tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80282200255840126842024-03-19T14:17:22.922+05:30Bolii | बोली | భాష | Language | Lingvoगिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.comBlogger104125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-27117907326001553912023-12-10T01:12:00.014+05:302023-12-10T20:17:30.167+05:30Human Rights Day and Zamenhof Day posters in Indian languages<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://esperantoporun.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Angla-Tago-de-Homaj-Rajtoj-2023.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="566" height="200" src="https://esperantoporun.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Angla-Tago-de-Homaj-Rajtoj-2023.png" width="142" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: <a href="https://esperantoporun.org/en/home/" target="_blank">Esperanto<br />Por UN</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">December 10, 2023 is the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights" target="_blank">UDHR</a>). Five days later, December 15, is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamenhof%20Day" target="_blank">Zamenhof Day</a>, which celebrates the birth anniversary of the founder of Esperanto, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._L._Zamenhof" target="_blank">L. L. Zamenhof</a>. This year, the Universal Esperanto Association (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Esperanto_Association" target="_blank">UEA</a>) has linked the two in a campaign, <i>Digno, Libereco kaj Justeco por ĉiuj homoj kaj ĉiuj lingvoj</i> ("Dignity, Freedom and Justice for all people and all languages").</div><p></p>
<p>As UEA notes in the English translation of its message (<a href="https://esperantoporun.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Human-Rights-UEA-2023.pdf" target="_blank">PDF</a>), "Respect for human rights was specifically written into the UEA’s Constitution even before the formal establishment of the Declaration." <a href="https://esperantoporun.org/en/home/" target="_blank">Esperanto Por UN</a>, an Esperanto-language support organisation for the United Nations, has also designed a poster as part of this campaign. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphrey_Tonkin" target="_blank">Humphrey Tonkin</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renato_Corsetti" target="_blank">Renato Corsetti</a>, and Rafael Lima have coordinated the campaign.</p>
<p>Esperantists (and friends of Esperanto!) in India collaborated to rapidly produce the poster in eight languages: Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu. Earlier in 2023, <a href="https://bolii.blogspot.com/2023/02/international-mother-language-day.html" target="_blank">we had blogged</a> about a similar collaboration on colourful posters for the International Mother Language Day (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mother_Language_Day" target="_blank">IMLD</a>).</p>
<p>A big <i>Dankon!</i> to friends in Hyderabad, Pune, and Shillong, and at <i>Dialogo</i>, the <i>Esperanto-Klubo</i> at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azim%20Premji%20University" target="_blank">Azim Premji University</a>, for the translations! We hope the campaign will further underline UEA's message that, "Full human rights include linguistic human rights, which should form a basis for reciprocal respect and cooperation."</p>
<p>The message and the posters have been translated into several languages and are archived <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1uare_vXIa_0bV26vvIrWmiEv9l5ymKDV" target="_blank">here</a>. And here are the Esperanto original, and the translations by the Indian group:</p>
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<td style="width: 205px;"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAX4Mx50AT8qDM2dJaqntJf24UiXTRxTXsw9GUYrKMG_XCcMycz2p5N08FtAoqRznWnqI2Wzy4Pkm_cKwnKukG16RpErvNBR0vs8UxAWEChYBesLVVfxEE9x0Q4ZcG2Wr54gaUQNQgTNPDYqLR6mxJRjvsLY3OA0jA23IAadiDsFWLn-zRVfpEXnBlXwvI/s3508/Esperanto%20-%20Tago%20de%20Homaj%20Rajtoj%202023.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3508" data-original-width="2480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAX4Mx50AT8qDM2dJaqntJf24UiXTRxTXsw9GUYrKMG_XCcMycz2p5N08FtAoqRznWnqI2Wzy4Pkm_cKwnKukG16RpErvNBR0vs8UxAWEChYBesLVVfxEE9x0Q4ZcG2Wr54gaUQNQgTNPDYqLR6mxJRjvsLY3OA0jA23IAadiDsFWLn-zRVfpEXnBlXwvI/w141-h200/Esperanto%20-%20Tago%20de%20Homaj%20Rajtoj%202023.png" width="141" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esperanto. Source:<br /><a href="https://esperantoporun.org/en/home/" target="_blank">Esperanto Por UN</a></td></tr></tbody></table></td>
<td style="width: 205px;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpWo-nGLKQkZWcQEenu4zl6w7HKzV3chA0u3R_mstuG2wmAdcZyhxGapRrieSe1dMCr-HWxBfJltbZNstjfTq38ffwlxD58GPLkWmhxSc6IOQiNdMgdoayT6eqiwrCXohvs4h5E1Jkf37HfinPiX5GmsPIn6jlkUxxeUOJLdDWS_-R4GkwP-P96ovmrs4/s3508/Bengala%20-%20Tago%20de%20Homaj%20Rajtoj%202023.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3508" data-original-width="2480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpWo-nGLKQkZWcQEenu4zl6w7HKzV3chA0u3R_mstuG2wmAdcZyhxGapRrieSe1dMCr-HWxBfJltbZNstjfTq38ffwlxD58GPLkWmhxSc6IOQiNdMgdoayT6eqiwrCXohvs4h5E1Jkf37HfinPiX5GmsPIn6jlkUxxeUOJLdDWS_-R4GkwP-P96ovmrs4/w141-h200/Bengala%20-%20Tago%20de%20Homaj%20Rajtoj%202023.png" width="141" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bengali.<br />Tr: Sajal Dey</td></tr></tbody></table></td>
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<td style="width: 205px;"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG7Mzp7oDp8YcyVCbvBJ3W4AD87RnmTzUiSvB_8QEiE1h7naSbPDutKLsPGDF63RxZlRlvdiLhnUzUJANdeZXmBSRgAZbNna6I0w7c6QB2-QGYjFxt_W-z9CG9pibG5YbiDEQAvD0FsdFsrAGVyDOIO84oxO88pZKSS6eADDHki0xARx28eueR0JmkCz3t/s3508/Kannada%20-%20Tago%20de%20Homaj%20Rajtoj%202023.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3508" data-original-width="2480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG7Mzp7oDp8YcyVCbvBJ3W4AD87RnmTzUiSvB_8QEiE1h7naSbPDutKLsPGDF63RxZlRlvdiLhnUzUJANdeZXmBSRgAZbNna6I0w7c6QB2-QGYjFxt_W-z9CG9pibG5YbiDEQAvD0FsdFsrAGVyDOIO84oxO88pZKSS6eADDHki0xARx28eueR0JmkCz3t/w141-h200/Kannada%20-%20Tago%20de%20Homaj%20Rajtoj%202023.png" width="141" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kannada.<br />Tr: S S Pradhan</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></td>
