Home

The Keynote Speaker

Jessica L. Metallic, M.Ed., a Mìgmaw from Listuguj First Nation, Quebec, Canada, has been passionate about learning to speak her language ever since she can remember. Daughter of renowned Mìgmaq Linguist and Historian, the late Emmanuel (Manny) Metallic, Jessica has chosen to follow in her father’s footsteps by working hard to learn her language and has earned several degrees (B.A., B.Ed., and M.Ed.) with the intent of a career dedicated to the restoration and revitalization of the Mìgmaq language. Through mainly her own efforts, Jessica is now an intermediate speaker of her language and is determined to be a fluent speaker someday. She is also an avid supporter of immersion education, having graduated from St. Thomas University’s Native Language Immersion Teacher Training Program in 2008.

Recently, Jessica has begun working as a Curriculum Developer for the Wejgwapniag School in Gesgapegiag, another Mìgmaq community along the Gaspé Peninsula. Her duties include reviewing and updating the curriculum for various subjects, including Language Arts, Science, and last, but not least, the school’s Mìgmaq Language Program. Jessica has also been busy working part-time for St. Thomas University, as she will soon be the instructor for their new “Accelerated Methods” course being offered at the end of January 2010. The course will be based on a modified version of Dr. Stephen Greymorning’s “Accelerated Second Language Acquisition” method, tailored specifically to fit the inherent patterns of the Mìgmaq language. This will be Jessica’s first time teaching a university course and she is happy and thankful to finally be able to contribute to the revitalization of the Mìgmaq language in a significant way.

About the Symposium Speakers

Amber Jean Hiisiino3o’ Greymorning was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1990, where she lived for two years before moving with her family to the Wind River reservation in Wyoming. She was part of the first group of children enrolled in Hinono’eitiino’oowu’ (Arapaho Language Lodge). After living on the reservation for two years the family moved to Missoula Montana. Although exposed to Arapaho as an infant, Amber wasn’t successful at learning Arapaho until 2004 when she began learning through the ASLA method. Amber, now in her second year at the University of Montana, began learning the old and difficult narrative style of traditional Arapaho story-telling while in her final year of high school. On occasion Amber has traveled with her father (Neyooxet Greymorning) to various communities to help with his language instruction and acquisition workshops. Amber is currently majoring in music, and is also a member of the University of Montana marching and pep bands.

Robert Hall, a senior at the University of Montana majoring in Anthropology with a linguistic focus, is of Blackfoot heritage. Robert was first introduced to ASLA©™ in 2008 when he enrolled in Dr. Greymorning’s Arapaho language class. In 2009, Robert traveled to the Arapaho reservation and assisted Dr. Greymorning with a teacher training on the Wind River reservation. Here he demonstrated his skills in Arapaho before the Elders, who were so impressed they asked Robert to return to show others what can be learned.

About the Teacher Training for Language Instruction and Acquisition

Dr. Neyooxet Greymorning will facilitate the teacher-training workshop and will guide language instructors through a method he developed called Accelerated Second Language Acquisition©™. This method has broad application as a tool for language instruction across diverse languages and age groups, which will be illustrated with video footage of work with children and adult college classes, as well as workshop demonstrations. Dr. Greymorning developed this approach to specifically bring second language learners to a level of language competency while accommodating language instructors working with limited resources and time. By the end of the three-day training session participants will have developed a full year of language instructional materials structured toward creating second language speakers. The training workshop is not magical, it is based on a fully developed systematic approach. Participants should come with the understanding that the three-day teacher training sessions will be work intensive, but also rewarding. The workshop will be most effective if participants are fluent speakers or have fluent speakers with them. If possible, participants should bring a lap top computer as there will be a lot to write.