ScholarSpace

ScholarSpace is an open-access, digital institutional repository for the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa community. ScholarSpace stores the intellectual works and unique collections of the UH at Mānoa academic community and also provides a permanent web location for those accessing these resources.

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Deferred Vernacular Production in the transmission of local languages: Preliminary evidence from Sãotomense, Angolar, Molise Croatian and beyond
(University of Hawaii Press, 2026-03) David M. Eberhard; Lucija Šimičić
In some local language communities, intergenerational transmission of the vernacular occurs later than expected. The aim of this study is to demonstrate that an under-documented acquisition pattern exists as a norm in many communities worldwide. We propose the term Deferred Vernacular Production (DVP) to refer to a language acquisition pattern in which members of a minority language community first acquire a majority language at home, and then later begin to naturally produce their local vernacular at some point after early childhood – outside the home, and without any intervention. Three case studies are provided: Sãotomense, Angolar, and Molise Croatian. Differences in the timing of speech onset, defined as the phase of socialization when active use of the vernacular begins, are discussed in each case study. Reports of DVP in 31 languages across the globe are then provided, suggesting this is a worldwide phenomenon. A variant of this phenomenon, Prolonged Vernacular Acquisition (PVA), is proposed as a target for future research, along with a generic term, Late Vernacular Acquisition (LVA), to include both DVP and PVA. Finally, the diverse motivations reported by speakers for this practice are presented, and implications of DVP for language vitality studies are discussed.
CoLang 2022 in Montana: A Turning Point in Indigenous Representation
(University of Hawaii Press, 2026-03) Mizuki Miyashita; Richard Littlebear; Susan Penfield
The Institute on Collaborative Language Research (CoLang) is a biennial training venue for language documentation and revitalization. It aims to assist all stakeholders, who collaborate across the boundaries of speaking communities and academe. While including Indigenous participation has always been a goal of CoLang, that goal has been conceived and realized differently at each meeting, and it has been common for the number of non-Indigenous linguists to exceed that of Indigenous participants. To address this issue, when planning CoLang 2022 we focused on CoLang’s stated goal by expanding on the concept of collaboration. As a result, the number of Indigenous attendees was twice what we expected, and over 70 Indigenous communities from throughout the world were represented. We consider that CoLang 2022 was a turning point in changing the approach to reach the actual goal of CoLang. We hope that the changes we initiated will be perpetuated and that persisting issues will be addressed at future CoLang Institutes. In this article, we (i) discuss the increase in Indigenous participation in CoLang 2022, (ii) describe the process of designing CoLang 2022 toward that goal, and (iii) address the issues and challenges that remain for future CoLang meetings.
Orientations to ‘fluency’ in language revitalization contexts: Ideologies and impacts for L2 learners
(University of Hawaii Press, 2026-03) Allison Taylor-Adams
Practitioners and researchers have argued that revitalizing a minoritized language requires fostering positive community attitudes towards that language. However, positive feelings for a heritage language do not necessarily correlate with behaviors or with positive feelings for one’s own abilities. This article investigates individual language revitalization practitioners’ attitudes and ideologies about L2 language learning through the lens of the word fluency. Drawing on analysis of qualitative interviews with 28 practitioners, I identify three different orientations to fluency suggested by the ways practitioners employed this key term: fluency as an ultimate L1-like competency standard, as a scalar measure for continual improvement, or as a way to itemize domains of language use. These orientations towards fluency suggest underlying ideologies of speaker legitimacy – whether L2 learners can be counted as legitimate users of the language. By considering orientations to this term, practitioners and researchers can carefully unpack ideologies in order to challenge deficit views of L2 users in revitalization and to foster positive momentum in community efforts.
Grammar as a bridge: Empowering Indigenous learners in a Solomon Islands language school
(University of Hawaii Press, 2026-03) Alpheaus G. Zobule; Debra McDougall
The Kulu Language Institute is an innovative Indigenous language school developed by, for, and with speakers of Luqa (lga) and Kubokota (ghn) in Solomon Islands. Globally, scholarly discussions of Indigenous language learning tend to focus on revitalisation, documentation, or preservation, but Kulu is focused firmly on people rather than language. Using a vivid vernacular metalanguage to teach students about the grammar of their own language, the curriculum provides a bridge for students to navigate linguistic, communication, ideological, intellectual, and capacity gaps they face every day. Over twenty-five years, thousands of Ranoqans have undertaken the study of their own language. Some come to Kulu because they cannot read at all. Others have completed many years of school but believe that studying the structure of their own language will help them grasp the grammar of English, which is both the official language of Solomon Islands and the primary language of schooling. Still others are simply amazed at the way that language itself works. By describing the development of the Kulu curriculum and the unexpected ways it is changing people’s lives, this article contributes to a growing global literature on innovative pedagogical movements in Indigenous-led schools. We show how metalinguistic awareness can empower Indigenous learners: they come to appreciate the patterned complexity of their own language and gain confidence in their own intellectual capacity to move across languages.
