Team ****** Research Synthesis

Findings

I read all the interviews and broke them down into meaningful statements, and then arranged the statements into six affinity groups, or interview themes. I also did a word-frequency analysis of the interviews and again arranged the most frequently occurring words into affinity groups. It was a good start but it still didn't seem to boil down to a solid theme. Despite my efforts to keep the synthesis as objective as possible, albeit I alone grouped the data, I decided I needed to go a step further and apply my own interpretation to the grouping exercises.

One of the things I noticed that surprised me from the sorting and grouping exercise was that Culture/Language/Identity separated from Connecting/Heritage/Family. The difference I felt from the interviews was that culture and identity are internal, and connecting to family and heritage is external. There were a lot of statements regarding what I will refer to as learning a language versus living a language: statements about language immersion, how the language changes how you think, etc. These spoke to me of not just learning, but becoming. But even before that comes finding the will, the motivation, the want to learn. That may relate to the table column: “Safe, cool place”. Thinking further along that line, the themes, or columns in the table, started to take on sequence.

After finding and becoming, then it is possible to truly connect. This is probably not a one-two process. More realistically, it progresses in incremental cycles of becoming and connecting, but after connecting (to family and community) comes belonging, and then preserving (valuing and passing on, teaching children). I was struck by one of the statements that seemed to sum up our whole mission: “... it's Hawaii as whole that is family.”

So, my take away from the interviews is that learning a heritage language is just one part of a bigger journey:

Finding > Becoming > Connecting > Belonging > Preserving

I’m not sure if this is five themes, or one theme, but it seems like plenty to work with.      

Interviews Legend

Interview Themes

Subject 1: Father of a student who enrolled last quarter. Interviewed by Teammate 2.

Subject 2: Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Washington. Lived in the Marshall Islands for many years and is an expert in matters of Pacific Island culture. Interviewed by Teammate 3.

Subject 3: Student of the client’s Hawaiian language classes. She’s from Hawai'i. Interviewed by Teammate 1, Teammate 3.*

Subject 4: Program Manager for Leadership Programs at the University of Washington. He’s Tongan. Interviewed by Teammate 1, Teammate 3.*

Subject 5: Teacher of the client’s Hawaiian language classes. He’s from Hawai'i. Interviewed by Teammate 1, Teammate 3.*

Subject 6: Teammate 1’s co-worker, Age: 23, Kaneohe HI on island of Oahu, Not affiliated w/ the client. Interviewed by Teammate 1.

Subject 7 Student of the client’s Hawaiian language classes. He’s from Saipan. Interviewed by Teammate 1.

* Denotes joint interview.

Interviews word-frequency analysis:

Affinity (Before Teammate 1’s interviews)

Affinity  (With Teammate 1’s interviews)

Transcriptions:

1. Have you ever taken a language course?

Subject 1: Yes - In highschool and last spring I tried to take the UW Hawaiian class with my daughter

Subject 2:: yes

Subject 3: yes

Subject 4: yes

Subject 5: Yes, both as a student and instructor. Started learning Hawaiian around 12 years old, through the church

Subject 6: yes, I took native Hawaiian  in elementary school 3rd - 6th grade, and 4 years in HS taking Japanese.It was an afterschool program (not required, but that his parents put him in). It was language and playing ukulele. Do you parents speak Hawaiian? Not really, but his grandmother does a little. Wasn't' spoken in the household very much.

Subject 7: Yes, Hawaiian class offered at the U

2. If yes, what drew you to that particular language?

Subject 1: My biological father grew up on Oahu, HI and so I have some Hawaiian heritage. I was adopted so I try find it to be significant to explore my heritage and to instill that in my kids culturally

Subject 2: Also learned of the client's mission from the students and connected with subject 4, she offered space in the museum to hold the classes

Subject 3: started with japanese, and Hawaiian from her grandmother, who gave her books to learn her native language

Subject 4: Japanese in school, other options like Tongan were not available

Subject 5: it is my heritage and upbringing

Subject 7: I lived in HI part of elementary school, wanted to explore more of that. Played the Ukulele also. Part of the culture.

