GNWT seeking applicants for annual Indigenous language learning program
In their annual effort to expand language revitalization across the Territory, the GNWT is calling for applications to their Mentor-Apprentice Program.
This program was first launched by the Dehcho First Nation in 2019 with help from Dr. Leanne Hinton from the University of Berkeley in California. The program works by pairing a mentor who is fluent in a certain Indigenous language, and pairing them with an apprentice who wishes to learn that language.
Nikita Gionet, the Project Coordinator for the Mentor-Apprentice Program, helped to explain how the whole system works.
“It’s really dependent on the Apprentice. It’s a self-directed language learning program, so really the apprentice is the one who’s in control of what they want to learn by creating a language plan, living life in the language. For example, I’ve been an apprentice, and for the day to day, I’ve got two young girls, so I created a sort of bedtime routine in the language. It’s really focused on what the apprentice would want to learn and pass down.”
Gionet added that once the pairs get started in the program, there are certain guiding principals that are shared to the mentors. One of these principals involves gesturing and non-verbal communication, as well as learning how to communicate without using any English.
Mentor-Apprentice pairs typically spend up to 200 hours together, and are even paid for their time in the program, with the GNWT paying for the first hundred hours, and various Indigenous governments paying for the other hundred hours.
To date, Gionet says that 185 people have taken part in the program, and six of those people have even gone on to become mentors themselves.
Gionet added that by the end of the program, the pairs generally from a close relationship with each other.
“Apprentices have built their confidence in their confidence in their language proficiency, and that goes back to the six apprentices transitioning into mentorship roles, which is super huge! They’re now confident in taking on a learner and sharing their knowledge with new apprentices!
There’s also that shared, common interest between apprentices and mentors that language revitalization is important to both of them, so that really ties them to their community and with other people that really value Indigenous languages.”
The MAP program is available to people of all skill levels, though they must be at least 18 to apply. Applications can be found at www.ece.gov.nt.ca/MAP.
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