<td style="width: 205px;"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAZDag9CJ2Hruxsnj16GNX8-esXtyvoT5-45nr9Lh44CCbg7PnrvygAX1jdFugmmX1YtYzs-IiUnnHh3ultdbGXnjQ5Zg6AssN-EZFy5RaTRPV3rKBT-iumN3YYYUH7P_IPp7M7ezvPuOQx_CpNBKxz9SjPA6ObZEDqe30VxtXcl_ioijJeKpLs0MpcFxw/s3508/Malajala%20-%20Tago%20de%20Homaj%20Rajtoj%202023.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3508" data-original-width="2480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAZDag9CJ2Hruxsnj16GNX8-esXtyvoT5-45nr9Lh44CCbg7PnrvygAX1jdFugmmX1YtYzs-IiUnnHh3ultdbGXnjQ5Zg6AssN-EZFy5RaTRPV3rKBT-iumN3YYYUH7P_IPp7M7ezvPuOQx_CpNBKxz9SjPA6ObZEDqe30VxtXcl_ioijJeKpLs0MpcFxw/w141-h200/Malajala%20-%20Tago%20de%20Homaj%20Rajtoj%202023.png" width="141" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Malayalam. Tr:<br />Mehajabin Nargees MP</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></td>
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<td style="width: 205px;"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlgdmSVgEkpmnzzmH0QYHu757HtnXTFvZj-3YerZakUqLiesdCmhKaYlmHvO2S4D0Kw8SHD3aR76Ms7CB5psxfXTvNB80UvThYeKmzz6NSbFM-edd1mVHZLKR4GaTea157_0zSaLFI3PpEg_o58TLqq6Eqx9aKGYtu97CqmUYAPR21XTjqn33EV3OWXrDz/s3508/Odia%20-%20Tago%20de%20Homaj%20Rajtoj%202023.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3508" data-original-width="2480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlgdmSVgEkpmnzzmH0QYHu757HtnXTFvZj-3YerZakUqLiesdCmhKaYlmHvO2S4D0Kw8SHD3aR76Ms7CB5psxfXTvNB80UvThYeKmzz6NSbFM-edd1mVHZLKR4GaTea157_0zSaLFI3PpEg_o58TLqq6Eqx9aKGYtu97CqmUYAPR21XTjqn33EV3OWXrDz/w141-h200/Odia%20-%20Tago%20de%20Homaj%20Rajtoj%202023.png" width="141" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Odia.<br />Tr: Amalendu Jyotishi</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></td>
<td style="width: 205px;"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRFAxWLK0Te_o7L6dfmpQ2yS6oW39So6gAvnWKtBkE7_paP1MjaDkV91IpAEoFLHLSrTk9oAh0cLskePRXuZeVuZUOQEoNkGh9m9ntKlooGLiikltGNjtKGAtAEEmqqIxNlmxieNk5gqFkWQGbYz6OJdojzOxBI5qSyw0-EbMlkKY0zVVCddM43AP-g2kk/s3508/Pan%C4%9Daba%20-%20Tago%20de%20Homaj%20Rajtoj%202023.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3508" data-original-width="2480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRFAxWLK0Te_o7L6dfmpQ2yS6oW39So6gAvnWKtBkE7_paP1MjaDkV91IpAEoFLHLSrTk9oAh0cLskePRXuZeVuZUOQEoNkGh9m9ntKlooGLiikltGNjtKGAtAEEmqqIxNlmxieNk5gqFkWQGbYz6OJdojzOxBI5qSyw0-EbMlkKY0zVVCddM43AP-g2kk/w141-h200/Pan%C4%9Daba%20-%20Tago%20de%20Homaj%20Rajtoj%202023.png" width="141" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Punjabi. Tr:<br />Harjinder Singh Laltu</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></td>
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<td style="width: 205px;"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWEefA2LQjkIicalg9RkNyCf4zZHgRA0PmCoQqqmRfwtEbD8RrotmDP1k05XTabPELN0vKS8PTPmO2mFfnRYNlLtkw1icmyxcg2vpTFz4eTqc5PoDEQ4CnQPF_XXPj69fXTy3axYiRJunXEngQekeBAA_e-HXyCg1OMj0WqacgQbX4sCVqb5zCSNd4mxm/s3508/Tamila%20-%20Tago%20de%20Homaj%20Rajtoj%202023.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3508" data-original-width="2480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWEefA2LQjkIicalg9RkNyCf4zZHgRA0PmCoQqqmRfwtEbD8RrotmDP1k05XTabPELN0vKS8PTPmO2mFfnRYNlLtkw1icmyxcg2vpTFz4eTqc5PoDEQ4CnQPF_XXPj69fXTy3axYiRJunXEngQekeBAA_e-HXyCg1OMj0WqacgQbX4sCVqb5zCSNd4mxm/w141-h200/Tamila%20-%20Tago%20de%20Homaj%20Rajtoj%202023.png" width="141" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tamil.<br />Tr. P. Arul Nehru</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></td>
<td style="width: 205px;"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZPHZm67dwfg6AA5WidSNL4EIAvwg8r5bcfrjASHj8omdoJsvvpYlCRvqMehx-oFRmRJAv5kgMWVvpx9r9vqSucQU-jusFWoSsAAXDgHoNN7pfvXKt_79wsdjQiGqIVjGTgxhTMmY57v2juL-9bNEn-Sz3xYoRrTWRAQDUt6-prjbLaL94ACmk2FdtHWw3/s3508/Telugua%20-%20Tago%20de%20Homaj%20Rajtoj%202023.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3508" data-original-width="2480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZPHZm67dwfg6AA5WidSNL4EIAvwg8r5bcfrjASHj8omdoJsvvpYlCRvqMehx-oFRmRJAv5kgMWVvpx9r9vqSucQU-jusFWoSsAAXDgHoNN7pfvXKt_79wsdjQiGqIVjGTgxhTMmY57v2juL-9bNEn-Sz3xYoRrTWRAQDUt6-prjbLaL94ACmk2FdtHWw3/w141-h200/Telugua%20-%20Tago%20de%20Homaj%20Rajtoj%202023.png" width="141" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Telugu. Tr:<br />Kotha Naga Siva Kumar</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></td>
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<td style="width: 205px;"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-QjRxK8nvXtFXYGaT925g7xTAUbnl1xYNKyouxUrssQc7hQcUQq_dAU0CgdnoqxQMjgZAvDmVMwDpi2MtSHp9nSK3gG5LGYL4X5q6MXo86dAEJNPVlwA7ICfpjF7ooZZeI9V6bsVTXygjO5ahC9qlAzFbgkKCTi7cBuAD7rf6MfJIOLkX3kXaKGIBnX9a/s590/image.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="417" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-QjRxK8nvXtFXYGaT925g7xTAUbnl1xYNKyouxUrssQc7hQcUQq_dAU0CgdnoqxQMjgZAvDmVMwDpi2MtSHp9nSK3gG5LGYL4X5q6MXo86dAEJNPVlwA7ICfpjF7ooZZeI9V6bsVTXygjO5ahC9qlAzFbgkKCTi7cBuAD7rf6MfJIOLkX3kXaKGIBnX9a/w141-h200/image.png" width="141" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Assamese.<br />Tr: Nazrul Haque</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></td>
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<p></p>गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-57314650495107796522023-11-29T21:11:00.007+05:302023-12-01T16:29:14.916+05:30Multilingualism on Constitution Day<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Constitution_of_India.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="566" height="200" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Constitution_of_India.jpg" width="142" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preamble_to_the_Constitution_of_India" target="_blank">The Preamble</a><br />Source: <a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Constitution_of_India.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a></td></tr></tbody></table>November 26th is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_Day_(India)">Constitution Day</a> in India, commemorating the day in 1949 when the Constituent Assembly formally adopted the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_India">Constitution of India</a>. In 2023, three welcome language-related items caught the eye. The first was a speech made by the Indian President, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droupadi_Murmu">Droupadi Murmu</a>. The second, the launch of a bilingual edition of the Constitution. The third was the publication of a multilingual e-book of landmark decisions of India's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_India">Supreme Court</a>.<p></p>
