This study explores the needs and expectations of Indigenous people of Western Canada with respect to learning their ancestral language through technology. Using a qualitative phenomenological research design, we conducted focus groups. Content analysis of the collected data revealed they face various barriers that inhibit their learning of their ancestral language. A lack of exposure to practice and limited resources are among these barriers. Our ndings demonstrate the importance of using the community dialect in technological tools to support learning ancestral languages instead of focusing only on vocabulary. Indigenous peoples' ancestral language learning is associated with several socio-cultural and political aspects. However, it should be possible to promote this lifelong-learning practice with the help of technologies that are designed to support individual learner needs and expectations.
• Computer Uses in Education; • Information interfaces and presentation (e.g., HCI);
For generations, the Indigenous peoples of Canada have been losing their languages through forced assimilation as a result of government programs such as the Indian Residential School system. Recent changes and recognition of the harm that was done through these programs has resulted in reconciliation e orts that focus, in-part, on the reclamation and re-learning of these almost lost languages. Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or cClaospsryoroimghutsheeisldgrbanytetdhewiathuotuhtofre(esp).roUvisdeedpteharmtciotpteieds aurnedneotr mthaedeCoCrd-iBstYributed fliocrepnroset oCrrceoamtmiveerCciaolmadmvaonntasg.eoargnd/litcheatncsoepsie/sbbye/a4r.t0h/is notice and the full citation on the rst page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior speci c permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from permissions@acm.org.
AIED ’19, June 25–29, 2019, Chicago, IL © 2019 Association for Computing Machinery.
ACM ISBN 978-x-xxxx-xxxx-x/YY/MM. . . $15.00 https://doi.org/10.1145/1122445.1122456 However, the historical and current social context of the majority of those who want to learn these languages means they will have to do so outside of formal learning environments. Moreover, the revitalization of these languages and their learning by members of geographically-distributed communities means that technologies, speci cally adaptive computer assisted language learning (CALL) tools, are well suited to supporting the independent and long-term needs of these language learners. In this paper, we explore how Indigenous Canadians need and want to be accommodated in learning their ancestral language through technology as a lifelong-learning practice. 1.1
Many Indigenous languages fall under the banner of less commonly
taught languages. These languages currently su er from a lack of
resources. This lack of resources can be attributed to low
enrolment rates, few trained instructors, and a lack of textbooks [
It is common for an Indigenous person of North American to be
reluctant to learn or pass on their ancestral language because
English (or French, depending on their location) is the language of
safety and success. This attitude can be a result of the everyday
experience of living in an English dominated society that requires
English uency and conformity for social and nancial success.
This results in “Native Americans who desire to succeed in
professional careers or who feel an attraction to popular culture or
non-native religions often come to identify with the language of
those pursuits” [
A key issue surrounding language revitalization is the
integration of Indigenous languages into established educational systems.
The concerns surrounding this endeavour mainly stem from the
mainstream education system and how its approaches di er from
those traditionally used by Indigenous peoples when teaching their
younger generation. For example, in the last 100 years, many
Indigenous languages have been written down using either roman
orthography or a newly created alphabet of their own. However,
most of these languages were traditionally strictly oral which has
lead to “controversy in some Aboriginal communities concerning
whether the Aboriginal language should be written at all” [
Often in Indigenous communities, it is traditional for their
ancestral language to be passed on from older generations to younger
ones. Moreover, this practice includes cultural teachings. Thus,
it naturally arises that a key desire for Indigenous people is that
school-based language learning include “cultural teaching, for the
involvement of elders, for the goal to be real uency” [
CALL programs can be classi ed into three activity types:
facilitative, collaborative, and instructional [
With an increase of federal funding support programs,
Indigenous language-learning technologies have become more numerous
in Canada. These instances of language-learning technologies often
take the form of websites and mobile applications. While there
is increasing support and attention towards these technologies,
they regularly encounter technical issues due to their reliance on
“minimal grant funds as well as volunteer help” [
As can be seen above, Indigenous peoples’ attitudes towards learning their ancestral language can be mixed due the historical context of their community. These attitudes contribute to the barriers faced by those who wish to learn their ancestral language. The current state of technologies that aim to support the learning of Indigenous languages also present a barrier. These technologies predominantly employ dictionary-like approaches rather than personalized approaches that support individual learner needs within their context.
