Asia Trends Conference

[Harold F. Schiffman]

Forwarded from Linguist-List:

Asia Trends Conference, 'Babel or Behemoth: Language Trends in Asia'

Date: 04-Jul-2003 - 04-Jul-2003
Location: Singapore, Singapore
Contact: Ying Ying Tan
Contact Email: arityy at nus.edu.sg
Meeting URL: http://www.ari.nus.edu.sg/LanguageTrends.htm


Meeting Description:

Event:  Inaugural Annual ASIA TRENDS Conference
                'Babel or Behemoth: Language Trends in Asia'
Date:           4 July 2003
Venue:  Ballroom, Level 1
                Marina Mandarin, Singapore
Website:        http://www.ari.nus.edu.sg/LanguageTrends.htm

How are people in Asia negotiating language?

With the growing hegemony of English in transnational life, the
flourishing of national languages at the expense of vernaculars, the
redefining of speech communities through new technologies, how are
language communities finding - or losing - expression? This one-day
conference will bring together scholars and practitioners to discuss
trends in language across Asia, looking at language issues as they arise
in some of the multiple negotiations and translations with which many
Asians live on a daily basis.  * Multilingualism ' a way of life *
Hegemony of English * National policies & local practices * New
technologies, new communities * Language deaths, language births *
Barriers and border-crossing in media and performance

Who should attend?

People involved with language: policy-makers; academics; media
practitioners and analysts; artists; teachers; writers


AGENDA

PANEL I:  PATTERNS

The Big Picture
Professor Joseph Lo Bianco
Chief Executive, Language Australia: The National Languages and
Literacy Institute of Australia

Life after Death: Patterns of Language Loss in South Asia Professor
Udaya Narayana Singh
Director, Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore

Commentators:

Associate Professor Anne Pakir
Department of English Language and Literature, National University of
Singapore

Mr Goenawan Mohamad
Poet, writer, member of the Utan Kayu Community in Jakarta

PANEL II: POLICIES

Education and Language Choice in Southeast Asia
Dr Rujaya Abhakorn
Deputy Director, Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization
Secretariat

Marginality in the Mainstream: Issues of Language and Development Dr
Maria Luisa Canieso-Doronila Senior Fellow, Centre for Integrative and
Development Studies, University of Philippines

Commentators:

Professor Chua Beng Huat
Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore

Associate Professor Azirah Hashim
Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, University of Malaya

PANEL III: PERFORMANCE

Performing Across the Sound Barrier
Dr Jennifer Lindsay
Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Asia Research Institute, Singapore

Pop Culture's Lingua Franca: Language and Regional Popular Cultural
Flows in East Asia Dr Koichi Iwabuchi International Studies Division,
International Christian University, Japan

Commentators:

Dr C. J. Wee Wan-ling
Department of English Language & Literature, Nanyang Technological
University, Singapore

Mr Ong Keng Sen
Director, TheatreWorks, Singapore


REGISTRATION

Non-NUS participants    S$100 per person(inclusive of GST)
NUS staff & students    S$50 per person

The fee covers conference publication and lunch.
Applicants should send in their cheques made payable to the ''National
University of Singapore'', together with a completed registration form
http://www.ari.nus.edu.sg/RegistrationForm-LanguageTrends.rtf to the
conference secretariat by 15 June 2003.

For more details, please contact:
Ms Valerie Yeo
Asia Research Institute
National University of Singapore
AS7, Level 4
5 Arts Link
Singapore 117570
Fax: (65) 6779 1428
Email: ariyeov at nus.edu.sg


JAVANESE WAYANG PERFORMANCE IN FORT CANNING PARK

On the night of July 4, following the conference, there will be a free
public Javanese shadow puppet performance by Ki Anom Soeroto with
simultaneous translation into English by Prof Hardjo Susilo at Fort
Canning Park. This performance is jointly hosted by the Asia Research
Institute and Theatreworks, Singapore, with support from The Ford
Foundation, and venue from NParks.