Capstone Essay
At the end of the semester we talked about language death, language endangerment and language revitalization. For the capstone essay you should consider the loss of linguistic diversity and the relevant sociolinguistic factors that surround the issue.
In preparing your essay, you should try to reflect on the following:
· What is the impact of language loss on a speech community? What is the impact of language loss on the rest of the world outside of that speech community?
· Think about your own position on the issue of language endangerment and language preservation. Would you say that you are a Conservationist, a Preservationist or a Darwinian? What is your view on the issue of loss of linguistic diversity? Is it a bad thing? Why or why not?
· Is it a violation of language rights or human rights to let languages go extinct? Why or why not? (In this part of your discussion, you should include some statement of what you understand the term “language rights” to mean, and you should also clearly state your own position with relation to that understanding.
· Think about specific practices you’ve read about or heard about. What are examples of good practices in multilingual societies in your opinion? What are bad practices? What makes those practices good or bad?
In no less than one and no more than two typed, single-spaced pages, organize your observations regarding issues related to language endangerment, language death, language preservation and language rights. Please use margins of no more than one inch and a 12-point font.
Grading information:
The assignment is worth up to 10 points.
· Clearly address the topic.
· Be sure to include specific and concrete examples relevant to the issues of language rights and minority language use in your discussion. You can use information that you found with relation to your reading and preparation for your own presentation or data from the presentation of other groups or from the assigned readings.
· Use academic language organized into coherent, well-formed paragraphs.
· Be sure that your text conforms to the guidelines outlined above.