University looks at indigenous language preservation

Transcript

The University of Sydney has hosted a public forum looking at preserving indigenous languages, many of them endangered, in the region.

With some predictions estimating as many as half of the world's languages may no longer exist by the end of the century, the forum was triggered by concern from communities within Australia and the French Pacific.

The University's Director of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Jakelin Troy (pron jacklyn) told Koro Vaka'uta the discussion was entitled, Competing Voices: The Status of Indigenous Languages in the French Pacific and Australia.

JAKELIN TROY:  The reason they wanted to have this dialogue is that there are many, many languages spoken throughout the Pacific and Australia, many hundreds.  You could stick your head in the sand and pretend that wasn't the case but if you want to do business for example across the Pacific, it's important to know the languages, just as it is to do business elsewhere in the world.  Also it's about people's identities and their well-being.  It's demonstrated that where people have their language supported and they're able to be educated in their languages and to speak their languages on a daily basis, it's interesting that even chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease are reduced.  There's evidence in Australia where Aboriginal communities still speak languages, those chronic diseases are reduced.  Also youth suicide is heavily impacted upon by maintenance and revival of languages in communities so it's quite serious the matter of keeping our languages going.

KORO VAKA'UTA:  We spoke to a member of the Rotuman community in Fiji maybe a week ago about this very issue and he mentioned that his language was on the UN endangered list and he was worried about losing the culture.  What he was fighting with was that young Rotumans were being taught english because that was a gateway to a job and Rotuman, the language, wasn't seen as such.  How do you combat that sort of thing when it comes to living and economics?

JT:  Well if you want to do business with Rotumans who speak Rotuman it should be in Rotuman.  The reason English is on the rise is because people are forcing other people to speak English.  The English-speaking world is forcing itself onto the world of other people's languages as it was in Australia.  My people, Aboriginal people in Australia, Torres Strait Islander people as well, were beaten for speaking languages until very recently.  It's only just now that our education system is embracing that we can be teaching our languages.  It's not that actually English is naturally the dominant language, it's being made the dominant language by people who are pushing it.     

KV:  You have been looking at policies and that sort of thing that can aid the preservation of languages, how do you go about that at a policy level?

JT:  Well at the most central level, recognise the languages of Australia and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages.  It's our national languages.  Develop programmes so that if government for example is delivering a programme to a group of people in Australia, Aboriginal people or Torres Strait Islander people who are first language of their language and English is some fourth, fifth or sixth language to them, make sure that those programmes are delivered in language not in English.