Published Oct 28 2022

‘What Happens Next?’: Can We Save Endangered Languages?

Susan
Carland
Academic, author and social commentator
John bradley
Associate Professor, Monash Indigenous Studies Centre
Inala cooper
Director, Murrup Barak, University of Melbourne
Karen yin
Author, Founder of “Conscious Style Guide”

Soon after the first British ships arrived in Australia, Indigenous people were removed from their traditional lands and families, and were discouraged – often violently – from dancing, singing, or even speaking in their own languages. Although colonialism fractured First Nations people’s connection to Country, it could never erase it completely.

In a new episode of Monash University’s podcast, What Happens Next?, Dr Susan Carland’s guests discuss some of the ways that the languages of the most ancient continual civilisation on Earth have been preserved or are being revived in the face of tremendous odds.

Listen: What Do We Lose When Languages Die?

Inala Cooper, human rights advocate and Director of Murrup Barak, the Melbourne Institute for Indigenous Development at the University of Melbourne, discusses the importance of language for young First Nations activists, and some of the ways new technologies are reintroducing local languages back to Australia.

Associate Professor Dr John Bradley, Acting Director of the Monash Indigenous Studies Centre, is a co-creator of Wunungu Awara, an interdisciplinary effort to preserve the stories, songs and cultures of Indigenous peoples throughout the Asia-Pacific region. He talks about the importance of understanding ownership of languages, and what it means to “grow ears”.

Finally, author and editor Karen Yin, creator of Conscious Style Guide, takes listeners on a journey through the evolution of language, and how we can all help the world become more inclusive and just by listening to the preferences of and boundaries set by marginalised communities.

Grow ears, slip on your headphones, and settle in for a new episode of What Happens Next?.

“Conscious language is made up of all these elements that we already do. When your vegetarian friend comes over, are you going to have something vegetarian for them to eat? We're already thinking in kind, and conscious and inclusive ways.”

Karen Yin

What Happens Next? will be back next week with an all-new topic.

If you’re enjoying the show, don’t forget to subscribe on your favourite podcast app, and rate or review What Happens Next? to help listeners like yourself discover it.

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About the Authors

  • Susan carland

    Director, Bachelor of Global Studies, and Lecturer, School of Language, Literature, Cultures and Linguistics

    Susan's research and teaching specialties focus on gender, sociology, contemporary Australia, terrorism, and Islam in the modern world. Susan hosted the “Assumptions” series on ABC’s Radio National, and was named one of the 20 Most Influential Australian Female Voices in 2012 by The Age.

  • John bradley

    Associate Professor, Monash Indigenous Studies Centre

    Associate Professor John Bradley is deputy director of the Monash Indigenous Studies Centre. He originally trained as a primary and high school teacher, and his subsequent PhD research concentrated on Indigenous ways of understanding dugong and marine turtles. For over three decades he's been actively involved in issues associated with Indigenous natural and cultural resource management. John has worked alongside Indigenous communities in the southwest Gulf of Carpentaria, in the Northern Territory, for more than 30 years. In that time he's developed a close bond with the local Yanyuwa people, and is now among a tiny minority of people who speak Yanyuwa fluently.

  • Inala cooper

  • Karen yin

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