ELL: clarification about SIL from an external point of view
Jeff ALLEN
jeff at elda.fr
Wed Mar 17 13:27:57 UTC 1999
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Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 14:27:57 +0100
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From: Jeff ALLEN <jeff at elda.fr>
Subject: ELL: clarification about SIL from an external point of view
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At 14:47 17/03/99 +0700, Matthew McDaniel wrote:
>I would also like to comment on the e-mail about SIL(Wycliffe Bible
>Translators).
>I still think that as holding a huge vault of knowledge regarding
>language as taken from the indigenous, which is an indigenous product of
>knowledge, SIL might address the issues of its reputation from the
>perspective that it is the same organization as Wycliffe ...
I am sorry to feel the need to post another clarification point on this
point, but it seems necessary. I am not an SIL or Wycliffe member,
but I am familiar enough with these organizations to reply to this point.
SIL and Wycliffe Bible Translators are not the same organization.
They are sister, yet quite separate, organizations. In fact, you
forgot to include the third sister that is called JAARS. Their
roles are different and it is quite important to distinguish between
them because not everyone who is affiliated with SIL is concerned
with the promotion of translating the Bible into vernacular languages.
1. Wycliffe Bible Translators is a missionary organization that
sends missionaries from various countries to other countries
for the purpose of translating the Bible into various languages
depending on the needs determined by in-depth surveys.
Members of Wycliffe must apply to be missionaries from their
host countries.
2. SIL (the Summer Institute of Linguistics in English and the
Societe Internationale de Linguistique in French) is a linguistic
training and research organization. It offers intensive training
in all aspects of linguistics from articulatory phonetics to
sociolinguistics and literacy. Members of SIL are trained
linguists.
It is important to recognize that temporary affiliated individuals may
simply be students taking undergraduate or post-graduate courses
for credit on state university campuses (University of Oregon,
University
of North Dakota, University of Texas-Arlington) where SIL members
and other non-SIL professors teach the courses. I was invited to
develop and teach a new Sociolinguistics program and head the
Sociolinguistics Dept at the French branch of SIL because
of my
expertise in sociolinguistics and because I spent many years studying
and conducting research in this field for 2 advanced degrees at a
French
state university. I know of many other university professors that
offer
their time on a volunteer basis, or through teaching during the
summers
at their home institutions, in developing and teaching linguistics
courses
for SIL. SIL also has external advisory members who evaluate work
done by SIL members. These external members have nothing to
do
with Bible translation, but are rather quite concerned with providing
adequate and quality linguistic training and research results to
the
wider linguistics community. It is therefore very important to
distinguish
between SIL and Wycliffe. There are many undergraduate and
post-graduate students who have benefitted from quality,
intensive
linguistics training (much as I did as an undergraduate student 10
years
ago) in order to pursue advanced degrees, but who have nothing to do
with Wycliffe and its mission. There are many university
professors and
researchers who provide their counsel as external advisors for
linguistics
issue to SIL, but who also are not concerned with Bible translation.
Lumping Wycliffe and SIL together as the same organization
inappropriate
for these reasons.
3. JAARS is the support branch (computers, materials, avionics) for
1 and 2 above.
There are many missionaries who members of both Wycliffe and SIL
because
they conduct linguistic research for the purpose of Bible
translation, and
some of them teach SIL courses because they have practical
linguistics
fieldwork experience that is useful for teaching courses. In such
cases,
it is necessary to refer them as members of the 2 organizations.
There are also missionaries with Wycliffe who are not SIL members
(for example, teachers of missionary kids in missionary schools).
The fact that I offer my free time once in a while to compile
bibliographies
for SIL courses, and to provide consultation as an external expert
in
the field, is an issue of wanting to see a good linguistics
program and
organization become better with time. SIL members have
appreciated
my counsel and I have benefitted in working with SIL
linguists. The
benefit is mutual when I have in need of information and have had
answers come back from SIL linguists within a period of 24-48
hours.
>In addition, considering the glowing report for how helpful SIL
is on
>literacy,
It is not the issue of a "glowing report" but a factual report
from an
outsider who has been invited to give courses at their
linguistics
schools because they did not have the internal expertise at the
time. From that opportunity, we have been able to develop a
modular program and train SIL members to teach it.
>why did they flatly refuse to assist on a wide based non
>partisan literacy project for the Akha ...
I have no idea with regard to this. All I can say from a personal
point of view is that language politics are a sticky issue. I myself
in the past have avoided being affiliated with certain projects
because of political issues that I did not want to get involved in.
Maybe SIL has chosen to do the same on this. Only SIL could
really answer you more accurately on this point.
All in all, please make the distinction that is necessary in referring to
missionary and linguistics organizations, since it implies labels
and affiliation points that are not quite true.
Best regards,
Jeff
(who just spent his lunch hour writing this message)
=================================================
Jeff ALLEN - Directeur Technique
European Language Resources Association (ELRA) &
European Language Resources Distribution Agency (ELDA)
(Agence Europ.enne de Distribution des Ressources Linguistiques)
55, rue Brillat-Savarin
75013 Paris FRANCE
Tel: (+33) (0) 1.43.13.33.33 - Fax: (+33) (0) 1.43.13.33.30
mailto:jeff at elda.fr
http://www.icp.grenet.fr/ELRA/home.html
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