LL-L: "Language politics" LOWLANDS-L, 01.SEP.2000 (02) [E/French]

[Lowlands-L]

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From: john feather [johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk]
Subject: Language politics [English/French]

Criostoir wrote:
>Breton, Euskara, Catalan, Flemish et al have no legal recognition nor any
overt existence within France. <
and invited us to check the facts for ourselves. A statement issued by the
Office of the Prime Minister dated 20 July 2000 includes the following about
the teaching of Corsican in schools:

"3- L'enseignement de la langue corse :

"Les élus de l'assemblée de Corse ont unanimement demandé la définition d'un
dispositif permettant d'assurer un enseignement généralisé de la langue corse
dans l'enseignement maternel et primaire, de manière à favoriser la vitalité
de cette langue.

"Le Gouvernement proposera au Parlement le vote d'une disposition posant le
principe selon lequel l'enseignement de la langue corse prendra place dans
l'horaire scolaire normal des écoles maternelles et primaires et pourra ainsi
être suivi par tous les élèves, sauf volonté contraire des parents.

"Pour atteindre l'objectif recherché, il est nécessaire d'accroître le
nombre des enseignants du premier degré formés à l'enseignement de la langue
corse.

"Il est ainsi prévu:
- de donner une forte impulsion à la formation initiale et continue en
langue corse des enseignants du premier degré. Les professeurs des écoles
seraient recrutés à leur choix par deux concours, dont l'un comporterait des
épreuves de langue corse ;
- de recourir davantage à l'intervention des enseignants de langue corse du
second degré, en augmentant, si besoin est, le nombre de postes ouverts au
CAPES de langue corse, ainsi qu'à des intervenants extérieurs et à des
aides-éducateurs recrutés sur le profil " langue et culture corse "."

Since Criostoir has told us that he worked very hard in school at not
learning French I offer the following translation of the key paragraph:

"The Government will propose to Parliament the voting of a measure
establishing the principle that the teaching of the Corsican language will
take place within the normal school timetable in kindergartens and primary
schools and will thus be available to all the pupils, unless parents wish
otherwise."

Of course, this has nothing directly to do with Lowlands languages but it
has got something to do with the way we discuss things.

John Feather johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk

----------

From: "Ian James Parsley" <parsleyij at yahoo.com>
Subject: LL-L: "Language politics" LOWLANDS-L, 31.AUG.2000 (03) [E]

Cristoir wrote:

> And so far as I know, France was the
> only country in the EU to refuse to sign the Charter
> for Minority Languages. Latterly we have seen the
> inherent centralising paranoia with regard to Corsica,
> where the Interior Minister has resigned rather than
> grant devolution to that embattled colony.

For the record, the Irish Republic has also failed to sign the
Charter, although I suspect this is because of confusion surrounding
what constitutes a minority language. The Constitution of the Republic
makes Irish the "national language", and there seems a widespread
belief that this disqualifies it from being a "lesser-used language"
(a very sensible term coined, in fact, by John Hume MEP, leader of
Northern Ireland's Nationalist SDLP). The Charter clearly indicates
that even where a "lesser-used language" is officially the national
tongue, it still qualifies.

This is relevant to this list, because the unfortunate result of the
Republic's decision not to sign is that Scots in the Irish Republic
does not qualify for the same protection as Scots in Northern Ireland.

Best,
---------------
Ian James Parsley

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