In the United States, Indigenous language loss is the result of colonization and deliberate eradication by government policies. Many tribal communities engage in activities to curb language shift, including language reclamation or revitalization to restore the vitality of Indigenous languages. Schools for Indigenous children, once the setting for the destruction of their Indigenous identity and language, have increasingly become the medium for language reclamation. Numerous school-based programs have effectively renewed language use, including those in the Hawaiian, Yup’ik, and Navajo language communities (Holm & Holm, 1995; Wilson & Kamanā, 2011; Wyman et al., 2010). Though school-based programs may increase students’ vocabulary knowledge, many more factors affect their decisions to speak the language and bring it into use. This study investigated students’ experiences in a school-based Choctaw language restoration program and the factors that affected their decisions to speak Choctaw. This qualitative case study examined 21 third-grade students’ experiences through focus group interviews and further explored the data through classroom observations and teacher interviews. Two-cycle coding was used to identify patterns and themes. The data revealed characteristics of the language program based on student experiences. These characteristics were discussed through a conceptual framework of the commonalities of strong language reclamation programs. Additional findings included student descriptions of the factors affecting their decisions to speak Choctaw, both in and outside the school program. These findings echo the characteristics of strong language reclamation programs outlined in the conceptual framework. Specifically, those programs are characterized by the following: (a) acknowledgment of the important position of the language, (b) alignment with community values and goals, (c) dedicated time to immersing learners in the language, (d) attention to verbal and written literacy in the Native language, and (e) a focus on culture and pride in identifying with Native heritage. Additionally, student descriptions of their language choices revealed conditions that promoted or deterred their choices to speak the language. Further research is needed to better understand students’ motivation to speak the Indigenous language. This knowledge can inform school-based programs, allowing them to influence conditions for positive language choices.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in French Studies. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-83). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss &rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR11757

<p>The purpose of this mixed-methods study is to explore leadership characteristics dual language school principals possess to effectively lead a dual language program. The research seeks to identify specific leadership characteristics and qualities necessary for a principal to effectively lead a dual language school compared to the leadership characteristics required to lead a traditional/monolingual school. The researcher examined the perceptions of leadership responsibilities with dual language teachers in an urban school district in southern Washington. This research study was compared with a similar study completed with monolingual teachers in an urban school district in western Wisconsin. The researcher used an electronic survey, via Qualtrics, to gather demographic information and determine the rank order perceptions of the 21 leadership responsibilities according to dual language teachers. A total of 17 teachers participated in the research study. The highest rated leadership responsibility among the dual language teachers was Communication and the lowest rated leadership responsibility was Contingent Rewards. The researcher also implemented a collective case study design to accumulate and analyze data regarding the leadership characteristics of two dual language school principals, via semi-structured interviews. A recommendation from this study is that several of the 21 leadership responsibilities are more applicable to increasing student achievement in dual language classrooms compared to monolingual classrooms. </p>

This study is framed in Bourdieu’s theory of capital, which asserts that the choices we make are usually designed to help us become better off economically; that economic capital is, to some degree, exchangeable with other types of capital (e.g., social and cultural); and that other types of capital can be exchanged for economic capital. The purpose of this study was to understand which forms of capital native English-speaking and native Spanish-speaking families believed they would acquire by choosing to participate in or not participate in Spanish dual language immersion. In this study I interviewed four native Spanish-speaking students who did not participate in dual language immersion, and their parents, and four native English-speaking students who did participate in dual language immersion, and their parents. I also conducted a focus group with the teachers of both the native Spanish and native English-speaking students. I found that the native English-speaking families perceived that they were able to use the dual language immersion program to gain many forms of capital. By contrast, the native Spanish-speaking families also perceived that they gained capital by not participating in the program, but not as much as if they had participated in dual language immersion. I suggest some ways to make participation in dual language immersion more equitable for all families.

Dual Language Immersion (DLI) educational programming began in Utah in 2008. Within three short years, DLI programs in Utah schools had grown from 5 to 58 programs statewide. Presently, Utah now has over 301 DLI programs, including instruction in Spanish, Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian, and German. DLI programs have many benefits and have attracted many student families. However, not much research has been done on program planning, implementation, and the sustainability of DLI programs within individual school cultures and climates. This study will examine the satisfaction level of faculty, staff, administrators, and parents at DLI schools (including how supported/understood each of these groups feels if issues arise), how the presence of a DLI program affects a school (e.g. culture, special needs, relationships), and if there are any barriers to sustainability of DLI programs in Utah schools. A survey of perceptions among parents and educators, including administrators, was offered state-wide. Quantitative results were analyzed in aggregate and analyzed according to descriptive statistics. Results were used to inform a better framework for program planning, implementation, and sustainability of DLI programs in Utah schools.

