Discussion Board: Language and Culture1. For this discussion board, you will describe and discuss the language of either culture that you selected for your Culture Presentation. You need to include the name of the culture and the geographic region. Include the name(s) of the language(s), the origins of the language, and a description of the language.2. In addition, you need to access the Endangered Language Project (Links to an external site.) and click on “Explore the Language Map”.3. Select the country where your culture is presently located and look for a language that it is either “threatened” or “endangered” or “critically endangered”. You can use the resources available on the website, or supplement it with additional information from valid sources (e.g., Ethnologue (Links to an external site.), or the library). Are any of the languages associated with your culture?4. Make sure that the language you select is undertaking (or has undertaken) language revitalization activities. If no information is found on revitalization activities, search for another language.5. Describe the language, where is it spoken, how many people still speak it, and what is being done to revitalize the language.6. Apply concepts and comparisons to the textbook, videos, Ryder or Hou (2013) articles posted in Files. MAKE UNIQUE OBSERVATIONS AND DO NOT REPEAT WHAT HAS ALREADY BEEN POSTED AND DISCUSSED!Do not select a language that has already been discussed in prior posts!This is an opportunity to research the culture that you are writing your paper about if they have a threatened or endangered language. You can use this information in your final presentation.Make sure you post your discussion within discussion board, and not as a file attachment.Remember to reply to two posts by Sunday and compare the posts to your language!Below is the only post that has been made on this assignment this is an example of this assignment that is due:The culture I have chosen is the Cherokee, who are located in present day Oklahoma in the United States and is the second largest American Indian tribe with over 420,000 people apart of the tribe (Raymond, pg.3). People of this culture speak Cherokee which derived from Iroquoian language and is now apart of the Southern Branch of the Iroquoian language family (Raymond, pg.3). The language itself consists of 75% verbs and 25% non-verbs, and is considered to be a Class IV language; takes about 64 weeks to learn and is the hardest to learn (AUSA, 2017). According to the official Cherokee website, while not an actual alphabet it contains “85 distinct characters that represent the full spectrum of sounds used to speak Cherokee” (Cherokee, para 3)One language which is deemed as severely endangered is the Muskogee language (also known as Muscogee or Mvskoke), with only 4,000 to 6,000 people speaking it (ELP). The language itself derives from members of the Muscogee and Seminole people, with roots in Florida and Oklahoma. The Seminole are Native American’s originally from Florida, but are now a minority in Florida. The language is going under revitalization efforts consisting of the Mvskoke Language Program implemented and funded by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, with efforts for tribal elders and adult citizens to teach children how to speak, write, and read the language (MCN). Similar to the Muskogee language, the Cherokee language also has a program by offering Cherokee Language Classes and developing language teaching materials. Both languages and their associated culture are apart of the ‘Five Civilized Tribes’ which means they are one of the tribes settlers deemed to be civilized.Both languages have experienced Language Loss; “The extinction of languages that have very few speakers.” (Guest 2017, 138) especially the Muskogee language which is classified as being severely endangered. What is eerily similar to both the Rymer and Hou articles, is that both languages experience the effects of forced assimilation into a new environment or forced to learn a new language much like what happened in both articles. What is particularly troubling is how a governments impose the idea of a ‘superior’ languages over other cultural groups, which then threaten cultural diversity within a geographic area. The United States and in China as mentioned in the Hou article, both countries have instilled steps that have led to these cultural languages from being taught in school. While the United States has been more accommodating and a big advocate in revitalizing these languages, it does not wipe out what has happened in the past.Credits:Raymond, Margaret Peake. “‘The Cherokee Nation and Its Language.’” “The Cherokee Nation and Its Language,”15 Aug. 2018, pp. 0–38., http://carla.umn.edu/conferences/past/immersion2008/documents/Peter_L_CherokeeNation.pdf (Links to an external site.)“DLI’s Language Guidelines.” Association of the United States Army, 16 Nov. 2017, https://www.ausa.org/articles/dlis-language-guidelines (Links to an external site.)“Cherokee Language.” Cherokee Nation Cherokee Language, https://language.cherokee.org/ (Links to an external site.)“Did You Know Muskogee Is Severely Endangered?” Endangered Languages, http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/2007 (Links to an external site.)“Mvskoke Language Program.” Muscogee (Creek) Nation, http://www.mcn-nsn.gov/services/mvskoke-language-program/ (Links to an external site.)Edited by Duke on Sep 8 at 5:05pm