<p>First, speaking on the occasion (<a href="https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2023/nov/doc20231126274101.pdf">PDF</a>), President Murmu noted that cost is the most significant barrier in making justice accessible to all. However, she went on to add,</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"></p><blockquote>Then, there are other barriers too. For example, language, which is beyond the comprehension of a majority of citizens. I feel reassured by the recent steps taken by the Supreme Court to make the verdicts available in various Indian languages. The live webcast of court proceedings too will go a long way in making citizens true stakeholders of the judicial system.</blockquote><p></p>
<p>Second, Constitution Day saw the launch of what news reports called a "diglot" (i. e., bilingual) edition of the Constitution – in English and Manipuri. This edition is in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meitei_script">Meetei Mayek</a> script; the previous edition (2019; <a href="https://lddashboard.legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/The%20Constitution%20of%20India%20in%20Manipuri_0.pdf">PDF</a>) was in the Bengali script. (Oddly, the Constitution has been translated into <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_India#Translations_into_Indian_languages">only a few</a> of the 22 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_with_official_status_in_India">Official Languages of India</a>! Evidently, law students from all other languages rely on these translations or on summaries in their own languages.)</p>
<p>Third, connecting to the President's call, Constitution Day saw the translations of an e-book, <em>Illustrated Cases of the Supreme Court of India</em>, into Bengali, Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi, and Urdu (<a href="https://manupatracademy.com/Home/IllustratedCases">all PDFs</a>). The book, first published in English in 2018, <a href="https://manupatracademy.com/Home/IllustratedCases">aims</a> "to democratize access to legal information. It attempts to ensure that the understanding of the landmark decisions are accessible to a broader audience, breaking down language barriers."</p>
<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCAh3cuhRfNC4JUha4wIIFqvDGOV08TeCQFkJ0iUNdMH70mVSM6Fg91LfYBjUyOYSnA_qVSbGvWhXG-xzqzOhTwtYVPdo_vrYhM2hqWRtFwkfHy-t7DGcG9FZKDUgaaLLZgUrwcSMiNg7jAX3cA33XNrGc958tXIJEnfDjpfMxCtXnuyi6lr5eC6Y2Eirn/s705/image.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="496" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCAh3cuhRfNC4JUha4wIIFqvDGOV08TeCQFkJ0iUNdMH70mVSM6Fg91LfYBjUyOYSnA_qVSbGvWhXG-xzqzOhTwtYVPdo_vrYhM2hqWRtFwkfHy-t7DGcG9FZKDUgaaLLZgUrwcSMiNg7jAX3cA33XNrGc958tXIJEnfDjpfMxCtXnuyi6lr5eC6Y2Eirn/w141-h200/image.png" width="141" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Hindi translation<br />Source: <a href="https://manupatracademy.com/Home/IllustratedCases" target="_blank">Manupatra</a></td></tr></tbody></table>The language of the English version and its Hindi translation are indeed accessible. For each case, the document presents the facts, questions of law, and the decision. The Hindi translation uses a familiar <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindustani_language">Hindustani</a> – including Urdu words, rather than only a difficult Sanskrit-derived vocabulary. Further, with relatively unfamiliar Hindi legal terms, the authors have often included the English equivalent in parenthesis. This lays the groundwork for developing a widely available “legal discourse” in our languages. See, for example, the 2012 case related to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_Children_to_Free_and_Compulsory_Education_Act,_2009">Right to Education</a>, “Society for Unaided Private Schools of Rajasthan vs. Union of India” (p. 134), and its Hindi version (p. 154).<p></p>
<p>The infographics in the book are colourful, uncluttered, and informative. All these under-200-page e-books are <a href="https://manupatracademy.com/Home/IllustratedCases">freely downloadable</a> from Manupatra Academy. One hopes that this book will soon be available (at least!) in all of the country’s official languages.</p>
<p>Laudable initiatives like these are necessary in a multilingual democracy like ours. It should be added that they are useful not only for legal activists and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-governmental_organization" target="_blank">NGO</a>s. Such material is very useful in India’s education system too, where there are deep inequalities: some groups and regions get a good education; many do not. In secondary schools and colleges such high quality, accessible summaries can supplement translations of the original documents. The educational use of such material will facilitate critical engagement with complex arguments. But that is a theme for another post!</p>
<p> Meanwhile, the publication of such accessible summaries in multiple languages is a welcome development. As President Murmu noted, “The cause of justice is best served by making it accessible for all. This also strengthens equality.”</p><p>(This post also appears in the section "<a href="https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/faculty-perspective" target="_blank">Faculty Perspectives</a>" on the <a href="https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/" target="_blank">Azim Premji University</a> website.)</p>गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-66871353291475739552023-11-01T11:27:00.011+05:302023-11-03T17:48:38.607+05:30Orwell's 1984 -- 75 years later<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="880" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg4nSXkPtvLyP86ZJL_URMqx9nzhbPbfP4-WOrZojonuAuDHbZf_adcUKwYWW1IieAmjVP21qAdMtoffY_sHf9RT7QcWtuJnMBEmDsX9xaE-NT86e3oVz-PDiamnAFofzXZ_0jIV_cN3hTAg4Iss8FTuGuHz8OpoY_eiMC2SD-I4UkakHUzdC_cuS-mUrg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="155" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Nineteen Eighty-Four</i><br />in Esperanto (Tr. Donald<br />Broadribb), 2012<br />Source: Amazon.in</td></tr></tbody></table>
