<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:16px"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px -18px; padding: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.31em; text-align: center; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9999389648438px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6647"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; padding-left: 18px; vertical-align: top; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: normal; width: 734.390625px; text-align: left;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6649"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 18px !important; margin-right: 9px !important; margin-left: 9px !important;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6651"><h1 class="" data-id="1201758" data-layout="story" data-via="title" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0.18em; padding-bottom: 0.45em; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; font-size: 2.57143rem; color: rgb(28, 28, 28); line-height: 1.25; overflow: hidden; font-style: italic; margin-top: 9px !important;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6653"><a href="http://www.dawn.com/news/1201758/over-to-urdish" class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); outline-width: 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6655">Over to ‘Urdish’</a></h1><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.85714rem; margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; color: rgb(136, 136, 136); overflow: hidden;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6657"><a href="http://www.dawn.com/authors/975/zubeida-mustafa" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(96, 96, 96); letter-spacing: 1px; font-size: 0.85714rem; margin-bottom: 35px; margin-top: 45px; line-height: 2.6; text-transform: uppercase;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6659" class="">ZUBEIDA MUSTAFA</a> — <span class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-transform: uppercase !important; color: rgb(119, 119, 119); overflow: hidden; font-size: 10px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6661"><span class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: 1px; font-size: 0.85714rem; margin-bottom: 35px; margin-top: 45px; color: rgb(96, 96, 96); line-height: 2.6;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6663">PUBLISHED</span> <span class="" title="Aug 21, 2015 01:27am" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6665" title-off=""><span class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: 1px; font-size: 0.85714rem; margin-bottom: 35px; margin-top: 45px; color: rgb(96, 96, 96); line-height: 2.6;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6667">AUG 21, 2015</span> <span class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: 1px; font-size: 0.85714rem; margin-bottom: 35px; margin-top: 45px; color: rgb(96, 96, 96); line-height: 2.6;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6669">01:27AM</span></span></span></div></div></div></div><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px -18px; padding: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.31em; text-align: center; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9999389648438px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6671"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; padding-left: 18px; vertical-align: top; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: normal; width: 734.390625px; text-align: left;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6673"><article class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 600px; position: relative; overflow: hidden; font-size: 1.14286rem; margin: 9px !important;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6675"><div class="" data-slick="{ "dots": true, "dotsClass": "slideshow__pager", "asNavFor": null, "cssEase": "ease", "speed": 200, "autoplaySpeed": 4000, "slidesToScroll": 1, "slidesToShow": 1, "responsive": [{"breakpoint": 480, "settings":{"slidesToShow":1, "slidesToScroll":1}},{"breakpoint": 720, "settings":{"slidesToShow":, "slidesToScroll":1}}] }" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; overflow: hidden; -webkit-user-select: none; touch-action: pan-y; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; max-width: 300px; max-height: 300px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6679"><div aria-live="polite" class="" tabindex="0" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; overflow: hidden; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px);" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6681"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; top: 0px; left: 0px; transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px); opacity: 1; width: 300px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6683"><div class="" data-slick-index="0" aria-hidden="false" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; width: 300px; margin-left: 0px; visibility: visible; min-height: 266px; min-height: 1px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6685"><table class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; width: 300px; position: relative; max-width: 100%; table-layout: fixed; overflow: hidden;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6687"><tbody style="box-sizing: border-box;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6689" class=""><tr style="box-sizing: border-box;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6696" class=""><td class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0.45em; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 1rem; vertical-align: top; opacity: 0.85; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6698"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; white-space: pre-line; text-align: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.5; overflow: hidden; font-size: 1rem; letter-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(58, 58, 58); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(205, 205, 205); padding-bottom: 10px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6700">The writer is the author of The Tyranny of Language in Education: The Problem and its Solution.</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div></div><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-top: 18px !important;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6702"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; line-height: 1.65; font-size: 1.28571rem; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); letter-spacing: 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6704" class="">LANGUAGE continues to be an enigma in Pakistan. For the umpteenth time education is being ‘reformed’ in this country. Federal Minister of Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has now announced that ‘Urdish’ will be used as the medium of education in the country.