Power of Language and the Value of Language Diversity - Essay Example

Power of Language, and the value (or otherwise) of language diversity Introduction Language is the only source of exchanging thoughts. Language is viewed as a shaper of personal and cultural identity. Language and accents may also be the means by which one group of people culturally stereotypes another, whether the two groups speak different languages or speak variations of the same language. Language is then viewed in its role of connecting individuals to each other. As people move through their day and their lives, changing the style of their language or changing from one language to another is a natural way to express their relationships to the people with whom they interact. Language and Personal Identity It is not surprising that our native language is often referred to as our "mother tongue" a terms that recalls our earliest memories and influences. The term itself has different meanings. The sociolinguist Tove Skutnabb Kangas (1981) hypothesizes five definitions of "mother tongue" depending on who is defining it. For the sociologist, mother tongue is the language one learns first. For the linguist, it is the language one knows best. For the sociolinguist it is the language one uses the most. For the social psychologist, it is the language one identifies with and through which one is identified. For the lay person, it is "the language one counts in thinks in, dreams in, writes a diary in, and writes poetry in" (Skutnabb- Kangas, 1981: 18). Language and Cultural identity Skutnabb- Kangas' social psychological definition of mother tongue brings out the importance of language as part of one's cultural identity. The mother tongue is the langue through which in the process of socialization one has required the norms and value systems of one's own group. The language passes on the cultural tradition of the group and there by gives the individual an identity which ties her to the in-group and at the same time sets her apart from other possible groups of reference.. Since this socialization process to a large extent occurs with the aid of language, language itself comes to constitute a symbolic representation of the group. Diversity in Language If just a few of the majority languages of the world solely existed, how tedious and uninteresting it would be. Rather, for the moment we have a language garden full of variety and color. The initial conclusion is simply that language diversity in the garden of the world makes for a richer, more interesting world with a depth of experience gained from a breadth of cultures. However, language diversity makes the garden more difficult to tend. In a garden, some flowers and shrubs spread quickly. Some majority languages, particularly English, have expanded considerably during the last century. When the garden is neglected, a few strong species of flower may take over, and small minority flowers may be in danger of extinction. Therefore some delicate flowers need extra care and protection. A free language economy will mean the extinction of many languages' Language planning is essential to avoid such trends. When a gardener wishes to create a beautiful garden, there will be both careful planning and continued care and protection. Sometimes radical action may be taken to preserve and protect. The analogy suggests that language diversity requires planning and care. If language resources are to be maintained and developed, of ensuring that the speaker of all languages value their language and take pride in their language skills. This will occur only if the society as a whole values those languages, recognizes and values language skills, and recognizes and values cultural and linguistic diversity. Value of diversity Linguistic Diversity helps sustain human existence. At times, medical cures are found in plans and flowers native to a particular region; knowledge about these cures comes from native speaking the local language. If the language disappears, the medical knowledge will disappear as well. Languages contain other types of knowledge; they express particular ways of viewing life. A wealth of information about human survival and adaptation is embedded in the many languages of the world. Linguistic diversity offers writers a wide range of artistic expression. In addition, research has shown that multilingual people have advantages over monolinguals in creative and divergent thinking, intelligence, and cognitive flexibility; investment in multilingualism thus means an investment in potential solutions to the problems human face. Just as biodiversity is threatened today, linguistic diversity is threatened as well. Of the roughly 6,000 languages that currently exist, half may be dead or dying by the year 2050. While the extinction of some languages is natural, language loss has accelerated in modern times. Not surprisingly, there is a high correlation between biodiversity and linguistic diversity; in places where biodiversity is strong, linguistic diversity is also strong, and in places where biodiversity has been compromised, languages have been lost. In a similar way, a loss of linguistic diversity throws off the balance of life. Language need not to be polarizing issue. In the United State, it rarely has been- certainly as compare with race, class, or religion. Americans have had relatively limited experience with conflicts over self evident. Seldom did anyone perceive a threat from other tongues. Language diversity was often tolerated, occasionally repressed; mostly it was taken for granted. The US government hardly ever saw a need for legislation or any other action, to regulate language usage. Its standard policy was to have no policy on language, explicitly defined and national in scope. States and localities were more likely to act in this area, some times to refuse but frequently to provide accommodations, such as bilingual instruction in public schools. Sharing language diversity It was argued that in the existing circumstances, language diversity, with some exceptions, was an underused resource in the mainstream curriculum. Bringing language diversity into the curriculum would reap benefits for all students. It was important that provision which responded to the needs of the speaker of community language and mother tongues other than English should not be seen as exclusively for 'bilinguals only' Opportunities for learning about language diversity and learning other languages should be offered to all students and monolingual English speakers should be specifically included. Conclusion There are many languages in the whole world and each has its own importance. Language has its cultural value. Language is thus central to all the primary disciplines involved in cognitive science. For the linguist, however, language diversity is an inescapable fact of everyday life. Each language is viewed as a unique system of contrasting signs, thus implying that the way the sound relationship is organized, and may vary from language to language. Reference 1) Dicker, J, Susan. (2003) Languages in America: A Pluralist View: Multilingual Matters Ltd. 2) Fuchs, Catherine. Robert, Stephane. (1999) Language Diversity and Cognitive Representations: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Philadelphia. 3) Ingram, e, d. Sumbuk, Kenneth. Cunningham, Denis. (2006) Language Diversity in the Pacific: Endangerment And Survival: Multilingual Matters 4) Leicester, Mal. Modgil, Celia. Modgil, Sohan. (2000) Education, Culture and Values: 5) Ellis, G, Donald. ( ) From Language to Communication: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group Read More