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Research Commons at The http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/ Research Commons at the University of Waikato Copyright Statement: The digital copy of this thesis is protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). The thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use: Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person. Authors control the copyright of their thesis. You will recognise the author’s right to be identified as the author of the thesis, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate. You will obtain the author’s permission before publishing any material from the thesis. WRITING LAWA: STIMULATING INDIGENOUS OWNERSHIP OF VERNACULAR LITERACY THROUGH ACTION RESEARCH A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education at The University of Waikato by MARK HOLT 2014 Abstract The Eastern Lawa people of Northern Thailand have not had a practical or standardised method of writing their own language. This research began in response to an informal request that help be given to the teachers at Bo Luang school to write Lawa language using Thai script. The exploratory and informal nature of the project led me to use action research’s cyclical concept of action, followed by feedback, followed by planning for further action. This allowed for adjustments to both research goals and methods in response to the Eastern Lawa community. I was also able to document practical language development issues in the context of an ancient but rapidly changing indigenous Mon-Khmer community in Northern Thailand. I began with the traditional linguistic assumption that building a foundation for vernacular literacy would consist of three consecutive phases. A draft orthography would be prepared with the community. Community acceptance of this would allow a working orthography to be used by the teachers of Bo Luang school. The third phase would then be official regional or national recognition of a formal orthography. I also believed that community ownership was the key to all three phases. In reality I encountered a constant tension between trying to force the pathway of language development that I had envisaged and coming to terms with the linguistic and social situation which I discovered within the Bo Luang Lawa community. My plans for action research came to be grounded in a critical, reflexive ethnography. Community ownership became the major goal and the raison d’etre for my research instead of just an outcome of good language development practice. ii My initial emphasis on linguistic development has transformed into a desire to base both research goals and orthographic objectives on the history, identity and aspirations of the indigenous people. It is my intention that this thesis will be part of the growing body of work that recognises the limitations of Western empirical research models and the necessity for and practicality of alternative approaches. If you don’t know the words, ask your mother; if you don’t know the path, ask your father. (Traditional Lawa saying) iii Acknowledgements My thanks go to the following people and organisations who have given permission, assistance and participation towards and, often, ownership in the many parts of the research that follows. Vivienne Holt: whose linguistic skills enabled this project and whose faith, logic, encouragement and patience sustained it when I was lacking in all of the above. Dr. Margaret Franken and Dr. Julie Barbour: for their patience, guidance and encouragement that prevented this thesis from being abandoned. Dr. Ramzi Nahhas: for the thorough sociolinguistic survey he and his team conducted and the relational foundation he established with the Bo Luang Lawa community. Puwadon Injun: whose interest and abilities in linguistics, Thai, English and Lawa enabled my research. Even more importantly, I thank him for his friendship and trust. Anne Cochran: for dedicated checking and advice. The staff and students of the Payap University Linguistics department, especially Greg Blok and Larin Adams: for their encouragement, interest and help. The monks and nen (apprentice monks) in the temples of Wat Chai Phrakiat, Chiang Mai and Wat Paw Phawen, Bo Luang: for their willingness to endorse and help in the research I was doing. The teachers, administration and students of Bo Luang school: for allowing me the freedom to work with them and try out different ideas. iv The Lawa people of the Bo Luang district: for their willingness to share their language and wisdom, and for their ability to put up with my New Zealand accent attempting both Thai and Lawa as we communicated. v Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................ ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................... iv Table of Contents ............................................................................. vi List of Tables .................................................................................... viii List of Figures ................................................................................... viii Chapter One: Introduction ............................................................... 1 1.1 Research Objective, Anticipated Outcomes and Thesis Structure ... 2 1.2 Background to the Eastern Lawa Community .................................. 3 1.2.1 Vitality of the Eastern Lawa language. .................................. 4 1.2.2 Self-definition of what it means to be Lawa ........................... 9 1.2.3 Lawa identity in practice. ..................................................... 12 Chapter Two: Literature Review ....................................... 17 2.1 Who are the Eastern Lawa? ........................................................... 17 2.2 Why Should Eastern Lawa be Put Into Writing? ............................. 28 2.2.1 The language argument ...................................................... 28 2.2.2 The learning argument ........................................................ 30 2.2.3 The identity argument .......................................................... 36 2.3 How Should Eastern Lawa be Put Into Writing? ............................. 38 Chapter Three: Methodological Approach ................................. 45 3.1 Types of Action Research ............................................................... 46 3.2 The Ethnographic Dimension .......................................................... 52 3.2.1 Preconceived ideas, motivations and personal interests .... 55 3.2.2 Mode of entry and exit ......................................................... 58 3.2.3 Sustained presence in the community ................................ 59 3.2.4 Relationship to participants ................................................. 60 3.2.5 Modes of data entry, storage and analysis. ......................... 69 3.3 Limits to Ethnography and Action Research ................................... 70 Chapter Four: Preliminary Results .............................................. 74 4.1 Eastern Lawa (and Thai) phonology ............................................... 75 4.1.1 Language contact contributing to phonological uncertainty 86 4.1.2 Register contributing to phonological uncertainty ................ 89 4.2 Preliminary Orthographies .............................................................. 92 vi 4.2.1 Level 1 orthographic difficulties. ........................................ 101 4.2.2 Level 2 orthographic difficulties ......................................... 102 4.2.3 Level 3 orthographic difficulties ......................................... 104 4.2.4 Non-linguistic differences between Eastern and Western . 105 4.3 Educational Application of Lawa Orthography .............................. 106 4.3.1 Reification of literacy ......................................................... 110 4.3.2 Using mother tongue in the special needs class ............... 112 4.3.3 Using mother tongue in the English class ......................... 118 4.4 Conclusions from Initial Results .................................................... 123 Chapter Five: Improved Results ................................................ 125 5.1 Improved Phonology: The Participant Phonology Approach ........ 125 5.2 Improved Orthography .................................................................. 133 5.3 Improved Application .................................................................... 137 Chapter Six: Concluding With an Alternative Paradigm ...... 142 6.1 Summary of Results So Far .......................................................... 142 6.2 Application of the New Paradigm to Orthography Ownership ...... 147 6.2.1 Why are Lawa language and culture important now? ....... 148 6.2.2 What is the point in being Lawa? ...................................... 149 6.2.3 Why should we write Lawa? .............................................. 150 6.2.4 Why not just write Lawa using the Thai orthography? ....... 150 6.2.5 How can Lawa language help our children? ..................... 151 6.3 Final Words ................................................................................... 152 References ....................................................................................... 154 Appendices ...................................................................................... 167
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