Native Languages Center
Learn
Welcome to the Learn Page of the virtual AIHEC TCU Center of Excellence. Here you will find resources and toolkits that can help support language reclamation and revitalization work. The toolkits and resources are meant to be used as guides or starting points for different areas of language work. The documents and links on this page will consist of two different types of resources: At-Your-Own-Pace Toolkits, and Resources from established language organizations or programs that can provide more in-depth information or examples of successful language projects.
Toolkit Library
Below is the first in the Toolkit Library: Language Documentation Workshop. This is an at-our-own-pace series that provides an overview of the language documentation process. Coming soon the at-your-own-pace Toolkit Library:
- A workshop series on Immersion. This is an overview of understanding immersion, considerations if this is the right fit for your community, and what is needed to establish an immersion program.
- A workshop series on Community Language Planning. This will expand further on Module 1 of the Language Documentation workshop and provide guidance on assessing language status in your community; setting community language goals and drafting an action plan with both short- and long-term goals; working with community language authorities (if present in your community); understanding the role of a TCU in community language work; and establishing a plan for implementation.
Language Documentation Workshop
The intent for this workshop series is to provide an overview on how to plan for a Language Documentation Project for your community or organization. It will provide guidance on determining the best type of documentation project for the goals/needs of your language program or community. It will then dive into assessing materials that may already be available in your community and how to blend this with collection of new materials.
Resources
The resources in this section include some printable documents with general information for different areas of language work. It also includes links out to organizations and programs that have more in-depth information on examples of successful language programs, curriculum and standards examples, or organizations who assist with aspects of language planning and program development.
America’s Languages Portal
The America’s Languages Portal supports access and equity, with accountability through transparency and documentation. Programs are presented as models for teachers, administrators, legislators, policy makers and funders seeking to meet the language needs of historically underserved learners, including African American, People of Color, Native American, heritage, immigrant, refugee populations, Latino/Latina/Latinx as well as economically disadvantaged rural and urban communities.
American Philosophical Society
The Mellon Foundation Native American Scholars Initiative (NASI) within the American Philosophical Society fosters the development of the next generation of Indigenous and allied students and scholars by supporting emerging scholarship in Native American and Indigenous Studies. NASI promotes research in the field of Native American and Indigenous Studies and related fields by undergraduates, Native American scholars, Tribal College faculty members, and researchers who work closely with archives and Native communities. NASI offers annual opportunities through pre- and post-doctoral fellowships, undergraduate internships, workshops and other resources.
The National Coalition of Native American Language Schools & Programs
The National Coalition of Native American Language Schools and Programs (National Coalition) advocates for the use of Indigenous languages as the medium of instruction in our community-led schools and programs. The coalition empowers students, families, teachers and our community-led Native American language medium schools and programs by strengthening public policy.
The National Coalition of Community-Based Heritage Language Schools
The Coalition of Community-Based Language Schools is a nationwide initiative established to support, guide, and promote the interests of community-based heritage language schools and organizations across the United States. Their main goals are to facilitate communication among community-based heritage language schools/programs; develop official statistics on HL teaching and learning by collecting comprehensive data about community-based schools and press for inclusion of these data in official U.S. education statistics; and increase the visibility and recognition of these schools/programs within the U.S. education system on local, state, and national levels.
American Indian Language Development Institute, University of Arizona
The American Indian Language Development Institute’s (AILDI) mission is to provide critical training to strengthen efforts to revitalize and promote the use of Indigenous languages across generations. This is accomplished by engaging educators, schools, Indigenous communities and policy makers nationally and internationally through outreach, transformative teaching, purposeful research and collaborative partnerships.
7000 Languages
7000 Languages creates free online language-learning courses in partnership with Indigenous, minority, and refugee communities so they can keep their languages alive. Their values include the tenet that Indigenous languages and the materials created for those languages belong to the community of ancestors, speakers, and descendants of those languages. They seek to cooperatively develop resources for each community to self- determine the future of their language.
American Indian Studies Research Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington
The primary function of the American Indian Studies Research Institute (AISRI) is to provide the institutional structure necessary to carry out research and educational projects, most of which are funded by outside sources including the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and American Indian tribal organizations. Some of their current projects include the Plains Indian Language Documentation and Studies of American Indian History and Culture.