Sketch grammars of Wauyai Maˈya and Batta: Two undocumented Austronesian languages of Raja Ampat, northwest New Guinea
(University of Hawaii Press, 2026-03) Laura Arnold
This paper provides the first sketch analyses of Wauyai Maˈya and Batta, two undocumented Austronesian languages spoken in the Raja Ampat archipelago of northwest New Guinea. These sketches are based on survey data collected in 2019 and 2023. Both languages are endangered, in that the youngest fluent speakers are in their forties. The languages are closely related, and typologically similar. Wauyai has 14 consonants, 5 vowels, and a cross-linguistically unusual combination of contrastive stress and lexical tone; Batta has 15 consonants, 6 vowels, tone, and no contrastive stress but a largely sesquisyllabic profile. Both are head-marking, with head-initial NPs, an alienability distinction, and basic SV/AVO order which combines with clause-final aspect/mood and negative markers. The pronominal systems of Wauyai and Batta make a five- and a four-way number distinction, respectively; subjects of verbal clauses are marked with prefixes and infixes in both languages. After outlining and exemplifying these features and touching on several others, I conclude with a brief outlook on the future of the indigenous languages and cultures of Raja Ampat.
Critical semiotic awareness in virtual exchange using digital cultural artefacts
(University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center, 2026-03-09) Almijiwl, Wala; Satar, Müge
Virtual Exchange (VE) is a technology-enabled, people-to-people interaction (EVOLVE, n.d.). It can facilitate the digital-intercultural turn in language education, where multiliteracies is an important pedagogical goal. One key focus of multiliteracies is developing critical semiotic awareness (CSA) through reflections on relations between forms and meanings in contexts of use (Kern, 2015). Despite emerging research on how to foster semiotic awareness in the physical classroom (Lim et al., 2022), our understanding of how language learners construct CSA in VE remains limited. To address this gap, a qualitative case study was designed involving one pair of volunteer higher education language learners in the UK and Saudi Arabia (KSA). Data were collected over a six-week multiliteracies-informed VE, where participants engaged with digital cultural artefacts via videoconferencing. Synchronous video-mediated interactions were analysed using social semiotics. This involved a two-step analysis of: (1) the representation of signifiers on the artefacts participants talked about and (2) how the signifier’s meaning potentials were taken up and/or extended. Findings demonstrated participants’ evaluation of signs as they constructed meanings beyond what is available on the artefacts. We discuss the role of multiliteracies training, digital cultural artefacts, and VE interaction (intercultural communication) in the construction of CSA.
I Ka Wā Ma Mua, Ka Wā Ma Hope: Looking Back to Advance Forward–Kanaka Maoli Perspectives and their Implications on Student Belonging
(2023) Lani, Kikilia
This project explores how Kanaka ‘Ōiwi perspectives—particularly as expressed through ‘ōlelo no‘eau (Native Hawaiian proverbial sayings)—can inform culturally-responsive academic advising practices that strengthen Native Hawaiian students’ sense of belonging in higher education. Situated within the individualistic foundations of settler-colonial institutions of higher education, the study recognizes the cultural dissonance many Kanaka ‘Ōiwi students experience when navigating institutions that often conflict with collectivist values rooted in ‘ohana, ‘āina, and lāhui. Grounded in Native Hawaiian methodologies of kūpuna lensing and papakū makawalu, this research centers ancestral knowledge as a legitimate and generative source of educational theory. Through analysis of a corpus of ‘ōlelo no‘eau, three themes emerged: (1) education as an active, immersive, and experiential process; (2) the daily perpetuation of cultural values to remain pono (balanced and aligned); and (3) honoring ancestors through the continual reflection and development of ‘ike (knowledge). Together, these themes articulate a distinctly Kanaka ‘Ōiwi framework for guidance—one that is relational, reciprocal, place-based, and oriented toward collective advancement. The project argues that advising at the University of Hawai‘i, a self-proclaimed “Hawaiian place of learning,” must move beyond transactional course planning to intentionally integrate students’ cultural wealth. By leveraging the wisdom embedded in ‘ōlelo no‘eau, advisors can cultivate meaningful relationships, affirm identity, and support students’ motivations to ho‘oulu lāhui (advance the people). Re-centering Native knowledge in advising practice ultimately fosters belonging, persistence, and well-being for Kanaka ‘Ōiwi students while challenging colonial norms embedded in higher education.
