Teach other languages to strengthen Inuktitut

I was surprised but absolutely delighted on learning that the Government of Nunavut, at long last, is now willing to budget money for the development of Inuktitut and Inuktitut curriculum development.

Furthermore I am equally delighted that the Departments of Education and Culture, Language, Elder and Youth (CLEY) will form steering committees for language development in Nunavut.

For too many years there has been little except talk. Now is the time for action but with a strong word of caution. Do not neglect other language development or do so at your peril.

Understandably, for many years we have listened to the mantra of “Inuktitut only” in schools, Inuktitut curriculum development, Inuktitut as a working language, Inuktitut as the official language of Nunavut and so on, so much so that now this may become self-defeating.

The fear is that these continuous and single-sided pleas may unintentionally convey a rather negative and insidious message. This message seems to be telling us that building other language skills is simply not on the radar screen – that it is not important.

The fact is, if we want Inuktitut to become a “working language” we must have a majority of Inuktitut speaking people in the higher levels of government and the private sector. In most cases this can only be achieved through post-secondary education and training.

Unfortunately, as we all know Inuktitut does not yet provide us with the necessary language skills for advanced levels of learning. It is ironic, but if we want to develop Inuktitut as a working language we need to be highly literate in English and possibly French.

The good news is that we can enhance Inuktitut, while at the same time build our English and other language skills. As in Nunavut, children all over the world grow up learning more than one language. Using the strength of one language will assist in the development of other languages.

I therefore implore our leaders to deliver messages that tell us we must strive for excellence in all languages – be it Inuktitut, English, French, Spanish or whatever. A holistic approach has greater possibilities of success.

But we must pursue and accomplish our goals of building Inuktitut resources and curriculum. It will take many years of devoted and concentrated effort but it can be done. In the meantime we should encourage the development and love for all language skills including English and French.

Frank Pearce
Iqaluit