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WORLD'S KILLER LANGUAGES Today, English is the world’s most important killer language, but many others (such as Russian , Chinese , Spanish , Arabic , French , Hindi , Swedish , and Hausa ) function as killer languages in relation to smaller or less powerful languages and cultures. There is a nested Hierarchy of languages and Glottophagy (“language cannibalism”). For example, in Finland , English functions as a killer language in relation to Finnish and other major Finno-Ugric languages; Finnish, in turn, functions as a killer language in relation to both immigrant minority languages in Finland, and to other, much smaller Finno-Ugric languages (e.g., Sami ). All spoken languages can function as killer languages in relation to Sign Language s through forced Oralism where Deaf students are taught through speech (that is, as if they were hearing), and sign languages are excluded. American Sign Language (ASL) may pose serious threats towards other sign languages, if it is learned subtractively. WAYS FOR LANGUAGE SHIFTS When speakers shift to another language and their native language falls to disuse, the new language functions as a killer language. Two theoretical Paradigm s explain this shift: # In '' Language Death '', languages just disappear naturally. Languages are seen as "committing suicide"; speakers are leaving them voluntarily for instrumental reasons and for their own good. # In '' Language Murder '', advocates of the killer language actively discourage use of other languages. Minority languages may be removed from the media and educational systems. Libraries may be set ablaze. (See Linguistic Genocide ) SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF LANGUAGE DEATH Even when a language shift occurs with what seems like the speakers’ consent, ideological factors behind this consent may be analyzed. In most cases, Indigenous or minority parents who cease speaking their own language to their children, or who place their children in a dominant language school, have had no choice. A school with the minority language as the main medium of teaching might not exist, or the parents might not have enough research-based knowledge about what kind of education best supports their children's Bilingual development. They also might not have enough knowledge of the long-term consequences of their choices. Many have been made to believe that the choice is between two extremes: either you speak your minority language to your child and enroll the child in a minority language school, so that the child learns your language and traditions but does not learn the dominant language, reducing her/his chances at getting a job, or you speak the dominant language and the dominant language is used as in schools, and then the child can more easily get a good job. Unfortunately, the implication is that you must sacrifice your own language and culture if you want to give your child the greatest social and economic advantage. SEE ALSO REFERENCES
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