Revitalising Indigenous Languages

Marja-Liisa Olthuis is University Lecturer at University of Oulu, Finland. Her major interests are the Saami languages, Finnish, language revitalisation, lexicology, second/foreign language teaching and translating.Suvi Kivelä is a researcher at the Saami Archives in Finland. She has worked as a news broadcaster at YLE, Finland's national public service broadcasting company. She is one of the Complementary Aanaar Saami Language Education graduates.Tove Skutnabb-Kangas (Emerita) has been actively involved with struggles for language rights for five decades. Her research interests include linguistic human rights, linguistic genocide, linguicism (linguistically argued racism), mother-tongue-based multilingual education and the relationship between linguistic and cultural diversity and biodiversity.

• Chapter 1: IntroductionChapter 2: How did the CASLE Project Start?Chapter 3: Aanaar Saami – A Small Saami LanguageChapter 4: The CASLE Revitalisation MethodChapter 5: CASLE YEARChapter 6: Complementary Aanaar Saami Language Education as a Project – CASLE 2009–2010Chapter 7: What has CASLE Achieved? What does the Future Hold?

Mahalo nui loa to the authors of this important book! Ancestral languages are crucial components of healthy indigenous communities. Yet once a language is lost among childbearing adults, it seems impossible to gain it back again. Developing a resource of fluent second language speaking adults is the answer. This work tells how to reach that crucial step - and with very small languages. E ola nā ʻōlelo ʻōiwi a kākou!