How did you enjoy the class?

Subject 6: Liked it, wished he would have pursued it more. His brother cont. with the native Hawaiian language classes into HS that was offered as part of the curriculum.

Would you be interested in taking language course now?

Subject 6: Not now, would rather work on career plan but if I move back home, I would eventually after move back home and settle down. .

3. If not, were there any circumstances preventing you from taking a class?

Subject 1: Life stuff. My daughter had exceptional course load and I was starting a new job

4. How did you decide to enroll in a language course?

Subject 1: Daughter found the class

Subject 3: She wanted to connect with her family and culture, especially her grandmother. They can now speak to each other over the phone in Hawaiian.

Subject 5: Teammate 2 noticed that I was very active on a Hawaiian language facebook group. When someone on the group was asking for an instructor, Teammate 2 recommended me to teach. She also reached out on her own and explained the client's vision for the course, We three sat down and worked out how to make it happen.

How did you join / find out about the language class?

Subject 7: Through the Pacific Island clubs at school other members in the club told me about it.

5. What motivated you to join the language course? How did you get connected with the

language course?

Subject 1: Daughter found the class

Subject 3: She was drawn to help the client because of the similarities of their backgrounds, and his vision: "how can we get accessible language classes to the Pacific community on campus?"

Subject 5: Teammate 2 introduced me to the client

6. What are some positive aspects of the courses you’ve taken?

Subject 1: It was enjoyable to learn some of the language. It made me feel closer to roots and ancestry. I got to meet really neat people. I was really fascinated by others in the class who had taken earlier language stuff and see how they did. One of the exercises was to create your Hawaiian name and some of the students had really interesting names in the way they were translated. the client was good at giving extra attention when we asked for it. There were 10-15 students. The sessions seemed to grow in size each week. the client provided a lot of flexibility. He presented it to us that it’s up to the individual how far you want to take it and how much you want to learn.

Subject 2: It's not offered as an actual college course, and is run by volunteers that are unpaid.

Subject 3: The first group of students were really excited to learn, the instructor (subject 5) was helpful in creating the curriculum and to volunteer his time. It was really positive to see Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian students alike both connecting to the language and heritage. Some people don't speak the language in their family anymore, and it was a real treat to see people enjoying the culture.

Subject 5: the most amazing part is the student's desire to learn and reconnect to their culture and heritage. We looked for ways to get them connected. Most of them were doing this for themselves, not because of college credit.

Subject 7: It came down to the teacher. Liked his teaching style, and his responsiveness to questions.

7. Is there any part of a class you felt could have been improved upon?

Subject 1: Nothing really stood out. It was mostly because of personal conflicts and distractions.

Subject 3: Finding teachers, getting classes accessible, funding for teachers and coursework, having a classroom with so much cultural relics on the walls.

Subject 5: There was no curriculum, I developed it myself. Textbooks were too slow to teach from. One of the problems that arose from teaching these courses was: how do we allow people to participate without having to show up to every single class? Having a one hour long class per week isn't enough, and people have their own jobs/lives that make time challenging

Subject 7: More planning and organization. For example, they weren't sure where the class was going to be taught (being held).would be good to have a consistent place. Also would be nice to have class meet more days during the week rather than just once a week.

8. If you were to create the ideal language course, without any limits, what would that look like?

Subject 1: Being exposed to the language a lot to shift your mind to think along those lines The more I spoke, the more I learned and the more comfortable I became

Subject 2: To have its own space, as the new museum location will not have a classroom for them to use going forward. UW funds, to recognize the program as a part of the school, and to step up and help the community by offering these classes.

