9
Esmaeel
Indian education in promoting the Heritage language
Introduction
In the current formal education, the curriculum is involving the maximization of the instruction in many subjects through the heritage language. Regarding this, we can say that there are many benefits that attribute to Indian education in promoting the Heritage language. This is because the Indian education has shown many psychological and cultural benefits of having skills in a person’s heritage language. Furthermore, there is cognitive development as well as the development of problem-solving skills, which indubitably leads to creativity. In this paper, I will explore the subject of Indian education in promoting the Heritage language from the previous studies and support the argument that there are many benefits that attribute to Indian education in promoting the Heritage language.
Persuasive Syntheses of Indian Education
It would be true to say that most indigenous communities find their native languages of the dominant cultures as the best for giving instruction. This is because there is overwhelming evidence-based research that has been done on the bilingual education, which has shown that Indian educations promotes the heritage language and also brings other benefits. According to Haley De Korne, the Indian education promotes the native language which also comes with improvement of the instruction process as well as the overall school performance (Korne). We can thus say that this formal school-based of Indian program is complemented by a genuine and beneficial community involvement. It is thus a shared goal towards promoting the heritage language and making instruction more efficient.
Consequently, there are various benefits attributed to Indian education in promoting the heritage language. Teresa McCarty has it that the students will have an ability to increase the metalinguistic awareness together with the knowledge relating to the Indian language. This entails the metalinguistic skills, which are indubitably very significant piece of intellectual development to the students (McCarty). Such skills lead the development of reading skills development, which plays a crucial role in the overall academic performance a student.
According to Manjula Shinge, the metalinguistic abilities have been found to have a greater phonemic awareness, especially in the bilingual students (Shinge). For instance; they have the ability to answer various questions with the sounds having the same soundings at the beginning. Further, they have the ability to break the words into corresponding syllables and most importantly be successful more than the monolingual students (Shinge).
Combs and Nichola argue that the study of the Indian language in promoting its heritage has also been found to increase the knowledge of such language together with the development of math’s and logic skills (Combs and Nichola). Students who study using native language have been found to have standard.
Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median and Mode
9Esmaeel Indian education in promoting the Heritage langua.docx
1. 9
Esmaeel
Indian education in promoting the Heritage language
Introduction
In the current formal education, the curriculum is involving the
maximization of the instruction in many subjects through the
heritage language. Regarding this, we can say that there are
many benefits that attribute to Indian education in promoting
the Heritage language. This is because the Indian education has
shown many psychological and cultural benefits of having skills
in a person’s heritage language. Furthermore, there is cognitive
development as well as the development of problem-solving
skills, which indubitably leads to creativity. In this paper, I will
explore the subject of Indian education in promoting the
Heritage language from the previous studies and support the
argument that there are many benefits that attribute to Indian
education in promoting the Heritage language.
Persuasive Syntheses of Indian Education
It would be true to say that most indigenous communities find
their native languages of the dominant cultures as the best for
giving instruction. This is because there is overwhelming
evidence-based research that has been done on the bilingual
education, which has shown that Indian educations promotes the
heritage language and also brings other benefits. According to
Haley De Korne, the Indian education promotes the native
language which also comes with improvement of the instruction
process as well as the overall school performance (Korne). We
can thus say that this formal school-based of Indian program is
complemented by a genuine and beneficial community
involvement. It is thus a shared goal towards promoting the
2. heritage language and making instruction more efficient.
Consequently, there are various benefits attributed to Indian
education in promoting the heritage language. Teresa McCarty
has it that the students will have an ability to increase the
metalinguistic awareness together with the knowledge relating
to the Indian language. This entails the metalinguistic skills,
which are indubitably very significant piece of intellectual
development to the students (McCarty). Such skills lead the
development of reading skills development, which plays a
crucial role in the overall academic performance a student.
According to Manjula Shinge, the metalinguistic abilities have
been found to have a greater phonemic awareness, especially in
the bilingual students (Shinge). For instance; they have the
ability to answer various questions with the sounds having the
same soundings at the beginning. Further, they have the ability
to break the words into corresponding syllables and most
importantly be successful more than the monolingual students
(Shinge).
Combs and Nichola argue that the study of the Indian language
in promoting its heritage has also been found to increase the
knowledge of such language together with the development of
math’s and logic skills (Combs and Nichola). Students who
study using native language have been found to have
standardized. In studying the Indian language together with
other languages such as English, a student will be able to
increase its mental learning flexibility when makes them
become more creative and thus have more planning skills which
enable them to solve complex problems when they encounter
them (Combs and Nichola).
