Language revitalisation and shift

Why are the Native Languages of the Chinese Malaysians in Decline?

by Tze Wei Sim

published in 'Journal of Taiwanese Vernacular' Vol.4, No. 1, 2012

The vast majority of Chinese Malaysians have originated from south China with their native languages, Hokkien, Hakka,... more The vast majority of Chinese Malaysians have originated from south China with their native languages, Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese, Teochew, Hokchew and Hainanese. Most of these native languages are weakening due to lack of intergenerational transmission. Languages spoken in the families are largely shifting to Mandarin and English. This paper has investigated the reasons why the community is shifting away from their native languages. Language attitudes, beliefs, and ideologies held by the majority of Chinese Malaysians have been collected and they are presented together with the historical development of Chinese languages. The origins of the factors, which put their native languages into disadvantageous positions, are discussed. This paper also explores the possibilities of running language revitalization programmes in the community.

Заимствованные слова в долганском языке:(Обзор проблем)

by Marek Stachowski

K voprosu o vremeni vozniknovenija dolganskogo jazyka

by Marek Stachowski

Über das Alter der dolganischen Sprache

by Marek Stachowski

Des derniers locuteurs aux néo-locuteurs : revitalisation linguistique en Europe

by James Costa

Costa, J. (2010). Des derniers locuteurs aux néo-locuteurs : revitalisation linguistique en Europe. Faits de Langues, 35-36, 205-223.

This is from an edited volume of Faits de Langues (eds. Colette Grinevald and Michel Bert) on linguistic fieldwork on endangered languages. See the Faits de Langues website for more info.

Language history as charter myth? Scots and the (re)invention of Scotland

by James Costa

Costa, J. (2009). "Language History as Charter Myth? Scots and the (Re)invention of Scotland." Scottish Language 28: 1-25.

In this article, I intend to concentrate on one type of process by which Scots has found new legitimation as a... more In this article, I intend to concentrate on one type of process by which Scots has found new legitimation as a language, and how discourses surrounding the issue of Scots might seek to contribute to the creation of a new Scottish society. I whish to show how history is used as a legitimating discursive device by the various components of the Scots language revitalisation movement.

The use of the Welsh language on Facebook: an initial investigation

by Daniel Cunliffe

Honeycutt, C. and Cunliffe, D. Information, Communication and Society, 13 (2), 2010: 226-248.

The existence of many minority languages is threatened by language shift, whereby the community of speakers moves to... more The existence of many minority languages is threatened by language shift, whereby the community of speakers moves to using the majority language in place of the minority language. Social network sites such as Facebook might be important environments for minority language maintenance, as networks of strong ties may help speakers resist pressures towards language shift. However, to date, there has been little research that investigates this aspect of minority languages' online presence. This paper presents an initial examination of the current use of the Welsh language on Facebook.

The paper introduces a method for sampling the network of groups being used by a language community, based on the 'Related Groups' information within Facebook group profiles. Basic information is presented about the use of Welsh in Facebook groups, including membership numbers, the range of topics, and the levels of activity. Visualizations of the network reveal a small number of popular central groups playing a significant role in connecting the community. The successive removal of central groups results in a relatively sparsely connected network and reveals a number of geographical neighbourhood and topic-specific sub-networks. The use of Welsh on personal profiles is also examined, as are the demographics of Welsh speakers on Facebook.

The results of this examination provide evidence that suggests that the use of the Welsh language has been normalized to some extent within Facebook and that the language has established an active presence on Facebook groups and profiles. 
Keywords: social network sites; language; bilingual; Facebook; Welsh; Cymraeg