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Starting in 1995, the Yanomami of the Amazon forest decided to set up schools to teach both, their ancestors’ language and the withes’ one. In a matter of years, they will no longer need translators and middlemen, but they will be able to advocate for themselves and their communities. Unfortunately, this is but one example, and although the intentions are clear and goals likely to be met, it cannot be replicated anywhere else. The Yanomami case got international attention because of the campaigns NGOs like Survival International organized against the action the Brazilian Government moved toward them and their rights, but the same can not be said for all the other cases. Little we know about the variety of languages within our own countries, let alone dialects. Most of them will disappear with our older generations, as government do very little to help preserve this lesser-known treasures. And as a language vanishes, all the culture it embedded is bound to vanish too. That is why the younger generations should get involved to preserve their fathers’ language and traditions. This is where globalization can play a major role, counterbalancing the negative effects it itself poses on all of us.
As discussed above, communications and trade bring about a major language, English, but this does not mean that, thanks to these very means, actual situations can be made known and therefore changed. It is now easier than ever to get to know what happens on the other side of the world, to people living in the jungle or in the Arctic, with internet and other information and communication tools. But knowledge alone is not enough. Both governments and the civil society should do something to preserve part of their national heritage. This may include establishing government-funded programs to start schools and centres, and events to get people to know about cultural diversity within their own nation. The civil society moreover, could play a substantial role to foster education, for example. Youths may be involved in researching and lecturing in local schools and university, or may put up an event fostering local diversity. The activities that can be organized are countless. What really matters is to preserve the national identity. Our roots are our future.
To sum up, globalization imposes many challenges to our societies and the way we live, be it food, popular culture or traditions. With no doubts, it is a major menace to language diversity, and loss is a sad reality for many idioms around the world. It is often said that when a language dies, the culture it supported dies along with it, erasing the culture who created it. That is why an urgent action is required to preserve different cultures and reality. It should also be noted that those very means who are putting languages at stake (namely progress and globalization) can be used to preserve them if properly used. There is no future without a past behind it.
SOURCES
www.unesco.org
www.ethnologue.com
www.survival.org
www.ipsnews.net
“Education in a Multilingual World”, Unesco Position Paper, 2003.
“Globalisation Erodes Local Languages, fuels ‘Glocal’ English, Rahul Goswami, ipsnews.net
“Spoken Here”, Mark Abley, Heinemann London, 2003
“Mother Tongues”, Helena Drysdale, Picador London, 2001
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