from interaction to elaboration: moving beyond conversation
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FROM INTERACTION TO ELABORATION:
MOVING BEYOND CONVERSATION
Stabilizing Indigenous Languages SymposiumMay 2011
University of New Mexico, AlbuquerqueDr. Freddie Bowles & Dr. George Ann Gregory
WORKING THESIS
Viability of a language is supported not only through social realms where it is used, but also through the amount of complexity or linguistic variety in that language.
FISHMAN
Stage 8 Only a few elders speak the language Stage 7 Only adults beyond child bearing age speak the language Stage 6 Some intergenerational use of language Stage 5 Language is still very much alive and used in the community Stage 4 Language is required in elementary school Stage 3 Language is used in places of business and by employees in
less specialized work areas Stage 2 Language is used by local government and in the mass media
in the local community Stage 1 Some language use by higher levels of government and in
higher education
FISHMAN
Linguistic Elaboration associated primarily with Stages 4, 2, and 1.
Stage 4 Language is required in elementary school
Stage 2 Language is used by local government and in the mass media in the local community
Stage 1 Some language use by higher levels of government and in higher education
BIBERGenre Linguistic Items Commonly Associated in English
conversations/interactional
In the home or at work
I, you, it, demonstrative pronouns without referents, indefinite pronouns (anybody,
somebody), questions, that-clauses, Wh-clauses, adverbial subordinators, reduced that
complements, post posed adverbial clauses, private verbs, stranded prepositions, split
infinitives, analytic negation
fiction/narratives past tense, adjectives, perfect aspect, third person pronouns, infinitives, participles
prose/informational text
News reporting, legal
documents, academic prose
nominalization, passive constructions, prepositions, that-complements, infinitives,
participles, relative clauses, preposed adverbial clauses, lexical specificity, conjuncts,
split auxiliaries
CUMMINS
BICS-Basic Interpersonal Communication skills Highly contextualized language (Stage 5)
CALP—Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency Decontextualized language (Stages 4, 7 & 8)
More words with Greek and Latin roots Greater variety of vocabulary Nominalization, subordination, passives Written in reported speech (past tense, references to distant
events and places Few graphics
WORKING THESIS
Language loss equals loss of culture. Language represents a way of viewing life.
(Whorf) Language reflects a way of thinking and shapes
the thinking of children who speak it. (Vygotsky).
EXAMPLES OF VIEWPOINTS
Word order—English sentences begin with the actor-action-receiver of the action; Choctaw begins with actor-receiver of action-ends with action.
Common images in English involve the use of war—War on drugs; Love is war; Māori use taonga (treasure) to speak about their language
Color examples
WORKING THESIS
Linguistic variability in genres is affected by different elements in different languages. In English, genre dictates linguistic variability; In Navajo,
audience plays a stronger role. In some languages gender of speaker and audience
dictates language variability. In Choctaw, the distance in time when something
happened dictates tense choice. Whether the agent is known or unknown dictates
passive construction in Navajo.
AKINASSO
Literate and non-literate cultures In literate cultures, linguistic elaboration found in
writing In non-literate cultures, linguistic elaboration found in
ceremonial and storytelling uses.
MĀORI LANGUAGE
Fishman assessment Stage 1– used in academia; used in very limited capacity
in national government; used in Rangitu religion and some Māori Anglican churches.
Stages 2 & 3--in iwi, hapu, marae government & business; 2 Māori language TV stations and many radio stations
Stage 4—offered in most elementary and secondary schools; some elementary & secondary immersion schools
~135,600 speakers
MĀORI LANGUAGE
Genres & Linguistic elaboration Legal Documents and Corpus
—Treaty of Waitangi Ko te Tuatoru
Hei wakaritenga mai hoki tenei mo te wakaaetanga ki te Kawanatanga o te Kuini. Ka tiakina e te Kuini o Ingarani nga tangata maori katoa o Nu Tirani. Ka tukua ki a ratou nga tikanga katoa rite tahi ki ana mea ki nga tangata o Ingarani
Article the Third.
In consideration thereof, Her Majesty the Queen of England extends to the Natives of New Zealand Her Royal Protection and imparts to them all the Rights and Privileges of British subjects
MĀORI LANGUAGE Genres & Linguistic elaboration
Written formal arguments from 19th & 20th Centuries Te Nūpepa o Te Aute nā Apirina Ngata He nui to mātou pouri it to mātou kitenga I ē tahi kupu kaore e tika kia perehitia i rototē tahi o a tatou
pepa Maori.
