To the Teacher:
As many as 7,000 languages are spoken around the world. A substantial majority of them are considered endangered. Many of these endangered languages are spoken by indigenous peoples across the globe - including people in Guatemala, Canada, Australia, Peru, the United States, and Bolivia.
The disappearance of indigenous languages is caused by factors including urbanization and the growing globalization of culture, media, and art. In addition, some governmental policies have put indigenous languages at risk. In response to these challenges, indigenous communities are increasingly organizing to preserve and revitalize their languages, working to ensure that younger generations learn and perpetuate them.
This lesson consists of two readings and one classroom exercise. The first reading examines the reasons for the widespread extinction of indigenous languages around the world. The second reading outlines how indigenous movements are fighting to preserve their languages. Questions for discussion follow each reading. A classroom exercise after the two readings invites students to consider ideas and expressions that might be lost as the world’s diversity of languages diminishes.
Student Reading 1:
Languages in Decline
As many as 7,000 languages are spoken around the world. A substantial majority of them are considered endangered. Many of these endangered languages are spoken by indigenous peoples across the globe - including people in Guatemala, Canada, Australia, Peru, the United States, and Bolivia.
The disappearance of indigenous languages is caused by factors including urbanization and the growing globalization of culture, media, and art. In addition, some governmental policies have put indigenous languages at risk.
Not everyone agrees about the impact of language loss. Some people argue that disappearing languages should not be a matter of international concern. They contend that languages are naturally selected based on their usefulness. They point out that a consolidation of languages means an increased ability to communicate globally, without the burden of translation.
In contrast, indigenous rights advocates are alarmed by the current rapid loss of languages. These advocates believe that this loss correlates with a decrease in richness of human expression. Indigenous peoples also worry that the future of their communities is being endangered as their cultures are eliminated.
National Geographic magazine’s Enduring Voices Project, which works with indigenous communities to combat language extinction, describes what is lost when indigenous languages die out. The project’s website explains:
By 2100, more than half of the more than 7,000 languages spoken on Earth—many of them not yet recorded—may disappear, taking with them a wealth of knowledge about history, culture, the natural environment, and the human brain....
Language defines a culture, through the people who speak it and what it allows speakers to say. Words that describe a particular cultural practice or idea may not translate precisely into another language. Many endangered languages have rich oral cultures with stories, songs, and histories passed on to younger generations, but no written forms. With the extinction of a language, an entire culture is lost.
Much of what humans know about nature is encoded only in oral languages. Indigenous groups that have interacted closely with the natural world for thousands of years often have profound insights into local lands, plants, animals, and ecosystems—many still undocumented by science. Studying indigenous languages therefore benefits environmental understanding and conservation efforts.
Studying various languages also increases our understanding of how humans communicate and store knowledge. Every time a language dies, we lose part of the picture of what our brains can do.
In a June 2014 article in the New Internationalist magazine, writer Jo Lateu outlines key factors that have led to an increasing rate of language extinction:
Some people argue that, since languages ebb and flow as part of a natural order, it is pointless trying to save them. But the current threat to most of the world’s 7,000 languages is far from being a natural phenomenon. Rather, the threat comes from geopolitical prerogatives, inequality, poverty and rampant globalization. Linguists believe that language loss is now taking place at an unprecedented rate, as is the spread of half a dozen globally dominant languages, which, if we don’t act now, may be all we are left with in 100 years’ time.
Colonization and the rise of the nation-state in the 18th and 19th centuries laid the groundwork for the situation in which we now find ourselves. As lands were conquered, indigenous people were wiped out or scattered. Their languages were banned or suppressed, either overtly, using horrific physical and psychological methods, or covertly, with rulers extolling the virtues of their own modern, relevant languages, which, they said, would offer the locals a chance to better themselves and, of course, lead them to salvation. Nation-states were created, often with arbitrary borders based on geographical or political expediency, leaving language communities suddenly cut off from each other....
Governments often fail to protect or promote their country’s minority languages, fearing that significant minority groups speaking a different tongue within their borders could result in political disturbance, as such communities demand greater recognition, autonomy or even independence. ...
To survive, languages must be seen to be relevant. They must be valued and their use encouraged, particularly among children. Being multilingual is very much the norm in most of the world; Indian children, for example, will often be fluent in three or four languages, and will switch between them as appropriate, at school, with family, friends or neighbors. It is this sort of ‘active’ multilingualism, with each language having a valid and valued place in a different area of an individual’s daily life, that must be encouraged.
As the number of languages being spoken in the world declines rapidly, preserving the world's diverse linguistic heritage will require dedicated effort.
For Discussion:
1. Did anything surprise you about this reading? If so, what?
2. Do you have any questions about the reading? How might these be answered?
3. According to the reading, what are some reasons that advocates fight for language preservation? Can you think of other reasons why endangered languages might be worth preserving?
4. Not everyone is concerned about language loss. What do you think of their arguments?
5. What are some of the factors that have led to a rapid loss of indigenous languages?
6. Some languages on the verge of extinction have only a handful of speakers remaining. This has led some people to consider at what point a language should be allowed to become extinct. What do you think? How much effort should organizations and governments expend to preserve such languages? Explain your position.
Student Reading 2:
Indigenous Communities Fight to Save Their Languages
In response to the challenge of language extinction, indigenous communities are increasingly organizing to preserve and revitalize their cultures. They are working to ensure that younger generations learn and perpetuate their languages.
Some young people are adopting practices such as texting in their grandparents' languages. Meanwhile, indigenous artists are creating new music in modern genres with traditional languages.
