The Status of Indigenous Languages under Globalization

This paper examines the impact of dominant languages on indigenous languages in a globalized context, emphasizing the influence of dominant languages on local systems through Appadurai’s theory. Analysis of indigenous language documentation in the Philippines, Heilongjiang Province in China, and Morocco demonstrates how the migration of foreign ethnic groups and the influx of ideologies alter local language systems. Language assimilation policies employed by dominant cultures in various regions also yield varied effects. The Philippines shows dominant languages erasing indigenous ones, while in Morocco, religion and dominant languages alter cultural identities. The status of indigenous languages also encompasses issues such as speakers’ loyalty to their mother tongues, with some communities fiercely defending their rights when powerful languages threaten their mother tongues, as seen with the Berber people in Morocco, while others voluntarily relinquish passing on their mother tongues to subsequent generations, as observed with the Hezhen in Heilongjiang. Investigating the influence of dominant languages on indigenous languages helps recognize the link between language and cultural preservation, illustrating how the decline of indigenous languages can lead to the loss of cultural practices, traditions, and knowledge systems associated with those languages.