Linguistics MA - Native American Linguistics and Languages

University of Arizona

The NAMA program is designed to be completed in as little as 15 months, and begins as a summer admit program: during the first summer session the student completes coursework in the AILDI. Here they focus on language materials development, working with language archives, teaching methods, and other relevant Native American language and linguistics topics.In the fall and spring semesters, the student enrolls in the core course of the program, Workshop on Descriptive Linguistics, LING 597A for 4 credits each semester. The Workshop courses consist of lectures and laboratory work on indigenous languages, particularly the student's heritage language, and provides the opportunity to interact with other students in both the NAMA program, but also Anthropology and American Indian Studies.The Native American Languages & Linguistics M.A. (NAMA) is oriented toward community language activists who wish to train in the kinds of skills and experience needed to work on maintaining, revitalizing, and documenting their native languages.Students interested in NAMA can either be speakers or second language learners of their language or ones who have studied a particular Native American language and have close contact with that language community. The specialized nature of this degree focuses on indigenous languages and meeting the needs of Native American communities due to the rapid decline in the use of heritage languages, tribal communities have pressed for practical linguistic training to:Revitalize, maintain, and document indigenous languagesprovide skills and expertise for Native American linguists to develop teaching grammar and other educational materialspromote understanding of indigenous peoples' educational issues at every level of policy-makingenhance and promote understanding of complex factors leading to language choice, language shift and language loss, andwork with archival media (such as audio legacy audio recordings and historical documents) to enrich the language record and to produce viable teaching materials.