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How wide the Great Divide: language endangerment awareness and the school curricula
Radosław WójtowiczAdam Mickiewicz [email protected]
3L 2012 Junior Researchers Conference, Lyon 11.7.2012
The structure of the presentation
about INNET Project Curriculum Report and results of the
interviews – Awareness Report real needs vs. existing materials summary and suggestions
INNET Project
the consortium: UCO, HASRIL, MPIPL, AMU
7th Framework Programme of the EU
2011-2014 5 workpackages Summer School:
Technological approaches to the documentation of lesser-used languages, September 2013, Poznań
Objectives
not mere preservation of the data, but making archives available for researchers and the general public
engaging in an interaction with secondary school teachers and pupils so as to attract new generations of students to the study and management of linguistic diversity
www.innet-project.eu
Assessing awareness
examining school curricula interviews with educational officials semi-structured interviews with pupils
and teachers of 8 secondary schools across Poland
Curriculum Report
school curricula currently in a state of transition
language endangerment not an issue whatsoever, although there are 7 school subjects where lessons on language endangerment could be conducted in relation to topics that are included in syllabi for the subjects
Inteviews with educational officials
Ministry of Education sets priority topics for inspections; summer semester 2011/2012: the abidance of rules concerning teaching of languages, culture and history of ethnic minorities
Regional Educational Superintendents: not searching for problems, but responding to problems/needs signaled by pupils, teachers and parents and searching for solutions to them; except for pupils in Pomerania who wanted extra-curricular education on Kashubian, no such needs reported
rather than on the languages, more attention should be focused on the culture and history of minorities
awareness considerably higher in regions where minority languages are spoken, although not in all cases
‘folk linguistics’ of language endangerment a language can become endangered due to e.g.
bad (=cold) climate; a possible solution to the problem is relocating the speakers to safer/better locations;
if a language is too difficult or too old-fashioned to be used by a new generation, it can easily become endangered.
„Although it is essential to ensure minority language rights, natural processes are difficult to go against.”
Pupils’ feedback
include maps and statistical data (especially liked by boys)
more information on several languages rather than superficial knowledge from very many languages
the idea of a computer game not so much liked
karaoke in endangered languages
Teachers’ feedback
topics that could be nicely combined with the issue of language endangerment:
the cultural diversity of the world (Geography) the ethnic composition of Poland – past and
today (History) identity and national identity, civil and political
rights (Social Studies) global culture vs. regional culture (Cultural
Studies) different varieties of English (English)
Teachers’ feedback
what type of teaching material? English: listening exercises Geography: personal-like stories of language
communities Social Studies: a myth or a legend in an
endangered language with a translation into Polish
what additional material? History and Social Studies: extracts from
statistical yearbooks Cultural Studies: songs, pictures etc.
Awareness Report: conclusions basic demographics and significant cultural
content to be included spoken language exists before a written
language and that a language is not confined in its (standarized) written form;
small does not always mean endangered; challenge the assumption that endangered
languages are only used by old women or tribesmen; show young people school pupils could identify with
endangeredlanguages.nl
two lessons: 1. about language in general, 2. two communities, their language, culture, geography etc.
The Linguists
http://www.pbs.org/thelinguists/For-Educators/
an interactive map showing locations minimum text, maximum interactive material A Teacher’s Guide to Endangered Languages: 10
themes dealing with different aspects of language endangerment; proposals for discussions, tasks, homework
video extras
Kristin Denham: Teaching Kids about Language Change, Language Endangerment and Language Death
http://faculty.wwu.edu/denham/docs/Teaching_Kids_about.pdf
language change explained comparing English of Beowulf, Shakespeare texts and Modern English
Kirk Hazen: Teaching About Dialects (cal.org) http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/
digest_pdfs/0104-hazen.pdf an article in fact dealing with dialects of English,
but useful because of the practical advice for teachers
having pupils discuss stigmatized forms assessing the level of ‘language intolerance’ and
linguistic prejudices by having students discuss some popular beliefs about language
Other
Linguistic Society of America: What is an endangered language? http://lsadc.org/info/ling-faqs-endanger.cfm - basic questions as subheadings with examples supporting the answer wherever possible
First Voices http://www.firstvoices.com/scripts/WebObjects.exe/FirstVoices.woa/wa/file? – games and audio puzzles on sounds from indigenous languages of Canada
School information package
teaching materials an interactive map available on-line Book of Knowledge ancillary package for teachers
Book of Knowledge
10 chapters links, photos examples of structures primarily from
endangered languages constant emphasis on the linguistic diversity of
the world emphasis on the fact that each human
language, be it Aranda or English, is a complex system
Problems
too difficult? too academic? too much focused on the linguistic side? pupils’ feedback vs. emphasizing the
linguistic diversity of the world how to design the package for teachers? are the teachers going to use the
material? beaurocracy
References
Crystal, David (2003): Crossing the great divide: language endangerment and public awareness. Keynote speech to the International Expert Meeting on Endangered Languages, UNESCO, Paris, 10 March 2003.
Crystal, David (2011): Language diversity, endangerment, and public awareness. British Academy Review 18, 12-20.
Odé, Cecilia (2008): Teaching Materials on Language Endangerment An Interactive E-learning Module on the Internet, In: Tjeerd de Graaf et al. (eds.) - Endangered Languages and Language Learning: Proceedings of the Conference FEL XII, 24-27 September 2008, Ljouwert/Leeuwarden, 147-150. Leeuwarden: Foundation for Endangered Languages
