The world’s languages are dying at an unparalleled rate as globalization increases. Social changes and people moving from the rural areas to urban cities contribute to the dying languages. In addition, education programs focus on national languages and cultures instead of indigenous languages and traditions (Crystal 45). People are finding it easier to conduct businesses and communicate in languages outside their culture and common languages such as Chinese, English, French or Spanish. The elderly that know the indigenous languages are dying without teaching the younger generation those languages, hence contributing to their extinction. Languages, especially the indigenous ones are vital in the society because they enable people to express themselves. As many languages become endangered, linguists are finding it prudent to preserve these languages to preserve the teachings, traditions, and customs of people that spoke the language.
One key way of preserving endangered languages is documentation. Linguists are at the forefront of documenting as many languages as possible by describing structural features and recording the languages through computers. Languages stored in computers are useful study materials for scholars. Digital technology has played the lead in preservation of endangered languages because it allows the storage and spreading of linguistic information, which is not possible with paper storage (Bradley and Maya 99). This digital technology involves computer databases, the internet, and other specialized software that store and revive endangered languages. These digital technologies provide a new way of preserving oral and written linguistic information, music, and certain cultural images.
Websites are also crucial in modern language preservation efforts. They are an essential tool in communicating the organization’s activities by promoting the organization and archiving vital material for the organization. Websites raise public awareness and thus, they can be helpful in organizing material and information to document and preserve endangered languages. The internet can be used to catalogue, translate and store information about how the public can access languages. The internet informs the public about extinction of certain languages and ways of preserving these languages to ensure their continued survival.
Specialized software is another major tool for preserving endangered languages, which stores and presents syntactic information, images sounds, and phonetic information (Bradley and Maya 89). For instance, Kirrkirr is specialized software designed to show word networks. This software is helpful in preserving, organizing, and re-teaching aspects of an endangered language. Another technology for preserving language is the podcasts. This technology helps in preserving spoken language and written material can preserve information about the indigenous material and linguistics of languages. Other technologies used to preserve languages include the audio tapes or video recordings that are important in recording spoken accounts of the native languages. Preservation methods of these languages has its effects because new technologies keep emerging and thus linguists should ensure that they keep pace with the technologies for better preservation of endangered languages.
Works Cited
Bradley, David and Maya, Bradley. Language Endangerment and Language Maintenance.
London: Routledge Curzon, 2002.
Crystal, David. Language Death. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
