Madoka Hammine, assistant teaching professor at Meio University, will present on "Empowerment Through Language: Reclaiming Endangered Languages in Japan."

In epistemologies of the global North, multilingualism, especially in minoritized languages, is frequently seen as a problem. This presentation seeks to turn this perception around and move from a problem-oriented view of multilingual practices toward viewing the ability to speak minoritized languages in society as a resource that can benefit speakers and their communities. This presentation focuses on Indigenous and minoritized languages called the Ryukyuan, which consist of at least five distinct languages, traditionally spoken in the southern part of Japan. Due to an assimilation policy by the national government following the annexation of the Ryukyu Kingdom to Japan in the late 19th century in the name of ‘national unity,’ these languages are endangered. Currently, there have been efforts to standardize, revitalize, and reclaim these languages, both in informal and formal educational contexts. In this talk, Madoka Hammine narrates new speakers’ experiences of learning and reclaiming Ryukyuan as a second/heritage language in the archipelago and its diaspora, and she seeks to answer a question: how can researchers encourage equitable relationships, community empowerment, intergenerational justice, and gender justice towards a linguistically diverse, inclusive future?