Subject 3: To have a space that empowers the students, walls covered with Hawaiian art that showcase the culture and heritage that they are trying to connect with

Subject 4: Bringing in teachers that are experts of their native language to teach the students, so that people not of the heritage are spending extra hours teaching language courses. Also, include art, dance, and other aspects of culture

Subject 5: Having our own space that is conducive to learning. We're currently creating the proof of concept to get UW to sign off on allowing access to better facilities. Trying to create a class that is "cool" and people are excited about

Subject 7: Would have it meet every day so you could practice it consistently. Involve more native speakers so you could engage more.

9. Can you tell me about a time when you heard a story about your family’s past? How did you feel? Did you learn something new about your family?

Subject 1: Because I was adopted, most of what of I learned was through research. I experienced a wide range of emotions, like wow really cool or some was a bit shocking. Overall though I still feel really drawn to the culture and PI stuff.

Subject 3: Learning that her grandmother was born speaking only hawaiian when she was 11. No one ever told her about her grandmother's history. She went to a summer camp and learned the language, but when it ended she didn't have a way to keep it going, until her grandmother gave her language books and told her to teach herself. Now they can have full conversations and she feels so much more connected to her home.

Subject 5: short story: i found out that my great grandfather was a merchant mariner that spoke seven languages. He and I have both travelled the world, in lived in different parts of the country. No one else in my family have really done anything to that scope, so this made me feel more connected to my family and heritage.

Subject 6: My grandma is from a different Island, Molokai which is really rural area, she had 10-12 siblings. She would talk about stories about how her siblings got around, had to walk a mile to and from school, but a lot of things are lost in translation. How did it make you feel to learn about those things? It def. felt nostalgic. especially because [only?] parts of Hawaii is traditional Hawaiian culture is Americanized, and culture kind of being forgotten. It was great to hear.

Subject 7: In the Chamorro culture, and most PI cultures, the way you translate knowledge is through oral tradition. for example, talking to my uncle about the PI Navigators. Elders don't say anything unless asked by the youth. The elders are always willing to share, but they don't initiate - they believe the younger generation is only ready to receive the info when they are willing to ask. They elders don't want to bother or force before the youth is ready. They have to seek it on their own, so it's not a lecture.

10. What do you think of when you hear the word “culture”?

Subject 1:

• I’m exposed to the word “culture” a lot in the business environment - it’s like someone’s social tendencies, interactions and behaviors
• The same is kind of true of different heritages.  Culture is like behaviors you were exposed to while growing up.  Some are instinctual, but mostly learned.
• It’s never fixed though, it’s always changing
• We are constantly exposed to different perspectives
• It’s also what we perceive to be ‘normal’ right now

Subject 4: Language is culture. If you lose the language, you lose your culture. It's how elders connect with the youth, and how his family pass information down from generation to generation. It also divides some people from others, "You can't speak Tongan? Then you're not Tongan"

Subject 5: culture reminds me of habits, mindsets of people. The weirdness is determined by your culture, and the further you are from your culture, the weirder it will be to others.

Subject 6: Honestly, when I think of culture, the last thing I think of is language. I think about food and customs that we do, and I think about family. Tell more about your customs: I think food and family go hand in hand in every culture. Hawaiian food or Japanese food brings me back to family. Language is important, but it gets pushed to the back burner. Food, family, music, language gets pushed on the back burner.

Subject 7: Community, I think of interacting within the community. And what we create: food, dancing , music. I realize that culture is always changing.

Have you ever experienced anything negative because of your cultural heritage?

Subject 6: No. It feels like everyone in the mainland are visiting HI. Most offensive thing is when they call Pineapple Pizza Hawaiian, because nobody puts pineapple on pizza in HI. It's white wash.

Subject 7: Up until I moved to WA, I was a minority for the first time, in middle school. It was the first time people didn't understand us, thought we were Chinese or Mexican. Hung out with others who had similar experience -  people who weren't understood. Didn't necessarily feel shame, but I lost my cultural identity. Actually adopted other cultural identity (african american) for a time to be a part of some group. In HS and college is when I started to be curious and seek out my native culture. I found more people in my community.

Have you ever felt ashamed or embarrassed by your heritage?

