Paper short abstract:

This paper examines a recent situation of indigenous language revitalization in Taiwan and also explores how language ideologies and ideas of indigenous "local" knowledge are shifting through online/anti-spatial learning.

Paper long abstract:

Language is one of the most important cultural features of a group and often acts as a principle marker of ethnicity. Under the governance of non-indigenous polities, Taiwanese indigenous peoples were expected to abandon their "backward" cultures and language throughout both Japanese colonial and early KMT eras. Under these circumstances many indigenous languages have disappeared or are now in danger of disappearing. One of these endangered languages is the Thao language, now spoken by less than 10 native speakers. In response to this crisis, the Taiwanese government started the "Salvage Endangered Languages Project" and Language Certification Test with the explicit goal of saving these endangered languages (and cultures) so that Taiwan can maintain a cultural diversity that will continue to distinguish Taiwan from China. Consequently, several language revitalization movements begun among Taiwanese indigenous population, and some indigenous elites even assert ideas with a touch of indigenous ethnolinguistic centrism. Among Thao people, Thao language has long ceased to be a meaningful cultural and ethnic marker. In recent times, however, community-driven language projects and voluntarily formed online study groups, especially on SNS, are active promoting the Thao language revitalization. This paper discusses the loss of the Thao language within its historical context, explores the status of the Thao language within Thao culture, and examines how the Thao language ideologies and ideas of indigenous "local" knowledge are shifting through online/anti-spatial learning.