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This article focuses on alternative ways of understanding language in the context of minority language advocacy through an examination of the Galician tradition of singing‐in‐verse, known as regueifa. It proposes the notion of “linguistic collective action” to refer to the battery of resistance and solidarity strategies that lead to social transformation, implemented in grassroots movements linked to language struggles that not only go beyond the binary tropes of “pride” and “profit”, but also transcend traditional ideas of how language revitalization should be carried out. To tap into the dynamics of this social movement, we draw on a multi‐sited ethnography of the interconnected spaces in which urban‐based Galician speakers engage in collective action through the practice of regueifa. We examine how progressive values (e.g.: LGBTQ+ advocacy, feminism, and anti‐neoliberalism) are intertwined with the use of minoritized language reclamation, acting as a trigger for social transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated the years between 2022 and 2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages in an attempt to promote language "preservation, revitalization and promotion." Such statements convey more than advocacy; they also convey complex politics and histories surrounding settler-colonial and Indigenous encounters through, with, and for Indigenous languages and community practices. What will those encounters look and sound like at the end of the decade? This review traces trajectories toward possible outcomes and political configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a social movement lens is applied to examine the dynamics of an urbanbased language revitalization movement in the Autonomous Community of Galicia (North-western Spain). The potential of Resource Management Theory is explored as a way of systematically analysing the dynamics of urban-based language revitalization movements. It does this by identifying factors which both helped fuel the emergence and growth of this Galician grassroots movement as well as those constraining its potential development. Drawing on in-depth interviews and observations collected over six months of ethnographic fieldwork in one of Galicia's main cities, social movement theory is used to analyse the role of Galician social movement activists as social agents in shaping the success of their language revitalization initiative. We argue that a social movement lens provides a useful analytical toolkit to focus on the grassroots efforts of social agents involved in peripheral ethnolinguistic mobilization in minority language contexts such as Galicia. Ultimately, we aim to show that these social movement revitalization initiatives go beyond language as an object and are centred around language-based struggles which not only address strategy dilemmas but also scaffold social relations and ties among speakers as they mobilize within particular institutional fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty-first century Bolivia witnessed indigenous resurgence and state promotion of indigenous languages. This article ethnographically examines the impact of these processes on indigenous language revitalization and ethnolinguistic identities in urban spaces. It reveals that language attrition continues because indigenous resurgence occurred at a time when language shift from Aymara to Spanish had already occurred in most households and schools were considered the spaces for learning Aymara. Moreover, although indigenous identity continues to be linked to language, linguistic proficiency no longer determines Aymara identity in a reductionist sense. Most contemporary Aymaras deploy a rhetoric that historically contextualizes the process of language attrition, thereby, asserting an anti-essentialist ethnolinguistic identity. This enables learning Aymara to be an aspiration that is highly valued but can be endlessly postponed. The article points out the limitations of state-led language revitalization policies and calls for creating synergies between state planning from above and communitarian initiatives from below. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lamkang (ISO 639-3 code: lmk) is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Manipur, India with under 10,000 speakers. As a part of revitalization and documentation efforts, members of the community have begun to record oral literature, personal histories, Bible translations, and the like in written form. The spelling conventions followed by these writers are mostly consistent with those used in current translations of the Bible. However, there continues to be variation across different writers. The different variants will need to be reconciled as the Lamkang move towards a single orthographic standard. In this paper, we present findings from samples of writing collected over the course of the first author’s 12 years of work with community writers and aim to characterize variations in the orthography in linguistic terms. We then compare these variations to orthographic variations in related South Central languages. Our goal is to provide an analysis of orthographic variation focusing on phonological and morphological structure. Existing literature on literacy shows that metalinguistic awareness can impact processing the written word, suggesting that this awareness, or lack thereof, could also impact orthographic choice. These linguistic factors, along with aesthetics and identity, may be used to explain and contribute to resolving orthographic variation in languages with similar structures.

