Rejecting the Marginalized Status of Minority Languages

Provides a unique window into the work going on to reclaim Indigenous, tribal and minority languages across the globe

This book explores Indigenous, tribal and minority (ITM) language education in oral and written communication and in the use of new technologies and online resources for pedagogical purposes. It brings together examples of ITM language education that are challenging the forces that flatten ‘languacultures’ into artefacts of history.

Ari Sherris is Associate Professor of Bilingual Education, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, USA. His research interests include Indigenous language revitalization, documentation, ethnography, autoethnography and complex social semiotics. He is coeditor of Making Signs, Translanguaging Ethnographies (Multilingual Matters, 2018).

Susan D. Penfield is Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Linguistics, University of Montana and University of Arizona, USA. Her research interests include Indigenous language policy and planning, revitalization, documentation and interdisciplinary research.

Ari Sherris is Associate Professor of Bilingual Education, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, USA. His research interests include Indigenous language revitalization, documentation, ethnography, autoethnography and complex social semiotics. He is coeditor of Making Signs, Translanguaging Ethnographies (Multilingual Matters, 2018).

Susan D. Penfield is Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Linguistics, University of Montana and University of Arizona, USA. Her research interests include Indigenous language policy and planning, revitalization, documentation and interdisciplinary research.

This book showcases innovative and inspiring, community-based revitalization efforts, illustrating how the strengthening of language and culture goes hand-in-hand with individual and community self-empowerment. Precisely this combination, the authors convincingly show, paves the road to success, even against seemingly overwhelming odds.

Set against a background of social justice and linguistic human rights, the case studies in this book richly illustrate the educational and community efforts being made towards language sustainability and revitalization in places around the world where languages are regarded as of marginalized status. The chapters explore old and new strategies for reclaiming languages, the challenges that are encountered, and the resilience of those who choose to engage in such work.