"The Role of Adult Immersion in Kanien’kéha Revitalization"

In the face of colonial efforts to extinguish Indigenous language and culture, Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk people) have been working to revitalize Kanien’kéha (the Mohawk language) since the 1970s. Much of this work has led to the worldwide recognition of Kanien’kehá:ka in language revitalization. However, even with extensive successes, Kanien’kéha continues to experience greater speaker loss than gain. Given the current vitality status of Kanien’kéha, adult L2 speakers play a crucial role in revitalization, as they are essential for establishing critical speech domains, populating language revitalization structures, and restoring intergenerational language transmission. Kanien’kehá:ka are particularly well known for full-time adult immersion programs, which are uniquely designed to create advanced young adult L2 speakers. This presentation highlights adult immersion as the most effective and expedient pathway to create speakers, and shows that concentrated efforts to strengthen, expand, and perfect adult immersion are essential in advancing Kanien’kéha revitalization. The foundational components of an effective adult immersion program are described, as well as the challenges that these programs continue to face.