Browsing by Author "Sterzuk, Andrea"

Now showing 1 - 20 of 44

Open Access
An Action Research Study: EAL and Content Teachers Collaborating to Support All Students at a Secondary School
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2015-04) Keil, Trudy Lynn; Sterzuk, Andrea; Wessel, Warren; Salm, Twyla; Madigan Peercy, Megan
As the number of English as an Additional Language (EAL) students increases in Saskatchewan schools, there is a need for language and content teachers to work collaboratively. This study describes the implementation of an action research project involving the researcher as an EAL teacher collaborating with three content teachers and another EAL teacher serving as a “critical friend” (Costa and Kallick, 1993). Teachers used the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2008) for structuring specialized instruction. Data included pre- and post-interviews, lesson plans and reflective journals. Grounded theory informed the theoretical framework and the data analysis. In order to reflect upon the progress of collaborative efforts, the Five Levels of Collaboration developed by Davison (2006) were used. Findings show that teachers developed professionally and were able to better support EAL students. One of the primary recommendations includes the necessity of administration to timetable common preparation times or teaching times. Establishing such supportive structures allows for collaborative partnerships to exist which provide teachers with greater opportunities to develop professionally for the purpose of better supporting EAL students. Keywords: collaboration, content, EAL, SIOP
Open Access
Alliances, assemblages, and affect: Teacher activism within and beyond the union in Saskatchewan
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2025-03) Keil, Trudy Lynn; Osmond-Johnson, Pamela; Sterzuk, Andrea; Massing, Christine; Sorensen, Michele; Winton, Sue
In recent decades, Canadian governments have increasingly drawn upon global neoliberal policies to regulate the work of teachers and their professional organizations (Bascia, 2015; Smaller, 1998). Neoliberalism has radically altered educational policies with respect to curriculum, teaching pedagogy, and teachers’ professionalism (Apple, 2006; Ball, 2003), impeding teachers’ ability to deliver democratic education (Darder, 2019). Viewing teacher activism broadly, this research explored Saskatchewan teacher activists’ resistance to marketdriven educational reforms through their engagement with both the power of grassroots social movements and the institutional authority of their union. Guided by Harding et al.’s (2018) poststructural framework of alliances, assemblages, and affects, this dissertation utilized Bartlett and Vavrus's (2017) comparative case study approach to explore teachers’ activism across place, space, and time. Sources included semi-structured interviews with ten known teacher activists and two focus groups with the same participants. Informed by Saldaña (2021), data was analyzed using eclectic coding then interweaved to generate poetry-like narratives representing teachers’ individual and collective voices. Findings showed that teachers strategically navigated activism amidst conflicting personal, professional, and political demands. Both cognitive and affective motivations served as the impetus for participation and activists’ involvements shifted dependent upon factors such as work-life balance and perceived risks. Though teachers viewed grassroots activism as more responsive and hopeful, they also valued the collective strength of the union and recognized its role in their political development. This dissertation distinguishes itself by exploring multifaceted teacher activism through poststructuralism thereby moving beyond mere critique and emphasizing how teachers resist neoliberalism through intentional acts. Keywords: teacher activism, teacher unions, social movements, poststructuralism
Open Access
“…And Thanks To The Islamic Staff”: An Action Research Study Exploring Collaboration And Belonging In An Islamic School
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2020-04) Krug, Kari Lynne; Sterzuk, Andrea; Ji, Xia; O'Reilly, Kathleen; Anderson, Brenda
This action research study investigates the use of collaboration in a faith-based Islamic school between Muslim and non-Muslim teachers and how this collaboration influences teacher sense of belonging. Data was collected during eight months using the following methods: semi-formal interviews, focus group meetings, journaling, and photography. From the data, two significant obstacles to collaboration were found: a lack of time and power imbalances. Along with power imbalances, many inequalities between the Muslim and non-Muslim teachers were identified by participants. Participant excerpts point to a perception of issues around respect and support. This perception is due to specific practices such as separate staff rooms, unequal classroom spaces, and addressing Muslim teachers as a collective, rather than as individual educational professionals. Overall, these practices contribute to a general sense of inferiority for Muslim teachers. This sense of inferiority can negatively influence Islamic teachers’ belonging in the school; however, it was found that through collaboration and action research, all teacher participants felt a stronger sense of connection and belonging.
