Doctoral Dissertation Research: Mutsun reclamation continued: Three years in a learner's efforts to acquire language

University Of California-Davis, Davis CA

Investigators

Abstract

University of California-Davis doctoral student Lajos Szoboszlai, under the guidance of Dr. Martha Macri, will investigate the processes and outcomes of adult language acquisition in the absence of a community of native speakers. The research will be conducted with an adult tribal member who is learning his ancestral language Mutsun, a Costanoan language traditionally spoken in Northern California, using a grammar, a dictionary, and a few pedagogical materials. Szoboszlai will identify how language accessed solely through these documentary materials influences what structures are learned, which are simplified, and which are modified by speakers. Since most of what is known about second language acquisition is based on learning in a classroom or through emersion in a robust speech community, the results of this project will provide brand new insights on the process of adult language acquisition. Lajos Szoboszlai will employ qualitative analysis to conduct this longitudinal study. His database will consist of e-mails, semi-structured interviews, and 77 hours of audio-recordings of tutoring sessions with the tribal member. This data will be coded to allow for tracking of acquisition of particular grammatical forms. The many efforts underway by indigenous communities trying to revive the use of traditional languages offer an opportunity to investigate the learning process and the effects of this specific learning environment for language change. The repurposing of language documentation materials as reflected in this project reflects the importance of high-quality language documentation for endangered language communities. It is only with such materials that worldwide linguistic diversity can be maintained and that communities can hope to regain use of their ancestral languages