04/26/1999 01:32 PM Senate HES

                SB 103-NATIVE LANGUAGE EDUCATION                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
CHAIRMAN MILLER brought SB 103 before the committee and invited                                                                 
Senator Lincoln to present it.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
Number 275                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR GEORGIANNA LINCOLN said she appreciated the committee                                                                   
hearing the bill.  She pointed out the sponsor statement and backup                                                             
information in the members' packets, and the zero fiscal note from                                                              
the department.  Mr. Bruce Johnson would be available to answer                                                                 
questions about the fiscal note. She presented a map of the 20                                                                  
languages throughout the state, noting that 15 to 18 are in danger                                                              
of possible extinction, with Central and Siberian Yupik the only                                                                
two healthy languages.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
As an Alaska Native, Senator Lincoln's mother could speak and read                                                              
their Athabaskan Koyukon language very fluently, but when she went                                                              
to the Eklutna grade school she was punished for speaking the                                                                   
native language and consequently none of the seven siblings know                                                                
the native language except for "all the bad words and some phrases                                                              
and words."   She said she cannot converse with the elders and can                                                              
understand only a few words they are saying. Often she would hear                                                               
her mother laugh with the elders and she'd ask her to tell the                                                                  
story and what it means, and she'd say, "I can't because if I                                                                   
translate it into English, it loses its meaning."  Senator Lincoln                                                              
said she always felt somewhat cheated that she couldn't know her                                                                
language and pass it on to her children.  When she hears the                                                                    
argument that native languages should be taught in the home, she                                                                
can't do that.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
Sitting in the Nulato school nine years ago when running for the                                                                
House, she saw a Japanese lady from Seattle on t.v. teaching the                                                                
students the Japanese language. The students asked Senator Lincoln                                                              
why they couldn't be taught their own language. Their choices were                                                              
French, Spanish, or Russian, and since then, German and Japanese                                                                
have been added.  She felt students should have the opportunity to                                                              
learn those languages but also that one of the choices should be an                                                             
Alaska native language.  That is why she introduced SB 103.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
The language of the bill is permissive.  The local advisory board                                                               
would ask the school board for the native language, and they would                                                              
take it under advisement and add it to the curriculum.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
Number 348                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR WILKEN asked if anything in state law today prohibits a                                                                 
school district from doing this.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR LINCOLN paraphrased written testimony from Richard                                                                      
Dauenhauer who stated this bill gives positive, largely symbolic                                                                
support for the survival of Alaska native languages by recognizing                                                              
the legitimacy of their inclusion in the school curriculum.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
Only two school districts have really made an effort to do this.                                                                
The process isn't in place for the school boards to know this is                                                                
possible.  This sets out by law what they can do; "right now, it's                                                              
catch as catch can."                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
MS. ELIZA JONES of Koyukuk spoke in support of SB 103. She said she                                                             
has worked for years teaching language, and feels strongly that any                                                             
effort to support native language at home or in the school is                                                                   
positive. The native language is so unique that if it's lost in the                                                             
home area, then it's lost forever.  Each language carries a unique                                                              
world view, and the loss of a language is a loss to the population                                                              
in general.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MS. JONES said she has been teaching Koyukon Athabaskan by audio                                                                
conference to university and high school students.  It is not the                                                               
same as teaching in a classroom setting, but the students are                                                                   
appreciative of whatever she can teach them.  With the technology                                                               
available today, she believes someone needs to develop the                                                                      
curriculum to teach native language.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
Number 405                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR LINCOLN said Eliza Jones brought up a good point, that                                                                  
language can be taught without having a teacher in every school, by                                                             
utilizing the audio satellite system.  Many classes could be taught                                                             
with a local individual to supplement the teaching.                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
MR. JAMES M. NAGEAK of Barrow spoke in support of SB 103.  He said                                                              
he was at the University of Alaska when Eliza Jones was there.  He                                                              
saw her Athabaskan name and "it was about 2 miles long," and he                                                                 
wanted to learn how to say it so he had her tutor him for the whole                                                             
year.  It was an exchange of languages.  A problem he had with the                                                              
Alaska Native Language Center was that it archived the                                                                          
documentation, when language should be used as a "living language,"                                                             
not something archived into "the catacombs of Rasmussen Library."                                                               
                                                                                                                                
MR. NAGEAK said he liked the wording in the bill in 14.30.40 (a)                                                                
which states the school board shall establish a local native                                                                    
language curriculum advisory board.  The North Slope Borough School                                                             
District bilingual education program does not have an advisory                                                                  
board of people from the 8 schools speaking the Inupiat language.                                                               
                                                                                                                                
He explained that he learned Inupiat at home until he started                                                                   
school at age nine or ten, and then learned English in the                                                                      
classroom.  His grandfather told him he'd better learn English so                                                               
that he could become a contributor in the Inupiat language                                                                      
community. His younger brothers didn't hear Inupiat as much as when                                                             
he was growing up because the older siblings were practicing their                                                              
English at home. MR. NAGEAK believes everyone in the community                                                                  
needs to make the commitment to pitch in and help teach the native                                                              
language, to make it a viable and useful tool.  Barrow is fortunate                                                             
to have a community college connected with the University; it is                                                                
trying to develop a core of local teachers.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
Number 551                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
MR. BRUCE JOHNSON, Director of the Division of Teaching & Learning,                                                             
Department of Education, testified that the State Board of                                                                      
Education conceptually supports SB 103 through their adoption of                                                                
the World Language Content Standards.  The standards state that a                                                               
student should be able to communicate in two or more languages, one                                                             
being English. This is particularly relevant for Alaska's                                                                       
indigenous languages.  In addition, the board endorsed culturally                                                               
responsive school standards that, in part, outlined that a                                                                      
culturally responsive curriculum uses the local language and                                                                    
cultural knowledge as a foundation for the rest of the curriculum.                                                              
Research suggests that bilingualism may have a positive effect on                                                               
a student's general cognitive abilities, and the learning of a                                                                  
second language is not detrimental to the student's first language.                                                             
                                                                                                                                
CHAIRMAN MILLER asked for questions or discussion, and hearing                                                                  
none, asked the wish of the committee.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR PEARCE moved SB 103 from committee with individual                                                                      
recommendations.  Hearing no objection, it was so ordered.