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Open AccessJournal Article

The Role of Inuit Languages in Nunavut Schooling: Nunavut Teachers Talk about Bilingual Education

M. Lynn Aylward
- 03 Jun 2010 - 
- Vol. 33, Iss: 2, pp 295-328
TLDR
This article provided a discourse analysis of interview transcripts generated from 10 experienced Nunavut teachers (five Inuit and five non-Inuit) regarding the role of Inuit languages in NunAVut schooling.
Abstract
This article provides a discourse analysis of interview transcripts generated from 10 experienced Nunavut teachers (five Inuit and five non ‐ Inuit) regarding the role of Inuit languages in Nunavut schooling. Discussion and analysis focus on the motif of bilingual education. Teachers’ talk identified discourse models of “academic truths” and “revitalization,”demonstrating how Nunavut teachers are making efforts to en ‐ gage with community to effect lasting educational change. Key words: Aboriginal languages; Nunavut education, language policy, discourse analysis, educational change Cet article presente une analyse de discours a partir de transcriptions d’entrevues aupres de dix enseignantes d’experience du Nunavut (cinq Inuits et cinq non ‐ Inuits) au sujet du role des langues inuites dans les ecoles du Nunavut. Les discussions et analyses portent sur la raison d’etre de l’enseignement bilingue. Dans leurs propos, les enseignantes ont identifie des modeles discursifs des « verites pedagogiques » et de la « revitalisation », demontrant par la comment le personnel enseignant au Nuna ‐ vut s’efforcent de travailler de concert avec la communaute pour favoriser des chan ‐ gements a long terme dans l’education. Mots cles : langues autochtones, education au Nunavut, politiques linguistiques, analyse de discours, changement en l’education.

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Jessica Ball, +1 more
Abstract: wihtaskamihk kîkâc kahkiyaw nîhîyaw pîkiskwîwina î namatîpayiwa wiya môniyâw onîkânîwak kayâs kâkiy sihcikîcik ka nakinahkwâw nîhiyaw osihcikîwina. atawiya anohc kanâta askiy kâpimipayihtâcik î tipahamok nîhiyaw awâsisak kakisinâmâkosicik mîna apisis î tipahamok mîna ta kakwiy miciminamâ nîhiyawîwin. namoya mâka mitoni tapwîy kontayiwâk î nîsohkamâkawinaw ka miciminamâ nipîkiskwîwinân. pako kwayas ka sihcikiy kîspin tâpwiy kâ kakwiy miciminamâ nîhîyawîwin îkwa tapwiy kwayas ka kiskinâhamowâyâ kicowâsim’sinân. ôma masinayikanis îwihcikâtîw tânihki kîkâc kâ namatîpayicik nipîkiskwîwinân îkwa takahki sihcikîwina mîna misowiy kâ apicihtâcik ka pasikwînahkwâw nîhiyawîwin nanântawisi. (Translated into Nîhîyawîwin (Northern Cree) [crk], a language of Canada, by Art Napoleon) Canada’s Indigenous languages are at risk of extinction because of government policies that have actively opposed or neglected them. A few positive steps by government include investments in Aboriginal Head Start, a culturally based early childhood program, as well as a federal Aboriginal Languages Initiative. Overall, however, government and public schools have yet to demonstrate serious support for Indigenous language revitalization. Language-in-education policies must address the historically and legislatively created needs of Indigenous Peoples to increase the number of Indigenous language speakers and honor the right of Indigenous children to be educated in their language and according to their heritage, with culturally meaningful curricula, cultural safety, and dignity. This chapter describes how Canada arrived at a state of Indigenous language devastation, then explores some promising developments in community-driven heritage language teaching, and finally presents an ecologically comprehensive strategy for Indigenous language revitalization that draws on and goes beyond the roles of formal schooling. It’s been a cold 130 years for Canada’s first languages, and the thaw is still awaited. (Fettes & Norton, 2000: 29)
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