Majoritized and Minoritized Languages
Learning Objectives
- What is a majority or minority language?
- What is an example of a majoritized or minoritized language?
- How can we integrate minoritized languages into institutions?
- What does learning minoritized languages do for power and access when it comes to language learning and culture?
What is a majoritized language?
A majoritized language is one that is spoken by most of a country or community and also a language that has relatively more influence and power in that community compared to other languages. (Nordquist, 2019) When you think of foreign languages offered at your school, which ones do you think of? If you went to school in the United States, do languages such as Spanish or French come to mind? In reality, the language you could think of most is English because if you are American, it is spoken in essentially all of your classes. Even in foreign languages courses, the courses are taught in English. This is the primary language in the U.S. and is spoken in every class I’ve ever taken. English is not only a majority language in the U.S.; we can say it is ‘majoritized‘ because it has been given the most power and status in our schools. A majority language means that the language is just in the majority, not that it is given or has taken power. A majoritized language is given power, whether through colonization or other factors, by the society in which is presides.
Minoritized vs Minority and Majority vs Majoritized:
Minoritized language is a language that could possibly be a majority language, but is minoritized in a certain country or region. This could be through colonization or other factors, but minoritized languages are made that way through colonialization or other outside factors. A minority language is a language that just has less speakers. An example of minoritized in the U.S. could be Indigenous languages that were colonized. A minority language example could be American Sign Language as it has always been a language with less speakers and wasn’t forced into the minority through outside factors. The difference between a minoritized and minority language is that a minoritized language could be a majority language in a different region, context, or time-period. In the U.S. Punjabi and Japanese are minoirty languages in the U.S. compared to English, even though they are some of the majority languages in places around the world.
Author’s Perspective
For the most part, academic institutions continue to teach and speak the same majority languages that are considered to be “most important,” but not all schools do this. In middle school, I attended a very resource-rich school, and I had the chance to take Arabic, a less-commonly-taught language in the states. In the U.S., Arabic would be considered a minority language because it is less widely spoken and has less power in U.S. society, even though it is a majority language in the Middle East. When I later attended a school that didn’t have access to these resources, I noticed languages like Arabic were not offered. This is a theme that has stayed consistent even as I began college.
The power and importance of minoritized languages:
When we lose languages, we lose history and culture. Learning a language isn’t just about the language; it’s about learning a community’s cultural history. For instance, I am currently enrolled in a class about the creative writings of Indigenous women, and it is quite evident that with language learning comes learning about a culture. In these classes, the professor has made a great effort to include Indigenous voices and languages. He begins most classes with videos of these women speaking these languages, which has been extremely powerful to see and hear. Being able to hear these Indigenous languages, as well as being able to understand their stories, gave me a new perspective on Indigenous women and their stories.
So why is it so important to practice learning minoritized languages in school? Well, because these languages tell us stories about the culture and history of the language speakers, they are a must-have. If we get rid of these languages, or if we don’t teach them, a ton of history and culture goes with them. The difficulty of this stabilization means that learning these minoritized languages is becoming more important than ever. As time goes on, we, as language learners and linguists, need to attempt to learn these minoritized languages. We need to do our best to continue keeping these languages alive. So, if given the chance, spread awareness because these languages are crucial to our history.
What can we do about it?
Colonial languages, such as English and Spanish, also give their speakers more power in the world. The speakers have a chance to gain access to more cultures, both educational and even within the international business world. For example, about 17-25% of the world speaks English. This is over 1.3 billion English speakers(Lyons, 2021). This is why these languages are so popular, as they give you more access to the world than, say, minority languages. Academic institutions sometimes fail to even attempt to integrate minoritized languages into their curriculum because minoritized languages might not be as prevalent worldwide. Prioritizing majority languages gives your students more access, so why shouldn’t they be prioritized? There are benefits to both learning majoritized and minoritized languages, but taking the time to learn a minoritized language could open up new cultural viewpoints that stick with you for the rest of your life.
I challenge institutions to include more minoritized languages in their curriculum, as well as to market and advertise them better because they could change someone’s life.
WORKS CITED
Nordquist, Richard. “Majority Language.” ThoughtCo, www.thoughtco.com/what-is-a-majority-language-1691294.
Lyons, Dylan. “How Many People Speak English, and Where Is It Spoken?” Babbel Magazine, 10 Mar. 2021, www.babbel.com/en/magazine/how-many-people-speak-english-and-where-is-it-spoken.