty-two native speakers provide valuable insights into how languages are lost and how a linguistic heritage can be brought to life. Teaching Oregon Native Languages discusses the role of state and federal language policies, explores how archival collections can be used in language revitalization, and describes strategies for creating a successful teaching environment. A timely and necessary resource, it will educate all readers about the important efforts underway to revitalize Oregon's first languages. Contributors: Joan Gross, Erin Haynes, Deanna Kingston, David Lewis, and Juan Trujillo ABOUT THE EDITOR Joan Gross is professor of anthropology at Oregon State University. A linguistic anthropologist, she has conducted research on minority languages and verbal art and taught classes on language and culture at OSU since 1989. She is the author of _Speaking in Other Voices: An Ethnography of Walloon Puppet Theaters._ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 34350 bytes Desc: not available URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Nov 7 22:36:23 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2007 15:36:23 -0700 Subject: Teaching Oregon Native Languages (fwd) In-Reply-To: <20071107153443.24enw0s08wo44gc8@www.email.arizona.edu> Message-ID: Here is the link! URL: http://oregonstate.edu/dept/press/s-t/TeachingORNative.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From linguist4 at KATHLANGCENTRE.ORG.AU Thu Nov 8 05:23:43 2007 From: linguist4 at KATHLANGCENTRE.ORG.AU (Eugenie Collyer) Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2007 14:53:43 +0930 Subject: Fwd: Job vacancy: Coordinator, Diwurruwurru-Jaru Aboriginal Corporation (Katherine Regional Aboriginal Language Centre) Message-ID: > Subject: Job vacancy: Coordinator, Diwurruwurru-Jaru Aboriginal > Corporation (Katherine Regional Aboriginal Language Centre) > > Dear All, > > Diwurruwurru-Jaru Aboriginal Corporation (Katherine Regional > Aboriginal > Language Centre) is currently seeking expressions of interest for the > position of Coordinator. We would greatly appreciate if you could > pass this > through your network or on to anyone you think may be interested. > > Attached is an overview of the position. Duty statement and selection > criteria are available on request. Don't hesitate to contact Greg > Dickson > or Michelle Dawson on (08) 8971 1233 for more information. > > Kind regards, > > Greg Dickson > Acting Coordinator > > Diwurruwurru-Jaru Aboriginal Corporation > PO Box 871 Katherine NT 0851 > P (08) 89 711233 > F (08) 89 710561 > > > COORDINATOR > > Diwurruwurru-jaru Aboriginal Corporation supports Indigenous > communities > throughout the Katherine region to maintain and revitalise their > languages. > DAC currently has five full-time linguists and two full-time > clerical staff > and works with a number of remote community members who are > involved in > various language projects. > > Diwurruwurru-jaru Aboriginal Corporation (DAC) seeks applications from > suitably qualified persons for the position of Coordinator. The > position > will be based in Katherine, NT. The Coordinator will be responsible > to an > Indigenous Committee representing language groups throughout the > Katherine > Region. > > ROLE: > * Coordinate the activities of an Indigenous language centre, > including > financial management and staff management. > * Coordinate language projects and associated resources. > * Promote the activities of DAC and liaise with other agencies in > relation > to language activities. > * Implement policy and direction established by the Committee. > > QUALIFICATIONS: > Essential: > * Ability to maintain Aboriginal input and control of an > organisation while > at the same time ensuring regulations are met. > * Effective communication with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. > * Experience with resourcing an organisation. > * Strong administration and organisational skills. > * Demonstrated ability to select and supervise staff and contractors. > * Experience with preparation and monitoring of budgets. > * A C class driver's licence. > Desirable: > * Some knowledge of Australian Languages and associated issues. > * Understanding of accounting systems. > * Experience working with a community-based organisation. > * A background in education. > > > CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT: > Full-time (36hrs/wk) at $50,800p.a. Five weeks annual leave. > > To obtain the Selection Criteria and Duty Statement, contact Greg > Dickson or > Michelle Dawson on (08) 89711233, Fax (08) 89710561 or e-mail > dacadmin at kathlangcentre.org.au > > > Written applications addressing the Selection Criteria, with names and > contact numbers of two referees should be forwarded to: > > The Chairperson, Diwurruwurru-jaru Aboriginal Corporation > PO Box 871, Katherine NT 0851 > > Applications close c.o.b. November 23, 2007 > > > > >  Eugenie Collyer Town Linguist Diwurruwurru-Jaru Aboriginal Corporation (Katherine Regional Aboriginal Language Centre) PO Box 871, Katherine 0851 Ph: (08) 89711233 Fax: (08) 8971 0561 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Coord's Advert.doc Type: application/applefile Size: 412 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Coord's Advert.doc Type: application/msword Size: 155648 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Nov 8 18:37:39 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2007 11:37:39 -0700 Subject: Dogrib-language books hit the shelves (fwd) Message-ID: Dogrib-language books hit the shelves Christine Grimard Northern News Services Published Wednesday, November 7, 2007 http://nnsl.com/northern-news-services/stories/papers/nov7_07bks.html# YELLOWKNIFE - Two professionally-published books telling tales both in English and Dogrib are a landmark in publishing, according to Yellowknife Book Cellar owner Judith Drinnan. [photo inset - Michelle Zieba, a worker at the Yellowknife Book Cellar, sets up a display for two books written in both Dogrib and English. The project, spearheaded by Yellowknife Catholic Schools, is the first time a book intended for public distribution has been professionally published in Dogrib. - Christine Grimard/NNSL photo] The Old Man with the Otter Medicine and The Legend of the Caribou Boy, published by Theytus Books of B.C., have been on the shelves since the end of September. They are both stories written by the late John Blondin as told by his father George Blondin, a well-known Behchoko elder and author. The stories were originally recorded by Barb Cameron, who was previously a curator at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. The project was spearheaded by Diane Lafferty, aboriginal culture and language co-ordinator for Yellowknife Catholic Schools. "We wanted to be able to see Dogrib books on Yellowknife bookshelves," said Lafferty. Lafferty said the books help create a sense of pride for readers not used to seeing their own language in books. "If we want to create a sense of identity in kids, they have to see themselves in print," said Lafferty. The brightly-illustrated books are written in both English and Dogrib, and come with an interactive CD that allows readers to hear the books narrated in either language. Fifteen hundred copies of the books are being distributed to schools teaching the Dogrib language, including Yk Education District No. 1 schools and in all the Tlicho communities. The Book Cellar had 50 copies of each book, and Drinnan said the store has sold 15 of each. A portion of the proceeds from the books is being donated to the Aboriginal Special Collection at the Chief Jimmy Bruneau school library in Behchoko. The project began after an artists' workshop held by YCS two years ago in book illustration. From that workshop, artists Ray McSwain of Behchoko and Archie Beaverho of Whati were chosen to illustrate the books. Drinnan said that while there have been some other books published in Dogrib, they have been "Xerox and staple" type of material. A third book titled Yamozha and his Beaver Wife will be launched in conjunction with a display at the museum at the end of November. The display will be about the legends of Yamozha and Yamoria and how they help explain the natural features of the land, and the laws that connect the Dene people. The money for the project came from Canadian Heritage, through the department of Education, Culture, and Employment. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sun Nov 11 22:23:14 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2007 15:23:14 -0700 Subject: CFP: International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media (fwd link) Message-ID: Call for Papers International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media March 26-28, 2007 Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A. http://www.icwsm.org/cfp.html From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Nov 13 16:36:34 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 09:36:34 -0700 Subject: A dying language (fwd) Message-ID: A dying language Lecture on endangered Navajo language shows cultural importance Madeleine Leroux Issue date: 11/13/07 http://media.www.siude.com/media/storage/paper1096/news/2007/11/13/Campus/A.Dying.Language-3095323.shtml The Navajo language is disappearing. As part of Native American Heritage Month, assistant anthropology professor Anthony Webster lectured on the endangered Navajo language, analyzing portions of a performance by Navajo poet Laura Tohe, who came to SIUC in October 2006. Webster discussed the importance of Navajo language and its connection to the values and beliefs held by the Navajo people. "The Navajo language is deeply connected to the Navajo worldview," Webster said. Tohe spoke of language as a way to become intimate with the Navajo philosophy, Webster said - but the language is in trouble. "Navajo language has recently been described as an endangered language," Webster said. During Tohe's visit, she spoke of punishments received on her reservation for speaking Navajo in school. The assimilation era, she said, tried to beat the native languages out. Webster said suppression of Navajo language during the assimilation era is a link to the now endangered state of Navajo language. "It clearly taps into a wider discourse on fairness and equality," Webster said. Navajo communities have the largest amount of speakers, Webster said, but they are all 45 years old or older. There's an entire generation of young Navajos who don't speak their language, he said. Lisa Kang, a community member of the Native American Student Organization, said dying native languages also show the dying culture of indigenous people. "Language is tied to culture," Kang said. "It's a fight to keep indigenous languages." If Navajo language is endangered, Webster said, then all other indigenous languages are also endangered. "Navajo has an essential place in the history of the United States," Webster said. Used as code in World War II, Webster and Tohe speak of Navajo language as being used to save America, but is now in need of saving. Madeleine Leroux can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 254 or mleroux at siu.edu. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Nov 13 16:41:06 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 09:41:06 -0700 Subject: Native tongue: MSU classes help Ojibwe language survive (fwd) Message-ID: Published November 13, 2007 [(Photo by MATTHEW DAE SMITH/For the Lansing State Journal) Preserving the culture: Professor Helen Roy, originally from Manitoulin Island, Ontario, teaches Ojibwe in a recent Michigan State University class. Damian Fisher, an Okemos lawyer and a Saginaw Chippewa tribe member, said Roy's efforts to save the language make her "a modern day hero."] Native tongue: MSU classes help Ojibwe language survive Matthew Miller Lansing State Journal http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071113/NEWS01/711130334/1001/news The Ojibwe word that Autumn Mitchell likes best is "pkwezhigaans." Literally, it means "little bread." Practically, it can mean cookies, crackers or muffins. It's the same word for all three. It's not a word she's known for very long, but she sees it as a part of her history all the same or, perhaps better, a part of her heritage. Mitchell, 19, is a member of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, but she didn't learn more than a few words of the language growing up. (Chippewa and Ojibwe are fundamentally the same language.) She's learning it now at Michigan State University, in part, because she doesn't want it to fade away. "Not a lot of people from where I come from speak the language anymore," she said. "It's kind of become, if you don't do this and if the handful who are willing to do this don't follow through with it, we're going to lose it and then we're going to be on the list of extinct languages. "And how do you still constitute a nation if you don't have a language?" Efforts to revive American Indian languages go back decades, but those efforts are taking on a new urgency as the numbers of fluent speakers decline. The 2000 Census listed 8,350 Ojibwe speakers in the U.S., 1,270 of those were in Michigan. Those numbers are almost certainly smaller now. "These people who are in their late 70s or 80s are going one by one," said Helen Roy, who is in her eighth year of teaching Ojibwe at MSU, "and each community is saying, 'Wow, once all our elders are gone our language will be gone.' " "That's the scare that's being put to the different communities because of the speakers dying, leaving and taking that language with them." More take languages But there is good news coming from college campuses, MSU among them. According to the Modern Language Association, there were 25 percent more students learning American Indian languages in 2002 than there were in 1998. The increase was smaller, only 7.6 percent, for Ojibwe, a language spoken by tribes throughout the Great Lakes region and inscribed in Michigan's geography. Many of the state's place names - Chesaning, Ishpeming and Pinconning, to name just a few - are Ojibwe words. At MSU, where Ojibwe is the only regularly taught American Indian language, Roy said she teaches perhaps two dozen students a semester, about half of them from Ojibwe-speaking tribes. And for those students in particular, the classes provide a link to a heritage they often didn't fully know growing up. A sense of heritage Nichole Shepherd, 32, is a doctoral student in English who began studying Ojibwe this year. In fact, she came to MSU, in part, because of Roy's classes. Shepherd is Odawa (again, the language is basically the same), but learned only a few words growing up, "some animal names and different things, like how to say, 'I'm hungry.' " Her grandparents had been fluent, she said, but, like many of their generation, were punished for speaking the language in the government-run schools they attended as children, "so they didn't speak it to their children." Shepherd said she's always had a sense of a heritage that she couldn't quite articulate. "Now I want to know how to say it right, to say it truly," she said. Most speakers over 60 Margaret Noori teaches Ojibwe at the University of Michigan, where more than 140 students are currently learning the language. She estimated that more than 80 percent of fluent speakers are over the age of 60. "It wouldn't take more than one generation that's not paying attention" for the language and the reservoir of cultural meanings it contains to disappear, she said. That makes teachers such as Roy, 59, who grew up speaking Ojibwe and never stopped, rare and all the more valuable. Damian Fisher, an Okemos attorney and a member of the Saginaw Chippewa tribe, said Roy's efforts to save the language make her "a modern-day hero." "You've got to be vested in the theory or idea that language is the single most determining element of a culture," he said. "I am, and, because of that, her work is important and the work to sustain and revive the language is important." Much of his tribe's language and traditional culture remains, he said, "but so much is evaporating." And that's not an isolated phenomenon. Carla McFall estimates that, of the 4,000 or so members of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa, there are only a dozen who are fluent in the language and most don't use the language regularly. That's part of the reason why the tribal government established the Anishinaabemowin Language Program three years ago. The program offers language courses, including classes at Harbor Springs High School, and works to preserve the language through video recordings and other documentation. "Hopefully someday, we have a bilingual community," said McFall, the program coordinator. "I'm sure I won't be here to see that, but I'm going to help to plant the seeds." Roy said she sees her own work in much the same light. "Hopefully I'm playing a little part in the start of a revitalization and resurgence," she said. "Hopefully, I put a little spark into somebody and they say, 'I want to learn this.' " "It's starting to happen, she said. "Not just with me, but all over." Contact Matthew Miller at 377-1046 or mrmiller at lsj.com. More on the Web • Learn more about the Ojibwe language at www.ojibwe.net. • November is National American Indian Heritage Month. For information on historic places and links to cultural resources provided by federal agencies, go to www.nps.gov/nr/feature/indian/Index.htm. Related content from LSJ: * Ojibwe/English translation Media files: * Helen Roy speaks in and about Ojibwe - MP3 From awebster at SIU.EDU Tue Nov 13 16:42:42 2007 From: awebster at SIU.EDU (awebster@siu.edu) Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 11:42:42 -0500 Subject: A dying language (fwd) In-Reply-To: <20071113093634.zvddqjoswgw8wog4@www.email.arizona.edu> Message-ID: Obviously I was misquoted concerning the fact that not all speakers of Navajo are over the age of 45. Hopefully they will publish a correction on Wednesday. Best, akw ---------Included Message---------- >Date: 13-nov-2007 10:36:39 -0600 >From: "phil cash cash" >Reply-To: "Indigenous Languages and Technology" >To: >Subject: [ILAT] A dying language (fwd) > >A dying language >Lecture on endangered Navajo language shows cultural importance > >Madeleine Leroux >Issue date: 11/13/07 >http://media.www.siude.com/media/storage/paper1096/news/2007/11 /13/Campus/A.Dying.Language-3095323.shtml > >The Navajo language is disappearing. > >As part of Native American Heritage Month, assistant anthropology professor >Anthony Webster lectured on the endangered Navajo language, analyzing >portions of a performance by Navajo poet Laura Tohe, who came to SIUC in >October 2006. > >Webster discussed the importance of Navajo language and its connection to >the values and beliefs held by the Navajo people. > >"The Navajo language is deeply connected to the Navajo worldview," Webster >said. > >Tohe spoke of language as a way to become intimate with the Navajo >philosophy, Webster said - but the language is in trouble. > >"Navajo language has recently been described as an endangered language," >Webster said. > >During Tohe's visit, she spoke of punishments received on her reservation >for speaking Navajo in school. The assimilation era, she said, tried to >beat the native languages out. > >Webster said suppression of Navajo language during the assimilation era is a >link to the now endangered state of Navajo language. > >"It clearly taps into a wider discourse on fairness and equality," Webster >said. > >Navajo communities have the largest amount of speakers, Webster said, but >they are all 45 years old or older. There's an entire generation of young >Navajos who don't speak their language, he said. > >Lisa Kang, a community member of the Native American Student Organization, >said dying native languages also show the dying culture of indigenous >people. > >"Language is tied to culture," Kang said. "It's a fight to keep indigenous >languages." > >If Navajo language is endangered, Webster said, then all other indigenous >languages are also endangered. > >"Navajo has an essential place in the history of the United States," Webster >said. > >Used as code in World War II, Webster and Tohe speak of Navajo language as >being used to save America, but is now in need of saving. > >Madeleine Leroux can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 254 or mleroux at siu.edu. > > ---------End of Included Message---------- Anthony K. Webster, Ph.D. Department of Anthropology Southern Illinois University Mail Code 4502 Carbondale, IL 62901-4502 618-453-5027 From awebster at SIU.EDU Tue Nov 13 16:47:17 2007 From: awebster at SIU.EDU (awebster@siu.edu) Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 11:47:17 -0500 Subject: SIUC Linguistic Anthropology In-Reply-To: <20071113093634.zvddqjoswgw8wog4@www.email.arizona.edu> Message-ID: This seems as good a time as any to pass along the following: Linguistic Anthropology at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale The Department of Anthropology at SIUC (_http://www.siu.edu/~anthro/_ ) is building its graduate program in Linguistic Anthropology and invites interested students to apply. SIUC has a vibrant four- field department, where students receive training in all major sub-disciplines. Linguistic anthropology students are trained in current linguistic and sociocultural theory as well as current methods of linguistic description and analysis. Our approach to language is ethnographic and eclectic, stressing the need to master basic analytic skills in order to address anthropological problems. Our faculty include Janet Fuller, whose research currently focuses on the social roles of language in bilingual communities (_http://www.siuc.edu/%7Eanthro/fuller/index.html_); C. Andrew Hofling, whose interests include Mayan linguistic history and language documentation (_http://www.siuc.edu/%7Eanthro/hofling/index.html_); and Anthony Webster, whose research focuses on Native American verbal art (_http://www.siuc.edu/%7Eanthro/webster/index.html_) Some major themes of special interest to the faculty include: ! Discourse approaches to language and culture ! Native American languages and their documentation ! Orality, literacy and cognition ! Discourse genres and verbal art ! Linguistic practices and power relationships ! Language and identity ! Linguistic and cultural history ! Language in its social and cultural contexts and functions ! Bilingualism and language shift The Department has a Linguistic Anthropology Lab with equipment for analog and digital audio and video recording and analysis. Interested students and others are encouraged to visit our web page where information on the program and application materials are available: _http://www.siu.edu/~anthro/ Anthony K. Webster, Ph.D. Department of Anthropology Southern Illinois University Mail Code 4502 Carbondale, IL 62901-4502 618-453-5027 From dzo at BISHARAT.NET Thu Nov 15 03:51:50 2007 From: dzo at BISHARAT.NET (Don Osborn) Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2007 22:51:50 -0500 Subject: Internat'l Workshop on Spoken Languages Technologies for Under-resourced languages Message-ID: FYI. This call for participation may be of interest to some. Its focus is Asian languages, but contributions on "under-resourced languages" from other regions are welcome. (Seen on Chinese at kenyon.edu) Subject: 2d CFP : International Workshop on Spoken Languages Technologies for Under-resourced languages (SLTU) Reply-To: doug.cooper.thailand at gmail.com The International Workshop on Spoken Languages Technologies for Under-resourced languages (SLTU) will be held at Hanoi University of Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam, May 5 - May 7, 2008. Workshop Web Site : http://www.mica.edu.vn/sltu The STLU meeting is a technical conference focused on spoken language processing for under-resourced languages. This first workshop will focus on Asian languages, and the idea is to mainly (but not exclusively) target languages of the area (Vietnamese, Khmer, Lao, Chinese dialects, Thai, etc.). However, all contributions on other under-resourced languages of the world are warmly welcomed. The workshop aims at gathering researchers working on: * ASR, synthesis and speech translation for under-resourced languages * portability issues * fast resources acquisition (speech, text, lexicons, parallel corpora) * spoken language processing for languages with rich morphology * spoken language processing for languages without separators * spoken language processing for languages without writing system * ... Important dates * Paper submission: January 15, 2008 * Notification of Paper Acceptance: February 20, 2008 * Author Registration Deadline: March 1, 2008 Scientific Committee * Pr Tanja Schultz, CMU, USA * Dr Yuqing Gao, IBM, USA * Dr Lori Lamel, LIMSI, France * Dr Laurent Besacier, LIG, France * Dr Pascal Nocera, LIA, France * Pr Jean-Paul Haton, LORIA, France * Pr Luong Chi Mai, IOIT, Vietnam * Pr Dang Van Chuyet, HUT, Vietnam * Pr Pham Thi Ngoc Yen, MICA, Vietnam * Dr Eric Castelli, MICA, Vietnam * Dr Vincent Berment, LIG Laboratory, France * Dr Briony Williams, Bangor University, UK Local Organizing Committee * Pr Nguyen Trong Giang, HUT/MICA * Pr Ha Duyen Tu, HUT * Pr Pham Thi Ngoc Yen, HUT/MICA * Pr Geneviève Caelen-Haumont, MICA * Dr Trinh Van Loan, HUT * Dr Mathias Rossignol, MICA * M. Hoang Xuan Lan, HUT -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Nov 15 18:12:18 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:12:18 -0700 Subject: Speaking to keep their native tongue alive (fwd link) Message-ID: Speaking to keep their native tongue alive John Grap The Enquirer FULTON — There's a lot of quiet whispering and speaking softly as a small class of students whispers words that are rarely heard any more. It's a warm and windy evening as this brave band of five — including 7-year-old Onyleen Zapata and her grandmother Ruth Ann Chivis — sit around tables inside Pine Creek Reservation's community center, learning the Potawatomi language, which is related to Algonquin, Ojibwe and Odawa. To access the full article, follow the link below: http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071115/NEWS01/711150336/1002/NEWS01 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Nov 15 18:17:45 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:17:45 -0700 Subject: Indigenous program launches across 120 countries (fwd link) Message-ID: Indigenous program launches across 120 countries Aussie education to train millions of students Darren Pauli 15/11/2007 14:48:03 An Australian indigenous community engagement program this week has struck one of the largest deals for Microsoft's Partners in Learning (PiL) alliance. The Marvin program received $5000 from the government's $15 billion Australian Flexible Learning Framework to spread awareness of drug and alcohol abuse in Aboriginal communities living in the Northern Territory. To access full article, follow the link below: http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;132489003;fp;2;fpid;1 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 16 16:15:10 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 09:15:10 -0700 Subject: Indigenous Mexican Language Faces Extinction As Last Two Speakers Stop Talking To Each Other (fwd link) Message-ID: Indigenous Mexican Language Faces Extinction As Last Two Speakers Stop Talking To Each Other November 16, 2007 5:41 a.m. EST Ishita Sukhadwala - AHN News Writer Ayapan, Mexico (AHN) - The last two speakers of an indigenous Mexican language have stopped talking to each other, raising fears that the language will become extinct. The two men in their 70s from the village of Ayapan, Tabasco, in southern Mexico, are the only remaining speakers of their local version of the Zoque language. To access full article, follow the link