What Do You Lose When You Lose Your Language

Abstract

3. Think of an aspect of a culture that has been lost because of a change of language. The first paper that I wrote in 1948 on native languages had to do with the impact of bilingualism on students. There were still parents then who were concerned that if their children learned another language it would ruin their English accent. If you would hear the tones of another language every time they spoke English, how would they get a job and what would people think of them? Today, forty-five years later, we are still not home at convincing public opinion and the authorities that it is worth having all the languages we have today. Therefore, I want to start with this question, What is lost when a language is lost? It is amazing how people are uncomfortable about answering that question [...]

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