Dr. Smita Sinha is Professor in Department of Linguistics, Berhampur University. She has written several books and papers on progress of Oriya vis-a-vis English in Orissa.
In one of her paper she says:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The consensus among intellectuals is that Oriya language is slowly decaying out as the elite mass, specially the younger children, prefers to speak and write in English, ignoring their native tongue. Language is the most powerful means of communication and human beings never have stopped talking. How, then, can a language die out?
Linguists like Aitchison (1981), believe that when a language dies it is not because a community has forgotten how to speak, but because another language has gradually ousted the old one as the dominant language, for political and social reasons. Typically a young generation will learn an old language from their parents as a mother tongue, but will be exposed from a young age to another, more fashionable and socially useful, language at school.
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She did a survey amongst the children and their parents in Orissa:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->THE OBJECTIVES OF THE PRESENT STUDY
The aim and objectives of the present study is to find out the attitude the younger generation and their parents in urban and rural areas towards Oriya language through samples. For this purpose, 400 samples, out of which 200 are from elite localities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, from people whose native language is Oriya, were interviewed. Out of these, 100 are children of the age group of 14-16. 50 Boys and 50 girls and 100 are parents - 50 mothers and 50 fathers. The rest consisted of the samples from rural areas in the Cuttack and Khurda districts. Out of these, 100 children are of the age group of 14-16, 50 boys and 50 girls and 100 parents - 50 mothers and 50 fathers. The samples were selected on the basis of random sampling method.
All the samples are exposed to television, and rural parents have had education upto the matriculation level. All the urban parents have received education up to the under-graduate level. All the rural children go to Oriya medium schools and the urban students go to English medium schools.
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The most alarming result is that within the elitist group, only 5% boys, 2% girls, and 10% parents wanted to prefer Oriya as a spoken langauge. Likewise "Oriya Literature Want to Read" was 0% for boys, girls, and parents. within the rural and non-elitist group the percentage of 'prefer Oriya and language to speak in is 100% as well 'literature want to read' is 100%.
Measurement is not ability, but 'want'.
Her conclusions:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->WHAT DO THESE SIGNIFY? THE FOREBODINGS
The above results are very significant as these show the attitude towards Oriya language among the elitist classes is not very positive toward Oriya learning, which creates a threat to the effective survival of Oriya language "Languages grow and develop by being made to function in newer contexts and newer interactional network" (Verma, 1984, pp. 12-13). Most of these samples feel that English is the language of Science and Technology, power and politics and of global communication. It is a very developed language with its rich vocabulary. It is also the most easily available language in the world and is the international link language. It is also considered as a language of sophistication. More than anything else, sound knowledge of English will fetch good job prospects. In short, English language offers greater mobility, self-confidence, enhancing self-esteem and better future prospects. It is interesting to note that, although rural people feel Oriya is easier, they do not prefer Oriya medium instruction because only English medium education will fetch good jobs in this competitive world of today.
These are a few of the reasons why the parents feel that their children should be more competent in the English language. On the contrary, they feel that the Oriya language does not offer a wide range of functions and is less attached with the prestige factor. As today's scenario demands globalization, it is highly essential to be more proficient in English. Social changes usually start from the elite and spread towards the general public. The trend in Orissa is that parents, who can afford, prefer to send their children to English medium schools for better career opportunities.
These children read Oriya as a second language only. Many prefer to speak in English among themselves to have a good command of the spoken English. If this process continues over a period of time, we shall be left with Oriya speakers only in the rural Orissa although it will still be continued to be taught in Orissa as 1st or 2nd language. <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>When that stage comes, shall we call it a death or decay of the Oriya language? <b>German writer Max Muller asserted that the history of all the Aryan languages is nothing but a gradual process of decay.</b></span>
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE RIGHT NOW?
What is at this stage needed to preserve the language is that the language planners and policy makers must take note of this impending terror that will attack the Oriya language, and try to develop the language to fulfill the social needs of the future generation. For doing this, the following things should be taken into consideration.
To develop richness in vocabulary.
To develop wider functions for the use of Oriya.
To give more prestige to the native elements of the language and even to revive the obsolete forms with new modern connotation.
To develop the terminology from science and technology and make the language as the language of power and development.
To stop infiltration of external foreign elements into Oriya.
To develop the written literature.
To develop positive attitude towards Oriya among younger people and to stimulate motivation in them to learn and speak this language.
To make the literature of science and technology of other developed languages available in Oriya through machine translation.
To popularize the Oriya language through mass media like film and television by creating good work of art in Oriya.
