Language Revitalization Research Articles

Understanding how language revitalisation works: a realist synthesis

ABSTRACT Indigenous communities, linguists, teachers, and language activists have been developing methods to revitalise endangered languages over several decades. Not only are these methods diverse, they are usually implemented in various ways according to local needs and aspirations. Language revitalisation methods focus on proficiency, but there is also interest in strengthening identity, resilience, and wellbeing. Aside from a handful of successes, programs may not be achieving desired outcomes. One could try to evaluate specific programs. However, we believe that a necessary first step is to examine published literature of revitalisation efforts to develop initial understandings of how they work. In particular, we seek to understand how revitalisation efforts tap into the speech community, how local participation affects outcomes, and how this involvement is supported and sustained by external programs, with a focus on language revitalisation efforts in Australia. We conduct a realist synthesis, and through analysis of 125 pieces of literature, we identify 13 initial theories. In analysing these theories, we identify two major gaps in our understanding of language revitalisation: how revitalisation programs work to strengthen communities and promote commitment. We propose these as significant, under-theorised elements of successful revitalisation which can guide exploration at the level of individual programs.

Lingua Nullius: Indigenous Language Learning and Revitalization as Sites for Settler-Colonial Violence

This article examines the role that Indigenous language learning and use can play in the establishment of false or spurious claims to Indigeneity. These acts of “race shifting” are situated within the political discourse of “Truth and Reconciliation” and serve to enable settlers to situate themselves in positions where, both materially and symbolically, they rely on their claims to “Indigeneity” to take up resources dedicated to Indigenous people. Indigenous language use and language revitalization programs provide tools that can enable these performances of Indigenous identity to become more widely accepted among predominantly settler audiences. We argue that increasing consciousness of the inherently political nature of Indigenous language work – often framed as a move toward language reclamation – must be pushed even further, to consider the possibility that some users are not reclaiming but in fact claiming. These acts of claiming the language function in much the same way as claims to land have within settler colonialism – to dispossess Indigenous people and to disrupt Indigenous sovereignty.

The Goddess, Daenerys Targaryen and Me Too Values

AbstractIn this article the author interprets the image of Daenerys Targaryen from the HBO television series,Game of Thrones(2011–19) as an allegory for the Me Too movement and as a symbolic depiction of the concepts of women regaining their power. She follows the connection between the emerging visualization of Daenerys with the tiny dragons and ancient depictions of Goddesses and dragons, and connects this motif to feminist scholars who researched the revival of feminine language in the 1970s and the 1980s of the 20th century. The article also suggests that the nudity of women depicted in fantastic art, particularly in images with women and dragons, are not necessarily titillating but representative of the early feminist stage of women seeking a symbolic power figure. The author also contrasts Daenerys’s visualization with those images, suggesting how she demonstrates the evolution of the motif in light of the changing focal points of feminist movements. Daenerys’s image, she suggests, reflects one of the central issues of the Me Too phenomenon – considering the female body as a sanctuary, which even if exposed and suggestive, is dangerous and forbidden to touch.

Recent Advances in Technologies for Resource Creation and Mobilization in Language Documentation

Language documentation as a subfield of linguistics has arisen over the past roughly two and a half decades more or less simultaneously with the widespread availability of inexpensive hardware and software for creating, storing, and sharing digital objects. Thus, in some ways the history of advancements within the discipline is also a history of how technological tools have been developed, tested, adopted, and eventually abandoned as newer technologies appear. In this article we examine some recent technologies used both for creating documentary resources, usually considered to include recorded language events in a variety of genres and settings and enough annotation to make them decipherable, and for then mobilizing those resources so that they can be used and shared in language learning, reclamation, revitalization, and analysis.

