Schools will decide fate of Inuit language: Laval linguist (fwd link)

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Nunavut
November 16, 2007

Schools will decide fate of Inuit language: Laval linguist
Inuktitut purity “has its limits,” expert warns

JOHN THOMPSON

The details of Nunavut's draft language laws will be settled in the
legislative assembly, but the fate of the Inuit language rests in the
schools.

This is worth keeping in mind as the language law debates heat up, says
Louis-Jacques Dorais, a linguist at Université Laval who has studied Inuit
languages across the Arctic for many years.

After all, it doesn't matter to ordinary Nunavut residents whether
bureaucrats make PowerPoint presentations to one another in English,
Inuktitut or Japanese. Nor does it matter much whether arcane bits of law
are translated into Innuinaqtun.

What matters is whether kids speak their native tongue. And, right now, most
Nunavut kids learn how to speak and think about most important things in
English, Dorais says.

To access full article, follow the link below:
http://www.nunatsiaq.com/news/nunavut/71116_694.html