One example of this latter trend is Los Nin, an Ecuadorian band with indigenous members. The band's music blends Spanish and the indigenous language Kichwa in hip-hop songs. Los Nin has drawn attention in international performances. As Manuela Picq, a professor at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito, explains in an August 18, 2012 article for Al Jazeera English:
Los Nin emerged in 2008. Originally from the town of Otavalo, in the northern highlands of Ecuador, their goal was to revive Kichwa through pop culture. The Kichwa verb "nin" means "to say." The young vocalists admit they had to re-learn the language of their parents to put it into songs. On stage, they blend languages and native musical instruments such as the Andean flute with more electric sounds. They also juxtapose cultural references, combining men's traditional long hair with the street fashion from NYC.
The musical repertoire is culturally diverse and inevitably rebellious. Lyrics discuss daily life, identity, discrimination and myriad other societal problems. "Identity" tackles cultural discrimination boys face for keeping their long hair and "20 balas" insists manhood is not achieved through violence or gunshots. Some songs celebrate the power of ancestry while others engage in the active defense of women rights over their bodies."
Indigenous communities are also using technology in their fight to preserve their languages. High-tech efforts include the creation of a texting app specifically for use by speakers of indigenous languages in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. Some people believe that Facebook and Twitter can also help to preserve languages. As writer Lydia Emmanouilidou explains in a July 26, 2014 article for NPR:
Social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter are in a position to revitalize and preserve indigenous, minority and endangered languages, linguists and language-preservation activists say.
One of the reasons some indigenous languages are endangered is that increased connectivity through the Internet and social media have strengthened dominant languages such as English, Russian and Chinese, says Anna Luisa Daigneault of the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages.
Endangered languages stand a greater chance of survival when they are used online.
"Having a Web presence for those languages is super important for their survival. Social media are just another connection point for people who want to stay connected to their language," says Daigneault, Latin America projects coordinator and development officer at the institute.
Today, Facebook — the world's most popular social networking site — is available in over 70 official languages. The list includes indigenous languages like Cherokee and Quechua. This year, Facebook says it launched 13 news languages, including Azerbaijani, Javanese, Macedonian, Galician and Sinhala....
"Having endangered languages on the Internet has a really strong impact on the youth because it shows that their language is still relevant today," says Daigneault of the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages. "When people use their language it shows that they're proud of speaking [it]."
Although the fight for language preservation is a challenging one, there are examples of indigenous languages thriving thanks to supportive public policy. One example is the South American country of Paraguay. As journalist Simon Romero writes in a March 12, 2012 article in the New York Times:
To this day, Paraguay remains the only country in the Americas where a majority of the population speaks one indigenous language: Guaraní. It is enshrined in the Constitution, officially giving it equal footing with the language of European conquest, Spanish. And in the streets, it is a source of national pride.
"Only 54 of nearly 12,000 schools teach Portuguese," said Nancy Benítez, director of curriculum at the Ministry of Education, of the language of Brazil, the giant neighbor that dominates trade with Paraguay. "But every one of our schools teaches Guaraní." ...
Teaching Guaraní is a subject infused with nationalism and competing theories of how to prevent Guaraní from being eclipsed by Spanish, long dominant in the legal system and in business.
Meanwhile, Guaraní is treading into new realms. Works like "Don Quixote" and the "Book of Mormon" recently gained Guaraní translations. Those proficient in written Guaraní exchange text-messages farewells like "Jajuecháta Ko’érõ," which means, "We’ll see each other if tomorrow comes.
Indigenous activists are both hopeful and excited about the increasing variety of methods being used to encourage indigenous language preservation and learning.
For Discussion:
1. Did anything surprise you about the reading? If so, what?
2. Do you have any questions about the reading? How might these be answered?
3. According to the reading, what are some of the more innovative ways through which indigenous communities are encouraging use of their ancestral languages?
4. Why do advocates for the preservation of indigenous languages focus on getting young people interested in the cause? Can you think of more ways to getting young people to learn or speak an indigenous language?
5. Do you think platforms such as Facebook and Twitter can contribute to the preservation of indigenous languages? Could they be good tools for encouraging the use of minority languages?
6. According to the reading, why has the language Guaraní managed to survive and even thrive in Paraguay? Do you believe that other governments should adopt similar public policies? Explain your position.
Classroom Exercise:
Celebrating Diversity of Languages
Different languages have words and phrases that are very difficult to translate. As languages go extinct, therefore, the richness of human expression is diminished.
Recently, artist Anjana Iyer created illustrations for more than a dozen distinctive words for which there is no English translation. Iyer’s work can be found here. A note to teacher: Please view the images in advance. The first two expressions may raise questions that you will want to discuss with students.
As a classroom exercise, share Iyer’s work with your students and ask them to reflect on the expressions. The following questions can be used to guide discussion:
1. What are your favorite words or expressions from the list? Why?
2. Do you find any words or expressions to be disturbing? Why?
3. Why do you think the words chosen by artist Anjana Iyer are so difficult to translate? Do you notice any patterns?
4. What do these distinctive words and phrases reflect about the cultures from which they originate?
Have students break into groups of four or five. Give each group a few minutes to invent at least one new word that describes something so special or so specific that there is not yet a word for it (that they know of). It might be a word for a certain kind of feeling or mood, a kind of behavior we see in ourselves or others, or the way something looks, sounds, or feels. It could be a word to describe a particular situation.
Ask students to report back on the word they have come up with, and explain what it means. Write each word on the board, and ask: does this word describe something other students know or have experienced? Does the word have resonance for you? Does the word reflect something about the students’ own lives and cultures?
Closing
Ask students to volunteer one thing that struck them about the reading and discussion today.
- Research assistance provided by Yessenia Gutierrez.