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; line-height: 1.65; font-size: 1.28571rem; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); letter-spacing: 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6706" class="">This is the first time Urdish (not Urlish) is being introduced officially. According to the minister, this initiative will rid the country of the “English medium-Urdu medium controversy that has damaged education standards and adversely affected the growth of young minds.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; line-height: 1.65; font-size: 1.28571rem; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); letter-spacing: 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6708" class="">Explaining the connotations of Urdish as a medium, the minister said that English terminologies of science and technology would be blended with the Urdu narratives rather than adopting Urdu translations. No one has really quarrelled with that; many English words have become so integrated into Urdu that they are generally familiar and it would create problems to introduce newly coined convoluted Urdu terms. I always use the word television when I speak of the idiot box in Urdu as I don’t know of an Urdu equivalent. But I do protest when the Urdu word ‘awam’ is substituted by the word ‘commoners’.</div><hr style="box-sizing: content-box; min-height: 0px; margin: 18px 0px; padding: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(190, 190, 190); clear: both;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6710" class=""><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.5em; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; font-size: 1.57143rem; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 1.5;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6712" class="">When children are denied their own language, they never learn to think.</h4><hr style="box-sizing: content-box; min-height: 0px; margin: 18px 0px; padding: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(190, 190, 190); clear: both;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6714" class=""><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; line-height: 1.65; font-size: 1.28571rem; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); letter-spacing: 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6716" class="">However, if the minister believes such gimmickry will satisfy those who clamour for English, he is wrong. Moreover, the introduction of Urdish will not boost students’ academic achievements or teach them civic responsibility and respect for diversity and tolerance, as the minister seems to believe.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; line-height: 1.65; font-size: 1.28571rem; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); letter-spacing: 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6718" class="">That said, the three other initiatives Mr Iqbal promised simultaneously could change the education scene if implemented honestly and in earnest. They are: altering the curricula, reforming the examination system while making it transparent, and training the teachers. These as well as the language issue lie at the crux of the education crisis in Pakistan today.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; line-height: 1.65; font-size: 1.28571rem; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); letter-spacing: 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6720" class="">It is shocking that even very intelligent and highly educated educationists fail to understand the direct relevance of language to academic standards.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; line-height: 1.65; font-size: 1.28571rem; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); letter-spacing: 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6722" class="">Primary education is the base of all education. If it is flawed it will be difficult for it to sustain the weightier structure of higher education. Since ours is not a child-centric society we tend to ignore the needs of children when they start school. We also tend to confuse the use of a language as a medium of instruction and the teaching of one as a second language.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; line-height: 1.65; font-size: 1.28571rem; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); letter-spacing: 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6724" class="">Our ignorance and politicisation of language issues has led to mass confusion and also resulted in the unnecessary controversy that the minister referred to. Young children instructed in their mother tongue have a better understanding of what they are taught which facilitates their cognitive development. Moreover language is the vehicle for thought and when children are denied their own language, they never learn to think.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; line-height: 1.65; font-size: 1.28571rem; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); letter-spacing: 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6726" class="">It is time we re-thought our aspiration to use English as the medium in school, something that the minister has tried to gloss over with his idea of Urdish. We need to shed the myth that by using English as the medium we can kill two birds with one stone: teach children English as well as the subject being taught. In reality they learn neither.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; line-height: 1.65; font-size: 1.28571rem; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); letter-spacing: 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6728" class="">If these arguments make no sense, the basic facts should be more convincing. There is empirical evidence that a preponderant majority of teachers in Pakistan are not proficient in English. When the Punjab government tried to introduce English as the medium of instruction in 2013, it had to rescind its orders a few months later. The teachers actually pleaded with the authorities to spare them this torture as English was not their forte.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; line-height: 1.65; font-size: 1.28571rem; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); letter-spacing: 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6730" class="">As it is, teachers also need to be trained in pedagogy and the subjects they are teaching. Burdening them with English as well is a recipe for disaster. Why not make a beginning in our own languages?</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; line-height: 1.65; font-size: 1.28571rem; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); letter-spacing: 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6732" class="">That doesn’t mean that children don’t need to learn the basics of English as a second language. That can be taken care of by training only the required number of teachers as English language teachers who should know the modern methods of language teaching.