Given this understanding we ask “How do members of Indigenous communities view the use of technology to support language revitalization?” and “How do Indigenous language learners want a CALL system to accommodate their language-learning journey?” 2
This study was conducted in a phenomenological tradition, which
is de ned as “a description of the meaning of the lived experiences
for several individuals about a concept or a particular phenomenon”
[
This study consisted of two focus groups, each with four participants, for eight participants total. In this paper, participants have been given pseudonyms for readability. Participants were recruited through community contacts. All participants were from provinces in Western Canada. Over half of participants had learned Michif or Cree in a formal classroom setting. The most recent generation in the participants’ family to attend Indian Residential Schools was a parent for one participant; for three participants, it was their grandparents; for two, it was their great-grandparent. Two had never had a relative attend. For a detailed breakdown of the above demographics, see Table 1.
It is worth noting that two pairs of participants (Jessica and Tim
as well as Shirley and Richard) are in romantic relationships and
three participants have familial ties to each other: a pair of sisters
(Ashley and Amanda) and their distant relative (Shirley). Limiting
factors may have arisen from these relationships, such as a potential
reluctance to express an opinion within the focus group. While this
can limit the diversity of ideas, avoiding these types of tight ties is
di cult because they are commonly encountered when working
with members of this population.
Data was collected during two focus groups consisting of four
people each. Participants were asked questions relating to their current
and familial relationship to their ancestral language(s), their
experience learning their ancestral language(s) through technology and
non-technology-based resources, and their desires and expectations
for technologies that would teach their ancestral language(s). Note
a semi-structured approach [
The recordings of the focus group interviews were transcribed and
analyzed using content analysis, without any coding scheme or
pre-made template, by two researchers (Author 1 and 2). During the
analysis, a three stage process was employed [
The participants cited English, French, Cree, and Michif1 as their ancestral languages. Seven participants cited English, seven cited Cree, four cited French, and ve cited a variant of Michif. See Table 1 for the language distributions of participants.
Of the above languages Indigenous to Canada (Cree and Michif
variants) two participants spoke or understood minimal Michif.
Sarah described it as learning through interactions with her
grandfather and Amanda described her uency as “a little tiny bit of Cree
Michif”. Five participants said they spoke or understood minimal to
intermediate Cree, with Jessica stating her “reading and writing is
more pro cient than [her] actual oral”. Two participants spoke
neither Cree or any variant of Michif. Of the participants who claimed
some knowledge of Cree or any variant of Michif, ve said they had
been or are currently learning Cree or Michif formally through a
class. Even for the participants who claimed no knowledge of Cree
or Michif, all participants cited at least hearing or being spoken to
in Cree or Michif by family members.
1 “Michif is a mixed language historically derived from French and Cree” [
When asked about how their ability to speak their ancestral language is tied to their sense of self and to their sense of belonging in their community, most participants cited that learning or knowing their ancestral language would give them a sense of connection to their family, community, and culture. Amanda said, “language is culture”, and Ashley said, “it’s that connection. For me, it’s history”. Tim also mentioned that learning Cree would help him connect with his grandfather, citing “my mosôm [grandfather in Cree] speaks like very little English. . . so there’s that like communication divide”. Kim cited that given the chance to practice and use what she had learned, she felt more connected: “It felt so good, like I just felt so proud and connected and it just made, like it help me feel like a stronger connection to it and just more like this is my identity.”
At least half of the participants indicated or implied that knowing more about their ancestral language gave them pride in their culture. The younger participants were more likely to cite learning their ancestral language as a way of discovering and reclaiming their cultural identity, with Sarah stating “it’s like a step closer to learning your identity” and Tim stating that learning Cree was a “reclamation of culture and identity”.
