Aside from taking one undergraduate course, I have never really delved into the world of linguistics, but I do enjoy languages. In my neighbourhood during the summer, tourists from other countries often mill about by the river or in the local park, conversing with one another in a variety of languages. It’s a joyful mix of sounds, tones, and cadences that reflects the diverse ways in which human beings experience the world. So, when I read predictions, such as those made by the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, which “estimates that half of the world’s spoken languages will disappear by the end of the century if nothing is done” (Meigs, 2011), I am disheartened.
As we know, North American indigenous languages “are now seriously endangered” (Gadelii, 1999), and despite the thoughtful and multi-pronged efforts of language planners, “our Native American languages [keep] dying” (Littlebear, 2010). But as one of my personal heroes, the acclaimed American linguist Joshua Fishman (2002) points out, most language revitalization programs simply focus on the language itself, rather than taking a big-picture approach of viewing languages as reflections of cultures and communities. Without a culture or community to support it, a language has little chance of survival (Fishman, 2002).
Here is where social media could prove to be an invaluable tool. Because “social media provide many or all seven of the functional building blocks of social life—identity, conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation, and groups” (Kietzmann et al. as cited in Coronel-Molina, 2011, p.289), they can foster, to a degree, the kind of community and culture building initiatives that are required for language support. Moreover, social media increase the “functional domains” of a language (Coronel-Molina, 2012, p.279), those areas in day-to-day life in which the language is actively employed. “In general, the more public domains in which a language is used, the higher its status” (Coronel-Molina, 2012, pp. 279-80). This observation explains the focus of language planners on a language’s status: Only once the attitudes of speakers and potential learners shift from dismissive to appreciative does language corpus planning become purposeful, and language acquisition planning seem realistic (Schreyer, 2011). Social media, by placing endangered languages into more public domains, may help bring about these much needed attitudinal changes.
Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own.
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Current examples of social media at work include IndigenousTweets.com, which enables people to tweet and to follow other tweeters in any of approximately 100 indigenous languages (Meigs, 2011). Quechua and Aymara, indigenous languages of South America’s Andean region with 6+ and 2+ million speakers, respectively, have found new life in social media, such as YouTube, blogs, and Facebook (Coronel-Molina, 2012). Both languages are also appearing in Twitter tweets and in wikis (Coronel, Molina, 2012). In BC and Alaska, Tlingit speaking community members are using Facebook and video conferencing tools to practice their language (Schreyer, 2011). These are exciting developments, particularly as the “coolness factor” of social media could go a long way towards building a language’s prestige (Miegs, 2011; Schreyer, 2011).
However, social media does present some access problems: 1) there’s the digital divide to consider, and 2) typing in certain languages may present difficulties (Meigs, 2011). Additionally, the most avid social media users “often lack Native language fluency” (Meigs, 2011).
Despite these challenges, social media holds hope for those interested in and passionate about linguistic and cultural diversity. But because social media tools can never be as powerful as face-to-face communication and strong “real world” communities, I hope that these cyber realm initiatives lead to these languages and their related cultures thriving offline.
References:
Coronel-Molina, S. M. (2012). New functional domains of Quechua and Aymara: Mass media and social media. In J. W. Tollefson (Ed.), Language policies in education: Critical issues (pp. 278-300). London, UK: Routledge
Fishman, J. (2002). Commentary: What a difference 40 years make! Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 12(2), 144-149. Retrieved from http://linguisticanthropology.org/journal/
Gadelii, K. E. (1999). Language planning theory and practice: An evaluation of language planning cases worldwide. France: UNESCO. doi 10.1.1.119.2871(3)
Littlebear, R. (2010, April 26). And still the languages kept on dying. Multilingual Mania: Cultivating a Multilingual World. Retrieved from http://multilingualmania.com/and-still-the-languages-kept-dying/
Meigs, D. (2011, June 14). Tweet hereafter: Social media is saving native languages. Indian Country. Retrieved from http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/article/tweet-hereafter%3A-social-media-is-saving-native-languages-37472
Schreyer, C. (2011). Media, information technology, and language planning: What can endangered language communities learn from created language communities? Current Issues in Language Planning, 12(3), 403-425. doi 10.1080/14664208.2011.604965
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