LL-L "Language policies" 2005.01.19 (03) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 19.JAN.2005 (03) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West) Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: Sandy Fleming <sandy at scotstext.org>
Subject: "Language policies" [E]

> From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Language policies
>
> Let me add to this the even more glaring examples -- also in the 20th
> century -- of aboriginal children in Australia, Canada and the USA being
> taken away from their families to be put into remote foster homes or
> institutions with the express aim of separating them from the "bad
> influences" of their native environments, thus alienating them from their
> social, cultural, spiritual and linguistic roots and as a result speeding
up
> the extinction of their native cultures and languages.  These children
> tended to be punished for as much as uttering a word in their own
languages
> ...  Those that survived are somewhere between middle-aged and old now.
> Some have reacquired their heritage, but most seem to have ended up with
> some sort of equivocal indenty.
>
> I have mentioned these examples in part for the sake of showing that even
> quite recently sinister plans have indeed be carried out in language
> suppression, if they are not being carried out somewhere right now.  You
do
> not necessarily have to be a permanent subscriber to conspiracy theories
if
> you suspect deliberateness at least in some cases.

Alas, as far as deaf children in the UK are concerned, this sort of thing is
very much the norm in many places.

Many teachers of deaf children have built their careers on the idea that
deaf children can always be taught to speak and should never be exposed to
BSL, and since each regional authority in the UK is responsible for its own
educational policies, there are many places where parents of deaf children
are given no choice in this.

A hearing mother of a deaf child described to me the experience of being
visited by educational advisors. They didn't discuss anything, they simply
told her what she must and mustn't do, ie she must get a cochlear implant
for the child and mustn't use any sign language. The cochlear implant didn't
work, as is often the case, so at great expense she decided to move the
whole family to another region where the educational policies were more
realistic. But not everyone can make such a sacrifice and often parents
simply have to watch their children growing up with no education.

Although in recent years research has shown quite definitely that a child
must develop full language abilities by the age of seven or they will never
really be able to cope with grammar, teachers go on insisting that children
who can't hear should attempt to learn English even if most of the school
day is spent on it. This produces adults with no ability to function
grammatically in any language, whereas if they had been taught, say, BSL to
start with they would have been able to learn, say, English too, even if
only in written form.

It's considerably worse than the case you mention where children grow up in
the wrong culture - instead we have children growing up in no culture at
all.

Recently a legal case has been opened in Australia where parents of a deaf
child are sueing the government for failing to provide their child with a
proper education. Hopefully, as with the trials of "witches" in 16th/17th
century Scotland, good legal precedents will eventually put a stop to all
this.

Sandy
http://scotstext.org/

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