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Salient issues on language, culture, and society.
Addressing something is quite difficult as it brings the challenge of getting the attention of the masses or the generalized others, spreading awareness on salient issues in Language, Culture, and Society requires attention in various fields or studies, but it is important to know and be aware of salient issues that are found in our present time. Many issues have plagued Languages, Cultures, and Societies for a long time, issues like language diversity, cultural discrimination, societal inequality, linguistic diversity, preservation or death of languages and cultures around the world, the challenges and effects of technology on language both positive and negative, and etc., this also includes the effect of technology on society, some of the issues that I mentioned have existed for a long time and have prevailed, and some are issues that arose due to the rapid changes and advancement of the world. addressing this issues are the first step that we have to take in hopes of finding solutions or ways to cope with these salient issues that we have today.
Language diversity or linguistic diversity concerns itself with the varieties of language, there are 7,139 languages in the world, and this are so-called official languages so this does not include language that have not been recognized by governments or nations, and each of these language have their own distinct and unique way of expressing, however languages around the worlds are slowly dying due to globalization and other factors that leads to the death of a language, and this would surely lead to the death of a culture that uses the same language.
Language diversity is even the cause of language barriers, due to the differences in the way we communicate would cause problems and challenges would arise such as miscommunication, misunderstanding, and misinterpretation, and this would stir up conflict and arguments at different levels from interpersonal relations to international relations.
There are also issues that sprout from inequality and discrimination, this type of issues are found almost everywhere in the world, where individuals who do not speak the language of the majority of people often experience unjust and unfair treatment from others, especially those who speak the language of the majority, discrimination of minor language should not be an issue, especially the discrimination of others, according to (Fernand De Varennes, 2021), n his research "Language, Minorities, and Human Rights," the author highlights that the choice of language by governments and their citizens is a significant issue in numerous ethnic or minority conflicts worldwide. Despite international and national laws traditionally viewing language selection for official state functions as a state prerogative, this stance has often needed to be more effective and sometimes misguided in various instances. It is unfortunate to think that this is the reality of today's world where there are few to none that do not practice or promote discrimination. These issues are still prevalent, especially in educational institutions where the institution or the government does not include minor languages just like native languages, or languages of ethnic groups
Since language is deeply connected to culture, what affects language either being negative or positive would also affect the culture that is connected with it, if a certain language is being discriminated then that would also imply that the culture that uses that same language would also be discriminated, this would obviously lead to negative effects on people of that culture facing discrimination but there is also a possibility of a positive effect on the people's mental state (Adriana Faur, 2007), suggested that it is anticipated that experiencing discrimination will have negative psychological consequences, but it was also proposed that it would help people of cultural minorities become more resilient and mature.
Similar to how discrimination of a language would affect its culture surrounding that language, the death of a language would surely lead to the death of a culture, in the same concern of globalization and its effect on many cultures, traditions, and practices. Media plays a big role in globalization as the access to the internet would highlight social media platforms and exposing individuals from around the globe to this platforms, and since it is a tool used all around the globe it uses English as its main language, and due to its massive influence to its users, this would also influence the language that they use and the things that they normally do, media is a tool that is used to influence people and to expose them to the world, though it can be used as a tool to promote diverse cultural practices and traditions, but due to the presence of discrimination and inequality, as Westerns have more power or influence on the internet, the majority of other cultural practices would be disregarded by most people.
Societal inequality is also a prevalent and salient issue as the world as the unequal distribution of privileges, opportunities, and power is a rampant issue in our world, with no society that has equality among its members and this includes the political, economic, and financial, and material aspects of the society where there is conflict and chaos over power and resources.
Technology today plays a big role in our societies, some are even founded out of technology, some would not exist without technology, and some are dependent on technology. The advancement of human technology triggered a rapid change in our world and of course the societies in our world, this would force us to adapt to the changes to keep up with the world, but sometimes we do not realize that the slow and constant changes in our world have made rise to new issues and new opportunities.
The influence of technology also brought change that I consider to be an issue since it had a negative effect on the preservation of culture and language, through its influence it made people want to follow what the majority of people are doing, and what they are saying, forgetting the importance of preserving the heritage and practices of the diverse cultures in the world.
Though addressing these issues is the first step, it is the proper way of doing anything, to take the first step, to address these issues to promote awareness in our community and hope to find and discover solutions or ways that we can cope with these issues or at best avoid them from happening in the first place.
References De Varennes, F. (2021). Language, minorities and human rights (Vol. 45). Brill. Faur, A. (2007). A qualitative analysis of cultural discrimination stress. The University of Toledo.
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