World’s Words in Trouble- Spartan Reads Week 4- World Languages
World’s Words in Trouble
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Achieve3000, September 18, 2007). When Australian Charlie Mungulda wants to speak to someone in
his native language of Amurdag, there's literally no one to talk to. That's because Mungulda is the only person alive known to
speak that language. It's one of thousands of languages in the world on the brink of extinction. From Australia to Siberia to
Oklahoma, languages that represent the history and traditions of many native peoples are dying.
An estimated 7,000 languages are spoken around the world. Eighty-three of the most widely recognized languages are spoken by
about 80 percent of the world's population. In contrast, the 3,500 lesser-known languages are spoken by just 0.2 percent of the
world's people. And according to linguistics experts, one of those languages dies out about every two weeks.
"Languages are more endangered than plant and animal species," said K. David Harrison, an assistant professor of linguistics at
Swarthmore College and associate director of The Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages in Salem, Oregon.
Harrison and Gregory D.S. Anderson, director of The Living Tongues Institute, recently teamed up with the National Geographic
Society to analyze the top five world regions in which languages are disappearing. This analysis is the first step in an effort to
preserve some of the languages.
One of those regions, northern Australia, is seeing 153 native languages dying. This is the result of populations splintering during
conflicts with settlers. Another, central South America, finds 113 languages in danger of disappearing. Most of them are being
replaced by Spanish or Portuguese. On the northwest Pacific Plateau, which includes British Columbia in Canada and the U.S.
states of Washington and Oregon, 54 languages are endangered or on the verge of extinction. The youngest speaker of each of
these languages is over the age of 60. One of those languages is Siletz Dee-ni, the last of 27 languages once spoken on the Siletz
reservation in Oregon.
In a region that includes Eastern Siberian Russia, China, and Japan, government policies have forced speakers of minority
languages to use the national and regional languages. This has resulted in the rapid decline of 23 native languages. In the
Southwest region of the United States, which encompasses Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico, 40 languages are in danger of
becoming extinct. Oklahoma has one of the highest densities of native languages in the U.S. There, the language of Yuchi, which
linguists believe may be unrelated to any other language in the world, is dying. As of 2005, only five elderly members of the
Yuchi tribe were fluent in their native tongue.
Linguists cite many reasons for the extinction of languages. The fact that most languages have never been written down,
Harrison believes, may account for the downfall of as many as half of all dying languages. Without a dictionary, literature, or
texts of any kind to document a language, he said, a language vanishes with its last speaker.
According to Anderson, languages become endangered when a community decides that its language is an impediment to its
peaceful existence, its growth as a community, or its ability to gain acceptance. When children of these communities determine
that more widely spoken languages are more useful or accepted, their language is in danger.
The loss of those languages, said Harrison, means a loss of knowledge. "When we lose a language, we lose centuries of human
thinking about time, seasons, sea creatures, reindeer, edible flowers, mathematics, landscapes, myths, music, the unknown, and
the everyday," he said.
It is to avoid losing this knowledge that Harrison and other linguists are trying to revitalize dying languages. The key, says
Harrison, is to start with the children. In order for a language to survive, a new generation of speakers must learn to embrace it.
The Living Tongues Institute is working with communities where languages are endangered, developing teaching materials and
recordings of native languages.
With similar educational efforts being conducted by the Australian government, perhaps there's still a chance for Charlie
Mungulda to find someone to talk to—in Amurdag.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Dictionary
cite (verb) to offer in support of an idea
impediment (noun) obstacle
linguistics (noun) the study of language
revitalize (verb) to bring back to life
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World’s Words in Trouble- Spartan Reads Week 4- World Languages
1. Which question is not answered by the article?

What is being done to try and save dying languages?

How many native languages are dying out in Australia?

How many languages are spoken around the world?

What are the ages of the five elderly members of the Yuchi tribe?
2. What is the cause and effect relationship that takes place in this article?

When linguists believe a language is unrelated to any other in the world, the language disappears.

When The Living Tongues Institute decides that there are no longer any speakers, the language disappears.

When languages are not written down and new speakers do not embrace it, the language disappears.

When linguists try to teach a dying language but the lessons are too difficult, the language disappears.
3. The article states:
In the Southwest region of the United States, which encompasses Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico, 40 languages are in danger of becoming extinct.
Which would be the closest antonym for the word encompass?

Exclude
Examine
Wane
Wield
4. The article states:
In contrast, the 3,500 lesser-known languages are spoken by just 0.2 percent of the world's people. And according to
linguistics experts, one of those languages dies out about every two weeks.
The author's purpose in writing this passage was to __________.

Emphasize that of thousands of languages, only a few die out

Emphasize that there is an immediate need to address this problem

Emphasize that this situation is part of the natural course of languages

Emphasize that very few people speak lesser-known languages
5. The best alternate headline for this article would be __________.

The Elderly Know Unique Languages

The Government Controls Our Language

Languages Are on the Endangered List

Languages Are Not Always Written Down
6. Which of these is most important to include in a summary of this article?

The approximate number of Aboriginal languages dying out in Australia

The reasons why languages are dying in Russia, China, and Japan

The ways in which linguists are trying to save endangered languages

The percentage of people who speak 83 of the world's languages
7. The reader can infer from the article that __________.

Languages die out when endangered animal species become more important.

Some languages die out because they are very difficult to learn.

Languages die out when people who speak the language cannot write the language.

Some languages die out because children do not speak them.
8. Which is the closest synonym for the word revitalize?
Invigorate
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Retrieve
Refrain
Intimate
World’s Words in Trouble- Spartan Reads Week 4- World Languages
Organizer: Multiple Cause and Effect
Activity
Extended Response Activity: Imagine that you are one of only a few people in the world who can speak a certain language.
What steps would you take to preserve the language for future generations? Why do you think it is important to prevent your language
from dying?
Use ideas from the article, as well as your own ideas, in your response.
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