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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Hi, People, <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>The unavailability of funding for
revitalization is easily observable, but I think Natasha was overly kind in her
assessment of the reasoning. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Historically, there has been a movement in
the US to eradicate American languages, replacing them with the Lingua Franca. I
think that the funding categories support this bias. I think that by
documenting languages, we make them available for scholars, thus increasing the
total knowledge available for non-Indigenous people. We also snap-shot them as
anthropological artifacts, ensuring that they do not change as they would if
they were alive. So the funding sources are doing their job of increasing
knowledge, and also following their social and anthropological mandates for
assimilation. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>It is impossible for me to believe that
funding sources could be so cruel in their allocations, depriving human beings
of their last opportunity to save and re-establish vestiges of their linguistic,
social and cultural identity unless the mid-19<sup>th</sup> century Eureka! that
“White Man is G_d’s supreme creation” were not alive and well
and living in the hearts of many. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Mia <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>
<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center tabindex=-1>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'> Indigenous
Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Susan Penfield<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Sunday, October 28, 2007
1:56 PM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> ILAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: [ILAT] legacy
materials</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>All,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Natasha makes some great points here -- among them is the fact that
there is a real<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>disconnect between communities who want and need linguists and
linguists who want<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>to work at the community level, but are often frustrated by the powers
that be at the institution they<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>work for. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>More education is needed at the community level about what / who<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>can best serve their needs --understanding the difference between
theoretical linguists, descriptive <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>linguists, field linguists (who wear many hats) and applied linguists.
Further, how to find a linguist<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>who is familar with the language, or related languages -- and how to
get a good reference for a good linguist. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>And, there needs to be more general support for revitalization
activities among funding agencies and institutions<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>alike. We all understand, I think, that documentation activities are
more well defined and exacting -- more easy<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>to report on and quantify. However, communities are crying out for more
support of revitalization -- both those with<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>'dormant' languages, those with still active languages. They need
support for teachers, materials development, <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>money to hire the appropriate linguist, etc...and this type of funding
is hard to come by in the amounts usually<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>needed. Wish I had a solution; all I can do is offer this observation:
Seems like, with more documentation projects<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>under way these days, that agencies should logically follow with funds
to help spin this work into materials for<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>revitalization....perhaps wishful thinking on my part...<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Susan<br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmailquote><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>On 10/28/07, <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Natasha
L Warner</span></b> <<a href="mailto:nwarner@u.arizona.edu">nwarner@u.arizona.edu</a>>
wrote:</span></font></span> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Hi,<br>
<br>
I've been out of town and am just now picking up on this interesting<br>
discussion about analysis of existing (archival) data vs. new data <br>
collection.<br>
<br>
I agree with the things Bill said _if_ the language still has fluent<br>
speakers, which is the situation he was addressing. (I especially<br>
agree about all the problems with archival data itself that he listed, <br>
since I work with it!) However, if we look at the bigger picture of<br>
archival data vs./and new data collection across languages, there is<br>
another issue. I work on revitalization of a dormant California
language, <br>
Mutsun, through archival data. There hasn't been a fluent speaker
since<br>
1930, but the community has been working on revitalization since 1996, and<br>
is making good but slow progress.<br>
<br>
For Mutusn, we desparately needed funding in order to enter thousands of <br>
pages of Harrington microfilm data into a database and analyze it, in<br>
