Language Activism
Kennedy Bosire
Jenny Davis
Location: Preston Hall 103
Week 1: Monday, June 16-Thursday, June 19
Period 4: 4:00-5:30 pm
In the framework developed by Florey, Penfield and Tucker, a language activist is a person who focuses energetic action towards preserving and promoting linguistic diversity. Crucially, this definition includes both Indigenous and non-Indigenous activists who bring a diversity of interests, skills, training in linguistics, and involvement in language documentation and revitalization projects. The Language Activism workshop is intended for all those who, by this definition, take themselves to be language activists. We welcome community members, linguists, students in linguistics, educators, and so forth to join us for this lively and inclusive workshop. The workshop will include a wide range of small group exercises based around activism scenarios. Participants will work towards drafting their own plan for community language activism. The content will reflect the different experiences of the two instructors, as well as draw in case studies from other contexts. We will examine and critically reflect on the range of skills that language activists may need in order to work in partnership with communities to undertake language documentation and revitalization projects. We recognize a wide range of contexts for language activism that may vary depending on country, language community, institutional affiliation and so forth. Issues covered include:
The collaborative development of projects and teams
The inclusion of activism in both documentation and revitalization activities
Methods for raising awareness of Indigenous language issues amongst the wider public, utilizing media, social networks, and lobbying
Creating new venues for public use of language, especially as a way to build grassroots support for language programs
Training for language activism
Ways of reaching out to youth and children to engage them in language advocacy andlanguage learning
The wider aspects of activism, such as belonging, recognition, financial, measurable deliverables etc.
And, how activism can work in settings that require government, community or institutional approval, recognition and or support for activities