As Vygotsky (1986) concludes in his seminal work Thought and Language, “A word relates to consciousness as a living cell relates to a whole organism, as an atom relates to the universe. A word is a microcosm of human consciousness” (p. 246). Even without an in-depth understanding of science and only the most popular appreciation of the police procedural be it Sherlock Holmes or CSI, it is easy to see how a single cell can relate to the whole organism. But how can a word be a microcosm of human consciousness? The purpose of this study was to explore exactly that: premise, whether words reflect the lived experience of not only a person, but of a group of people, by documenting the lived experience of children in the phenomena of foreign language immersion in school (FLIIS). Using corpus linguistic techniques to analyze the nature of these children’s lexical development as well as the relationship of the perceptions of their fluency on their second language (L2) production, this study found that in order to understand the essence of what it means for a child to express him/herself fluently in his/her L2, one must understand how language functions as a transparent medium for these children and shift one’s thinking from an additive idea of language (L1, L2, L3) to the idea of interlingual consciousness.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the entwined roles of schooling, family support and investment, and community contact in Heritage Language Learning (HLL), Heritage Language Maintenance (HLM) and identity formation among two groups of North American Latvians. One is made up of 49 teenagers at Gaŗezers language camp in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The other comprises 25 parents, other adult Latvian speakers and camp staff members. I explore differences and similarities among them by age, gender and self-stated national identity and language proficiency. Primary data consist of some 70 questionnaires completed by youths and adults and six 30- to 90-minute interviews conducted and transcribed by me. Six more were conducted via e-mail. Based on aggregate analysis of multiple-choice and short-answer questions, supplemented by participants’ individual responses to longer-form survey questions and to my questions during interviews, findings demonstrate a connection between self-stated national identity (Latvian, Latvian-American or Latvian-Canadian, or American or Latvian) and self-assessment of Latvian language proficiency among the youths. Among the adults, men were more likely to identify simply as Latvian than were women, and adults of both genders who identified as Latvian averaged slightly lower in self-assessment of proficiency, even though most of them grew up speaking Latvian at home. Additionally, my research shows a community proud of its HLM accomplishments alongside those of displaced peoples from other nations—a community now at home in North America, although 60 years ago members were determined to return to Latvia. Keywords: L2, Latvian heritage language revitalization, third space, lingua franca, language immersion, heritage language maintenance.

This thesis contributes to the literature on language revitalization, a hopeful branch of research that counters the foreboding conclusions of language shift studies. It is based on data collected in May, 1998, at Cumberland House, an Aboriginal community in northeastern Saskatchewan. Fifty-five community members participated in six focus groups organized by the following criteria: administrators, school board trustees, elders, parents, students and teachers. These research participants expressed their vision, expectations, and needs related to an Aboriginal Language Immersion Pilot Program proposed by the Northern Lights School Division. Community members envisioned an education that contributes to their children's Cree and Anglo-Canadian bicultural competence. They expected the Cree immersion program in the provincial school would develop their children's Cree and English bilingual fluency. They needed training, administrative support, materials and ongoing communication between school and community. Factors that instill a sense of optimism about this language revitalization effort, include the role and status of the school, and the strong bonds of kinship and friendship in this community context. The process and content of the research project records the development and product of a research relationship between Aboriginal people. It attests to the value of community involvement in language planning and illustrates the beneficial attributes of community-based participatory action research. Overall, the thesis informs the topic of decolonization at the personal, community, and institutional level.

This thesis contributes to the literature on language revitalization, a hopeful branch of research that counters the foreboding conclusions of language shift studies. It is based on data collected in May, 1998, at Cumberland House, an Aboriginal community in northeastern Saskatchewan. Fifty-five community members participated in six focus groups organized by the following criteria: administrators, school board trustees, elders, parents, students and teachers. These research participants expressed their vision, expectations, and needs related to an Aboriginal Language Immersion Pilot Program proposed by the Northern Lights School Division. Community members envisioned an education that contributes to their children's Cree and Anglo-Canadian bicultural competence. They expected the Cree immersion program in the provincial school would develop their children's Cree and English bilingual fluency. They needed training, administrative support, materials and ongoing communication between school and community. Factors that instill a sense of optimism about this language revitalization effort, include the role and status of the school, and the strong bonds of kinship and friendship in this community context. The process and content of the research project records the development and product of a research relationship between Aboriginal people. It attests to the value of community involvement in language planning and illustrates the beneficial attributes of community-based participatory action research. Overall, the thesis informs the topic of decolonization at the personal, community, and institutional level.

This thesis analyzes the current state of the language immersion program in Catalonia after its implementation 30 years ago, and after the immigration wave of the last decade. The language immersion is a method of teaching a second language using a language of instruction different than the students’ mother tongue. The Catalan authorities use this as a method for preserving Catalan in the society.The aim of this study is to examine the use of Catalan at school and outside of school by students who have followed the language immersion program. Language attitudes play an important role for the maintenance of a minority language, as Catalan. Therefore, in this study, the informants’ attitudes towards Catalan have also been measured. The method applied is a quantitative method where the informants have answered a written questionnaire. The results show a high level of knowledge of Catalan and its frequent use in the classroom. In contrast, outside of school the Castilian language is more often used. The informants seem to have a positive attitude towards Catalan.The conclusion is that the language immersion works satisfactory in a school context but often fails outside of school.