below: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7009177830 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 16 16:20:43 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 09:20:43 -0700 Subject: Inuits in Arctic Canada Use Internet to Connect to Each Other (fwd link) Message-ID: Inuits in Arctic Canada Use Internet to Connect to Each Other By Susan Karlin First Published November 2007 It's not easy to get to Arctic Bay, a Canadian Inuit village of 700 that lies along a north Baffin Island inlet by the Northwest Passage, 700 kilometers above the Arctic Circle. The Akademic Ioffe—a Russian research vessel leased for tourists by the Darien, Conn., cruise line Quark Expeditions—docks at the former mining community of Nanisivik to restock our drinking water. From there, it's another hour by school bus over 32 km of harsh snow-swept terrain to Arctic Bay, where village leaders await us—100 or so curious tourists—to demonstrate their Inuit traditions. There's warmth to the residents that offsets the chilly temperatures and bleak surroundings. But Arctic Bay's real novelty lies less with honoring its past and more in gracefully bridging it with a rapidly changing present. The way the Inuit here have used the Internet to pass down their culture could be a precursor to the real test of integrating traditions and technology with a coming commercial overhaul of the area. To access full article, follow the link below: http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/nov07/5716 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 16 16:28:50 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 09:28:50 -0700 Subject: Schools will decide fate of Inuit language: Laval linguist (fwd link) Message-ID: Nunavut November 16, 2007 Schools will decide fate of Inuit language: Laval linguist Inuktitut purity “has its limits,” expert warns JOHN THOMPSON The details of Nunavut's draft language laws will be settled in the legislative assembly, but the fate of the Inuit language rests in the schools. This is worth keeping in mind as the language law debates heat up, says Louis-Jacques Dorais, a linguist at Université Laval who has studied Inuit languages across the Arctic for many years. After all, it doesn't matter to ordinary Nunavut residents whether bureaucrats make PowerPoint presentations to one another in English, Inuktitut or Japanese. Nor does it matter much whether arcane bits of law are translated into Innuinaqtun. What matters is whether kids speak their native tongue. And, right now, most Nunavut kids learn how to speak and think about most important things in English, Dorais says. To access full article, follow the link below: http://www.nunatsiaq.com/news/nunavut/71116_694.html From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 16 18:16:17 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:16:17 -0700 Subject: A Play on Words (fwd link) Message-ID: Greetings, Below is a link to a fascinating news article (in PDF) concerning a National Science Foundation’s Arctic Social Sciences Program sponsored project by James Mountain Chief Sanderville (a Blackfoot and Klamath Native American) who is working with colleagues to develop an educational video game that will help preserve the language, culture, and traditional knowledge of southern Alaska’s Sugpiaq-Alutiiq people. Just follow the link below and click on the [October 2007] to access the PDF and news article. Phil UofA ~~~ A Play on Words Preserving Native Languages through Game by Marcy Davis The VECO Polar Resources Newsletter, 09 Oct 2007 http://www.vecopolar.com/SingleHTMLTextArea.aspx?P=8E028B9E-E1ED-4076-8F97-2185B297DD96 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Nov 20 18:06:30 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 11:06:30 -0700 Subject: National Science Foundation Makes Documenting Endangered Languages Permanent (fwd) Message-ID: Press Release 07-173 National Science Foundation Makes Documenting Endangered Languages Permanent Program NSF commits to full-time research of vanishing linguistic heritage November 20, 2007 After funding more than $10 million dollars of scientific research and study projects during the last three years to record and analyze some of the world's most endangered languages, the National Science Foundation (NSF) recently made its Documenting Endangered Languages (DEL) initiative a permanent program. To access full article, just follow the link below: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=110719&org=NSF&from=news From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Nov 20 18:13:12 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 11:13:12 -0700 Subject: A breakthrough for Aboriginal learning in Canada (fwd) Message-ID: A breakthrough for Aboriginal learning in Canada http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/November2007/20/c2336.html OTTAWA, Nov. 20 /CNW Telbec/ - The Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) and its Aboriginal Learning Knowledge Centre, in partnership with Aboriginal organizations in Canada, have developed an innovative approach to measuring Aboriginal learning-one that should lead to more effective lifelong learning and contribute to a higher quality of life for Aboriginal Peoples across Canada. Aboriginal organizations have long advocated learning that affirms their cultural traditions, own ways of knowing and values. Using modern communications technology to present Aboriginal perspectives, this partnership has resulted in three interactive, online learning models that convey how learning occurs throughout all stages of life and in many settings, such as the home, on the land, and in the community. "Traditional approaches to measuring successful learning are important, but have focused on the classroom and have not sufficiently reflected Aboriginal people's holistic view of learning," says Paul Cappon, CCL's president and CEO. "All Canadians can learn from these models." "Lifelong learning is an important part of the solution to eradicating poverty in our communities," says Phil Fontaine, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. "The development of a culturally appropriate framework for measuring lifelong learning recognizes the more holistic approach to learning that has long been an essential part of the lives of First Nations people." The First Nations model (http://www.ccl-cca.ca/CCL/Newsroom/Releases/RedefiningSuccessInAboriginalLea rning.htm?Language=EN) and Métis model are represented by illustrations of living trees, to convey the regenerative nature of learning and its relationship to community well-being. The Inuit model uses an image of an Inuit blanket toss (a game often played at Inuit celebrations) and a circular path of lifelong learning to depict learning as an individual and collective journey. "The Inuit learning model is a first step toward what I believe will be an invaluable ongoing discussion about learning and how learning can be strengthened in Inuit communities," says Mary Simon, President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. These Holistic Lifelong Learning Models form the centrepiece of CCL's first annual report on Aboriginal learning, Redefining How Success Is Measured in First Nations, Inuit and Métis Learning. Released today at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, the report details the nearly year-long development process behind this project which was carried out in partnership with five national Aboriginal organizations, and refined through workshops and discussions with leading Aboriginal learning experts and community members. Each of the three models are intended as living documents that will evolve as First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities, organizations, institutions, researchers and governments use them to strengthen new approaches to learning. "Métis people have always advocated for the importance of knowledge acquired through experiential learning, including learning from Elders, traditions, ceremonies, family, and the workplace," says Dale Leclair, Chief Administrative Officer of the Métis National Council (MNC). "The MNC applauds the efforts of CCL in recognizing these vital, but often unrecognized forms of learning within Métis learning model," The Holistic Lifelong Learning Models are available at www.ccl-cca.ca/redefiningsuccess. The Canadian Council on Learning is an independent, not-for-profit corporation funded through an agreement with Human Resources and Social Development Canada. Its mandate is to promote and support evidence-based decisions about learning throughout all stages of life, from early childhood through to the senior years. For further information: Kelly Ouimet, Senior Communications Specialist, Canadian Council on Learning, (613) 786-3230 x242, kouimet at ccl-cca.ca From andrekar at NCIDC.ORG Wed Nov 21 17:33:46 2007 From: andrekar at NCIDC.ORG (Andre Cramblit) Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2007 09:33:46 -0800 Subject: Language Conference Message-ID: SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- Live Your Language Alliance (LYLA) Invites you to join us in our 1st Annual Native Languages Conference: Shut Up & Talk*: Gathering The Tools To Live Our Languages March 17-19, 2007 @ Humboldt State University-Arcata, CA More information, call to conference and call for presenters available online after 12/01/07 * This theme was chosen not to offend but rather as an attempt to challenge people to make a commitment to developing the skills, knowledge and resources needed to preserve the vitality of our Native languages and to speak them in our daily lives. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 23 17:53:40 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2007 10:53:40 -0700 Subject: Naskapi New Testament after 25 years (fwd) Message-ID: Naskapi New Testament after 25 years http://www.canadianchristianity.com/nationalupdates/071122briefs.html [photo inset - Naskapi child read the Naskapi New Testament Bible aloud with Lana Martens, who began the first translation work in the 1970s. Photo by Pierre Therrien.] After 25 years of labour, Wycliffe Bible Translators has produced a New Testament in the Naskapi language, spoken in the Kawawachikamach community of Quebec. The project was headed by Silas Nabinicaboo, a lay reader in the aboriginal church, and Bill Jancewicz of Wycliffe. Every household in the community -- located near the mining town of Schefferville, Quebec -- received a copy at a public declaration ceremony September 16, with elders receiving large print versions. -- Anglican Journal From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 23 17:59:39 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2007 10:59:39 -0700 Subject: Chile High School Students Preserves Patagonian Indigenous Langauges (fwd link) Message-ID: CHILE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT PRESERVES PATAGONIAN INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES (Nov. 19, 2007) Sixteen-year-old Santiago high school student Joubert Yantén has a mission: to preserve Patagonia’s indigenous languages and worldviews through music. To access full article, just follow the link below: http://www.tcgnews.com/santiagotimes/index.php?nav=story&story_id=15291&topic_id=15 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 23 18:04:40 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2007 11:04:40 -0700 Subject: Sealaska releases new language tools (fwd link) Message-ID: Web posted November 22, 2007 Sealaska releases new language tools Interactive Web program helps teach Tlingit skills ERIC MORRISON JUNEAU EMPIRE Seventy-year-old Tlingit teacher Ruth Demmert has seen firsthand how the Internet and computer technology can inspire the younger generation of Alaska Natives to embrace its culture. "I believe it sparks the interest of the younger people, and I know there's a lot more younger people out there showing pride in the language," she said. Sealaska Heritage Institute has posted two new interactive language tools on its Web site this week in its continued effort to teach the Tlingit language. To access full article, just follow the link below: http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/112207/loc_20071122001.shtml From phonosemantics at EARTHLINK.NET Fri Nov 23 18:38:06 2007 From: phonosemantics at EARTHLINK.NET (jess tauber) Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2007 13:38:06 -0500 Subject: Chile High School Students Preserves Patagonian Indigenous Langauges (fwd link) Message-ID: This story has been floating around various media outlets over the past several months. I wrote several times to one of his mentors (who works with Mapudungan/Mapuche) to find out more, but never heard back. I'm wondering whether he's for real or just basking in the attention. In the meantime a real linguistics student, Yoram Meroz, is heading for Tierra del Fuego to work with the last Yahgan speaker, Cristina Calderon, for two months. A hopeful sign of things to come? Jess Tauber phonosemantics at earthlink.net From andrekar at NCIDC.ORG Sat Nov 24 20:16:52 2007 From: andrekar at NCIDC.ORG (Andre Cramblit) Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007 12:16:52 -0800 Subject: My Bad March 17-19 2008 Message-ID: SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- Live Your Language Alliance (LYLA) Invites you to join us in our 1st Annual Native Languages Conference: Shut Up & Talk*: Gathering The Tools To Live Our Languages March 17-19, 2008 @ Humboldt State University-Arcata, CA More information, call to conference and call for presenters available online after 12/01/07 * This theme was chosen not to offend but rather as an attempt to challenge people to make a commitment to developing the skills, knowledge and resources needed to preserve the vitality of our Native languages and to speak them in our daily lives. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From andrekar at NCIDC.ORG Sat Nov 24 19:08:09 2007 From: andrekar at NCIDC.ORG (Andre Cramblit) Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007 11:08:09 -0800 Subject: Language is Life Conference Message-ID:  -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: humming bid copy 2.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 513812 bytes Desc: not available URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Sun Nov 25 00:29:53 2007 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (Mia Kalish) Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007 17:29:53 -0700 Subject: My Bad March 17-19 2008 In-Reply-To: <611FB9D6-887E-4409-9511-3AF283108D9C@ncidc.org> Message-ID: Hi, Andre, I like your title, and your graphic. Don't know where Sausalito is, but I would like to come. Also - this isn't quite about Ndn languages, but my friend Yolanda just did a study on why parents choose English Immersion for their Spanish-speaking children. The results aren't totally earth-shaking, but they are interesting and to the point. Would people be interested in what she has to say? She's Tejano. Her dad's part Yaqui. Let me know what you think. Best always, Mia _____ From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Andre Cramblit Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 1:17 PM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: [ILAT] My Bad March 17-19 2008 SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- Live Your Language Alliance (LYLA) Invites you to join us in our 1st Annual Native Languages Conference: Shut Up & Talk*: Gathering The Tools To Live Our Languages March 17-19, 2008 @ Humboldt State University-Arcata, CA More information, call to conference and call for presenters available online after 12/01/07 * This theme was chosen not to offend but rather as an attempt to challenge people to make a commitment to developing the skills, knowledge and resources needed to preserve the vitality of our Native languages and to speak them in our daily lives. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hardman at UFL.EDU Sun Nov 25 02:39:51 2007 From: hardman at UFL.EDU (MJ Hardman) Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007 21:39:51 -0500 Subject: My Bad March 17-19 2008 In-Reply-To: <001201c82efa$4c6be420$55c17b80@LFPMIA> Message-ID: Yes, please, do tell us. MJ On 11/24/07 7:29 PM, "Mia Kalish" wrote: > Hi, Andre, > > I like your title, and your graphic. Don¹t know where Sausalito is, but I > would like to come. > > Also ­ this isn¹t quite about Ndn languages, but my friend Yolanda just did a > study on why parents choose English Immersion for their Spanish-speaking > children. The results aren¹t totally earth-shaking, but they are interesting > and to the point. Would people be interested in what she has to say? She¹s > Tejano. Her dad¹s part Yaqui. > > Let me know what you think. > Best always, > Mia > > > > From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] > On Behalf Of Andre Cramblit > Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 1:17 PM > To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU > Subject: [ILAT] My Bad March 17-19 2008 > > > SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- > > Live Your Language Alliance (LYLA) > > Invites you to join us in our 1st Annual Native Languages Conference: > > Shut Up & Talk*: Gathering The Tools To Live Our Languages > > March 17-19, 2008 @ Humboldt State University-Arcata, CA > > More information, call to conference and call for presenters available online > after 12/01/07 > > * This theme was chosen not to offend but rather as an attempt to challenge > people to make a commitment to developing the skills, knowledge and resources > needed to preserve the vitality of our Native languages and to speak them in > our daily lives. > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dzo at BISHARAT.NET Sun Nov 25 03:59:30 2007 From: dzo at BISHARAT.NET (Don Osborn) Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007 22:59:30 -0500 Subject: My Bad March 17-19 2008 In-Reply-To: <001201c82efa$4c6be420$55c17b80@LFPMIA> Message-ID: Hi Mia, I'd be interested in your friend's study. I think that in many parts of the world, parents are eager to do what by their understanding will benefit their children. So you get parents not speaking their maternal language to their children (so many places), beating their kids when they speak other than English (Uganda), having their kids undergo tongue surgery to pronounce English better (Korea), etc. >From what I've heard and read, a lot of it comes from erroneous notions about language learning and linguistic ability. Commonly, that speaking 2 languages means you do each less well than if you spent all your time with one language. Not sure whether any of this has to do with any of your friend's study's findings. All the best. Don PS- just posted a few items to AfricanLanguages, of which the excerpt of a talk by Philip Emeagwali in which he mentions his educational experience wrt language as a child in Nigeria might be of interest. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AfricanLanguages/ From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Mia Kalish Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 7:30 PM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: Re: [ILAT] My Bad March 17-19 2008 Hi, Andre, I like your title, and your graphic. Don't know where Sausalito is, but I would like to come. Also - this isn't quite about Ndn languages, but my friend Yolanda just did a study on why parents choose English Immersion for their Spanish-speaking children. The results aren't totally earth-shaking, but they are interesting and to the point. Would people be interested in what she has to say? She's Tejano. Her dad's part Yaqui. Let me know what you think. Best always, Mia _____ From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Andre Cramblit Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 1:17 PM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: [ILAT] My Bad March 17-19 2008 SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- Live Your Language Alliance (LYLA) Invites you to join us in our 1st Annual Native Languages Conference: Shut Up & Talk*: Gathering The Tools To Live Our Languages March 17-19, 2008 @ Humboldt State University-Arcata, CA More information, call to conference and call for presenters available online after 12/01/07 * This theme was chosen not to offend but rather as an attempt to challenge people to make a commitment to developing the skills, knowledge and resources needed to preserve the vitality of our Native languages and to speak them in our daily lives. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ighernandez at UCDAVIS.EDU Sun Nov 25 07:12:21 2007 From: ighernandez at UCDAVIS.EDU (Ines Hernandez-Avila) Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007 23:12:21 -0800 Subject: April 08/U of Georgia/Native American/Indigenous Studies conference Message-ID: Hello everyone, Hopefully you've seen this call, but if not, I wanted to share it with you. This conference attracted almost 400 people last year (held at U of Oklahoma), 257 presenters. It was wonderful, and greatly representative of the interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary work that is being done in Native American and Indigenous Studies and related disciplines. Please consider attending and/or especially presenting--the website for the CFP is below: http://www.instituteofnativeamericanstudies.com/ Deadline for submissions is Dec. 1, 2007, coming up soon! best wishes to all, Ines Hernandez-Avila From enviro.design at YAHOO.COM Sun Nov 25 15:55:36 2007 From: enviro.design at YAHOO.COM (Sandra Gaskell) Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2007 07:55:36 -0800 Subject: Language is Life Conference In-Reply-To: <8C42DA03-CCF0-469D-9C61-B173A47C30D6@ncidc.org> Message-ID: Here is a word document---couldn't see the other one-- Sandy (Southern Sierra Miwuk Archives) Andre Cramblit wrote:  Sandra Gaskell, RPA, MS, MA Registered Professional Archaeologist ARC Archaeology Resources & Culture MS-SLP Candidate Speech-Language Therapist Glazing Contractor CA C17-862592 since 1986 4986 7th Street @ Bullion P. O. Box 1881, Mariposa CA 95338 (209) 614-2505 enviro.design at yahoo.com arcresours at gmail.com www.enviro-design.org www.arcresours.com --------------------------------- Get easy, one-click access to your favorites. Make Yahoo! your homepage. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Language is life.doc Type: application/msword Size: 1263104 bytes Desc: 467889570-Language is life.doc URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sun Nov 25 18:13:50 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2007 11:13:50 -0700 Subject: Last of the Siletz speakers (fwd link) Message-ID: Last of the Siletz speakers As native languages of the Northwest fade into extinction, tribal member Bud Lane is racing to keep Oregon Coastal Athabaskan alive -- one ancient whispered word at a time Sunday, November 25, 2007 NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES The Oregonian Staff "Chabayu." Bud Lane presses his lips against the tiny ear of his blue-eyed grandbaby and whispers her Native name. "Ghaa\UNSTRIP-yalh," he beckons -- "come here" -- in words so old, ears heard them millennia before anyone with blue eyes walked this land. In his voice, the Siletz man hopes to teach her a tongue almost no one else understands. As the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians celebrate 30 years since they won back tribal status from the federal government, the language of their people is dying. By some standards, Oregon Coastal Athabaskan is already dead. Just four others in the world speak it fluently. At 50, Lane is among the youngest. To access full article, follow the link below: http://www.oregonlive.com/living/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/living/1195682157265430.xml&coll=7 From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Sun Nov 25 20:03:57 2007 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (Mia Kalish) Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2007 13:03:57 -0700 Subject: My Bad March 17-19 2008 In-Reply-To: <00d001c82f17$95086dd0$bf194970$@net> Message-ID: Dear MJ, Don & Everyone else Yolanda is still working on finishing, but I can probably share the general directions. . . more when she has finalized. Two things of significance seem to be emerging. The first is pretty much a no-brainer: The immigrant Mexican parents don't want their children to be like them (although we don't have details on precisely what that means), and they think that if the children speak English, they won't be perceived as [whatever the parents are]. This isn't really earth shaking: My father had this in mind when he wanted me to forego the Eastern European and Gaelic languages of my ancestors and forebears, and speak only English. To his 6th grade educated mind, this was the way to "be American" and that was important enough to him to withstand that fact that his 4 year old daughter (me) refused to talk to him for months. The 2nd emergent theme is much more interesting. The parents see educacion as manners, deportment, values, and carriage or bearing. They do not distinguish an academic education related to disciplinary content. To them, what their children are learning seems to be undifferentiated. All they see is that the children have all these opportunities to learn English. So my friend originally thought that the reason parents were moving their children to English immersion, where overall they seem to be doing less well, because of the information they were getting from their social groups and connections. It is seeming to turn out to be an issue of information, but instead one related to what an academic education is as opposed to their cultural understanding of educacion. Is this an interesting treat or what? Tell me your thoughts. We haven't had a really good discussion in a while. In anticipation, Mia _____ From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Don Osborn Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 9:00 PM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: Re: [ILAT] My Bad March 17-19 2008 Hi Mia, I'd be interested in your friend's study. I think that in many parts of the world, parents are eager to do what by their understanding will benefit their children. So you get parents not speaking their maternal language to their children (so many places), beating their kids when they speak other than English (Uganda), having their kids undergo tongue surgery to pronounce English better (Korea), etc. >From what I've heard and read, a lot of it comes from erroneous notions about language learning and linguistic ability. Commonly, that speaking 2 languages means you do each less well than if you spent all your time with one language. Not sure whether any of this has to do with any of your friend's study's findings. All the best. Don PS- just posted a few items to AfricanLanguages, of which the excerpt of a talk by Philip Emeagwali in which he mentions his educational experience wrt language as a child in Nigeria might be of interest. