Oxford Round Table--which doesn't sound very "round"

[Charles Doyle]

The Oxford Round Table letter announces a conference next March, which "will again devote a special session to the topic"--namely, "bilingual education and the teaching of English as a second language."  The conference will take place in Oxford, and the registration fee is just $2940.

The enclosed glossy brochure explains that "the Oxford Round Table was founded in 1989, as a colloquium for small groups of governmental and business leaders to engage in discussions of contemporary public policy that affect [sic] nations and states worldwide."

My suspicion is that "most scholars" of language might not attend, for one reason or another . . . .

--Charlie
____________________________________________

---- Original message ----
>Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2006 10:38:56 -0700
>From: "Arnold M. Zwicky" <zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU>
>Subject: Re: Oxford Round Table--which doesn't sound very "round"
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
>On Oct 24, 2006, at 7:38 AM, Charlie Doyle wrote:
>
>> In this morning's mail I received a form letter from the so-called Oxford Round Table ("at Harris Manchester College, Oxford, England"), an organization I'd never heard of. The letter begins:
>>
>> << It is understood by most scholars that a standard language is the foundation of a viable nation-state.  Established nations . . . cohere around a common national language that is spoken, written and perpetuatied by mass literacy and universal schooling. However, a natural effect of migration of peoples to the United States and other developed countries has created an increased concern for bilingual education . . . . >>
>>
>> "Most scholars," huh?  Is the Oxford Round Table a front for some right-wing anti-immigrant crusade?  What IS it--really?
>
>hard to tell from the website:
>   http://www.oxfordroundtable.co.uk/
>
>though the interests of the organization seem to be educational policy in general.
>
>what was the point of the letter?
>
>arnold

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org