Republic of the Philippines

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY

Gov. Pablo Borbon Campus I, Batangas City, Philippines 4200
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Tel. No. 980-0385 local 1125

Name: ESTRELLA H. PICCIO Date: FEBRUARY 20,2021

Course: LANG 606- BILINGUALISM AND BILINGUAL EDUCATION

PROFESSOR: BENEDICT O. MEDINA, PhD

ASSIGNMENT 04

REFLECTION: LANGUAGE REVIVAL AND REVITALIZATION

In this chapter,language revitalization, also referred to as language revival

or reversing language shift, is an attempt to halt or reverse the decline of a
language or to revive an extinct one. Those involved can include parties such as
linguists, cultural or community groups, or governments. It also helps dismantle
oppression, improve well-being, and increase speakers' self-esteem by reinforcing
the fact that they have the right to speak their languages. “Bringing back our
language is very important because it is essential to our identity,” says Marvin
“Marty” Richardson.

Moreover,languages do not just exist inside individuals; they exist inside

groups varying in size and strength. Sometimes such language groups shift to
insignificance even death. Other times they attempt to spread and not just
survive. One argument for the survival of languages has been that as languages
die, so does part of the totality of human history and culture. Just as species of
animals and plants are threatened, so are many minority languages.

Giles, Bourhis and Taylor’s (1977) introduced a model of shift language

vitality. Language vitality concerns three factors: (1) economic, social and
symbolic status; (2) geographical density and distribution of language minority

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speakers; (3) institutional support factors (e.g. religion, administration, mass
media, education and community). In here, the status factor stated as the key
issue in language status is whether the language minority is in the ascendancy
(superordinate) or is subordinate. Language vitality is affected by the extent and
nature of a minority language’s use in a wide variety of institutions in a region.
Such institutions will include national, regional and local government, religious
and cultural organizations, mass media, commerce and industry, and not least
education. The absence or presence of a minority language in the mass media
(television, radio, newspapers, magazines, World Wide Web and computer
software) at the very least affects the prestige of a language. The use of a minority
language in books and magazines, for example, is also important for biliteracy.

Also, Fishman’s model of Reversing Language shift contributed the eight

stages that reflect different conditions in the health of a language and steps
needed to revive a language. Fishman’s (1990, 1991) Graded Intergenerational
Disruption Scale for Threatened Language. As he stated the stage 6 as the crucial
stage, the pivotal stage for the survival of a language. In this stage, a language will
be passed to the next generation. The minority language will be used between
grandparents, parents and children. This stage essentially concerns the informal
use of a language in the home and the community. As such, the language may be
supported and encouraged, but it may be outside the realms of formal language
planning. The focus of this stage is the family, and the family within its
community. As an institution, the family creates and maintains boundaries from
the outside that may prevent the majority language from over-intrusion.

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