The Elementary School Student’s Achievements in Usada Bali ‘Balinese Traditional Medicine’ Lexicon (Gender Study and Language Revitalization)

Usada Bali is a traditional Balinese healing practice that uses natural materials like plants for medicine. This practice is recorded in Balinese script on lontar leaves. Modern technology and synthetic medicine have reduced the use of some traditional medicinal plants and caused a language shift from Balinese to Indonesian, even for traditional medicine terminology. Now, these materials are often written in Indonesian to describe their usage. This study aims to analyze the language strategies regarding the Usada Bali lexicon applied by the student's parents at elementary school at Denpasar and Klungkung Regency. It examines students' proficiency in traditional medicine types, treatment techniques, and related medical problems, and factors influencing their understanding. Using qualitative methods and surveys, the study found that most parents (66.3% in Denpasar and 83.3% in Klungkung) use Strategy 7-a language strategy involving Balinese Language with their children, the same as that employed in the neighborhood domain. As a result, 59.2%-81.9% of students understand the traditional medicine lexicons. The study concludes that besides Strategy 7, other factors such as family demographics and the presence of multiple generations play significant roles in maintaining the Balinese language and Usada Bali lexicons, as part of oral traditions and Balinese Culture, which are crucial for preserving Balinese cultural identity.

Interpreting as a part of language planning

Abstract The paper opens with a brief overview of the reasons behind the decline of the Breton language in the mid-19th to early 20th Centuries in order to contextualise on-going revitalisation efforts that began in earnest in the 1980s. The discussion then turns to a theoretical review of the literature concerning the key role that translation has been shown to play within the framework of language planning for minority languages within the complementary fields of Polysystems Theory and the Sociology of Translation, arguing that the related yet considerably under-researched field of interpreting can also make a significant contribution to language planning and revitalisation by heightening visibility and symbolic prestige. Finally, the paper presents the results of a limited yet revelatory survey of the main interpreters active in the field in order to shed light on key aspects of the current state of the emerging phenomenon of Breton language interpreting (including interpreter profiles, training, directionality, modalities, voluntary vs. paid work, the clientele, etc.) and their implications with a view to gauging its potential impact for language planning and possible directions for the future.

Introduction

The International Journal of Literacy, Culture, and Language Education (IJLCLE) is an open-source, peer-reviewed international journal dedicated to publishing research in the field of literacy, culture, and language education from multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary perspectives. Its mission is to promote the academic exchange of ideas and dissemination of research among scholars and researchers from diverse fields of study worldwide. Authors are invited to submit manuscripts describing scholarly research on a wide range of topics related to language, literacy, and culture in education. Theoretical and conceptual studies, empirical and applied research using qualitative and/or quantitative methodologies, critical papers, special issues, and book reviews are all invited. Contributions from a host of disciplines such as sociolinguistics, sociology of language, psycholinguistics, educational linguistics, applied linguistics, linguistic anthropology, raciolinguistics, literacy studies, cultural studies, language and gender studies, language and political economy, media and technology, language education, teacher education, educational policy, semiotics, pragmatics, language policy and planning, language revitalization, and linguistic landscapes are very welcome. The intended audience of IJLCLE is researchers, scholars, educators, and graduate students from around the world.

Is ní cheilim, deirim, déarfad: the O’Donovan Rossa funeral, Pearse’s graveside oration and the Irish language context

ABSTRACT Patrick Pearse was a leading figure in the 1916 rising, an armed insurrection which aimed to bring about an Irish Republic. He was also an Irish language scholar, a language activist, a modernising creative writer, an innovative educator and educationalist theorist, and a political polemicist. This article revisits Pearse’s famous graveside oration at the August 1915 funeral of the separatist Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa. It considers how the examination of the oration in its Irish language contexts – both historical literary texts and contemporary machinations in the politics of the Gaelic League – can help us to assess the evolution and impact of Pearse’s political thought. In particular, consideration is given to connections with the seventeenth-century texts “An Siogaí Rómhánach” and “Róisín Dubh.” An underlying argument is that texts composed and delivered as declamation need to be considered in their performative contexts. A comparative and contextualising discussion of the oration brings insights into the meaning and import of both the oration and the other texts and contexts alluded to by Pearse.

