LL-L "Language policies" 2003.01.09 (07) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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From: ntl <shoogly at ntlworld.com>
Subject: Fw: Scots language

It seems in inappropriate and unacceptable for you to be saying you are
"giving an up to date view of the U.K" - and not to mention Scots in your
reference to Scotland. Scots is spoken to various degrees by many people in
Scotland - and has a significant influence on Scottish English ( not the
same as Scots ). Scots has also a long and prestigious history - and in not
mentioning Scots as a language I feel in fact you are in fact reinforcing
traditional stereotypes - by giving the impression that Scots is a dialect
of English - which it how it will be perceived by people visiting
Scotland -as this is the impression that has been given to them.

Instead of giving the true impression of the multi ethic character of the
U.K -you are actually reducing that impression by the omission of Scots.
Also you mention that  "many other languages are not specifically mentioned
in the text" - by this I take it you refer to languages like Cantonese,
Hindi etc. Whilst these are maybe not mentioned -the difference with these
and Scots - is that Scots is an indigenous language of these isles that has
as along a history in the isles as does English - and deserves to be
mentioned along side English Welsh and Gaelic ( I am a Gaelic speaker -so I
do not have a Scots bias ) - there is absolutely no argument for you
omitting it!.

I think it is gravely amiss of you not to update your site to be more
accurate - you can hardly call yourself the "British Council" if you are
giving this biased and inaccurate representation of the true picture.

Yours

Crisdean Mac Fhearghais

----- Original Message -----
From: <Sue.Leather at britishcouncil.org>
To: <shoogly at ntlworld.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2003 3:37 PM
Subject: RE: Scots language


> Dear Crisdean
>
> Thank you for your email of 22 December 2002 regarding the omission
> of Scots from the materials on the Language Assistant web site. I'd like
to
> apologise for the delay in replying, which has been due to holidays over
> Christmas and the New Year.
>
> The Language Assistant website aims to provide pedagogic support for
> some 2,000 English language assistants who go abroad every year under a
> programme administered by the British Council. These are usually either
> undergraduates required to spend the third year of their language degree
> course abroad or recent graduates in languages or other disciplines. They
> are placed in secondary schools in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain,
> Switzerland and Latin America, with some also working at primary school
> level, and spend an academic year teaching in a school. Their main role is
> to develop their students' confidence and competence in understanding and
> speaking English. The majority of them have very little formal or informal
> pedagogic experience and the Language Assistant website and discussion
list
> provides support, materials and ideas for them to use with their students.
>
> The Essential UK pages focus on classroom materials to help the
> assistants present an up-to-date view of the UK (rather than reinforcing
> traditional stereotypes). The reading text for Multilingual UK is not
> intended to give a full description of languages and language variety in
the
> UK, but to help assistants present contemporary UK as a multi-lingual
> society, rather than a monolingual English speaking society. As well as
> Scots, many other languages in the United Kingdom are not specifically
> mentioned in the text. Our apologies if this inadvertently gave the
> impression that we were deliberately excluding Scots (or any other
language
> used in the UK). This was not intended.
>
> Regards
>
> Susan Leather
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ntl [mailto:shoogly at ntlworld.com]
> Sent: 22 December 2002 14:18
> To: languageassistant at britishcouncil.org
> Cc: mail at sldl.org.uk
> Subject: Scots language
>
>
> I am surprised that you as the British council, in mentioning the
languages
> spoken in Scotland in your schools site at
>
http://www.britishcouncil.org/languageassistant/ess_uk_multilinguallav.html
>
<http://www.britishcouncil.org/languageassistant/ess_uk_multilinguallav.html
> >   - make absolutely NO reference to the Scots language.  Scots is a
> distinctive language -separate from English ( NOT a dialect of it ) - with
a
> long and noble history in literature and was before the Union of Crowns,
the
> language of the court and parliament.  It is still widely spoken - having
> more speakers than Scottish Gaelic ( this is not anti Gaelic - I am a
Gaelic
> speaker - I am just trying to clear up a major omission on your part!! ).
I
> would like your explanation for this.
>
> Should you doubt the Identity and presence of Scots - I am happy to refer
> you to appropriate web sites where you may find out more ( such as the
Scots
> National Dictionary association )
>
> Yours
>
> Crisdean Mac Fhearghais

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