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Shuswap Language Immersion & Revitalization: Podcasts and Focusing on the Younger Generation

Donna Forward-Houriet ETEC 521 Final Paper University of British Columbia #64664865 Dr. Michael Marker August 5th, 2013

Language immersion has always fascinated me since I began teaching French Immersion, 18 years ago. However, I realize that true immersion is hard to come by. Unless we are the only ones surrounded by the new language, it is extremely hard to escape the dominating influences of English and other foreign tongues, especially through the popular means of radio and television broadcasting (Eisenlohr, 2004). All of Canadas Indigenous people (note: in this paper I will focus uniquely on the Shuswap Nation) not only face this similar problem but are, at the same time, presented with a much larger concern of saving their languages from extinction. Furthermore, due to the disastrous consequences of the residential schools, from the 1870s to 1990, generations were literally skipped, robbing them of their aboriginal languages and traditions.

Now as the memories of the horrors of residential schools are slowly being left behind, the Shuswap are taking pride in learning their own language and regaining their identity through their culture. This paper is an analytic look of what is being done to revitalize the Secwepemc language and how the Shuswap people are finding ways to be fluent in it again. One of my main focuses is centered on the younger generation and how the use of language podcasts and recordings of elders will be beneficial in helping them acquire the language knowledge of their ancestors. At the same time, I will question whether the use of technology and the absence of personal transmission of the language will possibly have an effect on the transmission of cultural and ethnic identity (Macfadyen, 2006). One concern is that traditional ways amongst the people may be undermined because in order to access podcasts, Indigenous people will need access to the Internet and use technology, such as computers, which is culturally neutral (Bowers et al., 2000).

When I discovered that an elementary school on the Adams Lake reserve near Chase, B.C. (a small town located on the edge of Shuswap Lake in the provinces interior) has been offering Secwepemc Immersion, I immediately was intrigued. Not only did I spend my summers as a child growing up at Shuswap Lake, but Secwepemc is also the local Indigenous language spoken here in the Cariboo, where I teach French Immersion. The name of the school is Chief Atham elementary and it offers Secwepemc language instruction only during the first 4 years of schooling. There, students are encouraged to use the acquisition of their traditional language to appreciate the personal history and culture that they need to build strong, positive identities. In addition, they are taught that their language transmits ancestral knowledge, from traditional medicines to current day community concerns. Students are also supported in other non-cultural studies and are shown how they can link early knowledge of more than one language, which improves learning and achievement later in life (Hyslop, 2011). This is in agreement with (Hare, 2011) that supports the concept that aboriginal children in the future will be walking in two worlds and will not only need a strong sense of their identity of who they are but will have to be able to participate in the Western world simultaneously. However, not all Shuswap speaking students are fortunate enough to be able to attend Immersion schools. Therefore, the strong tie between language learning and the importance of cultural identity could potentially be lost when it comes to learning languages from recordings of elder podcasts, for example. According to (Macfadyen, 2006), our ingrained attachment to material and physical places is also frequently invoked as an indication of ethnicity. Otherwise said, if students arent in a classroom such as at the Chief Atham school, or are learning solely online, how will they ever feel the true attachment to people and places which are important to their Shuswap

community? However, there are some arguments that support the use of technology in the acquisition of Indigenous languages, traditions and culture. (Bowers et al., 2000) believe that, by using technology, it brings the school and community closer together and, at the same time, motivates students to create needed resources for their members and also enhances understanding and respect for others. In other words, by communicating with others through technology, community members are able to share personal concerns within an electronic community where otherwise they would not always be able to share in an environment with personal contact (Bowers et al., 2000). (Williams, no date) agrees that the beauty of digital technology is that it can help to bring the voices of the people and other experts together, who cannot be everywhere, teaching everyone at once. Furthermore, according to (Michel, no date), it depends on each community as to whether technology is going to be useful or not. Electronic mediation will eventually help those who want to talk about alienation from their land, for example, but will never replace face-to-face Education. This is so important with the quest for preservation, cultural teaching and connections between elders and youth. There are those, however, who think that technology and the Internet should not be a part of Indigenous culture: The Internet is an exceedingly deceptive technology whose power is immensely attractive to American Indians. But until its universalistic and individualistic foundation is restructured to incorporate spatial, social, spiritual and experiential dimensions that particularize its application, cyberspace is no place for tribalism(Howe, 1998).

