The Linguist

@CIOL_Linguists What the papers say… The End of an Era for the French Language? 28/3/24 Following in the footsteps of neighbouring Mali, Burkina Faso's new bill, which was months in the making, stipulates the demotion of the French language, relegating it to the rank of "working language," according to Le Monde… "France imposed this language on its colonies, which is why I believe that the decision to abandon it is both revolutionary and beneficial. Such steps will be replicated by other countries like Niger, which is in complete political and diplomatic harmony with Ouagadougou and Bamako," [political analyst Nyossa] Djimrao added. Is AI the Final Nail in the Coffin for Modern Languages? 25/4/24 Despite concerns that Duolingo has changed learners' mindsets about the commitment required for language learning – reducing it to something that can be done in bite-sized chunks in spare moments – [Liam] Prince also thinks such "gamified language-learning platforms" have the potential to help reverse the decline of formal language study in anglophone countries… Offering those languages at university would "do wonders" for the diversity and retention of language learning in Australian universities, he adds. The latest from the languages world Philip Harding-Esch reports on moves in the UK to support and promote Indigenous languages Our media landscape can seem very monolingual in its focus, but there has been a steady stream of stories looking at the vulnerability of different languages. A piece in The Telegraph charted the efforts of Czech linguist Martin Neudörfl to document and revive Sarkese on the Channel island of Sark, which only has three surviving native speakers. Another example is the work of Cambridge University's Ioanna Sitaridou, who has similarly documented Romeyka and is now campaigning for its revival. This dialect of ancient Greek is spoken by a few thousand native speakers in northern Turkey and has been described as "a living bridge to the ancient world". In the UK, there has been an uptick in media coverage of efforts to revive our own Indigenous languages. In April, Cornwall Council wrote to the government demanding that Cornish be added to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages on the same basis as Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Welsh and Irish. This came just weeks after the government announced £500,000 of funding for Cornish, showing that legal frameworks are just as important as resources for protecting languages. NEWS & EDITORIAL Of course, Welsh has enjoyed the highest profile turnaround for an endangered language in the UK. In March, the Welsh Government launched a Cultural Ambassadors scheme to promote the Welsh language, culture and heritage in their communities, and in April, four new Welsh feature films were announced as part of the Sinema Cymru initiative. But with success come challenges. Welsh language schools are proving so popular that parents are vying for a vanishing number of available places. The new BSL (British Sign Language) GCSE in Wales is going to be delayed due to challenges in bringing in a sufficient quantity of qualified teachers – a resourcing issue echoed in Northern Ireland as the Assembly prepares to pass its sign language bill. And as the Scottish Languages Bill becomes law in Scotland, some experts argue it detracts from sustaining Gaelic- speaking communities. The Gaelic teachers association Comann Luchd-Teagaisg Àrd Sgoiltean is calling for better professional development for Gaelic teachers, as provision currently ends by early secondary. Turning the tide is a slow and complicated business! SUMMER 2024 The Linguist 5 Bilingual Mothers' Babies Show Unique Brain Patterns, Says Study, 14/3/24 This discovery builds upon prior research that showed distinct brain activity patterns in 4-month-old babies raised in bilingual households. Now, scientists are eager to understand how these early experiences with multiple languages might influence the development of other cognitive skills. Revival efforts grow LLYWELYN2000 CC BY-SA 4.0

• Cover