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; line-height: 1.65; font-size: 1.28571rem; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); letter-spacing: 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6734" class="">Language also has a social dimension that impinges on the employment sector. We are made to believe that English is good, Urdu/indigenous languages are bad. This is not true. The quality of education depends on the quality of teaching, textbooks and, above all, how much a child is motivated. The argument that we do not have books in our own languages smacks of ignorance. Textbooks are developed in response to demands. If this approach is adopted, by the time children complete their schooling, the small percentage of children who opt for higher/technical education could build on their basic knowledge of English to become bilingual. The others would still find productive jobs that do not require expertise in English. We must shed our bias against our own languages.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; line-height: 1.65; font-size: 1.28571rem; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); letter-spacing: 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6736" class=""><em style="box-sizing: border-box;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6738" class="">The writer is the author of The Tyranny of Language in Education: The Problem and its Solution.</em></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; line-height: 1.65; font-size: 1.28571rem; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); letter-spacing: 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6740" class=""><a href="mailto:www.zubeidamustafa.com" class="" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(68, 68, 170); padding-right: 12px; background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAwAAAAMCAIAAAGuEPsmAAAAgElEQVQYlXWQyxHAIAhEbVLv0oZebCsWl2xYB2Ri3gVZPgLpVpKbNOd8bSnFA+8r54yQiGwaTe+dDw9eiiirW1ZC4c6SxhguFQUtgkS/1srcxK5QOfKSAMvPP0oE3c5JrbXdXUm2CCTsyYV5Bk/i3whgTh6DZXau0MmwkX9P9eUBgstUonKpVTIAAAAASUVORK5CYII=); background-position: 100% 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6742">www.zubeidamustafa.com</a></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; line-height: 1.65; font-size: 1.28571rem; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); letter-spacing: 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6744" class=""><em style="box-sizing: border-box;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6746" class="">Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2015</em></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; line-height: 1.65; font-size: 1.28571rem; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); letter-spacing: 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6748" class=""><em style="box-sizing: border-box;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6750" class="">On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/pk/app/id935631940" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(68, 68, 170);" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6752" class="">Apple Store</a> | <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pepperpk.dawnnews" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(68, 68, 170);" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6754" class="">Google Play</a></em></div></div><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6756"><div style="box-sizing: border-box;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6758" class=""></div></div><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 9px !important; margin-bottom: 9px !important;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6760"></div><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 18px !important; margin-bottom: 18px !important;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6762"><hr style="box-sizing: content-box; min-height: 0px; margin: 18px 0px; padding: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(190, 190, 190);" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6764" class=""><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; line-height: 1.5; font-size: 0.85714rem !important;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6766"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6768" class="">Email feedback and queries to <a href="mailto:web@dawn.com?subject=Dawn:%20Story%20feedback" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(68, 68, 170);" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6770" class="">Dawn.com's editorial team</a>, or visit our <a href="http://www.dawn.com/contact/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(68, 68, 170);" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6772" class="">contact page</a></i></div></div></article></div><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; padding-left: 18px; vertical-align: top; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: normal; width: 734.390625px; text-align: left;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6774"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 9px !important;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6776"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px -9px; padding: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.31em;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6778"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; padding-left: 9px; vertical-align: top; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: normal; width: 707.390625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6780"></div><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; padding-left: 9px; vertical-align: top; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: normal; width: 353.6875px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6782"></div> <div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; padding-left: 9px; vertical-align: top; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: normal; width: 353.6875px;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6784"></div></div></div></div><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; padding-left: 18px; vertical-align: top; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: normal; width: 734.390625px; text-align: left;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6786"><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 9px !important;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6788"></div></div><div class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; padding-left: 18px; vertical-align: top; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: normal; width: 688.5px; text-align: left;" dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6790"><hr class="" style="box-sizing: content-box; min-height: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(190, 190, 190); margin-top: 18px !important; margin-bottom: 18px !important;" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440700290857_6792"></div></div><br> <div