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Bilingual Research Journal

The Journal of the National Association for Bilingual Education

Volume 32, 2009 - Issue 2

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Public Debates in Bilingual Education

Learning to Read and Write Cherokee: Toward a Theory of Literacy Revitalization

Pages 207-227
Published online: 15 Sep 2009
 
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In an effort to revitalize the Cherokee language, Cherokee Nation launched an immersion program for preschool and elementary children in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Central to the curriculum is literacy in the Cherokee writing system known as syllabary. This study focuses on sociocultural and sociolinguistic evidence toward an understanding of the syllabary's role in Cherokee immersion, children's general literacy skills, and the micro- and macrolevel contexts of literacy in syllabary. We consider how an examination of Cherokee-literacy revitalization—as a feature of broader language revitalization—offers insight into the challenges and opportunities facing those who teach endangered languages through school-based immersion.

 

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