Often, American Indian and Alaska Native children do not learn their tribal languages as first languages. Therefore, schools can play a pivotal role in reversing language shift by addressing circumstances specific to second language learning. The field of second language acquisition and teaching can provide teachers of indigenous languages with…

California is extremely linguistically diverse, with one of the largest numbers of deeply endangered indigenous languages. None of its 50 living Indian languages are being learned at home by children, with few native speakers left. Outlines some language activism that native Californians are using to help develop new speakers and save their…

The purpose of this exploratory article is to illustrate the worldview, epistemology and relationship with the natural world from a Nehithawak (Woodlands Cree) perspective. The contents of the article represent a personal narrative of an educator of Woodlands Cree cultural heritage from the Reindeer Lake area of northern Canada. A brief history of…

The article reports on findings from a replication of a study of bilingual children's editing and correction strategies. The earlier study analyzed revisions that 2nd, 4th, and 6th graders made to their own compositions, written in Spanish. The present study applied the same procedure and assessment rubric to the first draft of compositions…

Eight original research papers on Native American languages by faculty and students of the Linguistics Department and other related departments of the University of Kansas are presented. The titles and authors include the following: "Comanche Consonant Mutation: Initial Association or Feature Spread?" (James L. Armagost); "The Alsea…

The Bureau of Indian Affairs developed language and literacy standards for schools serving American Indian students, based on the draft national language arts standards developed by the National Council of Teachers of English. Standards for grades K-4 list abilities and knowledge that Indian students should have by the end of the fourth grade with…

An investigation of the first language acquisition of productive nouns in Inuktitut (Inupiaq) is presented. This study begins with descriptions of noun incorporation, relevant aspects of the structure of Inuktitut, and working criteria of productivity. Acquisition data from Inuktitut and corroborating data from Greenlandic are outlined and…

Third in the series on Arapaho language, the student workbook presents a history of American Indian languages and introduces the Arapaho language. The history section includes an outline of North American Indian language families (Algonquian, Athabaskan, Iroquoian, Siouan, Uto-Aztecan); a brief summary of the study of American Indian languages;…

Although suitable for students of all ages, this illustrated resource booklet is specifically intended to help teach young children the Ojibwe names of 19 familiar domestic and wild animals. Three brief, simple English sentences offer clues describing an animal, and these are followed by a final sentence stating the animal's Ojibwe name. The…

Intended to provide Native community members, teachers and administrators in Native schools, and teachers in training an overview of current research on language issues relating to Canadian Native education, the book presents general background information on Native peoples in Canada and the education systems that serve them. Existing and…

Hopi, spoken in northern Arizona, is a member of the large Uto-Aztecan family of American Indian languages, which spreads over vast portions of the western United States and Mexico. The Hopi language textbook is directed at non-specialists who want to learn to speak Hopi or who simply want to learn something about the language. The content of the…

Maps, photographs, and illustrations are included in this introductory history of Indians in Washington state. The tribal groups of the area are classified by geographic and cultural region as Coastal, Puget Sound, and Plateau tribes, and the majority of the resource booklet provides information about the history and culture of each group.…

This is the third of a set of four books containing 24 examples of the Tanaina art of storytelling. They are intended for use in a bilingual education setting for competent speakers of Tanaina Athabaskan who have knowledge of the writing system. The stories in this volume are part of a group of stories called Mountain Stories which are…

This illustrated reader consists of a traditional historical narrative in Inupiaq Athabascan. It is intended for use in a bilingual education setting and is geared toward competent speakers of the language with knowledge of the writing system. (AMH)

This illustrated reader in Inupiaq Athabascan is intended for use in a bilingual education setting and is geared toward readers, especially schoolchildren, who have a good grasp of the language. It consists of a story about traditional Inupiaq beliefs concerning the weather, stars, etc. (AMH)