In essence, bilingual having two or more words for one object
has an idea and a concept that it enables the students to think
more abstractly regarding the words of the language (McCarty).
This seems to strengthen the brain of the students and develop
the thinking skills, especially about the executive control
system. In doing so, the brain will protect some effects which
3. are attributed to the ageing of an individual.
According to Christine Sims, there are various benefits
attributed to the language, as well as the culture rich
curriculum, especially for the native children, plays an
important role in the academic success of the students (Sims).
Based on the research carried out, it can be noted that the
inclusion of the native language together with the culture in the
learning institutions is very important since the students will
have an improvement in their academic performance together
with retention rates with the improvement in the school
attendance (Sims).
It is worth noting that the culturally responsive approach in
teaching mainly connects the student’s experiences in school
and also outside the school. This is because it supports the
educational quality leading to excellence performance
academically. Besides, it empowers the students by providing
them with the skills which can be applied effectively in
negotiating and have various positive impacts to the world
surrounding the students (Shinge).
The teaching approach that puts into consideration the inclusion
of indigenous language can be described as a non-detrimental to
the academic achievement, but rather it indubitably promotes
the academic achievements and cultural knowledge awareness to
the students. In preparing the students, the understanding of
such languages will help them to develop leadership skill which
implies that they are being prepared to be the leaders of
tomorrow (Shinge).
Native language in school studies has also shown various
benefits which include the greater success of the bilingual
students as they have the ability to improve on their local and
achieving the test scores nationally (Combs and Nichola). The
students who had received the bilingual education have been
found to achieve higher scores in the subjects such as
mathematics and in reading assessment than those students who
are educated in English alone. Therefore, including the Indian
language will develop the students not only to understand their
4. language and culture very well but also to achieve academic
success.
Including the native languages in the learning institutions, the
programs which can be put into practice the immersion
programs which can be run at very high levels of students and
maintain the retention rates. The linguistic and cultural together
with the academic success of the students who are enrolled in
the schools through mainly through the immersion programs has
led to continued growth in the enrollment rates.
Moreover, native studies enable the health and well-being of an
individual to prevail (Korne). This is because the current
studies show that the native language acts as an integral sense
of wellbeing where the students achieve their academic
performance improve as well as self-esteem maintained. This
shows that the students develop the ability to success in the
complex world. When an institution, for instance, utilizes the
native language of the students in their curriculum, there can be
witnessed increased in the student's self-esteem and lead to less
anxiety, which achieves greater efficiency (Combs and
Nichola).
Notably, with self-esteem increasing in the students, they will
be able to confidently declare their love of their language and
culture which makes them understand the meaning of the Indian
culture. These increase their resilience to addiction which in
turn prevents the risky behaviors which the student may engage
themselves in and most importantly promotes the positive health
and well-being of such individuals.
Ngai and Koehn have it that it is coherent that strengthening
the heritage language and maintaining the same strengthens the
cultural connections (Ngai and Koehn). In is very important to
notes that for the students to grow up and attend the institutions
in the United States, the teacher support study has to understand
the home language which in turn will provide the tools for
communication with the community especially the family
members and the community members as well as with both
national and international friends (Cheryl, 98).
5. Also, heritage language promotes the bilingualism which
supports the students in developing their cognitive together with
the academic skills which enable them to develop their
professional skills (McCarty). Research further shows that the
bilingualism improves on various executive functions such as
enabling an individual to focus on a specific task which a
switch between the tasks and also retain the information.
Bilingualism also helps the students to open up on their wide
arrays pertaining to their jobs as well as on their educational
opportunities.
Kristin Powers adds that studying the heritage and Indian
language will help to maintain the feeling of a cultural kinship
(Kristin).This means that, while the individuals are using their
language to gain their education as well as knowledge so that
they can get good jobs and live a better life, it can be depicted
that the social identities are very important especially for
leadership opportunities. Cultural language gives an individual
a sense of powerful and a sense of belonging especially with the
people who speak the same language. It makes them all equal
irrespective of the distance from their homes.
Kristin explains that the Indian heritage language also enables
the speakers of such language to access experience and
knowledge which is a key to achieving success and
competitiveness. This further leads to the creation of growth
and prosperity for an individual, the community and as a human
being as a whole. It also leads to improvement in industrial
society while increasing the interdependency to the world which
has various indispensable languages (Kristin).
