[lg policy] Edling Digest, Vol 28, Issue 5

Sat Jan 16 15:04:23 UTC 2010

 Forwarded From:  edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu

Today's Topics:

  1. Language as a Blunt Tool of the Digital Age (Francis Hult)
  2. India: Lessons in English for today's diplomats (Francis Hult)
  3. Malaysia: Improve teaching of English (Francis Hult)
  4. UK: Cornish language is taught in nursery (Francis Hult)
  5. US: Foreign Language Proficiency Bonus provides Airmen
     incentives (Francis Hult)
  6. Latvia: Nationalists to petition for all-Latvian education
     (Francis Hult)

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Message: 1
Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 07:35:15 -0600
From: Francis Hult <francis.hult at utsa.edu>
Subject: [Edling] Language as a Blunt Tool of the Digital Age
To: <edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu>
Message-ID:
       <A9B2E1D7E2CAE34FB088BEFC63241A4B96703B at diamonddt.UTSARR.NET>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

New York Times

Language as a Blunt Tool of the Digital Age

We are all linguistic utilitarians now. At work and home, in person
and on our devices, function rules and form pales. Capitalization,
commas, full sentences, the writing of words without numbers in them,
the avoidance of jargon and mixed metaphors - these norms are
suffering, unable to persuade multitaskers of their worth.

Of course, anxiety about language is very old. When technologies turn,
when new social groups rise, when politics change, critics predict the
end of literacy. George Orwell, in a seminal essay in 1946, warned
that pretentious diction and meaningless words and other bad habits
were corroding politics. He criticized the belief "that any struggle
against the abuse of language is a sentimental archaism, like
preferring candles to electric light."

Full story:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/16/world/americas/16iht-currents.html

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Message: 2
Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 07:39:24 -0600
From: Francis Hult <francis.hult at utsa.edu>
Subject: [Edling] India: Lessons in English for today's diplomats
To: <edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu>
Message-ID:
       <A9B2E1D7E2CAE34FB088BEFC63241A4B96703C at diamonddt.UTSARR.NET>
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The Times of India

Lessons in English for today's diplomats

English may be the preferred language of international diplomacy, but
one of the results of growing democratization is that some of the
candidates who want to serve in India's missions overseas have entered
after taking exams in regional languages - which means they need
special language training in English apart from whichever foreign
language they choose.

Out of the 19 IFS probationers of the 2008 batch, six had made it
through the civil service exams with Hindi as their first language,
answering their papers in Hindi. For the first time, arrangements had
to be made to teach English to probationers who were weak in English.
Senior foreign service officers are certainly not happy about the
trend - "Imagine getting recruits who cannot even speak English!"

Full story:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Lessons-in-English-for-todays-diplomats-/articleshow/5451928.cms

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Message: 3
Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 07:44:12 -0600
From: Francis Hult <francis.hult at utsa.edu>
Subject: [Edling] Malaysia: Improve teaching of English
To: <edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu>
Message-ID:
       <A9B2E1D7E2CAE34FB088BEFC63241A4B96703D at diamonddt.UTSARR.NET>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

The Malaysia Star

Improve teaching of English

THE ability of young Malaysian English teachers in teaching the
English language as effectively as senior teachers has long been
argued and debated. Apparently, there are a number of reasons which
are not unknown to us. More than three-quarters of the present English
teachers went through primary and secondary education with Bahasa
Malaysia as the medium of instruction.

They were not immersed in the English language during their school
lives, unlike the seniors, especially those who did it in the 1950s
and 60s. The loss of a generation of contact with the English language
as a medium of instruction has affected the teaching profession.

Full story:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/15/focus/5474824&sec=focus

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Message: 4
Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 07:46:22 -0600
From: Francis Hult <francis.hult at utsa.edu>
Subject: [Edling] UK: Cornish language is taught in nursery
To: <edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu>
Message-ID:
       <A9B2E1D7E2CAE34FB088BEFC63241A4B96703E at diamonddt.UTSARR.NET>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Times Online

Cornish language is taught in nursery

Most nurseries teach children to share toys and play nicely in the
sandpit. At the first Cornish language cr?che, opening tomorrow,
toddlers will learn to share their tegennow and play nicely in the
polltewas.

They will sing in Cornish, and learn their numbers, calendar and basic
phrases in the language - whose last native speaker is thought to have
died more than 200 years ago.

The Movyans Skolyow Meythrin (Nursery Schools Movement) is part of a
revival of the language, with roadsigns in the county in Cornish and
English, and the news in Cornish on the local BBC website.

Full story:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6988752.ece

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Message: 5
Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 07:49:14 -0600
From: Francis Hult <francis.hult at utsa.edu>
Subject: [Edling] US: Foreign Language Proficiency Bonus provides
       Airmen  incentives
To: <edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu>
Message-ID:
       <A9B2E1D7E2CAE34FB088BEFC63241A4B96703F at diamonddt.UTSARR.NET>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Air Force Link

Foreign Language Proficiency Bonus provides Airmen incentives

Air Force officials have recently updated the Foreign Language
Proficiency Bonus policy.

All Airmen, regardless of career field, are now eligible for FLPB in a
broad range of languages including those identified as "dominant in
the force" such as Spanish, Tagalog, French, German, Italian,
Portuguese, Korean and Russian.

For Air Force Special Operations Command assigned Airmen serving in
language-coded billets, the policy provides incentive for Airmen with
elementary proficiency to achieve increased language capability.

Full story:

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123185599

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Message: 6
Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 07:56:04 -0600
From: Francis Hult <francis.hult at utsa.edu>
Subject: [Edling] Latvia: Nationalists to petition for all-Latvian
       education
To: <edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu>
Message-ID:
       <A9B2E1D7E2CAE34FB088BEFC63241A4B967040 at diamonddt.UTSARR.NET>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Baltic Reports

Nationalists to petition for all-Latvian education

The nationalist party For Fatherland and Freedom has said it would
begin gathering signatures for a constitutional amendment mandating
that all state-sponsored education be in the Latvian language.

Lawmaker and party member Dzintars Rasnacs told the Latvijas Avize
daily newspaper that the proposed amendment to Article 112 in the
Satversme is simple and will include a phrase that free primary and
secondary education in Latvia will be provided "in the national
language."

Full story:

http://balticreports.com/?p=7514

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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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