Traditional Chinese characters and simplified Chinese characters are two types of standard Chinese character sets of contemporary written Chinese. Traditional characters had taken shape since the Reform of Writing and have largely maintained the same structure as when the regular script was introduced in the 2nd century. Since then, traditional characters were regarded as the only standard form of Chinese characters until the middle of the 20th century. Traditional Chinese characters are officially used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. Since the 1950s and 1960s, the government of China has introduced and promoted simplified Chinese characters to encourage literacy. Several decades later, they are officially used in mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore.
I want to discuss the ongoing debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters in this article. Even though with exposure and experience, people educated in one writing system can quickly become familiar with the other, it is challenging to convert an entire document written in simplified characters to traditional characters and vice versa. That is why some people argue Sinophone world should use only one type of character. Advocates of simplified characters argue that simplified characters contain fewer strokes, which means they are more accessible for people to learn the writing system and faster to write. The proponents also point out that the population of simplified characters users is much larger, and it is tough to convert all these people to another writing system. Nevertheless, the users of traditional characters claim the speed advantage of simplified Chinese has become less relevant in the internet age. They also state that the aesthetic continuity of China’s immense heritage of art, literature, and calligraphy is diminished by supplanting characters in common use for centuries.
Many industries here in Quebec are facing a critical worker shortage. Even though many people argue that the current situation could be alleviated with the help of immigrants or temporary foreign workers, the government of Quebec regards immigrants as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, immigrants will boost to help fix the labour shortage and develop Quebec’s economy in this post-pandemic period. On the other hand, the government of Quebec is afraid of the status of the French language with the influx of non-Francophone immigrants. The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) candidate for Trois-Rivières, Jean Boulet, made the comments during the provincial election campaign: “Eighty percent of immigrants go to Montreal, don’t work, don’t speak French, and don’t adhere to the values of Quebec,” he said. “The key is regionalization and francization.” Although he apologized for his comments which “didn’t express his thoughts well,” he was criticized by his competitors and the public. The premier of Quebec, Francois Legault stated that it would be suicide to accept more than 50000 immigrants a year; he also tied immigrants to violation and extremism. It seems that Quebec is in a dilemma, it is obvious that Quebec needs to welcome more and more immigrants to address the worker shortage problem. Nevertheless, the government of Quebec privileges the protection of the French language even at the cost of the development of Quebec’s economy.
According to Statistics Canada’s most recent report on Quebec immigration between 2011 and 2016, Quebec received 215,170 immigrants. Of those, 179,270 (83 percent) went to Montreal. The most immigrants during that period came from France (20,030), followed by Haiti (16,875), Algeria (16,380) and Morocco (13,480). Cameroon (7,555) and Tunisia (5,850) are also on the list, along with non-French speaking countries China (10,705), Colombia (7,540), Iran (7,505) and Syria (7,460).
“Where in the world do you learn Chinese in Cantonese?” The Secretary for Education of Hong Kong, China said that if we learn Chinese in Cantonese in the long run, we need to study whether we will lose the advantage of Hong Kong. The language learning application Duolingo offers courses in Navajo and Hawaiian, but in fact, the number of people who speak these two languages may not reach 30000, which is less advantageous. Myra Awodey, the chief community expert of Duolingo, admitted that the company had predicted that this was not a profitable project, but she said: “This is just something we feel we must do.” This cheap learning platform has more than 33040 users, and all of them attend free courses. It is hoped that its unique position in the language learning community “can not only protect the endangered language but also make the language spread.” Awodey means that although Duolingo usually offers widely used language courses, it has also received requests for minority language courses. Duolingo’s website shows that more than 20000 users are interested in learning Hawaiian. The Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown in 1893, and the use of the Hawaiian language for teaching and learning was banned in 1896. The number of Hawaiian language users declined sharply. Hawaiian was not recognized as the official language of Hawaii until the Constitution of Hawaii was amended in 1978. In the 1980s, the state’s education department established the Hawaiian Research Program and the Hawaiian Language Experience Program. The University of Hawaii also opened related degrees, reopened schools that teach Hawaiian, and established a non-profit organization ‘AhaP ū Nana Leo to revive and spread the language. However, according to a state report in 2020, Hawaiian is still the fifth largest language in the local area except for English, and only 