Leading Language Immersion Professional to Speak about Native Language Revitalization

Leading Language Immersion Professional to Speak about Native Language Revitalization

TAHLEQUAH The Northeastern State University Center for Tribal Studies invites the public to a video/lecture presentation on Native Language Revitalization: The Punana Leo Hawaiian Immersion Model. The event be Wednesday, October 9, 2002, at 3 p.m. in the NSU Net Building Auditorium. There is no fee to attend the lecture. The speaker will be Dr. William (Pila) Wilson, chair of the Academic Programs Unit of the Hawaiian Language College called Ka Haka Yula O Keyelikolani, a college within the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

Dr. Wilson serves on the Board of Directors of the Non-Profit Punana Leo Hawaiian Language Immersion Schools where children are taught the Hawaiian language along with English. There are currently 23 immersion schools where Hawaiian children are taught values and customs as well as language. He will be urging Native American communities, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians to search for ways to enhance the academic performance of students, strengthen their native heritage language base, and retain important aspects of earlier cultural customs that are still important to their identity as native people.

Northeastern is very fortunate to have Dr. Williams share his expertise in language immersion programs, said Carol Young, former Program Coordinator of the Center for Tribal Studies. It is important to recognize the need for language revitalization as an issue crucial to a native people.

Mr. Wilson, his wife Kauanoe Kamana, and their two children Hulilau and Kelii have been at the forefront of Hawaiian language revitalization since the initiation of Punana Leo Hawaiian language nests in 1983 and before that became the first family to re-establish Hawaiian as language of their home. Mr. Wilson and his children, who are among the first graduates of the high school language immersion program to graduate and speak fluently the Hawaiian as well as the English language, will serve as lead trainers at the Oklahoma Native Language Association Conference in Preston, Oklahoma, October 10-12, 2002. NSUs Center for Tribal Studies is co-sponsoring the event.

For more information about the NSU Native Language Revitalization video/lecture, call Carol Young at 918-456-8900. For more information about the upcoming Oklahoma Native Language Conference, contact Dr. Mary Linn at 405-325-7588.

10/4/02

Published: 2002-10-04 00:00:00