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AfricanLanguages/ From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Mia Kalish Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 7:30 PM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: Re: [ILAT] My Bad March 17-19 2008 Hi, Andre, I like your title, and your graphic. Don't know where Sausalito is, but I would like to come. Also - this isn't quite about Ndn languages, but my friend Yolanda just did a study on why parents choose English Immersion for their Spanish-speaking children. The results aren't totally earth-shaking, but they are interesting and to the point. Would people be interested in what she has to say? She's Tejano. Her dad's part Yaqui. Let me know what you think. Best always, Mia _____ From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Andre Cramblit Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 1:17 PM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: [ILAT] My Bad March 17-19 2008 SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- Live Your Language Alliance (LYLA) Invites you to join us in our 1st Annual Native Languages Conference: Shut Up & Talk*: Gathering The Tools To Live Our Languages March 17-19, 2008 @ Humboldt State University-Arcata, CA More information, call to conference and call for presenters available online after 12/01/07 * This theme was chosen not to offend but rather as an attempt to challenge people to make a commitment to developing the skills, knowledge and resources needed to preserve the vitality of our Native languages and to speak them in our daily lives. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Nov 26 16:52:44 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2007 09:52:44 -0700 Subject: Tribal language fading away (fwd link) Message-ID: Tribal language fading away By SE RUCKMAN, World Staff Writer 11/26/2007 Last Modified: 11/26/2007 9:17 AM ANADARKO -- Oklahoma had been a state for only two decades when Doris Jean Lamar was born in 1927. Her first spoken words were not English, but an American Indian language taught to her by grandparents. Today, Lamar is the last fluent speaker in the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, a tribe of 2,300. Sitting in a tribal canteen that she supervises, the 80-year-old Lamar carries a language that once was spoken by thousands, then hundreds of Wichita language speakers. To access full article, follow the link below: http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=071126_1_A1_ahref16518 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Nov 26 17:05:29 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2007 10:05:29 -0700 Subject: Kelso students learn Wiradjuri language (fwd link) Message-ID: Australia Western Advocate 26 November 2007 - 5:14PM Kelso students learn Wiradjuri language STUDENTS are learning the Wiradjuri language as part of Kelso Public School’s indigenous heritage program. Teacher Cassandra Hayes said the program had been operating for almost two years. “Aboriginal children from stage two and three meet every Wednesday to participate in cultural activities, learning the Wiradjuri language and literacy skills,” Ms Hayes said. To access full article, follow the link below: http://bathurst.yourguide.com.au/news/local/general/kelso-students-learn-wiradjuri-language/1093100.html From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Nov 27 05:48:42 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2007 22:48:42 -0700 Subject: At a Loss for Words (fwd link) Message-ID: At a Loss for Words Scientists Scramble to Keep Endangered Languages From Becoming Extinct Monday, November 26, 2007; Page C11 Everybody knows about endangered species such as sea turtles and humpback whales. But have you ever heard of the endangered Yawuru or the nearly extinct Magati Ke? They are two of the world's many endangered languages -- species of speech on the verge of extinction. In much the same way that thousands of endangered plants and animals are struggling to survive in a changing environment, some languages are at risk of being lost forever because the people who speak them are dwindling in number and young people are not learning them anymore. To access full article, just follow the link below: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/25/AR2007112501329.html From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Nov 27 18:35:51 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2007 11:35:51 -0700 Subject: Digital Teacher Workshops for Teachers of Native American (fwd link) Message-ID: The U.S. Department of Education's Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative, in collaboration with Office of Indian Education, is proud to announce the launch of the Digital Teacher Workshops for Teachers of Native American students. The workshops are designed to provide professional development opportunities for teachers of American Indians and Alaska Natives in all grade levels and content areas. The workshops support mastery of academic content and application by modeling strong teaching methods that have been successful in the classroom and providing a classroom application component, and additional resources. These workshops are available FREE on the Internet at www.t2tweb.us/nativeamerican. Our first workshops focus on literature, community outreach, and reading. From CRANEM at ECU.EDU Tue Nov 27 19:48:28 2007 From: CRANEM at ECU.EDU (Bizzaro, Resa Crane) Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:48:28 -0500 Subject: 2008 CCCC Tribal College Fellowship In-Reply-To: A<20071116092043.0ahmnuocc4kgooc0@www.email.arizona.edu> Message-ID: Hi, everyone. The deadline for the CCCC Tribal College Fellowship has been extended in order to allow more people to apply. If you or someone you know would like to apply, please see the announcement information below. The new deadline is January 15, 2008. Resa Here's the announcement: CCCC Tribal College Faculty Fellowship: Offers financial aid to selected faculty members currently working at tribally controlled colleges to attend the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) April 2-5 in New Orleans. We are offering two Tribal College Faculty Fellowships in the amount of $750 each. Featuring over 500 sessions focusing on teaching practices, writing and literacy programs, language research, history, theory, information technologies, and professional and technical communication, the annual CCCC meeting provides a forum for thinking, learning, networking, and presenting research on the teaching and learning of writing. With this Fellowship, CCCC hopes to create new opportunities for Tribal College Faculty members to become involved in CCCC and for CCCC to carry out its mission of serving as a truly representative national advocate for language and literacy education. How to Apply By November 15, 2007, please submit an application letter (on institutional letterhead) describing: Who you are as a teacher and what you teach at your tribal college. What your research interests are. What you hope to gain from the experience of attending CCCC (how it could help you in your teaching or research). Send your application letter via email to cccc at ncte.org or via snail mail to CCCC Administrative Liaison, NCTE, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801. Selection Criteria A selection committee will review applications for the Tribal College Faculty Fellowship. Fellowship awards will be based on overall quality of the application letter. You do not need to present at CCCC in order to qualify for this award. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Nov 29 02:02:56 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2007 19:02:56 -0700 Subject: Military device holds key to saving Oneida language (fwd link) Message-ID: Military device holds key to saving Oneida language Wed, November 28, 2007 By JENNIFER O'BRIEN, SUN MEDIA The problem is, Oneida children don't speak Oneida -- haven't for three generations -- say leaders from the area First Nation. But suddenly, thanks to a military tool, the Oneida of the Thames community has found a way to tap into a solution for its dying language. One that was there all along. Some of the 2,000-strong community's eldest -- only 90 still speak fluent Oneida -- spent yesterday recording phrases in their native language onto machines called Phraselators. To access full article, just follow the link below: http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/CityandRegion/2007/11/28/4691056-sun.html From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 30 18:36:11 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:36:11 -0700 Subject: About 2,000 rare languages may disappear on Earth in 100 years (fwd link) Message-ID: About 2,000 rare languages may disappear on Earth in 100 years 29.11.20007 Source: Pravda.Ru A language dies on planet Earth every two weeks. This data was published by David Harrison, a linguist and deputy director of Living Tongues Institute, USA. There are about 7,000 languages existing in the world today. Eighty percent of people living in the world today speak the widely-spread 83 languages, and only 0,2 percent interact in rare 3,500 languages. To access full article, just follow the link below: http://newsfromrussia.com/science/earth/29-11-2007/101929-language-0 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 30 22:35:22 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:35:22 -0700 Subject: New Marantz PMD620 Message-ID: Friday greetings, For all the field audio buffs, you will want to keep an eye out for the new Marantz digital recorder. B&H is selling this for 399. There a number of announcements out there of below of which is but one example. Marantz PMD620 http://www.bradlinder.net/2007/10/more-marantz-pmd620-details-emerge.html l8ter, Phil UofA From hsouter at GMAIL.COM Thu Nov 1 13:53:42 2007 From: hsouter at GMAIL.COM (Heather Souter) Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 08:53:42 -0500 Subject: Cost Performance of Video Equipment for Language Documentation Message-ID: Taanshi, all! I have a small grant to do some language documentation in my community using video as the medium. I am looking to purchase a video camera that has excellent sound recording (16 bit recording, external mic jack, etc, etc.) and is easy to use and download to computer. (I use as Mac G3.) I am committed to both creating a video record/documentary in Michif for my community and also doing some linguistic annotation as well. My budget is small and I need to honor Elders with gifts for their work in the video, so cost performance of the equipment is paramount. (Less money spent on equipment, more for the Elders. However, we all want excellent quality recordings for pedagogical and research purposes!) What would you suggest in terms of equipment and also software (iMovie for the documentary, ???? to spit off the sound, etc.)? Kihchi-maarsi por to-nadinaan! Eekushi pitamaa. Heather Souter Community-based Michif Language Video Documentation Project From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Thu Nov 1 14:34:22 2007 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (Mia Kalish) Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 08:34:22 -0600 Subject: Cost Performance of Video Equipment for Language Documentation In-Reply-To: <6d8c8c410711010653i2620952ld747a461ea8f1ae0@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Heather, Laptop magazine does some excellent reviews of digital cameras in all price ranges and with all capabilities. Also, prices and capabilities keep changing, so you might want to look for some current reviews. The reviewers have generally been doing this for quite a while, so their comments give you a good idea of the types of considerations that are available. Mia -----Original Message----- From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Heather Souter Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2007 7:54 AM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: [ILAT] Cost Performance of Video Equipment for Language Documentation Taanshi, all! I have a small grant to do some language documentation in my community using video as the medium. I am looking to purchase a video camera that has excellent sound recording (16 bit recording, external mic jack, etc, etc.) and is easy to use and download to computer. (I use as Mac G3.) I am committed to both creating a video record/documentary in Michif for my community and also doing some linguistic annotation as well. My budget is small and I need to honor Elders with gifts for their work in the video, so cost performance of the equipment is paramount. (Less money spent on equipment, more for the Elders. However, we all want excellent quality recordings for pedagogical and research purposes!) What would you suggest in terms of equipment and also software (iMovie for the documentary, ???? to spit off the sound, etc.)? Kihchi-maarsi por to-nadinaan! Eekushi pitamaa. Heather Souter Community-based Michif Language Video Documentation Project From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Thu Nov 1 15:06:49 2007 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (Mia Kalish) Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 09:06:49 -0600 Subject: legacy materials In-Reply-To: <7f53d06c0710311456n71166eb8o107d8891e120df36@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Did you really say that, Claire???!!! When the funding that is available is only for documentation, and when funding is Not available for revitalization, for materials development, and when there is no recognition of the need to engage communities in developing their own language learning materials, then there is no chance for Revitalization, which is how we bring languages ?that have already ceased to be used as everyday vehicles of communication in their communities.? When Israel was re-establishing itself as a thriving nation, it did 2 things to revitalize language. First, it created a dictionary of contemporary words for contemporary things. Then, it imposed and enforced a restriction that all business done in Israel be done in Hebrew. In less than 50 years, a language that was previously only used contemporaneously by the Orthodox has become a fully living language. Maybe I?m implying that linguists have more power than they do, but there don?t seem to be many who are engaging the NSF ? the primary source of funding for language document ? in any discussions about Revitalization. In some research I did for a course several years ago, analysis of NSF l noted that better than 99% of the millions of dollars for language and linguistic research went to non-Indigenous scholars, lots of whom were doing field work for their doctorates . . . and none of the millions and millions went for Revitalization. Is this kind of gatekeeping not having power? Is this kind of gatekeeping not the kind that underscores the attitude that has prevailed in this country for so long, that American languages are unsophisticated and not worth saving. On a side note: Here at Din? College I am instituting a project using iPods ? but maybe not podcasting ? for the teaching and learning of language and culture. ALL the materials ? instructions for creating iPod materials as well as the materials themselves ? are in Din? Bizaad. No English is allowed, and people who are not fluent in Din? Bizaad don?t have access to the project. It?s very cool. It truly elevates the status of the local language. :-) Mia _____ From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Claire Bowern Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 3:57 PM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: Re: [ILAT] legacy materials We also snap-shot them as anthropological artifacts, ensuring that they do not change as they would if they were alive. Mia, I think this implies that linguists have much more power than they really do in communities. In my experience, the languages that die after they've been documented are the ones that have already ceased to be used as everyday vehicles of communication in their communities. That's a community decision (beit usually an unconscious one) and there's nothing much that a transient outsider visitor can do about it. Claire -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Thu Nov 1 15:15:11 2007 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (Mia Kalish) Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 09:15:11 -0600 Subject: Info for Revitalizationists In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Absolutely agree, Richard, with everything you said . . . . I have seen *u*n*b*e*l*i*e*v*a*b*l*e* techniques being used in schools to teach languages to children: Pictures with single words, and the words dropped into the middle of English sentences. . . videos about culture with no ensuing discussion . . . pictures posted on walls with the Native word underneath - but where the main event was coloring the graphic by the children. . . . Although, someone noted recently that many, many people blessed with the opportunity to teach others have never received any instruction in nor had the opportunity to engage in any research or deep thought about the psychology or neuroscience of learning. . . . Mia _____ From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Richard Smith Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 12:53 PM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: Re: [ILAT] Info for Revitalizationists this is interesting Mia, it's no wonder that little ones learn so much easier ...watching, when i'm moving all around the room and acting out the lessons. Music can play another part as an aide to learning. Which of us didn't learn our alphabet by singing it? "-L -a minnow -P-" I admit it i have no training or fancy theories - i teach the way i learn best, and singing sentences helps anchor them into my mind...even the morphology. and somehow helps in the actual retrieval from my messy memory "files/piles". Useable Memory seems to require a useful retrieval system, and this is what i look for in teaching Wyandot language to kiddos here. A Cayuga elder and teacher once warned me that "summer vacation" was the worst problem for kids learning a new language at school. that scared me a little.... But I find if i express my fears openly to the class: "I had a nightmare! OH! It was terrible! (now i have their attention) I dreamed you guys forgot everything i taught you! it was terrible..." and then I take out my waterdrum and start with one of their old songs ahhhh! it starts coming back...they remember!...and they also love to please! A complicated Navajo tongue twister is easier for me to remember/retrieve than a colorless set of numbers or someone's non descriptive name all of which seem to be tossed in the non-retrievable pile. It seems important to me to think like a child to teach a child (uhhh...not too hard for me) We are not only teaching children NEW material, but we must help them attach the best "strings" for retrieval. Richard Zane Smith Wyandotte Oklahoma On 10/31/07 8:50 AM, "Mia Kalish" wrote: Hi, Folks, This article came in today, serendipity being what it is. It strongly implies that if we want to be successful in our efforts to save and teach languages, we need to have the sound occurring simultaneously with the graphical information. I use both images and text, but some people separately present images and text. What this article is saying is that simultaneous presentation of sound will produce a better result :-) Mia _____ From: MindBrain at yahoogroups.com [mailto:MindBrain at yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Robert Karl Stonjek Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 8:57 PM To: Mind and Brain; Cognitive NeuroScience Subject: [Mind and Brain] Article: Sight, Sound Processed Together and Earlier than Previously Thought Sight, Sound Processed Together and Earlier than Previously Thought The area of the brain that processes sounds entering the ears also appears to process stimulus entering the eyes, providing a novel explanation for why many viewers believe that ventriloquists have thrown their voices to the mouths of their dummies. More generally, these findings from Duke University Medical Center offer new insights into how the brain takes in and assembles a multitude of stimuli from the outside world. By studying monkeys, the researchers found that auditory and visual information is processed together before the combined signals make it to the brain's cortex, the analytical portion of the brain that assembles the stimuli from all the senses into coherent thoughts. "The prevailing wisdom among brain scientists has been that each of the five senses - sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste - is governed by its own corresponding region of the brain," said Jennifer Groh, Ph.D., a neurobiologist in Duke's Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. "The view has been that each of these areas processes the information separately and sends that information to the cortex, which puts it all together at the end. "Now, we are beginning to appreciate that it's not that simple," Groh continued. "Our results show that there are interactions between the sensory pathways that occur very early in the process, which implies that the integration of the different senses may be a more primitive process and one not requiring high-level brain functioning." The results of Groh's experiments were published early online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Groh has a particular interest in a tiny round structure in the brain known as the inferior colliculus. This structure, less than a half-inch in diameter, is located in the most primitive area of the brain. It is one of several early stops in the brain for signals leaving the ear, headed for the cortex. "In our experiments, we found that this structure, which had been assumed to mainly process auditory information, actually responds to visual information as well," Groh explained. "In fact, about 64 percent of the neurons in the inferior colliculus can carry visual as well as auditory signals. This means that visual and auditory information gets combined quite early, and before the 'thinking part' of the brain can make sense of it." That is why ventriloquism seems to work, she said. The association between the voice and the moving mouth of the dummy is made before the viewer consciously thinks about it. The same process may also explain why the words being spoken by a talking head on television appear to be coming out of the mouth, even though the television speakers are located to the side of the set. "The eyes see the lips moving and the ears hear the sound and the brain immediately jumps to the conclusion about the origin of the voice," Groh said. Groh said that it makes logical sense for hearing and vision to have some level of integration in the monkeys she studied, and in humans. "We generally live in similar ecological niches; we are active during the day and tend to communicate vocally," she said. "The inferior colliculus is similar in both species, and with the advent of new imaging technology, like functional MRI, which can visualize brain regions in real time. We should be able to correlate what we're seeing in animal models with what happens in humans." Groh and her team are now conducting experiments to determine whether or not one of the senses influences how the other is perceived. Source: Duke University http://www.physorg.com/news112982731.html Posted by Robert Karl Stonjek __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Links | Database | Members Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity * 3 New Members Visit Your Group Yahoo! News Get it all here Breaking news to entertainment news Yahoo! Groups Moderator Central get help and provide feedback on Groups. Fitness Zone on Yahoo! Groups Find Groups all about healthy living. . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tmp at NUNASOFT.COM Thu Nov 1 22:21:43 2007 From: tmp at NUNASOFT.COM (Eric Poncet [NunaSoft]) Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 18:21:43 -0400 Subject: Cost Performance of Video Equipment for Language Documentation In-Reply-To: <6d8c8c410711010653i2620952ld747a461ea8f1ae0@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Heather, I've used our Sony HDR-SR8 for language documentation in Canada. It has all features you need, even more. Thing is, it can do Hi Definition video as well, so it's a bit expensive (in the 1600 CAN$). But Sony has lots of other models. However, I remember the survey I did before I bought our Sony, and low-cost video recorders did not have external mic plug. You may consider buying a hard-drive recorder versus tape-recorder : tapes have to be read back by the recorder for transfer to the computer, so a 30 minute-tape take 30 minutes to transfer! whereas hard-drive transfer over USB (or firewire), as quick as your USB port can go. Typically, it's 5 to 10 times quicker, and there's an infinitely lower rate of errors during transfer, compared to tapes... Everyone in the World of Language Documentation has their opinion: phonologists will tell you you need top-notch audio quality in order to not lose more than 0.01% of phonetic info (just an example), so they'll go for high quality mike and recorder; experts in other fields will tell you they only need to record "as much info as possible", with no time and/or money to go in depth... they're all right! I feel by experience it's better to spend less money on technological resources and more on human ones... The fact that there's a background noise or that the picture has imperfections definitely weighs far less than the emotion people will feel when they see themselves on the video, and when they feel they've contributed to documenting the language. Cheers, Eric Poncet www.nunasoft.ca Montreal Canada Heather Souter a ?crit : > Taanshi, all! > > I have a small grant to do some language documentation in my community > using video as the medium. I am looking to purchase a video camera > that has excellent sound recording (16 bit recording, external mic > jack, etc, etc.) and is easy to use and download to computer. (I use > as Mac G3.) I am committed to both creating a video > record/documentary in Michif for my community and also doing some > linguistic annotation as well. My budget is small and I need to honor > Elders with gifts for their work in the video, so cost performance of > the equipment is paramount. (Less money spent on equipment, more for > the Elders. However, we all want excellent quality recordings for > pedagogical and research purposes!) > > What would you suggest in terms of equipment and also software (iMovie > for the documentary, ???? to spit off the sound, etc.)