style="font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <div style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <div dir="ltr"> <hr size="1"> <font size="2" face="Arial"> <b><span style="font-weight:bold;">From:</span></b> "lgpolicy-list-request@groups.sas.upenn.edu" <lgpolicy-list-request@groups.sas.upenn.edu><br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu <br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Friday, August 28, 2015 2:00 AM<br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> lgpolicy-list Digest, Vol 76, Issue 28<br> </font> </div> <div class="y_msg_container"><br>Send lgpolicy-list mailing list submissions to<br> <a ymailto="mailto:lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu" href="mailto:lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu">lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu</a><br><br>To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit<br> <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list</a><br>or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to<br> <a ymailto="mailto:lgpolicy-list-request@groups.sas.upenn.edu" href="mailto:lgpolicy-list-request@groups.sas.upenn.edu">lgpolicy-list-request@groups.sas.upenn.edu</a><br><br>You can reach the person managing the list at<br> <a ymailto="mailto:lgpolicy-list-owner@groups.sas.upenn.edu" href="mailto:lgpolicy-list-owner@groups.sas.upenn.edu">lgpolicy-list-owner@groups.sas.upenn.edu</a><br><br>When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific<br>than "Re: Contents of lgpolicy-list digest..."<br><br><br>Today's Topics:<br><br> 1. TOC: Journal of Language & Politics Vol. 14, No. 2 (2015)<br> (Harold Schiffman)<br> 2. Sushma Swaraj raises issues faced by Indian students in<br> Germany (Harold Schiffman)<br> 3. India, Germany close to resolving German language row<br> (Harold Schiffman)<br> 4. South Africa: Stellenbosch University to answer to Parliament<br> (Harold Schiffman)<br> 5. Canada: FedEx urged to change invoice language policy:<br> (Harold Schiffman)<br> 6. Vermont: Burlington?s pick for superintendent of schools<br> lands visa (Harold Schiffman)<br><br><br>----------------------------------------------------------------------<br><br>Message: 1<br>Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2015 13:46:33 -0400<br>From: Harold Schiffman <<a ymailto="mailto:hfsclpp@gmail.com" href="mailto:hfsclpp@gmail.com">hfsclpp@gmail.com</a>><br>Subject: [lg policy] TOC: Journal of Language & Politics Vol. 14, No.<br> 2 (2015)<br>To: lp <<a ymailto="mailto:lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu" href="mailto:lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu">lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu</a>><br>Message-ID:<br> <CAB7VSRCvMUoTKxjbyGHUhm7ZqTGEF_hkckAB=<a ymailto="mailto:Do_c2gzCR_cjg@mail.gmail.com" href="mailto:Do_c2gzCR_cjg@mail.gmail.com">Do_c2gzCR_cjg@mail.gmail.com</a>><br>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"<br><br>Journal of Language & Politics Vol. 14, No. 2 (2015)<br><br><br>Journal Title: Journal of Language & Politics<br>Volume Number: 14<br>Issue Number: 2<br>Issue Date: 2015<br><br><br>Main Text:<br><br>2015. iv, 143 pp.<br><br>Table of Contents<br><br>Revisiting the apology as a speech act: The case of parliamentary apologies<br>James Murphy<br>175 – 204<br><br>Aligning language to ideology: A socio-semantic analysis of communist and<br>democratic mass media language in Bulgaria<br>Anastasia Smirnova<br>205 – 232<br><br>‘Saying sorry’ in Turkey: The Dersim massacre of the 1930s in 2011<br>Ibrahim Efe and Bernhard Forchtner<br>233 – 257<br><br>Deliberations in the Turkish parliament: The external perceptions of<br>European foreign policy<br>Meltem Müftüler-Baç and Rahime Süleymanoğlu-Kürüm<br>258 – 284<br><br>The shifting representation of common people in China’s news media<br>Wei Zhang<br>285 – 308<br><br>Reviews<br><br>P. Bayley and G. Williams (eds.) (2012). European Identity: What the Media<br>Say. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199602308 (hb), pp. 336,<br>£62<br>Reviewed by Samuel Bennett<br>309 – 313<br><br>A. Egan-Sjölander and J. Gunnarsson-Payne (eds.) (2011). Tracking<br>Discourses: Politics, Identity and Social Change. Lund: Nordic Academic<br>Press. ISBN: 978-91-85509-39-3 (hb), pp. 342, EUR 40.<br>Jay Michael Woodhams<br>314 – 317<br><br><a href="http://linguistlist.org/issues/26/26-3778.html" target="_blank">http://linguistlist.org/issues/26/26-3778.html</a><br><br>-- <br>**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its<br>members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or<br>sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who<br>disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write<br>directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this<br>may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to<br><a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************<br>-------------- next part --------------<br>An HTML attachment was scrubbed...<br>URL: <a href="http://groups.sas.upenn.edu/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20150827/0a9f7131/attachment-0001.html" target="_blank">http://groups.sas.upenn.edu/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20150827/0a9f7131/attachment-0001.html</a><br><br>------------------------------<br><br>Message: 2<br>Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2015 13:50:55 -0400<br>From: Harold Schiffman <<a ymailto="mailto:hfsclpp@gmail.com" href="mailto:hfsclpp@gmail.com">hfsclpp@gmail.com</a>><br>Subject: [lg policy] Sushma Swaraj raises issues faced by Indian<br> students in Germany<br>To: lp <<a ymailto="mailto:lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu" href="mailto:lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu">lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu</a>><br>Message-ID:<br> <<a ymailto="mailto:CAB7VSRDUSKKV2gDhTxQgQjEmpsBOpOHmhp2pEh8Uonb_jK8P6A@mail.gmail.com" href="mailto:CAB7VSRDUSKKV2gDhTxQgQjEmpsBOpOHmhp2pEh8Uonb_jK8P6A@mail.gmail.com">CAB7VSRDUSKKV2gDhTxQgQjEmpsBOpOHmhp2pEh8Uonb_jK8P6A@mail.gmail.com</a>><br>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"<br><br>Sushma Swaraj raises issues faced by Indian students in Germany<br>By PTI | 27 Aug, 2015, 12.56PM IST<br>Post a Comment<br><<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/sushma-swaraj-raises-issues-faced-by-indian-students-in-germany/articleshow/48694119.cms#write" target="_blank">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/sushma-swaraj-raises-issues-faced-by-indian-students-in-germany/articleshow/48694119.cms#write</a>><br><br>[image: German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (R) enters the room<br>with Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj (C) prior to talks at the<br>foreign ministry in Berlin.]German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier<br>(R) enters the room with Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj (C) prior to<br>talks at the foreign ministry in Berlin.