Go to wikipedia page Languages spoken in Italy
A recent study by Survival International says that every months two languages of the existing 6,000 in the world die. Continuing on this way, the linguistic heritage of humanity will be halved at the end of this century. To avoid this cultural catastrophe the United Nations has proclaimed 2008 the International Year of Languages.
The death of a language is a complex phenomenon, often related to the spreading of dominant languages such as English, Arabic or Spanish, which are, according to the linguist Michael Krauss, "a genuine cultural nerve gas". Today, 96 percent of the world's population speaks only 4 per cent of languages.
In practice a language dies when the last person who speaks it dies, but it's always a foretold death. The survival of a language is tied to a minimum number (one hundred thousand) of people who speak it. Below this number there is a risk of death.
Underlying this phenomenon is almost always a distorted political attitude: the protection of minor languages is not with conferences and debates, but allowing and enhancing their use. Spain, Russia, India and South Africa are some examples of effective recognition and protection of linguistic diversity.
In 2001 the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity was signed, which poses as an objective "to protect the linguistic heritage of humanity and defend the expressive capacity and dissemination of as many languages as possible. To encourage linguistic diversity, while respecting the mother tongue and stimulate multilingualism learning from a very early age". On the other side almost everywhere we find a 'totalitarian' idea of State which is expressed, among other things, by the enhancement of the exclusive official language, to the detriment of individual mother languages, often neglected, declassified and repressed. Italy is a good example in this regard.
The disappearance of a language is not a theoretical loss but a social catastrophe. Every language is an expression of a system of thought that disappears when it is unable to express itself anymore. The repression of a language brings unstoppable social tensions because entire generations are deprived of the opportunity to study with profit, to dialogue with the institutions, to take part in public life and, ultimately, to integrate into civil society, because it is forbidden to do so in their mother tongue.
The repression of a mother tongue always leads to a situation of exclusion of women and men who have not chosen which language to speak.
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http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/RIL_4.html
(an extract from Reversing Language Shift: Can Kwak'wala Be Revived
by
Stan J. Anonby)
One of the most successful immersion efforts has been the development of immersion preschools in New Zealand. According to Bernard Spolsky,
A meeting of Maori leaders, sponsored by the Department of Maori Affairs in 1981, suggested the establishment of all-Maori-language preschool groups, in which older Maoris, fluent speakers of the language, would conduct the programmes and make up for the fact that the majority of Maori parents could no longer speak their language. . . . The effect of the kohanga reos [language nests] cannot be exaggerated, where six years ago a bare handful of children came to primary school with any knowledge of the Maori language, now each year between 2000 and 3000 children, many of them fluent bilinguals, start school after having already been exposed to daily use of the Maori language for three or more years. (1990, p. 123).
Local Maori communities were in charge of organizing and implementing these language nests, and the New Zealand Government's Department of Maori Affairs provided some encouragement and financial support. The movement grew from four language nests in 1982 to nearly 500 in 1987. These preschools expose children to an all Maori language environment before they have been strongly impacted by English. The preschool program has been extended to completely Maori language elementary schools, and at the secondary level some courses are now taught in Maori. There is even a bilingual post-secondary institution, Makoura College, to instruct bilingual teachers (Spolsky, 1990).
... Maori language immersion efforts for adults have been in place since 1979. Week-long Maori immersion retreats take place on marae, which are Maori recreational and cultural community centers. Before starting a retreat students are expected to spend 10 to 12 hours on activities to learn some survival phrases in Maori because there is a complete voluntary ban on English during the retreat. Participants cope with the help of dictionaries and pantomime. These retreats can have 30 to 35 students and can be divided into three different fluency levels. The levels join for some activities and separate for others. Activities include everything from lectures, to sweeping the floor, to giving a speech. The immersion courses also emphasize physical activities and music. Students begin the day with exercises, move from class to class, wait on tables, clean the marae, and sing vigorous waiata-a-ringa or modern action songs. They also play games in Maori. Rangi Nicholson recalled, "At one course, we invented language for playing softball. It was hilarious!" (1990, p. 115). Imagine playing soccer, a Kwakwaka'wakw passion, in Kwak'wala!
The goal is to reestablish Maori cultural norms of hospitality, caring, spirituality, and sharingbehavioral norms for which the spoken Maori language is considered essential. Maori adult immersion has been successful, resulting in adults speaking much more Maori. The programs have also become recognized in academic circles, and are part of the degree program at Te Wananga o Raukawa, a Maori college. One of the signs of progress in language revival is the formation of a Maori language pop band. The Maori language efforts have been a success that has defied all the experts' predictions; however the total number of fluent Maori speakers is still declining (Fishman, 1991).
My comment: Fluency, or lack of, is the key issue here. This continues to be addressed. The revival of the Maori language has been remarkable to see and experience first hand. I don't know the recent figures, but certainly the language will not disappear.
On fluency: In conversation with a Chinese doctor in New Zealand, I learned that there are big social issues for those families who send their children to places like New Zealand to learn to speak English. When these young adults return to their homeland, speaking good English, they do not have the depth of knowledge of their own language to allow for full and meaningful discussions on issues which are important to fully comprehend their own culture.
Equally sad is what the language gap does to relationships between parents and their children. Having sacrificed seeing their teenagers grow into young adults, at considerable financial expense as well, they have to accept philosophical differences and changes in values. In doing their best for the financial futures of their children, they are jeopardising their family units and diluting their cultural heritage.
A language does not have to be at risk for problems of communication to arise.
FYI, I posted a link to this entry on a list of blogs that mention the International Year of Languages. Interesting post & comment - hope more folks find it.
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