The Routledge Handbook of Language Revitalization

Leanne Hinton, Leena Huss, Gerald Roche, Leanne Hinton, Leena Huss, Gerald Roche

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• eBook ISBN:
  9781317200857
• Subtopic: Teaching Languages
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

The Routledge Handbook of Language Revitalization is the first comprehensive overview of the language revitalization movement, from the Arctic to the Amazon and across continents. Featuring 47 contributions from a global range of top scholars in the field, the handbook is divided into two parts, the first of which expands on language revitalization issues of theory and practice while the second covers regional perspectives in an effort to globalize and decolonize the field. The collection examines critical issues in language revitalization, including:

• language rights, language and well-being, and language policy;
• language in educational institutions and in the home;
• new methodologies and venues for language learning;
• and the roles of documentation, literacies, and the internet.

The volume also contains chapters on the kinds of language that are less often researched such as the revitalization of music, of whistled languages and sign languages, and how languages change when they are being revitalized. The Routledge Handbook of Language Revitalization is the ideal resource for graduate students and researchers working in linguistic anthropology and language revitalization and endangerment.

Part 1

Issues of Theory and Practice

Section 1.1

Language Revitalization in Context

We begin the body of this book with some of the important issues that language revitalization is embedded within. The first chapter, on language and wellness, shows how language loss affects the physical, mental, cultural, social, and spiritual health of individuals and communities. What we should draw from this is that language revitalization is not so much about language itself as it is about well-being in a more general sense. Language revitalization is about reclaiming a sense of identity and belonging in the world. The second chapter, on language rights, situates language revitalization within the context of human rights, where all people have the right to health, economic well-being, and fulfillment in life. Language rights includes the right both to know the dominant language(s) of the society and also to know one’s heritage language.

According to a common definition, language planning covers various conscious efforts to influence the language use of others. Often regarded as something mainly for governments and authorities to engage in, language policy and planning is frequently seen as being more oriented towards promoting and cultivating the majority languages in a country, rather than supporting Indigenous or minoritized languages. And even when it does support these languages, as Tove Skutnabb-Kangas notes in Chapter 2, laws, conventions, and charters may remain mere words on paper if implementation does not follow. Another difficulty mentioned by Joseph Lo Bianco in Chapter 4 is that official status planning measures such as legal support are hardly sufficient to influence language use on the individual level, especially when it comes to accomplishing intergenerational language transmission.

However, as shown in this Handbook, language planning may be carried out by many agents, including local language communities, endangered language organizations, individuals, and individual families. Language revitalization requires a strong commitment and action on the part of the language community in order to be successful, and for that reason community-based, bottom-up language planning is a necessity. Moreover, community-based language planning goes beyond mere language work; as Teresa McCarty writes in Chapter 3, the planning process also offers a context for strengthening intergenerational ties, cultural identity, and community well-being. Whatever the results may be, the process in itself is healing and empowering for many Indigenous and minoritized peoples who have previously suffered from forced assimilation policies and other violations. The difficulty is to deal with the lingering negative language ideologies, attitudes, feelings, and emotions, and we therefore need to pay attention to the often-neglected part of language planning: discourse planning, as Lo Bianco emphasizes in Chapter 3.

The explicit, official language policies of the surrounding societies naturally play a role in the process, inhibiting or encouraging language revitalization and the individuals, families, and organizations working for it. If more minority-friendly policies are introduced in a country, then language revitalization activists may find it easier to gain funding, and even understanding, for their efforts. In some cases, such political changes may mean a new, hopeful situation for some stigmatized language varieties. Such examples can be found in various European countries after the ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (Council of Europe 1992)¹ and the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (Council of Europe 1995).² A number of language varieties previously regarded as dialects have been upgraded to minority languages in their own right, to be maintained and revitalized as part of the national heritage of the country in question. In such a situation, governmental policies and bottom-up language planning may interact positively and strengthen ongoing LR movements. For example, for the Kven language in Norway, the Meänkieli language in Sweden, and Limburgisch in The Netherlands, this has meant a new hope and a new beginning of a revitalization process. The revival of the Cornish language, described in this Handbook by Jenefer Lowe (Chapter 27), is yet another example where recognition under the two European conventions has had a very positive effect.

