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A S H LE Y N U ZU MO LI V I A L E U NGH A R I N A F ON GT W I NK LE F O O

KATR I NA F U R NE LL

Language Endangerment and Preservation:

Spanish in the U.S. and Aboriginal languages in Australia

What is Language Endangerment?

• Language Endangerment is where a language is at risk of losing all it’s speakers

• UNESCO has six degrees of language endangerment. These are: Safe Unsafe Definitely Endangered Severely Endangered Critically Endangered Extinct

• Approximately there are six thousand languages in the world but many of these languages are in danger. It is estimated that half of these languages will become extinct by the end of this century.

Causes of Language Endangerment

Internal Factors: • Attitude towards language• Decline of group identityExternal Factors:• Military• Economical/political • Religious• Cultural• Educational

Giles et al. (1977) Framework (Language Vitality)

1. Its status: economic, social and historical. 2. Its territorial distribution and population demographics: absolute numbers, birth rates, marriage patterns, migrations.

3. Its institutional support: in media, education, government as well as religious, social and cultural activities

Ways of Preventing Language Endangerment

Language DocumentationCollection of linguistic and cultural data of an endangered language. Language MaintenanceAttempt to maintain a language rather than displace it with a more dominant language.

Language RevivalAttempt to increase the number of speakers of an endangered language.

Examples of Language Revitalisation

CornishCeltic language spoken in Cornwall.Died out in approx. 1777. Revival process started in 1904. In 2002, Cornish was officially recognised as a minority language in Britain. Status was changed from ‘extinct’ to ‘critically endangered’ in 2010. MaoriAn indigenous language of New Zealand.In 1980s less than 20% of the Maori could speak it well enough to be classed as native speakers of the Language. Maori Language Week - encourages New Zealanders to use/support the language. The Maori Act 1987 – Maori gained official language status in New Zealand, and speakers were able to use Maori in a legal setting.

USA is meant to be a country of multiculturalism and multilingualism.

So why try banning Spanish as a language of instruction in US education?

• Thought the goal of becoming a world power could only be achieved by unity. Hence, a common language: English.

The United States tried to achieve English as the sole language of instruction in education by e.g:

• Using bilingual education as a tool to

promote learning English.

•Reforming federal education policy.

Spanish Preservation in the US

Data

2000 Census Spanish population: 14% of the US

populationCalifornia: the most Spanish speakers

(28.56% of US Spanish speakers)

Education (School)

• Languages are examined on College Entrance Examination Board tests for college admission

• Spanish was the most popular foreign language in American high schools and colleges

High school: 69% (2000)College : 53%(2002)

• Special teacher training programs

Education(School) Cont.

• Within the public education in the United States, students can be supported in their maintenance and development of home language proficiencies in two types of programmes:

1. Maintenance bilingual education programs: Spanish is used as the languages of instruction after students have acquired English

2. Foreign language programs: Spanish is taught as a subject.

Education(School) Cont.• AATSP(The American Association of

Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese): Professional Development Series Handbooks for teaching K-16

• The NFLC (The National Foreign Language Centre): developed Langnet, a searchable database that includes Spanish an contains numerous resources for the teaching of heritage speakers

• http://www.langnet.org/index.php

Policies/Law• Government Code 12951• (a) It is an unlawful employment practice for

an employer, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 12926, to adopt or enforce a policy that limits or prohibits the use of any language in any workplace, unless both of the following conditions exist: (1) The language restriction is justified by a business necessity. (2) The employer has notified its employees of the circumstances and the time when the language restriction is required to be observed and of the consequences for violating the language restriction.

• The language Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California(1994):

• Provide “legal assistance to those who have been unfairly targeted in the workplace, in the marketplace, or in other important arenas because a) they choose to communicate in their native, non-English language

• B) they are unable to speak standard English

The Endangerment of Indigenous Languages in Australia

• When Europeans first settled in Sydney in 1788 the continent had around 250 languages

• The National Indigenous Languages Survey (NILS) Report 2005 found that 110 of the 145 indigenous languages still spoken in Australia are critically endangered. All of Australia’s Indigenous languages face an uncertain future if immediate action and care are not taken.

• 140 are almost exclusively spoken by elderly people, and only 12 are still very much alive and spoken by children.

Why Endangered?

Language preservation is not a 'popular' issue, and the large majority of the global population is unaware of the rate of language death

Many Aboriginal languages and dialects became extinct because their speakers were forbidden to use native language under white Australian assimilation policies.

The history of forced resettlement on reserves, the placing of many thousands of children in institutions, and the loss of land and culture

Preservation and Maintenance of the Languages of Aboriginal Australia

• Teach and promote a language (maintain)

• Produce and direct films(maintain)• Produce classroom resources (maintain)• Produce a book (preserve)• Create a dictionary (preserve)• Collect all known sources (preserve)• Conduct workshop recording elders

speaking (preserve)

Activities cont.

• Local radio broadcasters take on a role as Aboriginal language preservers.

• 42% of people in the Northern Territory listen to community radio each week.

Language Preservation Projects

• New South Wales Aboriginal Languages Research and Resource Centre

• Dictionaries

• Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program

• Yuwaalaraaly and Gamilaraay language project• Miromaa Computer Program

New National Approach to Preserve Indigenous Languages

• The new National Indigenous Languages Policy is aimed at keeping Indigenous languages alive and supporting Indigenous Australians to connect with their language, culture and country.

• Each year the United Nations celebrates and showcases the culture, history and languages of the world's Indigenous people.

• This will improve coordination between those who are already working to support Indigenous languages.

Key Areas

• Bringing national attention to Indigenous languages.• Encouraging the use of critically endangered

languages.• Making sure that in areas where Indigenous

languages are being spoken fully and passed on, government recognises these languages when it interacts with Indigenous communities.

• Helping restore the use of rarely spoken or unspoken Indigenous languages.

• Supporting the teaching and learning of Indigenous languages in Australian schools.

References

Salaberry, M. Rafael. (2009) Language Allegiances And Bilingualism In The US, Cromwell Press Group, Great Britain.

Douglas A. Kibbee. (1998) Language legislation & linguistic rights, Amsterdam. Coulmas, F. (1997) The Handbook of Sociolinguistics, Blackwell Publishers Ltd, UK. Del Valle, Sandra. 2003. Language Rights & the Law in the United States. Clevedon: Multilingual

Matters Brenzinger, M & de Graaf, T., Contribution to the UNESCO encyclopedia of life support systems

(EOLSS), 'Documenting Endangered Languages and Language Maintenance', http://www.mercator-research.eu/research-projects/endangered-languages/  

Valdes, G., et al. (2006) Developing Minority Language Resources: The case of Spanish in California UK: MPG Books Ltd.

Ethnologue, http://www.ethnologue.com/endangered-languages Potowski, K. (2010) Language Diversity in the USA Cambridge: Cambridge University Press UNESCO, http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/endangered-languages/

UNESCO Ad Hoc Expert Group on Endangered Languages (2003), 'Language Vitality and Endangerment', Paris, http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/doc/src/00120-EN.pdf

Wardhaugh, R.(2010), An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, Oxford, Wiley-Blackwell http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/language/aboriginal-language-preservation http://arts.gov.au/indigenous/languages