<div>On 27 October 2023, I gave a talk on the novel <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four" target="_blank">Nineteen Eighty-Four</a></em> (<em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four" target="_blank">1984</a></em>) by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Orwell" target="_blank">George Orwell</a> (1903-1950). (The novel was finished in December 1948 but published only in June 1949.) The online presentation was at the weekly session of the joint meeting of the London Esperanto Club and La Verda Stelo, the Antwerp Esperanto club. You can watch the talk on the London Esperanto Club's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@LondonaEsperantoKlubo/videos" target="_blank">YouTube channel</a>: "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbU3taxUhow" target="_blank"><i>Mil naŭcent okdek kvar </i>: 75 jarojn poste</a>" ("<em>Nineteen Eighty-Four </em>: 75 years later").</div>
<div>
<p>But how to present a book as famous as this?! This dystopian classic is already in several lists of "100 best novels" -- from <a href="https://entertainment.time.com/2005/10/16/all-time-100-novels/slide/all/" target="_blank"><i>Time</i></a> and <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Monde%27s_100_Books_of_the_Century" target="_blank">Le Monde</a></em>, to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20151204-the-100-greatest-british-novels" target="_blank">BBC</a>, and <a href="https://sites.prh.com/modern-library-top-100" target="_blank">Modern Library</a>. It is the third most frequently borrowed book in the <a href="https://www.nypl.org/125/topcheckouts" target="_blank">New York Public Library</a>! There are dozens of editions and translations (about 70!) of the novel. To say nothing of the many adaptations in radio, theater, television, film, and comic books. And on this one book there are articles in 93 Wikipedias!</p>
Our strategy was to present first, the author; second, the plot of the novel; third, a bit about the world of <em>1984</em> -- the "storyverse"; and fourth, some important themes of the novel to understand its current relevance.</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiTMGIzypySksbMhkKwA2hP-cOjEmjurrLnt83hPnyt7mCfwbb7865_S7QbB-gT1yBHOzMavS6Vsvq1bkYyOd73zOc0AYNszckrojCoL2aTVPweSqeEnNu9dk6IKOEGbFSyTPFHeXNPhZ10aO-rtQBpuAOfPNtUWJKe88-WGLvxHNpmDWO4GT7BBGHlwdw" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1084" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiTMGIzypySksbMhkKwA2hP-cOjEmjurrLnt83hPnyt7mCfwbb7865_S7QbB-gT1yBHOzMavS6Vsvq1bkYyOd73zOc0AYNszckrojCoL2aTVPweSqeEnNu9dk6IKOEGbFSyTPFHeXNPhZ10aO-rtQBpuAOfPNtUWJKe88-WGLvxHNpmDWO4GT7BBGHlwdw" width="177" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;">Orwell in 1943.</span><br style="text-align: start;" /><span style="text-align: start;">Source: </span><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2001660" style="text-align: start; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div>From Orwell's life we sifted through some facts to show that, in sum, here was a man who strongly hated imperialism, colonialism, and dictatorship; who was almost "obsessive" about poverty, a life of misery, and social inequality; and who passionately supported freedom, justice, and "common decency". Also important for us Esperantists is the fact that his aunt Nellie Limouzin lived in Paris with her partner (and later husband), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne_Lanti" target="_blank">Eugène Lanti</a>, the founder of World Anational Association -- <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sennacieca_Asocio_Tutmonda" target="_blank">SAT</a>! This introduction to Esperanto apparently played a role in the creation of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspeak" target="_blank">Newspeak</a> in <em>1984</em>.<p>The 70 (!) or so listeners needed reminding about the plot (<b>alert</b>: <i>including spoilers!</i>) because most of them had read the novel ages ago -- often only during their school years! They only vaguely remembered the contents. Here, for example, is the sad, final paragraph of the novel:</p>
</div>
<blockquote>
<div>
<p>He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years It had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother. (p. 209)</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="687" data-original-width="1261" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6kWMMBYV9REcIg3oxOEbR_0fGZtqnNrGSRuZ-hsYp-vFVFrTui-ElrYXlR8Bit-AuDYlcxkQzLHR-tWKVCFNtT5BSuHq-NynqaPMOzBRg02A-I5VfloAC6wJb3_zRaKXlEJAQVl_oqo8mIBNJcns959DWw9G6H2dGqtPVrNDXjdXZdhBqjEDXTB8yX0k" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU!<br />From the film <i>1984</i> (1984). Source: <a data-mce-href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087803/mediaviewer/rm2427103745" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087803/mediaviewer/rm2427103745" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #337ab7; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-align: start; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">IMDB</a></td></tr></tbody></table>But the audience knew quite well several of the key words from the novel! The mysterious, menacing "Big Brother" who is "WATCHING YOU". His "Thought Police" with its mass surveillance to catch "thought crimes". The "re-education" of these "thought criminals". And the "doublethink" that makes possible the Party's three slogans -- always in capitals:
<blockquote>
<p>WAR IS PEACE</p>
<p>FREEDOM IS SLAVERY</p>
<p>IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Here's the mind-bending definition of doublethink:</p>
</div>
<blockquote>
<div>
<p><em>Doublethink</em> means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.... To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed.... Even in using the word <em>doublethink</em> it is necessary to exercise <em>doublethink</em>. For by using the word one admits that one is tampering with reality; by a fresh act of <em>doublethink</em> one erases this knowledge; and so on indefinitely, with the lie always one leap ahead of the truth. (p. 149)</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://translate.google.com/website?sl=auto&tl=en&hl=en-GB&u=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/1984_fictious_world_map.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="370" data-original-width="800" height="148" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/1984_fictious_world_map.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Perpetual war: Here are the<br />"superpowers" in <i>1984</i>. Source: <a data-mce-href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67106" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67106" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #337ab7; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-align: start; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div>