<br><br>BERLIN: India has raised with Germany problems like residency status,<br>renewal of visa and accommodation faced by Indian students in the country<br>as both sides discussed new initiatives to ramp up cooperation in the area<br>of education.<br><br>This was conveyed by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to German<br>Education<br>Minister <<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Education-Minister" target="_blank">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Education-Minister</a>><br>Johanna Wanka when they met here yesterday.<br><br>During the meeting, Swaraj apprised Wanka about difficulties being faced by<br>some of the Indian students in pursuing their studies in Germany, like<br>residency status, renewal of visa and accommodation, External Affairs<br>Ministry<br><<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/External-Affairs-Ministry" target="_blank">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/External-Affairs-Ministry</a>><br>Spokesperson <<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Spokesperson" target="_blank">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Spokesperson</a>> Vikas<br>Swarup <<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Vikas-Swarup" target="_blank">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Vikas-Swarup</a>> said.<br><br>The number of Indian students in Germany has gone up significantly in the<br>last few years.<br><br>Currently, more than 10,000 Indian students are studying in Germany while<br>around 800 German students are pursuing various courses in India.<br><br>Both sides also decided to promote exchange of students as well<br>collaboration between educational institutions of the two countries.<br><br>Wanka told Swaraj that Germany was planning to set up an international<br>centre for advance studies in humanities and social science in India as<br>part of a series of new initiatives to ramp up cooperation in areas of<br>education and science and technology.<br><br>Germany agreed to participate in India's ambitious programme -- Global<br>Initiative for Academic Networks<br><<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Networks" target="_blank">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Networks</a>> (GIAN) under which<br>German academician and faculties will be able to teach in educational<br>institutions in India.<br><br>Germany has also agreed to participate in India's skill development<br>initiatives.<br><br>"We want closer ties with Germany in skill development initiative. The<br>External Affairs Minister and German Education Minister discussed a whole<br>range of issues pertaining to cooperation in education and skills sector,"<br>Swarup, who is part of Swaraj's delegation, said.<br><br>Both sides are also working on a number of other initiatives to ramp up<br>cooperation in the education sector.<br><br>Asked about Germany's plan to set up an international centre for advance<br>studies in humanities and social science, he said, they are identifying a<br>partner institute for it.<br><br>The sticky German language issue also figured in the meeting.<br><br>India and Germany are close to resolve the issue and an announcement about<br>it is likely to be made during Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to India in<br>the first half of October.<br><br>As per the broad understanding between the two sides, India will continue<br>to teach German as an additional language in keeping with its<br>three-language policy, while Germany will promote Indian languages<br>including Sanskrit in their educational institutions.<br><br><a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/sushma-swaraj-raises-issues-faced-by-indian-students-in-germany/artic" target="_blank">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/sushma-swaraj-raises-issues-faced-by-indian-students-in-germany/artic</a><br><br>-- <br>**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its<br>members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or<br>sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who<br>disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write<br>directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this<br>may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to<br><a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************<br>-------------- next part --------------<br>An HTML attachment was scrubbed...<br>URL: <a href="http://groups.sas.upenn.edu/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20150827/f77858a2/attachment-0001.html" target="_blank">http://groups.sas.upenn.edu/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20150827/f77858a2/attachment-0001.html</a><br><br>------------------------------<br><br>Message: 3<br>Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2015 13:52:38 -0400<br>From: Harold Schiffman <<a ymailto="mailto:hfsclpp@gmail.com" href="mailto:hfsclpp@gmail.com">hfsclpp@gmail.com</a>><br>Subject: [lg policy] India, Germany close to resolving German language<br> row<br>To: lp <<a ymailto="mailto:lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu" href="mailto:lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu">lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu</a>><br>Message-ID:<br> <<a ymailto="mailto:CAB7VSRAReaCx4sMXOCQdo5h4v2DFF175n21Rqrs-RXOqGusLKQ@mail.gmail.com" href="mailto:CAB7VSRAReaCx4sMXOCQdo5h4v2DFF175n21Rqrs-RXOqGusLKQ@mail.gmail.com">CAB7VSRAReaCx4sMXOCQdo5h4v2DFF175n21Rqrs-RXOqGusLKQ@mail.gmail.com</a>><br>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"<br><br>India, Germany close to resolving German language row<br>By PTI | 26 Aug, 2015, 07.58PM IST<br>Post a Comment<br><<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/india-germany-close-to-resolving-german-language-row/articleshow/48685359.cms#write" target="_blank">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/india-germany-close-to-resolving-german-language-row/articleshow/48685359.cms#write</a>><br>*READ MORE ON » *Sushma Swaraj<br><<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Sushma-Swaraj" target="_blank">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Sushma-Swaraj</a>> | India<br><<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/India" target="_blank">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/India</a>> | Germany<br><<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Germany" target="_blank">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Germany</a>> | Angela Merkel<br><<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Angela-Merkel" target="_blank">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Angela-Merkel</a>><br>[image: India and Germany are close to resolving the sticky German language<br>issue, a row that had injected a bit of sourness in bilateral ties last<br>year.]India and Germany are close to resolving the sticky German language<br>issue, a row that had injected a bit of sourness in bilateral ties last<br>year.