NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Educators throughout the NWT are pioneering new ways to preserve the territory's languages.
Karra Dillon displays what she made to teach children the Siglitun language and culture in the Aboriginal Language and Cultural Instructor program at Aurora College in March 2011. - NNSL file photo |
Brent Kaulback, assistant superintendent with the South Slave Divisional Education Council, was one of the first to be inducted into the territory's Education Hall of Fame in 2010 for his work to promote language and culture in the classroom.
Kaulback said initiatives throughout the territory are proving languages can be saved.
"I don't think the notion of losing our languages here in the Northwest Territories and in other aboriginal communities is firm," he said. "I think we can revitalize, we can reverse that trend. I see evidence of that in our communities here."
The number of individuals who identified an aboriginal language as their mother tongue declined by four per cent in 2011, according to the NWT Bureau of Statistics.
But Kaulback said Deninu School in Fort Resolution, which is actively promoting Chipewyan, is an example of what can be done to revitalize a language.
"In some homes the students themselves are re-teaching and reintroducing the language to their parents," he said. "That reassures me of the fact that we can have a bright future."
Kaulback said the education council has published more than 180 books in aboriginal languages, all of which are available on the council's website. The books include Bush Cree, Slavey and Chipewyan dictionaries, as well as storybooks, CDs and audio books.
Kaulback said the council is working on a computer program that would work similarly to other language learning software, such as Rosetta Stone.
He said the technology will not only help students and teachers in the NWT, but is being designed to reach a worldwide audience.
"We're still in the stages of developing a program that can be used to support an individual learning the language," he said.
"What we're after is an online learning tool that any individual, anyone anywhere in the world, can use to support them learning the language."
The program will feature a virtual Northern community where users can explore buildings in town or camps on the land while interacting with simulated characters.
"It will be like a virtual community that they're walking through and investigating and at the same time learning the language during the activities they do in these virtual environments," he said.
Technology is key to keeping languages alive, particularly for youth, Kaulback said.
"They're enthused by this technology, therefore we're trying to provide them with tools that motivate and excite them in using the language," he said.
The Department of Education, Culture and Employment is also developing Apple language apps, which are already available in Dene, according to the department. Inuvialuit and Cree apps are next.
Marie Jacobson, the Inuvialuktun language officer for the Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre in Inuvik, is also using technology to encourage learning. She works with the Beaufort Delta Education Council's language teachers and the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC).
Every week for the past few months, Jacobson e-mails an Inuvialuktun lesson to all staff at the IRC and the Inuvialuit Development Corporation, as well as all community corporations within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region.
The lesson isn't mandatory, but Jacobson said there is always a great response from both Inuvialuit and non-Inuvialuit employees.
A prize is awarded to the first person with the correct answer, which makes it a fun activity, she added.
Jacobson said while information packages and books can be set aside, she has found e-mailing lessons directly to employees is an ideal method of promoting language learning.
"I feel this is the right way to start, start with small lessons and using the computers," she said. "I find you have a book and it can sit on a shelf. When you open the computer you open an icon that says 'language lesson.' I figure going this route, more people are going to be looking at these resources."
The centre also has language lesson booklets with audio CDs and take-home lesson booklets for kids featuring photos of local children.
"At that age, we want them to learn something that's around them," she said.
Books are now available in the Inuvialuktun dialect and in Inuinnaqtun. The centre also has oral history recordings.
Jacobson said the organization also provides funding to communities wanting to start their own evening adult Inuvialuktun classes.
March is Aboriginal Languages Month and Jacobson said the centre is holding an open house on March 13 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The event will showcase resources available at the centre.
Helen Balanoff, executive director of the NWT Literacy Council, said language resources are improving, especially for children.
"Nowadays there are also lots of lovely children's books in aboriginal languages," she said. "In the old days, aboriginal language books were often just photocopies."
She said learning an aboriginal language in early childhood can boost development when kids reach school age.
"If their language in the community is an aboriginal language, that really helps them when they have to change to English in the school system," she said.
Balanoff said the territory is home to languages that exist nowhere else and they need to be protected.
"For many of the languages, the NWT is the only place that you find them," she said.
"If they die out here then they're gone forever."
Benjamin Scott, the associate director of the territory's Official Languages Division, said ECE is holding a photo contest where participants submit photos of traditional activities with captions or story in both English and an NWT aboriginal language. The winner will receive an iPad.
The department is also hosting its second Aboriginal Languages Symposium in Yellowknife on March 20 and 21, which is expected to attract more than 150 representatives from across the territory.
Scott said the symposium will bring people together to discuss what is happening with language learning in the communities and ways to move forward.
The symposium will also provide feedback on the Aboriginal Languages Secretariat implementation plan, which could be launched later this spring, Scott said.
