WRAP UP

Well here it is... THE END.

It was a pleasure exploring all of the topics related to Epistemology of English with you.  I hope that you learned a lot, and I also hope that you have gotten a glance of what it means to be a linguist, which is what you will become very soon.

For our final task I would like you to (1)explore your own blog, (2)tell me what do you remember the most about the class, (3)what did you enjoy most, and (4) what you did not like that much.

It was a pleasure to have you in my class, thank you for listening to me and my passions related to language, and I am very sorry if I made you sleep once in a while.

THE LINGUISTS

Pre-Movie Activity:

1.  What does the title tell you that this movie is going to be about?
2.  Based on what we have discussed in the class, what is the meaning or meanings of the word LINGUIST?
3. How can a language become dead?
4. What would happen if a language doesn't exist anymore? 

 

During-Movie activities:

1. After watching the trailer, what is the movie going to be about?
2. Fill in the following chart:

 

Language	Location	Number of speakers	Why is it disappearing?

After-Movie Activities:

Post this activity in your blog and also please give a WRITTEN copy to Mr. Z.

1. How is this movie related to the course of Epistemology?
2. Please relate each of the topics of Linguistics discussed in class to a part of the movie.
3. Answer ONE of the following questions:

• Why should we care if Chulym or Chemehuevi or Kallawaya survive? Would you feel the same way if English or your native language were on the verge of extinction?
• Do you agree with the UNESCO declaration statements that "All language communities have equal rights" (Article 10, section 1) and "Everyone has the right to use his/her language in the personal and family sphere" (Article 12, section 2)? Explain.
• Latin is called a "dead language," and in a way this is true: There are no speakers left who learned Latin as a native language. Latin is survived by its descendants, including Spanish, Italian, and French; and Latin is taught in schools. Do you think Latin is dead? Ainu is a language spoken by just a few people in the far north of Japan. There are no languages known to be related to Ainu. If Ainu ceases to be spoken, do you think it will be dead in the same way as Latin?
• Do you see problems in using biological metaphors—death and extinction—to refer to the loss of languages? Why do you imagine communities connected to endangered languages might have problems with those metaphors? What are some similarities and differences between these biological processes and language loss?
• A critical stage in language death is reached when children stop learning the language. Discuss the kinds of conditions that would make children want or not want to learn a language spoken by their parents or grandparents.
• The U.S. has speakers of various languages besides English. In June 200, a sign outside of Geno's Steaks in Philadelphia read, "This is AMERICA: WHEN ORDERING 'PLEASE SPEAK ENGLISH."' How does this sign relate to what you learned about the treatment of endangered languages in The Linguists? Did you know that the language spoken by the original inhabitants of what is now Philadelphia was not English but a now endangered Native American language called Lenape?