Older participants were more likely to cite learning or knowing their ancestral language gave them a greater feeling of connection with family, especially family from their childhood. Amanda said that hearing Cree or Michif “reminds me of all the people of my childhood. . . so I feel like they’re with- connected when I hear it”. 3.3
The last generation in the participants’ families to speak Cree or Michif uently was a parent for half of the participants and a grandparent for the other half of the participants.
It is worth noting that ve participants also considered themselves or non- uent parents when asked who was the last generation in their family to speak the language. Children that were being taught were included in that consideration, with Sarah stating that it has been “every generation for me so far because I’m going and then my son will go” and Kim stating “I think like me learning Cree and like teaching it to my daughter”.
As alluded to in the statements of Sarah and Kim, there are also instances of learning and teaching. At least half of the participants mentioned teaching what they are learning to their children. 3.4
Participants cited a number of reasons for loss of ancestral language inheritance within their family or communities. For the participants who were 50 years of age and above, they were more likely to cite the societal climate of the 20th century in Western Canada. This group was also more likely to credit regular day school or residential school attendance with the loss of their language. Richard said, “[Cree] was a dangerous language at one time” and “[my parents] wouldn’t teach me any language because they had such a hard time at school”. Shirley, who is of the same generation, con rmed “[my parents] had such a hard time but my mother, when she went to school, they didn’t know the language”. Similarly, Ashley stated that “I remember my grandma even saying like ‘it’s just too hard for you’, and I think that was their fear”.
All of those aged 20-29 mentioned or alluded to being put in French Immersion school programs for the bene t of better job prospects. Jessica stated that initially her parents’ goal was for her to go into government. Sarah, Kim, and Tim all concurred that they had similar experiences with their parents. For the participants who reported growing up around their ancestral language, a common reason for not practicing the language was not being aware as a child that their parents or grandparents were speaking a di erent language. Amanda cited that “I didn’t know [my mother] was speaking Cree” and Ashley agreed by stating “when you’re raised with it, you don’t realize . . . so to me it wasn’t another language. It was, that was, my mother”.
Five participants said another reason they did not inherit their ancestral language was due to family members marrying nonIndigenous people. The reason being, speci cally, the desire not to alienate non-Indigenous spouses by speaking their ancestral language. Sarah stated that “my grandmother on [my mother’s] side married an Italian so she grew up learning Italian”, and Kim said “[my grandmother] was gonna teach me Cree when I was a kid but it just didn’t happen because [my grandfather] didn’t know Cree so. . . you don’t wanna alienate them”. 3.5
When asked about the challenges they faced trying to learn Cree or Michif, the most cited challenge was a lack of exposure to the language and lacking opportunities for practice. This problem existed both for those who had taken formal classes and those learning in informal environments. For example, Sarah cited not having the class every day as a barrier. Four others speci cally discussed how they were not able to continue practicing or using their language. As Richard said “if you don’t use it, you lose it”.
Related to this challenge is a lack of resources that left participants feeling as though they did not have the opportunity to further their language learning by challenging themselves with independent learning activities. One participant (Kim) said “not having the opportunity to challenge myself with like new words” was an issue. Speci cally mentioned by Jessica and Tim were a lack of resources that help you learn the structure of the language and promote the ability to have a spoken conversation. Tim stated that “there is a pretty distinct lack of resources besides just like de nitional dictionaries and things online”. As well, Sarah mentioned a lack of resources that promote oral pro ciency, stating that “we’re only taught to write and translate”.
From the perspective of adult language learning, a common challenge cited by those who had taken formal classes in Cree or Michif was the di culty of interacting with uent speakers who learned the language as a child. The main di culty appeared to be a di erence in understanding of the language, along with the words used to describe that understanding. Kim stated that “you can’t mention conjugating verbs because [my grandmother]’s like ‘I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about”’, and Jessica stated that “it’s really di cult when you’re trying to articulate a problem you’re having and their like ‘what are you talking about?”’.
