The bulk of this theme issue of Cultural Survival Quarterly consists of a 41-page "focus" section on indigenous peoples' efforts to regain control of their children's education and on the role of indigenous educators as agents of change. Following an introduction by Nimachia Hernandez and Nicole Thornton, the articles in this section are:…

This guidebook is intended for parents of French-speaking students in Alberta. It describes French-as-a-first-language education in Alberta and provides information to help parents, in collaboration with school personnel and the wider francophone community in Alberta, to preserve and develop their children's identity as speakers of French and as…

This paper discusses the role that culture and language can play in American Indian education, as well as some challenges of incorporating culture in education. The movement toward incorporation of language and culture in school curricula emerges out of a tattered educational history. This history shows how the use of Native languages and cultures…

Discusses the relationships among bilingual education, biliteracy, diglossia, and native language maintenance. Pedagogical research in Latin American indigenous languages and Navajo indicate that indigenous language literacy instruction and bilingual methods also contribute significantly to literacy development in the national language (English or…

Discussion of languages in Australia looks at the multicultural makeup of the society, the role of English, dynamics of language contact situations (community language change, intergenerational language shift, other factors in maintenance and shift), societal and individual multilingualism, and support for multilingualism (language policies,…

Traumas from the Canadian residential school system have been transmitted through generations of Canada Natives, which has interfered with learning. Curricula need to be developed by and for First Nations people. Strategies are presented for working with Native learners and for developing language instructional materials. To become fluent in…

Weaves a Navajo elementary teacher's anecdotes from her own and her father's educational experiences with archival materials to provide a historical context for Navajo literacy. Discusses early written Navajo; the role of schools and churches in the expansion of written Navajo; and the advancement of Navajo linguistics during John Collier's…

Three Native Americans discuss Native American history and the quest for tribal sovereignty, their educational experiences, their views on the conference and the development of a First Nations graduate program, the importance of preserving and transmitting Native American culture and language, and the importance of Native Americans with advanced…

Describes an oral Slavey language program that drew on knowledge of the Elders, a traditional source of knowledge and wisdom for language instruction. Describes community action for course and materials development and effective use of political support to develop and establish this community based language renewal program. Contains 21 references.…

The Indo-Fijian settlers, who speak Fiji Hindi, a preliterate language, migrated to New Zealand following the 1987 Fiji military coup. This article looks at the maintenance of Fiji Hindi among teenage Indi-Fijian immigrants and the factors contributing to a shift from Fiji Hindi to the use of English in all domains. (40 references) (LR)

Examined how living outside native-language environments, and subsequent language attrition, affected the language model provided by native speakers teaching English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) in Spain. Surveys indicated that the first language was a changeable system susceptible to the pervasive influence of the second language and to the…

Academic fieldworkers in language-endangered communities must be able to undertake all aspects of linguistic work, elicit linguistic information from speakers, document naturally occurring speech data, present research results in a comprehensible manner to the community and to academia, and develop cooperative programs based on mutual trust.…

The O'odham Nation is developing an O'odham dictionary in collaboration with the University of Arizona. The project is unique because it is conducted by tribal members and funded by the tribe. The group is proposing locating language centers throughout the reservation to mobilize community involvement in the project and to assist the Nation's…

To successfully maintain endangered Native American languages, Native communities must collectively recognize their language's vulnerability and commit to its continuity. Linguists need more experience with fieldwork and pragmatics, knowledge of various language transmission practices in cultures other than their own, an understanding of cultural…

The Peruvian national indigenous federation established a bilingual, intercultural teachers' training program to counter stereotypes of indigenous people portrayed in the authoritarian, monolingual Spanish national curriculum, and to enhance language preservation, ethnic mobilization, and cultural survival. A complementary transitional bilingual…