The purpose of this project is to enable students to investigate a specific endangered language of the world, tracing properties and facts about the language and its speakers, reasons for its endangered status, and possible solutions to the endangerment of this language as well as others. Students will learn to use linguistically appropriate terminology in discussing the language and its speakers; to identify political and social causes of language endangerment; to derive reasons for why linguistic diversity is important; and to propose solutions, both small- and large-scale, to encourage linguistic diversity with respect to their chosen language and, ultimately, to sociolinguistic situations in their own community.
A major function of the project is to direct students toward a public presentation of their research. They will learn to develop a research plan and enact it, and they will demonstrate their knowledge and thought process by presenting their findings using two modalities: visual (a poster) and oral (an accompanying short speech and receptiveness to answering audience questions).