<div dir="ltr">
<article class="gmail-post-78970 gmail-post gmail-type-post gmail-status-publish gmail-format-standard gmail-hentry gmail-category-political-economy gmail-category-tns-highlights gmail-post-listing">
<div class="gmail-post-inner">
<h1 class="gmail-name gmail-post-title entry-title">Power of language</h1>
<p class="gmail-post-meta">
<span class="gmail-bold"><a href="http://tns.thenews.com.pk/writers/dr-tariq-rahman/" rel="tag">Dr Tariq Rahman</a> </span>
<span>February 18, 2018</span>
<span><a href="http://tns.thenews.com.pk/power-language/#comments" title="Comment on Power of language">1 Comment</a></span>
</p>
<div class="gmail-clear"></div>
<p class="gmail-intro">The greatest harm we are doing to our people is
that by not respecting their languages we insult their authentic beings;
their identity as members of linguistic groups and carriers of
tradition. This was the message of Salzburg Global Seminar</p> <div class="gmail-clear"></div>
<div class="gmail-single-post-thumb">
<img src="http://tns.thenews.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/a-1-768x512.jpg" alt="Power of language" title="Power of language"> </div>
<div class="gmail-single-post-caption">How to revive dying languages? </div>
<div class="gmail-share-post">
<span class="gmail-share-text">Share !</span>
<ul>
<li style="width:96px"> </li>
<li>
<div id="gmail-fb-root" class="gmail-fb_reset"><div style="height:0px;width:0px"><div></div></div><div style="height:0px;width:0px"><div></div></div></div>
<div class="gmail-fb-share-button gmail-fb_iframe_widget"><span style="vertical-align:bottom;width:76px;height:20px"></span></div>
</li>
<li style="width:80px"><div style="text-indent:0px;margin:0px;padding:0px;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;border-style:none;float:none;line-height:normal;font-size:1px;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline-block;width:32px;height:20px" id="gmail-___plusone_0"></div>
</li>
<li style="width:130px"><span style="line-height:1;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline-block;text-align:center" class="gmail-IN-widget"><span style="padding:0px;margin:0px;text-indent:0px;display:inline-block;vertical-align:baseline;font-size:1px"><span id="gmail-li_ui_li_gen_1519052592740_0"><a id="gmail-li_ui_li_gen_1519052592740_0-link"><span id="gmail-li_ui_li_gen_1519052592740_0-logo">in</span><span id="gmail-li_ui_li_gen_1519052592740_0-title"><span id="gmail-li_ui_li_gen_1519052592740_0-mark"></span><span id="gmail-li_ui_li_gen_1519052592740_0-title-text">Share</span></span></a></span></span><span style="padding:0px;margin:0px;text-indent:0px;display:inline-block;vertical-align:baseline;font-size:1px"><span id="gmail-li_ui_li_gen_1519052592783_1-container" class="gmail-IN-right gmail-IN-hidden"></span></span></span></li>
<li>
<div class="gmail-addthis_toolbox gmail-addthis_default_style gmail-addthis_32x32_style" style="float:left">
<a class="gmail-addthis_button_email gmail-at300b" target="_blank" title="Email" href="http://tns.thenews.com.pk/power-language/#"><span class="gmail-at-icon-wrapper" style="background-color:rgb(132,132,132);line-height:32px;height:32px;width:32px"></span></a><a class="gmail-addthis_counter gmail-addthis_bubble_style" style="display:inline-block" href="http://tns.thenews.com.pk/power-language/#"></a><a class="gmail-addthis_button_expanded" target="_blank" title="More" href="http://tns.thenews.com.pk/power-language/#">2</a>
<div class="gmail-atclear"></div></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="gmail-clear"></div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-clear"></div>
<div class="entry">
<p>The Global Salzburg Seminar is housed in one of the world’s most
beautiful locations: a medieval palace (the Schloss Leopoldskron) next
to a lake with the snow-capped Austrian Alps rising in towering majesty.
On the top of the mountain on the other side is a castle and below it
is the town of Salzburg.</p>
<p>This picturesque castle was built by the Prince Archbishop of
Salzburg, Leopold Freiherr von Firmian (1679-1744) in 1736. The
Archbishop was like the other great princes of the period i.e not
particularly holy (he exploited peasant labour and also had a mistress).
