Editing Language revitalization (section)

== Criticism ==
[[John McWhorter]] has argued that programs to revive [[indigenous language]]s will almost never be very effective because of the practical difficulties involved. He also argues that the death of a language does not necessarily mean the death of a culture. Indigenous expression is still possible even when the original language has disappeared, as with Native American groups and as evidenced by the vitality of [[black American culture]] in the United States, among people who speak not [[Yoruba language|Yoruba]] but English. He argues that language death is, ironically, a sign of hitherto isolated peoples migrating and sharing space: "To maintain distinct languages across generations happens only amidst unusually tenacious self-isolation—such as that of the [[Amish]]—or brutal segregation".<ref>{{cite journal | last=McWhorter | first=John | title=The Cosmopolitan Tongue: The Universality of English | journal=World Affairs | publisher=Sage Publications, Inc. | volume=172 | issue=2 | year=2009 | issn=0043-8200 | jstor=20671445 | pages=61–68 | doi=10.3200/WAFS.172.2.61-68 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/20671445 | access-date=2024-02-11| url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[Kenan Malik]] has also argued that it is "irrational" to try to preserve all the world's languages, as language death is natural and in many cases inevitable, even with intervention. He proposes that language death improves communication by ensuring more people speak the same language. This may benefit the economy and reduce conflict.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11304255 |work=[[BBC News]] |title=Are dying languages worth saving? |date=15 September 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kenanmalik.com/essays/die.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021204090815/http://www.kenanmalik.com/essays/die.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 4, 2002 |title=Let Them Die |first=Kenan |last=Malik |work=[[Prospect (magazine)|Prospect]] |date=November 20, 2000 <!-- original publication: http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/letthemdie/ -->}}</ref>

The protection of [[minority language]]s from extinction is often not a concern for speakers of the dominant language. There is often prejudice and deliberate persecution of minority languages, in order to appropriate the cultural and economic capital of minority groups.<ref>Ellis, Peter Berresford. 1985. The Celtic Revolution: A Study in Anti-imperialism. Talybont: Y Lolfa.</ref> At other times governments deem that the cost of revitalization programs and creating linguistically diverse materials is too great to take on.<ref>Tsunoda, Tasaku. Language Endangerment and Language Revitalization. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter, 2005. 158-159. Print.</ref>