? > > Kihchi-maarsi por to-nadinaan! > > Eekushi pitamaa. > Heather Souter > Community-based Michif Language Video Documentation Project > From hal1403 at YAHOO.COM Fri Nov 2 01:34:01 2007 From: hal1403 at YAHOO.COM (Haley De Korne) Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 18:34:01 -0700 Subject: Native linguists In-Reply-To: <39a679e20710300847y7b1443f7xa06881eda4cfaaac@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Hello, From Michigan: Kenny Neganigwanwe Pheasant (originally from Wikwemikong First Nation) is an amazing resource for Northern Michigan Anishinaabe language learners. He's created a website www.anishinaabemdaa.com, several cdroms, runs a summer language camp, and drives great distances teaching in his own interactive style. Helen Roy, also originally from Wikwemikong, teaches 'Ojibwe'/ Anishinaabemowin at Michigan State University, participates in countless other language events, and has created several music CDs of popular songs sung in Anishinaabemowin with her group 'Diiva miinwa Davis'. To name a few... This could be a long list!!! Regards, Haley De Korne Susan Penfield wrote: Thanks for this, David.. Phil and I have had this discussion often and the term "community intellectuals' sometimes surfaces -- While I realize your list will focus on currently practicing folks, I would like to acknowledge someone who passed away a few years ago but whose knowledge and contribution still are valuable to the Mohave language community: Leona Little. Leona was an elder I worked with for some time and was the first - perhaps only- person to develop full literacy in Mohave and began, of her own intiative, to do full translations and transcriptions of traditional stories. There are others currently working in this direction and following her example (including two of her daughters who are just recently getting really interested in working with their heritage language). Please add Amelia Flores (Mohave, enrolled at Colorado River Indian Tribes where she is the tribal librarian and archivist)to your list. Amelia is finishing her MA in Native American languages at the U of Arizona and is developing a community-friendly grammar of Mohave as part of her work. As well, she is teaching classes in Mohave and developing a carefully staged curriculum for the language. Seems like she might bridge the criteria for both lists! Best, Susan On 10/30/07, David Lewis wrote: I feel that the current structure of the native linguist lists ignores the incredible contribution of natives without advanced degrees. In native society, within the Native worldview these are for many the true linguists and those who carry power within their society. I understand the concept of the list but if this is about native people how is it possible to ignore the native worldview. If this list will not create that parallel with the higher degree holders, then I will create that list. Please send me your lists of native people who are linguists within their communities, they do not have to hold a degree from a university but must be working with the linguistic field, and considered a leader. Please also send me more information about them, what languages the work on and where they work, what tribe they are a member of, etc. Thank you, David G. Lewis Manager, Cultural Resources Department Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Office 503.879.1634 David.Lewis at grandronde.org -----Original Message----- From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of William J Poser Sent: Saturday, October 27, 2007 12:10 PM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: Re: [ILAT] Native linguists >I just came across another native linguist! > >Dale Old Horn (Crow) >1974. Some Complement Constructions of the Crow Indian Language >M.S. Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Got him. My current list is at: http://ydli.org/NativeLinguists.html Anyone with additional information (including gaps in the info on people already on the list) please let me know. Bill -- ____________________________________________________________ Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D. Associate Director, Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language and Literacy (CERCLL) Department of English (Primary) American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI) Second Language Acquisition & Teaching Ph.D. Program (SLAT) Department of Language,Reading and Culture Department of Linguistics The Southwest Center (Research) Phone for messages: (520) 621-1836 "Every language is an old-growth forest of the mind, a watershed of thought, an ecosystem of spiritual possibilities." Wade Davis...(on a Starbucks cup...) "Language is not merely a body of vocabulary or a set of grammatical rules. It is a flash of the human spirit, the means by which the soul of each particular culture reaches into the material world. Every language is an old-growth forest of the mind, a watershed of thought, an entire ecosystem of spiritual possibilities." Wade Davis __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From aidan at USYD.EDU.AU Fri Nov 2 14:29:47 2007 From: aidan at USYD.EDU.AU (Aidan Wilson) Date: Sat, 3 Nov 2007 01:29:47 +1100 Subject: Yolngu video In-Reply-To: <7f53d06c0710301754i632f7a78x844372b800c3f3b4@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Check it out: ABC news have taken up this story, as it appears that the Yolngu Zorba dancers have been getting international attention. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/02/2080356.htm *Elcho Island dancers take 'Yolngu Zorba' to the world* By Anne Barker A group of traditional dancers from Arnhem Land has become a sudden smash hit on the internet, with their unique interpretation of Zorba the Greek. The 10 Yolngu dancers on Elcho Island have decided that dancing is the ideal antidote to unemployment. Their Zorba dance has gone around the world, and even been screened in a public square in Greece. The offers are now coming in for the group to perform at music festivals. They are called the Chooky Dancers, a group of young men and boys from Elcho Island, and their interpretation of the Greek Zorba is taking the internet world by storm. At the recent Ramingining Festival in Arnhem Land, there was not a Greek tunic in sight. Instead the dancers were like black stick figures, dressed only in loincloths and ceremonial paint. But their performance was captivating and very funny. Frank Djirrimbilpilwuy's son Lionel, who is 19, is the lead dancer who came up with the idea of fusing modern Yolngu dance with the Greek Zorba. "The crowd just loved it, you know. If it's three o'clock in the morning, if it's two o'clock in the morning, the crowd just loved them," he said. "They just pick up whatever style or tune they like to pick, you know, as long as it's a fast moving type, up-tempo music style with a lot of rhythm. "They do it at home, just to keep themselves busy and fit, and main thing is to keep themselves away from boredom." *International audience* This recording of the dance was uploaded to the YouTube website a few days ago. Already, it has had 40,000 hits. It has even made its way to the island of Kastelorizo in Greece, where a cafe owner screened it in the local square. "They said that they got it off the YouTube and put it on their town square," Mr Djirrimbilpilwuy said. "They have a big screen where hundreds of people go through the, past the street every day and they had a look at it and the crowd just loved it." But the Chooky Dancers are about more than just fun. Mr Djirrimbilpilwuy says the 10 young men are important role models for other youngsters facing a life of unemployment, drugs or ill health. "The statistics in Aboriginal communities is appalling, and we're trying to upgrade or we're trying educate people to promote healthy living in the community," he said. Now on the strength of the YouTube performance, the Elcho Islanders have been invited to dance at a festival in Canberra in February. Lilian Gomatos, organiser of Darwin's own Greek festival, Glenti, is determined to have them perform there next year. "The idea of Glenti is to bring out Greek culture to the wider community, and it is wonderful to incorporate the Aboriginal culture or any other culture into our Glent," she said. Claire Bowern wrote: > It's ironic - I can't get Yolngu radio here either! The station > broadcasts at Ramingining, just across the river, so if I sit at the > barge ramp with the wind in the right direction I can sometimes hear > it, but not usually, and not from my house. This is the sort of thing > that I was really hoping the 'intervention' would change (like > repeater stations for community radio), but instead it's been an > exercise in destroying trust and attempted assimilation. > Claire > > > > On 31/10/2007, *phil cash cash* > wrote: > > Deadly...while viewing this, I also noticed "Yolngu Radio" in the > listing and that too is pretty cool...most all in the aboriginal > language. > > Phil > > > Quoting Claire Bowern >: > > > Hi everyone, > > My adopted family here at Milingimbi recently put a fusion > Greek/Yolngu (NE > > Arnhem Land, Australia) video on YouTube. > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-MucVWo-Pw I haven't seen it > because YouTube > > is blocked by the Milingimbi School (where I have email access) > but I'm told > > it's quite something! > > Enjoy! > > Claire > > (ps we're making videos here to put up on Youtube too of more > traditional > > Yolngu dancing.) > > > > From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 2 17:30:53 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2007 10:30:53 -0700 Subject: Indigenous TV launch leaves some communities without a voice (fwd) Message-ID: Indigenous TV launch leaves some communities without a voice Posted Thu Nov 1, 2007 4:06pm AEDT http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/01/2079094.htm?section=entertainment Australia's first 24 hour Indigenous television channel has been beamed to millions of homes for the first time today. The station is running Indigenous programming - including sports, children's shows and documentaries - on a seven hour loop. National Indigenous Television (NITV) replaced a community television broadcast on Imparja's narrowcast service in July, but today launched on two pay TV networks. "More people than ever before will now be able to see the world through different eyes," said NITV's Pat Turner. But not everyone's happy with what's been on the black box. Aboriginal communities that were previously able to watch their home-made programs in language say the content is too mainstream and too sad. Bess Nungarrayi Price from the Indigenous Remote Communication Association says people in Central Australian communities miss seeing their own content on television. "I've heard people out in the bush communities saying that it's more or less like the mainstream stuff that we've already been seeing that doesn't make any sense to us and it's all in English which a lot of people out there wouldn't really understand." "I guess that's why they're just disappointed because it's not really what they want to see." Ms Turner says it's up to communities to produce new material for the network or work with NITV to develop new programs. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 2 17:35:29 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2007 10:35:29 -0700 Subject: 2008 - INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF LANGUAGES (fwd) Message-ID: 2008 - INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF LANGUAGES http://www.unesco.ru/eng/articles/2004/Valya02112007175015.php The year 2008 has been proclaimed International Year of Languages by the United Nations General Assembly. UNESCO, which has been entrusted with the task of coordinating activities for the Year, is determined to fulfil its role as lead agency. The Organization is fully aware of the crucial importance of languages when seen against the many challenges that humanity will have to face over the next few decades. Languages are indeed essential to the identity of groups and individuals and to their peaceful coexistence. They constitute a strategic factor of progress towards sustainable development and a harmonious relationship between the global and the local context. They are of utmost importance in achieving the six goals of education for all (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on which the United Nations agreed in 2000. As factors of social integration, languages effectively play a strategic role in the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger (MDG 1); as supports for literacy, learning and life skills, they are essential to achieving universal primary education (MDG 2); the combat against HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases (MDG 6) must be waged in the languages of the populations concerned if they are to be reached; and the safeguarding of local and indigenous knowledge and know-how with a view to ensuring environmental sustainability (MDG 7) is intrinsically linked to local and indigenous languages. Moreover, cultural diversity is closely linked to linguistic diversity, as indicated in the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity and its action plan (2001), the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005). However, within the space of a few generations, more than 50% of the 7,000 languages spoken in the world may disappear. Less than a quarter of those languages are currently used in schools and in cyberspace, and most are used only sporadically. Thousands of languages ? though mastered by those populations for whom it is the daily means of expression ? are absent from education systems, the media, publishing and the public domain in general. We must act now as a matter of urgency. How? By encouraging and developing language policies that enable each linguistic community to use its first language, or mother tongue, as widely and as often as possible, including in education, while also mastering a national or regional language and an international language. Also by encouraging speakers of a dominant language to master another national or regional language and one or two international languages. Only if multilingualism is fully accepted can all languages find their place in our globalized world. UNESCO therefore invites governments, United Nations organizations, civil society organizations, educational institutions, professional associations and all other stakeholders to increase their own activities to foster respect for, and the promotion and protection of all languages, particularly endangered languages, in all individual and collective contexts. Whether it be through initiatives in the fields of education, cyberspace or the literate environment; be it through projects to safeguard endangered languages or to promote languages as a tool for social integration; or to explore the relationship between languages and the economy, languages and indigenous knowledge or languages and creation, it is important that the idea that ?languages matter!? be promoted everywhere. The date of 21 February 2008, that of the ninth International Mother Language Day, will have a special significance and provide a particularly appropriate deadline for the introduction of initiatives to promote languages. Our common goal is to ensure that the importance of linguistic diversity and multilingualism in educational, administrative and legal systems, cultural expressions and the media, cyberspace and trade, is recognized at the national, regional and international levels. The International Year of Languages 2008 will provide a unique opportunity to make decisive progress towards achieving these goals. Ko?chiro Matsuura From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 2 18:00:51 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2007 11:00:51 -0700 Subject: Tongue Tied (fwd) Message-ID: Tongue Tied Some 200 Native American languages are dying out?and with them valuable history * By Robin T. Reid * Smithsonian.com, October 31, 2007 Like most people, Johnny Hill Jr. gets frustrated when he can't remember the correct word for something he sees or wants to express. But unlike most people, he can't get help. He is one of the last people on the planet who speak Chemehuevi, a Native American language that was once prevalent in the Southwest. "It hurts," the 53-year-old Arizonan says. "The language is gone." In that regard, Hill is not alone. The plight of Chemehuevi (chay-mah-WA-vy) is very similar to that of some 200 other Native American languages, according to Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages in Salem, Oregon. The organization's director, Gregory Anderson, estimated that almost none of those languages remain viable. Navajo and Cherokee are among the healthiest, so to speak; up to 20,000 people speak Cherokee, and he estimates that around 75,000 use Navajo. "Languages disappear when speakers abandon them," Anderson says. "When you have a situation where two or more languages are used in a community, and one is valued by the government or seen as the language of the educated, people are sensitive to this. It's usually a subconscious rejection by teenagers. Kids want to be cool; so if you have a way to remove something negative about yourself, it makes sense." Hear a Chemehuevi speaker say, "He is running." [audio inset] Hear a Chemehuevi speaker say, "The boy is running." [audio inset] Before Europeans settled in what is now the United States, Native Americans spoke as many as 500 different languages. Virtually none of them had a written component, which further imperiled their survival during colonization. "The idea was to get rid of the Indians and what made them Indian," Anderson says. "They were put into boarding schools right up until the 1960s. They'd beat up kids for speaking their languages, or wash their mouths out with soap. Hill recalls being teased for speaking another language?until his persecutors got tired of him beating them up. "I was raised by my grandmother, who never spoke English a day in her life," he says. "I eventually learned English. I think mostly in English, but I mix words up." To keep Chemehuevi alive, Hill often talks to himself. "All the elders are dying off," he says. "There may be about 30 true Chemehuevi left." More than words are lost when languages die. They carry valuable information about a population's history and living environment. "These people have been living and interacting within their ecosystems for millennia," Anderson says. "There is any number of things that people have been talking about for years that we're unaware of that could help society. For example, the Maya had an extremely sophisticated knowledge of astronomy, and most of it is lost." So how do you save a language? Hill tried the obvious route?teaching his stepson?without success. "I taught him a word a day, and he used to write them down," he says. "I don't know what happened to that." Anderson and the others at the institute perform linguistic triage with technology and psychology. First they determine why a community or group has abandoned a language in the first place. Then they work to elevate its status. "Talking dictionaries help, and we're trying to build talking encyclopedias," Anderson says. "People love to play with them, especially young people. We show them that the stuff their grandparents know isn't boring." The institute goes where their assistance is wanted, from Siberia to Africa to India. In doing so, they've identified 18 "hotspots"?homes to languages on their last gasps. Two of the top five are in the United States: the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest. These are places with high concentrations of Native American populations. "It's a rescue mission," Anderson says. "But we're trying. We're trying." Robin T. Reid, a freelance writer and editor in Baltimore, Maryland, last wrote for Smithsonian.com about fossils in Kenya. Find this article at: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/200711-tonguetied.html From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 2 18:04:23 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2007 11:04:23 -0700 Subject: How speech sounds convey meaning (fwd link) Message-ID: How speech sounds convey meaning By Brian M. Schleter Researchers have known for years that young children begin acquiring language-learning abilities from a very early age. The outstanding question has always been: How early? To access article, go the link below: http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/current/research/110107.html From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 2 18:21:57 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2007 11:21:57 -0700 Subject: Belize Kriol Council launches Kriol-Inglish dikshineri (fwd) Message-ID: Belize Kriol Council launches Kriol-Inglish dikshineri Friday, 02 November 2007 By William Ysaguirre - Freelance Writer http://www.reporter.bz/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=2341&Itemid=2 [photo inset - Sylvana Woods, Myrna Manzanares and Yvette Herrera proudly display their Kriol Dikshineri.] The Belize Kriol Project launched the new ?Kriol-Inglish dikshineri? at the House of Culture in Belize City on Wednesday, October 31. The first 1,000 copies of the first edition were printed by Print Belize through funding from the National Institute of Culture and History (NICH) and the Ministry of Education. In its 474 pages, the ?dikshineri? contains over 5,000 kriol words, their English equivalents and meanings, enhanced by the use of the word in a sentence, its etymology, the parts of speech and variants. The first section, some 360 pages, lists the words alphabetically according to their ?kriol? spelling, while the second section lists the English word alphabetically with their ?kriol? equivalents. National Kriol Council President Myrna Manzanares welcomed the dignitaries, students and the general public to Wednesday?s launch. The editor-in-chief for the ?dikshineri? project was Paul Crosbie of Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) International, who also had some anecdotes to share with the audience at the launching. The King and Queen of ?Kriol Kolcha?, Wilfred Peters and Leela Vernon entertained the audience with renditions of Belizean brukdown music, including Vernon?s hit called ?kolcha?. Vernon also presented specially sculpted bookends, ?A to Z?, to the Governor General Sir Colville Young, for his work in keeping the ?kriol? language alive. The Governor General did his doctoral thesis on the subject of the Belize ?kriol? language, as Minister of Education Francis Fonseca noted when he took the podium to add his thanks and acknowledgements to the National Kriol Council for their achievement. NICH director Yasser Musa also chimed in with a few choice words of praise for the National Kriol Project and the new ?dikshineri.? The Ministry of Education is making copies of the ?dikshineri? available free of cost to the school libraries of every primary, secondary, and tertiary ?level school in the country. The dikshineri retails for $30.00 but was available for the wholesale price of $25.00 per copy at the launching. If you can?t afford your own copy, simply go down to the local library, as every media house, cultural organization, the National Archives Department and the National Library Service were furnished with free copies. The Belize Kriol Project is where the writing arm of the National Kriol Council meets paper, and it has published some 15 books in the ?Kriol? language since it began in 1993, including a ?Kriol? grammar book and several translations of bible passages and hymns into ?Kriol?. The project has also maintained a presence in the local media with its weekly ?Weh Ah Gat Fi Seh? column in the Reporter, and online at www.kriol.org.bz With the publication of the new ?Kriol-Inglish dikshineri?, the Belize Kriol Council has saved the language from the fate of some 2,000 other languages spoken around the globe which are on the verge of extinction because they are not written languages. Those 2,000 other languages are dying because only the parents and the grandparents of those ethnic groups still speak their language or dialect; the younger generation understands the language but prefers to speak another more widely accepted and written language. Sylvana Woods and the National Kriol Council are to be congratulated for keeping the language alive as an intrinsic part of our Belizean culture. ?Nuff rispek?. Last Updated ( Friday, 02 November 2007 ) From jordanlachler at GMAIL.COM Sun Nov 4 02:53:13 2007 From: jordanlachler at GMAIL.COM (Jordan Lachler) Date: Sat, 3 Nov 2007 20:53:13 -0600 Subject: Alaska's high court rules on English-only law Message-ID: Alaska's high court rules on English-only law The Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska ? Alaska's highest court struck down a central provision of a state law requiring only English to be used for all government business. However, the Supreme Court in an 89-page decision Friday let much of the law stand. Attorney Doug Pope said the ruling means that his clients in Togiak can continue to conduct city council meetings largely in Yup'ik, the only language some of them speak. And while public records must be in English, versions in other languages also can be provided and maintained in the same government files. The English-only law was passed by voters through an initiative in 1998, but has never been in effect. Togiak, the North Slope Borough, the Alaska Civil Liberties Union and the Native American Rights Fund quickly challenged the new law, and won an injunction that had kept it in limbo until Friday's 4-1 decision. The dissenter, Chief Justice Alex Bryner, said the entire law should have been thrown out as violating the U.S. and Alaska constitutions. Instead, the majority focused on two sentences in a provision defining the scope of the law, the first of which reads: "The English language is the language to be used by all public agencies in all government functions and actions." The court found that to be unconstitutional because it violates federal and state rights of free speech. But a second sentence, "The English language shall be used in the preparation of all official public documents and records ..." could be kept as long as it also allows documents to be offered in other languages, the court said. The high court decided not to consider other sections of the law now, but noted that the rest of the statute would have to be enforced narrowly or other provisions also might be found unconstitutional. Both sides claimed a measure of victory in the ruling. Attorney Ken Jacobus, one of the original sponsors of the initiative, said, "The whole idea was to get people to speak English because it benefits them, not to prevent them from speaking their own language." Pope said the ruling is a clear victory for Togiak and the other plaintiffs. "What (the court has) said ... is that the person speaking and listening (during government business) have a right to speak in a language other than English," he said. "That's a great victory for Natives and non-English speakers." The case was taken to the Supreme Court by Alaskans for a Common Language, the group that pushed the original petition. ??? Information from: Anchorage Daily News, http://www.adn.