And so we turned to some of the main themes of the novel:
<ul>
<li>Extreme nationalism - "Two Minutes of Hate" against the current enemy</li>
<li>Poverty and inequality - "In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance." (p. 133)</li>
<li>Perpetual war - "War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent." (p. 133)</li>
<li>Changeable history - "All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary." (p. 28)</li>
<li>Surveillance - "There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment." (p. 2)</li>
<li>Censorship – “Withers, however, was already an <em>unperson</em>. He did not exist: he had never existed.” (p. 31)</li>
<li>The future - "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face -- for ever." (p. 188)</li>
</ul>
<div>And we also talked about Newspeak, the language that makes this kind of world possible. This is Syme, a "comrade" of the protagonist Winston Smith, and a collaborator on the "Eleventh Edition" of <em>Newspeak Dictionary</em>:</div>
</div>
<blockquote>
<div>
<div>We're getting the language into its final shape -- the shape it's going to have when nobody speaks anything else. When we've finished with it, people like you will have to learn it all over again. You think, I dare say, that our chief job is inventing new words. But not a bit of it! We're destroying words -- scores of them, hundreds of them, every day. We're cutting the language down to the bone. The Eleventh Edition won't contain a single word that will become obsolete before the year 2050. (p. 35)</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div>
<div>
<div>And here is the influence of the Esperanto-speaking Parisian relatives (Nellie and Lanti):</div>
</div>
</div>
<blockquote>
<div>
<div>
<div>Take "good", for instance. If you have a word like "good", what need is there for a word like "bad"? "Ungood" will do just as well -- better, because it's an exact opposite, which the other is not. Or again, if you want a stronger version of "good", what sense is there in having a whole string of vague useless words like "excellent" and "splendid" and all the rest of them? "Plusgood" covers the meaning, or " doubleplusgood" if you want something stronger still. (p. 35) </div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div>
<p>In the lively discussion after the talk, a friend pointed out that Newspeak owed as much, in fact, to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_English" target="_blank">Basic English</a> -- that simplified, basic form of the English language. Orwell strongly supported Basic English, but was also fully aware of its potential to limit the scope of thought.</p><p>As Syme declares darkly, “It is beautiful to destroy words.” (p. 38)</p>
</div>गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-19798512894445470702023-08-09T21:31:00.028+05:302023-11-06T14:01:29.865+05:30Vanishing Voices<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; color: #222222; float: left; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 5px; position: relative;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://translate.google.com/website?sl=auto&tl=en&hl=en-GB&u=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Quechuawomanandchild.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #cc6611; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="150" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Quechuawomanandchild.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10.56px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Quechua woman and child,</span></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Andes, Peru</span></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";">The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International%20Day%20of%20the%20World's%20Indigenous%20Peoples" target="_blank">International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples</a> is the 9th of August. A <a href="https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/vanishing-voices" target="_blank">version of this post</a> also appears in the August 2023 issue of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azim_Premji_University" target="_blank">Azim Premji University</a> newsletter <i><a href="https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/forests-of-life" target="_blank">Forests of Life</a></i>.</span><div><span style="font-family: Open Sans;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";">The Esperanto version of the essay is called "Made-to-disappear voices" ("<a href="https://lingvovivo.blogspot.com/2023/08/malaperigataj-vocoj.html" target="_blank">Malaperigataj voĉoj</a>"). The Esperanto title makes clear that these Indigenous languages are not vanishing "voluntarily" - they are being <i>made</i> to disappear! Read on....</span><div><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";">Imagine that you speak the following languages:</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">• You can have <i>13</i> consonants in a row! </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">The </span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salishan_languages" target="_blank">Salishian</a></span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> language <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuxalk_language" target="_blank">Nuxalk</a> (pron. </span></span><i><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">nuhalk</span></span></i><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">), spoken in </span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">British Columbia</span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> in Canada, has the word </span></span><i><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">clhp'xwlhtlhplhhskwts'</span></span></i><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">, which means "then he had had in his possession a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornus_suecica" target="_blank">bunchberry</a> plant</span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">". </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Do tell us: how do you pronounce that word?! </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">("</span></span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuxalk_language" style="font-family: "Open Sans";" target="_blank">Nuxalk</a><span style="font-family: "Open Sans"; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">", Wikipedia)</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">• You don't say "my left arm". </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Instead, you say "my north / south / east / or west arm", depending on your actual orientation! </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Speakers <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warlpiri_language" target="_blank">Warlpiri</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Australia" target="_blank">Central Australia</a></span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> use the cardinal directions; an absolute frame of reference. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">(</span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7912958509670518538/410317577110575382#" target="_blank">Levinson and Wilkins</a></span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">, 2006)</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">• You must use one of 10 genders! </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuchi" target="_blank">Yuchi</a> </span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">in </span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Oklahoma</span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">, USA, use "six [genders] for Yuchi people (depending on kinship relationships to the speaker), one for non-Yuchis and animals, and three for inanimate objects (horizontal, vertical and round )"! </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">(</span></span><i><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/aug/27/endangered.languages" target="_blank">The Guardian</a></span></span></i><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">, 2008)</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Those are just three of the strange and wonderful (for me!) world-descriptions from the approximately 7000 languages of the world. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">And these are <i>vanishing</i> voices - we are making these Indigenous languages disappear! </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">This article explores why this is happening, what we are losing, and one definite "must-do".</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; color: #222222; float: left; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 5px; position: relative;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://translate.google.com/website?sl=auto&tl=en&hl=en-GB&u=https://terralingua.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Distribution-Speaker-Languages_420.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #cc6611; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="794" height="151" src="https://terralingua.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Distribution-Speaker-Languages_420.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10.56px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Half of the world </span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">speaks<br />these 25 languages.</span></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Source: </span></span><a href="https://translate.google.com/website?sl=auto&tl=en&hl=en-GB&u=http://Terralingua.org" style="color: #cc6611; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Terralingua.org</span></span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Half of the world speaks one of 25 major languages: Mandarin Chinese, English, Spanish, Hindi, Bengali.... </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">The other 50% speak all the other 6975 or so languages! </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">So, there are a lot of small languages in the world. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">For example, Aiton (1500 speakers), Muot (930), Zangskari (12,000) - all three are Indigenous languages from India. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">(Do also remember that we only have approximate numbers for many Indigenous languages - they just aren't important enough!)</span></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">All over the world, these small languages have been in contact with the larger ones around them. However, h</span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">istorically, rarely has this contact been peaceful. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Speakers of big languages have come with modern weapons in search of slaves, natural resources, and land. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Indigenous peoples who survived (many, many were killed) have had to abandon their language and culture (along with their land). This continues. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Their children are forbidden to speak their languages in school, and the government and the courts do not speak their languages either. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">With no alternative, speakers of Indigenous languages shift to dominant languages. This is why the shift is not "voluntary". </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">It is no wonder that of the 424 languages spoken in India (according to </span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><a href="http://ethnologue.com" target="_blank">Ethnologue</a></span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">), 131 are "Endangered", that is, "it is no longer the norm for children to learn and use this language".</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; color: #222222; float: right; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 1em; padding: 5px; position: relative; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://translate.google.com/website?sl=auto&tl=en&hl=en-GB&u=https://terralingua.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/plants_vs_languages.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #cc6611; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="800" height="113" src="https://terralingua.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/plants_vs_languages.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10.56px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Places of high biodiversity are also</span></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">places of high </span></span><i><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">linguistic</span></span></i><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> diversity.