Last updated on Jul 25, 2024

You're leading linguistic preservation efforts. How do you involve all industry partners effectively?

Linguistic preservation is a critical task that requires a collective effort to ensure the survival of languages at risk of disappearing. As the leader of such an initiative, your role is to galvanize support and create a collaborative environment where every industry partner can contribute effectively. This involves understanding the unique resources and capabilities that each partner brings to the table and integrating them into a cohesive strategy. From technology companies to educational institutions, each has a part to play in documenting, revitalizing, and promoting endangered languages. Your challenge is to create synergy among these diverse entities, aligning their goals with the overarching mission of linguistic sustainability.

1 Engage Tech

In the digital age, technology companies play a pivotal role in linguistic preservation. Your first step is to engage these partners by highlighting how their tools and platforms can aid in language documentation and revitalization. Encourage them to develop software that supports text input and translation in lesser-known languages or to create apps that facilitate language learning. By emphasizing the social impact of their contributions, you can inspire tech firms to invest in projects that not only expand their market reach but also serve a greater good.

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2 Involve Academia

Academic institutions are treasure troves of linguistic research and expertise. To involve them effectively, present opportunities for collaborative research projects that can lead to practical outcomes in language preservation. Foster partnerships between linguists and communities to document languages and create resources like dictionaries or grammar guides. Encourage academia to incorporate endangered languages into their curricula, which not only aids in preservation efforts but also enriches the educational experience for students.

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3 Mobilize NGOs

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) often have a grassroots connection to communities where endangered languages are spoken. To mobilize these organizations, show them how linguistic preservation aligns with their missions, whether it's cultural heritage, education, or human rights. Provide them with tools and methodologies for community-based language documentation and support their capacity-building initiatives to empower local stakeholders in the preservation process.

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4 Engage Media

The media's power to raise awareness is unparalleled. To engage media outlets effectively, craft compelling narratives about the languages at risk and the communities affected. Highlight success stories and the cultural richness inherent in linguistic diversity. Encourage media partners to feature content in endangered languages and to profile linguistic preservation efforts, thereby educating the public and fostering a broader appreciation for language diversity.

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5 Empower Communities

At the heart of linguistic preservation are the speaker communities themselves. Empower these communities by providing them with the means to record and teach their languages. Encourage the development of community-driven resources, such as local radio programs or cultural events, that celebrate and promote language use. Show them how their active participation is crucial to the success of preservation efforts, ensuring that their voices are heard and their languages live on.

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Karina Lefèvre

Directora General Promoción Derechos de las Mujeres | BA MUJER
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La preservación lingüística es un derecho humano porque hace a la identidad de las personas, por lo tanto, es de vital importancia tejer redes entre todas las comunidades, aún de distintas lenguas, para adoptar una metodología única de trabajo que evite la dispersión de recursos.

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6 Foster Collaboration

True collaboration requires a framework where all partners can contribute and share knowledge. Establish a platform for regular communication between industry partners, creating an ecosystem where resources, ideas, and best practices can be exchanged. Encourage the co-creation of projects that leverage the strengths of each partner, ensuring that efforts are not duplicated but rather strategically aligned for maximum impact on linguistic preservation.

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Sze Seau Lee Jill

Educator, lifelong learner, enabler
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Just got roped into a linguistic preservation project that involves sustaining the cultural stories of indigenous groups in Malaysia. Can’t wait to start because we are involving students who can illustrate, design, publicise on social media and write for young children. In collaborations, don’t restrict to specialists in your field. Go beyond to extend beyond and create More links within the ecosystem

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Tabisa Booi

For the love of Primary & Early Childhood Education
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An effective approach to preserving and growing a language is to relax stringent usage rules and permit translanguaging, which incorporates borrowed terms. Since language is dynamic, rigid rules that render it static can be detrimental. To promote the growth of indigenous languages, embracing transliteral terms through translanguaging is crucial. This facilitates their expansion into the digital realm, enabling the development of AI tools and academic resources, such as transcription tools. Allowing indigenous languages to incorporate elements from English is beneficial. Historically, English evolved and expanded by borrowing from dominant languages like Latin and Greek.

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You're leading linguistic preservation efforts. How do you involve all industry partners effectively?

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1 Engage Tech

2 Involve Academia

3 Mobilize NGOs

4 Engage Media

5 Empower Communities

6 Foster Collaboration

7 Here’s what else to consider

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