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http://www.languageinindia.com/sep2005/oriyadying1.html
In one of her paper she says:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The consensus among intellectuals is that Oriya language is slowly decaying out as the elite mass, specially the younger children, prefers to speak and write in English, ignoring their native tongue. Language is the most powerful means of communication and human beings never have stopped talking. How, then, can a language die out?
Linguists like Aitchison (1981), believe that when a language dies it is not because a community has forgotten how to speak, but because another language has gradually ousted the old one as the dominant language, for political and social reasons. Typically a young generation will learn an old language from their parents as a mother tongue, but will be exposed from a young age to another, more fashionable and socially useful, language at school.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
She did a survey amongst the children and their parents in Orissa:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->THE OBJECTIVES OF THE PRESENT STUDY
The aim and objectives of the present study is to find out the attitude the younger generation and their parents in urban and rural areas towards Oriya language through samples. For this purpose, 400 samples, out of which 200 are from elite localities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, from people whose native language is Oriya, were interviewed. Out of these, 100 are children of the age group of 14-16. 50 Boys and 50 girls and 100 are parents - 50 mothers and 50 fathers. The rest consisted of the samples from rural areas in the Cuttack and Khurda districts. Out of these, 100 children are of the age group of 14-16, 50 boys and 50 girls and 100 parents - 50 mothers and 50 fathers. The samples were selected on the basis of random sampling method.
All the samples are exposed to television, and rural parents have had education upto the matriculation level. All the urban parents have received education up to the under-graduate level. All the rural children go to Oriya medium schools and the urban students go to English medium schools.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The most alarming result is that within the elitist group, only 5% boys, 2% girls, and 10% parents wanted to prefer Oriya as a spoken langauge. Likewise "Oriya Literature Want to Read" was 0% for boys, girls, and parents. within the rural and non-elitist group the percentage of 'prefer Oriya and language to speak in is 100% as well 'literature want to read' is 100%.
Measurement is not ability, but 'want'.
Her conclusions:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->WHAT DO THESE SIGNIFY? THE FOREBODINGS
The above results are very significant as these show the attitude towards Oriya language among the elitist classes is not very positive toward Oriya learning, which creates a threat to the effective survival of Oriya language "Languages grow and develop by being made to function in newer contexts and newer interactional network" (Verma, 1984, pp. 12-13). Most of these samples feel that English is the language of Science and Technology, power and politics and of global communication. It is a very developed language with its rich vocabulary. It is also the most easily available language in the world and is the international link language. It is also considered as a language of sophistication. More than anything else, sound knowledge of English will fetch good job prospects. In short, English language offers greater mobility, self-confidence, enhancing self-esteem and better future prospects. It is interesting to note that, although rural people feel Oriya is easier, they do not prefer Oriya medium instruction because only English medium education will fetch good jobs in this competitive world of today.
These are a few of the reasons why the parents feel that their children should be more competent in the English language. On the contrary, they feel that the Oriya language does not offer a wide range of functions and is less attached with the prestige factor. As today's scenario demands globalization, it is highly essential to be more proficient in English. Social changes usually start from the elite and spread towards the general public. The trend in Orissa is that parents, who can afford, prefer to send their children to English medium schools for better career opportunities.
These children read Oriya as a second language only. Many prefer to speak in English among themselves to have a good command of the spoken English. If this process continues over a period of time, we shall be left with Oriya speakers only in the rural Orissa although it will still be continued to be taught in Orissa as 1st or 2nd language. <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>When that stage comes, shall we call it a death or decay of the Oriya language? <b>German writer Max Muller asserted that the history of all the Aryan languages is nothing but a gradual process of decay.</b></span>
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE RIGHT NOW?
What is at this stage needed to preserve the language is that the language planners and policy makers must take note of this impending terror that will attack the Oriya language, and try to develop the language to fulfill the social needs of the future generation. For doing this, the following things should be taken into consideration.
To develop richness in vocabulary.
To develop wider functions for the use of Oriya.
To give more prestige to the native elements of the language and even to revive the obsolete forms with new modern connotation.
To develop the terminology from science and technology and make the language as the language of power and development.
To stop infiltration of external foreign elements into Oriya.
To develop the written literature.
To develop positive attitude towards Oriya among younger people and to stimulate motivation in them to learn and speak this language.
To make the literature of science and technology of other developed languages available in Oriya through machine translation.
To popularize the Oriya language through mass media like film and television by creating good work of art in Oriya.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
http://www.languageinindia.com/sep2005/oriyadying1.html