Southern Michif SoundHunters: A collaborative process of re-purposing an Indigenous language learning technology

Abstract

Many of the Indigenous languages around the world and in Canada are endangered. Furthermore, many of these languages are low-resource and suffer from a lack of language-learning resources and technology that facilitate language revitalization. To help address this problem, we created the language-learning game SoundHunters. SoundHunters is an arcade-inspired game that teaches the sounds of nehiyawewin (Plains Cree). However, creating new learning technology for each Indigenous language in Canada is impractical. A more appropriate allocation of resources would be to repurpose existing language technology for Indigenous languages. Aside from a few sparse instances, this is not typically done. In this thesis, we describe the process of repurposing SoundHunters for Southern Michif, an Indigenous language in Canada. We created this new version in collaboration with Heather Souter and Fineen Davis of Prairies to Woodlands Indigenous Language Revitalization Circle Inc. To investigate the efficacy of Southern Michif SoundHunters, we conducted a participant-based study (n = 18) with a pre-test/post-test design. This study measured participant learning using phonemic awareness tests. We also used a questionnaire to solicit feedback. We found participants reported feeling as though they learned with SoundHunters and that they had a measurable change in their knowledge following interaction with Michif SoundHunters. The contributions of this thesis include the reporting of the collaborative process that involved language revitalization activists from an Indigenous language community where Southern Michif revitalization efforts are underway. We detail how we established our collaborative process with our community partners. This process included a language data agreement to ensure data privacy and sovereignty. The success of SoundHunters as a learning tool for both nehiyawewin and Southern Michif makes the case that it could be repurposed to support the learning of many other Indigenous languages. Further examples of repurposing SoundHunters for other languages are needed to understand the full scope of its applicability.