The Northwest Indian Language Institute is proud to annouce
From the classroom to the family:
Language in the home
Full Summer Institute: July 7th-18th 2008
Weekend Workshop: July 11-13, 2008
University of Oregon, Eugene
Please join us for the 11th annual NILI Summer Institute at the University of Oregon July 7th - 18th, 2007. Courses will cover a range of topics, including Northwest Native languages, linguistics, materials and technology, and teaching methods, centered around the theme From the classroom to the family: Language in the home. Together, we will explore ways that parents, programs and language teachers can encourage language use outside the classroom.
Course offerings
Teaching Methods for Indian Languages: Language in the Home (1 credit)
This class will begin with a frank and research-based discussion of why language use in families is important for long-term language survival and health. From there we will review research on the benefits of early multilingualism in children and empower ourselves to defend the use of Native languages in the home. Participants will have hands-on experience using techniques for using language in the home with young children, learn about approaches being used in indigenous communities around the world, and brainstorm strategies for use in their home communities.
Instructor: Lindsay Marean
Classroom Materials and Technology (1 credit)
In this hands-on course, students explore ways to make materials for classroom or home use. Students use latest technologies to create learning materials and practice using them as both teachers and learners. This session will specifically focus on the design of games, comics and storybooks.
Instructors: Judith Fernandes, Christopher Doty
Introduction to Linguistics (1 credit)
This class will help you discover more about the patterns and structure of your language and it will help you with learning your language whether you are a language learner or language teacher. We will start by looking at the sound systems of your languages and how sounds pattern. We will practice pronunciation daily. We will look at how words are formed; this will lead us into discussing parts of speech in your language (and in English). We will talk some about meaning and also about some of the problems with translation. Finally, we will look at how words are put together to make sentences.
Instructor: Janne Underriner
Introduction to Sahaptin Linguistics (1 credit)
This class is designed for people working with the Sahaptin language and its dialects, with a focus on how knowing more about the patterns and structure of your language will help you as a language learner or language teacher. This class will look at the sound systems of Sahaptin, and how to pronounce particular sounds. We will then look at words and how words are formed, and finally how words are put together to make sentences.
Instructor: Joana Jansen
Advanced Linguistics for NW Indian Languages (1 credit)
This course is intended for students who have taken the introductory linguistics class at NILI, or have some similar background in linguistics. The emphasis will be on using scholarly materials (grammars, dictionaries, texts) prepared by linguists to help you understand your language and how to teach it. The class will be useful to anyone who is learning a language and trying to improve their skills and knowledge. The practice which we will get in analyzing the words of the language, and understanding how the grammar works, will also be useful to anyone trying to write curriculum or materials for a language class.
Instructor: TBA
Chinuk Wawa (1 credit)
The focus of the class is on learning Chinuk Wawa, a language spoken throughout the Pacific Northwest, and learning the history and culture of the tribal people who spoke it. Students will (1) learn the sound system of Chinuk Wawa to be able to (2) converse in a variety of common everyday settings using vocabulary and structures presented in class. Emphasis is placed on daily speaking, writing, reading and listening of Chinuk Wawa and learning about the cultures of the people who spoke and still speak the language.
Instructor: TBA
Sahaptin (1 credit)
As long as the American Indian natives can remember, their language has never been written. The stories and teachings were passed down orally throughout each generation. There were story-tellers and whipmen who were the teachers. Now, the Elders have passed away and their wisdom died with them. There are few fluent speakers left, and the young generation is becoming alarmed that their culture and language is dwindling away. They believe whatever is left should be preserved. They are now relying on the colleges and universities for help. Consequently, writing systems have developed. This course will teach an introduction to a practical writing system and the sounds of Sahaptin. Students learn words and phrases in the Sahaptin language.
Instructor: Virginia Beavert
Lushootseed - A Total Immersion language Class (1 credit)
Lushootseed is the indigenous language spoken in the Puget Sound area. Its region includes all of Puget Sound, its river tributaries, Whidbey Island and Skagit Valley.
