Teaching Writing to Children in Indigenous Languages: Instructional Practices from Global Contexts

312 Pages·2019·2.991 MB·

by  Ari Sherris, Joy Kreeft Peyton

As the world cascades toward sameness in languages, this volume puts
up a huge stop sign. With convincing historical accounts and a wide
range of instructional practices, this book is an absolute must-read for
any social scientist or linguist. Dedicated to language revitalization, the
experts represented here stress the vitality of entry into the social and
cognitive worlds of children from different cultures through a substantial
dedication to writing and reading.
Shirley Brice Heath
Margery Bailey Professor of English and
Dramatic Literature; Professor of Linguistics, Emerita
Stanford University
This exciting book focuses on an under-researched topic that fills a hole
in the fields of both literacy education and language revitalization—
teaching the writing of Indigenous languages to children. Centering on
the role of literacy education in language revitalization, the chapters
range the world, with chapters on languages with millions of speakers,
to a handful from revitalizing writing systems that have a past history
of literacy, to new orthographies developed for the first time for
re-awakening languages. Importantly, attention is paid to debates over
possible negatives of putting oral languages to paper, but shows the
importance of writing for the survival of endangered languages, for many
reasons including (re) valorization, revival of genres, increased functions
of the language, and present-day communicative needs. While both
written documentation and orthographic development have been topics
of research and activism in language revitalization, this volume is a very
welcome first, with its emphasis on the pedagogy of writing.
Leanne Hinton
Professor Emerita, University of
California, Berkeley
The UN has issued alarming declarations about the state of learning
for disadvantaged linguistic minorities. UNICEF1 documentation shows
how even increasing school participation rates does not necessarily
achieve commensurate learning gains for ethnic minority and indigenous
students, with the most disadvantaged students gaining the least benefit.
The cause of this dispiriting conclusion is often because of language
policies, especially language of instruction, tied to persisting negative
attitudes toward children’s mother tongues. This volume is a magnificent
contribution to this critical area. Addressing the role of writing in
intergenerationally endangered Indigenous language communities, it
1. Wils, A., Bonnet, G., and Brossard, M., (2016), Education Worldwide, Investing More
Equitably, pp. 58–63 in Best of UNICEF Research. UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti,
UNICEF, Florence Italy.
bridges the gap between language revitalization literature, research
on writing pedagogy, and the global agenda of a more equal and fair
education. The chapters are expertly written by individual authors and
intelligently integrated by the editors, Ari Sherris and Joy Kreeft Peyton,
to highlight a range of instructional writing practices connected to social
and economic outcomes for Indigenous populations in such diverse
environments as Finland, Ghana, Hawaii, Mexico, Papua New Guinea.
The authors ‘rise above’ narrowly conceived literacy debates and narrowly
conceiving theories of literacy. Here we find complexity theory, biliteracy,
and genre and critical approaches enriching functional understandings of
pedagogy and literacy learning, tied to a strong focus on the cultural rights
of communities whose lives are subjected to control and domination.
Joseph Lo Bianco
Professor of Language and Literacy Education
Melbourne Graduate School of Education,
The University of Melbourne
A very valuable collection. Although the continued life of threatened
languages depends finally on the willingness of parents to speak them
to their children, the support provided by schooling is critical, and only
with literacy in indigenous languages can the school find a place for
the language. This pioneering collection shows a number of significant
examples of success.
Bernard Spolsky
Professor Emeritus, Bar-Ilan University
Teaching Writing to Children
in Indigenous Languages
This volume brings together studies of instructional writing practices
and the products of those practices from diverse Indigenous languages
and cultures. By analyzing a rich diversity of contexts—Finland, Ghana,
Hawai‘i, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, and more—through biliteracy,
complexity, and genre theories, this book explores and demonstrates
critical components of writing pedagogy and development. Because the
volume focuses on Indigenous languages, it questions center-margin
perspectives on schooling and national language ideologies, which often
limit the number of Indigenous languages taught, the domains of study,
and the age groups included.
Ari Sherris is an Associate Professor of Bilingual Education at Texas
A&M University-Kingsville, USA.
Joy Kreeft Peyton is a former Vice President and currently Senior Fellow
at the Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, DC, USA.
Routledge Research in Education
This series aims to present the latest research from right across the field of
education. It is not confined to any particular area or school of thought
and seeks to provide coverage of a broad range of topics, theories and
issues from around the world.
Recent titles in the series include:
The Phenomenological Heart of Teaching and Learning
Theory, Research, and Practice in Higher Education
Katherine H. Greenberg, Brian K. Sohn, Neil B. Greenberg,
Howard R. Pollio, Sandra P. Thomas, and John T. Smith
Performative Approaches in Arts Education
Artful Teaching, Learning, and Research
Edited by Anna-Lena Østern Kristian and Nødtvedt Knudsen
Rethinking Schools and Renewing Energy for Learning
Research, Principles and Practice
Kris Van den Branden
Paradigm Shift in Education
Towards the Third Wave of Effectiveness
Yin Cheong Cheng
Equity, Exclusion and Everyday Science Learning
The Experiences of Minoritised Groups
Emily Dawson
Teaching Writing to Children in Indigenous Languages
Instructional Practices from Global Contexts
Edited by Ari Sherris & Joy Kreeft Peyton
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/
Routledge-Research-in-Education/book-series/SE0393
Teaching Writing to Children
in Indigenous Languages
Instructional Practices from
Global Contexts
Edited by Ari Sherris &
Joy Kreeft Peyton
First published 2019
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 Taylor & Francis
The right of Ari Sherris & Joy Kreeft Peyton to be identified as editor
of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77
and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-138-48535-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-351-04967-2 (ebk)
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For the children, for language revitalization, and for the
Indigenous struggle for self-determination

Contents
For the children, for language revitalization, and for
the Indigenous struggle for self-determination: Foreword xi
NANCY H. HORNBERGER
Acknowledgments xv
1 Teaching Writing to Children in Indigenous
Languages: Introduction 1
ARI SHERRIS AND JOY KREEFT PEYTON
2 Early and Emergent Literacy Practices as a Foundation
for Hawaiian Language Medium Education 25
CANDACE KALEIMAMOOWAHINEKAPU GALLA AND WILLIAM H.
“PILA” WILSON
3 Early Writing in Torwali in Pakistan 44
ZUBAIR TORWALI
4 Early Childhood Safaliba Literacy in Ghana 70
ARI SHERRIS
5 Emergent Writing in Notsi in Papua New Guinea 89
GERTRUDE NICHOLAS
6 Emergent Writing in Numanggang in Papua New Guinea 104
SAMUEL SALENG AND GERTRUDE NICHOLAS
7 Teaching Task-Based Writing in Zapotec in Oaxaca, Mexico 126
KATHERINE J. RIESTENBERG AND RAQUEL EUFEMIA CRUZ MANZANO