Reclaiming Our Languages

Annotated Bibliography

Reclaiming our languages Annotated BibliographyDownload

Here you will find the 50 articles that explicitly engage with Indigenous people learning their heritage language. This scholarship is highlighted especially for community language educators hoping to learn more about other language revitalization projects, their successes, challenges, and lessons learned.
Please use the menu to find specific types of projects. Articles are sortable by the following categories: UNESCO language rating, geographic region, age of intended learner, and program oversight. The UNESCO World Atlas of Languages ranks languages as unsafe, definitely endangered, severely endangered, critically endangered, and extinct/not in use. We recognize that this type of scale focuses entirely on language loss and homogenizes processes of colonial erasure and suppression. We chose to include this filter as it is often discussed in the literature and we encourage everyone to critically consider the interactions between revitalization efforts and “loss-” or “death-” based discourse. Articles represent literature pertaining to the following geographic areas: North America, South America, Nordic, Pacific. One of the requirements for our review is that programs operate in a colonial context similar to that of Canada. Thus, we do not include articles from areas including the African continent and Indian sub-continent. Articles may also be sorted based on whether the learners they describe are adults, children, families, or any combination of those. Finally, you may sort articles based on three different types of programs: tribal schools, public schools, and other. Tribal schools include programs in tribally-run and controlled schools from kindergarten through Tribal Community Colleges and postsecondary institutions. Public schools include projects in state-sponsored, publicly-available schools from kindergarten through post-secondary education. The “other” category tends to include programs such as language camps, language workshops, online and computer-based learning. Multiple filters may be selected at one time to provide narrower results.

These articles only represent a small fraction of all the articles we reviewed. Articles that are not included focus on language documentation, cultural revitalization, narratives of language loss, hypothetical discussions of revitalization theory, settler perspectives on historical language work, or do not acknowledge Indigenous learner perspectives.

“teepaalilaani” © Hannah Buchanan 2025

  • Átaw Iwá Ichishkíin Sɨ́nwit: The Importance of Ichishkíin Language in Advancing Indigenous Feminist Education

    Jacob et al. discuss how Indigenous language education furthers Indigenous feminist education, supports community goals, and builds sovereignty. They aim to create radical Indigenous feminist political education and practice and contribute to a decolonizing agenda through language instruction. They maintain that Ichishkiin education at the University of Oregon halts linguistic genocide, reclaims traditional Indigenous ecological knowledge, and transforms western education systems to better serve all students. They also find that teaching Ichishkiin through storytelling and legends is highly effective and that western post-secondary spaces can be co-opted to support Indigenous nation-building and self-determination by engaging in robust revitalization programs.

    Jacob, M. M., Beavert, V. R., Anderson, R., Sabzalian, L., & Jansen, J. (2019). Átaw Iwá Ichishkíin Sɨ́nwit: The importance of Ichishkíin language in advancing Indigenous feminist education. Feminist Studies, 45(2–3), 290–311. https://doi.org/10.15767/feministstudies.45.2-3.0290

  • Using assessment to inform instruction in cherokee language revitalisation

    Peter and Hirata-Edds describe the positive backwash effects of using the Cherokee Preschool Immersion Language Assessment (C-PILA) on teacher practices at the Cherokee Immersion Preschool. They offer a model of how assessment can be as much for learning as of learning and how assessment, especially in language revitalization projects, can be a pedagogical tool not a determination of program success or failure. They describe the C-PILA, its results, and detail how feedback from assessments can be successfully integrated into professional development.

    Peter, L., & Hirata-Edds, T. E. (2016). Using assessment to inform instruction in Cherokee language revitalisation. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 9(5), 643–658. https://doi.org/10.2167/beb385.0

  • From preschool to home: Processes of generalisation in language acquisition from an indigenous language recovery programme

    Tangaere and McNaughton study how children bring Maori home from the Te Kohanga Reo language nest, and what factors at home facilitate the transfer of knowledge. They also investigate how generalization happens between a language nest and the home environment. They learn that Waiata (socialization songs), which are learned at school through routines of demonstration and imitation embedded in group performances, are a major way that knowledge transfer may happen between school and home. They also recognize that language transfer can be supported by already existing activity structures at homes that match school structures. For example if singing is valued at home, then the language skills learned through song at school can be easily transferred to the home environment.

    Tangaere, A. R., & McNaughton, S. (2003). From preschool to home: Processes of generalisation in language acquisition from an Indigenous language recovery programme. International Journal of Early Years Education, 2(1), 23–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2003.10807104

  • Using a Stimulus Equivalence Paradigm to Teach Numerals, English Words, and Native American Words to Preschool-Age Children

    Haegele et al. study whether teaching conditional discriminations to a group of pre-Kindergarden students in public school can result in stimulus equivalence among numbers, corresponding English words, and corresponding Ojibwe or Dakota words. They learn that match-to-sample training on a computer is quite effective at promoting language acquisition and prompting students to build connections between visual input, English words, and Ojibwe or Dakota words. They find that using match-to-sample training led to students massively outperfroming their peers, who did not recieve the training.

