Preserving Heritage Languages

Copyrights © 2008 Sehlaoui
Preserving Heritage
Languages: Beyond the
NSLI
Prof. Dr. Abdelilah Salim Sehlaoui
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Lecture
Series
Emporia State University
November 6th, 2008

Cultural and Linguistic
Diversity
 One of the most striking features of our world
is its astonishing diversity.
 This diversity is reflected not only in the rich
varieties of plants and animal species and
ecosystems in nature, but also in the varieties
of human cultures and languages.
 There are many studies that have
documented this intricate connection between
these two types of diversity.

Universal Declaration on Cultural
Diversity
At the 31st Session of the UNESCO
General Conference (October 2001),
the Universal Declaration on Cultural
Diversity was adopted and recognized a
relationship between biodiversity,
cultural diversity, and linguistic diversity.

What is culture?

The Nature of Culture: A
critical View
 In addition to the traditional and prevailing definition of
culture in various fields, the term culture is defined here
within its socio-economic and political context and as
part of such context.
 It is viewed as a dynamic process within a given
social
context in which individuals are in a constant
struggle
for representation and the need to have an authentic
voice (e.g. Sehlaoui, 1999 and 2001; Giroux, 1992; Quantz, 1992).

How Many Cultures and Languages
are there in the world?
 6917
 The Encyclopedia of World Cultures has entries on
over 1500 different culture-groups. However, given
the interconnectedness of language and culture and
the fact that every one of us is culturally unique, that
number can come close to the number of people we
have in this world.

Linguistic Diversity in Danger
According to Raymond (2005), the
number of languages listed for the
United State of America is 238. Among
those, 162 are living languages, 3 are
second language without mother-
tongue speakers, and 73 are extinct.
Unfortunately, the number of extinct
languages is still growing.

Terminology
 Heritage Language Speaker: The term "heritage speaker"
refers to a person who comes from a home where a language
other than English is spoken, who speaks or understands the
home language, and who is more or less bilingual in English
and the home language.
 Mother Tongue is typically thought of as the language one
learns first and knows best, as this UNESCO definition
suggests: “[A] person’s mother tongue…is...’the language which
a person has acquired in early years and which normally has
become his/her natural instrument of thought and
communication.” Mother tongue denotes a deep, abiding, even
cord-like connection between language and identity.
 Extinct Language: When the last speaker is dead. No
records are left. It’s gone! [-competence, -performance]. They
are placed outside the continuum as we will see in the next
slide.
 Sleeping Language: [+competence, -performance]. They are
on the verge of becoming extinct.

Language Endangerment
Continuum
Less Endangered More Endangered
Widely spoken Languages Languages Sleeping
Languages Associated with That are not Languages
Associated with marginal Groups Intergenerationally
Powerful Groups Challenged
ExtinctLanguages
Source: Leonard 2008

The Process of Language
Loss
 By adolescence, most immigrant children
speak their heritage language haltingly. Most
of them lose or never develop the ability to
read and write in it or to speak it formally.
 Causes of Native Language endangerment.
 This is a loss to the whole nation.
 An example from a minority language
speaker.

Causes of Language
Endangerment
Language endangerment may be caused
primarily by external forces such as military,
economic, religious, cultural, or educational
subjugation. It may also be caused by
internal forces, such as a community’s
negative attitude towards its own language or
by a general decline of group identity. Internal
pressures always derive from external
factors. Together, they halt the
intergenerational transmission of linguistic
and cultural traditions.

Why can’t they just
speak English ONLY
and give us a break?

Sustaining Linguistic Diversity
 Heritage Language Preservation is a
multigenerational effort.
 It comes from the speech community first.
 The loss of intergenerational language transmission
is the most significant factor in language
endangerment.
 Language loss begins with language shift.
 Heritage languages typically used to die out within
three generations. Now it seems to be lost during
second generation (Fillmore, 2000).

