Endangered Languages

The papers included here examine issues related to the role outside specialists, such as linguists, educators, or media professionals, can play in the preservation of endangered languages. Language communities must continue to use their mother tongues if the languages are to survive, and this has led to questions about whether outside organizations have the right to intervene. The proceedings of the second annual Foundation for Endangered Languages (FEL) Conference is divided into several sections. "Successful Interactions" section includes three reports from linguists and educators on work with three different communities, with an outlook on what has been learned and the challenges for the future. "Understanding the Language from the Outside" is more sociolinguistic in orientation, looking at large communities more dispassionately, from a perspective other than that of an active collaborator. "Understanding From the Inside" turns to the communities' own levels of aspiration: what linguists can do to effectively ally themselves with these levels. "New Role of Information Technology" explores how small languages can take advantage of new media for self-preservation. "Taking Stock" offers an overview of the predicament, the aims, and the duties of the would-be helper, from three different points of view. (KFT)