Ojibwe Language and Collaboration on Forest Walks: What We Can Learn From Silences

• In Event: With Language at the Heart: Researcher, School, Community, and Tribal College Collaborations in Indigenous Education

Abstract

Objectives/Purpose. This paper reports on a research project for and with an Indigenous school to better understand how to create adult speakers of Ojibwemowin. What are the collective processes that support Indigenous adult language learning at a culturally based indigenous immersion school? How might an expanded scope of research that views language as process and not as content or individual gains differ from a standard language acquisition focus? How is the distinct process of collaborating to learn informed by cultural paradigms, and how might this in turn speak back to other academic fields engaged in Indigenous-language education and revitalization such as linguistics and documentation and second language acquisition? The purpose of this paper is to explore adult Indigenous language reclamation as a part of a larger educational-relational process—that is, an intergenerational, collaborative process in an immersion school setting which re-frames language as an ecological and cultural process (Leonard, 2017).

Perspective and Theoretical Frameworks for Methods and Modes of Inquiry. The idea of participant frames focuses attention on the socially situated relationships that are constantly being negotiated in interactions. Learning-by-pitching-in has been documented in other Indigenous context as significant and culturally specific (Paradise & Rogoff, 2009.) By intentionally capturing ethnographic notes with language samples, we are able to look specifically for the effects of various frames on language. The frames focus data gathering efforts and include the following: participant-to-participant and more competent adult interlocutors, participants as teachers, and participants in one-on-one interactions with students. What is the relationship between oral language production and participant frames (Heath, 1983; Swain & Lapkin, 1993)?

Data Sources. Data were collected from January–December 2018 at an Ojibwe immersion school in the Midwestern U.S. Participant observation, ethnographic interviews, auto-ethnography, and language learner analysis were employed in this study. Participant observation field notes, selected language samples (translated and transcribed), interviews, and videos of interactions were collected for five adult learners.

Results. Combining tools from both ethnography/anthropology and second language acquisition we analyze and highlight the interactional processes of collaboration that allow an Indigenous, endangered language to flourish and be learned. We will create a clearer understanding of the aspects of immersion teacher training that facilitated language growth along with opportunities for improving the language-learning program to better address the unique needs of Indigenous adult language learners.

Scholarly Significance. Designed in collaboration with stakeholders and tribal members at the Ojibwe immersion school, this research partnership started with conversations in September 2017 to ensure the project was appropriate to the needs of the community and had design participation from members. Ojibwe cultural continuity is happening every day through a unique process of learning at the Ojibwe immersion school, and yet little has been recorded and reported about the ways this is happening. Analyzing and understanding the specific mechanisms of Indigenous language reclamation within the American context of school provides insights into the ways in which schools, their leaders, and researchers can partner for transformative education practice with significant implications for language and culture reclamation and continuance.

Authors

• Mary Hermes, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• James McKenzie, University of Arizona