We were very disappointed when we saw language that should not in fact be printed in our Maori papers.
19th Century Māori newspapers Māori Bible Songs Media and Māori Broadcast Corpus Plays/literature (limited) Personal stories Children’s books
NAVAJO LANGUAGE
Fishman assessment Stage 1—national council conducted in Navajo; some
academic-UNM has creative writing in Navajo; ceremonies & some church services
Stage 2—chapter house business conducted in Navajo; several Navajo language radio stations; NNTV
Stages 3& 4 – Navajo owned businesses; a few elementary schools & K-12 programs
~100,000 speakers (~52%)
NAVAJO
Genres & Linguistic elaboration Traditional ceremonies & Prayers Some legal documents Radio/limited TV Traditional stories
Tsé yiyi’í ákwe’é ni’tát’ah k’éédídlééh jiní nashjahii’ łigaigo k’éédidlééh jini.
He usually planted at Earth-shelf Place in the Rock Canyon (Sacred Canyon). 4th person obj = ho/ subject = ji
Personal stories Children’s books
CHOCTAW LANGUAGE IN OKLAHOMA
Fishman assessment No stages 1-4 Stage 5—language alive in some communities; still
used in some Choctaw churches Stage 6—limited if any; most classes offered for
teenagers and adults only; young children taught single words and phrases—no real language
~11,000 speakers (~7 to 10%)
CHOCTAW LANGUAGE IN OKLAHOMA Genres & Linguistic elaboration Mostly from the 19th Century
Legal documents Yohmi kvt kana inli sanali keyu. Mikmvt kana inla ettemapisa keyu. Therefore, no one must go against this
Religious literature Chihowa hvt chukfvlhpoba chomihchit si o, nanah sv bvnna he keyushke. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Songs/hymns Newspaper articles Personal letters Traditional stories Poetry Limited digital productions in present time
PUEBLO LANGUAGES
Fishman assessment Stages 2-4
Zuni—has 80-90% fluency & is used in school & local government; ceremonies (9700 speakers)
Tanoan—varies from pueblo to pueblo: used in ceremonies & local governments; classes taught (4000 speakers, 3 languages, 11 pueblos)
Keres—varies from pueblo to pueblo: used in ceremonies & local government; classes taught (7900 speakers in 7 pueblos: 229 speakers to 1880 speakers)
PUEBLO LANGUAGES
Genres & Linguistic elaboration Ceremonial Traditional stories Song Some religious translations A few digital media 1 children’s book in Keresan
Srue “taawa nishaatsi sutrusa ‘kuu n’un’atsa sutrusa. In this way, we will always continue as a strong and healthy people
Male and female language/dialects.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Maintain current genres and levels of linguistic elaboration
Use any extant published written and media sources
Use language in new genres with particular attention paid to children and adult literature and expanded media sources for children and adults
EXAMPLES
Children’s Books Simon Ortiz—Keres
Navajo
Māori Choctaw
EXAMPLES
Adult Literature Navajo coyote tales: The Curley Tó Aheedlíinii version Ofelia Zepeda, Joy Harjo, Simon Ortiz, Nora Yazzie,
Colleen Gorman Shakespeare in Māori
SUGGESTED READINGS / REFERENCES Akinnaso, F. Niyi. (1982). The literate writes and the nonliterate chants: Written
language and ritual communication in sociolinguistic perspective. In W. Frawley (Ed.), Linguistics and literacy (pp. 7-36). New York: Plenum Press.
Biber, Douglas. (1988). Variation across speech and writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cummins, Jim. Fishman, Joshua A. (1991). Reversing Language Shift. Bristol, UK : Multilingual Matters. Vygotsky, L.S. (1962). Thought and language. (E. Haufmann & G. Vakar, Eds. & Trans.).
Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in Society (M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, I. Scribner, & E.
Souberman, Eds.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Whorf, Benjamin. (1956). The relation of habitual thought and behavior to language. In
Carroll, John B. (Ed.) Language, thought, and reality: Selected writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf (pp. 134-159). Cambridge, MA: MIT.
CONTACT INFORMATON
Freddie A. Bowles fbowles@uark.edu
George Ann Gregorylinguisticdoc@drgrammarguru.com
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