History: project summary


Ke A`a Makalei
Hawaiian Language Regenesis Projects

Founding members, teachers, and community members participating in the Kula Kaiapuni K-12 Hawaiian immersion schools had become concerned by 1994 that parents of immersion school children had little or no Hawaiian oral language fluency.  Hawaiian leaders at the university felt that intergenerational and community based language use are essential to Hawaiian language revitalization.  To address these concerns, the CSLR worked with university faculty in the Department of Hawaiian and Asian-Pacific Languages at UHM to develop two research and implementation projects.  A Federal Administration for Native Americans grant awarded in 1995 supported research investigating Hawaiian language needs and possible plans for meeting those needs.  The resulting Ke A`a Makalei project, which received additional federal funding in 1996 for two years,  provided ongoing instruction and supported use of the Hawaiian language in activities that adults and families were already engaged in, for instance, outrigger canoeing, baseball, basketball, family or community gatherings.  In addition to furthering Hawaiian language development and domain expansion in Hawai`i, the projects provided models for indigenous language revitalization projects on the U.S. mainland and elsewhere (see Davis, 1999; Henze & Davis, 1999; Huebner & Davis, 1999).                             

Resources Cited

- Davis, K.  (1999).  The Sociopolitical Dynamics of Indigenous Language Maintenance and Loss:  A Framework for Language Policy and Planning.  In Huebner, T. & Davis, K. (Eds.) Sociopolitical perspectives on language policy and planning in the U.S.A.(pp. 67-97).  John Benjamins Publishing Company. 

- Henze, R. & Davis, K. (Eds.). (1999a).  Anthropology and Education Quarterly (AEQ) Special Issue on “Authenticity and Identity in Indigenous Language Education.” Vol 30, No 1.

- Henze, R. & Davis, K.  (1999b).  Authenticity and Identity: Lessons from Indigenous Language Education.  Anthropology and Education Quarterly Special Issue: Authenticity and Identity in Indigenous Language Education.  Vol 30, No 1, 3-21.

- Huebner, T. & Davis, K. (Eds.). (1999).  Sociopolitical Perspectives on Language Policy and Planning in the U.S.A..  Amsterdam/Philadelphia:  John Benjamins Publishing Company.