Open Access
Be(come)ing an English Speaker: Positioning of South Korean Students in a Canadian University
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2016-12) Burton, Jennifer Lynn; Sterzuk, Andrea; Hart, Paul; McNinch, James
The growth of international students across Canadian universities means classrooms are increasingly linguistically diverse. This change affects the learning and relationships that occur between English language learners and speakers. Grounded in poststructuralist understandings of language and identity and Davies and Harré’s (1990) positioning theory, this thesis explores six South Korean student’s English language experiences in a Canadian university. Through informal conversational exchanges, narrative dialogue journals, and a personal researcher diary, this qualitative study is concerned with student subject positions and identity construction pertaining to language. What emerges from the data is what I term moments of tension which include students’ encounters with ESL labels, native-speaker identity, desire for fluency, English fear, imagined communities, employment in Canada, teacher respect, direct communication, and Korean relations. These moments of tension serve as entry points for exploring similarities and differences across participants’ experiences of being an English speaker. Students accept or reject varying subject positions within discourses that position and construct their identity in particular ways. Students negotiate silence, emotion, and responsibilities of interlocutor burden in intercultural communication—unveiling complex, evolving understandings of identity negotiation, power in communication, and English speaker legitimacy. The findings of this study reveal implications for EAP programs in universities, teacher education, and future theoretical directions in second language education.
Open Access
Building Language Teacher Awareness of Colonial Histories and Imperialistic Oppression Through the Linguistic Landscape
(Springer Nature, 2020) Sterzuk, Andrea
This chapter considers the potential of the linguistic landscape to address the challenge of developing critical multilingual awareness in a predominantly English monolingual and white settler student body in a Canadian teacher education program. The chapter begins with a historical overview of colonial efforts to suppress multilingualism in the province through education, provides a review of relevant literature, and describes a teacher education linguistic landscape activity in relation to this literature. From there, the chapter provides details and findings from a small study of pre-service teachers. The chapter includes examples of student photo analysis as well as a discussion of the usefulness of “noticing” the textual practices of public spaces in helping student teachers to build their awareness of colonial histories and imperialistic oppression. In this way, the chapter addresses the question of how the linguistic landscape can become a productive site for project-based learning in language teacher education.
Open Access
Celebration Of Authorship Program 2022-2023
(University of Regina Library, 2023) Abrams, Kelly J.; Afolabi, Taiwo; Ashton, Emily; Battis, Jes; Bazzul, Jesse; Buchko, Denée M.; Coupal, Chelsea; Crivea, Jocelyn; Dupeyron, Bruno; Eaton, Emily; Fay, Holly; Farney, Jim; Farrell, Issac; French, Lindsey; Fuchs, Jesse; Garneau, David; Gerbeza, Tea; Germani, Ian; Gibb, Ryland; Grimard, Céleste; Harnish, Garett; Hoang Trung, Kien; Horowitz, Risa; Hurlbert, Margot; Jeffery, Bonnie; King, Anna-Leah; Knight, Lindsay; Knuttila, Murray; Kyabaggu, Ramona; Lavallie, Carrie; Lloyd, Kiegan; Lonie, Kelsey; Lundahl, Bev; Lylyk, Stephen; Marsh, Charity; McNeil, Barbara; Moat, Olivia; Moasun, Festus Yaw; Nestor, Jack J.; Novik, Nuelle; Owusu, Raymond Karikari; Panchuk, Kristie; Petry, Roger; Petry, Yvonne; Phipps, Heather; Ratt, Solomon; Ricketts, Kathryn; Riegel, Christian; Robinson, Katherine M.; Rocke, Cathy; Rollo, Mike; Safinuk, Corey; Saul, Gerald; Schroeter, Sara; Schultz, Christie; Wanda, Seidlikoski Yurach; Sirke, Kara; Sterzuk, Andrea; Stewart, Michelle; Szabados, Béla; Tremblay, Arjun; Whippler, Ryan; White, Judy; Wihak, Mark; Zimmer, Jonathon
Archer Library is proud to unveil the 2022-23 University of Regina Celebration of Authorship Program booklet. This downloadable publication highlights University of Regina authors/creators of books, edited proceedings, sound recordings, musical scores and film or video recordings published over the last year in any format (print or electronic). We encourage you to take a moment to view the program booklet and extend your congratulations to all of the University of Regina students, faculty, staff, and alumni who are being celebrated this year.