Revitalization of Local Language in Si Bolang

The millennial era and the times have made language change. Not only language but even ethics, manners, and habits change. Indonesians are more interested in films, YouTube, and social media. The existence of Si Bolang shows that highlighting children's activities in the area can be a way to preserve the language. These shows often use regional languages during the dialogue between the character Si Bolang and the local children. In this study, he wanted to know about the revitalization of extinct languages in the 2019 Si Bolang program for language preservation. The research method used is descriptive qualitative. In the research, watching Si Bolang shows in 2019 by selecting 3 shows, then looking for the revitalization of the extinct languages contained in these shows. The results showed that the Si Bolang version shows "Serdadu Kecil Kampung Nelayan Cipanon", "Riang Akur Bocah Selur", and "Penjaga Alam Tanah Jawa". In these shows, language revitalization is becoming extinct or displaced due to the times and the millennial era. The first broadcast used the Sundanese regional language in as much as 40% of all shows due to the dominant language, namely Standard Indonesian. The second and third shows used the Javanese regional language, as much as 60% of all impressions. Because the dialogue used mainly uses the Javanese regional language. The language of instruction or explanation of Si Bolang's activities uses standard Indonesian. This revitalization is essential to be collected and then preserved. The results of this study are helpful for the whole community so that they are more familiar with the diversity of regional languages that are starting to be forgotten or not applied to everyday life. This film contains education and cultural preservation elements, so it needs to be a suggestion for other films to elevate Indonesian culture. With shows or films, it is easier for the audience to understand and more accessible to get the film's meaning. So that it will grow in the community to preserve the existing culture in Indonesia, researchers suggest that various parties can create media to provide impressions that can preserve local languages and introduce culture to the audience.

Translation for language revitalisation: efforts and challenges in documenting botanical knowledge of Thailand’s Northern Khmer speakers

Abstract This research examines the Thai and English translation equivalents of Northern Khmer ethnobotanical terms and the corresponding translation strategies, along with the translators’ reflections on their role as language revitalisation agents. The ultimate purpose of this translation effort is to provide a knowledge base for Northern Khmer learners and an English conversation textbook for local Thai and Northern Khmer students, as well as preserve traditional botanical information. The cultural-specific items that pose translation problems are traditional medicine-related terms, tastes, and parts of the plant. For Northern Khmer to Thai, the most frequently employed translation strategies are literal translation and cultural substitution, and for Thai to English, a combination of literal translation and paraphrasing. Besides the geographical, linguistic and cultural distance between the three languages, translators as agents with their language ability and willingness are crucial elements for Northern Khmer revitalisation. At the same time, the effort to undertake the process tends to be fully realised at the community level. Volunteer translators’ intention to devote their translations to educational resources for local students has a substantial impact on translation strategies. The translators’ self-concept is also enhanced by their prior involvement in the preserving botanical wisdom project and subsequent translation process, during which they reflect on language pairs and strengthen their knowledge of dialect as a by-product.

Digitized Indigenous Knowledge Collections Can Have Beneficial Impact on Cultural Identity and Social Ties

