In the Hawaiian classes I've been observing (and learning Hawaiian from), there are about six to ten undergrads who already speak some Hawaiian. Most of them picked it up from childhood school activities (like learning numbers), and some had more immersive school experiences. Our kumu (teacher) has been using comprehension-based approaches in our Hawaiian 101 course this semester. He added some element for everyone (I don't believe he did this for the heritage speakers specifically): he wrote on the board new rejoinders, numbers, qualifiers like "(very/somewhat) warm/cold", and other responses for us to shout out at any time during class discussions and tournaments (like our card game, "War" played in front of the class). When he calls for volunteers to play Lono-Mauli-Pau (rock-paper-scissors), he asks for volunteers, and it's usually the heritage speakers who run up first. The contestants introduce themselves to each other in Hawaiian, the whole class counts, shouts Lono-Mauli-Pau, and the winner shouts "[my neighborhood] is the best!!" The kumu glosses any new words or phrases on the board, and the activity generally keeps vocab sheltered and repeating. I see how the whole class benefits from this: (1) the heritage speakers self-select to serve as secondary discussion and activity leaders (and input-providers for everyone else), (2) the class learns their names, home neighborhoods, and other local culture tied directly to them, and (3) the fun energy and discussion content are coming from more than just the teacher; student buy-in is coming from a reliable portion of the class. There's more going on, but these are the top three observations I find most relevant here. It appears to be at least somewhat empowering for the heritage speakers themselves to have a space where their voice is important and useful for everyone in the room.
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Reed Riggs (Author)
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