<br>*ET SPECIAL:*Love visual aspect of news? Enjoy this exclusive slideshows<br>treat! <<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/slideshows.cms" target="_blank">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/slideshows.cms</a>><br>BERLIN: India <<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/India" target="_blank">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/India</a>> and Germany<br><<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Germany" target="_blank">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Germany</a>> are close to resolving<br>the sticky German language issue, a row that had injected a bit of sourness<br>in bilateral ties last year.<br><br>An announcement on the resolution of the issue is likely to be made during<br>Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to India in October.<br><br>The issue figured prominently during External Affairs Minister Sushma<br>Swaraj's meeting here today with her German counterpart Frank-Walter<br>Steinmeir and both sides discussed contours of a resolution.<br><br>As per the broad understanding between the two sides, India will continue<br>to teach German as an additional language while Germany will promote Indian<br>languages including Sanskrit in their educational institutions.<br><br>"We are almost close to resolution of the issue. Both sides hope to make<br>the announcement during Chancellor Angela Merkel's upcoming visit to<br>India," official sources told PTI.<br><br>They said both sides were happy that the issue is being resolved.<br><br>"Basically what we have said all along is that we will continue to teach<br>German as an additional language in keeping with our three language policy.<br>So we will continue to do that. In Germany, they will promote Indian<br>languages including Sanskrit," said the sources.<br><br>The Human Resource Development ministry had in November decided to<br>discontinue teaching of German as an alternative to Sanskrit and cited<br>"national interests" for its decision.<br><br>Germany had criticised the decision and the issue was also raised by Merkel<br>during her meeting with Modi on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in<br>Brisbane in November last year. Modi had assured her at that time that his<br>government will look into the matter and try to work out an amicable<br>solution.<br><br>Sanskrit was introduced as a third language in Kendriya Vidyalaya Schools<br>on the basis of a memorandum of understanding signed between the KVS and<br>the Goethe Institute in 2011.<br><br>During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit here in April, both sides had<br>agreed to encourage the teaching of each other's languages within the<br>framework of their national policies.<br><br>Merkel will visit India in the first half of October for the<br>inter-governmental consultation. She will be accompanied by a high-level<br>delegation comprising a number of ministers, government officials and top<br>executives of a number of leading German companies.<br><br><a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/india-germany-close-to-resolving-german-language-row/articleshow/48685359.cms" target="_blank">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/india-germany-close-to-resolving-german-language-row/articleshow/48685359.cms</a><br><br>-- <br>**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its<br>members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or<br>sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who<br>disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write<br>directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this<br>may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to<br><a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************<br>-------------- next part --------------<br>An HTML attachment was scrubbed...<br>URL: <a href="http://groups.sas.upenn.edu/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20150827/6ee57d04/attachment-0001.html" target="_blank">http://groups.sas.upenn.edu/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20150827/6ee57d04/attachment-0001.html</a><br><br>------------------------------<br><br>Message: 4<br>Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2015 13:54:10 -0400<br>From: Harold Schiffman <<a ymailto="mailto:hfsclpp@gmail.com" href="mailto:hfsclpp@gmail.com">hfsclpp@gmail.com</a>><br>Subject: [lg policy] South Africa: Stellenbosch University to answer<br> to Parliament<br>To: lp <<a ymailto="mailto:lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu" href="mailto:lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu">lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu</a>><br>Message-ID:<br> <CAB7VSRDvD=uT6SX0hFBR8QTTYq+98dAT_RJ=x9C27=<a ymailto="mailto:CMXiNRFQ@mail.gmail.com" href="mailto:CMXiNRFQ@mail.gmail.com">CMXiNRFQ@mail.gmail.com</a>><br>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"<br><br>Stellenbosch University to answer to Parliament<br><br><br><br>CAPE TOWN - Stellenbosch University is coming under the microscope, with<br>management now required to appear before Parliament.<br><br>This follows accusations by students of the institution's reluctance to<br>deal with claims of sexual assault and racism.<br><br>A group of students has released a documentary, titled "Luister<br><<a href="http://www.enca.com/south-africa/luister-documentary-exposes-racism-maties" target="_blank">http://www.enca.com/south-africa/luister-documentary-exposes-racism-maties</a>>"which<br>deals with life on campus. They claim they're being victimised on a regular<br>basis.<br><br>The group -- 'Open Stellenbosch<br><<a href="http://www.enca.com/opinion/open-stellenbosch-university-education-exclusion" target="_blank">http://www.enca.com/opinion/open-stellenbosch-university-education-exclusion</a>>'<br>-- was formed earlier this year, as calls for transformation at tertiary<br>institutions around the country intensified.<br><br>Among its lists of demands was for the university to change its Afrikaans<br>language policy<br><<a href="http://www.enca.com/south-africa/maties-students-threaten-protests" target="_blank">http://www.enca.com/south-africa/maties-students-threaten-protests</a>><br>because it alienated black staff and students.<br><br>Open Stellenbosch says it has received a hostile reception at the<br>university, but has intensified its campaign, unperturbed.<br><br>It released "Luister" this past weekend. In the 35-minute<br>documentary, black students open up about their experiences at the<br>university.<br><br>The film has garnered more than 100,000 views on Youtube.<br><br>The university says the documentary is a misrepresentation, but says it<br>remains committed to addressing issues of transformation.<br><br><br>** Watch the video report by Bibi-Aisha Wadvalla as she captured the action<br>at a march against sexual abuse on Maties campus. Also above is a<br>recording of a live studio interview with Director at Media Justice,<br>Gillian Schutte about racial discrimination.