LL-L "Language politics" 2007.07.01 (01) [E]

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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
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L O W L A N D S - L  -  01 July 2007 - Volume 01

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From: "heatherrendall at tiscali.co.uk" <heatherrendall at tiscali.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Language politics" 2007.06.30 (01) [E]

re "language slating"

Can I please point out that the teachers who placed Welsh "Nots" round the
necks of their pupils were Welsh ( and not English) and that it was the
social ambitions of the (mainly) middle class Welsh who translated their
house names from, for example, Bryn Awel to Breeze Hill  thinking that if
their children were brought up in an English speaking environment and spoke
good English they would stand more of a chance of getting a job outside
their immediate local area and thus give their children greater
opportunities in life.

This has been ( is still?) a pattern all over the world - EXCEPT many people
also kept their 1st language and moved into the sphere of bilingualism as
they valued their own language and culture as well as understanding that
Standard or King's /Queen's English would be advantageous.

It is those people who disparaged the 1st langauge and avoided it who have
created new monolingual societies and lost the benefits of bi or
polylingualism with the loss of dialects and culture besides.

It was prevailing practice in schools throughout the 19th and 1st half of
the 20th century to insist that ONLY King's / Queen's English was spoken in
school  so that pupils could 'learn' it as a 2nd language that would take
them beyond the confines of a local dialect. This was strictly in the
medieval  tradition of immersion techniques used in Latin & Greek Grammar
schools where pupils were punished for speaking anything other than Latin or
Greek.

The aim was wider social movement / mobility. What turned it into a 'dialect
killer' was the 'snobbery' of those who chose to disparage their own 1st
language and adopt what they saw as the 'superior' language.

Heather
PS I have made the point before that my one grandfather would have worn the
Norfolk 'Not' and the other the Essex 'Not'. All children throught the
kingdom were treated the same; it was NOT just an anti-Welsh action.

•

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