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Canku Ota |
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(Many Paths) |
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An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America |
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November 16, 2002 - Issue 74 |
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Federal Grant Boosts UAF Teaching of Yup'ik |
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by Zaz Hollander
Anchorage Daily News
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credits: Photo by
Beth Marino - The Nome Nugget
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As a child growing up in the
Yup'ik village of Emmonak, Walkie Charles struggled to get his head
around the English language.
Today, Charles demonstrates his grasp of English as an instructor at the Alaska Native Language Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. And now he's celebrating a $1 million grant he helped obtain that is aimed at strengthening Yup'ik-language education in classrooms in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. "Yup'ik is the strongest language group in Alaska," he said by phone from Fairbanks on Friday. "I feel really strongly for the continuation of the language." The grant is designed to strengthen Yup'ik education in the classroom by enhancing the second-language skills of Lower Yukon, Lower Kuskokwim and Kuspuk school district certified teachers and teacher aides and recruiting Alaska Native youths to teach Yup'ik as a career.
Over time, the university hopes participants will start programs of their own. The money comes from the U.S. Department of Education Alaska Native Education Program. Courses will be held at the UAF Kuskokwim Campus in Bethel. The grant builds on work already under way in the district, which has worked for more than 20 years training teachers and fostering Yup'ik-language retention, university officials said. The university will hire a full-time coordinator, two current Yup'ik-language faculty will be partly reassigned, and Yup'ik elders will serve as language specialists during summer sessions. More than 51 percent of all students in the region are classified as Yup'ik-speaking; however, fluency becomes more rare every year, Charles said. Out of about 20,000 central Alaska Yup'iks, roughly 10,500 speak the language, making the area the largest Native-speaking region in the state.
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The
money will be used over the next three years to develop a certificate
in Yup'ik proficiency and another in Yup'ik-language education. At the
onset, the new program is expected to benefit 10 students, 12 teacher
aides and five undergraduate and graduate fellowships, Charles said.
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| Canku Ota is a free Newsletter celebrating Native America, its traditions and accomplishments . We do not provide subscriber or visitor names to anyone. Some articles presented in Canku Ota may contain copyright material. We have received appropriate permissions for republishing any articles. Material appearing here is distributed without profit or monetary gain to those who have expressed an interest. This is in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107. | ||
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Canku Ota is a copyright © 2000, 2001, 2002 of Vicki Lockard and Paul Barry. |
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The "Canku Ota - A Newsletter Celebrating Native America" web site and its design is the |
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Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 of Paul C. Barry. |
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All Rights Reserved. |
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