In order to provide Lakota language teachers access to advanced training in Lakota linguistics and pedagogy, an expanded set of course offerings will be initiated at Sitting Bull College, Fort Yates, ND at LLC’s newly named Lakota Language Summer Institute this summer. The courses will be open to all Lakota teachers in the area as well as those hoping to receive training to become new Lakota language teachers. The Institute will take place between June 2nd - 20th , 2008 and will consist of four 3-credit hour courses. Students will be able to choose between two of the four classes for the duration of the session. Each course will meet three hours a day, with two courses in the morning and two in the afternoon (being simultaneous, you can only take two courses per day).
As seen in the 2007 teacher training, the required first course for new participants in the Institute is “Fundamentals of Instructional Lakota: Phonemics, Morphology and Methods.” In addition, students who have completed the fundamental course will be able to enroll in the subsequent follow-up course titled “Intermediate Instructional Lakota,” taught by LLC Linguistic Director Jan Ulrich. The third course offering at the Institute will be “Lakota in the Classroom: Techniques and Management” taught by Prof. Bill Johnston. Moving away from the first two courses’ focus on linguistics, this course is educational and pedagogically-based in nature, focusing more on nuts and bolts methodology for effective second-language teaching and the practical issues in teaching elementary school children second languages. The fourth course offering, “Practical Lakota Grammar” will be particularly interesting for advanced users and speakers of Lakota, and will use the New Lakota-Dakota Dictionary as a primary text. It will explore Lakota word construction and morphology, allowing students to gain a deep knowledge of the Dictionary and scope of the language.
April 15, 2008 will be the registration deadline for the Lakota Language Summer Institute. Application information will be available on the LLC website in early 2008. Stipend and scholarship information will also be available at that time. |
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