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<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>I see. It's a public information
issue. Too bad we can't market it like that funny Mozart Music
Intelligence-enhancing program. I do wonder, though, if anyone on this list is
connected with PBS? We are a PBS station here, but we don't produce much. WGBH
in Boston is a Big Producer, and they have the right demographic to make
something like this happen. It would be a small start, but if it were a PBS
issue, it would get attention, and then perhaps it would open some of the right
kind of debate. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>It occurs to me to note that most of
the bi- and multi-lingual discussions occur about natural languages. The issues
are the same in the computer languages area. Most people don't know this, but
when technology changed from the linear, procedural languages like COBOL and
Fortran, millions of programmers had to find another profession because they
couldn't grok the new paradigm. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>Multi-linguality skills also seep
into multi-disciplinary issues, because each discipline has its own language. .
. "object" in law is NOT the same as "object" in computer science. In law,
"object" is either a noun or a verb. In CS, it is an entity, with its own
properties, methods and procedures. It is sharable, includable, and modifiable.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>The issues are huge. Now if we just
had somebody who sat on one of the PBS boards. . . . ? </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>Mia</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2> </DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV></FONT>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=sdp@EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU href="mailto:sdp@EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU">Susan
Penfield</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=ILAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
href="mailto:ILAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU">ILAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, September 22, 2004 8:24
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: English-Only laws in
AZ</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Mia,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>You are right. However, many people (like James
Crawford, Richard Ruiz, and others) have tried to do this. The problem seems
to be the matter of getting it out to the general public even though numerous
articles,, citing the cognitive value of being multilingual, have been
published in newspapers/magazines aimed at non-academic audiences. Still,
somehow it never gets for-fronted when politics becomes involved.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Susan</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=MiaKalish@LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US
href="mailto:MiaKalish@LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US">MiaKalish - LFP</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=ILAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
href="mailto:ILAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU">ILAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, September 22, 2004
7:12 AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: English-Only laws in
AZ</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>There is a lot of Psychology
research that shows that people who master more than one language are much
"smarter", to use a short-cut, than monolingual people. This research would
make a stunning case if people assembled it, and I think would be much more
effective than the ideological arguments people use in this type of
discussion. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>Mia</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=mward@LUNA.CC.NM.US href="mailto:mward@LUNA.CC.NM.US">Matthew
Ward</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=ILAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
href="mailto:ILAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU">ILAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, September 21, 2004
5:06 PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: English-Only laws in
AZ</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>One of the depressing things about the AZ situation, for
me, is that while there are still many countries with repressive laws that
affect minority languages, most countries appear to be moving in a
direction of more and more tolerance. It really is against a
worldwide trend. Even CHINA is liberalizing its language policies to
some extent--why are we falling for this stupidity, when time is so very
short? <BR><BR>It also really makes me very angry that that
English-Only movement has used all of this rhetoric about helping
immigrant kids learn English and used it against indigenous American
languages. It's not that I support English-Only in ANY form, but I
do feel quite certain that when most Americans vote for these laws, they
don't intend to vote against Native American languages. It's very,
very devious and evil. If I understand Prop. 203 properly, I think
that it needs a 75% vote to significantly alter it. The only real
hope is that lawsuits and the courts will block it. I believe that's
what happened in Alaska: Native groups challenged the English-only
law (another one of those laws by Unz and his gang of bullies) and it's
stuck in court as a result. I remember reading an article in which
some idiot representative of the English-only movement in Alaska said
something like "We're not against preservation of Native languages, but
they have to be practical. They couldn't use them if they go to
Germany." Well, hell! You could condemn some of the largest
languages on earth on that particular grounds. <BR><BR>We all need
to get a lot more politically savvy. I've found that people really
respond to certain kinds of rhetoric--you can say things like "Prop. 203
reduces Navajo, an American language that helped win WWII, to the status
of a foreign language." People really turn their heads when they
hear statements like that. Most Americans instinctively recognize
the rightness of preserving indigenous languages, but when they think that
they are voting for "English for the children," then most never even think
about indigenous languages. I'm not a nationalist, but we do need to
point out strongly that were are preserving our own American culture here.
