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Languages in Society
One of the more interesting ideas which Baker uses
is taken from Ofelia Garcia, on pages 52-53. This
is the description of the Language Garden. Language diversity makes for a very interesting garden. According
to Garcia, the range of languages which we have are to be valued. But they must also be nurtured. Language planning is necessary. 1. Adding
Languages (flowers): wherever there is a strong majority language it may be enriching
to add a second language. Our record in this
in the UK is not very good. Sign language has
never even been considered in this way. Yet
we have seen a major development in sign classes throughout the UK. People learn sign for interest now - not just to help the deaf. 2. Protecting rare languages (flowers): Just as rare plants or animals may have to be protected in order to survive so languages may need attention. The opposite situation has existed for sign for many years - despite attempts to eradicate it, the language has survived. But we could think of situations where sign is being reduced in importance. One of those situations is through mainstreaming. The purpose of this is to integrate the child - to make the child more like the hearing person. In doing so, sign is reduced in value and in importance. If continued for a long time, deaf people would be completely separated from each other and the language would be reduced to a very simple level - except in deaf families with deaf children. Ladd (in Deaf Liberation, edited by Lee) sets out some of these outcomes. From the point of view of Garcia there is value in ensuring that languages survive. 3. Active Promotion of dying languages (flowers): Sometimes it may not be enough to protect a language or a flower. It may need some action to ensure that it is promoted. Just as a plant which has been ignored may need some removal of competing plants, or re-planting, or the addition of fertiliser, so a minority language may need to be actively promoted. For sign, this would mean a positive discrimination; an increase in its use on television or in the media. In Ireland, the language of the people was dying out. It was only by direct government intervention that the Irish language has been brought back in to the limelight and is now spreading again. 4. Control of active languages (flowers): Just as weeds are defined by the speed with which they multiply and the damage which they do to other plants, so there are some languages which spread too fast and begin to take over others. English is one of the great colonial languages. It is a language of power and so people tend to embrace it most easily. But there has to be some balance or else other groups will stop using their own language altogether. In Europe, there are some moves to ensure that each radio station plays songs in its own country’s national language, rather than mostly in English. Some people think that this is strange - yet it is a very important means of preserving the language and the culture of the community when it is under threat. |
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