Respecting Dialectal Variations in a Blackfoot Language Class1

Linguistic variations such as dialects are natural part of human language. When a language is taught in a classroom, one version tends to be represented. This is especially true of commonly taught languages as they have a representative or standard variation that has a long history of being taught as first and second languages. Issues regarding language-instruction and learning become complicated regarding indigenous language teaching where there is no standardized variation determined. The Blackfoot language class represented here also provides an example situation of teaching a language without standardization. The general premise is that there will be a mix of variations utilized and introduced in class in written material and oral instruction. Such presentation invites questions on variations from learners. This paper describes Blackfoot variations in three types, reports a conflict occurred among language ideologies of learners and instructor, and demonstrates efforts of the course developers to promote respecting linguistic variations in the Blackfoot language class.