2231194

Tea Center: Reclaiming the O'odham Language

A goal of the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) is to promote the advancement of intellectual leadership within TCUP institutions. This leadership will support them in addressing the scientific or engineering priorities of their tribes, communities, or broadly of the United States. Linked with this goal is the TCU Enterprise Advancement Centers (TEA Centers) funding strand. TEA Centers provide support for TCUP institutions in establishing thematically based centers. These centers apply the college's STEM instruction and research capacity to realize benefits for their identified community.

The O'odham Language Center (OLC), conceived and directed by personnel from Tohono O'odham Community College, directly aligns with the TEA Center concept. It will have significant positive impacts on the Tohono O'odham Nation in reclaiming the O'odham language. The OLC will strive to perpetuate the language through the delivery of language immersion programs at Head Start centers on the reservation. The programs are designed to develop the language fluency of pre-K students who are citizens of the O'odham Nation.

A slate of comprehensive activities will be undertaken, including the engagement of community instructors fluent in the O'odham language. The OLC will also assist students' families in developing their own fluency in support of the overarching goal of reclaiming their indigenous language. Evidenced-based pedagogical methods will be employed in the language immersion programs, while customizing the curriculum for the specific school and community settings in which activities will occur.

The work will be focused initially in three Head Start centers that already have foundational elements of a language program in place. As the instructional model is optimized over time, the work will expand to include all six of the Head Start centers on the Tohono O'odham Nation. Instructors will advance their own expertise through in-situ practice as well as professional development with linguists and language education experts.

To contribute to the greater knowledge base, the OLC will disseminate its findings throughout the tribal college community, the Tohono O'odham community, its related tribes, and other indigenous communities in Arizona and North America. Through the development of the immersion curriculum and instructional model, a wide range of resources will become available that may be used to inform language continuity efforts across tribal communities.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Tohono O Odham Community College

THE GOAL OF THIS FUNDING OPPORTUNITY, "TRIBAL COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES PROGRAM", IS IDENTIFIED IN THE LINK: HTTPS://WWW.NSF.GOV/PUBLICATIONS/PUB_SUMM.JSP?ODS_KEY=NSF21595

47.076 - Education and Human Resources

Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) [NSF]

Sells, Arizona 85634 United States

Single Zip Code

Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (21-595)

Amendment Since initial award the End Date has been extended from 03/31/28 to 03/31/29 and the total obligations have decreased 22% from $4,000,000 to $3,138,746.