Assessing ethnolinguistic vitality: Methodological and ethical problems, SOAS University of London
Channel: SOAS University of London
Date: 06/06/2017

This Linguistics seminar titled “Assessing ethnolinguistic vitality: Methodological and ethical problems” was given by Nicole Dołowy-Rybińska (Polish Academy of Sciences) at SOAS University of London on 23 May 2017

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Find out more about Linguistics at SOAS at https://www.soas.ac.uk/linguistics/

During recent years, we have observed an important rise in the significance of the notion of ‘language endangerment’ and, consequently, the growing interest of ‘language extinction’ in popular media. In this context, the moment of language death is also often being predicted. The problem with language revitalisation processes and for the speech community is that these prognostics also have an influence on the endangered language condition and on the speaker’s attitudes and practices.

In my speech, I will present and analyse available scales and databases of ethnolinguistic vitality (EGIDS, Ethnologue, UNESCO) and the ways to assess it in the case of lesser used/minority/endangered languages. I will question the different criteria of evaluating language vitality and ask whether they are helpful (and to what extent) when dealing with languages in the process of revitalisation.

Based on the experience of the research project concerning the assessment of the ethnolinguistic vitality of regional collateral languages (Kashubian in Poland and Piedmontese in Italy), I will present some methodological and ethical problems researchers face. I will also discuss in which areas the language vitality scales can be useful and where they blur the picture of the real needs of a speech community.

About the speaker
Nicole Dołowy-Rybińska, PhD, researcher and adjunct professor at the Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences and a member of the Polish Young Academy. She is working on the problematic of the European minority languages, ethnolinguistic vitality, transmission and revitalization, as well as on language and cultural practices of minority languages users and language activists. Her research areas are Kashubia (Poland), Lusatia (Germany), Brittany (France) and Wales (UK).