Tag Archives: Documenting indigenous languages

Use of audio podcast in K-12 and higher education

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In furthering my search for more information about the use of podcasts and how the Shuswap could best document and share their language with the younger generation, I came across this paper which.  This goes into more detail about language learning and how the listening aspect of language is “instinctive” but reading and writing are not.  Also, it was interesting to note that “children do not learn how to understand the spoken word but are hard-wired with the skill“.

The advantages of audio learning according to (Hew, 2009), is that “the spoken word can also influence a learner’s cognition and motivation”.  Also, when using podcasts, the factors of space and time for the learner are attractive aspects of choosing this means of technology for learning.  Students can now listen to their language podcasts “anywhere, anytime” which makes learning much more flexible for them.  This asynchronous option will especially support those students in hard to reach communities that would like to learn the Shuswap language on their own time.

One of the disadvantages of podcasting discussed in this paper is the increase in the workload and the amount of time needed for instructors and teachers to prepare and create the actual language podcasts.  I’m sure if our school boards started informing us that we needed to create podcasts of our courses because the district was hoping to offer distance education students our courses online, that there would be an enormous outcry and a lot of angry teachers.  Lesson planning is time consuming enough.  Recording each lesson would be tenfold.  Also, teachers would often need to record over any mistakes or parts of the podcast that they weren’t happy with.  I know this from experience because I make recordings of myself and my students in French Immersion all of the time and sometimes we need to re-record over and over again to get it perfect.  Nobody wants an “imperfect’ recording of themselves teaching that will eventually be archived away, waiting for distance education students to access them.  We would strive to create the best podcasts that would be pedagogically sound and well presented. Financially and time-wise, creating podcasts could eventually be a total nightmare.

This makes me think of the possible complications of recording Shuswap elders.  Time is running out before they will soon pass on and take their language with them.  However, the planning, money, teacher involvement and time needed to complete such an undertaking may be an overwhelming task.  I believe that there is so much to be considered when documenting languages and especially when considering all of the people that need to be involved.  I could see this being a full time job for many young teachers who are interested in helping First Nation communities to save their endangered languages.  I know that many researchers have already begun to do so.  The question remains, will the total funding needed every be made possible?  Doctorate students like our very own Heather McGregor, have done research in order to create Social Studies 10 units in Nunavut in order to include the residential school history to that territory.  Just the magnitude of this project and hearing Heather’s stories have me thinking that documenting languages is a project of such monumental proportions.  Let’s hope that the government will support the young teachers and get them out into these communities to start documenting and supporting our First Nation people.

References

Hew, K. F. (2009). Use of audio podcast in K-12 and higher education: A review of research topics and methodologies. Educational Technology Research and Development, 57(3).

Models of successful collaboration

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This article focuses on documenting indigenous languages and how important it is to have a successful collaboration of all parties involved. One major point that is mentioned in this article is that language projects are multilingual and intercultural in nature.  Therefore, having a corporate management model organizing a project for example, could clash with the cultural practices of the participants.  This would be similar to someone doing research on an indigenous community who is unaware of that communities’ way of life and special cultural traditions.

Many aspects of the entire process involved behind undertaking such a large project of documenting languages take into account some of the following:

  • Participants (community members, outside linguists, native speakers, leaders)
  • Roles (Mentors, administrators, archivists, tech people, native knowledge experts, sponsors)
  • Operations (Design, training, prioritization, management (personnel & equipment), distribution)
  • Possible Products (textbook, radio, T.V., newsletter, film, dictionary, data base, writing system, pedagogical materials, conference papers, visit to funders and visits to government officials)
  • Finance (funding agency)

When one thinks of doing research I believe that we often overlook how many people are involved and the enormous task it would be to coordinate and organize everyone. Allowing for the research to happen, or in this case, having the process of language documentation run smoothly, would take a lot of commitment on the part of the organizers and all people involved.  Furthermore, I think back on some of the readings we have done and how the way indigenous people deal with time management in comparison with the way westerners may deal with it.  As (Ginsburg, 2003) mentioned, “what in the dominant culture is regarded as a normal production schedule under such circumstances (completing a video in under three weeks) – twelve hours a day – was not appropriate to the pace of life a Yuendumu, Australia”, which created considerable tension during filming.  Therefore, when organizing video projects for language documentation, organizers really need to take into consideration many things, especially how the different cultures can work in harmony together.

References

Dwyer, A. (2010). Models of Successful Collaboration. In N. Louanna Furbee and Lenore A.

          Grenoble, eds. Language Documentation: Practice and Values. Amsterdam: Benjamins:193

          –212. Post print.

Ginsburg, F. (2002).  Screen Memories.  Resignifying the Traditional in Indigenous Media.

          In Media Worlds: Anthropology on a New Terrain.  University of California Press