Language Practices of Indigenous Children and Youth

This book explores the experiences of Indigenous children and young adults around the world as they navigate the formal education system and wider society. Profiling a range of different communities and sociolinguistic contexts, this book examines the language ecologies of their local communities, schools and wider society and the approaches taken by these communities to maintain children's home languages. The authors examine such complex themes as curriculum, translanguaging, contact languages and language use as cultural practice. In doing so, this edited collection acts as a first step towards developing solutions which address the complexity of the issues facing these children and young people. It will appeal to students and scholars of sociolinguistics, applied linguistics and community development, as well as language professionals including teachers, curriculum developers, language planners and educators.

This book explores the experiences of Indigenous children and young adults around the world as they navigate the formal education system and wider society. Profiling a range of different communities and sociolinguistic contexts, this book examines the language ecologies of their local communities, schools and wider society and the approaches taken by these communities to maintain children’s home languages. The authors examine such complex themes as curriculum, translanguaging, contact languages and language use as cultural practice. In doing so, this edited collection acts as a first step towards developing solutions which address the complexity of the issues facing these children and young people. It will appeal to students and scholars of sociolinguistics, applied linguistics and community development, as well as language professionals including teachers, curriculum developers, language planners and educators.

- Chapter 1. Going to school in a different world; Jane Simpson and Gillian Wigglesworth.- Section I. CURRICULUM.- Chapter 2. Curriculum as Knowledge System: The Warlpiri Theme Cycle; Samantha Disbray and Barbara Martin.- Chapter 3. Language transition(s): school responses to recent changes in language choice in a Northern Dene community (Canada); Dagmar Jung, Mark Klein and Sabine Stöll.- Chapter 4. From home to school in multilingual Arnhem Land: The development of Yirrkala School's bilingual curriculum; Gemma Morales, Jill Vaughan and Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs.- Chapter 5. Unbecoming standards through Ojibwe immersion: The wolf meets ma'iingan; Mary Hermes and Michelle Haskins.- Section II. MULTILINGUAL REPERTOIRES.- Chapter 6. Code-switching or code-mixing? Tiwi children's use of language resources in a multilingual environment; Aidan Wilson, Peter Hurst and Gillian Wigglesworth.- Chapter 7. Languaging their learning: How children work their language for classroom learning; Susan Poetsch.- Chapter 8. Language Practices of Mbya Guarani Children in a Community-Based Bilingual School; Nayalin Pinho Feller and Jill Vaughan.- Section III. CONTACT LANGUAGES.- Chapter 9. Dangerous conversations: Teacher-student interactions with unidentified English language learners; Denise Angelo and Catherine Hudson.- Chapter 10. Dis, dat and da other: variation in Aboriginal children's article and demonstrative use at school.- Henry Fraser, Ilana Mushin, Felicity Meakins, and Rod Gardner.- Alyawarr children's use of two closely-related languages; Sally Dixon.- Section IV: LANGUAGE AS CULTURAL PRACTICE.- Chapter 12. Practicing Living and Being Hopi: Language and Cultural Practices of Contemporary Hopi Youth; Sheilah Nicholas.- Chapter 13. Learning a New Routine: Kaska Language Development and the Convergence of Styles; Barbra A. Meek.- Chapter 14. Beyond school: Digital cultural practice as a catalyst for language and literacy; Inge Kral and Sumathi Renganathan