Open Access
"Chew and pour learning strategy": A co-participant's account in a collaborative narrative research to examine learning challenges
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2022-09) Owusu, Raymond Karikari; Sterzuk, Andrea; Spooner, Marc; Lewis, Patrick; Akinpelu, Michael; Oloo, James
This collaborative narrative research study explores the experiences of three co-participants who studied at different locations in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The three co-participants include myself, researcher and two of my former junior high school students. I purposively selected my co-participants. The sample comprised of Boateng and Ntim who were students at two of the three respective junior high schools in which I taught. Drawing on two theoretical frameworks, critical-constructivism (Kincheloe, 2005), and language and symbolic power (Bourdieu, 1971; 1990), this study explores stories shared by the co-participants to identify learning challenges and successes over the use of English and Indigenous languages in school. I employed collaborative narrative research as the methodology for this study. To collect the data, I designed a set of semi-structured interview questions (Creswell & Guetterman, 2019) to guide the story narration process. One of the goals of this study is how to influence policymakers to direct their attention to solving challenges associated with current linguistic practices in schools. All three of us recounted memorable stories from our early years of schooling to the post-secondary level. My co-participants reflected on struggles they went through with language of instruction, how their life choices were affected by English, and how accessible public spaces are at places where English speaking is required. The study reveals that co-constructing stories with learners offers teachers opportunity to understand the experiences of their students, both former and present. The study found the enormous benefits of local language instruction and communication inside and outside of the classroom. All three co-participants expressed our challenges of navigating the school environment under the implementation of English-only speaking in our respective schools. Therefore, I recommend that to better understand our students’ needs, teachers should practice co-sharing of experiences with their students. I also recommend to policymakers to, as a matter of necessity, implement bilingualism (local language and English) in school to facilitate effective teaching and learning.
Open Access
Co-Creating and Claiming Spaces: Indigenous Language Activists, Partners/ Accomplices/Allies, and Higher Education
(Canadian Scholars, 2024) Kennedy, Denise; Sterzuk, Andrea
Open Access
Context-appropriate crosslinguistic pedagogy Considering the role of language status in immersion education
(John Benjamins Publishing, 2017) Ballinger, Susan; Lyster, Roy; Sterzuk, Andrea; Genesee, Fred
In the field of second language education, researchers increasingly call for crosslinguistic pedagogical practices meant to encourage bilingual learners to draw on all of their linguistic resources regardless of the focus of instruction or the status of the target language. These recommendations include a relaxation of the strict language separation common in many bilingual education programs. Specifically, some Canadian French immersion researchers suggest that it may be beneficial to allow immersion students to use English for peer interaction during instructional time allotted to French. In this position paper, we argue that researchers should proceed with caution in calling for increased majority language use in the minority language classroom. We use Canadian French immersion as a case in point to contend that until empirical evidence supports increased use of English in immersion, crosslinguistic approaches that maintain a separate space for the majority language may represent ideal pedagogical practices in these contexts.
Open Access
Decolonizing Literacy
(University of Regina Library, 2015-09-04) Sterzuk, Andrea
Open Access
A Description of Monolingual English Teachers Appreciations of Student Language Repertoires in Hutterian Colony Schools
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2013-12) Nelson, Cynthia Ann; Sterzuk, Andrea; Schick, Carol; Mulholland, Valerie; Wiltse, Lynne V.
This phenomenological study describes five monolingual English teachers’ understandings of the language repertoires of their students in a Hutterian colony context. The five participants deliver the provincial curriculum through the English language to Hutterian colony students who have the three languages of spoken Hutterisch, written High German and English. In brief, findings demonstrate that the teachers had limited or inaccurate understanding of the students' language repertoires before beginning their teaching positions. In addition , the teacher participants’ awareness of the students’ language resources was, and is, an ongoing developmental process, one that is shaped by their own linguistic identities. The self-reflective journey of the researcher is also addressed in relation to the participants’ experiences. The thesis concludes with discussion of possible considerations for teacher education, professional development for in-service teachers working in Hutterian contexts, and future research.
