Media, information technology, and language planning: what can endangered language communities learn from created language communities?

Abstract

The languages of Klingon and Na'vi, both created for media, are also languages that have garnered much media attention throughout the course of their existence. Speakers of these languages also utilize social media and information technologies, specifically websites, in order to learn the languages and then put them into practice. While teaching a course on ‘Pidgins, Creoles, and Created Languages’, I realized that endangered language communities could learn techniques for interacting with the media from created language communities in order to help further develop the image and prestige planning for their languages. Also, endangered language communities could model the online resources of created language communities part of their acquisition planning. This paper draws on my experiences working with endangered language communities in Canada and Papua New Guinea in order to compare the language planning of these communities to that of Klingon and Na'vi speakers. I also discuss how endangered language communities might benefit from their examples and, finally, what some of the drawbacks to these technological advances may be in terms of language revitalization and maintenance.