Experiential learning helps Linguistics students preserve Native American language

In the world of linguistics, language is a treasure to be preserved and studied. And that's exactly what Phil Duncan and Allard Jongman set out to do with their independent studies class LING 496 in the Spring of 2022.

Students in the class analyzed and documented Kiksht, a Native American language spoken in the Columbia River region of Oregon and Washington. The Kiksht language has not been studied extensively, and there are no remaining first-language speakers. The students worked with a Wasco community in Warm Springs, Oregon.

Duncan's familiarity with Kiksht began approximately 15 years ago as an undergraduate at KU. It was during this time that he met Valerie (Lamxayat) Switzler, a fellow student who is currently involved in Kiksht language reclamation efforts. Switzler encouraged Duncan to work with the language, and this encouragement left a lasting impression.

 “It's really exciting to be allowed to work with Kiksht in my classes,” Duncan said. “This gives students a unique opportunity to really think about what it means to work with languages – not as disembodied objects, but in relation to people and communities.”

The course co-taught by Duncan, assistant teaching professor of Linguistics, and Jongman, professor of linguistics, had two major aims: to examine and document the sound structure of the Kiksht language and to provide outreach materials to the Native community. For this independent study course of five students, the professors created an experiential learning opportunity that benefited both the students and the community.

Over the semester, the class met in Lawrence but interacted with Kiksht speakers and learners from Warm Springs via Zoom. This included individuals who had worked on their fluency while first-language speakers were still alive and younger Kiksht learners. During those meetings, the class discussed ways they could assist the community and sought input on unclear transcribed passages.

“I was absolutely impressed with the students, their level of engagement, and the quality of their work,” Duncan said.

Duncan and Jongman structured the course by assigning students a set of recordings. Transcriptions of the recordings were shared via Google Drive each week.

“Having a common shared repository for their data was invigorating and provided true motivation and ownership for the students to contribute to the project,” Jongman said.

Because of a lack of first-language speakers and limited literature on the language, the professors opted to let the students analyze the language recordings and come up with their own initial analyses, a strategy that proved successful.

“This approach allowed students to take ownership of the project and become partners in the learning process,” Jongman said. “The students would then compare notes, discuss unclear cases, listen to relevant recordings as a group and come to a consensus on the transcription of specific consonants or vowels.”

Through their interactions, students and community members developed a mutual respect. The community members also expressed appreciation for the scholarship and attention Duncan and Jongman’s class gave to their language and culture. According to Jongman, one potential outcome could be the creation of a children's alphabet book for the community.

“I'm excited about the work we were able to produce,” Jongman said. “We're still in the process of building on those materials for distribution at Warm Springs, and if they even have some small impact in terms of helping current and future Wasco people learn and use Kiksht, then that's certainly something we can be proud of.”

Experiential learning can take many forms. The hands-on work and partnership with the course instructors drew praise from the Linguistics Department chair, Jie Zhang.

“I think this was an excellent example of experiential learning that benefits both the students and the community,” Zhang said. “It was also an excellent example of how a small-sized class can have a big impact, especially on cultural and linguistic diversity and inclusion.”