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

Mon Aug 24 05:30:08 UTC 2009

Hal
Interesting term - the Mazruis' use the term 'communal' vs.
'ecumenical'.
I am not so sure about the second part about not using all languages
for scientific purposes. It partly depends of course on what you mean by
scientific - do you include indigenous knowledge? Nevertheless, I
believe more communal languages can function as ecumenical languages,
even as languages of science. Otherwise we will get large scale
folklorization
Theo

>>> On 2009/08/22 at 12:09 AM, <haroldfs at gmail.com> wrote:
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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