Notes

1 Council of Europe. 1992. Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, www.coe.int/en/web/european-charter-regional-or-minority-languages/home (Accessed 31 May 2017).

2 Council of Europe. 1995. Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, www.coe.int/en/web/minorities/home (Accessed 31 May 2017).

1

“Language is Like Food … ”

Links Between Language Revitalization and Health and Well-being

Michael Walsh

Introduction

This account will outline links between language revitalization and health and well-being, mainly drawing on examples from Indigenous Australia but with applicability to language revival situations across the world. The statement in the title came to me from an Australian Aboriginal Elder, who was discussing language revival in the state of New South Wales (NSW). He went on to say that once you get a taste for your Indigenous language, you cannot get enough of it. It was one of many such statements encountered during a survey of the Aboriginal Languages of NSW conducted in 1999–2000 with two Indigenous co-researchers (Hosking et al 2000). It became clear that regaining one’s language had a very strong connection with regaining a distinctive Aboriginal identity, and this is reflected in the mission statement of an Aboriginal organization addressing the question: Why is language important?

Language is important to Aboriginal people because it is a way for them to express their identity and be proud of where they come from and who they are. If a person knows a word in their language he/she is maintaining a link that has lasted thousands of years, keeping words alive that have been used by their ancestors—language is an ancestral right and it distinguishes something special about Aboriginal people from non-Aboriginal people. Language is a part of culture, and knowledge about culture is a means of empowering people. Language contributes to the wellbeing of Aboriginal communities, strengthens ties between elders and young people and improves education in general for Indigenous people of all ages.

(www.vaclang.org.au/)

David Tournier, a Wathaurong language worker from the state of Victoria, declares:

So language is a very powerful thing. And I think the sooner Aboriginal people across Australia understand the powerfulness of their own language, they’ll understand that their life will become better. It will be, because they’ll have their own language and say—this is my own language, this is me, this is who I am, all right? I can now speak my language, I don’t have to rely on another language any more.

(Couzens 2014: 69)

Proving Connections Link Between Language Revitalization and Health and Well-being

There is no shortage of statements from Indigenous people claiming a link between language revitalization and health and well-being; what tends to be lacking is what counts as “proof.” So one Australian study claims:

A positive relationship was found between the sustainability of Indigenous land, language and culture and an Indigenous person’s subjective emotional wellbeing.

(Biddle and Swee 2012: 215)

It goes on to note:

While the relationship between land, language and culture on the one hand and Indigenous wellbeing on the other has been suggested in the literature, the empirical evidence is somewhat lacking.

(Biddle and Swee 2012: 226)

This diffidence is reflected in the referees’ comments on a recent study (Whalen, Moss and Baldwin 2016).

To date, much of the more supportive commentary from health professionals relates to language retention rather than language revitalization. An Australian example is summarized in a valuable chapter on Australian Languages:

• Longitudinal research data demonstrates a correlation between strong language and culture in Indigenous homeland communities and positive health outcomes.
• A ten-year study of Indigenous Australians in Central Australia found that “connectedness to culture, family and land, and opportunities for self-determination” assist in significantly lower morbidity and mortality rates in Homeland residents.
• The study found that residents of these communities were less likely to be obese, less likely to have diabetes, and less prone to cardiovascular disease than Indigenous people across the rest of the Northern Territory.
• Interestingly, the study found that conventional measures of employment, income, housing and education did not account for this health differential. Strong connections to traditional ways of life were the predictors for the better health outcomes (Calma 2009, see also Rowley et al 2008).

Rick Oster and colleagues have conducted studies that indicate reduced levels of diabetes correlate with the use of First Nations Languages in Alberta (e.g., Oster et al 2014; see also https://braidresearch.ca/).

Another study from Canada (McIvor, Napoleon and Dickie 2009) cautiously concludes: First Nations that have been better able to preserve their culture may be relatively protected from diabetes.

Yet another study from Canada found negative associations:

This study suggests that the ability to understand or speak an Aboriginal language is negatively associated with well-being at the community level. In other words, as the proportion of community members who understand or speak an Aboriginal language increases, community well-being decreases.

(Capone, Spence and White 2011: 71)

The study echoes others who warn that associations or correlations do not necessarily imply causation:

Although this paper provides insight into the issue of Aboriginal language retention and community well-being, it is important to reiterate that this study has tested only for an association; further research is required to determine whether Aboriginal language skills and community well-being are causally related.

