สำนักราชบัณฑิตยสภา

56 The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Volume III - 2011 56 Redefining çThainessé: Embracing Diversity, Preserving Unity Figure 1: Map of language diversity in Thailand at the heart of SEA. The languages and the cultures they represent provide this region with a rich and rewarding diversity of ideas, philosophies and cultures. To some people, cultural and linguistic diversity can be seen as a resource, to some it is a problem, and to some it represents a struggle for basic rights. Each perspective will lead to a way of addressing the diversity situation: by either promoting and supporting it; by eliminating it as much as possible; or by trying to protect it as a right of the indigenous people. II. Language endangerment issue World languages are now in crisis. The 21 st century is an age of rapid change. Language loss, like the loss of biodiversity, is accelerating at an alarming rate. According to the estimation of linguists such as Krauss (1992), 90% of world languages are facing extinction by the end of this century (or shortly thereafter) if nothing is done. The 10% that seem to be çsafeé are official/national languages or languages with political support. And at the moment, 50% are not being learned by children. Languages in Thailand are facing the same fate. Ethnic minority languages, big and small, are not safe. Globalization and nationalism are the main causes of the change in the language ecology that lead to language shift and language loss. As for globalization, the global economy and socio-politics and global culture influence the lives of most people. Global communication, especially the powerful mass media, can 54-75_mac9 5/3/12, 10:42 PM 56