</span></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Source: </span></span><a href="https://translate.google.com/website?sl=auto&tl=en&hl=en-GB&u=http://Terralingua.org" style="color: #cc6611; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Terralingua.org</span></span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">What do we lose when we lose a language? </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">As our initial examples show, each language is a unique way of looking at the world. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">But here's another thing: look at the places of high biodiversity in the world; </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">for example, Papua New Guinea (839), Indonesia (704), </span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Arunachal Pradesh</span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> (90). </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">The figures in parentheses are the number of languages spoken there. Biodiversity diversity correlates with linguistic diversity! </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">The <i>biocultural</i> link is that the knowledge to sustainably take care of this biodiversity is encoded in these Indigenous languages. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">So, even for purely "selfish" reasons, the world must ensure that Indigenous languages flourish.</span></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">It's also an ethical question, is it not? </span></span><i><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Linguistic</span></span></i><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> human rights are as important as other rights. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">And the freedom to practice one's own culture includes its languages. Plus i</span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">t is also about education. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Tons of research (as well as common sense!) tells us that children learn best in the language they know best. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Depriving a child of that is cognitive violence! </span>For society, the cost is twofold. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">One, repeated years, dropping out of school, and low economic productivity - a massive waste of resources! </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">And two, poorly prepared citizens for democratic participation - perhaps an even more serious cost!</span></span></p></div></div><p><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">So what should we do? </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Many things need to be done, but clearly education has to be one of our starting points. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Bringing mother tongues into education will make <i>all</i> education more effective. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">This will revitalize Indigenous languages as languages of modern knowledge. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Meanwhile, their speakers will continue to take pride in their cultural heritage. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">However, in addition to learning in their own languages, children also need high-quality teaching in the <i>other</i> languages they need to</span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> know - the regional language and English, for example. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">This idea is at the core of Mother-Tongue Based Multilingual Education (</span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><a href="https://orientblackswan.com/details?id=9788125036982" target="_blank">Mohanty et al.</a></span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">, 2009).</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">In itself, that proposal is not enough. The rights of Indigenous peoples need to be strengthened in many other domains as well. But whatever strategy society adopts, education should be among its main components. Only then will there be generations who will continue to marvel at these diverse ways of being human!</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Open Sans;"><b>References</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";">Levinson, S. C. and Wilkins, D. P. (eds.) 2006. <i>Grammars of Space: Explorations in Cognitive Diversity</i>. Cambridge. </span><a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511486753" style="font-family: "Open Sans";">https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511486753</a></p><p><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";">Mohanty, A. K., Panda, M., Phillipson, R., Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (eds.) 2009. <i>Multilingual Education for Social Justice: Globalising the Local</i>. Hyderabad: Orient BlackSwan. </span><a href="https://orientblackswan.com/details?id=9788125036982" style="font-family: "Open Sans";">https://orientblackswan.com/details?id=9788125036982</a></p><p><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";">The Guardian, “Peter K Austin's top 10 endangered languages”. 27 August. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/aug/27/endangered.languages">https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/aug/27/endangered.languages</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Open Sans";">Wikipedia. “Nuxalk”. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuxalk_language#Syllables">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuxalk_language#Syllables</a>.</span></p></div>गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-30873112512638040472023-02-18T09:53:00.007+05:302023-11-29T21:41:49.548+05:30International Mother Language Day Posters<div class="separator"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj89Q82qMZLA6bFmwkcYW-msMeoQmncbQHFegd9DtIGNzTKpt9sGpRGvtbOLfY0ex1fEzCf6QFwaSg7Et6pISwOAMv53l_Pbx1NargE31c7QhguyBC5z3zqT7nQwWoCWG4ZkhSVQvRI-m5e71QxCWqUevS0lMlPSidWhK5In_y8slu8r3-1m76lVJbmpQ/s1754/Angla.motherlanguage.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1754" data-original-width="1240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj89Q82qMZLA6bFmwkcYW-msMeoQmncbQHFegd9DtIGNzTKpt9sGpRGvtbOLfY0ex1fEzCf6QFwaSg7Et6pISwOAMv53l_Pbx1NargE31c7QhguyBC5z3zqT7nQwWoCWG4ZkhSVQvRI-m5e71QxCWqUevS0lMlPSidWhK5In_y8slu8r3-1m76lVJbmpQ/s320/Angla.motherlanguage.png" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UEA IMLD 2023 poster.<br />Designed by Stefano Keller.<br />Tr. A. Giridhar Rao.