“Tell me, why should we care?” he asks. It’s a question I can expect whenever I do a lecture about the looming extinction of most of the world’s 6,000 languages, a great many of which are spoken by small groups of indigenous people. For some reason the question is almost always posed by a man seated in a row somewhere near the back.” J. McWhorter, NYT
ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post with Answer Key
Pormpuraaw, a small Aboriginal communityin northern Australia. Credit-J. Joyner
Excerpt: Why Save a Language? By John McWhorter, The New York Times
“Asked to elaborate, he says that if indigenous people want to give up their ancestral language to join the modern world, why should we consider it a tragedy? Languages have always died as time has passed. What’s so special about a language?
The answer I’m supposed to give is that each language, in the way it applies words to things and in the way its grammar works, is a unique window on the world. In Russian there’s no word just for blue; you have to specify whether you mean dark or light blue. In Chinese, you don’t say next week and last week but the week below and the week above. If a language dies, a fascinating way of thinking dies along with it. I used to say something like that, but lately I have changed my answer.
Gu Hangyu, sits with his grandmother Wang Yufang, on Chongming Island near Shanghai. She speaks the Chongming dialect, but not standard Chinese. Credit- Ruth Morris
Certainly, experiments do show that a language can have a fascinating effect on how its speakers think. Russian speakers are on average 124 milliseconds faster than English speakers at identifying when dark blue shades into light blue. A French person is a tad more likely than an Anglophone to imagine a table as having a high voice if it were a cartoon character, because the word is marked as feminine in his language. This is cool stuff. But the question is whether such infinitesimal differences, perceptible only in a laboratory, qualify as worldviews — cultural standpoints or ways of thinking that we consider important. I think the answer is no.
Yet because language is so central to being human, to have a language used only with certain other people is a powerful tool for connection and a sense of community… First, a central aspect of any culture’s existence as a coherent entity is the fact of its having its own language, regardless of what the language happens to be like. Certainly, a culture can thrive without its own language: No one would tell today’s American Indians that if they no longer spoke their ancestral language it would render them non-Indian.
Language extinction hits close to home as well — many Native American tongues are endangered. Credit CNN
Second, languages are scientifically interesting even if they don’t index cultural traits. They offer variety equivalent to the diversity of the world’s fauna and flora. For example, whether or not it says anything about how its speakers think, the fact that there is a language in New Guinea that uses the same word for eat, drink and smoke is remarkable in itself. Another New Guinea language is Yeli Dnye, which not only has 90 sounds to English’s 44, but also has 11 different ways to say “on” depending on whether something is horizontal, vertical, on a point, scattered, attached and more…We should foster efforts to keep as many languages spoken as possible, and to at least document what the rest of them are like.”
ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post
Level: Intermediate – Advanced
Language Skills: Reading, writing, and speaking. Vocabulary and grammar activities are included.
Time: Approximately 2 hours.
Materials: Student handouts (from this lesson) access to news article, and video clip.
Objective: Students will read and discuss the article with a focus on improving reading comprehension and learning new vocabulary. At the end of the lesson students will express their personal views on the topic through group work and writing.
Pre-reading Organizer
Directions: Ask students to examine the title of the post and of the actual article they are about to read. Then, have them examine the photos. Ask students to write a paragraph describing what they think this article will discuss. Have students use the pre-reading organizer to assist them in finding the main ideas from the reading.
Pre-reading Organizer By McGraw-Hill Company.
II. While Reading Tasks
Word -Recognition
Directions: Students are to choose the correct word or phrases from the article. This exercise reinforces students’ attention on words that have been introduced in the reading. Have them skim the article to check their responses. Students should also find the meanings for all unknown words.
The answer I’m supposed/supposedly to give is that each lingua/language, in the way it applies/apply words to things and in the way its grammar works, is a unique/uniquely window on the world. In Russian/rushing there’s no word just for blue; you have to specific/specify whether you mean dark or light blue. In Chinese/China, you don’t say next week and last week but the week below and the week above. If a language die/dies, a fascinating/fascinates way of thinking dies along with it. I used to say something like that, but lately I have change/changed my answer.
Reading Comprehension
True /False/NA-Statements
Directions: Review the following statements from the reading. If a statement is true they mark it T. If the statement is not applicable, they mark it NA. If the statement is false they mark it F and provide the correct answer.
- Experiments show that a language can have a fascinating effect on how its speakers think.
- The most popular languages are from Asian cultures.
- German speakers are on average 124 milliseconds faster than English speakers at identifying when dark blue shades into light blue.
- A Spanish person is more likely than an Anglophone to imagine a table as having a high voice if it were a cartoon character because the word is marked as feminine in his language.
- Hypotheticality and counterfactuality are established more by context in Chinese than in English.
- The article states that in 100 years only about 600 of the current 6,000 languages may be still spoken.
- A central aspect of any culture’s existence as a coherent entity is the fact of its having its own food.
- A culture cannot thrive without its own language.
- To have a language used only with certain other people is a powerful tool for connection and a sense of community.
- There is a language in New Guinea that uses the same word for eat, drink and smoke.
Grammar Focus
Preposition Exercise
Directions: The following sentences are from the article. For each sentence choose the correct preposition from the choices presented.
Prepositions: in, for, of, to, as,
First, a central aspect ___any culture’s existence___a coherent entity is the fact ___its having its own language, regardless ___what the language happens ___be like. Certainly, a culture can thrive without its own language: No one would tell today’s American Indians that if they no longer spoke their ancestral language it would render them non-Indian.
Second, languages are scientifically interesting even ___ they don’t index cultural traits. They offer variety equivalent ___ the diversity ___ the world’s fauna and flora. For example, whether or not it says anything about how its speakers think, the fact that there is a language in New Guinea that uses the same word ___ eat, drink and smoke is remarkable ___ itself.
III. Post Reading Tasks
WH-How Questions
Directions: Have students use the WH-question format to discuss or to write the main points from the article.
Who or What is the article about?
Where does the action/event take place?
When does the action/event take place?
Why did the action/event occur?
How did the action/event occur?
Discussion/Writing Exercise
Directions: Place students in groups and have them answer the following questions. Afterwards, have the groups share their thoughts as a class. To reinforce the ideas, students can write an essay on one of the following discussion topics.
1. The following two statements were taken from the article. Rephrase each one, then discuss the meaning with the members of your group.
“…a central aspect of any culture’s existence as a coherent entity is the fact of its having its own language, regardless of what the language happens to be like. Certainly, a culture can thrive without its own language: No one would tell today’s American Indians that if they no longer spoke their ancestral language it would render them non-Indian.”
“…languages are scientifically interesting even if they don’t index cultural traits. They offer variety equivalent to the diversity of the world’s fauna and flora.For example, whether or not it says anything about how its speakers think, the fact that there is a language in New Guinea that uses the same word for eat, drink and smoke is remarkable in itself.”
2. Do you speak more than one language? If yes, do you find that your thinking changes?If no, why don’t you learn another language?
3. In your opinion, should we strive to save the indigenous languages? Provide reasons to support your answers.
3-2-1-Writing
Directions: Allow students 5 minutes to write down three new ideas they’ve learned about the importance of saving aboriginal languages from the reading, two things they did not understand in the reading, and one thing they would like to know that the article did not mention. Review the responses as a class.
ANSWER KEY
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