Open Access
Ē-pī-wīcihtāsowin ahpō ē-pī-wīchisowin: non-indigenous learners in Indigenous language-learning spaces
(Taylor and Francis Group (Routledge), 2024-01-27) Daniels, Belinda; Ratt, Tammy; Custer, Andrea; Sterzuk, Andrea; Griffith Brice, Melanie; Fayant, Russell
While the 2019 implementation of Bill C-91 An Act respecting Indigenous languages is still unfolding and the impact it will have remains to be seen (Bliss et al., 2020; Fontaine et al. & 2019), there is much to be hopeful about for the future of creating new speakers of Indigenous languages in the territory colonially known as Canada. For example, the most recent Canadian census indicates that the number of Indigenous language speakers who learned their language as a second language continues to rise. In 2021, 27.7% of Indigenous language speakers learned it as their second language; this share increased from 24.8% in 2016 (Statistics Canada, 2023). Yet, along with these developments, come some ethical considerations. Are Indigenous languages in Canada languages for everyone or are they languages that should be learned only by Indigenous peoples? And if we accept or encourage Indigenous language-learning by non-Indigenous Canadians, are there parameters that might need to be implemented? At first, these questions might seem strange to anyone who has ever learned another language or worked in language education. In many present-day societies, learning of other languages can be seen as a way to improve social cohesion (Lo Bianco, 2009). Indeed, Canada has heavily invested in English and French second language education programs as a way to improve tensions between English-speaking and French-speaking Canadians (Hayday, 2005). Yet, we begin this paper from the position that there are contextual differences and considerations between learning an Indigenous language as a member of an Indigenous nation or community and learning an Indigenous language as a non-Indigenous person.
Open Access
English Language Policy and Planning in Bangladesh: My Lived Experience
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2021-01) Khanam, Rubina; Sterzuk, Andrea; Cappello, Michael; Armstrong, Alyane; Archibald-Barber, Jessi; Grande, Troni; Haque, Eve
This language policy study examines the English language planning and policy of Bangladesh, a South Asian country with a long history of British colonization. Roughly 95 to 99 per cent of Bangladeshis speak বাাংলা (bangla)/Bangla as their national language but their level of literacy is routinely measured by their English knowledge. During 200 years of colonial rule, English was legislatively imposed as the language of schooling. Since gaining independence in 1971, Bangladesh continues to uphold the place of English in education. This practice produces inequitable access to education. In light of this reality, this doctoral research explores the historical and structural factors that have led to English language policy and planning in Bangladesh; the systems of inequality that have been sustained through language policy in the educational institutions of Bangladesh; and the impact of language policy on my life as a student and researcher. Drawing on historical-structural analysis and autoethnography, I interpret the following data sources: Bangladesh Education Commission Reports; newspaper articles; and my personal experiences. I combine autoethnography with historical-structural analysis because traditional research methodology in the area of language policy research focuses on language only from a sociopolitical perspective at the national level. These methodologies do not easily examine how language policy impacts individual lives. I add autoethnography because it allows me to bring in my lived experiences of language policy in Bangladesh. I systematically analyze my personal experiences in order to understand my cultural experiences as a language policy researcher. I also examine my perspectives, beliefs, and practice of languages as a language user. I analyze the policy documents and respond to them with my lived experiences of language policy in Bangladesh. Since 1947 in Bangladesh, rapid political changes have constantly influenced language policy. Schools and universities adapt their own language policy, a fact often not mentioned in the national language policy. As a result, I paid the unfair price of learning English to access education that brought advantages later in my life. I make recommendations for creating stable English-in-education policy and considering the impacts of English language planning and policy on students’ lives in Bangladesh.
