The Guide & The Journey

The Guide for Planning the Future of Our Language was the first methodology based on the SUM. It continues to be offered as a useful introduction to many of the participatory activities involved in community based language development. It was originally meant as a training tool for mother tongue facilitators, but did not focus on community leaders, making it difficult for communities to reach the planning and implementing stages. It is also missing some crucial content. For these reasons it is no longer recommended as the most effective overall approach to use with communities. This tool will continue to be a resource for participatory activities, but will most likely not be edited further in the longterm. (A published critique of the Guide is available here).

To actually engage a community in language development, a consultative experience is more appropriate than a book. For this reason we recommend utilizing "The Language and Identity Journey." This tool engages language community leaders in a series of 3 weekend workshops. It is more up-to-date than the Guide with additional content, particularly as related to identity, speech community, language change, and social media.  We believe it is the best tool currently available, and one that will continually be improved via testing in the field. Before it is applied, however, the language specialist who will be providing mentoring to the local community leaders should have prior training in the use of the tool.