Workshop on languages of Afghanistan and its neighbors

[Francis M Hult]

>
> This is to announce that a workshop focused on Languages and Language Policy
> in and around Afghanstan will be held December 12-14 at the University of
> Pennsylvania. The workshop is funded by the Pedagogical Materials Project of
> the South Asia Language Resource Center; the South Asia Center of the
> University of Pennsylvania; the Consortium for Language Policy and Planning;
> and the Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning.  The workshop will
> begin Friday p.m. (after lunch) and run all day Saturday, with a wrap-up
> session on Sunday morning, December 14. We will have different sessions to
> focus on different language groups, as well as session(s) on language policy
> issues in the area.  After the various groups have met separately, there will
> be joint sessions to discuss matters of common interest.
>
> You can register on-line by clicking on "Online Form for Registration"
> link at the top of the registration page at:
> http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/salrc/afghanistan/index.html.  Please make sure
> to indicate which language area you are most interested in, by clicking on
> the pull-down menu for this.
>
> The idea of having a workshop on this topic has been bandied about a bit
> but without our being able to make any decision about dates or times.
> Earlier I tried to schedule something for May of this year, but that did
> not suit very many people.
>
> a.  The funds we have for this in our South Asia Title 6 Center budget can
> be used until the end of this calendar year, but not later than that.
>
> b.  I have to be away from Philadelphia in late November and/or early
> December, and classes end here on the 8th of December.  Accordingly, I am
> scheduling this workshop to take place on the weekend of December 12 and 13,
> with a wrap-up session on Sunday morning the 14th.
>
> c. We have determined that the Sheraton hotel here at Penn has rooms
> available at those times, and have tentatively booked 20 rooms for that
> weekend.  If you register on-line, we can save a room at the Sheraton for
> you, at the Penn rate of $139 per night.
>
> Purpose of this workshop:
>
> (a) To survey what languages are spoken in the area in and around
> Afghanistan, i.e. in Afghanistan and its neighboring states (Iran,
> Pakistan, western China, and the Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan,
> Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.  It would also be
> useful to know not just in general what languages are spoken, but where a
> group that has a "homeland" (e.g. Uzbekistan) also exists as a minority in
> adjacent territories. The fact that Afghanistan has never had a national
> census in its existence and the lack of data for Pakistan since Grierson's
> survey, plus a lot of uncertainty and dubious data for other areas leads
> some of to think this is not going to be a simple task.
>
> (b) I assume that people attending this workshop who have some expertise
> in any part of these areas would come armed with resources and data and be
> able to report to the rest of us, i.e. we would have sessions where we
> share hard data. Alternatively, you have some expertise and interest in
> language policy, linguistic minorities, or other ethno-linguistic issues
> in the area.
>
> (c) We also need to know about literacy and education using the languages
> of this area, and similarly would expect that people would report on where
> Pashto, e.g. is used as a language of literacy, and where not, and what
> kinds of bilingualism and multilingualism, and concomitant biliteracy and
> multiliteracy also exist(s).
>
> (d) Language Policy in the areas in question: things have changed in a
> number of places (e.g. Central Asian republics) since the collapse of the
> Soviet Union, and new developments in language policy need to be
> chronicled.  Things may also be changing elsewhere in the region.
>
> (e) Refugee Issues: there are reported to be as many as 2.5 million
> refugees from Afghanistan residing in adjacent areas.  What is being done
> for them in terms of education and literacy, and in what language(s)? What
> needs to be developed?
>
> (f) Funding for this workshop:  The Title 6 South Asia Center at Penn has
> some money for this workshop, but not an unlimited amount.  The Consortium
> for Language Teaching and Learning has given us a small grant, and I am
> also hoping that the SSRC could contribute something to this effort. The
> South Asia Language Resource Center (Chicago and Penn) will also cover
> some costs.  Since there are language policy issues involved, I would want
> to involve people from the Consortium for Language Policy and Planning.
>
> (g) Publication: some sort of report on the above needs to be produced,
> either by a committee appointed for the task,  or perhaps a graduate student
> who can be identified to do this work.
>
> (h) Publicity: After you receive this announcement, please feel free to
> circulate it further to interested parties, with the caveat that funding
> is very meager and we will not be able to cover expenses for most
> participants.