The other side is brilliant at appealing to people's emotions--we
need to do the same thing. We are, after all, on the right side of
this issue. <BR><BR><BR>Susan Penfield wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE cite=mid1095781052.b017db4104013@www.email.arizona.edu
type="cite"><PRE wrap="">All,
I'm sure this is a pattern affecting endangered languages in many corners of the
world. Thanks for this perspective on the Tucson and Canadian situations. For
an indepth discussion of Prop. 203 in Arizona, see this page on James
Crawford's Language Policy website:
<A class=moz-txt-link-freetext href="http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/az-unz.htm">http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/az-unz.htm</A>
It contains a complete explanation of the origin of Prop.203 (spinning out of
California...) and the current status of this legislation.
The tenor of 'English-only' arguments, although aimed at the Mexican-American
population, is clearly a threat to anyone working on indigenous language
revitalization and we should all be aware of the hidden agendas in this type of
language policy.
Best,
Susan
Quoting Rolland Nadjiwon <A class=moz-txt-link-rfc2396E href="mailto:mikinakn@SHAW.CA"><mikinakn@SHAW.CA></A>:
</PRE>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><PRE wrap="">Interesting Anecdote:
Proposition 203, English only, is not a recent proposition. My wife and I
and our children were living in Tucson at the time it more of an issue.
There was a major opposition to it by the Mexican Americans. One of the
outspoken families was the Rhonstadt family, an old family with signatures
on Spanish/ American documentation predating Texas/New
Mexico/Arizona/California statehood. The protests resulted in a response of
the nature that the proposition would not be rescinded but it would not be
enforced. It appeared, at the time, many people did not realize the extent
of the Mexican American remaining in the southwest even to this day and had
intended the legislation to be used against the Dene and other native Tribes
in Arizona. The Mexican American response seemed to be a total surprise to
White rural populations who strongly supported it. Perhaps that is part of
the reason why you find 203 is "poorly crafted and even more poorly
implemented...."
The only reason I am aware of this legislation, is because of the two
official language legislation in Canada for French and English. That
Canadian decision around the same time as Prop 203 was 'very' controversial
in Canada.
Here in the city where we live, we had moved to Tucson for my wife to do her
Grad work at UofA, the mayor, a somewhat colourful/notorious personality,
rescinded the legislation and declared Sault Ste. Marie, ON. as an English
only city. Both my wife and I were unaware of the Mayor's actions. However,
people who knew where relocated from were saying, "Hey, you come from that
English only city up in Canada."
"No. Canada has two official languages by Federal Legislation: English and
French."
"Oh no. Your mayor just declared your city an English only city."
Of course it didn't work. I could never figure why he did that considering
he is Italian and, probably, the largest language group in Sault Ste. Marie
outside of English, as Hispanic is in Arizona.
However, our Native Language programs are taking a beating here in Canada
also because of official language legislation where we are neither included
or excluded.
-------
wahjeh
rolland nadjiwon
----- Original Message -----
From: "Susan Penfield" <A class=moz-txt-link-rfc2396E href="mailto:sdp@EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU"><sdp@EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU></A>
To: <A class=moz-txt-link-rfc2396E href="mailto:ILAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU"><ILAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU></A>
Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 9:16 PM
Subject: Re: English-Only laws in AZ
</PRE>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><PRE wrap="">Matthew,
Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention. It is particularly
troubling since, in the beginning of the process, Native people were
assured, repeatedly, that they would not be included in the application of
this
poorly crafted and even more poorly implemented (my opinion, put mildly)
proposition.
Susan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Matthew Ward" <A class=moz-txt-link-rfc2396E href="mailto:mward@LUNA.CC.NM.US"><mward@LUNA.CC.NM.US></A>
To: <A class=moz-txt-link-rfc2396E href="mailto:ILAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU"><ILAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU></A>
Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 3:55 PM
Subject: English-Only laws in AZ
</PRE>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><PRE wrap="">Just wanted to mention that I've been in touch with ACLU Arizona about
the issue of Prop. 203, the English-only law, affecting Native immersion
programs. It does indeed seem that Window Rock Public Schools may risk
losing funding by continuing their immersion programs, and the issue may
have to go to court.
We all need to be vigilant in letting people know that these
English-only laws do not just apply to immigrants--they also endanger
efforts to preserve Native American languages as well. I suspect that
if Azizona voters had understood the effect of this law, they wouldn't
have voted for it in the first place.
Matthew Ward
</PRE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE><PRE wrap=""><!---->
Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D.
Department of English
The Writing Program
Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Ph.D. Program (affiliate faculty)
Indigenous Languages and Technology
Southwest Center, Research Associate in Anthropology
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
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