18610 people can speak Hawaiian. The content of the Duolingo Hawaiian language course is developed with the help of Kamehameha Schools, a Hawaiian school network dedicated to developing the Hawaiian alpine ethnic education system. K, Vice President of Community Engagement Resources, Kamehameha Schools āʻ Eo Duarte said: “The foundation of our ancestors’ adoption of new printing technology in the 19th century ʻō lelo Hawai ʻ I Bring it into this platform, so that traditional skills, literature, and history can be inherited. ” Ekela Kaniaupio Crozier, a member of the development team of the course, has 40 years of Hawaiian language teaching experience. She said: “People always think local people will like and support Hawaiian. The reality is that prejudice still exists, and people still think that learning Hawaiian is a waste of time today.” She added: “Just like using English in Hawaii, we also hope to see the Hawaiian language widely used. Indeed, it is the official language of the state and should have equal status.” Kaniaupio Crozier specifically mentioned that the primary target of the course is Hawaiian aborigines. She thinks it is particularly important for local people to learn their language first: “This is mainly to help us learn our language first, let it return to the owner (Hawaiian)’s heart, and share it.” The situation of language disappearance and culture disappearance is more serious. It is estimated that 1500 people are transferred to the area in San Juan County, Utah to learn Navajo in an old way. Clayton Long, an educator in Duolingo, spent his childhood in the Navajo culture of the mountain people in the southwest of the United States, hoping that Navajo can be passed on and that hundreds of thousands of young people can get in touch with it through game oriented applications, He said: “We are at a critical moment. If we do not attract any children who want to learn or should learn, we will lose a lot… When you lose a language, you will lose a culture.” Duolingo has been used to save a language facing extinction. In 2014, Duolingo included Irish Gaelic in the platform for the first time. When the Irish language course was launched in 2014, it was estimated that only 100000 people were parents’ language users. Today, 4 million people have used the application to learn this language. This feat won the public thanks of the Irish President in 2016. If this effort continues, the revival of Navajo and Hawaiian languages is promising.
Questions: 1. What do you think of the way to publicize the vanishing indigenous languages? What are the advantages and disadvantages? (feel free to share your opinions) 2. How to arouse people’s awareness of the protection of indigenous languages of ethnic minorities? You can choose one from school, family, society, and other aspects to talk about (if you want to say more, that would be great!)
References:
Galla, C. K. (2018). Digital realities of indigenous language revitalization: a look at Hawaiian language technology in the modern world. Language and Literacy, 20(3), 100–120. https://doi.org/10.20360/langandlit29412
Josep, C. (2015). Language revitalization from the ground up promoting Yucatec maya on facebook. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 36(3), 284–296. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2014.921184
Before I move on to the topic of this blog, please let me ask you one question first. When you go to the store and want to buy tofu, have you ever thought that the word ‘tofu’ is an original English word or it was borrowed from other language? Actually, this word is a loanword that originates from the Chinese word ‘dòu fu’. We can find many examples like this in our life.
Loanwords are words that are adopted from one language into another with little or no alteration. Borrowing is a consequence of cultural contact between two language communities. Borrowing of words can go in both directions between the two languages in contact, but often there is an asymmetry, such that more words go from one side to the other. The actual process of borrowing is complex and involves many usage events.
In order to study Chinese borrowed words in English vocabulary based on dictionary research, Vice Professor Zeng Tai Yuan of Dong Wu University, Taiwan, gave a close look at Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (Fifth Edition) and found out that there were at least about 300 words in English vocabulary borrowed from Chinese (Zeng, 2005). We can see some examples from this site https://www.thoughtco.com/english-words-borrowed-from-chinese-688248 Similarly as English has borrowed lots of words from Chinese, there are many words borrowed from English in Chinese vocabulary, from every aspect of social life. According to Zhang’s (2005) stratified sampling research, English-borrowed words can be divided into 14 groups. From my perspective, one of the reasons why there are loanwords between English and Chinese is due to external factors. To be more specific, they are related to geographical neighbourhood, politics, economy, culture, military, and other activities between different countries.
14 groups in English borrowed words
Language is the key to human communication, and despite the vast differences between world countries and their cultures, their people’s languages have always influenced one another. In my opinion, loanwords have many advantages. They usually seem fashionable and interesting, which can attract Chinese young students deeply and stir up their enthusiasm and motivation in learning English. In addition, the process of borrowing words can be regarded as the process of gaining a better and deeper understanding of each associated country’s cultures, economies, policies, etc.
