[lg policy] West Africa: Language and culture, indispensable tools in national development

[Harold Schiffman]

Language and culture, indispensable tools in national development- Kuupole
12th November 2012



Lang

Cape Coast, Nov. 12, GNA - Professor Dowini Dabire Kuupole, Vice
Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) on Monday said
language and culture were indispensable ingredients in any meaningful
national development effort.

He said it was therefore imperative that language experts made their
contributions  to national development through research activities
that focused on language policy and planning, language education,
translation and literature.

Prof. Kuupole said this when he opened the Ninth Inter-University
conference on Co-existence of Languages in West Africa at the UCC
under the theme: “Language, Culture and National Development”.

The four-day conference, which is being organized by the UCC Faculty
of Arts and the fourth it is hosting, is being attended by about 50
participants from the UCC, University of Education, Winneba, as well
as the Universities of Ouagadougou, Kara-Togo  and Abidjan.

Prof. Kuupole said the theme for the conference was very appropriate
since the important role played by language in national development
was not much touted and was hopeful that its critical role,
particularly in West African nations, would be brought to bear.

He stressed the need to regularly bring together scholars in language
related disciplines in West Africa educational institutions  to
exchange ideas on issues affecting the region in terms of the role
language plays in the development of the various regions.

He said such conferences helped participants to learn about current
works in the fields of research so as to keep them abreast of
literature and also build relationships with other researchers which
could lead to the establishment of important research and social
networks.

Prof. Kuupole said despite the fact that the conference had tremendous
importance to the language departments of the participating
institutions, funding had now become a major problem and added that
the conference should come out with a sustainable means of funding
future conferences.

Some of the topics to be treated at the conference include Language
and Development, General and Applied Linguistics, Literature and
Development as well as Translation and Development.

http://www.ghananewsagency.org/details/Social/Language-and-culture,-indispensable-tools-in-national-development--Kuupole-/?ci=4&ai=52143#.UKJ4wGd62So

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