A Bilingual Life Among the Triangle Tent and Reindeer: Heritage Language Education and Use of Mongolian Dukha Children

Abstract

One of the bilingual communities surviving today in Mongolia, which is the cultural heritage site of the ancient communities that left their mark on the history of Central Asia, are the Tuvan and the Dukha, which is considered a branch of them.In this study, it is aimed to reflect the language teaching practices carried out for the young generation of Tuvan and Dukha origin living in the Northwest Mongolia region and to reveal the views of the Dukha,the reindeer herder living in the triangular tent, on the Dukha language, which is the heritage language shown in the endangered languages category, and the supportive education practices carried out. The study was designed as two-stage qualitative research methods, such as field research and case study. First of all,the living areas of Tuvans and Dukhas in the Western and Northern regions of Mongolia were visited, and data were collected from available sources. In the second stage, interviews were conducted with the Dukha children studying in the town school through a semi-structured interview form. Obtained interview data were analyzed by content analysis. In the study, it was observed that Dukha children acquired L1 language in the family environment and also learned L2 language,but mostly they communicated in the dominant L2 language and therefore language change and endangered language situation progressed day by day. The country's local languages support policy and the positive impact of the heritage language supportive trainings made from time to time by various international institutions for families and children were mentioned.