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hsouter at GMAIL.COM Sun Nov 4 15:40:20 2007 From: hsouter at GMAIL.COM (Heather Souter) Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2007 09:40:20 -0600 Subject: Camcorder Question Revisited.... Message-ID: Taanshi, everyone, I recently asked a question about camcorders for language documentation purposes and recieved a number of responses. Kihchi-maarsi! Thank-you very much! Today, I would like to ask one more time about camcorders just in case anyone else would like to share their thoughts with me.... I am looking for a camcorder that has both an external microphone jack (to capture all important sound) and headset jack (to monitor all important sound), plus I would like the transfer from the camera to the computer (Mac G4) to be easy as possible. Of course, I would like all this to come at the lowest price possible! A tall order!! Anyhow, if anyone else has ideas for me, I would very much appreciate hearing from them! Eekushi pitamaa. Heather Souter Community Language Researcher--Michif Language Camperville, MB Canada PS: If there is a website(s) with info and/or tips on recording good audio when taking a video, I would love to know about it! From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sun Nov 4 18:29:48 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2007 11:29:48 -0700 Subject: Mi’kmaq stories unearthed (fwd) Message-ID: Mi?kmaq stories unearthed Author-editor Peter Sanger, working with translator Elizabeth Paul and illustrator Alan Syliboy, brings to light a pair of texts ? tales from the first nation?s distant past By JODI DELONG Sun. Nov 4 - 7:33 AM http://thechronicleherald.ca/Books/976555.html [photo inset - Mi?kmaq artist Alan Syliboy, shown in this photo from 2000, has illustrated Peter Sanger?s book The Stone Canoe: Two Lost Mi?kmaq Texts. (Ted Pritchard / Herald)] "FINDING these two lost Mi?kmaq texts is the equivalent in our culture of finding a new play by Shakespeare." Peter Sanger has his listeners? full attention as he speaks these words. We?re in a room of the Vaughn Library at Acadia University, where Gaspereau Press is launching its newest book. The Stone Canoe: Two Lost Mi?kmaq Texts is described as a story about two stories and their travels through the written record. The stories? journey into print combined a wealth of talents: Elizabeth Paul as translator, Peter Sanger as author and editor, and Alan Syliboy as illustrator. Together, these three unique individuals have brought to life two stories that were languishing, unremembered and unread, in Acadia?s archives. The stories differ in that the older of the two, designated in the book as "from the mouth of Susan Barss" is a legend much like those found in other cultures. It?s the story of Little Thunder, a young man whose parents send him out to search for a wife. Accompanied by Wolverine, the trickster of Mi?kmaq culture, and several other equally wonderful characters, the young man borrows Gluskap?s stone canoe to go and search for a wife, which he eventually finds. The second story, from the mouth of Old Man Stevens, is said to be a "real story" about a woman abandoned by her husband on an island. The woman manages to survive until spring, when she is rescued by others from her home community, and upon her return "does not want her husband. So the husband leaves." The story finishes "This is a true story. It is not a legend. It is a true story about the old Indians." To understand the backdrop for the book?s genesis, Peter Sanger wrote two essays that begin and end The Stone Canoe. These take us on historical trip to the mid-19th century and the work of Silas Tertius Rand. Rand was a unique character in our province?s history: the son of a New England planter was born not far from Kentville in 1810; he left school at an early age and became a stonemason, at the same time hiring tutors to further his education. In his mid-teens he had a religious awakening, a phenomenon not uncommon in those times, and became a Baptist minister by the time he was in his mid-twenties. Determined to convert the Mi?kmaq to Christianity, ignoring the fact that they were already converted to Roman Catholicism, Rand set about learning their language so that he could translate the Bible into their tongue. Rand met and became friendly with Joseph Brooks, who spoke Mi?kmaq fluently and taught the minister more about the language. Rand became intrigued with the legends and stories of the first nation people, and collected nearly 100 of them together into Legends of the Micmacs, published in 1894. However, being a Victorian and a minister, Rand took some liberties with the translations, glossing and censoring some aspects of the stories. "Such good stories are both mortal and immortal," Sanger writes in the first of two essays accompanying the stories and their various translations. "To live steadily over a long span of time in one form of detail, stories need not only good tellers but also good listeners. Stories, to survive, need that act of will and belief which is faithful memory." It is this belief in the need for faithful memory, in this case faithful translation, that drove Sanger to collaborate with Mi?kmaq speaker and teacher Elizabeth Paul and noted Mi?kmaq artist Alan Syliboy to accurately bring the two stories back to life for today?s readers. Paul and her mother laboured over photocopies of the original texts and came up with translations that were accurate (and dramatically different from Rand?s versions.) Syliboy?s black and white illustrations are rich in detail and Mi?kmaq culture, incorporating traditional designs and symbols, some from ancient petrogylphs, into his work. As he told listeners during a slide presentation showing both the line drawings and further studies in colour, "I lost my language (through being forced to speak English at school) but my language has turned into making pictures." To have the two stories of The Stone Canoe come fully to life, they ought to be read aloud in Mi?kmaq, and visitors to Gaspereau Press?s annual Wayzgoose were treated to readings by Elizabeth Paul. She told her listeners that just as we don?t speak English today exactly as we did in the time of Silas Rand and Joseph Brooks, the Mi?kmaq don?t speak or write their language exactly as Susan Barss or Old Man Stephens would have done. Perhaps we can?t all understand the telling of the tales of The Stone Canoe in their native tongue. But we can be enthralled by this "story of two stories" and the place that the stories claim in indigenous literature in Canada. Jodi Delong is a freelance writer living in Scotts Bay. From aidan at USYD.EDU.AU Sun Nov 4 22:11:28 2007 From: aidan at USYD.EDU.AU (Aidan Wilson) Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2007 09:11:28 +1100 Subject: Camcorder Question Revisited.... In-Reply-To: <6d8c8c410711040740y65dc79acw62296fd2eceeca4f@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: I'm not certain about this but I'm pretty sure if you want a quick and easy (drag and drop, effectively) transfer to a computer, then the video needs to be in a compressed format, like mp4 or something. Otherwise, uncompressed video takes way too much space to fit on a video recorder with even the very best hard drive space. Tapes, dv, are probably the best quality option, but the transfer to computer has to be at actual speed, and is a bit complicated to set up (you have to set the computer to record, then 'play' the video, etc.) Having said that, I think Claire Bowern has recently been using a hard-drive mp4 video recorder and from her blog entry http://anggarrgoon.wordpress.com/2007/11/02/wednesday/ suggests she's happy with the result. I would worry about the sound quality though. Again, I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure that if you compress the video, you compress the audio. I know it's not ideal, but at the worst you could set up a small wav recorder separately, with a good mic of course, then use final cut, or whatever video editing programs are out there, to splice the video with the good audio. Sorry that I can't suggest any specific recorders at all, but there are at least a couple more considerations to take into account before buying a device. -Aidan Wilson Audio at Paradisec Heather Souter wrote: > Taanshi, everyone, > > I recently asked a question about camcorders for language > documentation purposes and recieved a number of responses. > Kihchi-maarsi! Thank-you very much! > > Today, I would like to ask one more time about camcorders just in case > anyone else would like to share their thoughts with me.... > > I am looking for a camcorder that has both an external microphone jack > (to capture all important sound) and headset jack (to monitor all > important sound), plus I would like the transfer from the camera to > the computer (Mac G4) to be easy as possible. Of course, I would like > all this to come at the lowest price possible! A tall order!! > Anyhow, if anyone else has ideas for me, I would very much appreciate > hearing from them! > > Eekushi pitamaa. > Heather Souter > Community Language Researcher--Michif Language > Camperville, MB > Canada > > PS: If there is a website(s) with info and/or tips on recording good > audio when taking a video, I would love to know about it! > From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Nov 5 00:30:30 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2007 17:30:30 -0700 Subject: Camcorder Question Revisited.... In-Reply-To: <6d8c8c410711040740y65dc79acw62296fd2eceeca4f@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Heather, just as quick note on audio.? A common phrase in the video-makers how-to says that audio is half of your production.? Or, to put it another way, capturing good audio is essential to any basic documentation project. For many digitial video cameras out in the market these days, most all come with a mounted internal mic but these tend to be of generic quality and it use limits the control you may wish to have over creating good audio.? It is better to take advantage of the mic plug-in where a quality mic can be plugged in directly to your camera.? On the low consumer end of the spectrum, video cameras usually use a "mini-plug" input.? Pro and semi-pro cameras use an XLR mic plug.? Cameras with XLR mic inputs allow the use of higher quality microphones and wireless mic systems.? An addition option is recording on a separate digital recording device, such as DAT recorder.? This gives you even greater control over the quality of the audio being recorded.? The audio can be later stitched back together with footage in the post production process.? I have not tried it myself so I can't say how easy or difficult this is.? You will also want to monitor your audio during filming.? This helps to block out external noise and as well as allow you to concentrate on the audio input that is being picked up by your microphones.?? And as I have discovered myself, it will also give an additional perceptual avenue to consider as you film subjects.? My own experience in all of this is a "one-man camera crew" set up so there are additional options if and when more people assist? in the film making process (i.e. having a "sound recorded").? l8ter, Phil Cash Cash UofA ? Quoting Heather Souter : > Taanshi, everyone, > > I recently asked a question about camcorders for language > documentation purposes and recieved a number of responses. > Kihchi-maarsi! Thank-you very much! > > Today, I would like to ask one more time about camcorders just in case > anyone else would like to share their thoughts with me.... > > I am looking for a camcorder that has both an external microphone jack > (to capture all important sound) and headset jack (to monitor all > important sound), plus I would like the transfer from the camera to > the computer (Mac G4) to be easy as possible. Of course, I would like > all this to come at the lowest price possible! A tall order!! > Anyhow, if anyone else has ideas for me, I would very much appreciate > hearing from them! > > Eekushi pitamaa. > Heather Souter > Community Language Researcher--Michif Language > Camperville, MB > Canada > > PS: If there is a website(s) with info and/or tips on recording good > audio when taking a video, I would love to know about it! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Nov 5 17:21:09 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2007 10:21:09 -0700 Subject: Jayapura's coastal languages on the brink of extinction (fwd) Message-ID: Jakarta, Indonesia Jayapura's coastal languages on the brink of extinction Angel Flassy, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailfeatures.asp?fileid=20071105.R02&irec=1 [photo inset - A view of Tobati on the northern coast of Papua. The indigenous language of the area is on the brink of extinction due to the dominance of Bahasa Indonesia. JP/Angel Flassy] Herman Rumadi Hamadi, 88, could not hide his anguish when asked about the number of people still speaking the local language in his village. "I'm not sure, but I guess there are only six people who can speak Tobati fluently," said Herman, the tribal chief of Tobati village on the northern coast of Papua. "Once the six die, the language will disappear," said Herman, admitting that he himself was no longer using the language of his ancestors. Herman has every reason to worry. The six people who still speak Tobati are all over 60 years old, while the young are more fluent in Bahasa Indonesia than in their mother tongue, thanks to the widespread use of the national language. That situation has been exacerbated by the fact that more and more Tobati villagers have opted to move to the provincial capital of Jayapura where they communicate in Bahasa Indonesia. "All of Jayapura and Abepura used to be our communal land, but now our sago plantations have been urbanized and we live alongside newcomers," said the ondoafi (tribal chief) who lives in Entrop, Jayapura. The Kayu Pulau tribe in Jayapura and the Nafri community in Abepura, too, are being culturally overwhelmed by the pace of development, forcing them to increasingly abandon their regional language. According to Herman, Tobati people have been in contact with the outside world since the 1600s and by the end of the 1800s, the Dutch government had made this village an administrative center, triggering rapid economic growth. It is no surprise, therefore, that Herman himself has been speaking Malay since he was a child. Intermarriages with newcomers have only hastened the desertion of the language. "Our grandchildren speak Bahasa Indonesia fluently. They seem to have no roots because even though they are Tobati people they don't speak the language. How can we perform our customs, dances and other ceremonies in the Tobati language?" asked the father of 10, who claimed to be very tough in teaching Tobati language to his children. Herman said traditional songs, poems and dances were no longer performed and Tobati songs, poems and dances showcased in various arts festivals in Jayapura or other parts of the country hailed not from Tobati village but from Papua New Guinea or were contemporary creations of Tobati artists. "This is really worrisome. If the Tobati language disappears, our culture will also vanish and we will become strangers in our own land. "The fact is many elements of our culture are no longer practiced. Our grandchildren can no longer sing and dance the Serme dance, which was usually performed to greet people coming home from fishing or the Yawo dance and song, which was performed when people brought new boats from the forest to the sea because such traditions are no longer practiced," Herman said. He said young people in the village preferred to become civil servants or work in the private sector than to become fisherman. "The forests where local people used to make boats have turned into towns," he said. Articles and dances containing magic vanished with the arrival of Christianity in Papua. "Traditions, magic and belief in the spirits of our ancestors have been replaced with Malay hymns, thus there is a gradual shift away from the use of regional languages," Herman said. Herman urges the government to help preserve the language, which is only spoken by six elderly people. "If the government could provide compensation for travel expenses and set up training centers, we would be very eager to teach this language to the younger generation," said Herman, adding that with the Tobati people living in different parts of Jayapura, meeting places were needed for the language courses. Aksamina Awinero, 41, ondoafi Obed Awinero's child in Nafri village, shares the same feeling. "We used to speak Nafri to our children, but when they went to school they spoke Bahasa Indonesia more than Nafri and now they speak very little Nafri," said the mother of seven. Data issued by the education and culture office in Jayapura revealed that in 1991 only 800 people in Tobati and Injros villages were still using the Tobati language, while other regional languages, Nafri and Kayu Pulau, were spoken by 1,630 and 573 people respectively. It also showed there were 249 regional languages in the province, meaning about the same number of tribes. According to Summer International Linguistics (SIL) in 2004, Papua has 264 languages, with Malay, later known as Bahasa Indonesia, serving as a bridge through which the hundreds of Papuan languages meet. Bahasa Indonesia also allows Papuans to communicate, interact and enter inter-tribe marriages. The widespread use of Bahasa Indonesia has not only sped up development in the province, but also killed off local languages. "This is a welcome development for Bahasa Indonesia, but not for local languages. Bahasa Indonesia has threatened the existence of local languages, especially in urban areas where interactions with outsiders (non-Papuans) are very intensive," said Supriyanto Widodo, the head of Jayapura's Language Center. The center's 2005 and 2006 research findings gave reason for concern over the serious condition of the three languages in Tobati-Injros, Kayu Pulau-Kayu Batu and Nafri. "We predict that after three generations these three regional languages will disappear unless local communities themselves and the government undertake efforts to preserve them," he said. It also found out that people who still speak local languages are above 40 years old, with younger generations having only a passive comprehension of their languages. Assuming that a generation spans about 20 years, within 60 years those regional languages will disappear, owing to local people's limited appreciation of their own languages. "Nafri has the lowest number of mothers using the language and this is alarming because mothers spearhead the use and teaching of regional languages, hence the term mother tongue," Widodo said. Widodo also said the perception that the use of regional languages hampered interactions with "outsiders" had prompted people to abandon their mother tongue. "People think using their mother tongue curtails their access to scientific, social and economic domains," continued Widodo. The Language Center has documented 180 local languages all over Papua and West Papua since its establishment in 2002. "We prioritized the vocabulary of 200 universally used words and over 1,000 cultural words, making the total entries about 1,600 per village," Widodo said, adding that they excluded standard grammatical rules. He also said some regency administrations had documented local languages. Biak regency, for instance, has produced a dictionary and grammar books. It also obliges local schools to teach Biak in schools. Fak-fak regency has funded the publication of Iha dictionary publication. With its limited resources, the Jayapura Language Center has composed the dictionaries of Maybrat/South Sorong, Sentani and Jayapura languages. "Our target is to combine these works and publish an Indonesian regional language map in 2008," Widodo said. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Nov 5 17:25:39 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2007 10:25:39 -0700 Subject: Workers in the field of languages tread new territory (fwd) Message-ID: Jakarta, Indonesia Workers in the field of languages tread new territory November 06, 2007 Janika Gelinek, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailfeatures.asp?fileid=20071105.R01&irec=0 Once upon a time, Ungan and Aw? decided not to go home after working in the fields. Instead, they stayed by a river and goofed around with a dog. They were sending the dog to and fro over the water when suddenly stone rain came down, turning them into stones. And their crime? They did not come home and make fun of a dog. The story could have been lost had Italian linguist Antonia Soriente from the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Jakarta not gone and documented Oma Longh and Lebu' Kulit languages in Malinau and Bulungan regency in Eastern Kalimantan. Oma Longh and Lebu' Kulit, in which the story above was narrated, are just two of the endangered languages in Indonesia, spoken only by a few thousand people in Malinau and Bulungan. "When you look at what is happening around you, you see languages dying on a large scale, especially in the eastern part of Indonesia such as Papua and the Maluku islands," said Uri Tadmor of the Jakarta Field Station. Established in 1999 by Uri Tadmor and David Gil, the Jakarta Field Station started off by collecting data on child language. In collaboration with the Jakarta Atma Jaya Catholic University, it is currently hosting about 25 researchers from Indonesia and abroad who are studying Indonesian languages from the islands of West Sumatra all the way to Papua. Indonesia has around 700 languages, but the widespread use of Bahasa Indonesia has pushed many of those languages to the brink of extinction, placing the national language on a par with English, Spanish and French as "killer" languages. According to Tadmor, there are many reasons why languages in the country are facing extinction, including people's low level of respect for indigenous languages.the speakers themselves don't attach much importance to their own languages," said Tadmor, adding that the children of inter-race couples tended to speak only Bahasa Indonesia. "Indigenous languages are also not used in the education system, and thus their survival is neither financially nor politically supported," Tadmor said. In theory, any indigenous language can be taught in a state elementary school. But in reality, schools usually offer only Javanese, Sundanese and Balinese, and rarely would these be the primary language of instruction. "It is totally meaningless to the kids and the kids hate it," Tadmor said. According to Tadmor, there is not much hope the situation will be reversed as these languages are generally considered not worth keeping. "It's a vicious circle. People who speak a small indigenous language come to look down on their language, because there is no official recognition of it," said Tadmor, adding that only non-nationals had come here to work with indigenous communities. The researchers at the field station are studying how languages cross, enrich and endanger each other, with many of them focusing on endangered languages. "Languages reflect a view of the world. They are an essential component of the living heritage of humanity, therefore they belong to the intangible cultural heritage that needs to be safeguarded," Italian linguist Antonia Soriente said. "Languages are vehicles of value systems and of cultural expressions and they constitute a determining factor in the identity of groups and individuals. They transmit knowledge, values and collective memory and play an essential role in cultural vitality." A book Soriente carefully edited - Mencaleny & Usung Bayung Marang - a collection of Kenyah stories in Oma Longh and Lebu' Kulit languagesis a first in more than one sense. Not only have these stories never been translated into Indonesian or English, they have not even been written down. In order to give access to the Kenyah stories of Ungan and Aw? or the clever Mp? and her stupid husband Buzu, Soriente had to develop a new orthographic system for the entirely oral languages. "Linguists are not really social workers. We are not activists who try to go to the field and say, hey, you need to speak your language. But we want to raise awareness of linguistic diversity and give something back to the community and some tools with which, if they want to, they can help their language to survive", says Soriente. When the book was published last year it was first sent to the communities that had been involved in the project. "They were quite startled to see that something had emerged, that their language had been written down and that it was written next to Bahasa Indonesia and English. They said, `Oh, now we can study English through our language!'" During Soriente's visit, the Malinau regent made for the very first time a speech entirely in the local language of Lebu' Kulit and people also started using the new orthographic system to send text messages. "Suddenly they realized there is no law that says you have to use only Bahasa Indonesian", Soriente said. Her colleague Betty Litamahuputty has had similar experiences. Litamahuputty participates in a team that has intensively studied the highly endangered languages of the Maluku islands, among them Kouro, spoken only in five villages on the island of Seram. Together with linguists from Australia's Monash University and the local communities, Litamahuputty developed storybooks in Kouro. Teams were formed among the villagers and sent out to literally document their language. "We gave them some cameras and they had to figure out what kind of event they wanted to document. It was the clove-harvest season. They were taking pictures of what they thought was important about the harvest. And then they had to ask the village people or somebody who knew the language how to say this or that in Kouro. And then they tried to write it down. In this way they were able to make their own storybooks bilingual, in Malay and the local language. And that was to show that by very simple means they could make their own storybook, which they could use in school for instance. Just with a notebook, a camera and a pen you can make a book about whatever you want," said Litamahuputty. Furthermore a story in Malay has been developed by project leader Margaret Florey about a family going in the woods and working there in a garden, the "garden story". This story has been "fed" with significant linguistic structures to find out how speakers from different local communities on Seram island would translate the same story in their language. Additionally the linguists made vitality tests in order to see whether the inhabitants could still communicate in their language or only knew a few words. As expected it turned out that in many cases elderly people still had some knowledge of the language, but only a few people were actually able to have a conversation in it. Surprisingly the patterns were the same in Christian and Muslim villages, such as in Allang and Ruta. "People always thought indigenous languages were more likely to be preserved in Muslim villages, but instead they had the same curve as the Christian villages, where we already know that the language has died out," said Litamahuputty. A workbook used in workshops with local communities will be published next year to demonstrate not only how to learn a language, but also how to gather information from local speakers - how to make sentences, how to figure out their structure and what the grammar might be like. "Thus, local communities might take the survival of their language into their own hands," Litamahuputty said. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Nov 5 20:39:07 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2007 13:39:07 -0700 Subject: Conference on Endangered Languages and Cultures of Native America 2008 (fwd link) Message-ID: CONFERENCE ON ENDANGERED LANGUAGES AND CULTURES OF NATIVE AMERICA 2008 http://hum.utah.edu/display.php?pageId=1049 Dates: (4th annual CELCNA), March 28-30, 2008, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah. Call for papers: Papers or posters are invited on any aspect of American Indian languages, in particular on documentation or revitalization. American Indian participants are especially invited. Papers are 20 minutes each in length, with an additional 10 minutes for discussion. Deadline: for ABSTRACTS : Jan. 18, 2008. The Program Committee will announce results about Feb. 1. Additional information: Contact Tamrika Khvtisiashvili , or for particular questions, Lyle Campbell at lyle.campbell at linguistics.utah.edu. If you need information not easily arranged via e-mail, please call: Tel. 801-587-0720 or 801-581-3441 during business hours, or Fax 801-585-7351. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Nov 5 20:50:55 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2007 13:50:55 -0700 Subject: 15th Annual Stabilizing Indigenous Languages Symposium (fwd link) Message-ID: 15th Annual Stabilizing Indigenous Languages Symposium Language is Life: Strategies for Language Revitalization High Country Conference Center, Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, Arizona, May 2 & 3, 2008 http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/SIL9brochure.html From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Nov 6 17:29:51 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 6 Nov 2007 10:29:51 -0700 Subject: Bridging the language gap (fwd) Message-ID: Last updated at 5:19 PM on 05/11/07 Bridging the language gap Torngasok Cultural Centre unveils new learning tools [photo inset - NEW LEARNING ? Tim McNeal, Nunatsiavut Minister of Education and Culture holds the new Inuit dictionary. The book is one of four learning tools unveiled recently by the Nunatsiavut Government aimed to help to Labrador Inuit stay in touch with their language. Jamie Tarrant photo] JAMIE TARRANT The Labradorian http://www.thelabradorian.ca/index.cfm?sid=77533&sc=347 Nunatsiavut's Torngasok Cultural Centre recently unveiled four new language tools Labrador Inuit can use to learn about their language. At a ceremony held last Monday at the Aboriginal Friendship Centre, a Rosetta Stone CD-Rom, Inuktitut dictionary, children's book "Atuagaga uKausinnut," and a book of stories gathered from the Unikkalautta storytelling festival last May, were made available to schools and Inuit beneficiaries. Director Catharyn Andersen admits that it took a lot of people, planning and funding to accomplish this goal. "I'm really excited and proud of the work that we've done, and the people that worked on it for years," she said. Work on creating a dictionary began in 1985, shortly after there was an Inuit standardized writing system put into place. A lot of the words in the new dictionary are based on the Lucien Schneider dictionary - a missionary in northern Quebec that developed the Slavic writing system from translating Inuit language into written form. The Rosetta Stone CD is software that makes learning a language easy. It offers ten learning levels and uses visual and audio concepts to help participants read, spell, pronounce, and write. After each level the CD provides a short quiz. The children's and story telling book were developed because of the lack of appropriate language learning material for young Inuit children on the coast. Nunatsiavut Government Upper Lake Melville member, Keith Russell hopes, this software will help bridge the language gap with children in Labrador. When he was growing up, language wasn't practiced as much as he feels it should have been. "For whatever reason, whether your parents moved down from Nunatsiavut into Upper Lake Melville, or wherever, the language never made it from the parents to the younger generation," explained Mr. Russell. When he was first introduced to the Rosetta Stone language CDs during a conference seven years ago, he wasn't impressed. It was only later after he tested the software that his opinion quickly changed. "It became very clear to me as I was looking at level two and exercise three, that I was very quickly put out of my league by this kind of software," explained Mr. Russell. "I could pull out a few names and interactions. As you advance it becomes more difficult. With these options, which are easy to use, I think it is going to catch on with children." The only drawback about these learning tools is the cost. The CD ROM itself will run about $50.00 (for beneficiaries) the dictionary $30.00 and the children's and story telling book will be 15.00 each. Mr. Russell hopes these prices won't turn people away. "There is definitely going to be divided feelings about this. Some people think this should be free. I myself am one of them. I agree with the Nunatsiavut Government that we have to recoup some of the costs to continue work on these kinds of initiatives." Mr. Russell is confident that these learning tools will be made public for beneficiaries in schools and community resource centres that don't have computer access or funds to buy the entire package. Tim McNeal, Nunatsiavut Minister of Education thinks the new learning curriculum will be a huge asset for Inuktitut teachers in Labrador's school system. "We already arranged to offer teachers training in the software. We did that in early September. I think there may be plans to do another in-servicing after they had a chance to see what's working and what's not," he said. There will be a second edition of the Rosetta Stone CD made available by the end of 2008. The same is true for the Inuit dictionary. Mrs. Andersen realizes that, as with all dictionaries,they are works in progress. "We realize that there will be mistakes and corrections that will have to be made because there are new words coming out all the time in Inuktitut," she explained. "We are planning on holding a workshop within the next couple of years to work with the dictionary to make corrections and additions that are necessary." Mrs. Andersen hopes these learning tools will play a huge role in helping the next generation not only hear Inuit language, but also learn how to speak and write it. "I think what we got to remember is that these are tools to help us learn. It is going to take more than just these tools. At least this is a huge stepping stone to getting where we want to be." reporter at thelabradorian.ca From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Nov 6 17:30:00 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 6 Nov 2007 10:30:00 -0700 Subject: With the Help of GPS, Amazonian Tribes Reclaim the Rain Forest (fwd) Message-ID: With the Help of GPS, Amazonian Tribes Reclaim the Rain Forest Wired Magazine Issue 15.11 By Andy Isaacson Email 11.06.07 | 12:00 AM Illustration: Evah Fan http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/magazine/15-11/ps_amazon Wuta is practically naked, except for the red cotton breechcloth strung around his waist and the yellow beaded necklaces that drape his muscular torso. In his hands, though, he's holding something that places him firmly in the 21st century: a new gray Garmin GPS device. A member of the Trio tribe, he's leading me through the rain forest near his village in southern Suriname ? a two-hour Cessna flight from the closest road. At the foot of a large tree that dangles a cascade of liana vines, Wuta points his GPS toward the sky: no signal. He fiddles with a button and a few minutes later gets a reading. He relays the coordinates to a fellow Trio cartographer beside him, who dutifully jots them down. Wuta then tramps on, demonstrating how he and other tribesmen have charted, by foot and canoe, some 20 million acres of land here at Amazonia's northern fringe. To avoid getting steamrollered by developers, ranchers, loggers, miners, oilmen, and biopirates, tribes across the Amazon Basin have begun acquiring high tech tools to defend themselves. Much of the help in this effort has come from the Amazon Conservation Team, a Virginia environmental and cultural preservation organization, which provided equipment, cartographic expertise, and financial assistance. Now dozens of men like Wuta are walking the forests, mapping their lands with the aid of portable GPS devices. Of course, just because the tribes have mapped the lands doesn't mean they control all the legal rights to them. But it's a step in that direction. Suriname now uses maps generated by the Trio and other groups as official government documents. In Ecuador, the Shuar tribe, long embroiled in a struggle with American oil companies, was recently granted title to its communal lands, as mapped by GPS. The massive sandals-on-the-ground charting campaign and delineation of once imprecise boundaries have also given the tribes greater confidence in asserting their interests ? in some instances, natives have driven out illegal miners and have established settlements and guard posts on their borders. In addition to GPS mapping, tribes are using Google Earth as a tool for territorial vigilance. The app's satellite imagery can identify threats ? an encroaching soy farm, say, or a river stained by the runoff from a gold mine. A few tribes in Brazil with Internet access are marking the coordinates of surreptitious activity they see in the images, then investigating on foot or passing the information to government enforcers. For Wuta, the global positioning device he cradles is a handheld life insurance policy. "I make maps because I don't want the companies to come ? when they come, maybe the water will be dirty," he says as we walk back from the forest, across a grassy airstrip that was cleared 40 years ago by American evangelicals, the first outsiders to want a piece of the land and its people. Ultimately, though, this advanced technology may just help the Indians turn on the forest to enrich themselves. (And who can blame them, really?) Carrying a carved wooden cane and wearing slacks, a plaid shirt, and a Casio watch, the Trio's chief hints at this uncertain future when I ask whether his newfound territorial security makes him more likely to get into the business of extracting natural resources. Education and technology, he says, have helped his tribe make more-responsible decisions. He then adds, "The maps have helped us realize our assets." From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Nov 6 17:34:37 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 6 Nov 2007 10:34:37 -0700 Subject: Alaska's high court backs part of English-only law (fwd) Message-ID: Alaska's high court backs part of English-only law By The Associated Press 11.06.07 http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=19294 ANCHORAGE, Alaska ? Alaska's highest court struck down a central provision of a state law requiring only English to be used for all government business. However, the Alaska Supreme Court in an 89-page decision in Alaskans for a Common Language v. Kritz Nov. 2 let much of the law stand. Attorney Doug Pope said the ruling means that his clients in Togiak can continue to conduct city council meetings largely in Yup'ik, the only language some of them speak. And while public records must be in English, versions in other languages also can be provided and maintained in the same government files. The English-only law was passed by voters through an initiative in 1998, but has never been in effect. Togiak, the North Slope Borough, the Alaska Civil Liberties Union and the Native American Rights Fund quickly challenged the new law, and won an injunction that had kept it in limbo until the 4-1 decision Nov. 2. The dissenter, Chief Justice Alex Bryner, said the entire law should have been thrown out as violating the U.S. and Alaska constitutions. Instead, the majority focused on two sentences in a provision defining the scope of the law, the first of which reads: "The English language is the language to be used by all public agencies in all government functions and actions." The court found that to be unconstitutional because it violates federal and state rights of free speech. But a second sentence, "The English language shall be used in the preparation of all official public documents and records," could be kept as long as it also allows documents to be offered in other languages, the court said. The state high court decided not to consider other sections of the law now, but noted that the rest of the statute would have to be enforced narrowly or other provisions also might be found unconstitutional. Both sides claimed a measure of victory in the ruling. Attorney Ken Jacobus, one of the original sponsors of the initiative, said, "The whole idea was to get people to speak English because it benefits them, not to prevent them from speaking their own language." Pope called the ruling a clear victory for Togiak and the other plaintiffs. "What [the court has] said ... is that the person speaking and listening (during government business) [has] a right to speak in a language other than English," he said. "That's a great victory for Natives and non-English speakers." Alaskans for a Common Language v. Kritz was taken to the Supreme Court by Alaskans for a Common Language, the group that pushed the original petition. Moses Kritz is a lifelong resident of Togiak. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Nov 6 17:40:34 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 6 Nov 2007 10:40:34 -0700 Subject: Government of Canada Supports The Métis Nation of Alberta (fwd) Message-ID: Government of Canada Supports The M?tis Nation of Alberta http://news.gc.ca/web/view/en/index.jsp?articleid=358769&categoryid=16 EDMONTON, November 5, 2007 - On behalf of the Honourable Jos?e Verner, Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages, Laurie Hawn, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence and Member of Parliament (Edmonton Centre), today announced funding for the M?tis Nation of Alberta Association. Funding of $315,000 will go toward activities that preserve and promote M?tis language, culture, and heritage. It will fund a three-year project that includes the publication of a book called Michif in Alberta, the organization of linguistic immersion camps, and support for a provincial conference about the Michif language. "The M?tis people have a rich cultural heritage," said Minister Verner. "We are proud to support this organization to ensure that they continue to have a voice in Alberta and in Canada." "Our Government is committed to enabling Aboriginal people to fully participate in the social, political, economic, and cultural life of the country," said Mr. Hawn. "We are pleased to support the M?tis Nation of Alberta." "Unfortunately, as many of our Elders pass away without sharing their language with the next generation, a part of our history is slipping away,"' said Audrey Poitras, President of the M?tis Nation of Alberta Association. "It is up to us to protect this important part of our heritage, and this funding from Canadian Heritage will assist us in doing exactly that." The Government of Canada has provided this funding through the Aboriginal Peoples Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage, which supports the full participation and cultural revitalization of Aboriginal people in Canadian society. It enables Aboriginal peoples to address the social, cultural, economic, and political issues affecting their lives. Information: Richard Walker Press Secretary Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages 819 997-7788 Oula Sanduga Constituency Assistant Office of Laurrie Hawn, MP Edmonton Centre 780 442-1888 Donald Boulanger A/Chief, Media Relations Canadian Heritage 819 994-9101 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Nov 6 18:08:22 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 6 Nov 2007 11:08:22 -0700 Subject: New dictionary breathes life into language (fwd) Message-ID: New dictionary breathes life into language [photo inset - Members of the Nippik Inuit Drummers perform in the Inco Innovation Centre on Monday, Oct. 29. Photo by Chris Hibbs.] By Jeff Green http://today.mun.ca/news.php?news_id=3344 It was decades in the making and now the Nunatsiavut Government is confident the first-ever Labrador Inuit dictionary reflecting the Labrador Inuit Standardized Writing System will be around for a long time to come, inspiring generations of young minds to embrace the almost-forgotten language of their grandparents. On Monday, Oct. 29, the dictionary ? along with several other new interactive learning tools ? was officially unveiled in Nain and seven other sites including on Memorial?s St. John?s campus. Labradorimi Ulinnaisigutet Inuktitut ? English Dictionary has been a dream for more than 20 years. Its launch will help preserve the Inuktitut language for generations, noted Daniel Pottle, deputy speaker of the Nunatsiavut Assembly at the event on Monday. A new interactive CD-Rom was also launched. Rosetta Stone is designed to teach people the Inuktitut language by using pictures to establish the meaning of words and phrases so that there is no translation. In addition to the new CD-Rom, a new children?s book and a book of stories generated from a Labrador storytelling festival were launched at the Beatrice Watts Boardroom in the Inco Innovation Centre. It was fitting the launch was held there. Dr. Watts ? who received an honorary degree from Memorial in 1992 ? is listed as one of the editors of the new dictionary. Dr. Watts was renowned throughout Labrador as a skilled educator and passionate community leader. She devoted her life to preserving and restoring the Inuktitut language of the Inuit. Early in her teaching career, she observed that Inuktitut was at risk. Dr. Watts committed herself to reinstating the native language in school curriculum, and opening the door for a whole new generation of Labradorians to learn to speak and appreciate their native language. She passed away in April 2004. Catharyn Andersen, an MA student in linguistics at Memorial and director of the Torng?sok Cultural Centre in Nain, is one of the project co-ordinators of the dictionary. Dr. Axel Meisen, president of Memorial, spoke at the launch, which was also attended by Dr. Reeta Tremblay, dean of Arts, as well as students, staff and faculty members of Memorial. The Nippik Inuit Drummers also performed at the launch in the lobby of the Inco Innovation Centre. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Nov 7 17:51:57 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2007 10:51:57 -0700 Subject: Worldwide, a Language Dies Every Two Weeks (fwd link) Message-ID: Worldwide, a Language Dies Every Two Weeks Over half of the 7,000 languages in the world are in danger of disappearing. Transcript of radio broadcast: 06 November 2007 http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2007-11-06-voa1.cfm From maiaponsonnet at HOTMAIL.COM Wed Nov 7 18:05:57 2007 From: maiaponsonnet at HOTMAIL.COM (Ponsonnet Maia) Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2007 18:05:57 +0000 Subject: French linguist (Sth Am) on endangered languages Message-ID: Better late than never, French journalists have done their bit too regarding endangered languages. Probably following the same National Geographic trend, we had this yesterday within a very good program on France Inter, our major national radio: http://www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/em/lateteaucarre/index.php?id=60721 Ma?a _________________________________________________________________ What are you waiting for? Join Lavalife FREE http://a.ninemsn.com.au/b.aspx?URL=http%3A%2F%2Flavalife9%2Eninemsn%2Ecom%2Eau%2Fclickthru%2Fclickthru%2Eact%3Fid%3Dninemsn%26context%3Dan99%26locale%3Den%5FAU%26a%3D30288&_t=764581033&_r=email_taglines_Join_free_OCT07&_m=EXT -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Nov 7 22:34:43 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2007 15:34:43 -0700 Subject: Teaching Oregon Native Languages (fwd) Message-ID: TEACHING OREGON NATIVE LANGUAGES Edited by Joan Gross 2007. 5-3/4 x 9-1/4 inches. 176 pages. Map. B&W photographs. Index. ISBN 978-0-87071-193-0. Paperback, $24.95 In a world where over half of the remaining six thousand languages will most likely disappear by the end of the century, attention has finally begun to focus on the struggles of indigenous people to save their languages. Lack of knowledge concerning the vast linguistic diversity of Oregon's languages has been a major obstacle to language revitalization in this state. Native peoples were subjected to disease, displacement, and forced linguistic assimilation, leaving many languages with only a few speakers. Some languages died out, but others prevailed in the privacy of homes and longhouses. This book tells the story of perseverance and survival against unbelievable odds, using the words of today's speakers and learners of Oregon's languages. Interviews with fifty-two native speakers provide valuable insights into how languages are lost and how a linguistic heritage can be brought to life. Teaching Oregon Native Languages discusses the role of state and federal language policies, explores how archival collections can be used in language revitalization, and describes strategies for creating a successful teaching environment. A timely and necessary resource, it will educate all readers about the important efforts underway to revitalize Oregon's first languages. Contributors: Joan Gross, Erin Haynes, Deanna Kingston, David Lewis, and Juan Trujillo ABOUT THE EDITOR Joan Gross is professor of anthropology at Oregon State University. A linguistic anthropologist, she has conducted research on minority languages and verbal art and taught classes on language and culture at OSU since 1989. She is the author of _Speaking in Other Voices: An Ethnography of Walloon Puppet Theaters._ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 34350 bytes Desc: not available URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Wed Nov 7 22:36:23 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2007 15:36:23 -0700 Subject: Teaching Oregon Native Languages (fwd) In-Reply-To: <20071107153443.24enw0s08wo44gc8@www.email.arizona.edu> Message-ID: Here is the link! URL: http://oregonstate.edu/dept/press/s-t/TeachingORNative.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From linguist4 at KATHLANGCENTRE.ORG.AU Thu Nov 8 05:23:43 2007 From: linguist4 at KATHLANGCENTRE.ORG.AU (Eugenie Collyer) Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2007 14:53:43 +0930 Subject: Fwd: Job vacancy: Coordinator, Diwurruwurru-Jaru Aboriginal Corporation (Katherine Regional Aboriginal Language Centre) Message-ID: > Subject: Job vacancy: Coordinator, Diwurruwurru-Jaru Aboriginal > Corporation (Katherine Regional Aboriginal Language Centre) > > Dear All, > > Diwurruwurru-Jaru Aboriginal Corporation (Katherine Regional > Aboriginal > Language Centre) is currently seeking expressions of interest for the > position of Coordinator. We would greatly appreciate if you could > pass this > through your network or on to anyone you think may be interested. > > Attached is an overview of the position. Duty statement and selection > criteria are available on request. Don't hesitate to contact Greg > Dickson > or Michelle Dawson on (08) 8971 1233 for more information. > > Kind regards, > > Greg Dickson > Acting Coordinator > > Diwurruwurru-Jaru Aboriginal Corporation > PO Box 871 Katherine NT 0851 > P (08) 89 711233 > F (08) 89 710561 > > > COORDINATOR > > Diwurruwurru-jaru Aboriginal Corporation supports Indigenous > communities > throughout the Katherine region to maintain and revitalise their > languages. > DAC currently has five full-time linguists and two full-time > clerical staff > and works with a number of remote community members who are > involved in > various language projects. > > Diwurruwurru-jaru Aboriginal Corporation (DAC) seeks applications from > suitably qualified persons for the position of Coordinator. The > position > will be based in Katherine, NT. The Coordinator will be responsible > to an > Indigenous Committee representing language groups throughout the > Katherine > Region. > > ROLE: > * Coordinate the activities of an Indigenous language centre, > including > financial management and staff management. > * Coordinate language projects and associated resources. > * Promote the activities of DAC and liaise with other agencies in > relation > to language activities. > * Implement policy and direction established by the Committee. > > QUALIFICATIONS: > Essential: > * Ability to maintain Aboriginal input and control of an > organisation while > at the same time ensuring regulations are met. > * Effective communication with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. > * Experience with resourcing an organisation. > * Strong administration and organisational skills. > * Demonstrated ability to select and supervise staff and contractors. > * Experience with preparation and monitoring of budgets. > * A C class driver's licence. > Desirable: > * Some knowledge of Australian Languages and associated issues. > * Understanding of accounting systems. > * Experience working with a community-based organisation. > * A background in education. > > > CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT: > Full-time (36hrs/wk) at $50,800p.a. Five weeks annual leave. > > To obtain the Selection Criteria and Duty Statement, contact Greg > Dickson or > Michelle Dawson on (08) 89711233, Fax (08) 89710561 or e-mail > dacadmin at kathlangcentre.org.au > > > Written applications addressing the Selection Criteria, with names and > contact numbers of two referees should be forwarded to: > > The Chairperson, Diwurruwurru-jaru Aboriginal Corporation > PO Box 871, Katherine NT 0851 > > Applications close c.o.b. November 23, 2007 > > > > > ? Eugenie Collyer Town Linguist Diwurruwurru-Jaru Aboriginal Corporation (Katherine Regional Aboriginal Language Centre) PO Box 871, Katherine 0851 Ph: (08) 89711233 Fax: (08) 8971 0561 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Coord's Advert.doc Type: application/applefile Size: 412 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Coord's Advert.doc Type: application/msword Size: 155648 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Nov 8 18:37:39 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2007 11:37:39 -0700 Subject: Dogrib-language books hit the shelves (fwd) Message-ID: Dogrib-language books hit the shelves Christine Grimard Northern News Services Published Wednesday, November 7, 2007 http://nnsl.com/northern-news-services/stories/papers/nov7_07bks.html# YELLOWKNIFE - Two professionally-published books telling tales both in English and Dogrib are a landmark in publishing, according to Yellowknife Book Cellar owner Judith Drinnan. [photo inset - Michelle Zieba, a worker at the Yellowknife Book Cellar, sets up a display for two books written in both Dogrib and English. The project, spearheaded by Yellowknife Catholic Schools, is the first time a book intended for public distribution has been professionally published in Dogrib. - Christine Grimard/NNSL photo] The Old Man with the Otter Medicine and The Legend of the Caribou Boy, published by Theytus Books of B.C., have been on the shelves since the end of September. They are both stories written by the late John Blondin as told by his father George Blondin, a well-known Behchoko elder and author. The stories were originally recorded by Barb Cameron, who was previously a curator at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. The project was spearheaded by Diane Lafferty, aboriginal culture and language co-ordinator for Yellowknife Catholic Schools. "We wanted to be able to see Dogrib books on Yellowknife bookshelves," said Lafferty. Lafferty said the books help create a sense of pride for readers not used to seeing their own language in books. "If we want to create a sense of identity in kids, they have to see themselves in print," said Lafferty. The brightly-illustrated books are written in both English and Dogrib, and come with an interactive CD that allows readers to hear the books narrated in either language. Fifteen hundred copies of the books are being distributed to schools teaching the Dogrib language, including Yk Education District No. 1 schools and in all the Tlicho communities. The Book Cellar had 50 copies of each book, and Drinnan said the store has sold 15 of each. A portion of the proceeds from the books is being donated to the Aboriginal Special Collection at the Chief Jimmy Bruneau school library in Behchoko. The project began after an artists' workshop held by YCS two years ago in book illustration. From that workshop, artists Ray McSwain of Behchoko and Archie Beaverho of Whati were chosen to illustrate the books. Drinnan said that while there have been some other books published in Dogrib, they have been "Xerox and staple" type of material. A third book titled Yamozha and his Beaver Wife will be launched in conjunction with a display at the museum at the end of November. The display will be about the legends of Yamozha and Yamoria and how they help explain the natural features of the land, and the laws that connect the Dene people. The money for the project came from Canadian Heritage, through the department of Education, Culture, and Employment. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sun Nov 11 22:23:14 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2007 15:23:14 -0700 Subject: CFP: International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media (fwd link) Message-ID: Call for Papers International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media March 26-28, 2007 Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A. http://www.icwsm.org/cfp.html From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Nov 13 16:36:34 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 09:36:34 -0700 Subject: A dying language (fwd) Message-ID: A dying language Lecture on endangered Navajo language shows cultural importance Madeleine Leroux Issue date: 11/13/07 http://media.www.siude.com/media/storage/paper1096/news/2007/11/13/Campus/A.Dying.Language-3095323.shtml The Navajo language is disappearing. As part of Native American Heritage Month, assistant anthropology professor Anthony Webster lectured on the endangered Navajo language, analyzing portions of a performance by Navajo poet Laura Tohe, who came to SIUC in October 2006. Webster discussed the importance of Navajo language and its connection to the values and beliefs held by the Navajo people. "The Navajo language is deeply connected to the Navajo worldview," Webster said. Tohe spoke of language as a way to become intimate with the Navajo philosophy, Webster said - but the language is in trouble. "Navajo language has recently been described as an endangered language," Webster said. During Tohe's visit, she spoke of punishments received on her reservation for speaking Navajo in school. The assimilation era, she said, tried to beat the native languages out. Webster said suppression of Navajo language during the assimilation era is a link to the now endangered state of Navajo language. "It clearly taps into a wider discourse on fairness and equality," Webster said. Navajo communities have the largest amount of speakers, Webster said, but they are all 45 years old or older. There's an entire generation of young Navajos who don't speak their language, he said. Lisa Kang, a community member of the Native American Student Organization, said dying native languages also show the dying culture of indigenous people. "Language is tied to culture," Kang said. "It's a fight to keep indigenous languages." If Navajo language is endangered, Webster said, then all other indigenous languages are also endangered. "Navajo has an essential place in the history of the United States," Webster said. Used as code in World War II, Webster and Tohe speak of Navajo language as being used to save America, but is now in need of saving. Madeleine Leroux can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 254 or mleroux at siu.edu. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Nov 13 16:41:06 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 09:41:06 -0700 Subject: Native tongue: MSU classes help Ojibwe language survive (fwd) Message-ID: Published November 13, 2007 [(Photo by MATTHEW DAE SMITH/For the Lansing State Journal) Preserving the culture: Professor Helen Roy, originally from Manitoulin Island, Ontario, teaches Ojibwe in a recent Michigan State University class. Damian Fisher, an Okemos lawyer and a Saginaw Chippewa tribe member, said Roy's efforts to save the language make her "a modern day hero."] Native tongue: MSU classes help Ojibwe language survive Matthew Miller Lansing State Journal http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071113/NEWS01/711130334/1001/news The Ojibwe word that Autumn Mitchell likes best is "pkwezhigaans." Literally, it means "little bread." Practically, it can mean cookies, crackers or muffins. It's the same word for all three. It's not a word she's known for very long, but she sees it as a part of her history all the same or, perhaps better, a part of her heritage. Mitchell, 19, is a member of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, but she didn't learn more than a few words of the language growing up. (Chippewa and Ojibwe are fundamentally the same language.) She's learning it now at Michigan State University, in part, because she doesn't want it to fade away. "Not a lot of people from where I come from speak the language anymore," she said. "It's kind of become, if you don't do this and if the handful who are willing to do this don't follow through with it, we're going to lose it and then we're going to be on the list of extinct languages. "And how do you still constitute a nation if you don't have a language?" Efforts to revive American Indian languages go back decades, but those efforts are taking on a new urgency as the numbers of fluent speakers decline. The 2000 Census listed 8,350 Ojibwe speakers in the U.S., 1,270 of those were in Michigan. Those numbers are almost certainly smaller now. "These people who are in their late 70s or 80s are going one by one," said Helen Roy, who is in her eighth year of teaching Ojibwe at MSU, "and each community is saying, 'Wow, once all our elders are gone our language will be gone.' " "That's the scare that's being put to the different communities because of the speakers dying, leaving and taking that language with them." More take languages But there is good news coming from college campuses, MSU among them. According to the Modern Language Association, there were 25 percent more students learning American Indian languages in 2002 than there were in 1998. The increase was smaller, only 7.6 percent, for Ojibwe, a language spoken by tribes throughout the Great Lakes region and inscribed in Michigan's geography. Many of the state's place names - Chesaning, Ishpeming and Pinconning, to name just a few - are Ojibwe words. At MSU, where Ojibwe is the only regularly taught American Indian language, Roy said she teaches perhaps two dozen students a semester, about half of them from Ojibwe-speaking tribes. And for those students in particular, the classes provide a link to a heritage they often didn't fully know growing up. A sense of heritage Nichole Shepherd, 32, is a doctoral student in English who began studying Ojibwe this year. In fact, she came to MSU, in part, because of Roy's classes. Shepherd is Odawa (again, the language is basically the same), but learned only a few words growing up, "some animal names and different things, like how to say, 'I'm hungry.' " Her grandparents had been fluent, she said, but, like many of their generation, were punished for speaking the language in the government-run schools they attended as children, "so they didn't speak it to their children." Shepherd said she's always had a sense of a heritage that she couldn't quite articulate. "Now I want to know how to say it right, to say it truly," she said. Most speakers over 60 Margaret Noori teaches Ojibwe at the University of Michigan, where more than 140 students are currently learning the language. She estimated that more than 80 percent of fluent speakers are over the age of 60. "It wouldn't take more than one generation that's not paying attention" for the language and the reservoir of cultural meanings it contains to disappear, she said. That makes teachers such as Roy, 59, who grew up speaking Ojibwe and never stopped, rare and all the more valuable. Damian Fisher, an Okemos attorney and a member of the Saginaw Chippewa tribe, said Roy's efforts to save the language make her "a modern-day hero." "You've got to be vested in the theory or idea that language is the single most determining element of a culture," he said. "I am, and, because of that, her work is important and the work to sustain and revive the language is important." Much of his tribe's language and traditional culture remains, he said, "but so much is evaporating." And that's not an isolated phenomenon. Carla McFall estimates that, of the 4,000 or so members of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa, there are only a dozen who are fluent in the language and most don't use the language regularly. That's part of the reason why the tribal government established the Anishinaabemowin Language Program three years ago. The program offers language courses, including classes at Harbor Springs High School, and works to preserve the language through video recordings and other documentation. "Hopefully someday, we have a bilingual community," said McFall, the program coordinator. "I'm sure I won't be here to see that, but I'm going to help to plant the seeds." Roy said she sees her own work in much the same light. "Hopefully I'm playing a little part in the start of a revitalization and resurgence," she said. "Hopefully, I put a little spark into somebody and they say, 'I want to learn this.' " "It's starting to happen, she said. "Not just with me, but all over." Contact Matthew Miller at 377-1046 or mrmiller at lsj.com. More on the Web ? Learn more about the Ojibwe language at www.ojibwe.net. ? November is National American Indian Heritage Month. For information on historic places and links to cultural resources provided by federal agencies, go to www.nps.gov/nr/feature/indian/Index.htm. Related content from LSJ: * Ojibwe/English translation Media files: * Helen Roy speaks in and about Ojibwe - MP3 From awebster at SIU.EDU Tue Nov 13 16:42:42 2007 From: awebster at SIU.EDU (awebster@siu.edu) Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 11:42:42 -0500 Subject: A dying language (fwd) In-Reply-To: <20071113093634.zvddqjoswgw8wog4@www.email.arizona.edu> Message-ID: Obviously I was misquoted concerning the fact that not all speakers of Navajo are over the age of 45. Hopefully they will publish a correction on Wednesday. Best, akw ---------Included Message---------- >Date: 13-nov-2007 10:36:39 -0600 >From: "phil cash cash" >Reply-To: "Indigenous Languages and Technology" >To: >Subject: [ILAT] A dying language (fwd) > >A dying language >Lecture on endangered Navajo language shows cultural importance > >Madeleine Leroux >Issue date: 11/13/07 >http://media.www.siude.com/media/storage/paper1096/news/2007/11 /13/Campus/A.Dying.Language-3095323.shtml > >The Navajo language is disappearing. > >As part of Native American Heritage Month, assistant anthropology professor >Anthony Webster lectured on the endangered Navajo language, analyzing >portions of a performance by Navajo poet Laura Tohe, who came to SIUC in >October 2006. > >Webster discussed the importance of Navajo language and its connection to >the values and beliefs held by the Navajo people. > >"The Navajo language is deeply connected to the Navajo worldview," Webster >said. > >Tohe spoke of language as a way to become intimate with the Navajo >philosophy, Webster said - but the language is in trouble. > >"Navajo language has recently been described as an endangered language," >Webster said. > >During Tohe's visit, she spoke of punishments received on her reservation >for speaking Navajo in school. The assimilation era, she said, tried to >beat the native languages out. > >Webster said suppression of Navajo language during the assimilation era is a >link to the now endangered state of Navajo language. > >"It clearly taps into a wider discourse on fairness and equality," Webster >said. > >Navajo communities have the largest amount of speakers, Webster said, but >they are all 45 years old or older. There's an entire generation of young >Navajos who don't speak their language, he said. > >Lisa Kang, a community member of the Native American Student Organization, >said dying native languages also show the dying culture of indigenous >people. > >"Language is tied to culture," Kang said. "It's a fight to keep indigenous >languages." > >If Navajo language is endangered, Webster said, then all other indigenous >languages are also endangered. > >"Navajo has an essential place in the history of the United States," Webster >said. > >Used as code in World War II, Webster and Tohe speak of Navajo language as >being used to save America, but is now in need of saving. > >Madeleine Leroux can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 254 or mleroux at siu.edu. > > ---------End of Included Message---------- Anthony K. Webster, Ph.D. Department of Anthropology Southern Illinois University Mail Code 4502 Carbondale, IL 62901-4502 618-453-5027 From awebster at SIU.EDU Tue Nov 13 16:47:17 2007 From: awebster at SIU.EDU (awebster@siu.edu) Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 11:47:17 -0500 Subject: SIUC Linguistic Anthropology In-Reply-To: <20071113093634.zvddqjoswgw8wog4@www.email.arizona.edu> Message-ID: This seems as good a time as any to pass along the following: Linguistic Anthropology at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale The Department of Anthropology at SIUC (_http://www.siu.edu/~anthro/_ ) is building its graduate program in Linguistic Anthropology and invites interested students to apply. SIUC has a vibrant four- field department, where students receive training in all major sub-disciplines. Linguistic anthropology students are trained in current linguistic and sociocultural theory as well as current methods of linguistic description and analysis. Our approach to language is ethnographic and eclectic, stressing the need to master basic analytic skills in order to address anthropological problems. Our faculty include Janet Fuller, whose research currently focuses on the social roles of language in bilingual communities (_http://www.siuc.edu/%7Eanthro/fuller/index.html_); C. Andrew Hofling, whose interests include Mayan linguistic history and language documentation (_http://www.siuc.edu/%7Eanthro/hofling/index.html_); and Anthony Webster, whose research focuses on Native American verbal art (_http://www.siuc.edu/%7Eanthro/webster/index.html_) Some major themes of special interest to the faculty include: ! Discourse approaches to language and culture ! Native American languages and their documentation ! Orality, literacy and cognition ! Discourse genres and verbal art ! Linguistic practices and power relationships ! Language and identity ! Linguistic and cultural history ! Language in its social and cultural contexts and functions ! Bilingualism and language shift The Department has a Linguistic Anthropology Lab with equipment for analog and digital audio and video recording and analysis. Interested students and others are encouraged to visit our web page where information on the program and application materials are available: _http://www.siu.edu/~anthro/ Anthony K. Webster, Ph.D. Department of Anthropology Southern Illinois University Mail Code 4502 Carbondale, IL 62901-4502 618-453-5027 From dzo at BISHARAT.NET Thu Nov 15 03:51:50 2007 From: dzo at BISHARAT.NET (Don Osborn) Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2007 22:51:50 -0500 Subject: Internat'l Workshop on Spoken Languages Technologies for Under-resourced languages Message-ID: FYI. This call for participation may be of interest to some. Its focus is Asian languages, but contributions on "under-resourced languages" from other regions are welcome. (Seen on Chinese at kenyon.edu) Subject: 2d CFP : International Workshop on Spoken Languages Technologies for Under-resourced languages (SLTU) Reply-To: doug.cooper.thailand at gmail.com The International Workshop on Spoken Languages Technologies for Under-resourced languages (SLTU) will be held at Hanoi University of Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam, May 5 - May 7, 2008. Workshop Web Site : http://www.mica.edu.vn/sltu The STLU meeting is a technical conference focused on spoken language processing for under-resourced languages. This first workshop will focus on Asian languages, and the idea is to mainly (but not exclusively) target languages of the area (Vietnamese, Khmer, Lao, Chinese dialects, Thai, etc.). However, all contributions on other under-resourced languages of the world are warmly welcomed. The workshop aims at gathering researchers working on: * ASR, synthesis and speech translation for under-resourced languages * portability issues * fast resources acquisition (speech, text, lexicons, parallel corpora) * spoken language processing for languages with rich morphology * spoken language processing for languages without separators * spoken language processing for languages without writing system * ... Important dates * Paper submission: January 15, 2008 * Notification of Paper Acceptance: February 20, 2008 * Author Registration Deadline: March 1, 2008 Scientific Committee * Pr Tanja Schultz, CMU, USA * Dr Yuqing Gao, IBM, USA * Dr Lori Lamel, LIMSI, France * Dr Laurent Besacier, LIG, France * Dr Pascal Nocera, LIA, France * Pr Jean-Paul Haton, LORIA, France * Pr Luong Chi Mai, IOIT, Vietnam * Pr Dang Van Chuyet, HUT, Vietnam * Pr Pham Thi Ngoc Yen, MICA, Vietnam * Dr Eric Castelli, MICA, Vietnam * Dr Vincent Berment, LIG Laboratory, France * Dr Briony Williams, Bangor University, UK Local Organizing Committee * Pr Nguyen Trong Giang, HUT/MICA * Pr Ha Duyen Tu, HUT * Pr Pham Thi Ngoc Yen, HUT/MICA * Pr Genevi?ve Caelen-Haumont, MICA * Dr Trinh Van Loan, HUT * Dr Mathias Rossignol, MICA * M. Hoang Xuan Lan, HUT -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Nov 15 18:12:18 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:12:18 -0700 Subject: Speaking to keep their native tongue alive (fwd link) Message-ID: Speaking to keep their native tongue alive John Grap The Enquirer FULTON ? There's a lot of quiet whispering and speaking softly as a small class of students whispers words that are rarely heard any more. It's a warm and windy evening as this brave band of five ? including 7-year-old Onyleen Zapata and her grandmother Ruth Ann Chivis ? sit around tables inside Pine Creek Reservation's community center, learning the Potawatomi language, which is related to Algonquin, Ojibwe and Odawa. To access the full article, follow the link below: http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071115/NEWS01/711150336/1002/NEWS01 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Nov 15 18:17:45 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:17:45 -0700 Subject: Indigenous program launches across 120 countries (fwd link) Message-ID: Indigenous program launches across 120 countries Aussie education to train millions of students Darren Pauli 15/11/2007 14:48:03 An Australian indigenous community engagement program this week has struck one of the largest deals for Microsoft's Partners in Learning (PiL) alliance. The Marvin program received $5000 from the government's $15 billion Australian Flexible Learning Framework to spread awareness of drug and alcohol abuse in Aboriginal communities living in the Northern Territory. To access full article, follow the link below: http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;132489003;fp;2;fpid;1 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 16 16:15:10 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 09:15:10 -0700 Subject: Indigenous Mexican Language Faces Extinction As Last Two Speakers Stop Talking To Each Other (fwd link) Message-ID: Indigenous Mexican Language Faces Extinction As Last Two Speakers Stop Talking To Each Other November 16, 2007 5:41 a.m. EST Ishita Sukhadwala - AHN News Writer Ayapan, Mexico (AHN) - The last two speakers of an indigenous Mexican language have stopped talking to each other, raising fears that the language will become extinct. The two men in their 70s from the village of Ayapan, Tabasco, in southern Mexico, are the only remaining speakers of their local version of the Zoque language. To access full article, follow the link below: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7009177830 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 16 16:20:43 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 09:20:43 -0700 Subject: Inuits in Arctic Canada Use Internet to Connect to Each Other (fwd link) Message-ID: Inuits in Arctic Canada Use Internet to Connect to Each Other By Susan Karlin First Published November 2007 It's not easy to get to Arctic Bay, a Canadian Inuit village of 700 that lies along a north Baffin Island inlet by the Northwest Passage, 700 kilometers above the Arctic Circle. The Akademic Ioffe?a Russian research vessel leased for tourists by the Darien, Conn., cruise line Quark Expeditions?docks at the former mining community of Nanisivik to restock our drinking water. From there, it's another hour by school bus over 32 km of harsh snow-swept terrain to Arctic Bay, where village leaders await us?100 or so curious tourists?to demonstrate their Inuit traditions. There's warmth to the residents that offsets the chilly temperatures and bleak surroundings. But Arctic Bay's real novelty lies less with honoring its past and more in gracefully bridging it with a rapidly changing present. The way the Inuit here have used the Internet to pass down their culture could be a precursor to the real test of integrating traditions and technology with a coming commercial overhaul of the area. To access full article, follow the link below: http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/nov07/5716 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 16 16:28:50 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 09:28:50 -0700 Subject: Schools will decide fate of Inuit language: Laval linguist (fwd link) Message-ID: Nunavut November 16, 2007 Schools will decide fate of Inuit language: Laval linguist Inuktitut purity ?has its limits,? expert warns JOHN THOMPSON The details of Nunavut's draft language laws will be settled in the legislative assembly, but the fate of the Inuit language rests in the schools. This is worth keeping in mind as the language law debates heat up, says Louis-Jacques Dorais, a linguist at Universit? Laval who has studied Inuit languages across the Arctic for many years. After all, it doesn't matter to ordinary Nunavut residents whether bureaucrats make PowerPoint presentations to one another in English, Inuktitut or Japanese. Nor does it matter much whether arcane bits of law are translated into Innuinaqtun. What matters is whether kids speak their native tongue. And, right now, most Nunavut kids learn how to speak and think about most important things in English, Dorais says. To access full article, follow the link below: http://www.nunatsiaq.com/news/nunavut/71116_694.html From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 16 18:16:17 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:16:17 -0700 Subject: A Play on Words (fwd link) Message-ID: Greetings, Below is a link to a fascinating news article (in PDF) concerning a National Science Foundation?s Arctic Social Sciences Program sponsored project by James Mountain Chief Sanderville (a Blackfoot and Klamath Native American) who is working with colleagues to develop an educational video game that will help preserve the language, culture, and traditional knowledge of southern Alaska?s Sugpiaq-Alutiiq people. Just follow the link below and click on the [October 2007] to access the PDF and news article. Phil UofA ~~~ A Play on Words Preserving Native Languages through Game by Marcy Davis The VECO Polar Resources Newsletter, 09 Oct 2007 http://www.vecopolar.com/SingleHTMLTextArea.aspx?P=8E028B9E-E1ED-4076-8F97-2185B297DD96 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Nov 20 18:06:30 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 11:06:30 -0700 Subject: National Science Foundation Makes Documenting Endangered Languages Permanent (fwd) Message-ID: Press Release 07-173 National Science Foundation Makes Documenting Endangered Languages Permanent Program NSF commits to full-time research of vanishing linguistic heritage November 20, 2007 After funding more than $10 million dollars of scientific research and study projects during the last three years to record and analyze some of the world's most endangered languages, the National Science Foundation (NSF) recently made its Documenting Endangered Languages (DEL) initiative a permanent program. To access full article, just follow the link below: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=110719&org=NSF&from=news From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Nov 20 18:13:12 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 11:13:12 -0700 Subject: A breakthrough for Aboriginal learning in Canada (fwd) Message-ID: A breakthrough for Aboriginal learning in Canada http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/November2007/20/c2336.html OTTAWA, Nov. 20 /CNW Telbec/ - The Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) and its Aboriginal Learning Knowledge Centre, in partnership with Aboriginal organizations in Canada, have developed an innovative approach to measuring Aboriginal learning-one that should lead to more effective lifelong learning and contribute to a higher quality of life for Aboriginal Peoples across Canada. Aboriginal organizations have long advocated learning that affirms their cultural traditions, own ways of knowing and values. Using modern communications technology to present Aboriginal perspectives, this partnership has resulted in three interactive, online learning models that convey how learning occurs throughout all stages of life and in many settings, such as the home, on the land, and in the community. "Traditional approaches to measuring successful learning are important, but have focused on the classroom and have not sufficiently reflected Aboriginal people's holistic view of learning," says Paul Cappon, CCL's president and CEO. "All Canadians can learn from these models." "Lifelong learning is an important part of the solution to eradicating poverty in our communities," says Phil Fontaine, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. "The development of a culturally appropriate framework for measuring lifelong learning recognizes the more holistic approach to learning that has long been an essential part of the lives of First Nations people." The First Nations model (http://www.ccl-cca.ca/CCL/Newsroom/Releases/RedefiningSuccessInAboriginalLea rning.htm?Language=EN) and M?tis model are represented by illustrations of living trees, to convey the regenerative nature of learning and its relationship to community well-being. The Inuit model uses an image of an Inuit blanket toss (a game often played at Inuit celebrations) and a circular path of lifelong learning to depict learning as an individual and collective journey. "The Inuit learning model is a first step toward what I believe will be an invaluable ongoing discussion about learning and how learning can be strengthened in Inuit communities," says Mary Simon, President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. These Holistic Lifelong Learning Models form the centrepiece of CCL's first annual report on Aboriginal learning, Redefining How Success Is Measured in First Nations, Inuit and M?tis Learning. Released today at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, the report details the nearly year-long development process behind this project which was carried out in partnership with five national Aboriginal organizations, and refined through workshops and discussions with leading Aboriginal learning experts and community members. Each of the three models are intended as living documents that will evolve as First Nations, Inuit and M?tis communities, organizations, institutions, researchers and governments use them to strengthen new approaches to learning. "M?tis people have always advocated for the importance of knowledge acquired through experiential learning, including learning from Elders, traditions, ceremonies, family, and the workplace," says Dale Leclair, Chief Administrative Officer of the M?tis National Council (MNC). "The MNC applauds the efforts of CCL in recognizing these vital, but often unrecognized forms of learning within M?tis learning model," The Holistic Lifelong Learning Models are available at www.ccl-cca.ca/redefiningsuccess. The Canadian Council on Learning is an independent, not-for-profit corporation funded through an agreement with Human Resources and Social Development Canada. Its mandate is to promote and support evidence-based decisions about learning throughout all stages of life, from early childhood through to the senior years. For further information: Kelly Ouimet, Senior Communications Specialist, Canadian Council on Learning, (613) 786-3230 x242, kouimet at ccl-cca.ca From andrekar at NCIDC.ORG Wed Nov 21 17:33:46 2007 From: andrekar at NCIDC.ORG (Andre Cramblit) Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2007 09:33:46 -0800 Subject: Language Conference Message-ID: SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- Live Your Language Alliance (LYLA) Invites you to join us in our 1st Annual Native Languages Conference: Shut Up & Talk*: Gathering The Tools To Live Our Languages March 17-19, 2007 @ Humboldt State University-Arcata, CA More information, call to conference and call for presenters available online after 12/01/07 * This theme was chosen not to offend but rather as an attempt to challenge people to make a commitment to developing the skills, knowledge and resources needed to preserve the vitality of our Native languages and to speak them in our daily lives. