Endangered Languages
Paragraph A “Never has the whole world had so little to say.” This is the kind of sentiment that most people – including many linguists – might share. But it is not the view of the renowned linguist Noam Chomsky. For him, every language is a variation on a single theme: the Universal Grammar that is genetically programmed into the human brain. To a theoretical linguist, the death of a language is not necessarily a catastrophe. It is merely the loss of one more superficial variation. But to a documentary linguist, the situation looks very different.
Paragraph B Michael Krauss, of the University of Alaska, has often complained that linguistics is the only discipline that is presiding over the disappearance of its own subject matter. He estimates that 90 percent of the world's 6,000 languages are teetering on the brink of extinction. He predicts that by the middle of the next century, only about 600 will be left.
Paragraph C Why should we care? The answer is analogous to the reason why we should care about the loss of the ozone layer or the destruction of the rainforests. It is about diversity. Each language is a unique repository of the accumulated thoughts and experiences of a person. If a language dies, a unique vision of the world is lost.
Paragraph D In Australia, the situation is particularly acute. Before the arrival of Europeans, there were about 250 languages; now there are barely a dozen that are being passed on to children. Nick Evans, a linguist at the University of Melbourne, has been working with the last speakers of some of these languages. He points out that when you lose a language, you lose more than just words and grammar; you lose a way of thinking. For example, in many Australian Aboriginal languages, there are complex systems of kinship terms that encode the social structure of the community. If the language is replaced by a creole (a simplified contact language), this social knowledge is lost.
Paragraph E The task of recording these languages is urgent. But it is also laborious and expensive. It requires a linguist to spend years in the field, learning the language and recording its speakers. This is what is known as “documentary linguistics”. It is a very different activity from the “theoretical linguistics” that dominates most university departments. Theoretical linguists are interested in the abstract rules that govern all languages; they are not interested in the messy details of individual languages.
Paragraph F This indifference has had disastrous consequences. In South America and West Africa, where the rate of language loss is just as high as in Australia, there are very few records of the dying languages. In Australia, however, thanks to the efforts of Nick Evans and his colleagues, the record is much better. They have produced grammars and dictionaries of many languages that would otherwise have disappeared without a trace.
Paragraph G Technology is helping. Digital recording equipment is now cheap and portable. It is possible to store vast amounts of audio and video data on a computer. But technology is not enough. You still need the linguist to do the analysis. And you need the money to support them. At the moment, the funding for theoretical linguistics is pitifully small compared to the funding for theoretical linguistics. Regardless of these changes, and changes soon, we will lose a vital part of our human heritage.
Part 1
Questions 1-6
Do the following statements agree with the views of the author in the Reading Passage? Write in boxes on your answer sheet
YES if the statement matches the information
NO if the statement does not match the information
NOT GIVEN if no information is available
1
By 2050 only a small number of languages will be flourishing.
2
Australian academics' efforts to record existing Aboriginal languages have been too limited.
3
The use of technology In language research is proving unsatisfactory in some respects.
4
Chomsky's political views have overshadowed his academic work.
5
Documentary linguistics studies require long-term financial support.
6
Chomsky's attitude to disappearing languages is too emotional.
Questions 7-10
Choose appropriate options A, B, C or D.
Questions 11-14
Complete each sentence with the correct ending AG below.
Write the correct letter A-G.
List of Endings
A. even though it is in danger of disappearing.
B. provided that it has a strong basis in theory.
C. although it may share certain universal characteristics
D. because there is a practical advantage to it
E. so long as the drawbacks are clearly understood.
F. in spite of the prevalence of theoretical linguistics.
G. until they realize what is involved
Linguists like Peter Austin believe that every language is unique 11
Nick Evans suggests a community may resist attempts to save its language 12
Many young researchers are interested in doing practical research 13
Chomsky supports work in descriptive linguistics 14