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Indigenous Language Instruction

January 23, 2024


Languages Handbook.PNG


Second Language Program Goals

At Children of the Earth High School a Second Language methodology is the basis of instruction in the Cree and Ojibwe Language Classes for Grades 9 – 12. The following goals and outcomes from the Common Curriculum Framework for Indigenous Language and Cultural Programs are applied to the instructional program.

In the following four contexts students will demonstrate to ability to:

  • Language Use Contexts - use language in community and school situations requiring interaction, production or interpretation of language.
  • Strategies of Language Learning - use strategies for learning language.
  • Language Quality - communicate with degrees of precision, coherency and fluency.
  • Language Functions - use language to give and get information, socialize and celebrate, interpret and produce talk, and research culture.

The outcomes for Cree and Ojibwe as a Second Language are based on the assumption that language will be taught while teaching cultural content.

Language Use Contexts

At each level, three kinds of language use contexts in which students are expected to perform are identified:

  • Interaction - involves face-to-face communication and the socio-cultural rules for such interaction.
  • Interpretation - requires students to understand and interpret discourse, or a connected set of sentences or ideas.
  • Production - requires students to produce discourse that is understandable to others.

Language Quality

Language quality as a measure of communicative proficiency is not synonymous with meaningful communication. It is possible to communicate meaning with relative degrees of quality. Quality is defined using three criteria:

  • Accuracy - primarily involves the grammatical system of a language.
  • Fluency - involves the ease with which communication is expressed or received.
  • Coherency - relates to the connectedness of information, thoughts and ideas within discourse.


Language Functions


Language functions are those which students are expected to be able to perform in the language use contexts.

They include:
  • Giving and Getting Information
  • Socializing and Celebrating
  • Interpreting Discourse
  • Researching
  • Producing discourse
The vocabulary remains similar while the language goals, use, quality and functions are adapted to meet the Grade 9 to 12 Linguistic Outcomes for the Heritage Language Program at Children of the Earth High School.

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