*<br><br><br>*<a href="https://www.enca.com/south-africa/stellenbosch-university-answer-parliament" target="_blank">https://www.enca.com/south-africa/stellenbosch-university-answer-parliament</a><br><<a href="https://www.enca.com/south-africa/stellenbosch-university-answer-parliament" target="_blank">https://www.enca.com/south-africa/stellenbosch-university-answer-parliament</a>>*<br><br><br>-- <br>**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its<br>members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or<br>sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who<br>disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write<br>directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this<br>may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to<br><a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************<br>-------------- next part --------------<br>An HTML attachment was scrubbed...<br>URL: <a href="http://groups.sas.upenn.edu/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20150827/064879d2/attachment-0001.html" target="_blank">http://groups.sas.upenn.edu/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20150827/064879d2/attachment-0001.html</a><br><br>------------------------------<br><br>Message: 5<br>Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2015 13:56:55 -0400<br>From: Harold Schiffman <<a ymailto="mailto:hfsclpp@gmail.com" href="mailto:hfsclpp@gmail.com">hfsclpp@gmail.com</a>><br>Subject: [lg policy] Canada: FedEx urged to change invoice language<br> policy:<br>To: lp <<a ymailto="mailto:lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu" href="mailto:lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu">lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu</a>><br>Message-ID:<br> <<a ymailto="mailto:CAB7VSRBWToKJ6_Wt1emQBc4t3Qdr3DJiQVT-jy2Ci4DXgqB1mg@mail.gmail.com" href="mailto:CAB7VSRBWToKJ6_Wt1emQBc4t3Qdr3DJiQVT-jy2Ci4DXgqB1mg@mail.gmail.com">CAB7VSRBWToKJ6_Wt1emQBc4t3Qdr3DJiQVT-jy2Ci4DXgqB1mg@mail.gmail.com</a>><br>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"<br><br>FedEx urged to change invoice language policy August 26th, 2015<br><br>This is the latest in a series of articles looking at stores and companies<br>and their language policies in areas with majority and<br>significant anglophone populations, as documented by Hampstead’s<br>Harold Staviss and Côte St. Luc’s Ruth Kovac.<br><br>Federal Express founder and CEO Fred Smith has been sent Staviss’s request<br>urging that the company change its policy of sending Quebec FedEx<br>non-account holders French-only invoices.<br>Staviss recently heard from two local anglophone residents who received<br>French-only invoices from the courier and shipping service. One individual<br>said he was told that it is “company policy” to send out French-only<br>invoices to Quebec recipients.<br>The second individual told Staviss that he requested an invoice in English,<br>and was instead twice again sent French-only invoices. Staviss sent on<br>these concerns to the company. A Federal Express customer service<br>representative replied to Staviss that FedEx account holders can select<br>their preferred language “and will hence receive their invoice and<br>correspondences in their language of choice.<br>“The default language for non-account holders is English in which such<br>invoices are generated in one language, other than the province of Quebec<br>where it is in French. Section 57 of the Charter of the French language<br>provides: Application forms for employment, order forms, invoices, receipts<br>and quittances shall be drawn up in French.”<br>The rep added that by offering account holders a choice of preferred<br>language, “we are complying with our obligations while<br>giving anglophones in Quebec a reasonable opportunity to obtain their<br>FedEx documents in English at minimal trouble and no incremental costs.”<br>Staviss replied that as the company knows, invoices do not only have to be<br>in French, “and given the sophistication of your computer systems I am<br>very surprised that FedEx is not able to generate an invoice for<br>non-account holders, in both official languages of Canada.”<br>The representative replied that an invoice can be generated in both<br>languages for non-account holders, if the individual sends the company the<br>invoice number involved. Staviss suggested sending a bilingual version of<br>invoices in general until the company’s computer system is adjusted, but<br>the rep said this would “not be an option at this time.”<br>Staviss urged the company to consider his suggestions.<br>“I am quite certain that FedEx’s goal is to show equal respect to all their<br>customers, whether francophones, anglophones or allophones. Please note<br>that my comments have nothing to do with language — they have to do solely<br>with respect. The rep, who copied her response to The Suburban, said that<br>Staviss’s comments “have been properly routed to the relevant department<br>and personnel to further use to help improve our services.”<br>Later, a U.S. FedEx customer service rep told Staviss that a non-FedEx<br>account holder in Quebec can be sent an English invoice, but only as an<br>exception. “For any future invoices you want in English, an account will<br>have to be established with English as the language of choice,” The U.S.<br>rep added. Staviss replied that he had received several complaints from<br>people who found the policy to be disrespectful.<br>Staviss and Kovac’s e-mail address, <a ymailto="mailto:bonjourhi2u@gmail.com" href="mailto:bonjourhi2u@gmail.com">bonjourhi2u@gmail.com</a> — is “for anyone<br>who is interested in getting involved to encourage merchants, retailers and<br>the like to post English signage or more English signage in their<br>establishments.”n<br><br><br>*FedEx urged to, change invoice, language, policy, *<br><br><br>*<a href="http://thesuburban.com/news/articles/?id=article05773" target="_blank">http://thesuburban.com/news/articles/?id=article05773</a><br><<a href="http://thesuburban.com/news/articles/?id=article05773" target="_blank">http://thesuburban.com/news/articles/?id=article05773</a>>*<br><br><br>-- <br>**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its<br>members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or<br>sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who<br>disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write<br>directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this<br>may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to<br><a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************<br>-------------- next part --------------<br>An HTML attachment was scrubbed...