A web lecture series on ‘Language Revitalization: Challenges and Reflections’ was organised by SEL between 3rd to 28th October 2020.
The first lecture was delivered by Prof. Peter Austin, SOAS, UK on the topic Language documentation, language description, and language revitalisation – snog, marry, avoid? on 3rd October at 5.00 pm. His lecture explored the existing and potential future relationships between language documentation, language description, and language revitalisation. It was attended by around 83 participants from India and abroad.
Prof. Sumittra Suraradetcha, RILCA, Mahidol University, Thailand, was our second speaker. On 5th October 2020 in her talk titled Vernacular normalization: An alternative approach to language and cultural revitalization she discussed a series of participatory action research projects which took place in Black Tai community in Thailand.
It showcased a revitalization effort that fosters intergenerational relationships among community members, relevant stakeholders, and linguists.
‘Models of language revitalisation around the world: processes and outcomes’, was the topic of lecture delivered by Prof. Julia Sallabank, SOAS, UK. Her lecture looked at examples of language revitalisation models from around the world: what kinds of activities do they promote, and how one can measure their success?
The Assistant Director, Central Institute of Indian Language, Mysore, Prof. Uma Rani Pappuswamy delivered her lecture on ‘Revitalisation of Indigenous languages of India: Issues and Challenges’. Taking examples from Indian languages she shared her experience from North East India.
Prof. Awdesh Kumar Mishra, EFLU, Shillong raised his concern on the authenticity of the UNESCO’s World Atlas on Endangered Languages. ‘Endangered Languages of India: Understanding the real issue’ he tried to explain that India scholars should not blindly follow the sources like Ethnologue, UNESCO report as there are many flaws in their presented data. We are thankful to Prof. Awadesh Mishra who accepted our invitation in the last moment.
The lecture series concluded on 28th Oct 2020 with an informative, comprehensive lecture delivered by none other than Prof. Anvita Abbi. In her lecture ‘Recovering Voices’ Prof. Abbi raised question on the term ‘revitalization’ stating that languages do not die so they cannot be revived. Due to several reasons’ language lose their identity they merge into other forms so with effort and time they can be recovered.
