North Slope Inupiaq language teachers stress oral fluency (fwd link)

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North Slope Inupiaq language teachers stress oral fluency

JANA HARCHAREK
October 02, 2008 at 12:49PM AKST
Artic

Residents of the North Slope have long been concerned with the continuing loss
of Inupiaq language.

Despite numerous conferences and meetings convened to discuss ways to reverse
language loss over the last two decades, language loss continues at a dramatic
rate.

The youngest Inupiaq speakers on the North Slope today are in their late 40s and
early 50s, a complete reversal of the norm of the 70s and 80s, when children
spoke the language as their first language.

When children came to school then they were fluent in Inupiaq. Today, save for a
few, their first and only language is English.

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http://thearcticsounder.com/news/show/3433