How The Language is Shared and Preserved: Analyzing The Influence of Radio

There are many positive effects that Radio has on cultures throughout the world. One of these involves the preservation of culture, in particular, the preservation of native languages. In Native American communities, for example, media that were originally in the English language have been replaced with more traditional forms of media such as storytelling. These changes have caused there to be a shift in the language of the youth in these Native American communities. The radio has also allowed indigenous languages to expand to other countries such as the United States and Canada over the past twenty years. The audience of a radio broadcast that is essential in the standardization of a language. Broadcasts of the language of the Navajo Indians, for example, are aimed towards an older and monolingual audience. This can lead to a negative impact on the future of the language as it can cause there to be a lack of younger listeners who do not go out of their way to these broadcasts.

The preservation of language through media such as radio is also apparent in countries such as Zimbabwe, a nation that is both multilingual and multicultural. Although English is its official language, there are more than fifteen indigenous languages in Zimbabwe. Radio broadcasting is important in the role in the preservation of life because not only is language “created by society, but it also creates or recreates society.”[1] Radio is powerful in Zimbabwe because although other forms of media like television and internet based technology, they are published in English and are not accessible to many, especially in rural areas.

Radio is also has an influence on development. Ways in which a county becomes more developed as a result of radio includes spreading norms and expectations of more westernized cultures—for example, modernization of a nation may become promoted. Radio also has an effect on the educational development of a rural society. For example the radio can educate people, particularly women about various health risks and factors. Fictional radio soap operas are capable of educating its audience about various issues regarding sexual and reproductive health along with child and parent relationships. According to a study analysed by Dr. Mary Myers, 85% of the people who listened to a program similar to this one were able to implement changes in their lives based on the knowledge that they gained from the radio show.