Research

Enhancing Indigenous language and culture education across the curriculum: Engagement of students and faculty through multimedia technology (funded by the UBC Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund) - April 2013 - March 2014

• Students frequently enter UBC with competency in various world and heritage languages, but often are unaware of the language diversity of First Nations communities across British Columbia. As a result, discussions in the classroom regarding Indigenous topics, specifically Indigenous languages, rarely move beyond an introductory level – even in upper-level undergraduate and graduate classes. This multimedia website will provide Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, instructors, researchers and the broader public with a starting point to their investigations of issues relevant to Indigenous languages both locally and internationally, engage the community with Indigenous language content by incorporating this into coursework, as well as offer concise and accurate information on core topics. This project’s goal is to respond meaningfully to the UBC Strategic Plan that advocates expanding “curriculum offerings focusing on Aboriginal issues and perspectives” and “professional development available to administrators, faculty, staff, and students in working with Aboriginal colleagues and discussing Aboriginal issues”.

Living Our Indigenous Languages in a Multimedia Technology Enhanced World (funded by UBC Faculty of Education Humanities & Social Sciences Seed Grant) - June 2012 - May 2013 

• Using the language for everyday communication and all functions of life are key to revitalizing and sustaining Indigenous languages. Though, major challenges continue to exist, case studies of Indigenous peoples offer a glimpse at how communities are using technology to their advantage in empowering ways, while discussing issues related to the planning and execution of projects (Dyson, Hendriks & Grant, 2007). The types of technologies used, domains explored and the particular uses for language revitalization varies according to the community’s  situation and immediate, short and long term goals, as based on the international survey study and three case studies of American Indian Language Development Institute students (Galla, 2010).
• The purpose of this research is to expand the literature review beyond the US which the researcher is most familiar with, and to synthesize projects, programs, workshops, classes, etc. that involve revitalizing Indigenous languages vis-à-vis multimedia technology (and its products). An area of particular interest includes technologies that allow language and culture to be practiced and experienced without having to be physically situated in the traditional territory of the Indigenous  community. This includes mobile apps, web-based applications, video, TV, radio, telephone.