Saving languages is a worthy cause (fwd)

Sun Mar 4 03:03:03 UTC 2007

Published on Taipei Times
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2007/03/04/2003350945

Saving languages is a worthy cause
By Gary Heath

Sunday, Mar 04, 2007, Page 8

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In recent years, a great deal of attention and money has been focused on
protecting Taiwan's endangered fauna, such as the Formosan Black Bear,
the Black-faced Spoonbills and the Formosan Landlocked Salmon. What is
less noticed -- but of great importance -- is the fact that all of the
nation's indigenous languages are also endangered, some of them
critically so and a big effort of preventive linguistics is now
required to help save them.

The problem of dying languages is only superficially understood and
deserves more attention.

Aside from the ongoing ecological crisis, the world is going through a
cultural crisis, which is resulting in the rapid loss of languages. The
fact that about half of the world's 6,000 known languages are likely to
disappear in the next hundred years is cause for alarm. Some
specialists claim that one language is destined to die every two weeks
or so.

When I raise the issue with friends, the typical reaction is a shrug and
an apathetic comment along the lines of: "Oh, you mean those small
dialects spoken by Indians in the Amazon?"

But language death is not something that happens in a faraway country --
it happens all around us and has already happened to several of the
nation's indigenous languages. It will now be incredibly difficult,
though not impossible, to revive the Ketagalan, Taokas, Papora, Babuza,
Hoanya, Siraya, Tavorlong and Makatao languages, even if these
indigenous groups manage to maintain a modicum of ethnic identity
without speaking their former mother tongue.

It would be fair to ask if we should care about this phenomenon in the
first place. After all, all things come to an end. But languages, like
the air we breathe, are somewhat taken for granted. They are what makes
us human and they contain within them our cultural history and
collective knowledge and wisdom.

When a language dies, it truly is a catastrophe.

Imagine for a moment that you are the last speaker of English in the
world. You have no one to talk to in English and when you die all of
English culture and all of the knowledge associated with this language,
dies with you. It's as if you and the language never existed.

At last count, there were 28 speakers of indigenous languages in
Australia, a country where the phenomenon of language death is
widespread. For them, the above scenario is all too real.

One misconception that needs to be addressed is the neo-colonial belief
that indigenous people -- and by association their languages -- are
somehow primitive, or simple and that inherently their languages are
outmoded and not worth saving. This attitude ignores the complexity and
subtlety of all languages and the fact that all languages hold within
them special bits of knowledge not accessible to those who don't speak
them.

Languages are adapted to their environments and Taiwanese languages are
no exception. These languages are complex and represent a whole unique
perspective on the world.

Who knows when we may need to tap into that unique perspective for our
own survival as a species?

Languages die out for all kinds of reasons, and it has to be
acknowledged that in practical terms we are not going to be able to
prevent the extinction of many of them. However, the case of Taiwan is
most encouraging since its Aborigines have attained formal recognition
and funding through the Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP).

The council recently adopted a plan to promote indigenous language
learning among 12 officially Aboriginal tribes. This will involve the
teaching of about 43 dialects in schools across the nation.

The challenges involved in the implementation of this program cannot be
underestimated, however, and proper planning, along with a long-term
commitment, will be required to make preventive linguistics work. At
the end of the day, the whole community will need to be involved in
language preservation, something that a bureaucratic quick-fix cannot
achieve.

In addition to providing teaching materials, the council has to put
small field teams together. These teams will need to include
specialists on socio-political organization and action, as well as
linguists and teachers. They will also have to develop the process
needed to help promote indigenous language learning in specific
socio-geographical areas, a process that must include economic
development.

The need for a concerted community effort is crucial for the
preservation of endangered languages. That is why any non-solicited
effort at the local level has to be especially welcomed and supported.
It is deeply regrettable that the council has been reluctant to expand
official recognition to the Ping Pu plains Aborigines, more or less
writing these groups off. With the scarce resources available, the
council's attitude is understandable, but wrong.

Writing in Taiwan News on Dec. 18, journalist and social activist Jason
Pan argued that the Pazeh and Kahabu, among others, deserve official
recognition and funding for participation in viable language programs.

In a recent telephone conversation, Jason told me that at least 200
people in his Pazeh community meet from time to time, and perhaps 2,000
people of Pazeh ethnic origin are listed in household registration
records. The Pazeh community has set up language classes for their
children, but they need help.

Without official recognition and funding, this community effort will
flounder.

I completely agree with Cheng I-jiunn (程一駿), who
argued in your paper (Opinion, Dec. 25, 2006, page 8) that the building
of an airport on Taiping, in the Spratly Islands chain, should be
stopped. The green turtles that nest there deserve a break; the budget
thus saved should be given to the Pazeh community instead, to give
their language a break, too.

The Aborigines of Taiwan need to know that their efforts to preserve
their languages are worthy, and central and local governments need to
be persuaded to allocate resources to aid these local language
preservation efforts instead of wasting money on the construction of
unnecessary airports, roads and museums.