A Review of: Liew, C. L., Yeates, J., & Lilley, S. C. (2021). Digitized Indigenous knowledge collections: Impact on cultural knowledge transmission, social connections, and cultural identity. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 72(12), 1575–1592. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24536 Abstract Objective – To explore the impact and significance of digitized and digital Indigenous knowledge collections (D-IKC) on knowledge transmission, social connections, and cultural identity. Design – Phenomenological explorative study. Setting – New Zealand. Subjects – Eight D-IKC users, including three academics, four undergraduate students, and one postgraduate student. Six participants were women and two were men. All participants were of Māori descent. Methods – Eight semi-structured interviews ranging from 40 to 75 minutes were conducted in a face-to-face setting between June 2019 and August 2020. Participants were recruited through the researchers’ personal and professional networks using a purposeful sampling technique. Potential participants were provided with a copy of the interview guide during recruitment. Main Results – The article reports on seven areas of results: use of collections, accessibility and discoverability, collection features and functionality, sharing of knowledge resources, reuse and repurposing of resources, perceived benefits of cultural and social connections, and development and provision of D-IKC. Participants use D-IKC for academic work including coursework, teaching, and research as well as for personal interest and development, such as researching whakapapa (genealogy) and whenua (land) information, language revitalization projects, and creative works. All participants expressed preference for online access to the collections. Participants discussed barriers to access not only for themselves but also for other members of their community, including difficulty using the platforms on mobile devices, lack of awareness about the collections, inadequate digital access, and lack of digital competence for searching and navigation. Some participants noted inaccuracies in transcriptions that could lead to alteration of the meaning of words and deter engagement with D-IKC. All participants reported having shared knowledge resources they encountered in digitized collections. Primary reasons for sharing information included helping classmates get access to educational materials and sharing resources with whānau (extended family) for genealogical research and land claims. Common reasons for reusing or repurposing materials included language and dialect revitalization and creative work and performance. Participants said they were more likely to share materials related to their tribal affiliation. Participants also discussed information that would not be appropriate to share, such as information that is considered tapu (sacred), particularly if the material is outside of their tribal roots. Notably, all participants said they had come across resources and information in D-IKC that should not be openly accessible at all. Participants reported having gained linguistic and cultural knowledge as well as information about their cultural identity through their use of D-IKC. Sharing this knowledge with their communities has helped strengthen social connections. Some participants noted that their hapū (subtribe) planned to set up their own digital archives. Conclusion – Overall, D-IKC can have a beneficial impact on individual and collective social identity and social ties. Making these materials available online facilitates their wider access and use. However, memory institutions (MIs) need to take steps to ensure that cultural values and knowledge are embedded into the development and stewardship of the collections. MIs should employ more specialists from Indigenous communities with deep understanding of customary practices and principles, encourage other staff to develop their understanding of the language and customs of the Indigenous communities that their collections are rooted in, and develop partnerships with Indigenous authorities to help guide them on issues relating to sacred knowledge and genealogical materials. The authors also recommend that MIs develop outreach programs to raise awareness of the resources and to improve digital access and competencies.

The governance of Basque language revitalisation in the Basque Autonomous Community: from confrontation toward collaboration

ABSTRACT In recent decades, language revitalisation policies, programmes and initiatives have had to develop in an environment of major social, political, economic, or technological changes that have had an extraordinary impact on the governance of minority language revitalisation. In this context, we have studied the changes that have taken place in the governance of the revitalisation of the Basque language in the Basque Autonomous Community during the first two decades of the twenty-first century: from open antagonism to a common commitment to collaborative governance. We present an analysis of the models of governance confronted in the field of the revitalisation of the Basque language, of the rationalities that inform them or provide them with resources of meaning and legitimation, and of the process by which a model of collaborative governance has been arrived at.

Lost Future. Mykola Khvylovyi "Tram Letter"

Postcolonial landmarks of the early 21st century create the conditions for the revival and emergence of oppressed cultures, languages, and literatures in the recent past. These issues are especially acute during the war between Ukraine and Russia in 2022. The source should be sought in past historical conflicts, including the early 20th century. One of the powerful and talented artists who tried to revive, develop and rehabilitate the "Ukrainian" in the beginning 20-th century contrary to the official Russian system, there was a prominent Ukrainian writer Mykola Khvylovy (1893-1933), who literally gave his life for it. The scientific problem is to identify the aesthetic modernist dominants of Mykola Khvylovy's work. In addition to European principles, the formation of Ukrainian national identity at the language level traces in poetic works of art. The purpose is to study women's artistic images, consciousness and character of the heroine, conflicts between men and women, their attitude to family and child on the level of modernist principles in Mykola Khvylov's poetry "Tram Letter" in terms of poetic analysis. This reveals the ideas: the doom of person in the bloodshed and death of wars and revolutions; denial of humanity, love itself; Ukrainian national idea.

