Editing Endangered language (section)

== Response ==
Linguists, members of endangered language communities, governments, nongovernmental organizations, and international organizations such as UNESCO and the European Union are actively working to save and stabilize endangered languages.<ref name="Handbook"/>  Once a language is determined to be endangered, there are three steps that can be taken in order to stabilize or rescue the language. The first is language documentation, the second is language revitalization and the third is language maintenance.<ref name="Handbook" />

[[Language documentation]] is the documentation in writing and audio-visual recording of [[grammar]], vocabulary, and oral traditions (e.g. stories, songs, religious texts) of endangered languages. It entails producing descriptive grammars, collections of texts and dictionaries of the languages, and it requires the establishment of a secure archive where the material can be stored once it is produced so that it can be accessed by future generations of speakers or scientists.<ref name="Handbook" />

[[Language revitalization]] is the process by which a language community through political, community, and educational means attempts to increase the number of active speakers of the endangered language.<ref name="Handbook" /> This process is also sometimes referred to as [[language revitalization|language revival or reversing language shift]].<ref name="Handbook" /> For case studies of this process, see Anderson (2014).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Saving Endangered Languages Before They Disappear|url=https://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/article/saving-endangered-languages-before-they-disappear/|access-date=2020-08-22|website=The Solutions Journal|date=21 February 2016 |language=en-US}}</ref> Applied linguistics and education are helpful in revitalizing endangered languages.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Anderson|first=Gregory D. S.|date=2011|title=Language Hotspots: what (applied) linguistics and education should do about language endangerment in the twenty-first century.|journal=Language and Education|volume=25|issue=4|pages=273–289|doi=10.1080/09500782.2011.577218|s2cid=145802559}}</ref> Vocabulary and courses are available online for a number of endangered languages.<ref>{{cite web|title=Reviews of Language Courses|url=http://lang1234.com|publisher=Lang1234|access-date=11 Sep 2012}}</ref>

Language maintenance refers to the support given to languages that need for their survival to be protected from outsiders who can ultimately affect the number of speakers of a language.<ref name="Handbook" /> UNESCO seeks to prevent language extinction by promoting and supporting the language in education, culture, communication and information, and science.<ref>{{cite web|title=FAQ on endangered languages {{!}} United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/endangered-languages/faq-on-endangered-languages/|website=www.unesco.org|access-date=25 January 2017|language=en}}</ref>

Another option is "post-vernacular maintenance": the teaching of some words and concepts of the lost language, rather than revival proper.<ref>{{cite news
 | author=Zuckermann, Ghil'ad
 | author-link=Ghil'ad Zuckermann
 | url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25980525-25192,00.html
 | title=Aboriginal Languages Deserve Revival
 | publisher=The Australian Higher Education
 | date=August 26, 2009
 | access-date=September 5, 2009
 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090923233756/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25980525-25192,00.html
 | archive-date=September 23, 2009
 | url-status=dead
 }}</ref>

As of June 2012 the United States has a [[J-1 visa|J-1 specialist visa]], which allows indigenous language experts who do not have academic training to enter the U.S. as experts aiming to share their knowledge and expand their skills.<ref>{{Cite web
| title = Infinity of Nations: Art and History in the Collections of the National Museum of the American Indian – George Gustav Heye Center, New York
| access-date = 2012-03-25
| url = http://nmai.si.edu/exhibitions/infinityofnations/introduction/129169.html
}}</ref>