Doctoral Dissertation Research: Choctaw Language Ideologies and Their Impact on Teaching and Learning

University Of Oklahoma Norman Campus, Norman OK

Investigators

Abstract

Doctoral student Elizabeth Kickham, under the guidance of Dr. Sean O'Neill (University of Oklahoma), will investigate the relationship between language ideologies, learner motivation, and pedagogical method within the Choctaw Language Program, university class, and community class participants. As part of cultural and linguistic revitalization efforts, the Choctaw language is being taught in several secondary schools, universities, and communities, throughout central and southeastern Oklahoma, using both traditional classroom facilities and online technologies. The research seeks to understand the relationships among different forms of language training, fluency levels and attitudes about language use. It will examine the paradox that despite good levels of demonstrated classroom fluency, students rarely use the language in other contexts even with elder fluent speakers. The methods used to understand student ideas about the importance, utility, and identity functions of the language will involve an iterative process of ethnographic observation of virtual and actual classroom interactions, interviews with participants, and collaboration with community members to interpret data. By bridging the concepts of linguistic performance, cultural performance and language ideology, this research will further understanding of the complexities influencing language learning motivation, language choice, and teaching methods in indigenous language education. This research will contribute to an understanding of the complex interactions within and the impact of the Choctaw Language Program's language preservation and education efforts and thereby assist them in programmatic development. It will also contribute to a wider understanding of heritage and indigenous language education practices and outcomes within the context of language ideologies. In addition, the research will frame language teaching and learning as modes of linguistic performance, reviving the idea that performance occurs not just in formal or artistic forms, but in everyday interactions in which ideas, values, and identity are presented and community values created and recreated.