Audio clip of chant

Aia i Kumukahi ka lä e puka maila

Ke ne'e a'ela nä helu i luna o ka 'äina

Ke ho'opumehana nei

Ke ho'omälamalama nei

Ke ho'öla nei i nä kini nei ë

Ua ao ka pö

Ua eo ka pö i ke ao

Ua ao wale maila ka hale kula nei lä

E ola käkou a pau loa i ke ao ë

-"Mele Noi Na'auao" (English Translation)

Each morning, the chants of nearly 250 students in the Ke Kula Kaiapuni Hawai'i (Hawaiian Language Immersion Program) at Keaukaha Elementary School resound throughout the campus. These traditional, melodious chants prepare the students for their daily total immersion in language and content instruction through the medium of 'Ölelo Hawai'i (Hawaiian Language). These immersion (kaiapuni) students, along with students at eight other public elementary schools and two public high schools in Hawai'i are part of an intensive coordinated statewide program to revive and preserve the Hawaiian language and culture. In 1978, through a state constitutional convention, Hawaiian and English were declared as co-official languages for the state of Hawai'i, but it was nearly 10 more years before there was significant official support to ensure the survival of Hawaiian. This language revival effort is supported by the Hawai'i State Department of Education through mandates and funding by the state legislature. Because it is a language revitalization effort using language immersion approaches and philosophy, the programs differ significantly from other bilingual programs in the United States that exist primarily for helping non-English speakers make a transition to English, or in rare cases, for maintaining the home language while developing English competence.

Students learn the Hawaiian language within the context of learning the culture and traditions that are integrated with the content subject areas of math, science, social studies, and language arts. Parents of approximately one half of all the students attending Keaukaha school have elected to have their children enrolled in this immersion program, while the other half of the children at the school are not in the immersion program and receive instruction only in English, with a limited amount of exposure to Hawaiian primarily through music instruction. The rich traditions, the mele (songs) and teachings of the küpuna (elders), are crucial in helping immersion students understand the culture and develop competence in the Hawaiian language, but modern technology has also played a significant part in supporting the efforts of both teachers and students. Essentially all the students and their teachers are speakers of Hawaiian as a second language. Most of the teachers did not become fluent users of the language until their college years, and it is extremely rare for any of the elementary students to grow up with Hawaiian as the primary home language. Most children in the immersion program are exposed to fluent oral Hawaiian until they attend elementary school, and a limited number have one or more years of Hawaiian language immersion in preschool.

Why Technology?

Technology has been particularly important due to the dearth of printed materials in the Hawaiian language for children and also because of the very limited number of native Hawaiian speakers available to work with students. In addition to the traditional forms of cultural and language learning, students and teachers daily incorporate technology in a variety of ways within individual classrooms, in the school computer lab, and through more extensive networking with other immersion schools and the Hawaiian Studies Program at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo. Through blending the traditional with the technological, Hawaiian Language Immersion teachers (kumu kaiapuni) are not only playing a crucial role in preserving the language, but also preparing their students as bilingual speakers capable of functioning in the technological world of the future.

Critics of technology may correctly claim that most of the samples developed by students using technology could be created with simpler and less expensive materials, such as paper, pencils, and markers. Voices could be recorded with simple cassette recorders, inexpensive cameras could be used for photographs of important events, and pen pals could be contacted through the mail, rather than using e-mail. These materials and equipment are used daily in the immersion classrooms; however we have recognized the following benefits to using more advanced technology for all students, particularly for students in a language recovery program:

Even with all the benefits that we have seen, technology alone cannot ensure the survival or resurgence of any language. It is only one aspect of the Hawaiian Language Immersion Program, but one that is extremely important and beneficial to teachers and students alike. Computers can never replace high-quality, dedicated teachers, or eliminate the need for quality books and basic classroom supplies and materials. In an era of limited budgets, it is important to balance technology with other needs and to avoid the temptation to acquire large quantities of the latest equipment and software. Most of the project samples included here were developed with older Macintosh computers, two multifunctional computer programs (Claris Works and Kid Pix), and a communications package (First Class Client). These translated programs, though limited in number, are very flexible, powerful, and easy to learn. Using just a few programs saves funds for other needs and promotes students and teachers becoming very familiar with all their capabilities.

Students' everyday Hawaiian language competence is enhanced through their interactions using technology, and they also learn technical terms and procedures through the language. Students see the language as very functional in learning to use modern technological tools to accomplish tasks, and the technical skills they develop in Hawaiian are easily transferable to English applications. The kaiapuni students become orally bilingual (in English and Hawaiian) and multiliterate (in Hawaiian and English and technologically literate in both languages).

For a brief overview of the history of Hawaiian language use and policy and an outline of technology being used by immersion teachers and students, you can link to the Slide Show Overview . This provides a more visual summary of the information, but at a much slower access rate than the narrative text pages. (Depending on the speed of your connection, each slide may take up to 30 seconds to download.) Proper Hawaiian orthography appears on most of this slide show, with the exception of a few slides showing pictures of Web pages. The slide show does not contain samples of student work.

Other links provide a brief narrative history of the use of the Hawaiian language in schools and offer samples of technological applications used by teachers and students that support the development and dispersal of Hawaiian. Computer and video technology used within each classroom help students and teachers connect with others beyond the classroom walls. Most of this technology is readily available and is used in nonimmersion classes, but we have chosen to focus only on the immersion program because of its critical importance to teachers and students in supporting the development of proficiency in Hawaiian. Additional details can be found at the home page ofKualono, a Hawaiian language Web site supported by Hale Kuamo'o the Center for Hawaiian Language, a program associated with the Hawaiian Studies Department of the University of Hawai'i. Non-Hawaiian speakers can use the optional English text to explore this site.

Translation:

"A Chant for Enlightenment"

It is there at Kumukahi that the sun bursts forth

The rays of the sun move over the land

It makes all warm

It enlightens all

It gives life to the multitudes

The darkness is now enlightened

The light has conquered the darkness

School is filled with only the light

Let all of us live in enlightenment.

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