This article demonstrates how language revitalization through Indigenous Mexican hip hop can continue to Indigenize decolonial pedagogical spaces, help strengthen Black/Indigenous solidarity, and aid in building the infrastructures for Indigenous futures. First, I assert that using and transmitting Indigenous languages through hip hop can challenge Eurocentric pedagogy by engaging in decolonial and public pedagogies. Drawing on Jennifer Wemigwans' theorization around 'digital bundles,' I define Indigenous YouTube videos as a distinctly Indigenous space to disseminate knowledge. Then, I argue that Indigenous language use in hip hop strengthens Black/Indigenous solidarity by engaging T. Roberts' discussion on modes of appropriation and Beverley Diamond's 'Alliance Studies.' Focusing on the commonalities between oral traditions, Indigenous language hip hop uses technology and citational practices to mediate between tradition and modernity. Finally, I contend hip hop language revitalization builds the infrastructure for Indigenous futures. Expanding on Indigenous modernity scholarship, I propose an Indigenous hip hop futurism that might allow us to think of other Indigenous issues, not just the need for language revitalization, through the lens of hip hop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tuxá people from Rodelas, in the Brazilian state of Bahia, traditionally live at the São Francisco riverbanks. Because of their historical dwelling in the place, many more-than-human relations have been established, especially with their ancestors, supernatural beings known as encantados who continue to live in the land. Nowadays, Tuxá teachers, working on a specific school curriculum, are revitalizing Dzubukuá, a language that they currently master only to a certain extent and within ritual contexts. Strengthening the relations with the encantados due to their continuous political struggle to guarantee Indigenous rights, the Tuxá have been emboldening their engagement with Dzubukuá revitalization through both the ritual communication with encantados and the linguistic studies based on a colonial bilingual catechism written in Portuguese and Dzubukuá. Here I demonstrate how Tuxá's understanding of territoriality, inhabited along with other cosmological entities, can offer a view of Indigenous knowledge, education, and resistance in Northeast Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language revitalization as a linguistic social movement that aims to preserve and promote local languages, is experiencing a paradigm shift in Indonesia. These shifts can be seen from the aspect of language status objects. That is meant here is that the object of language status in language revitalization is not only languages with minority and endangered status. All local languages in Indonesia can be revitalized. Based on these conditions, this study explores the shift in the language revitalization paradigm in Indonesia. This aims to explain the structure of paradigm shift and provide an explanation for understanding language revitalization in its historical development in Indonesia. The study method uses qualitative methods with data collection techniques from the results of literature studies. Data analysis refers to Thomas Samuel Kuhn’s structure of the scientific revolution in terms of paradigm shift. As a result, the shift in the language revitalization paradigm in terms of the language status object is based on the heterogeneity of languages in Indonesia. Meanwhile, all languages in Indonesia must and have the right to be preserved in accordance with statutory regulations. This condition makes the government regulate language revitalization regulations that apply to all languages so that all languages in Indonesia receive the same treatment in the context of language preservation efforts.

The aim of this paper is to show where and what can be read in Mansi about the current situation and use of the Mansi language. We investigate articles in the Mansi newspaper ÐÓ¯Ð¸Ð¼Ä ÑÑÌÑÐ¸Ð¿Ð¾Ñ [LÅ«imÄ SÄripos] which discuss the usage of the mother tongue, the situation of minority peoples and languages, the education in Mansi and in other minority languages, and the application of modern technologies in the preservation of the Mansi language. We analyse thematically related topics that characterize the articles of this newspaper. Finally, we also discuss whether some kind of sociolinguistic terminology related to the issue of language endangerment can be observed in these Mansi texts.

