Language Extinction and Language Survival

Language Extinction and Language Survival
Of the approximately 6,900 languages in the world, about 325 are (or once were) spoken by the indigenous peoples of North America. According to the Indian Country Today Media Network:
“The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2006–2010 American Community Survey report shows that of the 2.4 million people in the U.S. who identify themselves as American Indian or Alaska Native alone (and who are over 5 years of age), over 70 percent say they speak only English at home. A Native North American language is spoken in the homes of nearly 15 percent.” https://newsmaven.io/indiancountrytoday/archive/7-most-popular-native-american-languages-in-u-s-F8_vHNtMYEGWyW2Pm001RA/ (Links to an external site.)
According to UNESCO, most of the indigenous languages of the Americas are either critically endangered or already extinct. (Links to an external site.)In addition, almost every country around the world has at least one or more minority language within it’s borders that is identified by UNESCO as endangered. To search endangered languages by country, you can go to the online UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger: http://www.unesco.org/languages-atlas/index.php (Links to an external site.)
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Your assignment will be to choose ONE endangered language from anywhere in the world as your focus, and write a profile of the language and its speech community. Length should be approx. 4-5 pgs. (1” margins, 12-point font) – be sure to be as thorough as possible in addressing ALL parts of the paper thoroughly.
Using the sources listed below, you will write an assessment report on the vitality and endangered status of the language you have chosen. Using the information found on the Ethnologue website, the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, and other sources of your choosing (see below), you will write a report which details what you have learned about the language which addresses EACH of the 9 criteria for language vitality (health) developed by UNESCO (the UNESCO report listed below explains these in more detail):
1. Intergenerational Language Transmission
2. Absolute number of speakers
3. Proportion of speakers within the total population
4. Shifts in Domains of Language Use
5. Response to New Domains and Media
6. Availability of Materials for Language Education and Literacy
7. Governmental and Institutional Language Attitudes and Policies, Including Official Status and Use
8. Community Members’ Attitudes towards Their Own Language
9. Type and Quality of Documentation
Refer to the UNESCO report for more detail on these criteria:
NOTE: you must choose a language that is not already extinct, and preferably you should choose a language that has at least 50-100 speakers, as this will make it easier to address all nine criteria above. That being said, there may not be any information about all nine criteria, which should be noted in your paper.
HERE IS A SAMPLE PAPER YOU CAN LOOK AT AS A ROUGH GUIDE:
In gathering information for your essay, you may wish to utilize some or all of the following resources:
· http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/ (Links to an external site.) – the Endangered Languages Project – comprehensive list of resources, bibliographies and more for endangered languages – this should be your first stop for data.
· http://www.ethnologue.com/region/NAM (Links to an external site.) – the Ethnologue Languages of the World website (access no longer available for free – requires a subscription)
· http://www.ethnologue.com/endangered-languages (Links to an external site.) – Ethnologue’s criteria for evaluating language endangerment
· http://www.unesco.org/languages-atlas/ (Links to an external site.) – the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger is another resource to help you identify languages, and understand the classification system used to categorize the endangered status of the language you choose
· http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001836/183699E.pdf (Links to an external site.) – the UNESCO report on Language Vitality and Endangerment, which explains the 9 criteria for language vitality you will you to assess the state of your chosen language.
· Other resources as needed – Youtube is actually a great source for discovering whether the language community is engaging in social media, music or other realms of cultural activity in their native language. In order to assess the vitality of the language you have chosen, you may need to search online and/or through the Stewart Library article databases to find more information on the UNESCO criteria for language vitality. Such things as tribal websites, education sites, blogs, music or other media related to the language community are also good indicators of language vitality.

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