A World of Indigenous Languages: Politics, Pedagogies and Prospects for Language, Paperback

Spanning Indigenous-language settings in Africa, the Americas, Aotearoa/New Zealand, Australia, Central Asia and the Nordic countries, this book examines the multifaceted efforts of Indigenous peoples to reclaim and sustain their languages. Exploring political, historical and pedagogical issues, the authors foreground Indigenous knowledges and perspectives, highlighting the decolonizing aims of contemporary Indigenous language movements both inside and outside schools. The book calls for expanded discourses on language planning and policy that embrace Indigenous ways of knowing and forefront grassroots language reclamation efforts as a force for social justice and self-determination. It will be of interest to scholars, educators and students in the fields of applied linguistics, Ethnic Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous education, second language learning and teaching, bilingualism and biliteracy, and comparative-international education.

Teresa L. McCarty is G.F. Kneller Chair in Education and Anthropology and Faculty in American Indian Studies, University of California, Los Angeles, USA. Her research interests include Indigenous education, language planning and policy, language revitalization/reclamation, ethnography of education, and educational and linguistic anthropology. Sheilah E. Nicholas is Associate Professor of American Indian Studies, University of Arizona, USA. Her research interests include Indigenous/Hopi language reclamation and maintenance, Indigenous language ideologies and epistemologies, the intersection of language, culture and identity, and Indigenous language teacher education. Gillian Wigglesworth is Distinguished Professor of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics at the University of Melbourne and chief investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language. Her research interests include the languages of Indigenous children growing up in remote communities in Australia, the complexity of their language ecology, and how these interact with English once they enter the formal school system.