The Linguistics of Language RevitalizationGradyWilliam.pdf · The Linguistics of Language...
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The Linguistics of Language Revitalization William O’Grady Department of Linguis8cs University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa 1
Transcript of The Linguistics of Language RevitalizationGradyWilliam.pdf · The Linguistics of Language...
The Linguistics of
Language RevitalizationWilliamO’Grady
DepartmentofLinguis8cs
UniversityofHawai‘iatMānoa
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‘Theworldisfulloflanguages[thathave]fewerandfeweruserseverygenera8on.’
JoshuaFishman(1991:1)
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Thepredic8onthatchangedlinguis8cs:‘The[21st]centurywillseeeitherthedeathorthedoomof90%ofmankind’slanguages.’
—MichaelKrauss(1992:7)seealsoUNESCO(2003:4)
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EndangeredlanguagesinAsiaandNorthAmerica(mapfromtheUniversityofHawaiiEndangeredLanguagesProject)
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Endangered languages in East Asia
•Japan:6Ryukyuanlanguages,plusHachijo&Ainu•Korea:
Jejueo,Hamgyeong(?)•Taiwan:26Formosanlanguages(only14s8llspoken)•People’sRepublicofChina:
around130endangeredlanguages
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Birthofthelanguagerevitaliza8onmovement
2001 2001 2006 2013 2018
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Whatistheroleoflinguis8csinlanguagerevitaliza8on?
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Noteveryonewantslinguiststobeinvolved…
‘Don’thirelinguists…Ihavenothingagainstlinguists[but]theyarenotus;theyarerecorders.’
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Evensomelinguistsdon’tthinklinguistsshouldbeinvolved…
‘Idon’tbelievethatlanguagerevitaliza8oneffortsneedlinguists.’‘Askingalinguisttohelpyoudevelopalanguageprogramisabitlikeaskingamechanictoteachyouhowtodrive…’
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Myview:Askingalinguisttohelpwithalanguagerevitaliza8onprogramislikeaskingamechanictohelpfixyourcar.
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Some comments on language revitalization efforts:
‘harmfulundertakings’‘indifferentlysuccessful,atbest’
‘outrightfailures’‘mostlanguagerevitaliza8oneffortshavefailed.’‘notcrea8ngnewcommuni8esofspeakers’‘TheonlycasewhereithassucceededisHebrew.’
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Planforthetalk1. Aquickreviewofthefieldasithasdevelopedtothispoint2. Findingaplaceforlinguis8csinlanguagerevitaliza8on3. Learningafirstlanguageinamonolingualsemng4. Learningtwolanguagesinabilingualsemng5. Theneedforstrictassessmentforrevitaliza8onprograms6. Concludingremarks
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Section 1
A Quick Review of the Field
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Two Strategies for Language Revitalization:
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1. The job of saving a language belongs to the family.
‘Athreatenedlanguagemustfirstbeacquiredathome,beforechildrenarriveatschool.’(Fishman2001:14)
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2. The job of saving a language belongs to the schools.
Schoolshaveexperienceteachinglanguages.
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A2017surveyof30revitaliza8onini8a8vesonfivecon8nents(SmithsonianIns8tu8on&DepartmentofLinguis8csattheUniversityofHawai‘i):
Numberofprogramscommioedtoparentaltransmission:1
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Thegoldstandardforschool-basedrevitaliza8on:languageimmersion
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LanguageImmersion=allteachingisintheendangeredlanguage
“thebasicformula:aroom,ateacher,andsomechildren”
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• Theroomisnotenough.• Thepresenceofadultsintheroomisnotenougheither.• Eventhepresenceofchildrenisnotenough.
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Sec8on2
APlaceforLinguis8csinLanguageRevitaliza8on
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Whatarethesignsthatalanguageisendangered?
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Alowrateofinter-genera8onaltransmission.
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Whatis‘intergenera8onaltransmission’?
It’slanguageacquisi8on!
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Whatfactorspromotelanguageacquisi8on?
Afirstplacewherelinguis8csisrelevanttolanguagerevitaliza8on
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Section 3
Learning a First Language in a Monolingual Setting
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Theimportanceof‘input’• Therearesignificantdifferencesintheinputthatchildrenreceive.• Thosedifferenceshaveimportantlong-termeffects.
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a. Quantity
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The effects of quantity
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b. Quality
LexicalDiversity Syntac8cComplexity
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c. Opportunities to engage in conversations
Thenumberofconversa8onalturnsisthebestpredictorof• Verbalskills,suchasvocabularysizeandsentencecomprehension• Degreeofac8va8oninBroca’sarea
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Thisisgoodnewsforlanguagelearningathome…
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…butnot-so-goodnewsforschool-basedprograms
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Summary
Successinlanguagelearningcorrelateswith:
• thequan8tyoftheinput• thequalityoftheinput(lexicaldiversity,syntac8ccomplexity)
• opportuni8esforone-on-oneconversa8ons
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SECTION 4
LearningTwoLanguagesinaBilingualSemng
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Languagerevitaliza8onrequiresacommitmenttobilingualism
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1.Input
Inputfromtwodifferentlanguages
slowerdevelopmentineach.
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InputRa8os• Childrenwhoreceivelessthan20%oftheirinputinapar8cularlanguagearereluctanttouseit.
• Recommenda8on:Ra8oofexposuretothetwolanguagesshouldnotexceed70-30.
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The ‘math’ for school-based immersion programs:
• 14-hourday(x7=100-hourweek)• 5-hourschoolday(x5=25-hourschoolweek)• Ra8oofnon-school8metoschool8me:75-25
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2. The danger of attritionChildrenacquirelanguagequickly—andloseitjustasquickly
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Aconcreteexample• AmonolingualKoreanchildcomestoAmericaatage6;10.• SheisenrolledinanAmericanschool.• HermotherstartsspeakingtoheronlyinEnglish.• HerknowledgeofKoreanistestedeverymonth
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Vocabulary loss :
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LanguageRevitaliza8on=Acquisi8on+Maintenance
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Overall summary—things that matter:• thequan8tyoftheinput• thequalityoftheinput(lexicaldiversity,syntac8ccomplexity)
• opportuni8esforone-on-oneconversa8ons
• Inputneedstobewell-balanced(the‘70-30rule’).• Maintenancerequireslong-termuseonaregularbasis.
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Sec8on5
TheNeedforAssessment
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• Assessmentandmeasurementareakeypartofcogni8vescience.
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Anexample:Subject-verbagreementinCherokee
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Meanpercentagecorrectawer2-3yearsinthecommunity’spre-schoolimmersionprogram
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The explanation Theteachersproducedtoomanycommands!
‘Sitdown.’‘Writeonyourpaper.’‘Readpage5.’‘Closethedoor.’
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The remedy:
• Revisionstothecurriculumandnewteachingstrategies• Opportuni8estoemployinflectedverbsinmeaningfulac8vi8es
• Theresult:aquickanddrama8cimprovement
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Recommenda8on:
Testtheprogramfirst!
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Section 6
ConcludingRemarks
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Thesteepandnarrowpath
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Thankyou.
