[lg policy] RE: Behavioural changes key to fighting abuse inLiberia's schools - UN envoy

Fri Aug 21 22:09:09 UTC 2009

Theo and Don:

I think this issue illustrates what I think Fishman calls
"folklorization" of a language--you have
to be sure there's home usage of it in order to get intergenerational
transfer (without which there'll
be no next generation of speakers) but if other usages aren't made
possible, it becomes a vehicle
for the "folkloric" domain only.  I can't remember where he says this,
and maybe he expands on it
more.  I happen to think that usage of any and all languages of the
world for scientific purposes is
unrealistic, given the immense resources a language like English has
at its disposal, but many
people think badly of me for this view.

Hal Schiffman

On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 12:00 PM, Theodorus du
Plessis<dplesslt.HUM at ufs.ac.za> wrote:
> I agree with your approach. The functional differentiation you refer to is
> indeed essential (for the reasons you provide). This is also largely the
> view held by SA scholars who right on the topic (Heugh, Pluddeman,
> Kamwangamalu, Webb, etc.). However, it is clearly not the view held
> by politicians, populists, etc. And it is not altogether clear  what the
> view is of the educational advisors (who happen to be mostly British or
> British-oriented). The PanSOuthAfricanLanguageBoard did also share the
> position of the scholars but it is not clear what there latest position is,
> largely since they have practically disappeared from the public eye and
> their webpage is forever inactive.
>
> Prof. L.T. du Plessis
> Direkteur/Director
> Eenheid vir Taalbestuur/Unit for Language Management
> Universiteit van die Vrystaat/University of the Free State
> Posbus/P.O. Box 339
> BLOEMFONTEIN
> 9300 RSA
> Tel:  +27 51-401 2405
> Faks/Fax: +27 51-444 5804
> E-pos/E-mail: dplesslt.hum at ufs.ac.za
> Web: http://www.uovs.ac.za/etb
>
>>>> On 2009/08/21 at 05:43 PM, <dzo at bisharat.net> wrote:
>
> Thanks for this feedback. However I wonder if the kind of split approach you
> mention - involving a kind of hierarchy in which languages have different
> functions - is optimal in terms of education, as opposed to one in which
> different languages overlap in function.
>
> Wouldn't sociocultural identity itself be subtlely undermined to the extent
> one grows up believing that one's maternal/heritage language "can't be used
> to discuss science" (paraphrasing something a Malian once expressed to me re
> Bambara)? Is it good for education (borad sense) to relegate some languages
> to sentimental orientation while emphasizing more or less exclusively the
> use of a priviledged language(s) for instrumental uses?
>
> I know the picture is more complicated than that, but it does seem that
> there would be a lot of benefit from promoting a fuller multilingualism in
> which for example a first language used in local marketpklaces could also be
> the vehicle for small business and even basic economics education. Or the
> languages farmers speak among themselves could be used for extension on
> crops, soil fertility, storage, marketing, etc. Or the languages of
> sociocultural identity in changing social behavior.
>
> This is not to say that there should not be one (or a few) countrywide
> official lingua-franca(s)  or a "supra-official" language (as you refer to),
> but that those languages in those roles need not eclipse the vital role of
> first languages in learning, creating, and communicating a full range of
> knowledge.
>
> Do discussions of language policy in South Africa touch on these issues?
> They do not seem to for most of the rest of Africa, as far as I know
>
> Don
>
>
>
>
>
> From: lgpolicy-list-bounces at groups.sas.upenn.edu
> [mailto:lgpolicy-list-bounces at groups.sas.upenn.edu] On Behalf Of Theodorus
> du Plessis
> Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2009 8:44 AM
> To: 'H-Net Discussion List on History and Study of West Africa'
> Cc: AfricanLanguages at yahoogroups.com; 'Language Policy List'
> Subject: [lg policy] RE: Behavioural changes key to fighting abuse
> inLiberia's schools - UN envoy
>
>
>
> RE language-in-education policy in RSA - The Nelson Mandela quote is
> actually significant as it very aptly reflects the two primary South African
> approaches to managing multilingualism - own / home / first language for
> sociocultural identiy (sentimental orientation); English (predominant /supra
> official language of RSA) for education, multicultural interaction,
> business, etc. (instrumental approach).
>
>
>
> Prof. L.T. du Plessis
> Direkteur/Director
> Eenheid vir Taalbestuur/Unit for Language Management
> Universiteit van die Vrystaat/University of the Free State
> Posbus/P.O. Box 339
> BLOEMFONTEIN
> 9300 RSA
> Tel:  +27 51-401 2405
> Faks/Fax: +27 51-444 5804
> E-pos/E-mail: dplesslt.hum at ufs.ac.za
> Web: http://www.uovs.ac.za/etb
>
> …
>
>
>
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-- 
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

 Harold F. Schiffman

Professor Emeritus of
 Dravidian Linguistics and Culture
Dept. of South Asia Studies
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305

Phone:  (215) 898-7475
Fax:  (215) 573-2138

Email:  haroldfs at gmail.com
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/

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