So, here is the question: as language teachers, how can we help students learn languages better by using loanwords? And do you think there are still disadvantages of loanwords? If so, how could we improve them?
References:
Zeng, T. (2005). Translating Chinese Culture-Specific Words into English–from a Perspective of Shorter Oxford English Dictionary 5th edition. Journal of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, 11, 74-77.
Zhang, P. (2005). Study on English Loan Words in Chinese. Tianjin University of Finance & Economics, 10-15.
The process of language acquisition is full of ups and downs. From the anxiousness and discomfort of being afraid to make mistakes, to the joy of finally understanding the intonation structure of a given language. It is evident that this process is full of emotions and feelings. We can consider all sorts of factors that contribute to the emotions that are present in the general classroom. We can talk about the feelings of engagement and involvement, classroom environment, rapport with teachers, motivation, interest of the content being taught, etc. Though typically, for more positive results in engagement, participation and motivation, students need a safe and empowering place to learn. Thus, a positive environment.
When thinking about a positive classroom environment, the topic of positive psychology always comes to mind. To define it quickly, positive psychology encapsulates the positive feelings and emotions that are present in our lives in order for humans to feel fulfilled, successful and self-actualized (MacIntyre, 2018). That said, does incorporating the approach of positive psychology as a pedagogical approach have the potential to promote feelings of fulfillment, success, and self-actualization from the standpoint of a L2 learner-self? Let’s explore.
As often discussed in the field of second language education and acquisition, the feeling of anxiety is a great barrier for all those involved in the learning process: “language anxiety is a significant concern for teachers, learners, and educational leaders because it affects the quality of teaching, learning, and assessment” (MacIntyre, 2018, p. 8). Since anxiety is largely associated with feelings of fear, this often leads to avoidance behaviour which forces students to disengage and avoid using the target language. The immense space that anxiety takes up in the process of language acquisition can be a driving factor as to why positive psychology has such great potential as a pedagogical tool in the SLE context.
You may be asking yourself exactly how positive psychology can be used and seen in the classroom, especially for language learning. Activities revolving around emotional intelligence is a good place to start. Many SLE researchers argue that language and emotional intelligence should be taught simultaneously. As learners are faced with language anxieties, having the appropriate vocabulary and set of skills to self-regulate and express their feelings can evidently positively impact the outcome of each situation they are placed in. As Dr. Danielle McGraw states, “It’s difficult to understand our emotions when we do not have the language to describe them.” This said, providing second language learners with adequate emotional literacy skills can be a content-based approach to language instruction!
Check out the quick video below for some inspiration from fellow educators as to how they have implemented elements of positive psychology in their classrooms!
Teachers from BYU on positive psychology in the classroom.
Questions:
How can we use positive psychology in the language classroom?
How can PosPsy benefit language learners?
References:
Macintyre, Peter, D.., Gregersen, Tammy, & Mercer, Sarah (2019). Setting an agenda for positive psychology in SLA: Theory, practice, and research. The Modern Language Journal, 103(1), 262–274. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12544
Italy is a fascinating place when it comes to sociolinguistics. The dialects and languages spoken around the country are so particular and recognizable that it is very easy yo immediately understand where an Italian is from after they say two or three words. Although grammar and vocabulary-wise Italian is the same all around the peninsula, the language sounds very very different depending on the region where it is spoken.
Every single region has its own particular accent and intonation when speaking Italian (to understand this it might be helpful to think about the English spoken in New York and the one spoken in Texas, for example), and sometimes the difference is perceptible even between towns within the same region. These differences are so particular that many comedians have built their performances on the specificities of Italian accents and dialects, and it is possible to see these accents represented in many tv shows and Italian movies. What is interesting is that every time one of these shows reproduce Italian accents or dialects, the latter are always associated with very specific meanings and representations. This is because language is strongly linked with ideologies and attitudes, and a language is never only just a language, but it is the combination of historical, political and cultural features that create a collective imaginary of that language and its people.
As Van Herk (2018) explains “Language attitudes underlie […] the way we evaluate other people and their speech” (p. 159). Every time an Italian hears an Italian accent, immediately a combination of attitudes, images and stereotypes takes shape in their mind, and this is because every Italian region and the accent or dialect spoken in it are strongly associated with specific representations. It is interesting to notice how certain accents are considered to be ugly (I’m thinking here of showgirls from Sardinia or Naples and other regions that were asked to take courses of diction to sound good, neutral or standardly Italian on the stage) while others are seen as more elegant or cool (the accents from Rome or Florence, for example), and that attitudes toward a person can be strongly influenced by the language/dialect spoken by this person.
