Postgraduate Course: Language Endangerment and Revitalisation MSc (LASC11188)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Around the world, many minority and Indigenous languages are no longer regularly spoken. This course explores why more and more languages are becoming endangered; why this trend is a cause for concern; and what linguists and language activists can do to reverse it. |
| Course description |
This course will discuss the causes of language endangerment, methods for the assessment of language endangerment/vitality, and the implications of language endangerment for human rights. We will then examine how organisations and individuals have attempted to reverse language endangerment through revitalisation efforts, and how these revitalisation activities can be planned and assessed. Last, we will evaluate what role linguists and linguistic analysis can play in language revitalisation. Coverage will include both the UK and other world regions.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | One university-level linguistics course. Courses on the structure of a specific language do not meet this requirement. Courses in an allied field can be substituted with instructor approval. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 11,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
163 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
60 %,
Coursework
40 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Essay: 40%, 2,000-2,500 words
Exam: 60% |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- explain the causes of language endangerment
- compare methods of assessing language endangerment
- define common language revitalisation strategies
- describe factors which help or prevent language revitalisation strategies from reaching their goals
- discuss the relationship between linguistic research and language revitalisation
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Reading List
The course will not use a textbook. Example readings will include:
1. Selections from Dorian, N. 1981. Language death: The life cycle of a Scottish Gaelic dialect. Philadelphia, PA, USA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
2. Selections from Hinton, L., ed. 2013. Bringing our languages home: Language revitalization for families. Berkeley, CA, USA: Heyday Books.
3. Leonard, W. 2017. Producing language reclamation by decolonising ¿language¿. Language Documentation & Description 14: 15-36. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Outlook and engagement: Students will develop a nuanced and research-informed perspective on the issue of language endangerment. They will develop an international mindset by comparing responses to language endangerment inside and outside the UK. They will develop an action-oriented mindset by exploring both grassroots and policy/institutional forms of language revitalisation.
Personal and intellectual autonomy: By examining their beliefs about minority languages, students will build their critical thinking skills. By analyzing popular/national discourses about language endangerment and comparing them to academic findings, students will develop their capacity to evaluate evidence. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Amalia Skilton
Tel:
Email: askilton@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Sasha Wood
Tel:
Email: swood310@ed.ac.uk |
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