AP SEMINAR & Loss Of Languages

Basically, I got really busy for a while and may have forgotten about this blog. But FEAR NOT, I am still writing to my heart's content. While I was thinking about topics I found myself interested in, one of which was the loss of languages. I went over it for my independent written argument (IWA) for my class AP Seminar. It was really fun; we made a podcast over the IWA, and it was so cool to make connections to another person's IWA and ask questions. This assignment gave me more of an opportunity to expand on something I am interested in. A difficulty I have in this class is always the word count, lol.

When I write, I don't really plan that much. I don't know if that is a bad or good thing, but in this class of AP Seminar, I have been prepping my work through making an outline of the topics. For this class, my teacher loves to tell us that you need to make the topics, your references, and your lenses speak to each other. They speak to make a story. That is the point of writing: to tell a story to make the audience captivated and want to listen. 

One of the first steps was to find references that you would use in the IWA and evaluate them. Not only do you need to show those references (some of which are supplied by the college board), but you also need to explain in an annotated bibliography your sources. The step after that was to plan the outline of the IWA. This was a bit difficult for me because of how I typically write. In the outline, I basically streamlined what I would say, in what order, how detailed, and how it connects. What I learnt through this entire research process was pretty fascinating, and I will go into a summarised and paraphrased version of the IWA.

The amount of people who were found to be able to speak Gaelic is 1.6% (87,056 people) of the total 5.45 million population back in 2022. It is a native language to Scotland, yet so little of the population can speak the Celtic language. Many languages are dying off, whether that was with the intention or not, and losing more of their native speakers. This issue, however, can be solved through a method of revival through engagement with media. Media is often used to stimulate people into learning and has been used in the past to teach people languages and many subjects before. It can introduce a heightened interest in the languages that are dying out.

Across the globe, there are many languages that are becoming endangered. Of the "7,000 documented languages, nearly half are considered endangered” (Bromham). These languages are considered endangered out of many scales and levels, but one of them looks at the amount of speakers who have that language as their first language (L1 speakers). The stages of endangerment that languages are in are threatened, endangered, critically endangered, and sleeping/dead. The process from falling from a threatened language to a sleeping one is the loss of those L1 speakers. One of the reasons that this process has been accelerated for so many languages is due to "colonisation and globalisation "(Brohmam). This is seen through how some of the widely spoken languages are English and French. French is known as the language of diplomacy, while English is the language of commerce. Both languages were disseminated through globalisation and colonisation. As the world globalised, languages were used to connect people from different worlds, as seen through the existence of a mixture of languages. Creole languages are an example of a mixing of languages through colonisation. The globalisation of the world came from the strong influence of these countries that spread through how they were strong in technology, art, the military, or more. The spread of these new languages led to the disuse of others. The solution to the endangerment of languages is engaging media.

There have been many steps taken in the past to resolve the issue of language endangerment. One of which was the Endangered Languages Project. This project served as a database for the languages. It would display the severity of the issue by showing a map of where these languages came from and what level of endangered they were. It would also serve as a learning tool for many of the languages through the content that was uploaded to the site.

Culture has a strong tie to the language, whether that be colonialism spreading, global powers, creole languages, or more. All languages have colloquial words that many people would not gain the understanding of without immersing oneself in the culture. For example, there is new slang for something being "buns" or "heat" in American English. Ms. Adichie brings up culture in a fascinating way about how what you are taught as you are growing is what sticks with you (slightly connecting to the idea of nature versus nurture). "I wrote exactly the kinds of stories I was reading: all my characters were white and blue-eyed" (Adichie). She was taught this perception of the world, and it stuck with her as a central part of herself and her writing. Languages are similar. They teach specific things to the reader, and it sticks with them. For example, poetry in specific languages cannot be translated line for line because it loses the artistic meaning behind the piece. When the world loses languages that make it unique, it loses itself to homogeneity. However, many people actively search for new things to entertain them or interest them, so a world without vast languages seems empty. “US college students, according to a recent study, cite their enthusiasm for K-pop and dramas as key motivating factors for learning the Korean language” (Choe). This new experience of K-pop taught these students not only the language but also the history and traditions of the culture of Korea. The power of K-pop can even be used to sell a perception of Korea. This can be used to increase the profits for the country and gain further benefits. Korea has been steadily gaining influence in the past decades, and by “[promoting] Korean causes as sympathetic," they get on the side of the public (Choe).

Those college students utilised Kpop as a form of media to teach them more about the language and as a motivator to learn. There are many ways to use media as a motivator to learn things; it does not just have to be entertainment. Susi Poli, an international scholar, dealt with a few issues from having to learn not only the language but also the culture of the country. However, she managed to stabilise herself by finding a sense of identity. It can be difficult to adjust to something new, especially learning, but the key to learning anything is to hone in on what makes sense and is comfortable and branch out from there. It is difficult to learn languages as you get older; however, “an individual’s ability to learn languages...from mere exposure, the mechanism by which a child learns a first language, declines after adolescence” (Hardison). Regardless of what may be limiting a person from learning a language, motivation and comfortability can overcome it.

