Research Guides: Indigenous Languages: Language Revitalization

The Department of Linguistics at the University of British Columbia specializes in First Nations Languages of British Columbia. UBC theses and dissertations are available freely online through UBC's Open Collections. Search by keyword, or scroll down the list of department to browse a list of theses and dissertations by students in the Linguistics department.

Language Revitalization

"The identities, lives and futures of Indigenous peoples have been immeasurably affected by the forced removal of their languages. The efforts they are making to bring the languages back to life can have a huge, positive impact on individuals, families and communities."

Dr. Onowa McIvor, Indigenous Languages in Canada.

Overview

Indigenous Languages in Canada: What you need to know.
By Dr. Onowa McIvor.
Report on the Status of First Nations Languages - 2022
Every four years, the First Peoples’ Cultural Council (FPCC) surveys BC First Nations communities to collect information that tracks the accomplishments around language learning and celebrates the successes we see over time. This report is the fourth edition.

The language warrior's manifesto: how to keep our languages alive no matter the odds by Anton Treuer
Call Number: X T74 L35 2020
ISBN: 9781681341545
Publication Date: 2020
Treuer recounts his own single-minded and sometimes hilarious struggle to learn Ojibwe as an adult, and he depicts the astonishing success of the language program at Lac Courte Oreilles in northern Wisconsin, where dedicated families and teachers have raised a hundred children who speak Ojibwe as their first language. This is a manifesto, a rumination, and a rallying cry for the preservation of priceless languages and cultures.
A world of indigenous languages: policies, pedagogies and prospects for language reclamation by Teresa L. McCarty, Sheilah E. Nicholas and Gillian Wigglesworth
Call Number: X M33 W67 2019
ISBN: 9781788923064
Publication Date: 2019
Spanning Indigenous-language settings in Africa, the Americas, Aotearoa/New Zealand, Australia, Central Asia and the Nordic countries, this book examines the multifaceted efforts of Indigenous peoples to reclaim and sustain their languages.
Indigenous language revitalization in the Americas by Serafín M. Coronel-Molina and Teresa L. McCarty
Call Number: X C67 N35 2016
Publication Date: 2016
Focusing on the Americas -- home to 40 to 50 million Indigenous people -- this book explores the history and current state of Indigenous language revitalization across this vast region.
Language planning and policy in Native America: history, theory, praxis by Teresa L. McCarty ; foreword by Richard E. Littlebear
Call Number: X M33 L36 2013
ISBN: 9781847698629
Publication Date: 2013
We Are Our Language: An Ethnography of Language Revitalization in a Northern Athabaskan Community by Barbra A. Meek
Call Number: XBH M44 W43 2010
ISBN: 9780816527175
Publication Date: 2010
In presenting the case of Kaska, an endangered language in an Athapascan community in the Yukon, Barbra Meek asserts that language revitalization requires more than just linguistic rehabilitation; it demands a social transformation.

Aboriginal Young Children's Language and Literacy Development: Research Evaluating Progress, Promising Practices, and Needs
By Jessica Ball (2007). This report summarizes what was known in 2007 about language and literacy development in Indigenous children under six years old in Canada.. It is slightly older, but it’s a fantastic primer on the need for Indigenous language and literacy, the needs of Indigenous children, approaches to language and literacy development, and current programs and interventions.
Languages For Life: Nourishing Indigenous Languages In The Home
First Peoples’ Cultural Council, 2019. this resource is applicable to any Indigenous parent or caregiver who wants to teach their children their Indigenous language, and learn it themselves. In plain language, it dispels myths about language learning and bilingualism, and gives straightforward suggestions for ways to begin to speak the language at home. It addresses how to make a language plan and gives example activities that parents can do at home. Common challenges associated with learning and teaching Indigenous languages are outlined and then given possible solutions.

Toolkits, handbooks and plans

Language Revitalization Planning Toolkit - First People's Cultural Council
The toolkit offers instructions, examples and templates for a community-based planning process.
Supporting Indigenous Language Revitalization - Resources
Language revitalization resources, including apps, dictionaries, language maps and centres, podcasts, translation, and immersion camps/programs.
Languages For Life: Nourishing Indigenous Languages In The Home
First Peoples’ Cultural Council, 2019. this resource is applicable to any Indigenous parent or caregiver who wants to teach their children their Indigenous language, and learn it themselves. In plain language, it dispels myths about language learning and bilingualism, and gives straightforward suggestions for ways to begin to speak the language at home. It addresses how to make a language plan and gives example activities that parents can do at home. Common challenges associated with learning and teaching Indigenous languages are outlined and then given possible solutions.
Indigitization - Language Revitalization tools
This section is a short guide to community recording with a Zoom H6 Handy Recorder, to record Indigenous language and culture.

Language nests are language immersion programs for pre-school children, where older language speakers participate in inter-generational transference of knowledge and language skills. They originated in New Zealand in the 1980s, and the phrase is a translation of the Māori phrase kōhanga reo.

Language Nest Handbook - First People's Cultural Council
The handbook provides an overview of the language nest model, along with strategies for overcoming common challenges.
Language Nest Toolkit - First People's Cultural Council
The Language Nest Toolkit contains a variety of practical resources to help with the day-to-day running of a language nest, as well as information and links to Indigenous language immersion programs worldwide.

Building the Nests: Indigenous Language Revitalization in Canada Through Early Childhood Immersion Programs
Master's thesis, Onowa McIvor, 1998. This study included key community members in two Indigenous communities which have
developed 'language nest' programs. The goal of the observations and interviews was to
identity factors contributing to successes and challenges in initiating and maintaining
'language nest' programs.

Indigenous Languages

UBC Theses and Dissertations

Language Revitalization

Overview

Toolkits, handbooks and plans

Language Revitalization organizations