Open Access
English Monolingualism in Canada: A Critical Analysis of Language Ideologies
(Springer Nature, 2021) Sterzuk, Andrea; Shin, Hyunjung
This chapter examines the construction of English monolingualism as a historical and ongoing normative educational practice in Canada. Canada presents an interesting case because, at first glance, it might appear not to fit the English monolingual mold. Since 1969, Canada has been an officially bilingual country (English and French) with notable levels of multilingualism, in urban centres. Yet, currently, 56% of Canadians are English monolinguals (Statistics Canada, 2017). This chapter begins by examining the construction of English monolingualism as a historical normative educational practice in Canada with a particular focus on the policies and history of Saskatchewan, one province with particularly high levels of English monolingualism. Understanding the considerable state efforts towards producing Canada as a monolingual English country are useful for understanding the present-day monolingual mindsets of many Anglophone Canadians. Next, we explore how present-day Canadian official bilingualism policy is framed within ideologies of bilingualism as two parallel monolingualisms (Heller, 2007; Heller & McElhinny, 2017; Irvine & Gal, 2000). Finally, drawing from contemporary examples in higher education policy and practices in Saskatchewan, we discuss examples of equitable educational initiatives to better support plurilingual competence of all language learners through educational policy, curriculum, and practices.
Open Access
English-only instruction: A comparative case-study of a rural and an urban basic school in Ghana
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2017-03) Owusu, Raymond Karikari; Sterzuk, Andrea; Blachford, Dongyan; Spooner, Marc; Lewis, Patrick
This study takes a critical look at ‘English-only’ medium of instruction in Ghana. Like many African countries, Ghana has multiple languages. Davis and Agbenyega (2012) estimate that Ghana has approximately 49 spoken languages and dialects. Local languages are used for everyday life in local communities. English is learned in school and spoken mainly in official places. English was used by British administration as the language of government, law, education and the national newspaper (Sey 1973) and remains the sole official language of Ghana today. This study draws on a historical overview of Ghanaian language-in-education policy (from 1961 Education Act to present). The comparative case study examined the effects of English-only instruction on students in two classrooms, one in rural Ghana and another in urban Ghana. The research questions are: 1) How do students whose mother tongue is not English respond to English-only instruction? and 2) What are the distinguishing effects of the policy on rural and urban students education and lives? The two elementary schools are located in an Akan language (Twi) region. Data sources include classroom observations (level of participation, instructional strategies, and classroom discourses of emerging bilinguals) and one-on-one interviews with teachers. Teachers were asked about the respective roles of English and Twi in their daily school activities. In light of differences in rural and urban community social, economic, and infrastructural circumstances, this study provides answers to the question of how one national language-in education-policy affects students differently. Findings from the study show that the English-only medium of instruction gets negotiated and resisted by teachers. Teachers engage in code-switching, code-mixing and translation, and sometimes Twi dominated lessons in the classroom. I conclude that English-only language policy in Ghana does not work equally for the students in both schools. Although students in the Urban School have challenges with the policy, students in the Rural School are comparatively more disadvantaged. I recommend bilingual education of English and Indigenous languages in Ghana to address linguistic imbalances in its education system. Policymakers should not lose sight of the fact that each community has unique socio-economic and linguistic circumstances and that a general language policy will not work for all. Lastly, I recommend that Ghana should redefine literacy learning and the education of the nation. Education and literacy should not be defined as only people who can read, write and communicate fluently in English. People who can exhibit the same skills and qualities in their mother tongue must be accorded the same recognition and should be allowed to play elite vital role in formal settings.
