Media, information technology, and language planning: what can endangered language communities learn from created language communities?

Abstract

The languages of Klingon and Na'vi, both created for media, are also languages that have garnered much media attention throughout the course of their existence. Speakers of these languages also utilize social media and information technologies, specifically websites, in order to learn the languages and then put them into practice. While teaching a course on 'Pidgins, Creoles, and Created Languages', I realized that endangered language communities could learn techniques for interacting with the media from created language communities in order to help further develop the image and prestige planning for their languages. Also, endangered language communities could model the online resources of created language communities part of their acquisition planning. This paper draws on my experiences working with endangered language communities in Canada and Papua New Guinea in order to compare the language planning of these communities to that of Klingon and Na'vi speakers. I also discuss how endangered language communities might benefit from their examples and, finally, what some of the drawbacks to these technological advances may be in terms of language revitalization and maintenance.

Language Games Children Play: Language Invention in a Montessori Primary School

“…Since the school year 2012-2013, an innovative language laboratory has been held in a Montessori primary school in Milano, via Milazzo, devoted to the collective invention of a secret language in class, lasting the last 2 school years of primary school when pupils are 9-11 years old. In fact, although some sporadic experiences of using language invention in the classroom do exist (Sanders 2016;Schreyer 2011), to the extent of the author's knowledge, no such fieldwork exists in the specific context of primary schools. The purposes of the laboratory described in the position paper of the language laboratory (Gobbo 2013) and elaborated after the conclusion of the first edition, i.e., the first 2-year cycle (Gobbo et al 2016), were the following: first, the laboratory may increase pupils' metalinguistic awareness through a continuous collaborative and collective activity of "learning-bydoing," typical of the Montessori method, and second, it may encourage comparative analysis of the natural languages present in the class member repertoires, including home languages of early bilinguals, so to understand the commonalities existing across language diversity.…”

Learning Linguistics by Doing: The Secret Virtues of a Language Constructed in the Classroom

“…For example, Gobbo (2005Gobbo ( , 2008 argues that the spread of the internet gives new life to planned languages in general, and in particular to non-auxiliary ones such as Tolkien's elvish tongues or Klingon, resulting in interesting sociolinguistic phenomena. Moreover, in her linguistics course, Schreyer (2011) sets out to study the communities of practice of Na'vi (Frommer 2009) and Klingon (Okrand 1992), two non-auxiliary planned languages, in order to get ideas which will help the revitalisation of endangered languages such as Tlingit (British Columbia, Canada) and Kala (Papua New Guinea). In April 2013 there was even a "Hollywood linguistics event," where the planners of Klingon, Na'vi, and Dothraki 1 were by invited by Grant Goodall, the Linguistics Language program Director of the University of California San Diego, to discuss their creations.…”

A survey of preK-12, university and adult online language educators’ background, experiences, training and challenges

“…Despite this expansion, research has found that many of the emerging resources do not follow known practices for the creation and use of quality online education materials. The focus often continues to be on the technical aspects of the programs rather than the pedagogical which may result in a reduction of their effectiveness for language instruction (Chapelle, 2001;Liddicoat, 2009;Moore, 1993;Schreyer, 2011). As Gokool-Ramdoo (2008) states "technology has received more attention than distance education itself" (p. 2).…”

“…OLE programs that are constructed and taught well have the potential to bring languages and cultures to individuals who may not otherwise have the opportunity to be exposed to them, and possibly increase language proficiency by increasing time on task through carefully structured courses (Blake, 2008(Blake, , 2011. It also has the potential to allow individuals who find themselves in a place where they are limited in their access to language materials the ability to connect to those languages in order to keep up with their language learning (Schreyer 2011).…”