    Haegele, K. M., McComas, J. J., Dixon, M., & Burns, M. K. (2011). Using a stimulus equivalence paradigm to teach numerals, English words, and Native American words to preschool-age children. Journal of Behavioral Education, 20(4), 283–296. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10864-011-9134-9

  • Ojibwe language revitalization, multimedia technology, and family language learning

    Hermes and King investigate how technology may be useful to Indigenous language learning among children and families in informal settings. They study patterns of Ojibwemodaa, a language learning software, and language use. They find that Ojibwemodaa could be fit into established routines and dynamics in the home, but that it did not impact language use patterns in the children involved. They also find that engagement increases when activities can be framed as a game or competition, especially among family members.

    Hermes, M., & King, K. A. (2013). Ojibwe language revitalization, multimedia technology, and family language learning. Language Learning & Technology, 17(1), 125-144. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/24513

  • Language and literacy development in a Canadian native community: Halq’eméylem revitalization in a Stó: lō head start program in British Columbia

    Moore and MacDonald invite readers to explore how sociopolitical climates of professionalism, family relations, and government regulation of childcare centres affect language revitalization as a whole, and in consideration of Halq’eme ́ylem Revitalization in a Sto ́:lo ̄ Head Start Program in British Columbia. They study how language revitalization happens in a program where Indigenous teachers of the language are not fluent themselves. They describe how to develop the language skills of parents in a program for parents and their children, in order to build parental capacity to share the language at home. They also describe how embedding culturally relevant tools, such as a seasonal activity chart, can ground language activities year-round.

    Moore, D., & Macdonald, M. (2013). Language and literacy development in a Canadian native community: Halq’eméylem revitalization in a Stó:lō head start program in British Columbia. The Modern Language Journal, 97(3), 702–719. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2013.12028.x

  • Ax toowú át wudikeen, my spirit soars: Tlingit direct acquisition and co-learning pilot project

    Johnson provides a detailed description of how a well-defined initial language strategy can be developed to kick-off community language revitalization. They describe the direct-acquisition teaching model, cohort-style learning, curriculum development, and a Tlingit pilot project. Johnson raises up community language educators by providing concrete, evidence-based strategies for developing grassroots Indigenous language programs. They explain how to adapt a Nsylixcn curriculum to Tlingit (unrelated languages), and how to create an immersion environment when teachers and learners start with very low language capacity.

    Johnson, M. K. (2016). Ax toowú át wudikeen, my spirit soars: Tlingit direct acquisition and co-learning pilot project. Language Documentation and Conservation, 10, 306-336.

  • Case study: An evaluation of information and communication technology use in upriver halq’eméylem language programs

    Bourget explores how and if information and communications technology (ICT) can be effective as a part of language revitalization strategy by evaluating the use of ICT in the Upriver Halq’emeylem language community. She finds that to be effective, ICT needs to be intentionally integrated into language building activities in a way which aligns with specific learning targets. She notes that the process of creating materials can be a great way to learn, and that ICT is rarely used outside of immediate learning environments, such as in a specific classroom activity or when completing homework.

    Bourget, N. (2016). Case study: An evaluation of information and communication technology use in Upriver Halq’eméylem language programs. Language Documentation & Conservation, 10, 165-187. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/24691

  • Transformational bilingual learning: Re-engaging marginalized learners through language, culture, community, and identity

    Tulloch et al. develop and test a program for Inuit women to develop their language skills along with practical and culture-based skills in community-developed environment, by combining sewing, literacy, and personal wellbeing. They explore how the combination of language learning and cultural revitalization (sewing) can lead to improved sense of self and personal healing, in an environment where learners already have language skills and some literacy. They offer ways in which learners can gain confidence and discuss the presence of Elders in revitalization programming.

    Tulloch, S., Kusugak, A., Chenier, C., Pilakapsi, Q., Uluqsi, G., & Walton, F. (2017). Transformational bilingual learning: Re-engaging marginalized learners through language, culture, community, and identity. Canadian Modern Language Review, 73(4), 438–462. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.4052

  • Developing an Indigenous proficiency scale

    Kahakalau presents ANA ‘ŌLELO, a Hawaiian language proficiency scale developed by and for Hawaiians, to share insights and process pathways with other Indigenous communities. She offers a robust discussion of assessment in the Indigenous context, how Indigenous assessments can be developed, and why it is crucial that communities lead their own assessment practices. In sharing the Hawaiian proficiency scale, she also reveals the goals and outcomes of the Hawaiian revitalization strategy in an accessible and imitatable way.

    Kahakalau, K. (2017). Developing an Indigenous proficiency scale. Cogent Education, 4(1), 1377508. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2017.1377508