200 word response

100 word response to the following:

The point that Penetito is trying to make is that it is important for indigenous cultures to survive. He uses the case of the education of the Maori in New Zealand as an example to exhibit the declining influence of the culture because of the influence of the more dominant British culture. Penetito strengthens his argument by referencing problems that come with colonization and the negative on natives, most notably, the educational system. By attacking this one issue and using facts about the culture to enrich the discussion helps to focus his message that cultures being dominated is a bad thing. The Maori educational system has been moulded to fit the mainstream framework rather than a Maori one (Jandt, 2004, p. 173) and this creates many of the problems and contributes to the extinction of culture. He could use other examples of how colonizing countries leads to the destruction of less important areas of indigiounous cultures such as dress, language, or food in order to strengthen his arguments about the educational systems. The lack of attention in the educational field is having lasting effects on Maoris living in New Zealand and any more information he could use to support this would be important to know. Also examples of educational systems in other colonized countries, to compare and contrast them to New Zealand’s would also help to influence readers. He references a report done by the Ministry of Maori Development which states that, “disparities between Maori and non-Maori in a variety of economic sectors such as employment and income” (Jandt, 2004, p. 181). The Maori are just an example of one culture that is fighting for survival out of many. The problem is that through colonization, diversity dwindles. Penetito’s writing is valid for all endangered languages because all cultures can use it as a template and useful knowledge for preserving their cultures before they are completely gone.

Textbook: Jandt, F. (2004). Intercultural Communication:A Global Reader. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc.

—————————————————————————————————————————

100 word response to the following:

I would like to ask a provocative question, or two.

Given that all of the indigenous languages in the USA are on the brink of extinction, should there be federal funding to protect these languages and these cultures?

Along the same lines, what do you think of English-only initiatives? Do these aid or hurt American culture?

http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/