Language conference targets barriers to learning

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Great strides have been made in introducing Native study courses into the mainstream curriculum, but that is only part of the battle. Native students need to be empowered to learn their language, and culture and self-esteem are key factors in that process, according to educators At the Raising Our Voices conference held in London Oct. 17 to 19, They shared insights into the teaching process and ideas for pushing students in the direction of higher achievement.

Mary Joy Elijah, director of the Oneida Language and Cultural Centre at Oneida Nation of the Thames, told how she turned her frustration at her inability to speak the Oneida language into a passion for promoting Native languages. Her conference workshop was entitled First Nations Language and Culture in the Ontario Curriculum.

"I don't speak my language. My own language is a foreign language," Elijah said. "That's a terrible thing to have to say. Every class that Indian Affairs provided for learning Native language, I took it. I took them all, and I'm not learning., Oh, I can say the word lists, but I can't have a conversation." Elijah then took a crucial step. she said: she stepped back from trying to learn the language and studied language acquisition itself. "Having said that, I decided to study how people learn a second language. Let's look at that science and apply it."

Elijah identified three crucial factors affecting success in learning a language. First, the learner must be motivated to learn; second, the learner has to identify with the target group, that is, the culture comprised of native speakers of the language; third, that target group has to want the learner to learn.

Native students studying their language sometimes encounter resistance on the second and third counts. Elders who are fluent sometimes resist attempts by young people to become fluent, not out of any sense of elitism but because they may feel the students' time is better spent on skills that enhance their employability, Elijah said.

"We had an Elder, an 80-year-old World War Two veteran, who was speaking to a class," Elijah recalled. "At the end, he said, 'I don't know why they bother to teach that (Native languages). It's not going to put bread on the table.'"

This attitude, Elijah said, filters down to the young. "I hear high school students say, 'Why should I waste time on Native studies? It's not going to help me get a job.' So you see how that attitude gets picked up."

She outlined some activities for engaging the enthusiasm of young students. With the help of some paper towel rolls, drawing paper, and a cardboard box, for example, the students made a "television" show about koskosko, a wild pig that became newsworthy at Oneida of the Thames before meeting his demise. The students drew all the pictures in the show and told the story.

Theodore "Teddy" Peters, an Akwesasne Mohawk teacher, knows all about engaging students' enthusiasm and bolstering their self-esteem. Each school year, Peters involves Grade 3 and 4 students in a musical project that culminates in a public performance and airplay on local radio station CKON, where Peters hosts a radio program. He recounted his experiences at a conference workshop entitled Music and Media in the Language.

Last year's project was a re-enactment of two scenes from the movie Oh Brother, Where Art Thou, in which the Soggy Bottom Boys perform classic country tunes. Peters translated Man Of Constant Sorrow and In The Jailhouse Now into the Mohawk language and set about auditioning singers from grades three and four.

With the help of hats and fake beards and a karaoke machine, Peters soon had pint-sized Soggy Bottom Boys strutting their stuff in the school auditorium. Peters screened a video of both auditions and performances by the winners at the conference, to the obvious delight of the attendees.

"Every year there's at least one kid who isn't shy, who takes the lead," Peters said. "When the other kids see how much fun it i, they all want to try. It's great to see how the quieter kids get drawn in by the others." He shrugged off the question of whether the songs had any particular relevance for the children. "Country music is good because the songs are slow and the tunes are catchy. The challenge is just to keep it fun for them. The main thing is, they're learning the language."

The fun extends beyond performing, as the students help plan the production and make various props. Their involvement forges a strong visual association to the words the children are learning, which Peters believes will help with both understanding and retention. While the details are not yet firm, this year's performance of the Jimmie Rodgers classic No Hard Times may involve a pig costume and some flying flour.

Besides the school performance, the young performers sometimes get airplay at CKO. Last year's performers were also filmed by APTN. Peters said this attention and recognition goes a long way toward bolstering confidence and self-esteem, especially since "most kids are natural hams anyway."

Teddy Peters ended his conference workshop by leading a rousing chorus of O:nen Rahnho:ton (In the Jailhouse Now). The adult participants proved slightly more reticent than Peters' Grade 3 and 4 students, but with his encouragement and the help of the Mohawk speakers in the group, they gave it their best.

Mary Joy Elijah is a veteran of three teams that did seminal work on the design of the Ontario secondary school Native studies curriculum.

"The courses are all done, and they're well designed. They're good. But they're not in the schools" Elijah said. The reason that the courses are not available, she added, is that many secondary school principals simply choose not to offer them at their schools.

"The only excuse not to offer a course is that the parents aren't demanding it," Elijah said. "It needs overt political action. You need to call the school. You need to talk to the school board. Ask that these couses be included in the curriculum." Elijah added that there is no minimum requirement for numbers of Native students enrolled in the class.

The number one problem facing any student is low self-esteem, Elijah said. Since language and culture cannot be separated, this lack of self-esteem takes the form of a feeling that Native studies are not as important as other subjects.

"You need to summon grassroots involvement. Lobby the Ministry of Education, and get that mandatory history requirement changed."