When we talk about Italy, the range of representations associated with different accents and dialects is extremely wide. North Italy is much more modern and advanced if compared to the rest of Italy (and in particular the South) when it comes to economy, infrastructures, education rates, technology. Milan is the emblem of this. It is here that we find skyscrapers, business, the fashion week, famous brands. It is here that posh, snob, stylish people live, and it is here that we hear people “speaking in italics” (“parlare in cörsivœ”). Yes, when the Milanese accent is over-performed its accent is considered to be an italic version of Italian, because it is associated with poshness and coolness. On the contrary, most accents from the South are associated with underdevelopment, low literacy and education rates, ignorance and everything that is far from a modern civil world. Naples is associated with superstition and sketchiness (because of the illegal business carried on by the famous Neapolitan swindlers), Sicily is associated with mafia (“The Godfather” is the first thing that comes to mind here), Sardinia is associated with shepherds and primitiveness. This difference in representations could be explained by the fact that while the North is very cold and business oriented (and, consequently, its people are considered to be very serious and emotionless), the South is much warmer, family oriented, and deeply rooted in traditions that value food and folklore. This can be represented through the dichotomy between rational (the North) and emotional (the South), especially if we think about the fact that often Southern people (and their language) are seen as overly dramatic, extrovert, impetuous and impassioned. Consequently, the accent, dialects and languages heard around South Italy take on a whole different kind of representations.
As you can see, when it comes to language attitudes in Italy, things can get very funny and interesting, but sometimes also unpleasant because language attitudes often generate stereotypes that can be used to discriminate and negatively represent a certain people. If you speak a dialect or if your accents is associated with particular characteristic I would like to ask you: are you pride of the variety of language that you speak or are you ashamed of it? How aware are you of the meanings carried by the dialect/accent that you speak? Think about it and see what comes out!
References
Van Herk, G. (2018). Attitudes and Ideologies. In Van Herk, G. (Ed.), What is sociolinguistics? (pp. 171-186). 2e Chichester, West Sussex, UK:Wiley-Blackwell.
In the whole process of paying attention to the relationship between second languages, language diversity, and social justice, I think the social problems caused by dialects or accents haven’t been paid enough attention to. This blog will start with my own experience to discuss the discrimination caused by dialect or accent which often plays the role of the most direct “criterion” for judging other people.
I was born in the south of Jiangsu Province, China. In Jiangsu, there has always been some default “stigma chain” exists. Due to historical, economic, and many other factors, there are great differences between Southern and Northern Jiangsu, such as culture, living habits, and dialects. The resulting phenomenon is that people in these two parts don’t like each other and think the other is inferior. Among the many factors, dialect is one of the most important judgment bases because the dialects in southern Jiangsu and Northern Jiangsu are completely different. Therefore, the “regional identity” of a Jiangsu person can be judged by the accent alone. The consequence of this judgment is that the mutual discrimination between the north and the south is constantly emphasized and deepened. Facing such a phenomenon in my hometown, I often feel very powerless, as the concept has already been rooted in people’s minds. But I think the thing I can do, as a second language educator, is to tell everyone that, whether we use the word “dialect” or “accent” to describe the phonological and phonological characteristics of a local variety, language is at least not a tool to judge or measure a person’s strengths and weaknesses.
Actually, accent discrimination does not exist only in my hometown. Another example I know is the discrimination of African American vernacular English (AAVE). To some extent, dialects are the markers of power in society, (Winford, 1997). Over time, AAVE has been seen as an inferior dialect, and although it’s incorrect, such a concept has been accepted by many people around the world. As a result, people who speak AAVE are often judged or discriminated against by those who speak “standard English” (Grace, 2020).
