How to Learn an Unwritten Language

Running head: LEARNING AN UNWRITTEN LANGUAGE1

How to Learn an Unwritten Language

Bethany Deibler

Seattle Pacific University

LEARNING AN UNWRITTEN LANGUAGE 2

Abstract

This past summer, I briefly experienced how Bible translators learn and later write an unwritten

language for the purpose of eventually producing a book in that language; i.e., the Bible. I will

look into the different ways one can go about learning an unwritten language. Is it better to sit

down with one native and ask for words? Or better to get as many different people as possible to

learn as many new things as possible? Should there be a common language spoken between the

native and the learner? There are several different methods of learning a language that correlate

with theoretical methods discussed over the years. I also will look at how a person goes about

writing and learning that language. I conducted an e-mail interview with my grandparents who

both spent their careers in Bible translation. They had different experiences however, as my

grandfather learned an unwritten language, while my grandmother learned a written language.

Bible translation provides natives in many countries with the word of God in their own language.


How to Learn an Unwritten Language

There are about 6,900 languages in the world. Approximately 60% of them have written

languages; however, the remaining percentage does not. Some of these unwritten languages are

dying and most are underrepresented and the exact number of unwritten languages is practically

impossible to discover. This issue is of primary importance to missionaries who hope to create a

Bible for every person no matter what language they speak. While people can learn other

languages to read a book, it is more beneficial if the book is in the native language. Many

missionaries make it their goal to learn an unwritten language so they can create an alphabet and

writing system for the speakers in order to eventually translate the Bible into that language.

Some of the methods used for the first part of this process, learning the language, will be

discussed. There are several ways of learning an unwritten language, all of which require

extreme self-motivation and perseverance. Each method includes using the International

Phonetic Alphabet for transcribing the sounds of the language.

The first method is, to some extent, an individual method. The language learner will get

as many words from as many different people as possible. My grandfather, Ellis Deibler, used

this method. He used it in order to get “all [his] data to be natural, unelicited” (E. Deibler,

personal communication, November 19, 2009). This method allows the data to be the most

authentic. The audio-lingual method described by Alice Omaggio Hadley (2001) is most closely

related. It is an empirical method of language learning and is more of a “scientific” approach.

This method is based on five empirical laws of learning: the fundamental law of contiguity, the

law of exercise, the law of intensity, the law of assimilation, and the law of effect (Hadley, 2001,

p.110). All these laws talk about the response a learner has to different feedback and the

successfulness of the action. Hadley (2001) cites Chastian who listed five basic tenets.


1. The goal of second language teaching is to “develop in students the same types of

abilities that native speakers have.” 2. Teach L2 without reference to L1. 3. Students

should learn to speak without attention to how the language is put together. 4. Pattern

drills are to be taught initially without explanation. 5. In developing the “four skills,” the

natural sequence followed in learning the native language should be maintained. (p. 111)

As number 2 states, my grandfather did not use an intermediate language. The natives thought

he was crazy, but he insisted that only the target language be spoken. He started from the very

beginning and did not have any prior knowledge of the language before he started the project.

She also quotes Moulton’s “five slogans” which are as follows:

1. Language is speech, not writing. 2. A language is a set of habits. 3. Teach the language

and not about the language. 4. A language is what native speakers say, not what someone

thinks they ought to say. 5. Languages are different. (Hadley, 2001, p. 111)

These last five slogans can be directly related to unwritten languages. The first says language is

speech, not writing; this is literally the truth in this case. There is no way to learn about the

language if there is nothing written in or about it. Many of these points happen naturally in

learning an unwritten language as there is no “classroom”. While this method would be rather

difficult to pull off in a classroom, it functions quite well in a more primitive situation where

there aren’t any books or translators to help.

A second method of learning is more of a one-on-one method. The learner will have a

special language consultant that will meet with them each day, helping the learner either by

translating words for him or teaching a lesson of some sort. This may cause problems as the

learner cannot accurately get the differences in the language from individual people, as every

person has his/her own idiolect. This learner will begin by learning specifically how to say,


“How do you say____?” in the target language. He will then ask for all the words he wants.

This method is most often used either with a third intermediate language shared by the learner

and helper, or in the learner’s native language. As the learner masters more and more of the

language, he can slowly edit out all of the common language and focus more and more on the

target language. My grandmother, Martha, used this technique in learning a language. While she

learned a language already written, it was a language that had been recently written and thus did

not have any specific materials written for learning the language. “…as soon as I learned

something in Cakchiquel I didn't use Spanish anymore for that word, expression or concept. (M.

Deibler, personal communication, November 20, 2009)” Also, natives won’t know the ins and

outs of grammar. So unlike a classroom environment, they will not be able to provide that

directly. The learner must figure it out for himself. This method most closely correlates with the

Communicative Language Teaching (Hadley, 2001, p. 116). Some of the characteristics of this

method include meaning as the primary important factor, encouraging communication as early as

possible from the very beginning, and emphasis on fluency and acceptable language use rather

than accuracy. Communicative language teaching is also more self-structured than the other

methods. The student plans out what he wants to learn each day and goes at his own pace

learning what he wants to learn. Translation is used when needed and the learner will slowly

replace his L1 with the target language. Some theoretical premises from Richards and Rodgers

are “the communication principle, the task principle, and the meaningfulness principle”. These

principles state that communication promotes language learning, real-world tasks promote

learning, and learners must be involved in authentic language for learning to take place (Hadley,

2001, p. 117). All three of these principles once again naturally apply in this type of situation.