Subject 6: No. Not at all

Did your mother speak the native language?

Subject 7: No, she didn't feel confident teaching me when I was growing up. Most of my generation doesn't speak it.

What cultural values do you think are important to "being an American?"

Subject 7: Being an individual. Here you can be whatever you want, it is liberating, not bound to anything culturally.

What are some cultural values associated with the Hawaiian culture?

Subject 6: Family #1, Ability to work hard, Be with family

What are some cultural values associated with the Chamorro culture?

Subject 7: **Family - being very close to family, taking care of siblings, parents, grandparents. A lot of respect. We practiced "Amen" any time a younger person sees an elder, they asked them for a blessing - the elder says a blessing and it establishes a sense of respect for the elders.

11. Tell me a positive experiences you had growing up?

Subject 3: when she was at camp at 14, the group was supported by their families and extended families as they tried to unravel a big rope full of knots. The family members chanted as they tried to undo the knot. It took them a hour, but the families never stopped chanting. They learned that other groups did it in ten minutes! But the families supported them all the way through. And hearing the parents on canoes with their little babies, chanting to the infants as they pulled the ropes to make it to shore.

Subject 5: time turn so-called negative experiences into positives. Personality builders, being raised in a Hawaiian church, on a pig farm by people that love me, having a best friend for 23 years. These all build a

Subject 6: I grew up in a place that was really close knit, grew up playing sports, everyone knew everyone. I played little league for years, keep in touch with most of those guys, like family. It's not just Hawaiian culture, it's Hawaii as whole that is family atmosphere

Subject 7: Spending time with family growing up in Saipan. Have family gathering every weekend, included extended family, cousins, really close with them. Cousins are like brothers and sisters.

12. Tell me about a time when you felt really proud/connected to your heritage?

Subject 1: After doing some research, I found my biological father. We were able to connect and hearing about his story was pretty moving.

Subject 3: When she taught herself the language, she was scared at first, but if you don't take the time to learn, learning gradually over time transforms your understanding. You can look back and say that this is all for a good cause. She also wants to be able to share her experiences with her grandmother and with her future children.

Subject 4: Learning the language is a great confidence builder. One student he worked with a few years ago, who was shy when taking classes, but talkative outside of class, got to high school and came back to be a leader for the younger students. He came back after three years, and when the group he was in went up to present, he would encourage the younger students to speak up. Building confidence and empowering the youth.

Subject 5: I am proudest to be Hawaiian when I am not in Hawaii. When you are distanced from your culture, you can look at your experiences and evolve as an individual

Subject 6: Moving from Hawaii to mainland I saw how important and lucky I was to be raised in Hawaii to have this heritage.was involved with Hawaii Clubs. My girlfriend went to UW, and I got really involved with helping with the Luau. Was a great time to get together and see that project through. I went to western Oregon U, but I was really blown away by how tight and the HI club the UW club was. Really big, Seniors welcomed the freshmen. My university club was really small and I wasn't that involved. Did it just because it was something you had to do initially. The Luau is a year long project to get set up, huge event. Had to do fundraising, coordinate food,

Subject 7: Just this past quarter at UM, in the Micronesian Islander club, I was given the opportunity to lead chants, and to understand the words, I felt proud to represent the culture. The number of people in the club is about 15-20 people.

13. Typically, how do you find events and activities in the city that you are interested in?

Subject 1:

• I like music, so I tend to search through social media sites for bands coming to town
• I use search engines, or Ticketmaster. I don’t use one particular application. Not Facebook or any of those though.
• My wife uses Instagram and finds stuff to do that way. 

Subject 2: facebook groups are extremely useful, emails, posters

Subject 3: facebook groups are extremely useful, emails, posters

Subject 4: Start with hanging out, have fun activities, and get youth interested in coming back. Then introduce language classes, heritage classes, and so forth.

Emails, posters, facebook pages, and local churches. Also note that the community will only trust someone from within the community, when it comes to getting the word out. They will trust their pastor over some random person looking to reach out. The best option is to get in touch with community leaders and ask them to communicate our plans.

