Read the passage below carefully and answer the question that follows.
Across West Africa, the preservation of indigenous languages faces unprecedented challenges as globalized digital communication increasingly privileges major international tongues. Historically, indigenous linguistic heritage relied exclusively on oral transmission—folktales, proverbs, and epic narratives passed down through generations within rural communities. However, rapid rural-to-urban migration and the dominance of Western education have severed many younger citizens from these traditional repositories of knowledge.
In response, modern linguists and cultural historians advocate for the systematic digital archiving of endangered dialects. By recording native speakers and cataloguing oral syntax using open-access databases, researchers aim to create permanent digital repositories accessible to scholars worldwide. Yet, digital preservation alone is insufficient to guarantee linguistic survival. Critics rightly observe that storing recorded audio in digital vaults risks turning living languages into static museum artifacts if the languages are not actively spoken in daily public life. To achieve true linguistic vitality, digital archiving must be paired with educational policies that integrate mother-tongue instruction into primary school curricula. Ultimately, technological preservation should serve as a supportive tool rather than a substitute for community-driven language revitalization and institutional policy support.
Which of the following best summarizes the central argument of the passage?
- Digital archiving is a helpful supportive tool, but long-term linguistic survival requires integrating mother-tongue education into schools and fostering active community use.Cevap
- BModern linguists are actively cataloguing oral syntax and recording native speakers into open-access databases to assist global scholars.
- CWestern education and globalization will inevitably cause the total extinction of all West African indigenous languages within a single generation.
- DStoring recorded audio in digital vaults reduces living languages to static artifacts that possess no educational or academic value.