Persistence in Indigenous language work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Through the COVID-19 pandemic, Indigenous communities have persisted in Indigenous language revitalization and reclamation efforts. This research utilized a scan of social media, a survey, and interviews, conducted in the summer and fall of 2020 and primarily focused on Canada, to explore: What shifts to support Indigenous language work occurred during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic? and What were the impacts of these shifts on Indigenous language revitalization and reclamation? This article discusses six cross-cutting themes: (a) shifting and adapting language work to ensure community health and safety, (b) building capacity to make necessary shifts and adaptations, (c) facing challenges in shifting online, (d) promoting Indigenous languages online and in community, (e) creating and sharing language resources as alternative or increased activity, and (f) (re-)envisioning language education and pedagogy in a pandemic time. These themes exemplify Indigenous persistence in Indigenous language revitalization and reclamation work during the pandemic.

The Storytelling Tradition at Larteh, Ghana: Implications for Language Vitality

This paper examines storytelling practices in a triglossic community, Larteh, in South-east Ghana, West Africa. The three languages which are in use co-exist in a triglossic relationship; each language plays defined roles in the language community. It has been observed that there is a growing gap between storytelling ideologies that link the practice to language transmission. As a traditional practice which is closely linked to processes of cultural reproduction/intergeneration language transfer, storytelling has particular significance for language revitalization in the language community. This article demonstrates how a shift in the storytelling practices of the people is negatively impacting language transmission and how the revival of the practice could positively impact the revitalization of the Lɛtɛ language.

Progress, challenges, and trajectories for indigenous language content-based instruction in the United States and Canada

AbstractIndigenous language content-based instruction in the United States and Canada is primarily known as Indigenous language medium or Indigenous language immersion (ILI) education. In spite of huge barriers, it has grown over the past decade. Programs have emerged from concerns about language loss and a desire for language revitalization. Language revitalization takes several generations since it seeks an outcome where the Indigenous language is primary with high, but secondary, proficiency in the nationally dominant language. To establish a trajectory to reach such an outcome, the majority of schooling until high school graduation should be through the Indigenous language. Indigenous language medium schooling also seeks to produce sufficient mastery of academics and English for access to English medium higher education. Where a sufficiently strong model has been implemented, as in Hawaiʻi, those results are beginning to be produced. At present, the models being implemented elsewhere in the two countries are at varying stages of development, with minimal government support.

Mobile Learning as a Tool for Indigenous Language Revitalization and Sustainability in Canada

In this article, the authors explore how mobile learning can complement the Certificate of Indigenous Languages program at the University of Saskatchewan in Western Canada. Through the FRAME model analysis, the authors extract salient cultural, pedagogical, environmental, and technological characteristics that should be considered in the development of mobile learning tools and approaches for Cree language teachers. It is hoped that this article will stimulate a dialogue amongst designers and Indigenous groups regarding language sustainability through mobile learning. The article concludes with key findings: the need to follow protocols, to establish good relationships, and to design for areas of low/no bandwidth. Finally, the examination of current Indigenous language learning methods provides ideas for the development of much needed “apps” appropriate for Cree learners and teachers.

Obstacles and Challenges Confronting Tonga Revitalisation in Zimbabwe

Language revitalisation initiatives are often faced with numerous socio- economic and political challenges which, if not mitigated, could overwhelm them. Using three schools of thought on language revitalisation, namely the Proponents, the Pessimists, and the Opponents, this article examines how internal and external challenges affected the language revitalisation initiative of the endangered Tonga speech community in Zimbabwe. It argues that endangered speech communities are often misconstrued as homogeneous and willing to fight and die for their languages. This study, however, reveals that endangered speech communities are intricate heterogeneous entities in which competing interests may jeopardise the revitalisation process. The study identifies six factors which obstructed the process of Tonga revitalisation. The most significant factors were the lack of a standardised variety of Tonga, the legacy of discriminatory language policies in Zimbabwe, and the opposition of politicians.