In essence, studying Indian heritage language, it is agreed that
without such cultural language, there is no communication
among some of the members of the community (Korne).
Therefore, heritage language plays a very important role in
displaying one's status and power, as well as dominance. With
such heritage language, the people will be able to communicate
without any difficulties and moreover have the ability to access
any cultural information, which will indubitably broaden their
6. jobs.
Additionally, heritage language creates an identity of an
individual. Maintaining individual’s heritage language and
studying in schools. For example, Salish school of Spokane is
critical to an individual's identity since it helps in maintaining
the child value and individuals culture together with the sacred
heritage of the community’s ancestors (Korne). This contributes
to a positive concept. It is through such heritage language that
the Indians are distinct and identified from other human beings
and sees themselves as unique (Kristin).
Studies show that the sacred heritage studies depicted an
unblemished and handed down to the future generations
(Shinge). This implies that, if they lose such a language, then
they will have lost themselves regarding honor and hope as well
as self-pride since they will perceive themselves as sacred is
lost. In reality, it can be seen that the desires to incorporate
both the individual and the community as one nation id through
one language. This indubitably nurtures and also motivates the
bilingual minorities to promote the national accomplishments by
moving forward as they have been identified.
Consequently, students achieving distinction were found to also
attain fluency in the national, global language (McCarty). They,
therefore, became progressive models of the Indian community.
This shows that their native language helped in developing their
community building together with the bilingual status of a
community which could otherwise break the connection between
the community and themselves. In this case, it means that
loosing links while intermarrying lead to a loss of culture which
was meant to guide them.
Nichola et.al also say that benefits of learning Indian heritage
language by native Indians who have gone to study abroad acts
as a great potential for them and the community. This is because
the nation will gain the ability to unlock their language policy
basing on the relevant languages and which can be used in
planning for the local and regional developments (Combs and
Nichola). It is also used for the motivation purposes, especially
7. regarding the social development. This is because the words of
the languages have been found to have competitive mutual
existence.
Korne’s study has shown that important of heritage language
education and being the bilingual, especially to the bilingual
learners, helps to make them become literate in more than two
languages (Korne). It is worth that the more bilingual learners
are, the more they gain the ability to use both languages, which
in turn support each other to become independent since the
bilingual speakers have some of the cognitive advantages.
Conclusion
A legacy of evidence-based research on the Indian education
has shown the psychological and cultural benefits of having
skills in a person’s heritage language. We can thus conclude
the thesis that the bilingual language study which includes the
native heritage language has many benefits. These benefits
includes psychological, educational and cultural benefits
together with environmental benefits which entail enabling the
students to access both the native and the international
language. Practically, it can be noted that bilingual children
have the ability to perform better in their academics learning
the two languages lead to the development of essential skills
and development of knowledge which help them to succeed in
their studies.
8. Works cited
Cedar, Cheryl. "Native American Language Bill Introduced in
Senate." American Indian Report, Jan. 2014, p.
Combs, Mary Carol and Sheilah Nichola. "The effect of Arizona
language policies on Arizona Indigenous students."
Language Policy Journal (2012): 101–118.
Korne, Haley De. "Indigenous language education policy:
supporting community- controlled immersion in Canada and
the US." Language Policy Journal (2010):115–141.
McCarty, Teresa. "Native American Languages as Heritage
Mother Tongues." Language, Culture and Curriculum (2008):
201-225.
Ngai, Phyllis B. and Peter H. Koehn. "Indigenous Education for
Critical Democracy: Teacher Approaches and Learning
Outcomes in a K-5 Indian Education for All Program." Equity
& Excellence in Education, vol. 44, no. 2, 01 Jan. 2011, pp.
249-269.
Powers, Kristin M. "An Exploratory Study of Cultural Identity
and Culture-Based Educational Programs for Urban
American Indian Students (English)." Urban Education vol.
41, no. 1, Jan. 0001, pp. 20-49. 14 March 2017.
Shinge, Manjula. "The National Security Language Initiative
and the Teaching of Hindi." Language, Culture and Curriculum
(2008): 269-279.
Sims, Christine. "Assessing the Language Proficiency of Tribal
Heritage Language Learners: Issues and Concerns for American
Indian Pueblo Languages." Current Issues in Language
Planning, vol. 9, no. 3, 01 Aug. 2008, pp. 327-343.