All this social discrimination at home and abroad makes me think that if the accent or dialect will cause such great influence on social justice, does someone’s accent need to be corrected? If so, to sound like who? A native speaker or a group of people who belongs to a “superior” region? But what does that even mean? An accent can be a stigma, even among native speakers of the same language. These variations, determined by geography, class and race, are always identified with stereotypes. Fleeing from one means embracing another. Even though everybody has an accent, there certainly is such a thing as accent discrimination and most of us have either suffered or witnessed it at some point. Accent discrimination is, in the end, all about the place: who belongs and who doesn’t? I, for one, enjoy these ghostly presences of something strange in a familiar environment. They are a reminder of the fact that language doesn’t belong to anyone, not even to its native speakers. Language is shared. It is, in principle, a space where everyone is welcome and cooperates toward mutual comprehension, and the very fact that there are accents in the first place, the fact that we can still understand each other through all the differences is the most conclusive proof of the hospitality at the heart of every language.
References
Grace, G. (2020). DataSpace: Names, accents, and racial linguistic profiling: Linguistic and racial prejudice as mechanisms of discrimination against speakers of African American vernacular English. Princeton University. Retrieved November 14, 2021, from http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01gb19f8846.
Winford, D. (1997, January 1). On the origins of African American vernacular English – A Creolist perspective: Part I: The sociohistorical background. Diachronica. Retrieved November 14, 2021, from https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.14.2.05win.
One day in the French class in the Francisation program, I was practicing French with my classmates. When I said “je vais t’attendre chez KFC ”, my classmate reminded me that KFC here in Montreal is called PFK. Then, I immediately asked what the people here call “the apple store” which sells iphones. Do they change it into “une pomme”? She laughed without giving me an answer.
I googled when I returned home, and I found out the apple store is still the apple store but KFC here becomes PFK. This is because of the Section 63 of Quebec French language charter, which states that the name of an enterprise must be in French. But why has only KFC changed its name, while the Apple Store, Dairy Queen, Subway and many other brands have not. Some people explained that if the brand does not make sense in French, then they change their names. For example, Shopper’s Drug Mart goes by Pharmaprix in Quebec because Quebecois would be confused by “shopper’s”, and they might think this is a proper name rather than referring to someone who goes to the store as a “shopper”. Canadian Tire also does not change the name because most French people can understand those two words. To some extent, we can think that brands which change their name try their best to integrate into the local society to attract customers. As long as the brands’ name does not cause confusion, they do not need to change the name. However, for those world-known brands like KFC, does their name really cause confusion? Is it really necessary for them to change the name?
The localization of names also happens to people. People tend to have a local name when they go to a new country. However, when I just arrived at the first course at McGill, the professor said that you do not need to change your name to an English name. Every professor will try hard to learn your own name. But many Chinese people I met outside McGill will still use their English names because it is easy to pronounce and remember by local people. And having an English name may also provide them with more interview opportunities. Some may have other reasons for using an English name.
Here is a link for the discussion about why Chinese have an English name:
For me, I think no matter what, people or brands should be empowered to choose which name they want to use other than being forced to have a localized name. When people try to learn and become accustomed to the local cultures, the local society also needs to become more inclusive to them. Also, people who do want to have a localized name also need to be willingly accepted instead of having to use their real name. Inclusion should be inclusive across the board, not just one aspect!
Questions:
Do you have any examples of foreign brands having a localized name when they enter your country? From your perspective, should brands keep their original names or should they change to a new local name?
Do you give yourself a localized name when you stay in another country? Do you feel comfortable using that? Do you prefer to use your own name given by parents?
In my process of acquiring French, one of the most difficult things I find is trying to remember masculine or feminine French words. Like many other languages, French is gendered: pronouns, verbs, nouns and adjectives reflect the gender of the object or the person they refer to.
In French, there is not a word like “they” that is gender neutral. Most critically, the masculine is always given priority over the feminine. For instance, a French speaker would still use the masculine plural, ils, to refer to a group that consists of even 1 man and 10 women (although some people mentioned that it has changed a bit, still that’s how we learned in the francisation course here in Quebec). However, although in the past some words that have only masculine lexemes, such as “professeur” (teacher) and “avocat” (lawyer), are additionally preceded by “femme” if one wants to refer to a woman, now things are changed. For example, under the new rules, professions such as doctors, teachers and professors will now have female-only names in the official dictionary published by the Académie Française. For example, the term “doctor” is currently used for both men and women, while the word “doctor” will be added to the feminine suffix and become “docteur. However, the French Academy, which has an overwhelmingly male membership, has fiercely opposed the feminization of professional titles, saying it would bring “exponential complexity” and even “fatal disaster” to the French language.