The purpose of this scientific research is to explore the essence of geographical identity and its epistemological significance in the context of globalization. The methodological basis of the study is the general philosophical principles of objectivity, universal connection and development, unity of historical and logical, axiological, phenomenological and hermeneutic methods and a systematic approach based on the universal laws of society. The triune essence of geographic identity is explicated by three groups of factors - factuality, conventionality, and symbolism. Factors of factuality include primary sensory-somatic experience, formed on the border of existence with activity. The factors of conventionality of geographical identity are substantiated in the aspects of spatiotemporal thinking which consolidates the system of conditions - metaphorical similarities and metonymic contiguities as archetypes of geographic location, forming an essential model of being and forming strategies of behavior. The factors of symbolism are substantiated from the perspective of allusions to the extra-linguistic analogous reality, which constitutes the paradigmatic of geographical identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pre-contact Indigenous Nations were vibrant with their own legal, government, and education systems. Indigenous education is community-led and grounded in the spiritual, emotional, physical and mental development of the child. Teachings are tied to the land following the natural cycles, and language is passed down through ceremony and time on the land. Following the creation of the Canadian state, Indigenous education systems were eroded, leaving detrimental impacts on communities and youth that are ongoing today. In recent decades, many communities have taken the initiative to restore community-led Indigenous education systems. The work presented here, ininiw kiskinomākēwin, was collectively built with both ininiwak and anishinabe Elders and educators from Northern Manitoba and can be adapted by other First Nations groups across Canada. Ininiw kiskinomākēwin conveys the pre-contact methods for ensuring children and youth grow and become healthy, contributing members of society, and includes teachings involving family, community, language, land, and spirit. The implementation of this work is ongoing; critical components related to building a local teacher workforce, engaging Elders, supporting parents and having access to the land will shape how we choose to educate current and future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contributions of Chinese voluntary associations (CVAs) have often been viewed through a survivalist lens. As a process by which the activities of such organisations are interpreted through a rigid sense of what a Chinese community association is and should be, survivalist tendencies in academic scholarship must be re‐thought to fully assess the functions of several types of CVAs, including amid the cultural rise of the People's Republic of China. In light of Sara Ahmed's notion of 'orientation', we offer a vantage point from which to rethink the roles of such associations. We do so by illuminating the contributions of key organisations involved in efforts to revitalise Chinese languages other than Mandarin in two locales outside of China, namely the Siong Leng Musical Association and Viriya Community Services in Singapore, and Wongs' Benevolent Association and Youth Collaborative for Chinatown in Vancouver. By focusing on these four voluntary associations in Singapore and Vancouver and, more specifically, on the perspectives of their youth members, we show the similar dialectical nature of their activities, which are caught in the dynamic interplays between local and global cultural forces and between intergenerational perspectives on language use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alto Biobío is an indigenous community located in the Andean Mountains in Chile whose native language is Chedungun. This community is facing problems regarding learning their local language, Chedungun, and learning English as a foreign language. This study's purpose was twofold: (a) to cocreate a bilingual Chedungun/English module based on collaborative ethnography research and (b) to evaluate the effects of this module on children's Chedungun language learning processes and English language learning. The results suggest that collaborative ethnography is essential for strengthening the Chedungun language revitalization processes. In addition, the results demonstrate that a Chedungun/English module contributes to developing multicultural education in the Chilean Alto Biobío community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2014, a francization program for young students requiring support in French was launched in French-language schools in Prince Edward Island. Since then, the francization program has evolved in schools, and the demand for the service has only increased. Creation of this program as a tool for language revitalization is of great importance for the province's French-language school system. The goal of this qualitative study is to understand the systemic conditions that led to its creation and to highlight the successes and challenges of the program from the point of view of educational partners. In doing so, the study highlights the important decisions that informed this program since its beginning, as well as the pedagogical and administrative questioning of key people in the system who contributed to developing it and who work with students today. En 2014, un programme de francisation destiné aux jeunes élèves ayant besoin de soutien en français était lancé au sein des écoles de langue française à l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard. Depuis ce moment, le programme de francisation évolue dans les écoles, et la demande pour ce service ne fait qu'augmenter. L'avènement de ce programme en tant qu'outil de revitalisation linguistique est d'une grande importance pour le système scolaire francophone de cette province. Cette étude qualitative avait pour but de comprendre les conditions systémiques qui ont mené à sa création et de mettre en évidence les succès et les défis du programme du point de vue des acteurs scolaires. Ce faisant, elle met en relief les décisions importantes qui ont nourri ce programme depuis ses débuts, ainsi que le questionnement pédagogique et administratif des personnes clés du système qui ont contribué à son développement et qui travaillent auprès des élèves aujourd'hui. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a groundbreaking approach to preserving the Ainu language, recognized as critically endangered by UNESCO, by developing a bi-directional neural machine translation (MT) system between Ainu and Japanese. Utilizing the Marian MT framework, known for its effectiveness with resource-scarce languages, the research aims to overcome the linguistic complexities inherent in Ainu's polysynthetic structure. The paper delineates a comprehensive methodology encompassing data collection from diverse Ainu text sources, meticulous preprocessing, and the deployment of neural MT models, culminating in the achievement of significant SacreBLEU scores that underscore the models' translation accuracy. The findings illustrate the potential of advanced MT technology to facilitate linguistic preservation and educational endeavors, advocating for integrating such technologies in safeguarding endangered languages. This research not only underscores the critical role of MT in bridging language divides but also sets a precedent for employing computational linguistics to preserve cultural and linguistic heritage.

