Editing Language revitalization (section)

=== Steps in reversing language shift ===
There are many different theories or models that attempt to lay out a plan for language revitalization. One of these is provided by celebrated linguist [[Joshua Fishman]].
Fishman's model for reviving threatened (or sleeping) languages, or for making them sustainable,<ref>Fishman, J. A. (1991). ''Reversing language Shift: Theory and Practice of Assistance to Threatened Languages''. Clevedon : Multilingual Matters.</ref><ref>Fishman, J. A. (ed.) (2001). ''Can Threatened Languages Be Saved? Reversing Language Shift, Revisited: A 21st Century Perspective''. Clevedon : Multilingual Matters.</ref> consists of an eight-stage process. Efforts should be concentrated on the earlier stages of restoration until they have been consolidated before proceeding to the later stages. The eight stages are:

#Acquisition of the language by adults, who in effect act as language apprentices (recommended where most of the remaining speakers of the language are elderly and socially isolated from other speakers of the language).
#Create a socially integrated population of active speakers (or users) of the language (at this stage it is usually best to concentrate mainly on the spoken language rather than the written language).
#In localities where there are a reasonable number of people habitually using the language, encourage the informal use of the language among people of all age groups and within families and bolster its daily use through the establishment of local neighbourhood institutions in which the language is encouraged, protected and (in certain contexts at least) used exclusively.
#In areas where oral competence in the language has been achieved in all age groups, encourage literacy in the language, but in a way that does not depend upon assistance from (or goodwill of) the state education system.
#Where the state permits it, and where numbers warrant, encourage the use of the language in compulsory state education.
#Where the above stages have been achieved and consolidated, encourage the use of the language in the workplace.
#Where the above stages have been achieved and consolidated, encourage the use of the language in local government services and mass media.
#Where the above stages have been achieved and consolidated, encourage use of the language in higher education, government, etc.

This model of language revival is intended to direct efforts to where they are most effective and to avoid wasting energy trying to achieve the later stages of recovery when the earlier stages have not been achieved. For instance, it is probably wasteful to campaign for the use of a language on television or in government services if hardly any families are in the habit of using the language.

Additionally, Tasaku Tsunoda describes a range of different techniques or methods that speakers can use to try to revitalize a language, including techniques to revive extinct languages and maintain weak ones. The techniques he lists are often limited to the current vitality of the language.

He claims that the [[Language immersion|immersion]] method cannot be used to revitalize an extinct or moribund language. In contrast, the master-apprentice method of one-on-one transmission on language proficiency can be used with moribund languages. Several other methods of revitalization, including those that rely on technology such as recordings or media, can be used for languages in any state of viability.<ref name=illustrate>{{cite book |last=Tsunoda |first=Tasaku |title=Language Endangerment and Language Revitalization |location=Berlin |publisher=Mouton [[De Gruyter]] |year=2005 |page=201 }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
|+ A method's effectiveness depends on the language's viability.<ref name=illustrate/>
! Method 
! colspan="3" |[[Degree of endangerment]]
|-
! !! Weakening !! Moribund !! Dead/extinct
|-
| Immersion|| {{yes|effective}} || {{no|ineffective}} || {{no|ineffective}}
|-
| Neighborhood || {{yes|effective}}|| {{no|ineffective}} || {{no|ineffective}}
|-
| Bilingual || {{yes|effective}} || {{no|ineffective}} || {{no|ineffective}}
|-
| Master-apprentice || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}} || {{no|ineffective}}
|-
| [[Total physical response]] || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}} || {{no|ineffective}}
|-
| Telephone || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}} || {{no|ineffective}}
|-
| Radio || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}}
|-
| Multimedia || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}}
|-
| Two-way || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}}
|-
| Formulaic|| {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}}
|-
| Artificial [[pidgin]]|| {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}}
|-
| Place name || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}}
|-
| Reclamation || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}}
|-
| Adoption|| {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}}
|}