M.A. Theses in Linguisticsat the University of North Dakota (Abstracts)

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Anonby, Stan 1997
Reversing Language Shift: Can Kwak'wala Be Revived?

This thesis deals with the subject of reversing language shift, which comes under the rubric of language revival. The particular situation and problems encountered by the endangered Kwak'wala language are described in chapter one. Each community in which the language is spoken is examined and individual language revival efforts are discussed. The second chapter looks at different methods and procedures used in various language projects throughout the world. In particular, it examines some language projects which are (or were) in a similar situation to Kwak'wala. It also comes to some conclusions regarding what the research shows are essential elements for successful language projects. The third chapter, the core of the thesis, applies these findings to a proposal for the revival of Kwak'wala. The proposal has two main components--that of the community and that of the educational institutions. The roles of each is discussed, along with the elements for successful language projects arrived at in the previous chapter. Portions of this proposal were actually implemented in the village of Alert Bay. The last chapter discusses the reaction of this community to the ideas and implementation of this thesis.

The author may be contacted at Box 316 Alert Bay, BC V0N 1A0, CANADA, or by email at "anonby@usa.net".

Download thesis from http://arts-sciences.und.edu/summer-institute-of-linguistics/theses/_files/docs/1997-anonby-stan-j.pdf

A much shorter article based on the thesis is also available (in HTML format) at http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/RIL_4.html