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Larry Goldstein
Lokahi

267 Posts

Posted - 04/14/2007 : 04:51:33 AM

Aloha,

Here's an interesting AP article about the Hawaiian language.

Larry

Push is on to save Hawaii's native tongue
Once dying, language makes comeback
By JAYMES SONG
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

KE'EAU, Hawaii -- Portraits in the school's library are not of U.S. presidents but Hawaiian royalty, from King Kamehameha to Princess Ka'iulani. Near the classroom door, rubber slippers are tidily lined up by the students, who go barefoot. The calendar shows it's the month of "Malaki."

Hawaiian language and culture fill the hallways and playgrounds of Ke Kula 'O Nawahiokalani'opu'u Iki and define the mission of the school with the sizable name -- Nawahi for short. English is only allowed during the one-hour English class.

A major effort is under way to revive and preserve Hawaii's native tongue, including so-called immersion schools, marking their 20th anniversary. Courses from math to science are taught entirely in Hawaiian.

The language was nearly wiped out after being banned from schools across the islands for nearly a century. In 1983, when a small group of educators founded a key Hawaiian language revival program, fewer than 50 children spoke it. Today, the rhythmic sounds of Hawaiian are used proficiently by more than 2,000 children.

"It's important because I'm the only one in my family who speaks Hawaiian," said Leiali'i Lee, a 10th-grader at Nawahi, one of 23 immersion programs in the state. "I can make a difference, and I can revive my language."

While fluency is still rare -- just 1 percent of the state's 180,000 public school students attend immersion programs -- Hawaiian words are commonplace around the islands, from vowel-filled town names such as Ka'a'awa and 'Aiea to popular fish like mahimahi. There's a weekly radio news report in Hawaiian. Tourists often are greeted in the language even before stepping off the plane. Hawaiian is taught as a foreign language at many island schools, public and private.

The immersion schools carry this teaching further.

Nawahi, which has nearly 200 students from preschool through 12th grade, was founded in 1994 as a laboratory school affiliated with the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Students are taught Hawaiian traditions and culture, such as growing sweet potatoes, building canoes and understanding the land.

The school has succeeded despite financial and political challenges, and skepticism about educating in Hawaiian, the only indigenous language in the United States that is an official state language.

About half the students are from low-income families. The school boasts a perfect graduation rate, with 80 percent moving on to college, well above the statewide average for public schools.

A visit to Nawahi reveals its formula for success: small classes, a family-oriented environment and teachers dedicated to rescuing the Hawaiian language.

"If you're not successful, I'm going to make you successful. That is my responsibility," said teacher Hiapo Perreira, who in 2002 became the first person in the country to receive a master's degree in Hawaiian and who is now in the University of Hawaii at Hilo's new doctoral program.

"If my dream were to come true tomorrow ..., every Hawaiian would know Hawaiian," Perreira said.

Critics say students could be held back by learning a language that's not "viable" in today's world. But school officials say Nawahi students have exceeded peers in standardized English tests. Studies have also suggested that highly bilingual students tend to have higher cognitive abilities.

Kapa'anaokalaokeola Oliveira, an assistant professor of Hawaiian at the University of Hawai'i, expressed encouragement about the once-forbidden language. "Today, I think there's a revitalization. People are encouraging their children to speak Hawaiian," she said.

Still, Hawaiian is far from being saved.

"It's still very close to being dead," said William "Pila" Wilson, one of the founders of 'Aha Punana Leo language program and chairman of the Hawaiian program at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. "A language is dead when children are no longer speaking it. Once children stopped speaking Hawaiian, especially to each other, we knew it was going to end."

In 1896, three years after the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, a law was implemented, stating: "The English language shall be the medium and basis of instruction in all public and private schools."

"That was a real death knell," said Albert Schutz, author of "The Voices of Eden: A History of Hawaiian Language Studies."

"That meant the younger people weren't using it anymore and it was only the older people that spoke the language."

As the Hawaiian elders died, so did the language.

A 1917 editorial in the Hawaiian-language newspaper Ka Puuhonua discussed how the ban was already having a major impact in just two decades.

"We now find that our mother tongue is being spoken in a broken manner. There are no children under the age of 15 who can speak the mother tongue in this land properly. ... And in a very short period, we will find that the language is gone," the editorial said.

A rare exception was the island of Ni'ihau, where because it was privately owned and isolated from the state's rules, Hawaiian thrived through the years. Ni'ihau has about 160 residents, all of whom speak Hawaiian.

HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE: A QUICK PRIMER

THE ALPHABET

The Hawaiian alphabet has eight consonants and five vowels in words of native origin. The consonants are: H, K, L, M, N, P, W, plus the 'okina, which appears as a vertical mark. The five vowels are: A, E, I, O, U.

SPELLING

Every word has at least one vowel.

No word has two consecutive consonants.

Words never end with a consonant.

THE 'OKINA

The eighth consonant in the Hawaiian alphabet is called the 'okina, or glottal stop. The symbol for the 'okina is a single open quote or vertical mark.

THE KAHAKO

The kahako is a diacritical mark, or macron, that indicates a long vowel.

10 COMMON WORDS

aloha (ah-LOW-ha): encompasses many meanings including love, affection, compassion, mercy, sympathy, pity, kindness, sentiment, grace, charity; also, hello, goodbye, farewell.

Hawaii (ha-VAI-ee): both the official name for the island known as the Big Island and for the chain of the Hawaiian Islands.

kalo (KAH-low): taro, a sacred plant considered an ancestor to the Hawaiian people.

kapu (KAH-poo): taboo, prohibited, forbidden, sacred, holy, no trespassing, keep out.

keiki (KAY-kee): child, offspring, descendant, son, lad, kid, cub.

kupuna (kuu-POO-nah): elder, grandparent, ancestor.

kokua (ko-KOO-ah): help, aid, assistance, assistant, associate, deputy.

mana: (MAH-nah): supernatural or divine power, powerful, authority.

'ohana (OH-hana): family, relative, kin group, related.

'ono (OH-no): delicious, tasty, savory. (Ono, spelled without the 'okina, is a large mackerel-type fish.)

wcerto
Ahonui

USA
5052 Posts

Posted - 04/14/2007 : 06:05:08 AM

A very interesting article. I guess I didn't realize still how few Hawaiians speak the `olelo. From being so intersted in hula and mele, I guess I just took for granted that the numbers of folks speaking the language was greater.

quote:
About half the students are from low-income families. The school boasts a perfect graduation rate, with 80 percent moving on to college, well above the statewide average for public schools.

A visit to Nawahi reveals its formula for success: small classes, a family-oriented environment and teachers dedicated to rescuing the Hawaiian language.

I notice that one of the most important factors in successfully educating children is spoken of here -- the family invovement. That is what is sorely lacking here on the mainland as well. Cleveland city schools are rated as one of the worst school systems in the country. I am a graduate of Cleveland schools, and back in my day (graduated HS in 1970), Cleveland schools were something to be proud of. We had lots more stuff available than my husband's suburban school had. And, back then, the parents were most assuredly involved.

Nowdays, if an educator wants to express concerns about a student, either academically or behavior-wise, most parents get an "attitude" instead of working with the schools to fix the problem.

Success in Hawaiian language immersion schools have two major things to their credit, that make children feel good about themselves: 1) family involvement and 2) cultural identity/pride.

Mahalo for sharing the arataicle.

Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda