[lg policy] Re: lgpolicy-list Digest, Vol 95, Issue 25
Tom Martin
kennedyper at aol.com
Fri Mar 24 16:33:49 UTC 2017
Hi Hal,
How are you doing?
There was an interesting obit in the NYTimes this AM on George Weinberg. I think you'll like, he invented a word that changed peoples attitudes.
I can mail it to you if you'd like.
If so, give me your address please.
Thanks,
Tom
Tom Martin
856 308 6992
kennedyper at aol.com
-----Original Message-----
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Sent: Fri, Mar 24, 2017 11:58 am
Subject: lgpolicy-list Digest, Vol 95, Issue 25
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Today's Topics:
1. Neil Gorsuch, dictionaries, and ?The Case of the Frozen
Trucker" (Baron, Dennis E)
2. Linguist List Issue: Language in Society Vol. 46, No. 1
(2017) (The LINGUIST List)
3. Ukrainian Bill on Language Quotas Violates Constitution ?
Russian Envoy to OSCE (Harold Schiffman)
4. UK: No M&S Foodhall sign amid Welsh language planning row
(Harold Schiffman)
5. South Africa: Pretoria student digs defends Afrikaans-only
policy (Harold Schiffman)
6. Kazakhstan: Education Reforms Assailed by Patriotic Camp
(Fierman, William)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2017 05:11:38 +0000
From: "Baron, Dennis E" <debaron at illinois.edu>
Subject: [lg policy] Neil Gorsuch, dictionaries, and ?The Case of the
Frozen Trucker"
To: language language policy <lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu>,
"Baron, Dennis E" <debaron at illinois.edu>, wpa <wpa-l at asu.edu>,
Linguist list <linguist at linguistlist.org>
Message-ID: <7DBA041F-F445-49B7-94EA-09ABAD65317D at illinois.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
There���s a new post on the Web of Language:
Neil Gorsuch, dictionaries, and ���The Case of the Frozen Trucker.���
Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch is getting well-deserved shade for favoring employers in legal disputes. As he began his Senate confirmation hearings, the Supreme Court, which Gorsuch hopes to join, unanimously overturned his decision siding with a school board against an autistic pupil in a special education dispute.<https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/16pdf/15-827_0pm1.pdf> But the Gorsuch opinion that interests me most, because it involves dictionaries, is ���The Case of the Frozen Trucker.���
Read how Judge Gorsuch cited the OED, misread the statute, and generally interpreted the law in a decidedly unoriginalistic fashion, in his dissent in ���The Case of the Frozen Trucker,��� with a nod to William Blackstone and ���The Case of the Bolognese Bloodletter,��� on the Web of Language:
http://bit.ly/2nXtMGZ
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Message: 2
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2017 11:21:00 -0400 (EDT)
From: The LINGUIST List <linguist at linguistlist.org>
Subject: [lg policy] Linguist List Issue: Language in Society Vol. 46,
No. 1 (2017)
To: lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
Message-ID:
<1236422388.61.1490368860878.JavaMail.railo at listserv.linguistlist.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
HFS thought you might be interested in this item from the LINGUIST List
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HFS says ...
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Message1: Language in Society Vol. 46, No. 1 (2017)
Date:09-Mar-2017
From:Jack Groutage jgroutage at cambridge.org
LINGUIST List issue http://linguistlist.org/issues/28/28-1477.html
You can take a look at it by visiting
http://linguistlist.org/issues/28/28-1477.html
Read other LINGUIST List posts:
http://linguistlist.org/issues/index.cfm
Get your own free subscription to The LINGUIST List:
http://linguistlist.org/LL/subs-index.cfm
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2017 11:23:40 -0400
From: Harold Schiffman <hfsclpp at gmail.com>
Subject: [lg policy] Ukrainian Bill on Language Quotas Violates
Constitution ? Russian Envoy to OSCE
To: lp <lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu>
Message-ID:
<CAB7VSRA5FSakPMoDJqujVDrfa2-wNBby3L9=FUUCTLMjp-rhAw at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Ukrainian Bill on Language Quotas Violates Constitution ��� Russian Envoy to
OSCE
�� AP Photo/ Manu Brabo
Europe <https://sputniknews.com/europe/>
22:40 23.03.2017Get short URL
1
<https://sputniknews.com/europe/201703231051902967-ukraine-language-constitution-violation/#comments>
32980
Russia's Permanent Representative to OSCE Alexander Lukashevich says that
the Ukrainian new draft law on establishing language quotas is incompatible
with the country���s constitution.
[image: Protesters hold an angry Matryoshka with a weapon and placard
reading Boycott Russia ! during an action in central Kiev, on April 9,
2014, calling for the boycott of Russian goods]
�� AFP 2017/ YURIY KIRNICHNY
Tongue-Lashing: Russian Language, Culture Targeted by Ukraine's Thought
Police
<https://sputniknews.com/art_living/201701051049293384-ukraine-cultural-crackdown/>
VIENNA (Sputnik) ��� The Ukrainian new draft law on establishing language
quotas is incompatible with the country���s constitution as it violates the
right of Russian-speaking population to participate in public and political
life of the country, Russia's Permanent Representative to the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Alexander Lukashevich said
Thursday.
"Another troubling point is the Verkhovna Rada���s pre-approval on March 16
of the bill establishing language quotas, which aims to cut broadcasting
in Russian and the languages of national minorities on Ukrainian television
to 25 percent. It restricts the rights of Russian-speaking population
to receive information in their native language and to participate
in public and political life. Such a step openly contradicts article 10
of the Ukrainian constitution, which guarantees the free use and protection
of Russian language," Lukashevich said during the OSCE Permanent Council
meeting.
Lukashevich also stressed that in 2014 the attempt to change the law
on fundamentals of language policy "has become one of the key factors which
inspired the inhabitants of south-east Ukraine to protest against the
'Maidan' government."
Earlier this month, the Verkhovna Rada passed the bill establishing a
75-percent quota for TV-programs and films in the Ukrainian language in the
first reading.
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201703231051902967-ukraine-language-constitution-violation/
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Message: 4
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2017 11:25:29 -0400
From: Harold Schiffman <hfsclpp at gmail.com>
Subject: [lg policy] UK: No M&S Foodhall sign amid Welsh language
planning row
To: lp <lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu>
Message-ID:
<CAB7VSRCPNRLqQC-W=ub1-SiPvS-9C20kr0=cYumMLMC=_R1jMw at mail.gmail.com>
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No M&S Foodhall sign amid Welsh language planning row
- 23 March 2017
- From the section Mid Wales <http://www.bbc.com/news/wales/mid_wales>
Share <http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-mid-wales-39367129#share-tools>
Image caption The store's Park Avenue entrance has no external Foodhall
sign
A new Marks and Spencer store has opened in Aberystwyth without its
foodhall sign after it refused to provide a Welsh language translation.
Ceredigion councillors said all signs at the new branch should be in Welsh
and English.
But the firm said "Foodhall" was a brand name and was not translated
anywhere.
M&S removed the planned sign from its original application to allow the
store to open but has now lodged a fresh one.
The firm's new application reiterates its claim that M&S Foodhall is a
brand name under the Marks and Spencer trademark.
It said there was no legal requirement for it to provide bilingual signs as
the law only applies to public sector bodies and private firms in the gas,
electricity, postal and railway industries.
It added it did not translate branded signs in its international stores in
countries such as Turkey, Ireland and India.
Aberystwyth Town Council has once again objected to the application, saying
it expected the Welsh language "to be at least as prominent as the English".
Chris Bentley, M&S Aberystwyth store manager, said: "All directional
signage in-store will be bilingual and colleagues that speak Welsh can be
identified via badges this is in line with our language policy created with
the Welsh Language Commissioner."
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-mid-wales-39367129
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Message: 5
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2017 11:27:23 -0400
From: Harold Schiffman <hfsclpp at gmail.com>
Subject: [lg policy] South Africa: Pretoria student digs defends
Afrikaans-only policy
To: lp <lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu>
Message-ID:
<CAB7VSRC4NqgT=6kZ=bxK5A7rA7h9PC_vFuht1ptrA9yk87zEtQ at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Pretoria student digs defends Afrikaans-only policy
- South Africa
- Friday 24 March 2017 - 7:10am
File image of the Afrikaans Language Monument, Paarl Photo: via Wikimedia
Commons
PRETORIA - A private dormitory housing white-only Afrikaans-speaking
students attending the University of Pretoria on Thursday defended its
controversial race-based policy and rejected allegations of racism.
Named "De Goede Hoop Koshuis" -- or "The Good Hope Residence" -- the
privately-owned digs opened in February to Christian students who speak
Afrikaans.
Speaking to Radio 702, facility coordinator Janli Sonntag said the aim was
to preserve Christian values and Afrikaans culture, rejecting claims its
policy was discriminative.
She said Afrikaans-speaking students had recently been targeted by other
students on campus over their language and accused of being racist.
The residence, she said, was a place where Afrikaans students could "feel
safe and passionate about their language, not be victimised or mocked,
where they can feel at home."
Sonntag insisted that the residence's policy was not racist and could not
be compared to apartheid.
The residence opened after the University of Pretoria revised its language
policy in October last year, adopting English as the language of
instruction. Previously it had been both English and Afrikaans.
The phasing out of the language spoken by 13.5 percent of South Africa's
population was strongly opposed by Afrikaner groups and students who staged
heated demonstrations on campus against mainly black English speakers.
The protests exposed lingering racial tensions, more than 22 years after
the fall of apartheid.
The residence's policy has sparked outrage, with some calling on social
media for it to be investigated by the South African Human Rights
Commission.
University spokeswoman Candice Jooste said they were aware of the dorm's
existence but had no control over its policy, as it was privately-owned.
"The university does not condone accommodation facilities that use race as
a selection criterion," she told AFP.
https://www.enca.com/south-africa/pretoria-student-digs-defends-afrikaans-only-policy
--
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Message: 6
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2017 15:44:45 +0000
From: "Fierman, William" <wfierman at indiana.edu>
Subject: [lg policy] Kazakhstan: Education Reforms Assailed by
Patriotic Camp
To: "Fierman, William" <wfierman at indiana.edu>
Message-ID:
<93096946181842d28868155c4c17c30a at bl-cci-exch06.ads.iu.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1251"
Kazakhstan: Education Reforms Assailed by Patriotic Camp
March 17, 2017 - 1:04pm, by Aktan Rysaliev
� Kazakhstan
Copyright show:
No
March 17, 2017 - 1:07pm
Kazakhstan�s government knew what it was getting when Yerlan Sagadiyev was appointed education minister in February 2016.
The US-educated 50 year old, an economist by training, has long been a crusader for the radical modernization of schools in Kazakhstan and, in particular, the need for all the nation�s children to learn English.
But anger is mounting, particularly among the self-described patriotic camp, over perceptions that his newfangled educational ideas are undermining the teaching of the Kazakh language, culture and history. Administrative bungling has not helped the minister�s cause either.
Sagadiyev set out his vision most explicitly in a 2013 talk at an Almaty edition of the TEDx franchise, when he spoke about what he sees as the importance of teasing apart the concepts of culture and education. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egi3bPp3CCM&t
�The task of modern education is to form a competitive person endowed with up-to-date theoretical knowledge and technical skills,� he said.
Sagadiyev said that while the Kazakh language and culture are important components of forming national identity, it is also important to acknowledge their limitations.
Elaborating on this point, he suggested that in the times of the 19th century poet and national hero Abai Qunanbaiuli, almost all of what was known by educated Kazakhs was acquired by means of the Kazakh language. �There were no other sources of information. All your knowledge was immediate and lay all around you,� he said.
But as society became more complex and economic demands required more technical know-how, Sagadiyev argued, so the need arose to master new languages � which, for Kazakhs, turned out to be English.
To illustrate his argument, Sagadiyev noted that while in 2011, 550,000 new books were published in English, the figure in Kazakh was just 2,300. In the medical field alone, 14,000 works were published in English, while only 147 medical textbooks were produced in Kazakh, he said.
Under Sagadiyev�s aegis, these ideas have translated into the adoption of new textbooks, and the increased use of high-tech resources. Since the fall, learning progress journals have gone online, so parents can, in theory, follow their kids� academic performance in real time.
Most contentiously, Sagadiyev has energetically pushed through his agenda for trilingual education, which would eventually culminate in instruction of certain subjects, such as math and science, not just in Kazakh, but also in English and Russian.
Critics contend that changes have been implemented inefficiently and unevenly. As a result, the quality of teaching has declined, they say.