A third method mentioned by E. Deibler is that the language learner would simply listen

to and repeat the language for six months before writing down the language. This would

simulate learning a first language as children, who listen to the language for 1 to 3 years before

they begin speaking. This could be compared to the direct method of learning also mentioned by

Hadley, 2001 (p. 108). This “active” method is believed to help students learn to understand a

language by listening to it in large quantities. “They learn to speak by speaking. (Hadley, 2001,

p. 108)” Hadley cites Rivers saying that language learning starts with the “here-and-now”, very

simply as with a child. The direct method does away with all translation, dictionaries and

teaching of grammar rules. With an unwritten language, translation might not be as necessary as

the learner would be more actively observing rather than specifically analyzing it. Also, there

are no dictionaries or rules written about the language. However, one potential drawback is how

much longer this method may take compared to the others. Also, if no writing was involved for the

first six months of immersion in the culture, the learner would need to have a good memory.

There are a couple of aspects of learning an unwritten language that apply to all these

methods. Audio recordings of the language are an important part of this learning process. It

helps provide a method of study and analysis when other people are not available. It can also be

repeated for studying and analysis as many times as needed. Also, for practicing the language,

total physical response (TPR) is very helpful for cementing words and actions together. This

can be practiced with any native (even kids!) and is often fun. However, this can only be used

for concrete ideas and action verbs. Sarah Gudschinsky (1967) has 8 points that learners of

unwritten languages should commit to. The first is listening to normal conversation of native

speakers. As time progresses, the learner should eventually be able to participate in these

conversations. The second is making conversation with many individuals. Even small, curious


children can help the learner. The third is spending time listening to recorded materials. This

resource will do you no good if it is not utilized often. The fourth is gathering new data from

several different sources. This is important to get a better scope of the entire language. The fifth

is processing data; the learner must keep up and review everything discovered throughout the

day. The sixth and seventh points mention organizing, planning and studying lessons. Finally,

the eighth talks about practicing the sounds of the language for a long period of time (p. 5-6).

Learning a new language as an adult is hard enough with an established writing system;

without writing it is many times more difficult. The personality of the learner also plays a large

part in the learning of an unwritten language. It is often said about learning a language that you

must be willing to sound like a fool. The learner must not be afraid to make mistakes. Mistakes

often create lessons that will never be forgotten. A shy, introverted person would not be

comfortable with this and will have a more difficult, challenging time learning the language.

However, any person with enough motivation will be successful in the daunting task of learning

an unwritten language. Practice and repetition of the target language is the most efficient way to

improve in the language.

Before embarking on such an adventure, it would be wise to learn the International

Phonetic Language or some other method of identifying and transcribing what is heard. It would

also be good to know about different languages. If a person with knowledge of only Romance

languages went to learn an Asian language, he would probably run into a bit more difficulty than

a person who had studied many different branches of languages. Learning a language without a

writing system is very different from classroom learning. First, the learner will automatically get

the culture along with the language, simply by analyzing and studying what words are learned.

For example, if the learner encountered the word for dog along with the word for food or eating,


he might come to the conclusion that in this culture, dogs are simply kept for food. Second,

grammar and morphology aren’t taught separately. It will be up to the learner to figure out if the

language uses root-and-pattern, reduplication, or suppletion morphology for its verb, nouns,

adjectives, etc. This then leads into writing down and analyzing the language which is an

entirely different process. If all this isn’t hard enough, there are the differences of living in a

culture and lifestyle that he will have to get used to on top of all this.

Having discussed all these different methods of collecting language samples, one might

ask, which is the best? After all, theorists have spent years researching and hypothesizing about

the best method for learning. To once again quote my grandfather, “…the golden rule about

language learning: the best way to learn a language is TO USE THE METHOD THAT WORKS

BEST FOR YOU (E. Deibler, personal communication, November 19, 2009).” One method may

function very well for one person, while another person will have to use a completely different

method for the best possible learning experience.

While learning an unwritten language is more difficult than learning in a classroom with

books and teachers, it can be much more rewarding in the end. Since the purpose of most people

who are learning an unwritten language is to eventually produce the Bible in that language, it

produces a lifelong feeling of accomplishment. The entire process takes years to finish and the

people will hopefully accept the writing system and jump in to help with the learning and writing

processes. However, once finished, a Bible translated into a mother tongue of any tribe will have

a spiritually eternal effect on many people.


References

Gudschindky, S. C. (1967). How to Learn an Unwritten Language. Santa Ana: Holt,

Rinehart and Winston, Inc.

Hadley, A. O. (2001). Teaching Language in Context (3rd ed.) . Urbana-Champaign:

Heinle.

How to Learn an Unwritten Language

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