Open Access
Exploring Chinese instructors’ perceptions and practices of integrating culture into tertiary-level English education: A case study
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2022-07) Liu, Yueming; Bockarie, Abu; Blachford, Dongyan; Brown, Douglas; Sterzuk, Andrea; Charrier, Philip; Zaidi, Rahat
Pedagogical conceptualization of culture influences, in significant ways, how language instructors identify cultural points, contextualize culture for pedagogical purposes, and scaffold student meaning-making. Although this issue is at the core of intercultural pedagogy, literature suggests it remains insufficiently investigated. As a meaning-based and process-oriented study, this research aimed to develop an in-depth understanding of participants’ collective ways of conceptualizing culture within English language teaching (ELT), delineate the most salient features of their classroom meaning-making, and reveal the contextual factors that shaped the local perceptions and practices. This case study employed a qualitative research approach and explored twelve participants’ perceptions and practices of integrating culture into ELT in a higher educational institution in China. Data were collected through one-on-one semi-structured interviews, non-participant classroom observations, and documentation. The findings of the study revealed that the participants conceived culture more as a noun with its referential meaning ready to be transmitted to the learner in form of objective knowledge than as a verb (Street, 1991) with its meaning to be explored and interpreted in dynamic social interactions. Further, they perceived culture more as social constraints in form of cultural norms that demanded conformity than as public resources that could be drawn on strategically and creatively to serve purposes. In addition, they viewed culture more as value-free that could be grasped at the denotative level than as value-laden with its barely known face hidden under the veil of cultural myth (Barthes, 1957). In terms of participants’ general approach to culture in-ELT, they tended to contextualize culture in self-sanctioned “purified” ways. There was a general resistance towards problematizing cultural meaning and engaging learners in “struggles over meaning” (Kubota, 1999, p. 30). The participants were usually at the center of classroom meaning-making and monologic meaning-making featured most classrooms observed. Overall, Classroom discourses did not enact a dialogic stance nor were they oriented towards engendering productive meaning-making and developing agentive cultural competence. The contextual conditions that influenced participants’ perceptions and practices included participants’ low theoretical literacy level, insufficient in-service education opportunities, sanitized culture-related textbook contents, and the burning issues resulted from the changing ideological landscape in China. The study concluded that the meaning-making potentials of the current culture instruction could be expanded through exploring poststructuralist perspectives on culture and reorienting culture pedagogies towards individual-level culture, problematized cultural meanings, and more agentive cultural competence. The implications of the study for policy, practice, theory development and further research, as well as the recommendations arising from it, were discussed.
Open Access
First Languages and identity: Multilingual Learners in the Multilingual Learning Context
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2014-05-16) Penner, Cynthia; Sterzuk, Andrea; Brogden, Lace Marie; Mulholland, Valerie; Shin, Hyunjung
This qualitative study explores the relationship between multilingual learners’ identities (Norton, 2000; 2010) and their first languages. In this study, an examination of urban Saskatchewan students’ use of first languages in a multilingual classroom was investigated. In addition, the ways in which notions of identity and investment (Norton, 2000) impacted the students’ use of first languages in the classroom was explored. Data were collected from nine multilingual learners, in grades seven and eight, using a questionnaire, interviews and my research journal. The interviews asked about student awareness, attitudes and use of first languages in the multilingual learning context (Lytra & MØller, 2011). The findings indicated that multilingual learners view first languages in a way that impacts their identities. Multilingual learners also invest (Norton, 2000) in first languages in the multilingual learning context and create a community of learners (Denos, Toohey, Neilson, & Waterstone, 2009; Rogoff, Goodman Turkanis, & Bartlett, 2001), where a variety of first languages is used. Some implications for provincial education policy and classroom planning are mentioned.
Open Access
i-kiyohkātoyāhk (we visit): Adapting nēhiyawēwin/nīhithawīwin (Cree) language learning to the COVID19 reality
(SAGE Publications, 2020) McIvor, Onowa; Sterzuk, Andrea; Cook, William
i-kiyohkātoyāhk (we visit) is a phrase which describes our experience of trying to recreate an online version of our way of life, being together in the language. The following report is our view of the ways nēhiyawēwin/nīhithawīwin (Cree) language learning has adapted to the COVID-19 reality since March 2020. Our hope is that by sharing the experience most familiar to us, the one we are living as learners and speaker/teacher, that we offer a useful perspective and potential solutions or directions for others.
Open Access
Indigenous Language Revitalization and Applied Linguistics: Conceptualizing an Ethical Space of Engagement Between Academic Fields
(University of New Brunswick, 2022-04-07) Daniels, Belinda; Sterzuk, Andrea
This conceptual paper examines the relationship between two academic areas: applied linguistics and Indigenous language revitalization. While the two domains have shared interests, they tend to operate separately. This paper examines: 1) possible reasons for this separateness; 2) mutually beneficial reasons to be in closer conversation and 3) changes necessary for the creation of an ethical space of engagement (Ermine, 2007) between these academic areas. We write from distinct positions: Belinda, a nēhiyaw woman working in Indigenous language resurgence and Andrea, a white settler woman working in language issues related to settler-colonialism. Drawing from our joint and individual experiences, we explore how these research fields can complement each other as well as intersect to create richer interdisciplinary knowledge.
