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The Preservation of Language Diversity

Language is a mirror and marker of image and self identity. With the implementation of official language policies, researchers, politicians and various linguistic communities have expressed major concern over the preservation of language diversity, particularly amidst forecasts that almost half of the six thousand languages currently spoken could disappear during the twenty-first centry.

New data confirms the theory that although cultural identities remain even when language shift has taken place, the implementation of official language policies has a significant bearing on the language diversity within a country.Norizah Ardi, Ph.D, from the Malay Studies department of the Academy of Language Studies, tested the theory by examining the attitudes and use of Bahasa Melayu amongst Thai university students in the University of Walailak and Prince of Songkla University in Southern Thailand.