The most effective process for teaching languages is through a full immersion. The best way to learn how to conduct a full immersion is to experience one. This course is ideal for beginning, as well as advanced students. Teachers who are not Lushootseed speakers may be interested in attending to see how an immersion language class is taught. The course will also tie into the workshop theme of getting language into the home through using traditional stories, storybooks, audio CDs, and even the Internet. By the end of the two-week course, the estimated vocabulary exposure is between 200 and 300 words.
The course will cover:
1: The 43 Lushootseed sounds and IPA letters used to represent them,
2: Vocabulary building and introductory phrases,
3: Four traditional stories from the Puget Sound region, including: Changer and Bear, The Frogs Say, Crow Paints the Rocks, and Lady Louse
Costs for the Summer Institute:
Tuition (4 University Credits): $1250
Materials and computer lab fees: $125
Approximate housing fee: $620 (Includes dorm room and all meals during Institute)
In addition, students will be responsible for purchasing course books at the UO Bookstore (approximately $30-40), and a campus parking permit (approximately $45).
A non-refundable deposit of $150 is due by June 2nd, 2008.
Use the link at the top of the page to download the registration form.
Weekend Workshop July 11-13:
.>><<. A Basket Story and Mapping Language to Land: Language in the Home .>><<.
It is vital for communities, teachers and language programs to develop strategies to bring language home to the families, and encourage families to participate within the classroom. This workshop will develop curriculum and materials that connect the classroom with the home.
Mnemonic devices are objects that cause us to remember a topic. For example, a picture of a "cat" can help remind a student of the word for cat, or even a story about their own pet. Different objects create different memories for all of us. The curriculum and lesson plans we will be covering during the weekend workshop involve developing two different mnemonic devices to get language used in the home. They are as follows:
A Basket Story: Baskets are an integral part to indigenous culture. They "weave" our lives into connections with nature, materials, elders, stories, history, and much, much more. Each individual's basket story is different, though everyone's is significant. Some stories are straight forward, going in a straight line with a clear beginning and end. Other stories are tightly woven and cover several themes. They can cover current events, as well as, traditional history. Such is the diversity of basketry. Some baskets are only one material, woven under, over, under, over... Others are tightly twisted, involving several resources and have intricate designs. Some baskets are only woven with traditional materials, while others incorporate contemporary materials, meshing new with old. Each language program will be selecting a tribal basket story for this workshop. If you can, bring a basket, or photo of a weaver or basket that you would like to use to tell your story. This object will be the center piece for your lesson plan development and mnemonic device.
Mapping Language to Land: Everyone has stories when traveling. They usually begin with, "This is where I locked my keys in the car when..." or, "This is where my grandfather use to take me hunting..." or, "My tribe picks berries on that hill, because.... and that is why it is called...." As in basket stories, each of these stories are unique. This is not literally language in the home, but what is meant by language in the home is language used by families, and we are usually with our families (at least close friends) when we are traveling in a vehicle.
Each language group will be coming up with their own story that is tied to the land. Hence: they will be creating curriculum around the idea of Mapping Language to Land. The actual location will serve as the mnemonic device. Please try to have some story ideas that will tie your language to the land.
Zalmai (Zeke) Zahir will lead the workshop. He is a scholar and instructor of the Lushootseed language and culture. For over thirty years he has studied with elderly speakers, researching, transcribing and translating Lushootseed. He has authored and co-authored a number of Lushootseed language publications.
The workshop follows the theme of Language in the Home, and will run a half day Friday, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning. It will be a required part of the curriculum for full summer institute participants, but also available for those of you who can’t make it for the full institute.
Workshop-only registration:
General Registration: $175; Elders, $75
(Workshop attendance is free and required for Summer Institute participants)
Priority registration deadline: June 2, 2008
After June 2, 2008, registration will be on a space-available basis.