(Capone, Spence and White 2011: 74)

Mental Health

There seem to be very few studies relating Indigenous language knowledge to mental health. The notable exception is a series of studies relating to First Nations in British Columbia (Chandler and Lalonde 2008; Hallett, Chandler and Lalonde 2007). Basically, they were able to demonstrate a strong correlation between knowledge of First Nations Languages and a lower incidence of Indigenous youth suicide.

Within Indigenous Australia, a major contributor to mental distress was the forcible removal of children from their parents. From around 1910 until 1970, numerous Indigenous children, particularly those of mixed descent, were taken away from their parents and fostered out to non-Indigenous couples or placed in specialized institutions (www.australianstogether.org.au/stories/detail/the-stolen-generations). To some extent, this dislocation can be likened to Residential Schools in Canada and non-reservation boarding schools in the United States. In each case, removal from one’s family, one’s homeland, and one’s language resulted in a legacy of substance abuse, mental illness, and suicide among Indigenous people.

There are many accounts of Indigenous people regaining their language as part of the healing process. However, with this can come the pain of remembrance of what might have been and the difficulty in re-acquiring one’s ancestral language:

In reality, many people are afraid of the traditional language. It is alien, unknown, and difficult to learn. It can be a constant reminder of a deficiency and a nagging threat to one’s image of cultural competence. For others, the mere thought of the language stimulates a fear of unplugging evils of the past, real or imagined. While we consider such lines of reasoning to be fallacies, some people are clearly tormented by them as real or potential.

(Dauenhauer and Dauenhauer 1998: 65)

So some Indigenous people feel ambivalent about re-acquiring a heritage language, and it is therefore appropriate to reassure those people about the choice being theirs:

We should emphasize here our feeling that it is wrong, unrealistic, and mentally unhealthy to insist or expect that all Native American persons speak and appreciate the ancestral language (and be found wanting if they do not).

(Dauenhauer and Dauenhauer 1998: 76)

It is worth pointing out that public recognition of an ancestral language can have a very positive effect on Indigenous well-being. On 10 February 2016, Australia’s Prime Minster delivered a short speech in the local language, Ngunawal, to the Federal Parliament (www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/turnbull-ngunnawal-speech-on-par-with-rudds-sorry-wyatt/news-story/9b73af1f391d2d30d26eb1807865a141). This was the first time that the political leader of the country had given such a speech. Soon afterwards, I was told by a person of Ngunawal heritage that she and her sister had wept when hearing their ancestral language recognized in this way. The tears came from pride and joy rather than distress. It is one example of “language as an emblem.” Sometimes the Indigenous language community did not have aspirations towards using their language on a day-to-day basis. Simpson (2013) distinguishes between:

• Language as an emblem—a sign of belonging to a particular community
• Language as a means of communication

The former is a much less ambitious aim than the latter. Activities relevant to language-as-emblem might include: public signage; Welcome to Country; songs. On the other hand, language-as-communication involves a major commitment on the part of the language learners and a very considerable investment in resources and personnel.

The Importance of Indigenous Consultation and Participation in Accounts of Links Between Retention or Revitalization of Indigenous Languages and Health and Well-being

The point being made here is that it should be the prerogative of the Indigenous community to decide what the purpose of language revival is. An Indigenous community may gain benefits to their well-being through something not overly arduous. For instance, some Australian Indigenous people have told me that they envied other Indigenous people who stood up and gave a short speech of introduction in their heritage language at international conferences involving Indigenous language activists. Their goal was to be able to give a short speech in their own language that might consist of little more than: My name is X; I am of the Y group from Australia; I am grateful to be able to join with the Z group here.

Full-blown language revival is a long and arduous journey (Walsh 2010, Zuckermann and Walsh 2011, 2012), and in some cases may decrease Indigenous well-being rather than improve it. Given the sensitivities connected with language loss, it seems to me that there is an important role for Ind...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• List of Contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction Language Revitalization as a Growing Field of Study and Practice
• Part 1 Issues of Theory and Practice
• Part 2 Regional Perspectives: Decolonizing and Globalizing Language Revitalization
• Conclusion What Works in Language Revitalization
• Index