What is the Typology Assessment?

USERS

This assessment is intended for people who are part of a language community or a church that wants to translate the Bible or that seeks to develop a Scripture-use program. It can also be used by missions who seek to serve the community, as long as they involve others who have firsthand knowledge of the languages used in the community.

PURPOSE

The purpose of the tool is to do a quick assessment of the type of multilingualism found in the community where the language in focus is used.

TYPOLOGY

A typology is a way to categorize the complexity people face. A typology is nearly always incomplete and oversimplified, but it does help us to make sense of things. Any design of a typology faces the difficulty of “splitting or lumping”. Splitting allows for greater distinction and detail and lumping simplifies things. The typology on multilingualism used in this tool is made up of four types. The tool uses the guiding principle: What impact will the language stability or the shifts have on the production and use of Scripture for the lifespan of the current generation? Based on that principle the four types are chosen: Limited multilingualism, Shifting multilingualism, Shifted multilingualism, and Widespread multilingualism.

The Typology Assessment contains fourteen sections with four statements in each section. Simply select one of the four statements under each of the fourteen sections that best describes the language situation of the community. At the end of the test, you will find instructions on how to tally the results.