An Examination of Western Influences on Indigenous Language Teaching

This paper examines how various “Western” approaches to teaching languages are influencing how Indigenous languages are currently being taught. A two-dimensional model of approaches to language teaching is described and compared to research on language teaching in general and indigenous language teaching in particular. The paper concludes with a recommendation that language educators use a principled eclectic approach to language teaching that draws on what we know generally about teaching languages as well as what is known about unique local factors specific to particular indigenous languages and communities.