Abstract
This chapter examines the role of Native languages in the lives and aspirations of Native American youth. Drawing on a five-year, multi-method study of Native language shift and retention in four tribal communities, we analyze language ideologies that suggest the evolving contemporary causes of language shift among the young. Native youth narratives suggest three overarching themes that influence their language choices: concern about the future of their heritage language, the politics of shame and caring, and the constraints of larger standardizing regimes. We conclude by discussing examples of Indigenous counter-initiatives to the pressures that limit youths’ language choices: Native charter schools, counter-standards for culturally-responsive schooling, and Native-language immersion programs. These education practices wedge open spaces of possibility, creating new arenas in which to re-imagine multilingual schools.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | Imagining Multilingual Schools |
Subtitle of host publication | Languages in Education and Glocalization |
Publisher | Channel View Publications |
Pages | 91-110 |
Number of pages | 20 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781853598968 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781853598951 |
State | Published - Jan 1 2006 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Arts and Humanities
- General Social Sciences