science

Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program

Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program rather than just read about it. In short: The Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program is a strategy used in language revitalization, in which committed language learners (apprentices) work with fluent speakers (mentors) to "create their own oral language-immersive context through daily activities, cultural practices, and community involvement". Originally introduced in the 1992, the method is increasingly popular across North America and around the worl…

Key takeaways

Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program is a strategy used in language revitalization, in which committed language learners (apprentices) work with fluent speakers (mentors) to "create their own oral language-immersive context through daily activities, cultural practices, and community involvement". Originally introduced in the 1992, the method is increasingly popular across North America and around the world. The program was developed by Leanne Hinton and Nancy Richardson Steele, working with the Native California Network and its subsidiary committee, the Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival. The program was developed in collaboration with the speakers of six Indigenous California languages: Karuk, Hupa, Yurok, Wintu, Yowlumne, and Mojave. The MALLP ran for the first time in the summer of 1993, and has grown each year since its inception. By 1996, only three years after it began, the program funded 26 teams, covering the original six languages, as well as Patwin, Paiute, and Kiliwa. Onowa McIvor and Peter Jacobs from the University of Victoria, in particular, conducted a study of Mentor-Apprentice learners in BC and determined that this program is particularly effective for teaching adults.

Design The program was designed to be easily utilized by groups without extensive linguistic training, allowing communities to use the program on their own. It was also designed to align with the traditional learning style of California indigenous groups, which favours a one-on-one, voluntary learning environment, as opposed to the Western model of education that emphasizes competition among students and negative consequences for poor performance (i.e. poor grades). The need for a program like the MALLP was evident due to the resource- and people-heavy nature of school-based language revitalization programs, like those used among the Māori, Irish, Hawaiians, and Welsh. In addition, most of the parental generation of indigenous California communities no longer spoke their ancestral language, eliminating the possibility of revitalization through use of the language in the home. Because of these issues, the MALLP was developed with the aim of assisting young professionals in these communities, and current and future parents, to become proficient speakers of their language.

Program The main goal of the MALLP is that the apprentice attains proficiency in their language over a few years, through the creation of mini-immersion settings within each team. To create the mini-immersion settings, the teams are encouraged to go about their daily lives as normal, for a minimum number of hours per week, but to always communicate in the language that is being learned. The program incorporates techniques from several language-learning programs, including Total Physical Response. The MALLP is based on ten main points:

Teams should strive to communicate only in their language, and avoid English as much as possible. Teams should use nonverbal communication to embed the language in actions, gestures, and expressions. Masters should aim to teach their apprentices through the use of full sentences, and normal conversation. Teams should strive to have all their real communication occur in their language, not just specific instructional periods. It is important to recognize that language is part of culture, rather than being a separate entity from it. Teams should focus on developing the apprentice's ability to speak and listen in their language, and think less about writing and grammatical analysis. Teams should develop activities to complete together, to allow for more opportunities for diverse language use. Whenever needed, audio and video recordings are encouraged to aid the apprentice. The concept of active learning is critical to the apprentice's success. It is important to be attentive to the needs of both members of the team.

Adoption Since its creation, Mentor-Apprentice programs have been adopted by several other Indigenous language groups, including:

Aboriginal groups in Australia the First Peoples' Cultural Council in British Columbia, Michif revitalization program in Manitoba in Alaska in Northwest Territories in Nunavut and Yukon Mi'gmaw Language Mentor Apprentice Program Complementary Aanaar Saami language education program in Finland

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program

In research: Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Language acquisition, Language advocacy organizations, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program in simple terms?

Why does Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program.