What can parents do?
 Parents and immediate family members appear to
have the most important role in passing a language
from one generation to another.
 Set rules at home (e.g. use native language only for
communication purposes). Don’t give up. Be patient!!!
 Sacrifice time to read and talk to your child in the
native tongue.
 Communicate positive attitudes towards the language
and its culture.
 Etc…

What can the community do?
 Community plays a significant role as well.
 Look for volunteers to teach the language to
children.
 Locate resources for community members to
use.
 Contact government agencies and
organizations for help and resources.
 Teach speakers of other languages your
native tongue.
 Etc…

HL Loss Affects Family
Relationships
Based on experience and research,
[e.g. Janet S. Oh at UCLA, 2008], HL
Loss affects family relationships in the
following ways:

The link between family
relationships & HL use
Family
Relationships
Heritage
Language
Use

The link between family
relationships & HL loss
Family
Relationships
Heritage
Language
Use

Do you shift/choose to use English in order to better
communicate with other members of your community?
Question 12
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Yes No Unspecified
Answer
Percentage
Percentage

When you talk to your children or young people in your
community, do they reply to you in English?
Yes___ No__
Question 9
76%
7%
17%
Yes
No
Unspecified

Heritage Language Instruction
and Academic Achievement
A series of longitudinal studies found a
positive correlation of heritage language
instruction and higher academic achievement
in English for ELLs. They identified
enrichment and maintenance bilingual models
as the most effective. This research informs
us again and again that bilingual children
outperform their monolingual peers
academically (see for example: Cummins,
1989; Platero, 2001; Holm & Holm, 1995;
Thomas & Collier, 2002).

 US Department of Education
 Language Resource Centers
 The US State Department
 The Department of Defense (the
Director of National Intelligence (DNI)
Programs)
Multilingual Education Policies and
Efforts in the USA

Department of education
Programs
 The Foreign Language Assistance Program
(FLAP), Visit:
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oela/index.html for more
information.
 Advancing America Through Foreign Language
Partnerships Visit:
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/index.html?src=oc
for more information.
 Language Teacher Corps, Visit:
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/opepd/index.html?src=oc
 E-Learning Language Clearinghouse, Visit:
 Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative, Visit:

Language Resource centers
(LRCs)
Furthermore, since 1990, the U.S. Department of
Education has awarded Title VI grants to institutions
of higher education in order to establish LRCs. The
common goal of the LRCs is to promote the learning
and teaching of foreign languages in the United
States. Led by nationally and internationally
recognized language professionals, the LRCs create
language-learning materials, offer professional
development workshops, and conduct research on
foreign language learning. While some of the LRCs
concentrate on specific language areas, other LRCs
direct their attention to foreign languages in general
(NFLRC, 2007).
For more information on each center, visit:
http://nflrc.msu.edu/

The State Department Programs
 National Security Language Initiative (NSLI), of which $26.7 million will support
programs managed by the Department of State. The programs that this
department offers are:
 U.S. Fulbright Student Program: Visit: http://us.fulbrightonline.org or www.iie.org
 Intensive Summer Language Institutes: Visit: http://www.caorc.org/language
 Gilman Scholarships: Visit: www.iie.org//programs/gilman
 Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants: Visit:
http://www.exchanges.state.gov
 Teacher Exchange: Visit: http://www.exchanges.state.gov
 Youth Exchanges:
 (1) Summer Language Institutes: Will provide U.S. high school students
the opportunity to study Arabic or Chinese language abroad. In 2007, the
program will expand to include Turkish, Hindi, and Russian languages.
 (2) Academic Semester or Year Abroad: Will provide U.S. high school
students taking formal critical need language classes the opportunity to spend
an academic semester or year studying the language abroad.
 (3) School Partnerships: Will provide U.S. schools linkages to foreign
counterparts in critical need language countries (Russia, China, Turkey, India,
and the Arab world) for interactive language programs and exchanges of groups
of students and teachers.
 Visit: http://exchanges.state.gov/education/citizens/students

The Department of Defense and the
Director of National Intelligence (DNI)
Programs
The Center for Applied Linguistics’ project is just
one example of such efforts. The project is
known as the English for Heritage Language
Speakers 2005-2010 project which aims at
helping heritage speakers of critical languages
develop their English proficiency to high levels,
with a particular focus on language skills specific
to the federal workplace.

