A group of researchers studying Indigenous language revitalization combed through more than 5,000 articles, only to find that just 63 addressed Indigenous people learning their own language.
The project, "Reclaiming Our Languages," was led by associate professor Ashley Glassburn with the help of student researchers Alicia Campbell (BA 2024), and undergraduates Bella Hebert and Bennet McLeod.
"I'm really proud of the work that we did and the level of depth of our research," said Campbell, the project's research lead.
Funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Knowledge Synthesis Grant, the team conducted a systematic review of literature everything from peer-reviewed journals to Indigenous-authored newspapers and graduate theses. Their goal was to pinpoint the key lessons on how to rebuild networks of Indigenous language speakers.
With support from Leddy librarians Jennifer Soutter and Adam Mulcaster, they reviewed over 4,050 articles down from an initial 5,000 finding only 63 focused on Indigenous people learning their own language.
"This aligned with the hypothesis, but it was still jarring to see. There's a broader concern in the field of language revitalization or Indigenous language work that it's dominated by non-Indigenous scholars. Their focus tends to be on preserving and archiving Indigenous languages, which can inherently reflect a colonial perspective," Dr. Glassburn noted.
"It often assumes the decline or erasure of Indigenous cultures, using terms like language death,' language dormancy,' and extinction' to describe the state of Indigenous languages."
According to the report, the most effective language projects to produce proficiency and fluency are long-term immersion programs, such as language houses for adults or schools for children. Although these programs require significant funding and long-term financial commitment, they are essential to language revitalization.
The findings also revealed that most authors in the field are not Indigenous. Indigenous authors, however, are more likely to focus on the experiences of Indigenous learners, highlight the importance of naming Indigenous individuals, and emphasize the role of learning in sustaining a community of speakers.
"There's a clear publishing gap," Campbell said. "We know many community educators are doing incredible work, but their efforts often don't reach the scholarly field. It's a striking difference between what we expected and what we found."
Of the 23 articles that examine what learners are gaining from these programs, most do so within a public education framework of student assessment. According to the report, too few address culturally specific methods of evaluation.
"Another area focused on elders, because most of the time elders were the teachers or had a hand in the teachings, with communities almost scrambling to get as much of the language documented as they can before they pass away because that's the last type of fluency they have. Then looking into the responsibility put on them because they're often the only people who have this knowledge," Hebert said.
Glassburn and the undergraduate researchers shared their findings in a virtual knowledge mobilization forum last week, highlighting policy implications from their review.
Some recommendations included funding diverse Indigenous language exposure and immersion programs, prioritizing support for languages with the fewest speakers, and bridging the communication gap between community-based Indigenous language educators and academic researchers.
As the team worked through these findings, members also took time to reflect on the research process itself and its significance.
"Learning about the various Indigenous communities around the world, along with the different definitions of what it means to be Indigenous, who is considered Indigenous, and the cultures and languages involved and who is taught those languages was really interesting," Hebert said.
"I've been truly honoured to work with this research team and have learned so much," Campbell added.
Glassburn expressed pride in her students, emphasizing that while she provided guidance every step of the way, they took on the lion's share of the research work often carried out by professional scholars in the field.
"I think that the idea that this work was going to do something in the world inspired the students to show up with their full selves and then come to understand what the research process is like. The ups and downs of research, and sometimes the monotony of research. They got to see it all from the beginning to the end, which is just a phenomenal training experience for them," she said.
"I think it highlights what undergraduates can do when they're given the opportunity."
To learn more about the project, visit www.ReclaimingOurLanguages.com.