Not only French, but my mother language, Chinese, also contains many sexist words that discriminate women group. For example, there is a famous Chinese saying “男人四十一枝花，女人四十豆腐渣”, which means after men reach the age of 40, they will become more attractive and more appreciative while women reach the age of 40, just like tofu dregs, worthless and no nutrition, will not attract others. This is a very insulting saying and devalues women, but few people would associate it with sexism and most of them just use it without scruples.
Sexist language has been defined as “words, phrases, and expressions that unnecessarily differentiate between women and men or exclude, trivialize, or diminish either gender” (Parks & Roberton, 1998a, p. 455). Most of the sexist languages, from my understanding, are demeaning and discriminatory towards women. Although the status of women has increased dramatically, they are still in a disadvantaged position and are still a vulnerable group.
Language always changes with the social, political, cultural and other developments of the time. Sexism in language needs to be taken seriously and a more neutral approach needs to be thought of. We need to raise women’s awareness through the study of linguistic sexism so that women will not be the victims of linguistic discrimination. Hopefully, we could develop a more gender-inclusive language and encourage people to use it in the future.
Sardinia is an Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea, and it is the place where I come from. The official language of Sardinia is Italian, but the language that brings people together, makes them feel profoundly connected to their land, traditions and history is Sardinian. However, when in 1861 Italy became a united nation, the use of the national language (Italian) was imposed on disparate peoples in order to unite them under the same flag and achieve political and administrative centralization. Sardinian, spoken in the island up to that moment, was presented as the language of the socially marginalized, co-responsible for Sardinia’s isolation and centuries-old misery. Conversely, Italian was displayed as a means of social emancipation and progress, to be used for socio-cultural integration with the mainland.
Sardinian is now an endangered language, and this is because many Sardinians detached (and still detach) themselves from and refuse to speak or “sound” (too) Sardinian, since the latter is still associated with a condition of degradation and uncivilization. Many of us (Sardinians) still suffer from a severe inferiority complex and share feelings of shame, and this is in part due to popular culture representations. Sardinian is often made fun of and reduced to a ridiculous caricature, to a “shepherd” and coarse “southern” accent. For Italians, Sardinian is merely a bunch of incomprehensible sounds belonging to an ignorant, poor and rough people.
One example that represents this popular culture believe can be identified in Groundskeeper Willie, the character on The Simpsons that impersonates the janitor at Springfield Elementary School. While in the original American version Willie is Scottish, in the Italian dubbed version of the animated sitcom Willie has a strong, thick, stereotypical Sardinian accent.
In the original version Willie speaks an English that is not very pleasant to the Yankees’ ears, and in Italy this was translated with the choice of making Willie be Sardinian. While there is no reason to claim that Sardinian is the most characteristic Italian dialect (because of the myriad of colorful and equally fascinating accents and dialects in the Italian peninsula), apparently, Sardinian is not very pleasant to the Italians’ ears. What is more, the hostile and diffident personality of the janitor can be easily associated with the stereotyped view that Italians have of Sardinians. Being The Simpson a satiric sitcom against the American society, the stylistic choices of the show have been transferred to the Italian context, reproducing an affective fabric that was already very solid in the minds of Italians and Sardinians. The result is that Sardinians can’t do anything but give up in front of these “funny” discriminations, so that we laugh at our own language together with those who humiliate it.
What I have just described supports what Van Herk (2018) writes when he speaks about the link between language and space: “social and physical ideas of space can interact to affect language” (p. 38). Sardinia is an island, which means that it is literally isolated from the rest of Italy, and this geographical configuration certainly influences people’s perceptions of Sardinian and its speakers. However, like Van Herk (2018) says, “What we call place is not simply a GPS coordinate, or geographic accident. Each regional language variety is a product of historical and social forces particular to that place.” (p. 42).
In Sardinia, historical, social, cultural and spatial elements have all contributed (and are still contributing) to the death of a language. When facing such powerful social representation, and dealing with ideas that are so deeply entrenched in collective imaginaries, do educators have the power to fight against the disappearance of languages? Can they make a difference in positively building a new image of endangered languages? I believe so, but schools cannot carry on this task alone and the support of political institutions is essential in protecting and promoting the vitality of languages that, like Sardinian, are slowly disappearing all around the world.
REFERENCES
Van Herk, G. (2018). Place. In Van Herk, G. (Ed.), What is sociolinguistics? (pp. 27-50). 2e Chichester, West Sussex, UK:Wiley-Blackwell.
