Language loss = cultural loss FYI- Facts & Stats

  By the end of the 21st century half of the worlds languages will disappear 15th century case study: There were 15000 languages spoken at the beginning of the 15th century European expansion = languages lost = 4000-9000 languages since the 15th century Today the 15 most commonly spoken languages are spoken by half the worlds population, the top 100 by 90% Most of these languages are European Just 4% of the worlds languages are European yet half of the worlds most commonly spoken languages are European

Mandarin Chinese is the most spoken first language (1.6 billion) English is the second most spoken first language but the first most spoken second language 80% of the worlds languages are spoken only in their country of origin A lot of countries require education to be in the most dominant language (Canadian Natives learning in English) Can having a single language help create a national identity?

Language Loss Culture is tied to language, lost language = lost culture Anthropologists view language loss (cultural loss) equal to biodiversity loss The answer? Promote multilinguistic environment, estimated that 2/3 of the worlds children are growing up in multilinguistic homes

Adapted from the article “last Words” by Papyal Sampat, World Watch, May/June, 2001 “Language loss is a form of cultural impoverishment. When a language is lost very often the cultural is lost too. So much of the worldview of a culture is tied up in the language the culture speaks. Cultural diversity is very like biodiversity. Once a culture is lost we have also lost that way of seeing and understanding the world. Perhaps solutions to problems have been lost too. There is a loss to linguistics and to the other sciences that draw on it- psychology and anthropology. Opportunities to analyze and understand language are gone. Just as with species extinction we do not even know what we are losing. As we lose languages we lose opportunities to understand our own past. Languages hold important clues to the history of our species. Once lost that history may be lost too.   As we lose linguistic diversity we are diminishing our understanding of biological diversity. Native inhabitants of regions with high biodiversity have developed elaborate vocabularies to describe the natural world around them. This reflects their intimate knowledge of the world they live in. Once the language is lost that knowledge is also lost.

Worth us thinking about… Should we (you) care about language loss and the associated loss of culture or is this just evolution? In small groups reach a consensus Brainstorm 3 arguments to support your position