Particularly intense indignation has been aroused by the overhaul of dedicated lessons for teaching young children the alphabet. Opponents have especially complained about the replacement of the cherished Alippe (Alphabet) textbook with one titled Sauat Ashu (Enlightenment), which the Education Ministry says is more effective.
Weak coordination has also seemingly led to a mix-up in the creation of textbooks. Materials have been distributed to second-graders, for example, that are suited to much older children, according to media reports.
That mix-up was enough to send one MP known for markedly nationalist views, Bekbolat Tleuhan, into a rage. �We risk turning our descendants into invalids because there is no coordination,� Tleuhan said in mid-February during a parliamentary hearing in which he grilled Sagadiyev over the confusion.
�Answer my question right now! If you cannot, I will challenge you to a duel of words in the media,� Tleuhan thundered when asking Sagadiyev who was responsible for making the mistake.
Sagadiyev acknowledged the problem, but brushed off criticism by saying that the materials had been available for viewing online and that his detractors ought to have offered their input earlier.
Sagadiyev�s nationalist-minded opponents like to note disapprovingly that he obtained a master�s degree from the University of Minnesota in the early 1990s, suggesting this might explain his lack of dedication to Kazakh culture.
The most toxic criticism of the modernizing minister has centered on the Kazakh language itself.
One Kazakh language news website, SkifNews.kz, has been particularly critical of Sagadiyev, accusing the minister of �mounting a campaign against the Kazakh people and language.� The website has reported that a group of scholars has appealed to Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev, calling for Sagadiyev�s resignation.
Unverified, sensationalized reports have circulated, warning darkly that the Education Ministry is plotting a shake-up of universities that would remove such syllabus items as Kazakh language, history and literature. Those claims, which bloggers and some websites have insisted were supported by documentary evidence, have prompted a heated denial from education officials.
�All these reports about the closure of certain departments are a deliberately planned campaign of disinformation,� deputy Education Minister Elmira Sukhanberdiyeva told reporters on March 5.
Even so, the multilingual approach has left some people unhappy. Nationalist activist Mukhtar Taizhan has described the multilingual approach as a violation of the constitution, which he maintains requires that children receive an education in their native language. �I consider these steps willfully harmful, and that Sagadiyev should be brought to justice for all this,� Taizhan wrote on his Facebook account.
Political analyst Aidos Sarym has called the minister�s initiatives ill-conceived.
�Why, when the Kazakhs are strengthening their independence and enriching their heritage, are they being required to avoid anything that is explicitly Kazakh? I do not understand why this minister has been so hostile to everything that is Kazakh,� said Sarym.
Political commentator Talgat Ismagambetov has argued that criticism from the nationalist camp is a natural reaction to a perceived lack of respect for Kazakh, which is best displayed in the frequent preference by officials to speak in Russian in public.
�These activists promote the idea of broadening the use of the state language,� Ismagambetov told EurasiaNet.org. �They are also skeptical about the idea of promoting trilingualism.�
Many education experts deny any process of downgrading the Kazakh language is taking place. And a scrutiny of comments left on the Education Ministry�s official Facebook page shows that while views are divided, a sizable section of the public � the online public at least � favors change. Critics of the minister, meanwhile, dwell on his presumed lack of mastery of the Kazakh language.
Saule Kalikova, an education consultant at the Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan, told EurasiaNet.org that while ideas about trilingual education are no cause for concern in principle, implementation is going to be problematic. For starters, there are nowhere near enough teachers with a strong enough command of those languages to do the job, she said. And Kalikova conceded the approach could indeed erode people�s grip on their native language � what she termed the �fertile layer of soil� creating an understanding of the world.
�I am not surprised by the passions around this issue � this is a predictable reaction to a poorly explained policy,� Kalikova said.
Kalikova said more research was needed into the ideas underlying the reforms so as to present the public with evidence that can buttress support for reforms.
Experts say the ongoing furor over the education changes marks another failure by the government to engage in proper dialogue with the population, akin what happened when authorities sparked anger last year by pushing through little-understood land reforms.
�The case of Sagadiyev is another addition to the list of what are, in practice, sensible initiatives, but which have not found public support because of a lack of a clear communication strategy,� said public relations specialist Yerlan Askarbekov in a recent interview with IA-Center.ru.
Editor's note:
Aktan Rysaliev is a pseudonym for a journalist working in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
________________________________________
Source URL: http://www.eurasianet.org/node/82891
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