Causes of language death/loss
- Genocide
- Oppression
- Slavery
Language endangerment facts
- Aboriginal, 250 languages before European contact, 145 now
- Native American languages 300 before Columbus, 175 now
Official language planning
Cultivates a multitude of domains, produces teaching materials, funds instruction and provides services
Ethnolinguistic vitality
Demography
- Birth rates
- Mixed language marriages
- Immigration and emigration
Ethnolinguistic vitality
Status
- Economy sustained by language
- Social, navigate relationships
- Sociohistorical importance
- Linguistic, language deemed important
Ethnolinguistic vitality
Institutional support
Formal: mass media, education, gov and services
Informal: industry and religion
Example of formal institutional support
Ethnolinguistic vitality
Welsh Language act 1967, 1993
Bilingual signage and services
Example of informal institutional support
Ethnolinguistic vitality
1588 William Morgan translates Bible into Welsh
Language planning 5 q’s
Who? What? For whom? Why? How?
2 Examples of language revitalisation
Hawaiian:
- Childhood language support
- Parent night classes
- Raising awareness of Polynesian identity
Welsh:
- Importance of heritage highlighted
- Welsh lang act 1967, 1993
Types of language planning
Status:
- Raising profile
- Domains of use
Corpus:
- Standardisation
Acquisition:
- Education policies
Māori language
- New Zealand
- 1987 Act declared Māori official language
- Established language commission
- Status planning, broadcasting in language
- Acquisition, curriculum guidelines
- Google in language
Language documentation and importance
- Collecting grammar, dictionaries and texts
- Missionaries first to do it in Africa, Asia and Americas
- Maps the world’s languages
- Informs research and planning
Issues with language documentation
- Quality of records
- Quality of analysis
- Who to record?
What are the 4 stages of developing a national/official language?
Selection
Codification
Elaboration
Securing acceptance
Nation building in Tanzania
KiSwahili:
- National language
- Neutral, not identified with one tribe
- Unifying
- Spoken in neighbouring countries
Malaysia language facts
- Bahasa Malaysia - official language to unite citizens
- 1967 Language act
- 1969 race riots, unity not successful
- Low proficiency in English now, negative
- Multilingual nation
- Manglish creole