order to make a good dictionary and teaching materials. We've been
told<br>
by various funding agencies that they won't fund revitalization, they'll <br>
only fund new data collection from living speakers. I see a couple
of<br>
reasons for this: 1) the idea that you have to get the data from
living<br>
speakers while they're alive, so that's a higher priority, whereas <br>
existing archival data won't change, and 2) the emphasis of the field of<br>
linguistics on getting data to answer theoretical questions, more than to<br>
help the community increase use of their language. (Analysis of archival <br>
data might be funded for theoretical purposes, but not to run community<br>
language-learning workshops or to write a textbook.)<br>
<br>
I understand the motivation on point 1 (higher priority if speakers are<br>
elderly), but work on archival data can't just be done later, either. <br>
The reason is that the community, right now, has motivation, people who<br>
have gained skills to work on language, and just plain
momentum. It's<br>
cruel to tell them "Sorry, you're low priority because your language is <br>
already dead [we say "dormant"]), please come back in 20-30 years,
because<br>
then maybe everybody else's language will be in as bad a shape as yours,<br>
and we can afford to give you the money then." I completely
understand <br>
that resouces for both documentation and revitalization are very, very<br>
limited, and one has to make choices. However, from the position of<br>
applying for grants to get the data out of Harrington into usable form, <br>
being told that the language is dead and therefore unfundable has been<br>
extremely frustrating.<br>
<br>
As for the second point above, about collecting data for linguistic theory<br>
vs. collecting or analyzing data for the community's benefit, I really do <br>
believe that one gets both benefits (data for theory and for community<br>
use) out of analyzing a large set of archival materials, if there isn't<br>
any source of new data available for the language. But many granting
<br>
agencies just have "documentation" as the scope of their
funding mission.<br>
I also understand that granting agencies define what they're interested in<br>
funding, and of course they have every right to do so. Again, it's
just <br>
frustrating.<br>
<br>
By the way, we did eventually get funding to analyze the Harrington data:<br>
from the NEH's Preservation and Access program, which tries to make<br>
materials of cultural or historical importance more
accessible. Putting <br>
handwritten microfilmed unanalyzed field data into a database makes it<br>
accessible. The grant program isn't specific to language at all.<br>
<br>
So my overall point is that in addition to considering priorities within <br>
one language, we should also look at how resources and energy get<br>
allocated across languages. The archival analysis vs. new data
decision<br>
is different if we look across languages, unless we're willing to tell all <br>
the dormant language communities to just forget about it and stop trying.<br>
<br>
Oh, one more thing: Bill, you mention there being no shortage of<br>
linguists willing to work on archival data analysis. I agree that
there <br>
are probably more out there who would be interested in taking projects on,<br>
but given that revitalization work frequently is not valued by one's<br>
department and not counted as linguistic work toward tenure, and that many <br>
tribes can't afford to just hire themselves a full-time linguist, I'm not<br>
so sure there are so many who really would like to take on the full scope<br>
of a revitalization project. If one follows it through, from digging
up <br>
the old sources through creating a database, producing a dictionary,<br>
writing a textbook and other materials, collaborating with the community<br>
(if one isn't community oneself) on all parts of the work, getting <br>
funding, and figuring out with the community how to get fluency and spread<br>
fluency through the community, it's a lifetime project. I don't know
many<br>
linguists who are so interested in taking on a language to do this, while <br>
trying to maintain the part of their careers they get hired by a<br>
department for as well. I do think there are lots more who would
like to<br>
help out with parts of the work, though.<br>
<br>
Thanks,<br>
<br>
Natasha<br>
<br>
*******************************************************************************<br>
Natasha Warner<br>
Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics<br>
University of Arizona<br>
PO Box 210028<br>
Tucson, AZ 85721-0028<br>
U.S.A.<br>
<br>
Until August 2008:<br>
Visiting Researcher<br>
Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics<br>
PO Box 310<br>
6500 AH Nijmegen<br>
the Netherlands<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><br>
<br clear=all>
<br>
-- <br>
____________________________________________________________ <br>
Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D.<br>
<br>
Associate Director, Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language and
Literacy (CERCLL)<br>
Department of English (Primary) <br>
American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI) <br>
Second Language Acquisition & Teaching Ph.D. Program (SLAT)<br>
Department of Language,Reading and Culture<br>
Department of Linguistics<br>
The Southwest Center (Research)<br>
Phone for messages: (520) 621-1836<br>
<br>
<br>
"Every language is an old-growth forest of the mind, a watershed of
thought, an ecosystem of spiritual possibilities." <br>
<br>
Wade
Davis...(on a Starbucks cup...) <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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