But he was a connoisseur of art and the palace is living testimony to
his good taste in art and architecture.</p>
<p>The Salzburg Global Seminar was housed in this palace in 1947 two
years after the end of World War 2. It was meant to revive intellectual
dialogue in Europe and the world. But, being funded by the capitalist
Western block, it was also meant to steer that dialogue against the
communist line. However, those who are chosen to meet here as fellows
are distinguished in their fields and there is no coercion or paradigm
which is imposed upon them so they can conduct their work in an
atmosphere of freedom. The fellows discuss all sorts of subjects —
health, education, economy, politics, justice, migration, peace etc. —
and come up with a statement which is disseminated all over the world.</p>
<div class="gmail-box gmail-shadow gmail-red_lines gmail-alignright"><div>
<strong>Even Urdu, otherwise dignified as the national language, does
not fare much better. It is used much in the media, the lower
judiciary, schools and colleges but it does not compete with English
which is the currency used in elite jobs, exclusive clubs and posh
drawing rooms.</strong>
</div></div>
<p>I was lucky to be selected for the seminar from 12 till 17 December 2017 on language policy (<i>Spring for Talent: Language Learning and Integration in Globalized World).</i>
The statement the fellows came up with will be launched all over the
world on February 21, 2018, the International Language Day. This article
is meant to make Pakistani readers aware of its salient features.</p>
<p>The statement begins with some hard hitting statistical facts: that
most, if not all, of the 193 members of the United Nations are
multilingual. This does not refer to their official languages which may
be just one but to their reality on the ground which is that there are
speakers of many languages who are temporarily or permanently resident
in them. Even tiny states like Monaco, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Bhutan
and the Vatican have people speaking languages other than the official
languages of these countries. Indeed, in the Vatican the official
language, Latin, is actually nobody’s mother-tongue at all.</p>
<p>Then we find the statement that 130 million children reach grade 4
but do not learn to read (Unicef 2016). This can be understood with
reference to the fact that 2 billion people do not have access to
education in a language they understand. Their languages are disgraced,
ignored and laughed out of schools. This bewilders and confuses the
children who give up on reading altogether. That is why out of the 9,097
languages currently spoken in the world one-third are endangered. This
means they will die unless they are revived. Indeed, powerful languages —
the ones used in jobs and given prestige socially such as English — are
killing off the less powerful languages so that half the world speaks
one or more of only 23 languages.</p>
<p>With this in mind the statement goes on to recommend multilingualism.
This means that linguistic diversity, instead of being regarded as a
problem, should be seen as a kind of cultural wealth. Children should be
taught in the languages they use at home at least in the first few
years of their education. This is not a new recommendation at all since
the Unesco has been saying it repeatedly since the 1950s.</p>
<div id="gmail-attachment_78995" class="gmail-wp-caption gmail-aligncenter" style="width:730px"><a href="http://tns.thenews.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Dr-Tariq-Rahman.jpg"><img class="gmail-size-full gmail-wp-image-78995" alt="Participants of the seminar." src="http://tns.thenews.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Dr-Tariq-Rahman.jpg" width="720" height="405"></a><p class="gmail-wp-caption-text">Participants of the seminar.</p></div>
<p>Indeed, the experiments made by Unesco and its partners in many parts
of the world were successful. Children who were taught in their
mother-tongues first learned the languages of wider communication (LWC)
of their countries as well as English better. They also had a more
positive self-image of their communities and their selves. Since this
research has not sunk into the minds of parents, policy makers, school
principals and owners of schools, it is imperative that they should be
persuaded through the imaginative dissemination of such research —
films, songs, skits and other cultural means — to abandon monolingual
policies. Unless all stakeholders are not on board nothing can be
achieved and to have them on board they need to be exposed to new
research in support of multilingualism.</p>
<p>The statement ends by calling on all, including employers,
educational managers, politicians and bureaucrats, to respect and
promote linguistic diversity in the workplace and reward it instead of
punishing it.</p>
<p>Now let us apply this statement to Pakistan. Linguistic surveys tell
us that we have about 73 languages. Even if some varieties of the same
