Guest Speaker: Stan Anonby (Language Assessment Consultant, SIL-Asia Area Group)

Stan will be presenting on the article which he co-authored, A tale of two worlds: A comparative study of language ecologies in Asia and the Americas.

Abstract:

• Language use patterns of individual speech communities are largely conditioned by the different language ecologies in which they are immersed.
• We believe this ecological stance helps explain why minority languages of Asia are more likely to be sustainable than those in the Americas.
• We have identified fourteen traits which characterize ecologies in general, describing how they play out differently in the Americas versus Asia.
• Each trait is considered to be on a continuum, with opposing values that measure whether conditions are more or less favorable to language maintenance.
• On one side of the continuum, we discuss the values in the Americas, and explain how these are more favorable to language shift.
• On the other side of the scale, we talk about the values in Asia, and explain how these are more conducive to language maintenance.
• We conclude with some comments about how these traits can be useful for those engaged in language development work.

Reference:

Stan Anonby & David M. Eberhard. 2016. A tale of two worlds: A comparative study of language ecologies in Asia and the Americas. Language Documentation & Conservation, Volume 10. pp. 601–628. Free download: http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/ldc/?p=1002