Open Access
Indigenous Language Revitalization: Connecting Distant Cree Language Learners with Cree Language Speakers Using Video Chat Technology
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2021-08) Cook, WIlliam Richard; Sterzuk, Andrea; Couros, Alec; Lessard, Sean; Martell, Gordon A.
aspin kakî-pî-mâci-kiskinwahamâkiyân nânitaw awasimî mitaht askiya nîtî athisitinîwikihci- kiskinwahamâtowikamikohk ka-kanâtâhk, ôma mân ôma kapî ka-kakwîcimikawiyân: tânitî ikwa na-itôtân kîspin ni-nohtî-pakaski-nihithawân? kapî nititwân nîtha: sîsâwî-pîkiskwî, miskaw awîna ka-nihithawît, kakwî-nakathâskâcikî îta mâna ka-pîkiskwâniwik ikwa mâci-wîcipîkiskwâs awîna ka- pakaski-nihithawît. ikwa mîna âtiht ôki okiskinwahamâkanak i-wî-nitawiwîkicik iskonikamihk nânitaw ita îta ka-nihithawâniwik, ikwa âtiht i-kakwe-miskâsocik, ikwa âtiht i-nohtî mosci-nihithawicik wîthwâw kici. ikwa ôm ôma nimasinahikîwin ikw ohci kakî-itohtamân osâm i-nohtî-kinwâpahtamân mahti isa mamâtâwi-âpacihcikan kakî-apatâk ikwa mahti i-wîcihimakâk nihithawîwipîkiskwîwinihk. mamâtâwi-âpacihcikan nâ âpatan ta-âsiwînamâk nihithawi-pîkiskwîwin ikwa asici nihithawi-isîcikîwina? ikwân îsa nikî-nitawi-âpacihtân ôma mamâtâwi-âpacihcikan inakiskawakwâw nihithawi-pîkiskwîwak kîwitnohk ohci ikwa asici nihithawikiskinwahamâkosak sâwanohk ohci ôta kisaskâciwanihk. nikî-mâwasakonîn kâkithaw kîkwâya ka-nitawîthîtamân ôma ôta ta-wîcihikowân ta-masinahamân ôma nimasinahikan; masinahikanisa, pîkiskwî-tâpasinahikan, mâmawapiwina, na-mâmawi-astân ôhi kîkwâya ikwa ispihk namasinahin ôma kâkithaw nimasinahikan. na-masinahin ohci nistam, mîkwâ, mîkwâ-maciâkosîwin ikwa tânsi ka-isi-wâphtamân ôma ôma nîkânihk. Throughout my years of teaching the Cree language at a university level, a query that comes up frequently from the students is: Where do I go next to become fluent? The answer I usually give is to practice, to connect with a fluent speaker, to build that relationship and to practice speaking with that language speaking expert. Some of these students that take the courses plan to move to a reserve where they predominantly speak Cree; some are in search of their identity; some are wanting to be able to speak in their heritage language; and others have many other personal language journey reasons. The purpose of this research is to explore the use of video-chat technology as a tool to maintain, preserve, and revitalize the Cree language. The research question that guides this study is: In what way do regular online synchronous video-chat meetings increase knowledge of Cree language and culture? Using video-chat, I connected distant Cree language learners from Southern Saskatchewan with distant Cree language speakers from Northern Saskatchewan. Over four weeks, I collected data from the participants in the following ways: journals, a language assessment tool, and weekly sharing circles. I worked with this data in several ways. I translated any Cree to English, I transcribed the audio and video recordings, and I conducted thematic data analysis: I read my notes from sharing circles and transcriptions, coded, reviewed and generated themes as commonalities emerged within the data. The thesis concludes with my observations about the implications and recommendations of this study from before Covid-19, during the Covid-19 pandemic and what I see beyond these times in terms of the possibilities for technology and Indigenous language revitalization.