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| Linguistics | | Dr. Melissa Axelrod
Geographic Area Served
Tribal / Reservation |
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Project Description
One of the most important outcomes of the dictionary and database will be the creation of language teaching materials and a Nambe Tewa language curriculum. This aspect of our project will be conducted on four fronts. The first step will be to create teacher-training materials, to train native speakers to be language teachers. These materials will be used for the teacher training workshops. Secondly, we will develop two separate language instruction curricula (one for children, one for adults) in the course of the teacher training workshops. Thirdly, we will create non-written, interactive classroom materials, using the computer as a platform. Finally we will create language CDs, for both classroom and home use. Successful language documentation and revitalization projects always involve detailed knowledge of the grammatical structures of the language in question, knowledge that can be presented to potential community teachers in such a way as to help them understand the teaching/learning process children and others will be participating in as the community re-establishes the central position of its ancestral language. These projects also require knowledge about first and second language acquisition processes as they are relevant to the linguistic structure of the language. Most importantly though, these projects involve understanding detailed information about the community, about the speakers and non-speakers, about the various speech communities within the larger group, about the politics of the community and the roles of individuals and groups, and about the symbolic value of the heritage language as an indicator of ethnic identity. Indeed, it is the sensitive acquisition of this understanding that permits the rich collaborations between academic linguists and community members which are fundamental to successful revitalizations projects.My graduate students and I have collaborated with our Nambe partners to talk about the language program at Nambe to scholars and Native Americans at several conferences focused on language revitalization. Although information about the language itself is restricted to Pueblo members alone, we talked about the process of building a team and a program of activities aimed at maintaining and rejuvenating an endangered language in a 2004 colloquium at UNM, a presentation at the Stabilizing Indigenous Languages Conference, also in 2004, and most recently a poster presentation at the 2006 Linguistic Society of America Conference. The intellectual merits of this research center on its ability to combine scientific research providing scholars with access to a previously undocumented language with recognition of the importance of speakers, their community, and their sociocultural heritage. The project answers the challenge to linguists to develop research endeavors that contribute to scientific inquiries while also engaging and serving native speech communities. The project will insure both participation and leadership of a group which has long been underrepresented in American science. Additionally, the success of this project among speakers may encourage opportunities to document and understand other Tanoan languages and other New Mexico Pueblo languages.
Eligibility
All members of Nambe Pueblo are eligible to participate. Also seven graduate students in the Department of Linguistics have been selected to participate.
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| Contact Information: |
| Location | | Mailing Address |
UNM Main Campus
Humanities 556
Albuquerque
NM
87131-0001 |
| UNM Main Campus
Department of Linguistics
MSC03 2130
Albuquerque
NM
87131-001 |
| | | Email | | Telephone |
| Dr. Melissa Axelrod | | axelrod@unm.edu |
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| Dr. Melissa Axelrod | | (505) 277-2032 |
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