AssessingHawaiian

Abstract

Over a period of 30 years, Hawaiian has moved from being a nearly extinct and forgotten language receiving almost no attention to being the single non‐English language most embedded as an official language of education and academic assessments in any of the 50 states within the USA. This change is highly related to the post‐World War II movement for equality for previously colonized peoples. It is also built upon inertia from government language use patterns and community identity factors in the small 19th‐century multiracial kingdom of Hawaii. Hawaii is the only one of the 50 states in the USA with two official languages recognized in its constitution. The gradual expansion of use of Hawaiian by the state of Hawaii has become a role model for other indigenous governments of the USA including American Indian tribes, Alaska Native villages, and Pacific Island territories. Assessments of Hawaiian language fluency and of academic knowledge through the Hawaiian language range from the private sector through to graduate school. While locally distinct historical factors have played a major role in the current attention to the use of Hawaiian, Hawaiian has also been weakened by shared American historical factors relative to restrictions of language diversity, and on indigenous languages in particular. Hawaiian was nearly exterminated by the elimination of public Hawaiian medium education in 1896, and a subsequent ban on its use as a medium of education in schools that only ended in 1986. Continuing into the present are perspectives on Hawaiian that undervalue high fluency in it compared to foreign languages and which run counter to other trends that place high value on Hawaiian for symbolic purposes.

Revitalizing indigenous languages through indigenous immersion education

“…In contrast to New Zealand's definition for Māori-medium education, the Hawaiians use the term Hawaiian-medium for schools which seek revernacularization of Hawaiian by maintaining it as the primary language of the school, including operations and administration (Kawai'ae'a, 2012;Wilson & Kamanā, 2011Wilson, 2008Wilson, , 2014 There are multiple models of Hawaiian immersion/medium education in Hawai'i that are offered through regular public and charter schools K-12. The perpetuation and revitalization of Hawaiian language is the goal for all programs.…”

“…For example, student learning of the heritage language and in some cases the "indigenous national or official language" can inspire family and community enthusiasm toward language learning (Luning & Yamauchi, 2010;McCarty, 2003;Wilson, 2014). One of the assets found among immersion school families and parents are the formation of interconnected support groups (Wilson & Kamanā, 2001).…”

“…Rather, the end goal is languae and culture revitalization in the larger community, and immersion schooling is one of the means to that end. The implication is that languages are being spoken outside of schools and transmitted in the homes, becoming the norm once again in the community (Hinton, 2013;Wilson, 2014). Thus, "revenacularization" is a pressing concern and a major factor in our research agenda (Wilson, 2008).…”

“…Beginning in 1981with the Te Kōhanaga Reo preschools and continuing on to the first Kura Kaupapa Māori (Māori philosophy) primary school in 1985, Māori language immersion education currently enrolls nearly 9,000 students across 470 kōhanga reo preschools and 17,343 students in Māori-medium programs, Levels 1-2 which incorporates 51%-100% Māori language use (New Zealand Ministry of Education, 2010, 2014. These programs function in a range of settings.…”

“…This type of discursive practice, standardized testing, is contrary to the primary goal of indigenous language revitalization. And yet, depending on an indigenous school's funding source, they are typically beholden to these tests, and in some cases schools are penalized as low performing schools if they resist, certainly within the U.S. context (Wilson, 2012(Wilson, , 2013.…”