International Mother Language Day 2026: Youth And Preserving Linguistic Diversity

Dr. Naga Lakshmi Chelluri, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, at the University of Hyderabad, says we are living in a globalized multicultural world, where our lives are driven by several technologies. And in this process, we are being dominated by a set of languages, and we end up propagating these few languages

In such a case, there will be a requirement to preserve ancient languages, which probably have certain clues about our lives at that time, and certain languages being part of our culture, our heritage across the world. So, living in a multicultural society is not an easy thing.

Shaped by artificial intelligence and rapid digitalization, cultures are increasingly interconnected. Yet this borderless reality carries a paradox. As anthropologist Arjun Appadurai observes, globalization can create tensions where “one man’s imagined community is another man’s political prison.” His insight reminds us that languages carry “images of the future”, unique ways of imagining, narrating, and shaping human possibility. When a language disappears, an entire worldview risks fading with it.

Today’s youth stand at the intersection of technology and tradition. Through social media, digital archives, podcasts, and AI tools, they are revitalizing mother tongues and reshaping multilingual education. Their voices challenge the drift toward a homogenized, monolingual digital culture and instead champion inclusion, diversity, and creative plurality.

The central message is that young people are not just inheritors of languages but active defenders and innovators shaping their future. Protecting mother tongues ensures that cultural diversity thrives, even amid rapid technological change, safeguarding humanity’s collective imagination for generations to come.