More than 6000 languages are spoken on Earth today. Experts predict that by the year 2100, more than half of them will disappear. Currently, languages are disappearing at a rate of one every two weeks.
For this assignment, we will consider why languages are endangered and going extinct.
There is not one “correct” way to approach this assignment, but here are some questions you can think about to get you started:
What factors are playing a role in the disappearance of languages?
Are all languages equally at risk?
What can be done to prevent these languages from being lost?
Why is it important to study, document, and preserve languages around the world?
What reactions do you have to this type of information?
You might also choose to focus on your own linguistic history: so many of us speak colonial languages (English, Spanish, French), and in many cases, these languages have swamped out the languages of our ancestors. So thinking about your origins, what language or languages did your ancestors speak, and what caused those languages to disappear or become less common over time?
Follow these steps:
1. Read this chapter excerpt on Language Loss: Language loss (Kottak)
Citation info: Kottak, C. P. (2014). Window on Humanity: A concise introduction to anthropology. McGraw-Hill Humanities, Social Sciences & World Languages.
This chapter will give you a solid basis for continuing your research on language loss.
2. Do some research on this topic using online sources. You are welcome to find your own sources, or start with the resources listed below:
National Geographic website “Disappearing Languages (Enduring Voices),” https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/about-enduring-voices. Poke around the site, check out the expeditions, Look at several of the areas that are in danger of language extinction, and look at some of the supplementary information provided for one or two of these.
Living Tongues: https://livingtongues.org/, a foundation dedicated to recording and preserving endangered languages.
https://www.nytimes.com/video/nyregion/1247467719180/city-of-endangered-languages.html, about the many languages that have been brought to New York through immigration, and how they are persisting here.
https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2024/02/new-york-endangered-language-city/677565/, another article about the linguistic diversity of New York City
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/03/traumatic-legacy-indian-boarding-schools/584293/, about the practice in the United States of putting Native American children in government-run, English-only schools, and how that separated Native children from their cultures
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeGiMSbgGQY, video on endangered languages around the world
https://www.sbs.com.au/mygrandmotherslingo/, this is just a very cool site that looks at a disappearing Indigenous Australian language
https://remezcla.com/lists/film/68-voces-animated-short-films-mexico-indigenous-languages/?rfb, animated short films in Indigenous languages of Mexico
https://mashable.com/archive/friends-save-dying-language#9wbe4t_kJgqn, article on the last two speakers of Ayapaneco, an Indigenous Mexican language
https://www.npr.org/2022/08/30/1119939392/last-member-uncontacted-tribe-dies-brazil, not specifically about language, but earlier this year, the last living member of an “uncontacted” tribe in Brazil died; the other members of his group had largely been killed in the decades prior as a result of conflict with colonists (and corporations), meaning this man was the last to carry any cultural or linguistic knowledge of this group
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20140606-why-we-must-save-dying-languages: this is a really good article that includes a lot of links to other sources, good examples, very clear explanation of what is lost when language disappears
Additionally, you can find a lot of articles online by googling “endangered language” or more specific searches like “effects of immigration on language.”
3. Write a brief summary of what you learned through your reading of these sources. Your submission should be at least 600 words, typed, 12-point Times New Roman font, 1″ margins, Word Doc or PDF. This is a very open assignment, in that you can approach it in many ways. But you do need to include specific reference to at least two sources that you used in your research. You must use at least one of the resources provided above. This must be written in your own words. Again, this must be written in your own words.
Your submission must be written in your own words, summarizing what you learned in your research, and including your own informed opinion and analysis. Any submission found to be copied from an internet source, another student, or anything generated by AI or run through a “spinner” will not receive any credit.
>>>If plagiarism or inappropriate use of AI/spinner tools is suspected, you may be asked to meet with Prof. Sheila about your submission or otherwise demonstrate that your submission is your original work. Failure to do so, if asked, will result in a zero score.
4. Include in-text citations and a list of references at the end of your submission. “In-text citations” are also known as parenthetical citations, and is when you let your reader know that a specific piece of information has come from a specific article or source.
For example, you might write something like:
“Experts find that Indigenous languages are at greatest risk of disappearing (Kottak, 2014).”
The author (Kottak) and the year of publication (2014) indicate where you got this information from.
Then at the end of your paper, you will have a “References” list or “Works Cited” list. And that is where you will list each of the sources you used, like this:
References
Kottak, C.P. 2014. Window on Humanity: A concise introduction to anthropology. McGraw-Hill Humanities, Social Sciences & World Languages.
Here is a great resource for how to format in-text citations and references: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/in_text_citations_the_basics.htm
