Social change in the form of increased mobility and advances in telecommunications aren't necessarily detrimental to the survival of endangered languages.
That's according to Victoria University Professor of Linguistics Miriam Meyerhoff who for the past eight years has been studying the language of Nkep in the north of Vanuatu, the world's most linguistically diverse country per head of population.
Professor Meyerhoff says villagers from Hog Harbour on Vanuatu's biggest island of Espiritu Santo are using modern technologies such as mobile phones to maintain a vibrant speech community as their people move around the country.
She says people want to ensure that it's reasonably vital and is going to continue to be used and transmitted to kids for the next few generations.