Week 10 Final Assessment

Final Assessment:  It is hard to believe that Week 10 has arrived!  Although this is a milestone, it is not the end of this language-learning odyssey.  After taking some time off for summer travel, I will return and set some new goals.  I feel good about the progress I made over the past ten weeks in reaching the goals that I set at the beginning of this course.  My language-learning did slow down over the past two weeks due to entertaining guests and final school projects.  Perhaps, I subconsciously gave myself permission to make a little room for these other things because I knew that I had met most of my objectives.  Writing my own poem was the ‘big’ task still hanging over my head this week.  Here is my final assessment checklist:  

	Learning Goals Checklist for Isthmus Zapotec		Met by June 3, 2013
	Primary Objectives	yes	no/level attained
1	Recite 20 lines of poetry	X
2	Know and be able to orally produce all phonemes		pretty close
3	Recognize basic grammatical features (i.e., word order; identify verbs, nouns, objects, articles, preps)	X
4	Write one original poem	X
	Secondary Objectives	yes	no/level attained
1	Learn origins of Zapotec language and people	X
2	Learn history of IZ language and people	X
3	Learn origins of literary traditions and role of literature and poetry in IZ culture and society		Still have more questions
4	Learn about current IZ issues		Learned more about other Zapotec current issues
	Wishful-Thinking Objective	yes	no/level attained
1	Meet a native IZ speaker		Still looking; met goal of meeting Shook and other Zapotec speakers

Concerning Primary Objectives:  I apologize that I am not going to go into detail about the goals attained in this checklist at this time.  My blog posts since my midterm progress report reveal in more detail to what degree I have met these objectives.  In terms of furthering my primary objectives, I will continue to work through the Pickett and Black grammar book.  I am nearly halfway through now.  I think I will need to read the whole book two or three times to become very familiar with the grammatical concepts.  I believe the best way to practice newly learned grammar is through reading and writing in the language.   I plan to continue reading IZ poetry and literature for this practice, and write my own poems.  My speaking opportunities will be limited to reciting poetry for now. 

Concerning Secondary Objectives:  Because of the vast subject matter, my secondary objectives were ‘in general’ and not very specific.  I was looking to familiarize myself with these topics, rather than memorize large chunks of information.  There is still much that I want to learn about the Binnizá.

Further Research:  My interviews with native speakers of other Zapotec languages gave me privileged insight into the language issues of the indigenous people of Oaxaca.  I feel that these people need their voices heard, and as a staff member told me at the literacy center where I conducted some of the interviews, “They are ready to talk.”  I have interpreted this statement to mean that they no longer want to feel ashamed of their indigenous heritage and that they are ready to defend and preserve it, even while living outside of their homeland.  Speakers of indigenous languages in Mexico are discriminated against, and are oftentimes called “backwards.”  Because of this, when outside of their home community, indigenous people may deny their native tongue.  Join me in advocating for the respect and preservation of indigenous languages.