Another notable challenge was that of those being taught Cree or Michif in a classroom setting; the dialect they were taught was often a standard dialect and not the same as the community dialect spoken by friends and family members. Kim shared that “me and my grandma don’t necessarily speak the same dialect”, which can further hinder the informal language-learning and practice opportunities that are inherent to communicating with other speakers. Speaking a di erent dialect as a learner can also in uence one’s con dence because there is a mismatch between what you know and what is spoken within your community. Consistent with this, participants widely cited a lack of con dence. This could take the shape of being too intimidated to attend conversational groups or feeling as though they were encroaching on a space if they were to attend a conversational group or class hosted by an outside community. Along with this, ve participants cited one or more instances of being laughed at or a fear of being laughed at. Sarah stated that “I feel intimidated sometimes. . . I don’t wanna say nothing because what if I really mess it up”. There was also mention of “Indigenous humour” referencing the phenomenon of cultural teasing which may impede learners’ willingness to take public risks with respect to their language learning. Jessica said “it’s de nitely a common thing among like Indigenous communities to like make fun, poke fun” and Richard stated, referencing family and community members, that “they used to laugh at me, the way I pronounced things”. 3.6
Participants were asked to describe their experiences using nontechnology resources to learn their ancestral language. The nontechnology resources cited are mostly visual resources such as picture books, labelled posters, and workbooks. Ashley cited that “Dr. Anne Anderson had the cassette tapes and the workbook, so we’d be doing that”. Kids’ books were described as a way to practice that was not intimidating and also something that could be done with their kids. Kids’ books were also described as useful because they were often accompanied by English translations. Sarah stated that “[kids books have] short little words and it’s stu that I can say because obviously that Cree is the Cree that we’re learning here”. There were also mentions of learning through family members. Richard stated that “I was taught by my auntie more than anyone”.
When asked what di culties the participants faced when using these resources, there was often the complaint that they were very time consuming. Ashley stated that “life just got in the way and you didn’t have time and you didn’t have a set study time”. 3.7
When asked to describe technology they have used previously to help learn their ancestral language, participants often listed applications as resources, with mobile dictionaries and vocabulary-based applications dominating the list. Sarah said: “Cree Dictionary! Online!” as a likely reference to an app called Online Cree Dictionary. Jessica stated “I have two digital dictionaries on my phone. Between Cree and Michif I have like ve apps. . . they have games on them”, and Shirley cited “I have [an] app on my phone because [my relative] gave me her phone. She had all the Cree words on there and what they meant”. There were also mentions of technology resources that employed audio or visual resources such as songs, radio, and recordings of conversation. Amanda mentioned recording Michif songs sung in a class on her phone, as well as listening to Cree on a radio station. Finally there were mentions of participants using social media groups for communal learning, such as on Facebook.
When asked what they did not like about the technology they have used to learn their ancestral language, participants often cited di culties stemming from inconsistencies in spelling and dialects across technologies. Participants who had taken formal classes on their ancestral languages often cited that even when it was a familiar dialect, the spelling was often non-standardized, which impeded their learning. Kim stated that “It’s hard because not all of them are like the right dialect or they don’t have like the right spelling” and Jessica stated that “this isn’t the word that I want to copy and paste” in reference to dictionaries and the non-standard way in which the entries are conjugated. There were also complaints regarding the standard roman orthography (SRO) that Cree is written in. The standard spellings are not necessarily phonetically transparent, which makes it di cult for those without training to create or use resources. Jessica commented that “[if you] learned it as a child, you aren’t going to inherently know the SRO format but, like, for us, who are learning the SRO format, it’s also like really confusing sometimes”. 3.8
The nal portion of the focus groups were a kind of co-design with the participants. Participants were asked questions relating to their wants and needs for learning their ancestral language with technology. Participants were positive or neutral about seeing their culture integrated into technologies that taught their ancestral language. The responses often centered around how they did not feel there was a clear separation between language and culture. In relation to their expectations, Shirley stated “medicines would be great. Drying the sh and the way they did in the smoke house” and Amanda stated “ ddling and jigging, somehow”.
