By Violeta Arteaga
As technology keeps on improving around the world, so is the access to language specific content. More so now than ever, people have more exposure to many languages with the help of the internet. But how does the internet impact minority languages in Europe?
Europe is a diverse continent with many countries and languages. Sadly, many languages that have been spoken for hundreds of years are fading out or did so already. The languages that are less widely spoken today need to be protected, both to preserve the use of the languages themselves and to protect the rights of the people who speak it maternally. The Lithuanian language is one of the oldest languages spoken for thousands of years. In the year 2000, Lithuania’s population was at 3.5 million. With the population dropping, today the current population stands at 2.7 million. The perfect example of protecting the rights of minority language speakers lies in Poland where there is a large Lithuanian minority population. In protecting the language of this minority group, it is important to preserve the language of this declining population but also to help the language to thrive for the Lithuanian people living in Poland as well as their right for their access to education, media and public services in their language. That is where the creation of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages comes into play. This Charter was signed in 1992 and contains a list of 23 articles that support 79 minority languages spoken in 203 linguistic groups. The target areas in the charter are those of education, law, public and private life, media, and some others. Besides providing these rights, the Charter supports its original goal of promoting multilingualism in European countries by helping to maintain the minority languages.
Considering the total number of minority groups in Europe are over 400 in which only a portion are included in the Charter. So you might ask, “How do you know if a country is included in the Charter?” The answer is all dependent on whether a country decides to sign and ratify the Charter. For example, Lithuania did not sign and ratify it, which does not protect their Russian and Polish minority groups. In occurrences such as this, it is up to the nation to protect those people’s rights. Thanks to Lithuania’s laws, these minorities in Lithuania have access to education, television, news, church, etc in their native language. France, who also has not ratified the Charter yet, put their efforts in creating a radio station for minority languages such as Provençal, Basque and Breton.
The rapid growth of the internet is important in revitalizing the minority languages. It’s easy for a minority language to become overlooked and less significant in comparison to the majority language. New technology makes language more accessible. It makes it possible for those who live in a scattered geographical area to communicate in the language of their desire. The internet allows those people to access the media in their language such as radio, television and the news. The media that is produced and consumed by the language minorities is usually created by some non-profit profit practices and can also be publicly-funded. When groups of people do not get enough exposure to their own language, the language use tends to decrease. In a recent article, Maggie Glass and Guillem Belmar explain that “In fact, many have argued that if minority languages are to survive in the long run they need to achieve a significant presence online.” They go on to explain the importance of this digital presence in raising linguistic diversity in order to create a “modern” image of the minority language. As more and more languages enter the world of the internet, there are more opportunities for languages to become more alive and more widespread in minority language communities. The popularly used social media platform created in Russia, Vkontakte; is also widely used among the Russian minority in Lithuania. A preference for minority groups using social media is to communicate with their native language. This platform provides a place for the Russian minority in Lithuania to freely use the Russian language.
In terms of accessing the internet, a major obstacle lies with the fact that many browsers are not available in many minority languages. Out of all the approximately 7000 languages in the world, only 500 are available as language options in web browsers. The languages that do not have access to the internet at all are being looked down as “not good enough” to make it to the internet. This makes it evident that these minority language speakers do not have high confidence in themselves or in their language as a result of being prevented from using it in public or using it at all. Sadly enough, that’s all it takes for a language to become extinct. When a language has access to the internet, this at least makes it possible for it to survive and thrive.
No matter the cause of the formation or location of minority groups, the hope that they will be accepted and welcomed. The truth is, many minority groups are being excluded from having access to media in their language and discouraged from speaking their own language. CNN has reported that there are approximately 40% of languages spoken worldwide that are considered as endangered and are going extinct every year. Fortunately, some states take it upon themselves to include their minorities. Others do not choose to. Without the EU Charter, more minority groups would be on their way to an end. The importance of the internet and social media lies within its ability to help keep these minority languages going strong for years to come by directing their efforts into making the internet more inclusive of minority languages. In increasing the availability of minority languages on the internet, especially social media sites, it opens up more opportunities for minority groups to be able to use their own language.
Bibliography
https://horizon.scienceblog.com/617/the-internet-is-helping-to-revive-minority-languages/
“European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.” Treaty Office, www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/rms/0900001680695175.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/04/tech/duolingo-endangered-languages-intl-hnk/index.html
Guillem Belmar, and Maggie Glass. “Virtual Communities as Breathing Spaces for Minority Languages: Re-Framing Minority Language Use in Social Media.” Adeptus 14 (2019): n. pag. Web.
Mcmonagle, Sarah. “The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages: Still Relevant in the Information Age?” Journal on ethnopolitics and minority issues in Europe 11.2 (2012): 1–24. Web.
“Lithuania Population (LIVE).” Worldometer, www.worldometers.info/world-population/lithuania-population/.
Languages in Conflict 