Re-educating Educated Ones: A Case Study on Chakma Language Revitalization in Chittagong Hill Tracts

Paper Title

Re-educating Educated Ones: A Case Study on Chakma Language Revitalization in Chittagong Hill Tracts

Publication Info

• Topic area: Indigenous language revitalization in the Global South through ICT-mediated frameworks.
• Keywords: Indigenous language, Chakma language, language revitalization, HCI4D, cultural preservation, digital tools, identity, Global South, socio-technical systems, decolonial HCI.

Background and Problem

• Problem / challenge: Indigenous languages, such as Chakma, face endangerment due to systemic neglect, cultural dominance by state languages, and limited institutional support. Existing revitalization efforts are hindered by socio-political, economic, and technological barriers.
• Significance: Language loss threatens cultural identity, history, and sovereignty. Revitalizing Indigenous languages is crucial for preserving unique cultural perspectives and resisting assimilation.
• Motivation and related work: Prior HCI research has explored Indigenous language preservation through documentation, storytelling, and digital archives. However, these approaches often fail to sustain everyday use, especially in resource-constrained contexts like the Global South. This study addresses the gap by focusing on community-defined priorities and ICT-mediated solutions for the Chakma language.

Solution

• Proposed approach: Methodological Framework for Indigenous Language Revitalization (MeILR), an ICT-mediated, community-centric framework for language preservation.
• Novelty:
  1. Thematic analysis of Chakma language stakeholders’ challenges and resilience strategies.
  2. Identification of stakeholder needs and design guidelines for digital tools.
  3. Development of MeILR, emphasizing historical identity elements, stakeholder-defined requirements, and effective digital engagement.
  4. Discussion of MeILR’s applicability to other marginalized languages in the Global South.
• Procedure and key techniques:
  • Conducted a six-month ethnographic study with 25 participants, including instructors, students, and cultural workers.
  • Used interviews, focus groups, and thematic analysis to identify challenges, resilience strategies, and design needs.
  • Proposed MeILR with three pillars: historical identity integration, stakeholder requirement elicitation, and effective digital media selection.

Results

• Concrete findings:
  • 70–80% of daily Chakma speech incorporates Bengali words due to linguistic dominance.
  • Limited access to ICTs, with many learners lacking smartphones or reliable internet.
  • Financial constraints and lack of institutional support hinder language learning centers (CLLCs).
  • Early AI experiments and social media groups show potential for language practice.
• Advantage over baselines:
  • MeILR integrates cultural and historical elements, addressing gaps in prior HCI approaches that often overlook community-defined priorities.
  • Focuses on low-resource, offline-first tools and culturally aligned digital media.
• Experiments / evaluation:
  • Ethnographic study across three Chakma Language Learning Centers (CLLCs) in Bangladesh.
  • Data collection included 11 interviews, 2 focus groups, and 13 hours of audio recordings.
  • Thematic analysis revealed socio-technical barriers and community-driven solutions.
• Limitations and future work:
  • Findings are specific to Chakma communities in Bangladesh and may not generalize to Chakma populations in India or Myanmar.
  • Other Indigenous groups in the Chittagong Hill Tracts may face distinct challenges.
  • Future work includes co-designing and evaluating the MeILR framework to measure its effectiveness.

Summary

This study investigates the challenges and resilience strategies of the Chakma language revitalization movement in Bangladesh, highlighting the socio-political and technological barriers faced by the community. It proposes the ICT-mediated MeILR framework, which integrates historical identity elements, stakeholder-defined needs, and culturally aligned digital media to support language preservation. Findings emphasize the importance of community-driven efforts, low-resource tools, and inclusive design strategies. The proposed framework has potential applicability to other marginalized languages in the Global South, offering pathways for sustainable and sovereignty-aware language revitalization.