The Language Feed - September 12, 2005

[Harold F. Schiffman]

The Language Feed
September 12, 2005

This issue and archives can be read on the web at
http://mason.gmu.edu/~smorris2/feed
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Ebonics and Rednecks
One Republic Journal, September 1
A Cal State sociology professor recently convinced the education
pooh-bahs in San Bernardino of the need to incorporate "Ebonics" into
their curriculum--at least on a limited basis. By giving official
linguistic recognition and respect to what most people consider
street-talk, these officials hope to peak the interest of marginal
students and to discourage them from dropping out of school.
http://www.theonerepublic.com/archives/Columns/Kirk/20050901KirkEbonics.html



How we mind our language
The Tribune, September 10
It was recently at Oxford University, a jewel in the crown of ‘English’
education, that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh commented with
understated humour that "People here may not recognise the language we
speak, but let me assure you that it is English!" While accepting an
honorary doctorate from his alma mater, he did not forget either to add
that the language, a legacy from the colonial period, has been much
enriched by the Indian input.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050911/society.htm#1


Where languages meet: Dual immersion key classroom method
Whittier Daily News, September 11
Just two days after kicking off a new school year, Phyllis Martinez' s
second-grade class at Aeolian Elementary School already had settled into
a familiar groove. One group of students was reading, another was
learning vocabulary words, and several approached Martinez for her help
at which point, she put aside what she was doing to ask, "Que pasa?'
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,207~12026~3050633,00.html


After Katrina, language is adrift, too
Mercury News, September 11
The breakdowns in the wake of Hurricane Katrina extended to more than
levees around New Orleans and the local and federal relief efforts. The
language seemed to be giving in, too -- all of a sudden, familiar words
seemed inadequate to contain the events we were watching.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/editorial/12617212.htm


Commentary: Bizspeak is an important foreign language today
Seattle Times, September 11
There's a lot of talk in the business world, most of it in English, that
the next generation of workers should be required to know a foreign
language.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002486088_languages11.html


Students grasp benefits of learning languages
St. Cloud Times, September 11
As her teacher gives her instructions in Spanish, Crystal Maldonado goes
to the front of the classroom and shuts the door. The Apollo High School
10th-grader said she is taking beginning Spanish "to learn how to write
and read it."
http://miva.sctimes.com/miva/cgi-bin/miva?Web/page.mv+1+local+135145


New York City schools tackle language barrier with non-English-speaking
parents
Newsday, September 10
High school student Emily Cuellar has an easy way to sugarcoat things if
her grades slip or her teacher sends a note home complaining about her
behavior in class. She speaks fluent English. Her parents, born in
Colombia and Ecuador, do not, and have depended on their daughter, now
16, to translate for them since she was a little girl.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--translatingforpar0910sep10,0,5796131.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork


The war on language
San Francisco Chronicle, September 11If Ambrose Bierce, the Bay Area's
great polemicist of a century ago, were alive today, he would surely
come to the defense of the English language, which has suffered under
siege these past four years.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/09/11/INGVKEKD5L1.DTL


Dutch speakers don't fear rise of English language
Expatica, September 9
Speakers of Dutch are confident about the future of the language, with
eight out of 10 Dutch and Flemish people expecting it to stand its
ground in the face of the rise of English.
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=19&story_id=23523&name=Dutch+speakers+don't+fear+rise+of+English+language


Founder of UC Berkeley's linguistics department, American Indian
language survey, dies
UC Berkeley News, September 9
Murray Barnson Emeneau, emeritus professor of linguistics and Sanskrit
at the University of California, Berkeley, an expert in "language areas"
and the Dravidian languages of south and central India, and founder of
the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, died on Aug. 29 at
the age of 101. He died in his sleep in his Berkeley home.
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/09/09_emeneau.shtml


Linguistics study: `Friends' reflects speech changes. So?
Chicago Tribune, September 7
Depending on your opinion of the TV show "Friends," Chris Roberts has
had either a fun or a cruel task. Roberts, a student in anthropology and
linguistics at the University of Toronto, was assigned to watch every
episode of the first eight seasons of the show.
http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/tv/mmx-0509060254sep07,0,6693272.story?coll=mmx-television_heds

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