Copyright of Linguistica Uralica is the property of Teaduste Akadeemia Kirjastus and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Language revitalization efforts have been critiqued for creating and reproducing linguistic, epistemological, and pedagogical hierarchies that might run counter to a community's needs and interests. Drawing on a seven-year ethnographic and collaborative research with the Maya cultural promoters of the Caste War Museum in Tihosuco, Mexico, we describe the dynamics of our Maya language reclamation partnership focusing on the creation of bilingual comic books and summer workshops for children. These experiences show a slow but steady language reclamation approach based on the concern for younger generations to feel comfortable to claim their right to speak and learn Maya and on their fondness for Maya language and culture. We argue that the construction, negotiation, and assertion of linguistic and pedagogical authority among all participating actors is central to reclamation projects, and that these processes are impacted by outsider researchers-collaborators in ways that can support but also potentially harm these language efforts. This paper sheds light on the various tensions lived in long-term language reclamation projects, recognizing the need for outsider researchers to turn our reflexive gaze inwards and consider how we can bring to the fore practices we can celebrate as well as address and transform those that cause discomfort and uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

First Nations languages can play a significant role in ensuring connection to land, culture, Songlines, kinship, history, and stories. Ongoing language attrition for First Nations peoples of Australia has been due to colonization and past adverse government policies, which rendered First Nations languages a threat to the expansion of the colony. Through processes of dislocation from country and punishment for speaking language, many First Nations peoples began to lose their languages and were forcefully compelled to speak the English language on missions and reserves. Promoting First Nations languages in early educational contexts can instill a sense of cultural identity and connectedness to schooling for First Nations children, helping to ensure that languages are passed on to future generations. In many parts of Australia, First Nations languages are being revitalized and are being taught to both First Nations children and non-Indigenous children in early learning centers and in classrooms. This paper draws upon existing literature, briefly examining the removal of First Nations languages in Queensland from a historical perspective. The authors consider three essential elements required to work with First Nations communities when revitalizing First Nations languages and implementing a successful language program into schools: co-design, authentic delivery, and cultural inclusivity. We demonstrate how these elements have been used in the revitalization of First Nations languages in two Queensland schools. Finally, the importance of using an Indigenous centered approach to maintain languages at a local level is posited as a critical step in creating culturally inclusive environments for First Nations children in mainstream school settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an initial attempt to evaluate the challenges of promoting a new national language as a medium of instruction (MOI) in a post-socialist higher education (HE) context. In the case of Kazakhstan, the choice of MOI is perceived as a key tool to strengthen national identity and resist domination of Russian; in higher education sector language policies are constructed to foster cultural independence which translates into establishing Kazakh as a full-fledged medium of academia. Drawing on the historical-structural approach (Tollefson, 1991, 2013), we analyze the ideologies and practices of university students studying in Kazakh. Findings from audio-recorded interviews suggest that implementing Kazakh-medium instruction policies face numerous pragmatic and ideological challenges, such as a dearth of teaching and learning resources in Kazakh and lack of Kazakh-speaking faculty. This study contributes to scholarship on language revitalization in the context of tertiary education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous languages in Taiwan are experiencing various degrees of language endangerment. Reversing language shift, however, faces difficulties due to the minority status of the languages. This study identifies two Indigenous singer-songwriters who released popular music sung in their endangered Indigenous languages as micro-level language planning actors and investigates their language activism. Drawing on the framework of strategies in language activism, this study analyses their grass-root initiatives in language activism by examining their public discourse about their ideologies and actions. This study finds that through strategic creating and representing, the musicians aimed to encourage Indigenous youth to use their ethnic language, develop their confidence through