Regions: Gwich'in Settlement Area, North Slave Region
Tags: social sciences, traditional knowledge, linguistics, education
| Principal Investigator: | Parker, Aliana (1) |
| Licence Number: | 14977 |
| Organization: | University of Victoria |
| Licensed Year(s): |
2011
|
| Issued: | Nov 25, 2011 |
Objective(s): To understand the connection between Indigenous languages and the land, and to explore how that connection is represented in websites used for Indigenous language education.
Project Description: The research objective is to understand the connection between Indigenous languages and the land, and to explore how that connection is represented in websites used for Indigenous language education. The central research question is: What is the significance of Indigenous perspectives of land for Indigenous language revitalization efforts? The connection between language and land will be the main focus of the interviews that will be conducted with 2 participants from the Northwest Territories. In order to develop a more complete understanding of how Indigenous languages are connected to the land, interviews will be conducted with a variety of First Nations people from different language groups and communities throughout Canada. The interviews will focus on each participant's own personal experiences with the land, and his or her perspectives and ideas about the connection between language and land. The knowledge gained from these interviews will then inform the rest of the research project, particularly the investigation into how land is represented in online language teaching materials. The portion of this research relevant to this application will consist of an interview and associated meetings with 2 participants in the Northwest Territories. Indigenous protocol will be followed in the research procedure. The interviews and all contact with the participant(s) in the Northwest Territories will be conducted via phone and email. The research may benefit the participant as each participant will be given the opportunity to receive the research outcomes, including the interview audio recording and transcript, a copy of a language website analysis instrument which will be developed for the thesis, and a copy of the thesis. These may all be used by the participants in their language revitalization efforts. The research will significantly benefit indigenous communities as it will help us to understand and integrate Indigenous worldviews into educational curricula. Language Website Analysis Instrument: The interviews discussed in this application represent only a part of the whole research project. The second part of the project involves an analysis of Indigenous language education websites to determine the role of land in this medium of language learning. The instrument used for this analysis will be developed separate from the interviews. None of the data collected will be included in this instrument. The instrument may be useful to participants who are working on online language revitalization projects. For example, participants who are involved in developing material for their communities’ educational websites may find this instrument a useful tool to inform their work. For this reason I will offer a copy of this instrument to each participant, should they wish to use it. Each participant will be offered a copy of his or her interview transcript and audio recording. The participants will also be offered a copy of the final thesis, which may be shared with their communities as they see fit. A copy of the final thesis will also be made available to the participants' communities, should they request it. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from November 25 to December 30, 2011.
