| Summary: | The indigenous Anishinaabe language of the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada is dying and considered moribund. If great efforts are not made now this ancient language could become another extinct language losing with it the knowledge and culture that it carries with it. This qualitative exploratory case study discovered the relationship between adult learners in an Anishinaabe indigenous immersion language program and second language (L2) curriculum development and instruction and how that relationship impacts the effectiveness of the program in the process of language revitalization. Several questions drove the research study: (a) How do the program goals and objectives align with the learners’ reasons for attending an Anishinaabe adult immersion language program?, (b) How do the administrators and an instructor think the curriculum is aligned with learners’ goals and objectives and support learners success in second language acquisition?, (c) How does the curriculum reflect concepts of andragogy adult learning theory, natural approach second language acquisition theory, and immersion model language revitalization models? A thorough review of the literature concerning andragogy adult learning theory, the natural approach second language acquisition theory, immersion model language revitalization models, program evaluation, and curriculum development constructed a better understanding of how each component relates to the adult Anishinaabe language immersion program. Curriculum documents, classroom observations, and participant interview comprised the data for analysis. The findings uncovered a misalignment between the learner goals, objectives, and reasons for attending the program and the program curriculum goals and objectives. The administration appears to be aware of this misalignment but solutions have not been development and implemented. This research provides an in-depth look into one program, but more study is needed to understand how adult indigenous language immersion programs can be effective and how best to address the learner needs.
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