language have been counted twice or thrice as I contend, we do have more
than sixty languages. But how many of them are used in jobs and
education? Only two — Urdu and Sindhi.</p>
<p>One may point out that Pashto is taught up to Class 5 in some parts
of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Swat and Fata but that is not much. Not many jobs
open if you have a degree in Pashto though you can work in some
universities but how many can find such academic jobs? Similarly, some
academic jobs open with Siraiki, Balochi, Brahvi and Punjabi but only a
few.</p>
<p>Moreover, since students regard degrees in these subjects as easy
options as teachers give them high grades to attract them, the languages
are not given the academic respect they would have got had they been
academically rigorous. But that would have scared away students so the
catch-22 remains, degrading the indigenous languages of Pakistan. Even
Urdu, otherwise dignified as the national language, does not fare much
better. It is used much in the media, the lower judiciary, schools and
colleges but it does not compete with English which is the currency used
in elite jobs, exclusive clubs and posh drawing rooms.</p>
<p>The greatest harm we are doing to our people, at least in my view, is
that by not respecting their languages we insult their authentic
beings; their identity as members of linguistic groups and carriers of
tradition. The languages of our people become marks of shame which they
cannot use in formal settings. They are punished when they speak them in
school and, of course, they are shut out of jobs if they carry the
accent of their mother-tongue in English and even Urdu. This is a heavy
psychological price to pay. Let us, therefore, heed the message of the
Salzburg Global Seminar and actively promote and value linguistic
diversity in Pakistan.</p>
</div>
<div style="margin:20px auto;clear:both">
<div id="gmail-div-gpt-ad-rectangle_belowpost_btf" class="gmail-belowStoryAds">
<div id="gmail-google_ads_iframe_/1063725/thenews/tns/postpages/rectangle_belowpost_btf_0__container__" style="border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none;border-width:0pt;display:inline-block;width:336px;height:280px"></div></div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-share-post">
<span class="gmail-share-text">Share !</span>
<ul>
<li style="width:96px"> </li>
<li>
<div id="gmail-fb-root"></div>
<div class="gmail-fb-share-button gmail-fb_iframe_widget"><span style="vertical-align:bottom;width:76px;height:20px"></span></div>
</li>
<li style="width:80px"><div style="text-indent:0px;margin:0px;padding:0px;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;border-style:none;float:none;line-height:normal;font-size:1px;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline-block;width:32px;height:20px" id="gmail-___plusone_1"></div>
</li>
<li style="width:130px"><span style="line-height:1;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline-block;text-align:center" class="gmail-IN-widget"><span style="padding:0px;margin:0px;text-indent:0px;display:inline-block;vertical-align:baseline;font-size:1px"><span id="gmail-li_ui_li_gen_1519052592799_2"><a id="gmail-li_ui_li_gen_1519052592799_2-link"><span id="gmail-li_ui_li_gen_1519052592799_2-logo">in</span><span id="gmail-li_ui_li_gen_1519052592799_2-title"><span id="gmail-li_ui_li_gen_1519052592799_2-mark"></span><span id="gmail-li_ui_li_gen_1519052592799_2-title-text">Share</span></span></a></span></span><span style="padding:0px;margin:0px;text-indent:0px;display:inline-block;vertical-align:baseline;font-size:1px"><span id="gmail-li_ui_li_gen_1519052592809_3-container" class="gmail-IN-right gmail-IN-hidden"></span></span></span></li>
<li>
<div class="gmail-addthis_toolbox gmail-addthis_default_style gmail-addthis_32x32_style" style="float:left">
<a class="gmail-addthis_button_email gmail-at300b" target="_blank" title="Email" href="http://tns.thenews.com.pk/power-language/#"><span class="gmail-at-icon-wrapper" style="background-color:rgb(132,132,132);line-height:32px;height:32px;width:32px"></span></a><a class="gmail-addthis_counter gmail-addthis_bubble_style" style="display:inline-block" href="http://tns.thenews.com.pk/power-language/#"></a><a class="gmail-addthis_button_expanded" target="_blank" title="More" href="http://tns.thenews.com.pk/power-language/#">2</a>
<div class="gmail-atclear"></div></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="gmail-clear"></div>
</div>
</div>
</article>
<section id="gmail-author-box">
<div class="gmail-block-head">
<h3>
Dr Tariq Rahman
</h3>
</div>
<div class="gmail-post-listing" style="height:70px">
<div class="gmail-author-avatar">
<img src="http://tns.thenews.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/tariq-rahman-150x150.jpg" class="gmail-attachment-60x60" alt="tariq rahman" width="60" height="60"> </div>
<div class="gmail-author-description">
The author is a linguistic historian. </div></div></section>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
</div>