[lg policy] question for the members of this list

[Harold Schiffman]

All,

Okay, the consensus so far is that I should continue sending these
snippets about
language policy.  I will label them somehow (probably erratically
until I devise a system)
as "squibs" or "bibliography" or "book review" and others are welcome
to contribute
these kinds of things, too!  Thanks to all of you who commented on
this--I'm gratified
to know that you share my view of what lgpolicy is, or ought to be.

On another note, I have just added a new political cartoon to our
language policy cartoon
page.  This one shows Thomas Babington Macaulay, author of the famous
"minute" that
decided British colonial language policy in favor of English, being
manipulated like a puppet
while manipulating the colonials like puppets.  It appeared in a
posting I sent out a few days ago,
but not everybody's email system supports images, so you may not have seen it.
The posting is worth a careful read, btw. (There's a link to it from
the cartoon.)

You can access the cartoons page from the RESOURCES page on the
website.  While you're
there, if anybody knows the origin of the cartoon depicting Stalin
ranting about Franglais, please
let me know.  I acquired it somehow but didn't keep track of where I
got it from.

Thanks and Happy New Year

Hal Schiffman

On Mon, Jan 4, 2010 at 10:36 AM, sociolingo <sociolingo at gmail.com> wrote:
> I find the bibliographic items useful and I'd like you to continue
> forwarding them to the list.
> Maggie Canvin
>
> 2010/1/2 Harold Schiffman <hfsclpp at gmail.com>
>>
>> All:
>>
>> I have a question that I would like an answer to.  I receive a daily
>> "google alert" on the topic of "language policy." This is a service
>> I requested of Google, and what they do is search the web for any
>> mention of "language" and "policy" in the messages they
>> transmit.  They compile a list and forward it to me, and I read the
>> messages to see if they are germane to our topic. (Many
>> are not--many messages talk about the "language" of a policy, by which
>> they mean the wording of the text, not the human
>> organ of speech and/or a named variety of language.)
>>
>> Recently, the google alerts have been turning up bibliographic items
>> such as articles or monographs about language policy,
>> and I have forwarded some of these to the list.  Nobody has complained
>> about this, but I wonder if this is useful to anyone. For example,
>> yesterday I forwarded a message about the language policy of the Food
>> and Agricultural Organization, a two-line squib mentioning
>> which order they list language icons in.  Others have been from
>> various jurisdictions in South Africa, which seems to be requiring
>> or at least urging people to formulate a language policy, and make it
>> known; these have included the Stellenbosch University,
>> the government of the Western Cape, and others.  Further examples
>> include departments of a Danish university, such as the Engineering
>> School.
>>
>> Since I always tell my students that language policies can be found in
>> lots of different nooks and crannies of the world, not just
>> the governments of states, but religious organizations, labor unions,
>> and other jurisdictions and polities, these are good examples
>> of that.  It also reminds us that sometimes a body may have a covert
>> policy, i.e. one that assumes that a certain language will
>> be "official" but doesn't state it explicitly.  These, of course, get
>> no mention.
>>
>> Anyway, my question is: would you like me to continue to forward these
>> "mini-squibs" about language policy, e.g. in the FAO,
>> or should I be more judicious?
>>
>> Thanks, and Happy New Year!
>>
>> H. Schiffman
>>
>> --
>> **************************************
>> N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to
>> its members
>> and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner
>> or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents.
>> Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal.
>> (H. Schiffman, Moderator)
>>
>> For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to
>> https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/
>> listinfo/lgpolicy-list
>> *******************************************
>> _______________________________________________
>> This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
>> lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
>> To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format:
>> https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list
>
>
>
> --
> follow me at http://twitter.com/sociolingo
> Web Address http://www.sociolingo.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
> lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
> To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format:
> https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list
>
>



-- 
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

 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/

-------------------------------------------------

_______________________________________________
This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list