<br>URL: <a href="http://groups.sas.upenn.edu/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20150827/c312ab3f/attachment-0001.html" target="_blank">http://groups.sas.upenn.edu/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20150827/c312ab3f/attachment-0001.html</a><br><br>------------------------------<br><br>Message: 6<br>Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2015 13:59:59 -0400<br>From: Harold Schiffman <<a ymailto="mailto:hfsclpp@gmail.com" href="mailto:hfsclpp@gmail.com">hfsclpp@gmail.com</a>><br>Subject: [lg policy] Vermont: Burlington?s pick for superintendent of<br> schools lands visa<br>To: lp <<a ymailto="mailto:lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu" href="mailto:lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu">lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu</a>><br>Message-ID:<br> <<a ymailto="mailto:CAB7VSRCd9_3EisExa3nbVR8fCRFsNjhpdFGiSj6w8zywBdty6Q@mail.gmail.com" href="mailto:CAB7VSRCd9_3EisExa3nbVR8fCRFsNjhpdFGiSj6w8zywBdty6Q@mail.gmail.com">CAB7VSRCd9_3EisExa3nbVR8fCRFsNjhpdFGiSj6w8zywBdty6Q@mail.gmail.com</a>><br>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"<br><br>Burlington’s pick for superintendent of schools lands visa<br>[image: New Burlington School District superintendent Yaw Obeng. Courtesy<br>photo]<br><br>New Burlington School District superintendent Yaw Obeng. Courtesy photo<br><br>The Burlington School District finally has its man.<br><br>After weeks of wrangling to secure a visa for its choice as superintendent,<br>the district last week circumvented obstacles to Yaw Obeng’s hiring by<br>landing him a job as an adjunct professor at the University of Vermont.<br><br>That allowed Obeng, a Canadian citizen, to obtain an H1-B visa, which are<br>awarded through a lottery system to a limited number of applicants each<br>year, but that limit does not apply to employees at higher learning<br>institutions, according to United States Citizenship and Immigration<br>Services regulations.<br><br>The Burlington School District sought employment at UVM for Obeng for the<br>purpose of avoiding that cap, school board chairman Mark Porter said at a<br>news conference Wednesday morning.<br><br>“We knew the college was not subject to the cap,” and the school board’s<br>immigration attorney had advised that a job through UVM’s College of<br>Education and Social Services would offer a relatively straightforward<br>route to an H1-B visa, Porter said.<br><br>USCIS representatives declined to comment on the circumstances through<br>which Obeng acquired a visa. An official who wished to remain unnamed wrote<br>in an email that she “can share that USCIS adjudicates all petitions and<br>applications for immigration benefits individually based on the evidence<br>provided and immigration law.”<br><br>The congressionally mandated cap of 65,000 H1-B visas per fiscal year was<br>met for fiscal year 2016 by April 7, 2015. More than 230,000 people<br>petitioned for the visas, according to USCIS documents.<br><br>Though UVM’s College of Education and Social Services hired Obeng after<br>being approached by the Burlington School District, the college’s interim<br>dean said her school would “absolutely” have hired Obeng without that<br>request.<br><br>“This was great serendipity for us,” said Cynthia Gerstl-Pepin, interim<br>dean of UVM’s College of Education and Social Services. “Mr. Obeng’s<br>knowledge about the needs of English language learners, and how to create a<br>positive learning culture for students that supports diversity, will be an<br>asset to our teacher education program as well as [to] Burlington and the<br>state.”<br><br>Obeng will teach a course at UVM entitled Language Policy Issues and Race<br>in Learning, Gerstl-Pepin said. The class is new to UVM, and was to be<br>taught by a former faculty member who departed suddenly in July for<br>personal reasons, Gerstl-Pepin said. The course will be offered in the fall<br>and spring semesters, Gerstl-Pepin said.<br><br>Obeng will work at UVM as a part-time, or adjunct, faculty member, she said.<br><br>The University of Vermont has no policy expressing preference for<br>Vermonters or for United States citizens, Gerstl-Pepin said.<br><br>“When we hire faculty members or staff members, we want the best person for<br>the job, and that’s the bottom line,” she said. “We don’t look at those<br>other factors.”<br><br>Porter said the Burlington School District likewise sought only the best<br>person for the job, regardless of nationality.<br><br>School district administrators knew at the outset of the selection process<br>that Obeng’s citizenship status represented a hurdle to his hiring, but<br>they were determined to obtain legal employment status for him once he was<br>chosen, Porter said after the press conference.<br><br>“We knew he was not a U.S. citizen, and that he would need to be able to<br>work legally in the U.S., and that’s why we hired an immigration lawyer,”<br>Porter said. “We were never given guarantees by our immigration attorney …<br>[but] they said they’d exhaust all options, and we were like, ‘That’s<br>great, because so will we.’”<br><br>The district spent approximately $16,000 beyond what was originally<br>allocated for the superintendent search to hire Obeng, Porter said. The<br>school district had originally set aside $40,000 for the search, he said.<br><br>The district will likely spend additional money to secure a different type<br>of visa that offers Obeng an easier path to citizenship, Porter said.<br><br>Obeng, who was superintendent of a school system in Ontario, stood out<br>among candidates for his past success in working with schools that had wide<br>income disparities, Porter said.<br><br>These are challenges Obeng will need to meet in his new role at Burlington<br>School District, Porter said.<br><br>Obeng’s salary is $153,000.<br><br><a href="http://vtdigger.org/2015/08/26/burlingtons-pick-for-superintendent-of-schools-lands-visa/" target="_blank">http://vtdigger.org/2015/08/26/burlingtons-pick-for-superintendent-of-schools-lands-visa/</a><br><br><br>-- <br>**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its<br>members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or<br>sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who<br>disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write<br>directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this<br>may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to<br><a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************<br>-------------- next part --------------<br>An HTML attachment was scrubbed...<br>URL: <a href="http://groups.sas.upenn.edu/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20150827/f1a6995d/attachment.html" target="_blank">http://groups.sas.upenn.edu/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20150827/f1a6995d/attachment.html</a><br><br>------------------------------<br><br>_______________________________________________<br>This digest came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list:<br><a ymailto="mailto:lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu" href="mailto:lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu">lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu</a><br>To manage your subscription, visit this web page:<br><a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list</a><br><br>End of lgpolicy-list Digest, Vol 76, Issue 28<br>*********************************************<br><br><br></div> </div> </div> </div></body></html>