Research Why Endangered Languages Are Becoming Extinct (Research Paper Sample)

Why endangered languages are becoming extinct
Student’s name
Institutional affiliation
‘Languages: Why we must save dying tongues’ by Rachel Nuwer,BBC
/future/story/20140606-why-we-must-save-dying-languages
Introduction
History and culture can be conveyed in so many ways: Food, clothing and also, architecture are just a few ways that enable persons to differentiate different cultures. Language can be said to be the most efficient way that can enable the understanding a region or country’s history and culture (Chauvot, 2016).However, and many of the cultures through the world is under threat which could mean that the number of endangered languages is growing as time goes. Therefore, the most important question to ask ourselves is: What is responsible for this trend?
It is because there are few speakers of such language in the world
A part of the author of this article seems to mean that there are very few speakers of such language who even don’t reach each other when she says that, ‘Since there are so many imperilled languages, it’s impossible to label just one as the rarest or most endangered, but at least 100 around the world have only a handful of speakers.’ She goes on to say that, “Even if some people still speak it, they might live far apart and so not converse with one other.”(Nuwer, 2014). To a large extent, her argument is reasonable. If there are not so many speakers of a language, then, the language itself will degrade in their minds given that they might be forced to use other languages that are common. Also, such people’s culture could be absorbed into another culture. This simply means that they will abandon their culture and that some things/aspect of their language fades with time. And if most of them die at some point, the language becomes extinct.
It is because of being displaced by those that are political, economically and socially dominant
The author goes on to point out that,’ Languages usually reach the point of crisis after being displaced by a socially, politically and economically dominant one, as linguists put it. In this scenario, the majority speaks another language – English, Mandarin, Swahili – so speaking that language is key to accessing jobs, education and opportunities.’(Nuwer, 2014).Taking into consideration the globalization process, wars and economic crisis that has forced people to move beyond their borders in search of better lives, this makes a lot of sense especially in recent times. Nowadays, people are continuously in search of where they can lead a better life. This has forced some to move far away from their home countries. For them to fit into other societies and get opportunities, they have to adopt their language. This means that they will easily forget about their language. Their children will not understand no their native language. This is true especially for those coming from third world countries. Therefore, looking at what is happening in the world today, the author reason is a very valid point.
<...