To get people motivated, many people have turned to engaging material. Kaur and Aziz focused on teaching English to English Second Language (ESL) learners. These people may feel less confident and willing to learn since they are learning a new language at a later point in time, like Susi Poli. However, Kaur and Aziz used games to make these learners feel more at ease and learn in a hands-on way. They used games such as "2 Truths and one Lie," board games, guessing games, online language learning games, and many others. These games were utilised to help the ESL learners. The games all had different payoffs, which included making them feel more confident at speaking (which reduces stress and anxiety), bolstering their speaking skills and memorisation, general knowledge, helping lower-level speakers, and being entertaining.

Speaking of fun, Chants of Sennaar is a game that utilises many systems to teach the player the languages of the game. The languages within the game were made out of glyphs that the player slowly learnt through a bunch of puzzles, images, gestures, and symbolism. These puzzles allowed the player to attach their own manual definition to the glyph (limited to 20 characters). The player could edit the definition whenever before getting tested on the definition. The definitions would eventually be corrected to the proper definition after a puzzle to match them to pictures showcasing what they meant (the test). This was a great way of teaching languages because it stimulates critical thinking skills for the learners. The game allows for numerous freedoms to learn and process but still helps through the testing to make sure the players understand. This game, along with many others, can be used to help others in their language learning journey. However, just because this is a good method does not mean it is the only method. Many people may thrive in an academic setting like Susi Poli. People can learn from games, video lectures, teachers, or a database like the Endangered Languages Project. Media will stimulate people into thinking, and that is a method of combating language loss.

There are some issues, though. Websites such as the Endangered Languages Project have given others the ability to post on the website. This allows for many more people to share information; however, not all of the information can be true or of pleasant intent. As seen in the journal by Chamberlain, people can go online and intentionally spread misinformation. “Twitter users without any special reputation can be useful to actors spreading disinformation because an average hub user's followers will often have personal relationships with the user and a large degree of trust in the user’s messages” (Chamberlain). Those people, after gaining a level of trust, will use it to spread information and falsehoods, and that applies to languages as well, whether that be with intent or not. People, however, can always fact-check. People, when writing research papers, use references for credibility. People use translators (not as useful as knowing the language) as fact-checkers as well.

As languages spread, there are people who may spread it further, but with their harmful misconceptions. There is the possibility that people enjoy the language and culture as the language spreads to people around the globe, allowing people to appropriate the language culturally. Transracial people “identify themselves with a different ethnicity or nationality; respectively, they feel a strong attraction to it, in contrast to the one they were born into” (Sülter). Some people feel the urge to identify as another race that they developed a "deeper" connection towards. An example of this behaviour would be Oli London. He had undergone many plastic surgeries in the past to look more like a K-pop idol and claimed to be Korean. There are many other people who also felt similarly and tried to change their race into another. This is a type of cultural appropriation, and people may argue that making languages more well-known may attract people to this behaviour. The argument made for that claim is that although people may "change" their race. The struggles, experiences, and culture will not be experienced on the same level. There are many delicate intricacies that people undergo. Many people go through levels of discrimination and racism more specific to their race. Many of the people who attempt to change their race do not understand the depth behind the identity that they are trying to become. In the sense of weeaboos, they fetishise being Japanese. Therefore, as much as people attempt to change races, they will not be recognised in terms of race or struggle.

Finally, as technology innovates further, there may be less of a use for learning a language. As seen with research showcased by Kaku, “Dr. Shih believes that he can next create a machine to record images, not just words, that patients conceive in their minds” (Kaku). Plans to create machines that would allow for a car to be driven without anything physical and just the mind. That engages the question of the use of learning a language. The answer is that as the technology innovates, it will also develop into an ethical issue. This new technology “requires opening up patients’ brains,” which is seen as an ethics issue (Kaku). It may not be safe or ethical to look into someone's brain. Besides, the information gleaned from these brains would simply be databases. That is similar to what online translators are like in the current day; yet, there is a commonly known reputation that translators are not as accurate. Many people find fulfilment through languages, and that spark of joy would be removed. However, by using media to teach them instead, they get to make their own choice.

People enjoy media that immerses them. There are new speakers due to the engaging content. New language speakers increase the L1 speakers as generations go on. This makes the viability of the dying language decrease and revitalises the culture. Languages are affected by the stimulating content. Therefore, it is necessary to continue to use and make engaging media to make languages less endangered.

Overall, this was really fun, and I still have to learn to write more in active voice.