Dakhota Language Media Player
Dakhota Language Media Player is a continued language revitalization initiative that takes a novel approach to language revitalization combining several transmission-boosting practices that have been previously successful, with the ultimate aim of spreading the Dakhota language beyond classroom walls, making it meaningful, useful, and accessible to Dakhota people in their daily lives at home. The Dakhota Media Player will incorporate the most advanced technologies, fulfilling an urgent need for technologically-innovative approaches to the problem of Dakhota language loss. Our implementation process allows the code architecture, instructional design and integrated media to be built efficiently from simple to complex, in a process that will allow future adaptability to the addition of new lessons and texts. Importantly, the adoption of the Dakhota Media Player as a fun way to further interact with Dakhota texts will begin to reverse the influence of English on Dakhota usage. In providing an accessible media player, this Project addresses the community's long-range goals to increase Dakhota language proficiency by increasing the number of children learning and speaking the language correctly and authentically. The media player will be coordinated by experienced language teachers, immersion teacher trainers, and in consultation with our Elders. We work closely with Elder fluent speakers when developing any Dakhota language resource, because we firmly believe that our Elders carry the cultural knowledge upon which our language is built. The result will be a Dakhota Language Media Player that guides all learners to fluency in the Dakhota dialect of the Siouan languages.
The Dakhota Language Media Player breaks new ground in Dakhota-language education as it claims digital instructional design as a legitimate vehicle for endangered-language preservation and for authentic Dakhota speech and understanding. It reconsiders the possibilities for Indigenous languages by pairing the historic Dakhota language with the most current adaptive language learning technology. With the Dakhota Media Player Project, DIO is addressing the rapid decline of the Dakhota language differently because it seeks not only to create traditional materials for language learning such as textbooks and dictionaries, but also to utilize the digital forms of language acquisition that have emerged within the last decade. These technologies for language learning have an even greater role to play in the context of Indigenous languages because non-digital materials are extremely limited and digital forms are more easily accessible to those on the Dakota reservations. The use of digital tools has changed the way children and learners of all ages acquire a new language. Dakhota should not be different in providing digital forms of language-learning to enhance the learner's experience. Outcomes will be assessed through creation of a questionnaire circulated to partnered schools, language programs and individuals. DIO will request each school, language program and individual return the questionnaire via mail or webform. Questions are designed to assess how the materials were used and what improvements were observed. Outcomes will also be assessed on enrollment numbers.