WWU professor Shaw Gynan to discuss 'A Week with the Ishir Awatoso' Feb. 25

The Western Libraries at Western Washington University will play host to a talk by Shaw N. Gynan, professor of Spanish and director of Linguistics at WWU, titled “A Week with the Ishir Awatoso: Techniques of Elementary Literacy Instruction in an Endangered Language.”

The event, free and open to the public, will be held at 4 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 25 at the Library Skybridge.

Gynan will discuss techniques of literacy education among the Ishir Awatoso, some 1,300 people who speak one of two Zamucoan languages, the smallest indigenous language family of Paraguay. The talk will include highlights from a workshop in which the children and teachers produced language and artwork that depict aspects of their lives.

For more information about library events, please visit the Western Libraries Web site at http://www.library.wwu.edu/.