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 23 17:53:40 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2007 10:53:40 -0700 Subject: Naskapi New Testament after 25 years (fwd) Message-ID: Naskapi New Testament after 25 years http://www.canadianchristianity.com/nationalupdates/071122briefs.html [photo inset - Naskapi child read the Naskapi New Testament Bible aloud with Lana Martens, who began the first translation work in the 1970s. Photo by Pierre Therrien.] After 25 years of labour, Wycliffe Bible Translators has produced a New Testament in the Naskapi language, spoken in the Kawawachikamach community of Quebec. The project was headed by Silas Nabinicaboo, a lay reader in the aboriginal church, and Bill Jancewicz of Wycliffe. Every household in the community -- located near the mining town of Schefferville, Quebec -- received a copy at a public declaration ceremony September 16, with elders receiving large print versions. -- Anglican Journal From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 23 17:59:39 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2007 10:59:39 -0700 Subject: Chile High School Students Preserves Patagonian Indigenous Langauges (fwd link) Message-ID: CHILE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT PRESERVES PATAGONIAN INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES (Nov. 19, 2007) Sixteen-year-old Santiago high school student Joubert Yant?n has a mission: to preserve Patagonia?s indigenous languages and worldviews through music. To access full article, just follow the link below: http://www.tcgnews.com/santiagotimes/index.php?nav=story&story_id=15291&topic_id=15 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 23 18:04:40 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2007 11:04:40 -0700 Subject: Sealaska releases new language tools (fwd link) Message-ID: Web posted November 22, 2007 Sealaska releases new language tools Interactive Web program helps teach Tlingit skills ERIC MORRISON JUNEAU EMPIRE Seventy-year-old Tlingit teacher Ruth Demmert has seen firsthand how the Internet and computer technology can inspire the younger generation of Alaska Natives to embrace its culture. "I believe it sparks the interest of the younger people, and I know there's a lot more younger people out there showing pride in the language," she said. Sealaska Heritage Institute has posted two new interactive language tools on its Web site this week in its continued effort to teach the Tlingit language. To access full article, just follow the link below: http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/112207/loc_20071122001.shtml From phonosemantics at EARTHLINK.NET Fri Nov 23 18:38:06 2007 From: phonosemantics at EARTHLINK.NET (jess tauber) Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2007 13:38:06 -0500 Subject: Chile High School Students Preserves Patagonian Indigenous Langauges (fwd link) Message-ID: This story has been floating around various media outlets over the past several months. I wrote several times to one of his mentors (who works with Mapudungan/Mapuche) to find out more, but never heard back. I'm wondering whether he's for real or just basking in the attention. In the meantime a real linguistics student, Yoram Meroz, is heading for Tierra del Fuego to work with the last Yahgan speaker, Cristina Calderon, for two months. A hopeful sign of things to come? Jess Tauber phonosemantics at earthlink.net From andrekar at NCIDC.ORG Sat Nov 24 20:16:52 2007 From: andrekar at NCIDC.ORG (Andre Cramblit) Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007 12:16:52 -0800 Subject: My Bad March 17-19 2008 Message-ID: SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- Live Your Language Alliance (LYLA) Invites you to join us in our 1st Annual Native Languages Conference: Shut Up & Talk*: Gathering The Tools To Live Our Languages March 17-19, 2008 @ Humboldt State University-Arcata, CA More information, call to conference and call for presenters available online after 12/01/07 * This theme was chosen not to offend but rather as an attempt to challenge people to make a commitment to developing the skills, knowledge and resources needed to preserve the vitality of our Native languages and to speak them in our daily lives. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From andrekar at NCIDC.ORG Sat Nov 24 19:08:09 2007 From: andrekar at NCIDC.ORG (Andre Cramblit) Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007 11:08:09 -0800 Subject: Language is Life Conference Message-ID: ? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: humming bid copy 2.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 513812 bytes Desc: not available URL: From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Sun Nov 25 00:29:53 2007 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (Mia Kalish) Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007 17:29:53 -0700 Subject: My Bad March 17-19 2008 In-Reply-To: <611FB9D6-887E-4409-9511-3AF283108D9C@ncidc.org> Message-ID: Hi, Andre, I like your title, and your graphic. Don't know where Sausalito is, but I would like to come. Also - this isn't quite about Ndn languages, but my friend Yolanda just did a study on why parents choose English Immersion for their Spanish-speaking children. The results aren't totally earth-shaking, but they are interesting and to the point. Would people be interested in what she has to say? She's Tejano. Her dad's part Yaqui. Let me know what you think. Best always, Mia _____ From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Andre Cramblit Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 1:17 PM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: [ILAT] My Bad March 17-19 2008 SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- Live Your Language Alliance (LYLA) Invites you to join us in our 1st Annual Native Languages Conference: Shut Up & Talk*: Gathering The Tools To Live Our Languages March 17-19, 2008 @ Humboldt State University-Arcata, CA More information, call to conference and call for presenters available online after 12/01/07 * This theme was chosen not to offend but rather as an attempt to challenge people to make a commitment to developing the skills, knowledge and resources needed to preserve the vitality of our Native languages and to speak them in our daily lives. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hardman at UFL.EDU Sun Nov 25 02:39:51 2007 From: hardman at UFL.EDU (MJ Hardman) Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007 21:39:51 -0500 Subject: My Bad March 17-19 2008 In-Reply-To: <001201c82efa$4c6be420$55c17b80@LFPMIA> Message-ID: Yes, please, do tell us. MJ On 11/24/07 7:29 PM, "Mia Kalish" wrote: > Hi, Andre, > > I like your title, and your graphic. Don?t know where Sausalito is, but I > would like to come. > > Also ? this isn?t quite about Ndn languages, but my friend Yolanda just did a > study on why parents choose English Immersion for their Spanish-speaking > children. The results aren?t totally earth-shaking, but they are interesting > and to the point. Would people be interested in what she has to say? She?s > Tejano. Her dad?s part Yaqui. > > Let me know what you think. > Best always, > Mia > > > > From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] > On Behalf Of Andre Cramblit > Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 1:17 PM > To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU > Subject: [ILAT] My Bad March 17-19 2008 > > > SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- > > Live Your Language Alliance (LYLA) > > Invites you to join us in our 1st Annual Native Languages Conference: > > Shut Up & Talk*: Gathering The Tools To Live Our Languages > > March 17-19, 2008 @ Humboldt State University-Arcata, CA > > More information, call to conference and call for presenters available online > after 12/01/07 > > * This theme was chosen not to offend but rather as an attempt to challenge > people to make a commitment to developing the skills, knowledge and resources > needed to preserve the vitality of our Native languages and to speak them in > our daily lives. > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dzo at BISHARAT.NET Sun Nov 25 03:59:30 2007 From: dzo at BISHARAT.NET (Don Osborn) Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007 22:59:30 -0500 Subject: My Bad March 17-19 2008 In-Reply-To: <001201c82efa$4c6be420$55c17b80@LFPMIA> Message-ID: Hi Mia, I'd be interested in your friend's study. I think that in many parts of the world, parents are eager to do what by their understanding will benefit their children. So you get parents not speaking their maternal language to their children (so many places), beating their kids when they speak other than English (Uganda), having their kids undergo tongue surgery to pronounce English better (Korea), etc. >From what I've heard and read, a lot of it comes from erroneous notions about language learning and linguistic ability. Commonly, that speaking 2 languages means you do each less well than if you spent all your time with one language. Not sure whether any of this has to do with any of your friend's study's findings. All the best. Don PS- just posted a few items to AfricanLanguages, of which the excerpt of a talk by Philip Emeagwali in which he mentions his educational experience wrt language as a child in Nigeria might be of interest. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AfricanLanguages/ From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Mia Kalish Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 7:30 PM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: Re: [ILAT] My Bad March 17-19 2008 Hi, Andre, I like your title, and your graphic. Don't know where Sausalito is, but I would like to come. Also - this isn't quite about Ndn languages, but my friend Yolanda just did a study on why parents choose English Immersion for their Spanish-speaking children. The results aren't totally earth-shaking, but they are interesting and to the point. Would people be interested in what she has to say? She's Tejano. Her dad's part Yaqui. Let me know what you think. Best always, Mia _____ From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Andre Cramblit Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 1:17 PM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: [ILAT] My Bad March 17-19 2008 SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- Live Your Language Alliance (LYLA) Invites you to join us in our 1st Annual Native Languages Conference: Shut Up & Talk*: Gathering The Tools To Live Our Languages March 17-19, 2008 @ Humboldt State University-Arcata, CA More information, call to conference and call for presenters available online after 12/01/07 * This theme was chosen not to offend but rather as an attempt to challenge people to make a commitment to developing the skills, knowledge and resources needed to preserve the vitality of our Native languages and to speak them in our daily lives. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ighernandez at UCDAVIS.EDU Sun Nov 25 07:12:21 2007 From: ighernandez at UCDAVIS.EDU (Ines Hernandez-Avila) Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007 23:12:21 -0800 Subject: April 08/U of Georgia/Native American/Indigenous Studies conference Message-ID: Hello everyone, Hopefully you've seen this call, but if not, I wanted to share it with you. This conference attracted almost 400 people last year (held at U of Oklahoma), 257 presenters. It was wonderful, and greatly representative of the interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary work that is being done in Native American and Indigenous Studies and related disciplines. Please consider attending and/or especially presenting--the website for the CFP is below: http://www.instituteofnativeamericanstudies.com/ Deadline for submissions is Dec. 1, 2007, coming up soon! best wishes to all, Ines Hernandez-Avila From enviro.design at YAHOO.COM Sun Nov 25 15:55:36 2007 From: enviro.design at YAHOO.COM (Sandra Gaskell) Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2007 07:55:36 -0800 Subject: Language is Life Conference In-Reply-To: <8C42DA03-CCF0-469D-9C61-B173A47C30D6@ncidc.org> Message-ID: Here is a word document---couldn't see the other one-- Sandy (Southern Sierra Miwuk Archives) Andre Cramblit wrote: ??? Sandra Gaskell, RPA, MS, MA Registered Professional Archaeologist ARC Archaeology Resources & Culture MS-SLP Candidate Speech-Language Therapist Glazing Contractor CA C17-862592 since 1986 4986 7th Street @ Bullion P. O. Box 1881, Mariposa CA 95338 (209) 614-2505 enviro.design at yahoo.com arcresours at gmail.com www.enviro-design.org www.arcresours.com --------------------------------- Get easy, one-click access to your favorites. Make Yahoo! your homepage. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Language is life.doc Type: application/msword Size: 1263104 bytes Desc: 467889570-Language is life.doc URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Sun Nov 25 18:13:50 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2007 11:13:50 -0700 Subject: Last of the Siletz speakers (fwd link) Message-ID: Last of the Siletz speakers As native languages of the Northwest fade into extinction, tribal member Bud Lane is racing to keep Oregon Coastal Athabaskan alive -- one ancient whispered word at a time Sunday, November 25, 2007 NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES The Oregonian Staff "Chabayu." Bud Lane presses his lips against the tiny ear of his blue-eyed grandbaby and whispers her Native name. "Ghaa\UNSTRIP-yalh," he beckons -- "come here" -- in words so old, ears heard them millennia before anyone with blue eyes walked this land. In his voice, the Siletz man hopes to teach her a tongue almost no one else understands. As the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians celebrate 30 years since they won back tribal status from the federal government, the language of their people is dying. By some standards, Oregon Coastal Athabaskan is already dead. Just four others in the world speak it fluently. At 50, Lane is among the youngest. To access full article, follow the link below: http://www.oregonlive.com/living/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/living/1195682157265430.xml&coll=7 From MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US Sun Nov 25 20:03:57 2007 From: MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US (Mia Kalish) Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2007 13:03:57 -0700 Subject: My Bad March 17-19 2008 In-Reply-To: <00d001c82f17$95086dd0$bf194970$@net> Message-ID: Dear MJ, Don & Everyone else Yolanda is still working on finishing, but I can probably share the general directions. . . more when she has finalized. Two things of significance seem to be emerging. The first is pretty much a no-brainer: The immigrant Mexican parents don't want their children to be like them (although we don't have details on precisely what that means), and they think that if the children speak English, they won't be perceived as [whatever the parents are]. This isn't really earth shaking: My father had this in mind when he wanted me to forego the Eastern European and Gaelic languages of my ancestors and forebears, and speak only English. To his 6th grade educated mind, this was the way to "be American" and that was important enough to him to withstand that fact that his 4 year old daughter (me) refused to talk to him for months. The 2nd emergent theme is much more interesting. The parents see educacion as manners, deportment, values, and carriage or bearing. They do not distinguish an academic education related to disciplinary content. To them, what their children are learning seems to be undifferentiated. All they see is that the children have all these opportunities to learn English. So my friend originally thought that the reason parents were moving their children to English immersion, where overall they seem to be doing less well, because of the information they were getting from their social groups and connections. It is seeming to turn out to be an issue of information, but instead one related to what an academic education is as opposed to their cultural understanding of educacion. Is this an interesting treat or what? Tell me your thoughts. We haven't had a really good discussion in a while. In anticipation, Mia _____ From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Don Osborn Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 9:00 PM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: Re: [ILAT] My Bad March 17-19 2008 Hi Mia, I'd be interested in your friend's study. I think that in many parts of the world, parents are eager to do what by their understanding will benefit their children. So you get parents not speaking their maternal language to their children (so many places), beating their kids when they speak other than English (Uganda), having their kids undergo tongue surgery to pronounce English better (Korea), etc. >From what I've heard and read, a lot of it comes from erroneous notions about language learning and linguistic ability. Commonly, that speaking 2 languages means you do each less well than if you spent all your time with one language. Not sure whether any of this has to do with any of your friend's study's findings. All the best. Don PS- just posted a few items to AfricanLanguages, of which the excerpt of a talk by Philip Emeagwali in which he mentions his educational experience wrt language as a child in Nigeria might be of interest. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AfricanLanguages/ From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Mia Kalish Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 7:30 PM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: Re: [ILAT] My Bad March 17-19 2008 Hi, Andre, I like your title, and your graphic. Don't know where Sausalito is, but I would like to come. Also - this isn't quite about Ndn languages, but my friend Yolanda just did a study on why parents choose English Immersion for their Spanish-speaking children. The results aren't totally earth-shaking, but they are interesting and to the point. Would people be interested in what she has to say? She's Tejano. Her dad's part Yaqui. Let me know what you think. Best always, Mia _____ From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Andre Cramblit Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 1:17 PM To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU Subject: [ILAT] My Bad March 17-19 2008 SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- SAVE THE DATE- Live Your Language Alliance (LYLA) Invites you to join us in our 1st Annual Native Languages Conference: Shut Up & Talk*: Gathering The Tools To Live Our Languages March 17-19, 2008 @ Humboldt State University-Arcata, CA More information, call to conference and call for presenters available online after 12/01/07 * This theme was chosen not to offend but rather as an attempt to challenge people to make a commitment to developing the skills, knowledge and resources needed to preserve the vitality of our Native languages and to speak them in our daily lives. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Nov 26 16:52:44 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2007 09:52:44 -0700 Subject: Tribal language fading away (fwd link) Message-ID: Tribal language fading away By SE RUCKMAN, World Staff Writer 11/26/2007 Last Modified: 11/26/2007 9:17 AM ANADARKO -- Oklahoma had been a state for only two decades when Doris Jean Lamar was born in 1927. Her first spoken words were not English, but an American Indian language taught to her by grandparents. Today, Lamar is the last fluent speaker in the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, a tribe of 2,300. Sitting in a tribal canteen that she supervises, the 80-year-old Lamar carries a language that once was spoken by thousands, then hundreds of Wichita language speakers. To access full article, follow the link below: http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=071126_1_A1_ahref16518 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Mon Nov 26 17:05:29 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2007 10:05:29 -0700 Subject: Kelso students learn Wiradjuri language (fwd link) Message-ID: Australia Western Advocate 26 November 2007 - 5:14PM Kelso students learn Wiradjuri language STUDENTS are learning the Wiradjuri language as part of Kelso Public School?s indigenous heritage program. Teacher Cassandra Hayes said the program had been operating for almost two years. ?Aboriginal children from stage two and three meet every Wednesday to participate in cultural activities, learning the Wiradjuri language and literacy skills,? Ms Hayes said. To access full article, follow the link below: http://bathurst.yourguide.com.au/news/local/general/kelso-students-learn-wiradjuri-language/1093100.html From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Nov 27 05:48:42 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2007 22:48:42 -0700 Subject: At a Loss for Words (fwd link) Message-ID: At a Loss for Words Scientists Scramble to Keep Endangered Languages From Becoming Extinct Monday, November 26, 2007; Page C11 Everybody knows about endangered species such as sea turtles and humpback whales. But have you ever heard of the endangered Yawuru or the nearly extinct Magati Ke? They are two of the world's many endangered languages -- species of speech on the verge of extinction. In much the same way that thousands of endangered plants and animals are struggling to survive in a changing environment, some languages are at risk of being lost forever because the people who speak them are dwindling in number and young people are not learning them anymore. To access full article, just follow the link below: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/25/AR2007112501329.html From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Tue Nov 27 18:35:51 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2007 11:35:51 -0700 Subject: Digital Teacher Workshops for Teachers of Native American (fwd link) Message-ID: The U.S. Department of Education's Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative, in collaboration with Office of Indian Education, is proud to announce the launch of the Digital Teacher Workshops for Teachers of Native American students. The workshops are designed to provide professional development opportunities for teachers of American Indians and Alaska Natives in all grade levels and content areas. The workshops support mastery of academic content and application by modeling strong teaching methods that have been successful in the classroom and providing a classroom application component, and additional resources. These workshops are available FREE on the Internet at www.t2tweb.us/nativeamerican. Our first workshops focus on literature, community outreach, and reading. From CRANEM at ECU.EDU Tue Nov 27 19:48:28 2007 From: CRANEM at ECU.EDU (Bizzaro, Resa Crane) Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:48:28 -0500 Subject: 2008 CCCC Tribal College Fellowship In-Reply-To: A<20071116092043.0ahmnuocc4kgooc0@www.email.arizona.edu> Message-ID: Hi, everyone. The deadline for the CCCC Tribal College Fellowship has been extended in order to allow more people to apply. If you or someone you know would like to apply, please see the announcement information below. The new deadline is January 15, 2008. Resa Here's the announcement: CCCC Tribal College Faculty Fellowship: Offers financial aid to selected faculty members currently working at tribally controlled colleges to attend the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) April 2-5 in New Orleans. We are offering two Tribal College Faculty Fellowships in the amount of $750 each. Featuring over 500 sessions focusing on teaching practices, writing and literacy programs, language research, history, theory, information technologies, and professional and technical communication, the annual CCCC meeting provides a forum for thinking, learning, networking, and presenting research on the teaching and learning of writing. With this Fellowship, CCCC hopes to create new opportunities for Tribal College Faculty members to become involved in CCCC and for CCCC to carry out its mission of serving as a truly representative national advocate for language and literacy education. How to Apply By November 15, 2007, please submit an application letter (on institutional letterhead) describing: Who you are as a teacher and what you teach at your tribal college. What your research interests are. What you hope to gain from the experience of attending CCCC (how it could help you in your teaching or research). Send your application letter via email to cccc at ncte.org or via snail mail to CCCC Administrative Liaison, NCTE, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801. Selection Criteria A selection committee will review applications for the Tribal College Faculty Fellowship. Fellowship awards will be based on overall quality of the application letter. You do not need to present at CCCC in order to qualify for this award. From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Thu Nov 29 02:02:56 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2007 19:02:56 -0700 Subject: Military device holds key to saving Oneida language (fwd link) Message-ID: Military device holds key to saving Oneida language Wed, November 28, 2007 By JENNIFER O'BRIEN, SUN MEDIA The problem is, Oneida children don't speak Oneida -- haven't for three generations -- say leaders from the area First Nation. But suddenly, thanks to a military tool, the Oneida of the Thames community has found a way to tap into a solution for its dying language. One that was there all along. Some of the 2,000-strong community's eldest -- only 90 still speak fluent Oneida -- spent yesterday recording phrases in their native language onto machines called Phraselators. To access full article, just follow the link below: http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/CityandRegion/2007/11/28/4691056-sun.html From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 30 18:36:11 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:36:11 -0700 Subject: About 2,000 rare languages may disappear on Earth in 100 years (fwd link) Message-ID: About 2,000 rare languages may disappear on Earth in 100 years 29.11.20007 Source: Pravda.Ru A language dies on planet Earth every two weeks. This data was published by David Harrison, a linguist and deputy director of Living Tongues Institute, USA. There are about 7,000 languages existing in the world today. Eighty percent of people living in the world today speak the widely-spread 83 languages, and only 0,2 percent interact in rare 3,500 languages. To access full article, just follow the link below: http://newsfromrussia.com/science/earth/29-11-2007/101929-language-0 From cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU Fri Nov 30 22:35:22 2007 From: cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU (phil cash cash) Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:35:22 -0700 Subject: New Marantz PMD620 Message-ID: Friday greetings, For all the field audio buffs, you will want to keep an eye out for the new Marantz digital recorder. B&H is selling this for 399. There a number of announcements out there of below of which is but one example. Marantz PMD620 http://www.bradlinder.net/2007/10/more-marantz-pmd620-details-emerge.html l8ter, Phil UofA