The Acquisition of Indigenous Languages

Dear Colleagues,

We are inviting you to submit to our Special Issue titled “The Acquisition of Indigenous Languages” for the journal Languages.

UNESCO has declared the years from 2022 to 2032 “the International Decade for Indigenous Languages”, dedicated to “building a global community for the preservation, revitalization and support of indigenous languages worldwide” (UNESCO, n.d.). This Special Issue of Languages seeks to meet this aim by sharing knowledge about the acquisition of Indigenous languages across the world. Indigenous languages include all languages belonging to indigenous peoples, whether they are traditional languages or newer languages that have formed in response to colonization. These languages may have a large speech community or few speakers; they may be sleeping languages undergoing revival or at various stages of revitalization. These languages may be learned as a first language(s) or as an additional language. The focus may be child, youth or adult learners. The language learning context may be formal such as through schooling or outside of formal structures, for example, through caregiver interactions, community-driven initiatives or by personal learning. In exploring these diverse contexts and language learning situations, we are interested in finding out what approaches are being implemented to foster such learning, and the challenges and opportunities present. Varied theoretical perspectives, research practices and methodological approaches are welcome. We are hoping to extend the field by bringing together international scholars to provide a state-of-the-art exploration of current initiatives.

Tentative Completion Schedule
Abstract Submission Deadline: 15 November 2024
Notification of Abstract Acceptance: 15 December 2024
Full Manuscript Deadline: 15 June 2025

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the guest editors ([email protected] and [email protected] or to the Languages Editorial Office ([email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

Reference

UNESCO. (n.d.). Indigenous Languages Decade (2022–2023). UNESCO. https://www.unesco.org/en/decades/indigenous-languages.

Prof. Dr. Rhonda Oliver
Dr. Carly Steele
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Languages is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• indigenous
• aboriginal
• first nations languages
• language acquisition
• language learning
• language revitalization