India’s Coal Belt and the Quad: Advancing Gender-Responsive Just Transitions
(2026-03-04) Bakshi, Parul
India’s path to net zero will require a fundamental reconfiguration of its coal-dependent economy, with major implications for its coal belt, where coal underpins livelihoods and local revenues. While India has been outlining just transition frameworks through District Mineral Foundations, mine closure guidelines, and state-level task forces, these mechanisms remain largely gender-blind. Women in coal regions are concentrated in informal and unpaid work and face disproportionate livelihood, health, and care burdens as mines contract or close. This policy brief examines how the Quad can support a gender-responsive just energy transition by linking domestic reform with regional stability and the Women, Peace, and Security agenda. Drawing on cross-learning, it proposes a Quad Framework for Gendered Just Transitions centered on gender audits, women-first reskilling, and transition finance tied to care and social infrastructure. It argues that embedding women’s agency in coal transitions is essential not only for equity, but for resilience, stability, and strategic credibility in the Indo-Pacific.
Ola I Ka Wai - The Barriers of Implementing a One Water Approach on O'ahu
(University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, 2022) Thelle, Jakob; Milz, Dan; Oceanography; Global Environmental Science
The Hawaiian Islands are on course for a water crisis. Currently, water supplies face challenges deriving from overconsumption of water and a growing world population increasing the demand. Furthermore, climate change causes detrimental impacts to water resources by reducing water quality and quantity, urging planning efforts to integrate climate science within water management practices. In 2020, the City and County of Honolulu stated their intention to adopt a One Water (OW) approach, which aims to manage water resources in Hawai'i in a holistic and collaborative way. Through this research, we will identify the barriers of implementing the OW framework on O'ahu to encourage strategies in effectively integrating the framework to O'ahu's water management practices. The research follows a qualitative research design collecting data through conducting interviews with key stakeholders and professionals in the field of water resources management. We found the main barriers posing the implementation of the One Water framework to be; (1) siloed systems (2) funding and budget constraints, (3) political and social-buy in, and (4) socio-cultural understanding. Strategic action to overcome the addressed barriers will be key towards effectively implementing a One Water approach in the process of preserving Hawai'i's waters for the benefit of the people.
The Use of Groundwater Geochemistry to Prospect for Blind Geothermal Resources in the State of Hawaii
(University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, 2018) Dudoit, Tineill; Lautze, Nicole; Oceanography; Global Environmental Science
The principle goal of this study was centralized on the use of groundwater geochemistry to prospect for blind geothermal resources throughout the State of Hawaii by the collection of water samples, analysis of water geochemistry data, and highlighting of wells that contained chemical signatures indicative of elevated subsurface heat. Water samples were collected in ten locations across the State of Hawaii that were identified as areas of potential geothermal resource in a recent geothermal prospect assessment, and analyzed for temperature, major and minor chemical species, and trace metals. A total of 61 samples were collected: 60 from existing wells and 1 spring was sampled in an area where no wells exist. The aqueous geothermal indicators: silica concentration, chloride/magnesium, sulphate/chloride, and temperature, were chosen because of the relative success as geochemical indicators in Hawaii. Additionally, thresholds were determined, based on compiled historical data and research, as chemical signatures that could signify subsurface heat under Hawaii conditions. As a result, various anomalies were detected on four islands within the State of Hawaii based on the criteria set within the project as potential indications of subsurface heat, and a potential geothermal source was identified on the Island of Lanai. However, positive indications of a subsurface heat anomaly based on this assessment could have an alternative non-thermal explanation. Given that these aqueous geochemical indicators can be affected by both natural and anthropogenic processes, further investigation is necessary. Furthermore, data collected could assist the Hawaiʻi State Legislature to address the state’s growing energy demands through the identification, exploration, and use of available geothermal sources. The subsequent report provides the latest comprehensive water geochemistry data that may be used as a geothermal exploration tool for the State of Hawaiʻi.