Miscellaneous published in:
Documentary Linguistics: Working with Communities
Edited by Sumittra Suraratdecha and Toshihide Nakayama
[Language Ecology 3:2] 2019
► pp. 233–254
Research Project Report

Language revitalization and community initiatives

An Indian perspective

| Visva-Bharati, West Bengal
Language is an integral part of the social identity and ethnicity of a community apart from being its mode of communication. Language plays a key role to preserve the history, culture and identity of a community. In this era of globalization, cultural and linguistic homogenization is a common trend. The state and dominant linguistic communities expect ‘others’ or the minority groups to assimilate into the dominant culture and language. Arguments for the maintenance and revitalization of minority and endangered languages have been made by many linguists around the world. Language rights, language planning and language documentation programmes are some steps taken by government and externally-funded organizations to protect endangered and indigenous languages. Besides the initiatives taken by the non-members of the community, the future of an endangered language and culture has been decided by the role and attitude of the community towards its community-specific linguistic and cultural identity. India is a very diverse country as far as its linguistic and cultural heritage is concerned. This project is enriched with insights from field experience in various districts of West Bengal, a state in India, where the speakers of endangered linguistic communities are aware of their linguistic rights and are highly engaged in the language and cultural revitalization, and in that their degree of progress and success is commendable. This paper aims at demonstrating the major role played by the communities themselves in language-revitalization programmes.
Keywords: language endangerment, language revitalization, community attitude
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Language revitalization
    • 2.1Language revitalization: Earlier successful attempts
  • 3.Linguistic landscape of India
  • 4.Mother-tongue and minority linguistic rights
  • 5.Revitalization programmes
  • 6.Languages in India
    • 6.1Language attitudes and community associations
    • 6.2Role of script
    • 6.3Mother tongue education programme
    • 6.4Media, social media and language revitalization
  • 7.Future steps
  • 8.Conclusion
  • References
  • Web sources
Published online: 09 September 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/le.19001.bha
References
Campbell, Lyle
1994 Language death. IN; R.E. Asher, ed. The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. Oxford: Pergamon Press.1960–1968.Google Scholar
Craig, C.
1992 A constitutional response to language endangerment: The case of Nicaragua. Language 681: 17–24. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Crystal, David
2000 Language Death. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Dua, Hans R.
1985 Language Planning in India. New Delhi: Harnam Publications.Google Scholar
1992 Communication Policy and Language Planning. Mysore: Yashoda Publications.Google Scholar
Fishman, J.
1991 Reversing Language Shift: Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Assistance to Threatened Languages. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Garrett, P., Nikolas, C. and Williams, A.
2003 Investigating Language Attitudes: Social Meanings of Dialect, Ethnicity and Performance. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.Google Scholar
Grenoble, L. A. & Whaley, L. J.
2006 Saving Languages: An Introduction to Language Revitalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Grimes, Barbara F.
ed. 1996 Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fourteenth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://​www​.ethnologue​.com​/14
Hermes, M.
2007 Moving toward the language: Reflections on teaching in an indigenous immersion school. Journal of American Indian Education 46(1): 54–71.Google Scholar
Hinton, L.
2001 Sleeping languages: Can they be awakened? In Leanne Hinton and Kenneth L. Hale, eds. The Green Book of Language Revitalization in Practice. Netherlands: Brill. 411–432. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2011 Revitalization of endangered languages. In Peter K. Austin and Julia Sallabank, eds. The Cambridge Handbook of Endangered Languages. Cambridge University Press. 291–311.Google Scholar
Hoffman, C.
1991 An Introduction to Bilingualism. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Juhuang, L.
1990 Language Attitude, Language Relations and Language Work. Tianjing Guiji Press.Google Scholar
Krauss, M.
1992 The world’s language in crisis. Language 681: 4–10. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Lehman, C.
Date Unknown. Maori and Hawaiian language revitaization. https://​www​.academia​.edu​/5892446​/Maori​_and​_Hawaiian​_Language​_revitalization. Accessed 25th November 2019.
May, S.
2006 Language policy and minority rights. In T. Ricento, ed. An Introduction to Language Policy: Theory and Method. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. 255–272.Google Scholar
Meghanathan, R.
2011 Language policy in education and the role of English in India: From library language to language of empowerment. In Hywel Coleman, ed. Dreams and Realities: Developing Countries and the English Language. United Kingdom: British Council.Google Scholar
Moseley, Christopher
ed. 2010 Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger. 3rd Edition. Paris: UNESCO Publishing.Google Scholar
Nettle, Daniel and Suzanne Romaine
2000 Vanishing Voices: The Extinction of the World’s Languages. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Rao, S.
2008 India’s language debate and education of linguistic minorities. In Economic and Political Weekly, India.Google Scholar
Romaine, Suzanne
2006 Planning for the survival of linguistic diversity. Language Policy 5(4): 441–730. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2008 Linguistic diversity, sustainability, and the future of the past. In King et al., eds. Sustaining Linguistic Diversity: Endangered and Minority Languages and Languages Varieties. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press. 7–22.Google Scholar
Sallabank, Julia
2011 Language policy for endangered languages. In Peter K. Austin and Julia Sallabank. eds. The Cambridge Handbook of Endangered Languages. Cambridge University Press. 277–290.Google Scholar
2013 Attitudes to Endangered Languages: Identities and Policies. Cambridge University Press. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Shahbaz, M., Azam, L. and Rahim, A.
2015 Language use and language attitudes of Pahari speakers towards Punjabi language: A sociolinguistic study of district Bhimber. Advances in Social Sceiences Research Journal 2(3): 14–21.Google Scholar
Singh, K. S.
1993 An anthropological atlas: Ecology and cultural traits, languages and linguistic traits, demographic and biological traits. People of India 111. India: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Singh, Parman
2018 Revitalization of minority languages: Implications for language policy and planning. In Indian Languages and Culture: A Debate. India: The Marginalised Publication. 61–94.Google Scholar
Singh, U. N., Bhattacharjee, B., Chakraborty, R. and Tripathi, A. K.
2018 Languages & Culture on Margin: Guidelines for Field Work on Endangered Languages. India, Timepass Publication.Google Scholar
Warner, S. L.
2001 The movement to revitalize Hawaiian language and culture. In Leanne Hinton and Kenneth L. Hale, eds. The Green Book of Revitalization in Practice. Brill: Netherlands. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Warschauer, M.
1998 Technology and indigenous language eevitalization: Analyzing the experience of Hawaii. Canadian Modern Language Review 55(1): 140–161. CrossrefGoogle Scholar

Web sources

BBC
https://​www​.bbc​.com​/news. Accessed 26th November 2019
CENSUS India
https://​www​.censusindia​.gov​.in Accessed 12th November 2019
Ethnologue
https://​www​.ethnologue​.com/ Accessed 16th May 2019
Linguistic Atlas Project
http://​www​.lap​.uga​.edu​/Site​/LANE​.html Accessed 20th November 2019
The Hindu
https://​www​.thehindu​.com Accessed 20th November 2019