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<TITLE>Re: [lg policy] question for the members of this list</TITLE>
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<FONT FACE="Times New Roman"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:12pt'>FWIW, I concur with the prevailing sentiments. A lot of nifty stuff comes through here, I hope it stays that way.<BR>
<BR>
Ron<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
On 1/3/10 8:24 AM, "Tariq Rahman" <<a href="drt_rahman@yahoo.com">drt_rahman@yahoo.com</a>> wrote:<BR>
<BR>
</SPAN></FONT><BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:12pt'>Dear Professor Schiffman,<BR>
Please keep forwarding them. One never knows which one will contain a nugget. Happy New Year to you and all other colleagues on this list.<BR>
Tariq Rahman<BR>
<BR>
Dr. Tariq Rahman<BR>
Distinguished National Professor & Director<BR>
National Institute of Pakistan Studies<BR>
Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad<BR>
Pakistan.<BR>
<BR>
My other email addresses are:-<BR>
<a href="trahman@nips.qau.edu.pk">trahman@nips.qau.edu.pk</a>, <a href="director.nips@yahoo.com">director.nips@yahoo.com</a><BR>
<BR>
--- On <B>Sat, 1/2/10, Harold Schiffman <I><<a href="hfsclpp@gmail.com">hfsclpp@gmail.com</a>></I></B> wrote:<BR>
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From: Harold Schiffman <<a href="hfsclpp@gmail.com">hfsclpp@gmail.com</a>><BR>
Subject: [lg policy] question for the members of this list<BR>
To: "lp" <<a href="lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu">lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu</a>><BR>
Date: Saturday, January 2, 2010, 8:19 AM<BR>
<BR>
All:<BR>
<BR>
I have a question that I would like an answer to. I receive a daily<BR>
"google alert" on the topic of "language policy." This is a service<BR>
I requested of Google, and what they do is search the web for any<BR>
mention of "language" and "policy" in the messages they<BR>
transmit. They compile a list and forward it to me, and I read the<BR>
messages to see if they are germane to our topic. (Many<BR>
are not--many messages talk about the "language" of a policy, by which<BR>
they mean the wording of the text, not the human<BR>
organ of speech and/or a named variety of language.)<BR>
<BR>
Recently, the google alerts have been turning up bibliographic items<BR>
such as articles or monographs about language policy,<BR>
and I have forwarded some of these to the list. Nobody has complained<BR>
about this, but I wonder if this is useful to anyone. For example,<BR>
yesterday I forwarded a message about the language policy of the Food<BR>
and Agricultural Organization, a two-line squib mentioning<BR>
which order they list language icons in. Others have been from<BR>
various jurisdictions in South Africa, which seems to be requiring<BR>
or at least urging people to formulate a language policy, and make it<BR>
known; these have included the Stellenbosch University,<BR>
the government of the Western Cape, and others. Further examples<BR>
include departments of a Danish university, such as the Engineering<BR>
School.<BR>
<BR>
Since I always tell my students that language policies can be found in<BR>
lots of different nooks and crannies of the world, not just<BR>
the governments of states, but religious organizations, labor unions,<BR>
and other jurisdictions and polities, these are good examples<BR>
of that. It also reminds us that sometimes a body may have a covert<BR>
policy, i.e. one that assumes that a certain language will<BR>
be "official" but doesn't state it explicitly. These, of course, get<BR>
no mention.<BR>
<BR>
Anyway, my question is: would you like me to continue to forward these<BR>
"mini-squibs" about language policy, e.g. in the FAO,<BR>
or should I be more judicious?<BR>
<BR>
Thanks, and Happy New Year!<BR>
<BR>
H. Schiffman<BR>
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