Language Footprint

Via Transient Languages and Cultures, comes news from Peter Austin of Endangered Languages Week at SOAS.

My interest was particularly piqued by the debate on "What is your language footprint?"

One has a large language footprint if your actions contribute to the dominance of majority, high-status, politically-powerful languages, and smaller language footprint if your actions contribute to raising the use, awareness and status of endangered or otherwise minority languages.

I'd've loved to have heard the debate, but even without having attended, I'm enamoured of the concept of a language footprint! Especially cool is the proposition that one can off-set one's language footprint (from ELDP's website):

(Y)ou can support increased language learning in your own country, switch holidays to places where your language is not intrusive, sponsor efforts towards language maintenance in other communities, support another person to learn a language, learn about the world’s diversity of languages, and help make others aware of the problem of language endangerment.

Maybe I could start hitting up frequent English-language publishers (newspapers etc) for funding towards Dalabon documentation efforts, as off-set for their large language footprints??!! It's probably not so far-fetched.

Perhaps a small language footprint would be the ideal measure you were looking for, Wamut?