Complexities of Simplification in Language Revitalization: The Case of Lenape in Eastern Pennsylvania

Abstract How can an anthropologist usefully contribute to the revitalization of a “dormant” language? This article considers simplification as an inherent, virtually inevitable aspect of language revitalization and as one that is by no means simple. A linguistic anthropologist’s understanding of the complexities of simplification, I suggest, can be the basis for valuable contributions to community-based language-revitalization efforts, particularly when the anthropologist is participating fully in those efforts by learning and apprentice-teaching the language.

One Hundred Years of Irish Language Policy, 1922–2022 by John Walsh

Reviewed by: One Hundred Years of Irish Language Policy, 1922–2022 by John Walsh Peadar Kirby (bio) John Walsh, One Hundred Years of Irish Language Policy, 1922–2022 (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2022), 384 pages. When welcoming the Irish language achieving full status in the European Union at the beginning of 2022, President Higgins made the following call to all Irish people: Now I say throw off all the inhibitions, the excuses, the laziness and as the language of our ancestors becomes at every level in daily usage in the European Union, let us go and make a resolution to give it a place in our daily lives at home – i lár an aonaigh, inár ngáthchaint. It is particularly appropriate that in the centenary year of the foundation of the independent Irish state, our native language achieves full status as an active working language of the EU. This can be regarded as one of the achievements of what was undoubtedly the most ambitious and far-reaching policy objective to which the young state committed itself – namely the revival of the Irish language. Yet, despite it remaining an objective of public policy, it often appears to the interested observer as the policy that dare not speak its name, a rhetorical commitment supported by severely insufficient policy measures and largely isolated from the rest of the state’s activities, with the exception of primary and secondary education. Even the lack of any central focus on language revival as part of the centenary celebrations of the state reveals its marginalised status, which I have little doubt would greatly surprise and sadden the leaders of our independence struggle were they to return to today’s Ireland. A timely resource John Walsh’s scholarly yet very accessible review and assessment of a century of revival efforts is therefore a very timely publication and deserves a wide readership. It is also an excellent resource for those of us who want to take seriously President Higgins’s call to reembrace the language. Walsh, an associate professor of Irish in the University of Galway and vice-dean (Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and People) in the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies in that university, is uniquely placed to give a broad assessment of not just the many efforts made to revive Irish but, just as important, the broader role of the language in Irish public life. His 2011 book [End Page 310] on the role of the Irish language in the country’s socio-economic development1 had already broken new ground in international socio-linguistics, and his research on languages such as Welsh, Scots Gaelic, Catalan, Basque and Galician, particularly on new speakers of these languages, gives him an unsurpassed ability to compare Ireland’s revival efforts with revival efforts elsewhere. Walsh very tellingly begins with the enactment of the Official Languages (Amendment) Bill passed by the Houses of the Oireachtas last December, which modestly strengthens measures to support the language, most especially the pledge to have 20% of recruits to public bodies competent in Irish by 2030. Juxtaposing this measure with a protest the same day outside the Dáil by schoolchildren about the Department of Education’s failure to provide a Gaelscoil in their area and a decision by the Minister of Justice the following day to weaken the status of the language in the recruitment of Gardaí, Walsh writes that ‘taken together, these three events illustrate some of the ideologies and contradictions in relation to policy on the Irish language, a century after the Irish state was founded’. The bill came about largely due to the ‘doggedness and persistence of activists and the support of a handful of politicians who are committed to promoting Irish as a living, spoken language and to improving public services for Irish speakers’. However, he highlights that it took ten years and three changes of government to achieve, and he concludes: Furthermore, the passing of almost a century between the foundation of the state and strengthened legislation to provide services in Irish is a telling illustration of the marginalised place of the language in the policy arena, despite its exalted constitutional status. Walsh sets himself the...