Subject 5: facebook seems to the most effective way to learn about things to do, and to connect with people

Subject 7: Pertaining to PI culture, learn through the Micro Indonesian Club, the Polynesian Alliance, these clubs are at school and promote culture. Events in the Seattle area are Luaus, other clubs in High Schools around the state, through community clubs. Also, other family members knowing others in the community. Word of mouth. They have fiestas (food/family gatherings)

Do you use social media?

Subject 6: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat

14. What factors contribute to how you choose events and activities to participate in? Time? Work? Price? Accessibility?

Subject 1: Relevance to what I think is good. If a certain band is coming to town, I’m less interested in the price and would just want to go see the event. Other occasions like when I’m trying a new band, I’m more price conscious. Sometimes I go to small venues in Seattle to watch and then use that as a filter.

Subject 7: It does depends on cost. Bigger events have cost associated with them. The Polynesian Alliance are free public events. BUT, cost doesn't prevent him for doing it.

Are you involved in the Hawaiian community here on the mainland?
If no, would you be interested in becoming involved in?

Subject 6: No, not currently involved. Only been here a year, and not pursuing it too hard. Could be potential in the future.

Are you the only person living on the mainland?

Subject 6: No. I have a brother that is going to Oregon State, and another brother going to Pacific U in OR. Parents live back at home, Grandparents are still there too. Have other family that lives up and down the coast.

What do you do when you get together with family?

Subject 6: Family time, we catch sporting events, go shopping together, it's more spending time together rather than doing events most of the time. Lots of eating.

Would you be interested in taking a language course in your family's native language?

Subject 7: My native language is Chamorro, and would like to learn this to start. It's what the elders speak to one another.

Have you come across any issues applying for Jobs? Or any kind of discrimination due to cultural heritage?

Subject 7: No, I'm going into the audio field and knowledge is more important.

Any advice for someone who's just moved here?

Subject 6: It's definitely important to embrace your culture especially. You're not alone up here.

Subject 7: Find others in PI community and talk to them about their experience. Get a grasp on other people's perspectives.

Would you like to participate in mentoring youths in your culture?

Subject 7: Yes. would love an opportunity to pass it down to them, would be a comfort to help them feel proud about their heritage.

Org Interviews: 

How do you promote your programs?

1. What tools are most effective? Least effective?

• Direct mail, e news, events, print and digital advertising with community news publications, social media, website, word of mouth/referrals.
  Most effective: word of mouth/referrals. Least effective: probably events.
• Word of mouth, Facebook, networks, connectors, direct outreach, emails, texts, phone calls.
  Phone calls and the use of connectors (community leaders that will reach out and recruit other members)
• One City Project has found the following tools most successful for sharing information and increasing engagement: Website, EMAIL - getting the segmentation down has been key (Targeted email blasts make people feel more important), Word of Mouth, Social Media (Facebook), Community Events, SEO (people looking for language classes online)
  Most effective has been the targeted email blasts & promoting on website

How did you come up with your programs?

• ACRS developed programs as we identified needs within the communities we serve – primarily Asian and Pacific Islander immigrants and refugees.
• Our Women’s Justice Circles (WJC) is a bilingual (Spanish/English), grassroots women’s organizing project created seventeen years ago following a needs assessment process conducted with community members and direct service providers.

In your community, would there be an interest in language classes?

• Possibly. Our client base is generally interested in English classes, which we already offer. We are not an educational or cultural preservation organization.
• My guess is that English language classes are always needed. Childcare included is a must.
• There is interest. We teach 7 types language classes.
  

What kind of barriers prevent the community/your audience from accessing/coming to programs?

• Transportation and parking is an ongoing challenge.
• Fear of deportation, lack of childcare available, language barriers, among others
• Lack of resources. Also, marketing to heritage speakers is a more difficult challenge. They require a very specific type of marketing message.