When asked how they would like to see technology accommodate them in learning their ancestral language, a few participants said they would like technology that is engaging, that keeps their attention, and that provides ways to keep them interested in using it again. Ashley said “something like that, gives you an alert every day and every day you got a new word so that was really helpful. Something like that would be nice”. They also expressed a desire to see their community dialect re ected in the technology teaching their ancestral language. Ashley stated “if we could bring the speakers back with technology, the language spoken in [my community] in particular”.
Many participants often spoke about wanting to be able to learn the structure of the language so that they may talk with others. Amanda wanted “an app or something that makes it easy to learn conversation”. There were also mentions of desires for technology that could translate language. Ashley and Sarah cited some form of earbud or hearing aid that could translate spoken language instantaneously.
Although some instances were implicit, like wishing technology could bring back uent family members that have passed away, there was a general desire for technology that could mimic the skills of a uent speaker that could converse with the user and also provide feedback, essentially a Cree arti cial intelligence. Amanda stated “I want a Cree speaking AI, hanging out with me all the time”. Similarly, Sarah cited a desire for “a 24/7 hologram tutor when you get stuck”. Kim suggested providing “a feedback opportunity. . . like a chat bubble or something like ‘how the hell do you say this?’ like that would be helpful”. 4
Our ndings revealed that participants felt a sense of shame that
existed either from personal experience or that was passed down
predominantly from the last generation with respect to language
and culture. This feeling presents another challenge for learners of
Indigenous languages because they need to motivate, manage, and
monitor their learning [
One of the biggest challenges Indigenous people face when learning their ancestral language is a lack of access to speakers to practice with. Even though people want to be able to communicate with their own family and community members, most families only have speakers who belong to the grandparents’ generation. This gap in cultural and language knowledge within their families makes it di cult to learn and develop a connection with their culture, community, and family because they believe that learning their ancestral language builds this connection. This desire could be accommodated by creating a language-learning system that helps users interact with a grandparent who speaks the language. A system could, for example, teach a user to help their grandparent with a medical visit or teach a user how to ask for and understand cultural knowledge. Akin to this is the expressed desire to learn the dialect that is speci c to the user’s community. Achieving this goal would facilitate bridging communication gaps when speaking with community and family members.
As cited by most participants, there is an aspect of cultural
teasing amongst First Nations and Métis groups in Western Canada.
An e ective system for teaching Indigenous ancestral languages
would be able to help a user not only gain con dence but avoid
pitfalls where embarrassment could arise. For example, in Plains
Cree, there are many instances of similar sounding words that have
vastly di erent and sometimes taboo meanings. A system that
highlights when such a mistake could be made, or better yet identi es
when the user makes that mistake, would accommodate this user
need by helping them avoid potential embarrassment. Moreover,
such a system could help provide a comfortable environment to
learners, thus facilitating learning [
Many participants discussed using vocabulary-based apps to
support their ongoing language-learning e orts. However, language
learners are often not properly trained to know whether “the
translation they have chosen ts the context, or how to use the idioms
in which the word appears, or how to make use of the
grammatical information included with the de nition” [
Participants expressed both an implicit and explicit desire for a
tool that helps create immersive language environments. As with
all language learning, it is most e ective with constant practice
and opportunities to learn. An optimal system was described as
something that would e ectively engage a user daily and that could
be used when and where the learner can take the time to learn so
that they can t learning into their schedules and other life demands.
Tools that could aid in this endeavor could employ speech synthesis
and speech recognition, to aid learners in practicing when they
have no access to a speaker of the language. These tools could adapt
to a user by decreasing speech rates to the level of the learner, and
increasing over time in order to mimic the speed with which a
uent person would speak [
In terms of actual implementation of the above suggestion, as
explored in recent work, this could be achieved with current CALL
or intelligent tutoring system technologies [
This phenomenological investigation of the experiences of members of the First Nations and Métis population of Western Canada provided insight into their needs and expectations for learning their ancestral language through technology. Additional work will be conducted to see how representative their experiences and attitudes are to enable the development of appropriate technological supports for sca olding language and cultural revitalization, which is a lifelong-learning pursuit.
This work was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.