popular music, and shift the image of Indigenous languages from traditional, inferior, and underprivileged to international, modern, and confident. Moreover, this study found that, unlike previous studies, the Taiwanese musicians employed various connecting strategies to create a sustainable virtuous cycle to motivate Indigenous people to revitalize their languages. Furthermore, their strategies consider language ecology and aim to connect non-Indigenous Taiwanese with their initiatives to create a friendly societal environment for the Indigenous people. The findings contribute to the development of a repertoire of strategies in language activism and have practical implications for Indigenous language revitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Forma y Funcion is the property of Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas, Departamento de Linguistica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper, I examine the development, implementation, and results of utilizing three types of storybooks in a language revitalization classroom for students ages 5-12 learning Teotitlán del Valle Zapotec, an indigenous language of southern Mexico. Although each method used for creating books in Zapotec generated a positive reaction from students and parents, I consider the ways in which each method facilitates student learning while also problematizing the cultural authenticity of the classroom. Based on classroom observations, a parent focus group, and student interviews, I conclude that the most effective method for storybook creation involved students creating their own book modeled on a pre-existing book written in the non-indigenous language. This student-created book generated sustained interest in the language and allowed for students to shape the materials into something that was culturally relevant for them personally.

Abstract Background Indigenous populations across the world are more likely to suffer from poor health outcomes when compared to other racial and ethnic groups. Although these disparities have many sources, one protective factor that has become increasingly apparent is the continued use and/or revitalization of traditional Indigenous lifeways: Indigenous language in particular. This realist review is aimed at bringing together the literature that addresses effects of language use and revitalization on mental and physical health. Methods Purposive bibliographic searches on Scopus were conducted to identify relevant publications, further augmented by forward citation chaining. Included publications (qualitative and quantitative) described health outcomes for groups of Indigenous people who either did or did not learn and/or use their ancestral language. The geographical area studied was restricted to the Americas, Australia or New Zealand. Publications that were not written in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese or German were excluded. A realist approach was followed to identify positive, neutral or negative effects of language use and/or acquisition on health, with both qualitative and quantitative measures considered. Results The bibliographic search yielded a total of 3508 possible publications of which 130 publications were included in the realist analysis. The largest proportion of the outcomes addressed in the studies (62.1%) reported positive effects. Neutral outcomes accounted for 16.6% of the reported effects. Negative effects (21.4%) were often qualified by such issues as possible cultural use of tobacco, testing educational outcomes in a student’s second language, and correlation with socioeconomic status (SES), health access, or social determinants of health; it is of note that the positive correlations with language use just as frequently occurred with these issues as the negative correlations did. Conclusions Language use and revitalization emerge as protective factors in the health of Indigenous populations. Benefits of language programs in tribal and other settings should be considered a cost-effective way of improving outcomes in multiple domains.

INos últimos 20 anos, os esforços de revitaização linguística cresceram num nível que permite falar em um movimento global de salvação da diversidade linguística existente em diversas partes do mundo. Os linguistas vêm se beneficiando há tempos desse multilinguismo e muitas vezes vem ajudando a preservá-lo. No Brasil, temos visto um número crescente de subáreas investidas em oferecer suporte a comunidades indígenas que se esforçam em reverter perdas linguísticas. Como parte de um volume de linguística e educação, este artigo discute o potencial papel que o linguista pode assumir em ambientes de transmissão linguística envolvendo uma língua minorizada e ameaçada. Lançando mão de um quadro de planejamento linguístico para descrever os esforços de revitalização, sugerimos aos linguistas caminhos a explorar para expandir o impacto de sua atuação. Esta é uma tentativa de estabelecer uma conversa de linguistas com outros linguistas. Os pontos de vista presentes aqui não representam o pensamento das comunidades locais e devem ser vistos pelo que representam e pelo que são.

This article analyses the Gaeltacht category from existing literature on the subject and ethnographic sociolinguistic fieldwork in Irish courses. It points out that the Gaeltacht can not be apprehended solely through linguistic criteria, but must be considered as an « imagined community » (B. Anderson, 2006). This approach reveals the socio-economic stakes of the revitalization of Irish, and thus contributes more broadly to an understanding of linguistic revitalization movements as social movements that are not centrally about the language (M. Heller, 1999; J. Costa, 2016).

This article explores the relationship between multiculturalism, linguistic identity, and globalization. The increasing interconnectedness of societies and the movement of people across borders have led to a growing diversity of cultures and languages within many countries. This has implications for the formation of individual linguistic identities, which are shaped by both internal and external factors. The article examines how multiculturalism can influence the development of linguistic identity, and how individuals navigate the challenges and opportunities of living in a globalized world. Drawing on a range of theoretical frameworks and empirical studies, the author argue that multiculturalism can play a positive role in supporting linguistic diversity and promoting intercultural communication. However, they also highlight the potential tensions and conflicts that can arise when different cultural and linguistic groups come into contact. The article concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for policy and practice in areas such as language education, immigration, and social integration. It suggests that a nuanced and sensitive approach to multiculturalism is essential for supporting the development of positive linguistic identities in a globalized world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1970s, Yomitan Village in Okinawa has been at the forefront of community-led efforts of language preservation by documenting its folklore as a part of a larger goal to restore its language and culture. This has resulted in the documentation of over 5000 stories recounted in a local variety of Uchinaaguchi by over 700 community members from all parts of the village. The first aim of this article is to outline the vast folklore data that has been accumulated as well as the language-related materials that have been created from the data. Secondly, it explores conceptual frameworks for the teaching of endangered languages through an Indigenous critical pedagogy that incorporates three perspectives, namely, critical pedagogy hybridity and the third space, and decolonization. Furthermore, we suggest some ways to utilize these stories to teach the language and culture of the community and at the same time demonstrate how the accumulated narratives can be used to illuminate the crucial relationship among history, politics, and knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores a pedagogy for language revitalization in the specific endangered language context of the Miyakoan language in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The topic discussed on language revitalization in this paper is a matter of language teaching and learning methodology. The transmission of Miyakoan to the younger generation will be sought in the school domain. There are three guiding research questions: (1) what pedagogy might suit language revitalization, (2) how the school can accommodate this educational goal, and (3) will this educational plan raise pupils' awareness to learn about the Miyakoan language. First, this paper will review the current direction of Indigenous languages in Japan at the macro socio-historical level. Second, the micro-educational practice will be reported and analyzed. From this micro-educational practice, the role of the school in the community is indicated to become a domain for language revitalization to raise the pupils' awareness of the local endangered language. The findings also suggest an approach forging the 'mainstream' education and pedagogy for language revitalization. Since language transmission is only partially conducted at home in Miyakojima in the 21st century, heritage language education in schools will be essential for revitalizing the language and cosmology of Miyakojima. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes a pragmatic approach to the issue of language maintenance and revitalization and constructs its argument through an ecological lens. Electing Emilian – a minoritized language of Italy, as a case study, this article analyzes folk stories related to the more-than-human world. Employing an ecolinguistic framework and focusing on key theoretical concepts of evaluation, salience, and identity, this paper proposes that these folk stories can serve a dual purpose. Firstly, they can be used as materials to re-introduce the use of Emilian in the public domain by creating local spaces where the language can be spoken organically thus escaping the social stigma usually attached to it. This would help raise awareness of Emilian as a language intrinsically valuable. Secondly, by using these texts as materials, users would be exposed to new ways in which the local environment can be looked at and rediscovered. The results of the analyses are used to illustrate how ecolinguistics can be used to identify materials for language revitalization efforts in Emilian and other similar communities where the connection with heritage language, place, and identity is either partial or missing.