The problem facing aboriginal communities around the world is that the most Indigenous languages are spoken only by elders, who are no longer passing their language onto next generations. This phenomenon is referred to as moribund (Crawford, 1995). Within the

Shuswap community, efforts are being made to create recordings of word dictionaries and making this available to everyone online (Elders Share Shuswap Language, 2011) & (First Voices, 2013). Phrases, with accompanying recordings of themes, can be accessed by those interested in learning Secwepemc. However, the learning process could prove to be long, since recordings (for each word or phrase) need to be clicked on and downloaded individually before being able to hear them. This could possibly discourage learners. Also, with just the voice of the elder recorded, the personal contact isnt there, reducing the chances of cultural transmission which is so important with learning the language. Furthermore, how will those wanting to learn the language be able to make progress in speaking the language themselves?

This is where I believe that the understanding of technology is so important and where the younger generation of Digital Natives (Prensky, 2001) will need to take over the helm. These digital natives are the generation who has grown up with technology and I believe that they must be the ones to control ownership of their Shuswap language. It is essential that they create ways to allow it to be learned collaboratively online, through discussion forums and analysis of the recordings of elders. Knowledge of the language will need to be socially coconstructed with community members who collaborate, communicate and negotiate to find meaning for problems (Jonassen, 1999). Finding ways to incorporated the four aspects of language learning; reading, writing, listening and speaking, will require innovative ideas on the part of those taking on this endeavor. It will also be a challenge to think of ways to encourage learning a writing system and how to teach an oral tradition to a literate generation (Williams, no date). These young Shuswap language activists will need to incorporate their new ideas and create ways for their members to deal and engage with the many static podcasts that elders have

left behind for them. In order to create a community of language learners, within the Shuswap communities, there must be interesting, relevant and engaging problems to solve and discuss amongst the members. This will prove to be a challenge but is an absolute necessity. Otherwise, podcasts will simply be listened to by passive individuals who are not taking an active part in their language learning. In order to create a Constructive, Situated Learning environment, learners need to practice speaking together in a social environment, solve authentic problems, think critically and be active members in their learning. Furthermore, they need to identify what is to be learned and also, the real world situations in which the learning occurs (Barab & Duffy, 2000). This will also give them the ability to build on the information that they receive from the Elders, in podcasts, relate them to something tangible and, at the same time, apply the newly learned language to their own, everyday lives. Since a podcast recording of an elder is similar to a telephone call which projects the voice over vast distances, the visual aspects of interpersonal communication is eliminated or marginalized (Bowers et al, 2000). Nevertheless, even though a podcast could be considered a one way telephone conversation, I believe that we are so accustomed to telephone conversations that we can imagine that the person, with whom we are speaking, is right beside us. Furthermore, Indigenous knowledge is based on oral tradition (Hare, 2011), so elder storytelling on podcasts could work well. In this case, the absence of watching and doing (the hands-on observations demonstrations in a lesson) would need to be left to the learners imagination.

This brings us to the possible complications of recording Shuswap elders. Time is running out before they will soon pass on and take their language with them. However, the planning, money, teacher involvement and time needed to complete such an undertaking may be

