OLAC Record oai:scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu:10125/26123

Metadata
Title:		Characteristics of Cherokee immersion students’ learner language: Linguistic and sociolinguistic perspectives
Bibliographic Citation:		Peter, Lizette, Hirata-Edds, Tracy, Feeling, Durbin, Mackey, Ryan, Kirk, Wyman, Peter, Lizette, Hirata-Edds, Tracy, Feeling, Durbin, Mackey, Ryan, Kirk, Wyman; 2013-03-03; As Indigenous communities seek to revitalize their ancestral tongues through second language learning opportunities such as school-based immersion, the scope of linguistic documentation has expanded to include descriptions of language as it is learned by second language speakers. Learner language documentation is rapidly becoming valued as a means of providing feedback for the refinement of language teaching curriculum and pedagogy as well as elucidating second language acquisition processes. In this presentation we report on a mixed-method, longitudinal study of elementary children learning Cherokee-as-a-second-language in an immersion school in Oklahoma. Our purpose is to describe both the characteristics of children’s productive and receptive language development and the sociolinguistic environment that shapes their acquisition of Cherokee. Our data are drawn from an annual language assessment administered over seven years, observations of teaching and learning in kindergarten through sixth-grade classrooms, and conversations with teachers and parents on the nature of children’s language development. We frame our analysis in terms of research on second language acquisition processes and the cognitive and creative processes involved in second language acquisition among young immersion students, within the context of endangered language revitalization. Research on immersion worldwide suggests that learners’ language contains incomplete or ungrammatical forms resulting from an emphasis on communication, where language learning is largely a by-product—rather than the focus—of classroom activities. This is true for Cherokee immersion as well: our study confirms that Cherokee immersion children’s language displays typical learner-language features, such as overgeneralization, omission, and code-switching as well as more idiosyncratic language formations unique to young English speakers learning Cherokee. But, the school does not exist in a vacuum; there are additional factors influencing the children’s learning of Cherokee, including a lack of standardization of the language, varied linguistic experiences of teachers and other Cherokee adults, and the novelty of school as a Cherokee linguistic domain. We will discuss how these variables interact as a sociolinguistic backdrop to Cherokee language learning for immersion school students. NOTE: The opinions expressed in this abstract are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Cherokee Nation.; Kaipuleohone University of Hawai'i Digital Language Archive;http://hdl.handle.net/10125/26123.
Contributor (speaker):		Peter, Lizette
		Hirata-Edds, Tracy
		Feeling, Durbin
		Mackey, Ryan
		Kirk, Wyman
Creator:		Peter, Lizette
		Hirata-Edds, Tracy
		Feeling, Durbin
		Mackey, Ryan
		Kirk, Wyman
Date (W3CDTF):		2013-03-03
Description:		As Indigenous communities seek to revitalize their ancestral tongues through second language learning opportunities such as school-based immersion, the scope of linguistic documentation has expanded to include descriptions of language as it is learned by second language speakers. Learner language documentation is rapidly becoming valued as a means of providing feedback for the refinement of language teaching curriculum and pedagogy as well as elucidating second language acquisition processes. In this presentation we report on a mixed-method, longitudinal study of elementary children learning Cherokee-as-a-second-language in an immersion school in Oklahoma. Our purpose is to describe both the characteristics of children’s productive and receptive language development and the sociolinguistic environment that shapes their acquisition of Cherokee. Our data are drawn from an annual language assessment administered over seven years, observations of teaching and learning in kindergarten through sixth-grade classrooms, and conversations with teachers and parents on the nature of children’s language development. We frame our analysis in terms of research on second language acquisition processes and the cognitive and creative processes involved in second language acquisition among young immersion students, within the context of endangered language revitalization. Research on immersion worldwide suggests that learners’ language contains incomplete or ungrammatical forms resulting from an emphasis on communication, where language learning is largely a by-product—rather than the focus—of classroom activities. This is true for Cherokee immersion as well: our study confirms that Cherokee immersion children’s language displays typical learner-language features, such as overgeneralization, omission, and code-switching as well as more idiosyncratic language formations unique to young English speakers learning Cherokee. But, the school does not exist in a vacuum; there are additional factors influencing the children’s learning of Cherokee, including a lack of standardization of the language, varied linguistic experiences of teachers and other Cherokee adults, and the novelty of school as a Cherokee linguistic domain. We will discuss how these variables interact as a sociolinguistic backdrop to Cherokee language learning for immersion school students. NOTE: The opinions expressed in this abstract are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Cherokee Nation.
Identifier (URI):		http://hdl.handle.net/10125/26123
Language:		English
Language (ISO639):		eng
Rights:		Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
Table Of Contents:		26123.mp3
OLAC Info
Archive:		Language Documentation and Conservation
Description:		http://www.language-archives.org/archive/ldc.scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu
GetRecord:		OAI-PMH request for OLAC format
GetRecord:		Pre-generated XML file
OAI Info
OaiIdentifier:		oai:scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu:10125/26123
DateStamp:		2017-05-11
GetRecord:		OAI-PMH request for simple DC format
Search Info
Citation:		Peter, Lizette; Hirata-Edds, Tracy; Feeling, Durbin; Mackey, Ryan; Kirk, Wyman. 2013. Language Documentation and Conservation.
Terms:		area_Europe country_GB iso639_eng