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Increa
singly the world’s indigenous people are recognizing the value of using digital
environments in the battle against the extinction of their languages and cultures (Hermes
& King 2013). Likewise as indigenous languages become
increasingly visible on the
internet, perceptions of them as antiquated or as anachronistic in the Information Age
are challenged. Thanks to sites such as languagegeek.com, keyboard layouts, fonts and
diacritical markings can be freely downloaded to allow for the digitization of the scripts of
many of the world’s indigenous languages.
The creation of databases as part of language documentation projects has been
instrumental in determining the level of endangerment of threatened languages in a
multitude of regions across the globe. Invaluable partnerships between indigenous
groups and universities or other institutions have allowed for great precision in these
documentation and archiving projects, and for the broad sharing of this knowledge on the
web. Amongst the best known examples of
these partnerships are National Geographic’s
Enduring Voices Project (http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/enduring-voices),
the Living Tongues Institute’s Language Documentation Project (www.livingtongues.org),
Google’s
Endangered Languages Projec
t (www.endangeredlanguages.com/), and
UNESCO’s Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger (www.unesco.org/culture/
en/endangered languages).
Furthermore the adoption of digital technologies has enhanced both the production and
distribution of indigenous language learning materials. E-resources and printed text
books are readily available for purchase on the internet, and synchronous and
asynchronous indigenous language learning software applications are being designed
with increasing frequency and sophistication. Thus the
capacity of Information and
Communication Technologies makes ICT uniquely able to “reduce many traditional
obstacles, especially those of time and distance, [and] for the first time in history makes
it possible to use the potential of these technologies for the benefit of millions of people
in all corners of the world” (WSIS 2003, Principle 8).
Not in all cases, however, is formal curriculum or even a trained teacher required for Web
2.0 language learning. Social networking sites and videoconferencing applications enable
would-be language learners to set up their own cyber interactions with native speakers
on their own terms, for their own reasons and at their convenience. A quick browse of
Facebook groups demonstrates the extent to which individuals are initiating tandem
language learning and teaching communities through applications such as Skype, iChat
and Google Talk.
However, even as indigenous youth are responding with enthusiasm to the ability to text,
email, chat, and use Facebook and Google Talk
in their ancestral languages, some
indigenous communities have resisted the rush to embrace technology. Transmitting
traditional ways of knowing and cultural knowledge has always been the dominion of the
elders in most aboriginal communities. Thus it flies in the face of thousands of years of
history to create a means of language transmission that circumnavigates the authority of
–
and respect for- the elders of the community. In North America, for under $25,000
(USD),
many
software
companies
(i.e.
Thorton
Media
Inc.
http://www.ndnlanguage.com/) will fly out company employees to an indigenous
community to record native speakers,
gather photographs and songs, and within four
days, create a 500-word or phrase app, thus usurping the role of the elders in language
transmission… and in North America, $25,000 for language revitalization is not hard to
come by. Regional and federal governments, in an attempt to provide redress for the
horrors of “Indian Residential Schools”, are readily funding la
nguage revitalization
projects.
Oil companies, which have devastated aboriginal land, are eager to fund
revitalization initiatives for the purpose of enhancing their public profile. Corporate social
responsibility departments of multi-national conglomerates are also eager to enhance the
public’s perception of them as ‘giving back’ to the disenfranchised.
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2014 CALL Conference
LINGUAPOLIS
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It is worth noting that within academia, there has been some cynicism with respect to
the excitement attached to technology’s widely touted ability to re
scue dying languages.
Databases, websites, and language learning apps all
do a great job of keeping
endangered languages visible and at the top of scholarly research agendas.
They do not, however, necessarily translate into fluent speakers, and it is only via fluent
speakers that dying languages can be inter-generationally transmitted in order to once
again become the mother tongues of a new generation. The World Wide Web, though
subject to the power struggles inherent in any society, does provide a number of
possibilities... Utilizing the Web’s
vast resources in regard to language.... can become
part of a critical repertoire in the world language classroom. (Osborn, 2006, p.xi)
What follows is a brief overview of some of the affordances
that digital technology
provides through mobile learning apps and other digital offerings. Listed, by continent,
are some of the technologies being implemented in the fight against language extinction.
For the purpose of brevity, we will touch on only a few of the endangered languages in
each region. A far more comprehensive study of the technologies currently in use for
indigenous language education can be found on the author’s curated content site
(http://www.scoop.it/t/indigenous-language-education-and-technology).
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