Organizations Promoting
Linguistic Diversity
 Alliance for the Advancement of Heritage Languages
 The American Philological Society (APS)
 Modern Language Association of America (MLA)
 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
 The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
(ACTFL)
 Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
 The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL)
 The American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA)
 The National Association for Foreign Student Affairs (NAFSA)
 The National Association of Bilingual Education (NABE)
 The Linguistic Society of America (LSA)
 The American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL)
 The International Association for World Englishes (IAWE)
 The National Foreign Language Center (NFLC)

However,…
it should be noted that unless some more
comprehensive efforts are made and unless societal
attitudes change, heritage languages are lost over
time both in the individuals who speak them and in
their speech communities, and they typically die out
within two to three generations (Wiley, 1996). Hence
comes the need for a more comprehensive strategic
language planning policy and unified efforts
(governmental, social, and individual) that can help
protect the linguistic assets of this country (Sehlaoui,
2008a).

Concluding Remarks
 L’Acquisition par chock et l’acquisition par
imagination.
 Language carries valuable information about
the society and culture of its speakers. If the
language disappears, important cultural
knowledge, which usually tends to be
environmentally appropriate, may also
disappear which eventually leads to
imbalances in the diverse ecosystems in our
planet.

References
Giroux, H. (1992). Critical literacy and student experience: Donald Graves' approach to literacy. In P. Shannon
(Ed.). Becoming political: Readings and writings in the politics of education. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann
Quantz, R. A. (1992). On critical ethnography (with some postmodern considerations). In M. D. LeCompte, W. L.
Millroy, and J. Preissle (Eds.). The handbook of qualitative research in education. San Diego, CA:
Academic Press.
Sehlaoui, Abdelilah S. (2008a) Language Learning in the United States of America. Language, Culture, and
Curriculum Journal, Vol. 21:3, 2008.
Sehlaoui, Abdelilah S. (2008b). Language Learning, Heritage, and Literacy in the USA: The Case of Arabic.
Language, Culture, and Curriculum Journal, Vol. 21:3, 2008.
Sehlaoui, Abdelilah. S. (2001a) Facing the Challenge of Teaching and Learning EFL Reading: Beyond the
Language of Critique. Reading in a Foreign Language 13 (2) p615-29 Spr 2001. 2001
Sehlaoui, Abdelilah S. (2001b) Developing Cross-Cultural Communicative Competence in Pre-Service
ESL/EFL Teachers: A Critical Perspective. Language, Culture and Curriculum 14 (1) p42-57 2001.
Sehlaoui, Abdelilah S. (2001c). Developing Cross-cultural Communicative Competence via Computer-Assisted
Language Learning: The Case of Preservice ESL/EFL Teachers, The Association of Learning Technology
Journal, Vol 9 (3) 2001.
Sehlaoui, Abdelilah S. (1999). Developing cross-cultural communicative competence in ESL/EFL preservice
teachers: A critical perspective. (Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1999).
Dissertation Abstarcts International, DAI-A 60/06, p. 2042, Publication # 99348338.
Sehlaoui, Abdelilah S and Nwoye, J. (Eds.) (2001). Multicultural Education: Diverse Perspectives. Victoria:
Canada. Trafford.
Thomas, W.P., & Collier, V.P. (2002). A national study of school effectiveness for language minority students'
long-term academic achievement. Santa Cruz, CA: Center for Research on Education, Diversity and
Excellence, University of California-Santa Cruz.

Thank you!
Shukran!
Gracias!
Merci!
Thank you!
Shukran!
Gracias!
Merci!
www.assehlaoui.com

Preserving Heritage Languages

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