Saving Languages: An Introduction to Language Revitalization

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Preface......Page 11
1 Introduction......Page 15
2 Assessing language vitality......Page 17
3 Terminology......Page 27
4 Levels of language endangerment and loss......Page 30
5 Why revitalization?......Page 33
1 Introduction......Page 35
2 Macro-variables......Page 36
2.1 The extra-national level......Page 37
2.2 The national level......Page 39
2.2.1 Language policy......Page 40
2.2.2 Language attitudes......Page 44
2.2.3 Education policies......Page 46
2.2.4 Regional autonomy......Page 47
2.2.5 Federal support......Page 48
2.3.1 Regional languages......Page 49
2.3.2 Language density......Page 50
3 Micro-variables: the local level......Page 52
3.1 Language attitudes......Page 53
3.3 Religion......Page 55
3.4 Literacy......Page 57
3.5 Financial resources......Page 58
4 Case study: Cornish......Page 59
5 Establishing appropriate goals......Page 62
1 Introduction......Page 64
2 Total-immersion programs......Page 65
2.1 Te Kohanga Reo, the language nest......Page 66
3 Partial-immersion or bilingual programs......Page 69
4 An Introduction to Language Revitalization......Page 70
5 Community-based programs......Page 72
6 Master-apprentice program......Page 74
7 Language reclamation models......Page 77
8 Documentation as revitalization?......Page 82
4 Case studies......Page 83
1 Languages of the North: Siberian native languages and Soviet policy......Page 84
2 Shuar (South America)......Page 92
3 The Mohawk Immersion Program in Kahnawá:ke (Canada)......Page 100
4 Hawaiian......Page 108
1 Introduction......Page 116
2 Models of literacy......Page 117
2.1 Autonomous literacy......Page 118
2.2 Vai literacy as a counterexample to autonomous literacy......Page 120
2.3 New Literacy Studies......Page 122
2.3.1 Local and social literacies......Page 123
2.4 Functional literacy......Page 124
3 Literacy in language revitalization......Page 127
3.1.1 Prestige......Page 130
3.1.2 Empowerment......Page 131
3.2.1 Shifting from an oral to a written culture......Page 132
3.2.2 The lack of a written tradition......Page 134
3.2.3 Transitional literacy......Page 135
4 Instituting local literacy......Page 136
4.1 Attitudes......Page 137
4.2 Assessing the prospects for successful local literacy......Page 140
4.3 Creating a context......Page 141
4.4 Standardization......Page 143
5 Literacy teachers......Page 147
6 Conclusion......Page 149
1 Introduction......Page 151
2 Writing systems......Page 153
3 Linguistic and cognitive considerations......Page 154
4 Social issues......Page 156
5 Underdifferentiation and functional load......Page 160
6 Tone......Page 163
7 Standardization of orthographies......Page 165
7.1 Motivations for standardization......Page 167
7.2 Implications of standardization......Page 168
7.3 Process of standardization......Page 170
8 Recommendations......Page 172
1.1 Assessment of resources......Page 174
1.2 Assessment of language vitality......Page 175
1.3 Assessment of language variation......Page 180
1.4 Assessment of needs, goals, and attitudes......Page 184
2.1 Problems that occur internal to the community......Page 190
2.2 External barriers......Page 192
3 Updating the lexicon......Page 194
4.1 Literacy assessment......Page 198
4.2 Creating a written language......Page 200
4.3 Creating materials......Page 201
5 Teacher training......Page 203
6 The role of technology......Page 204
7 The role of the outsider......Page 206
7.1 The academic......Page 207
7.2 The missionary-linguist......Page 210
8 Evaluation and long-term prognosis......Page 211
9.1 Language vitality......Page 212
9.3 Attitudes......Page 213
9.4 Basic literacy survey......Page 214
9.5 Program evaluation......Page 215
10 Checklist of procedures......Page 216
Appendix: Online resources......Page 219
References......Page 221
Index of Languages......Page 236
General Index......Page 239