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Language and literacy development in a Canadian native community: Halq'eméylem revitalization in a Stó:lō head start program in British Columbia
Author(s) -
Moore Danièle,
Macdonald Margaret
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the modern language journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.486
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1540-4781
pISSN - 0026-7902
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2013.12028.x
Subject(s) - literacy , fluency , head start , multilingualism , ethnography , sociology , linguistics , bilingual education , orthography , neuroscience of multilingualism , pedagogy , mathematics education , psychology , anthropology , reading (process) , developmental psychology , philosophy
The following study is part of a larger community‐based project[Note 1. Funding for this research project was provided by the ...] that began in 2007 to document Halq'eméylem language and cultural transmission among Elders, family members, and teachers in the Stó:lō First Nation located in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada (MacDonald et al., 2010; MacDonald et al., 2011). Within the larger project, this article focuses on Halq'eméylem language and literacy transmission and the ways that literacy practices, including the creation of a Halq'eméylem orthography, and theories of school‐based second language acquisition have influenced language revitalization within a British Columbia Aboriginal Head Start program. Using ethnographic methods and grounded theory, findings illustrate how a lack of teacher fluency has influenced the transmission of Halq'eméylem by creating the need to rely on a unique bi‐/multiliteracy base where environmental print, translated names, translated songs, and interactive text‐based computer games are used to support Halq'eméylem language development among parents and teachers who are jointly and concurrently learning and teaching their ancestral language. The study is anchored in a critical perspective on multilingualism (Creese & Blackledge, 2010) that moves away from ideologized beliefs that linguistic systems should be strictly separated, including within second language classrooms (Cummins, 2008; Lüdi, 2003; Lüdi & Py, 2009; Moore & Gajo, 2009; Swain & Lapkin, 2005).