an enormous, overwhelming task. There is so much to be considered when documenting languages and especially when taking into account all of the people that need to be involved. This could perhaps be the crucial moment to involve the young Digital Natives in the process of working with their elders. There could also eventually be the possible prospects of full time employment for many younger Shuswap people who are interested in helping their own communities to save their endangered language. Having the young and the old involved together would not only create a cultural bond that would be reflective in the podcasts but would also ensure the fact that there would be no bias or outside non-Indigenous influences in the creation of the important, primary documents of the podcasts (Sandwell, 2003). By having language revitalization as an Indigenous only project, the Shuswap would be sure that they carried out the recordings themselves and owned an integral part of their history by serving their own best interest (Smith, 1999). Furthermore, the goal would be to make them culturally authentic, which is vital in the quest for decolonization (Prins, 2003). If the Shuswap language can be documented and archived in recorded podcasts, whos to say that the rest of their cultural heritage also cant be passed on physically from person to person? It will all depend on the individuals and how they make the conscious effort to retain their heritage. They will need to find a true balance between working with the podcasts and creating positive, face-to-face relationships with those who are important in their lives in preserving the Shuswap cultural identity. Perhaps being so at ease with technology, this younger generation will be able find ways to benefit from language recordings that the non-technology savvy older generation might never have thought of. Im also wondering whether the younger Shuswap students would be more prepared to deal with the cultural identity issues that may be lacking in the podcasts. Perhaps we are underestimating this Digital Native generation. They

may seek the help of their passed on family members for language acquisition but then may become very creative in seeking out individuals, who are still alive and well, who will be the hands-on, transmitters of the culture. The challenge will be to find an equal balance between the virtual and authentic learning.

References

Barab, S., & Duffy, T. (2000). From practice fields to communities of practice. Theoretical foundations of learning environments, 1(1), 25-55.

Bowers, C., Vasquez, M., & Roaf, M. (2000). Native People and the Challenge of Computers : Reservation Schools, Individualism, and Consumerism. American Indian Quarterly, Vol. 24, No. 2.

Crawford, J. (1995). Endangered Native American Languages: What is to be Done and Why? The Bilingual Research Journal. Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 17-38.

Eisenlohr, P. (2004). Language Revitalization and New Technologies: Cultures of Electronic Mediation and the Refiguring of Communities. Annual Review of Anthropology. Doi: 10, 1146/annurev.anthro.33.070203.143900.

Elders Share Shuswap Language. (2013). Retrieved July 5, 2013. http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/community/133487098.html

First Voices. (2011). Sepwepmec Community Portal. Retrieved July 26, 2013. http://www.firstvoices.com/en/Secwepemc.

Hare, J. (2011). Learning from Indigenous Knowledge in Education . In D. Long and O.P. Dickenson (Eds.), Visions of the heart, 3rd Edition 91-112.

Howe, C. (1998). Cyberspace is No Place for Tribalism. Wicazo SA Review, 13(2), 19-28.

Hyslop, K. (2011). How Chief Atham Elementary School Became a Success Story. TheTyee.ca Retrieved July 25, 2013 from http://thetyee.ca/News/2011/09/06/Chief-AtahmElementary-School/.

Jonassen, D. (1999). Designing constructivist learning environments. Instructional design theories and models: A new paradigm of instructional theory, 2, 215-239. Macfadyen, L. (2006).Virtual Ethnicity: The new digitization of place, body, language, and memory.Electronic Magazine of Multicultural Education, 8 (1).

Michel, T. (no date). Video of Interview with Tim Michel, Aboriginal Coordinator for the Faculties of Science and Land & Food Systems at U.B.C. The video discusses the digital gap between First Nations community access to digital communication and mainstream Canadian society.

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives Digital Immigrants: On the Horizon. NCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5.

Prins, H. (2002). Visual Media and the Primitivist Perplex Colonial Fantasies, Indigenous Imagination, and Advocacy in. Media worlds: Anthropology on new terrain.

Sandwell, R. (2003). Reading Beyond Bias: Using Historical Documents in the Secondary

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Classroom. Revue de Sciences de lducation de McGill. Vol. 38, No 1.

Smith, L. T. (1999). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples. Zed books.

Williams, L. (no date). Video of Lorna Williams and her interview with Dr. Michael Marker about Mount Currie Indian Band, the Lillooet language and First Nation Teacher Education Program through Simon Fraser University.