</td></tr></tbody></table>February 21st is International Mother Language Day (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mother_Language_Day" target="_blank">IMLD</a>). Universala Esperanto Association (<a href="https://www.uea.org" target="_blank">UEA</a>) produces a poster every year to mark the event. <a href="http://www.linguistic-rights.org/stefano-keller/" target="_blank">Stefano Keller</a> in Geneva designed this year's colourful poster. For several years now, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renato_Corsetti" target="_blank">Renato Corsetti</a> in London has been getting Esperantists to translate the text of the poster into various languages. Posters from previous years are archived on the multilingual website <a href="http://www.linguistic-rights.org/en/" target="_blank">Linguistic Rights</a>.<p></p><p>This year too, Esperantists (and friends of Esperanto!) in India and Kenya produced texts in several languages. Rafael Lima in New York rapidly incorporated the text into Stefano's poster. Here is a gallery of those posters in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assamese_language" target="_blank">Assamese</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengali_language" target="_blank">Bengali</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language" target="_blank">English</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto" target="_blank">Esperanto</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gujarati_language" target="_blank">Gujarati</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindi_language" target="_blank">Hindi</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kannada_language" target="_blank">Kannada</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luo_language" target="_blank">Luo</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayalam_language" target="_blank">Malayalam</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathi_language" target="_blank">Marathi</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odia_language" target="_blank">Odia</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjabi_language" target="_blank">Punjabi</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit" target="_blank">Sanskrit</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swahili_language" target="_blank">Swahili</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_language" target="_blank">Tamil</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telugu_language" target="_blank">Telugu</a>!</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3DScWUmITEYM1vUngczRKRC9lcZ5oI15iP6HJsNpzAh4lU-agGQrfOxZTHGcAnGiXnz_EJXu3103z5vq8pTwKgdDUCYBrPUZuD-xPIfj_slpaW_0DELxCyaMTwYyyMi3udHb3iAW4Uu8s1ewxLzAIVpv84vDai3UHqdHNXepUPLr2pQ_KdW-dm2gesg/s1754/Asama.%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%83%E0%A6%AD%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B7%E0%A6%BE%20%E0%A6%A6%E0%A6%BF%E0%A7%B1%E0%A6%B8.png" style="display: inline; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1754" data-original-width="1240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3DScWUmITEYM1vUngczRKRC9lcZ5oI15iP6HJsNpzAh4lU-agGQrfOxZTHGcAnGiXnz_EJXu3103z5vq8pTwKgdDUCYBrPUZuD-xPIfj_slpaW_0DELxCyaMTwYyyMi3udHb3iAW4Uu8s1ewxLzAIVpv84vDai3UHqdHNXepUPLr2pQ_KdW-dm2gesg/w226-h320/Asama.%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%83%E0%A6%AD%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B7%E0%A6%BE%20%E0%A6%A6%E0%A6%BF%E0%A7%B1%E0%A6%B8.png" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UEA IMLD 2023 poster in Assamese.<br />Designed by Stefano Keller.<br />Tr. Nazrul Haque<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQIGEQECnnSr5cgm_vnLSQddrl1j_TdXPcnhmQr0ZmDKHMuXRc0ziDvFePsZ1eCxcWs_TWJ3D8hrjU0Np0B-giBU6OkCU9wuAs2F2iGaAKTFnve6-yi5AGbdhDC8OJVASyiGXj4YLR8-ZBl0stweQnBvZbvvuKLeft6C9iDe7adsAsGIzkQmBAlrmV-Q/s1754/Bengala.%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%83%E0%A6%AD%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B7%E0%A6%BE%20%E0%A6%A6%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%B8.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1754" data-original-width="1240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQIGEQECnnSr5cgm_vnLSQddrl1j_TdXPcnhmQr0ZmDKHMuXRc0ziDvFePsZ1eCxcWs_TWJ3D8hrjU0Np0B-giBU6OkCU9wuAs2F2iGaAKTFnve6-yi5AGbdhDC8OJVASyiGXj4YLR8-ZBl0stweQnBvZbvvuKLeft6C9iDe7adsAsGIzkQmBAlrmV-Q/w226-h320/Bengala.%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%83%E0%A6%AD%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B7%E0%A6%BE%20%E0%A6%A6%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%B8.png" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UEA IMLD 2023 poster in Bengali.<br />Designed by Stefano Keller.<br />Tr. Sajal Dey.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEZuV8ZUu1i3VefitnCnmKwHEldTf4qnFPHStONuROgIm8UWB_Cjs7tT7B6rR-R8pEIPCci-wD8zuIe3D4QfP1PmTPKEBRDLwck294rnSOH-FVeFhSzP_Hm3oWwRcrlobiBlxSj4tquXRnQ_8TJESyyBoj2ki-j9yd-WUyQs-5enGtRfUrUVzAOe6Lag/s1191/21feb2023eo--A3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1191" data-original-width="822" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEZuV8ZUu1i3VefitnCnmKwHEldTf4qnFPHStONuROgIm8UWB_Cjs7tT7B6rR-R8pEIPCci-wD8zuIe3D4QfP1PmTPKEBRDLwck294rnSOH-FVeFhSzP_Hm3oWwRcrlobiBlxSj4tquXRnQ_8TJESyyBoj2ki-j9yd-WUyQs-5enGtRfUrUVzAOe6Lag/s320/21feb2023eo--A3.jpg" width="221" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UEA IMLD 2023 poster in Esperanto.<br />Designed by Stefano Keller.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiudXHFj6A7i7kdBnHFNWjaakeJVdd8PjTCHv_CtS0wwFQoOxBO1_Xppr2wg9u1knntzKlwXwLL7d3rrYbRAgsr6s1a0h392-nhCfOOpqmngl838Bu36rtEIaJwiY1-12Q8jTNQEwU3C2BCXCWZ5rhWzLDwM-MF_ufX8TsI2FZG2BhBFBRs5VB_DXxmjA/s1754/Gu%C4%9Darata.%E0%AA%AE%E0%AA%BE%E0%AA%A4%E0%AB%83%E0%AA%AD%E0%AA%BE%E0%AA%B7%E0%AA%BE%20%E0%AA%A6%E0%AA%BF%E0%AA%B5%E0%AA%B8.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1754" data-original-width="1240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiudXHFj6A7i7kdBnHFNWjaakeJVdd8PjTCHv_CtS0wwFQoOxBO1_Xppr2wg9u1knntzKlwXwLL7d3rrYbRAgsr6s1a0h392-nhCfOOpqmngl838Bu36rtEIaJwiY1-12Q8jTNQEwU3C2BCXCWZ5rhWzLDwM-MF_ufX8TsI2FZG2BhBFBRs5VB_DXxmjA/w226-h320/Gu%C4%9Darata.%E0%AA%AE%E0%AA%BE%E0%AA%A4%E0%AB%83%E0%AA%AD%E0%AA%BE%E0%AA%B7%E0%AA%BE%20%E0%AA%A6%E0%AA%BF%E0%AA%B5%E0%AA%B8.png" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UEA IMLD 2023 poster in Gujarati.<br />Designed by Stefano Keller.<br />Tr. Himanshu Upadhyaya.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgua3xGtZICzgSbR3DN0lGidPT94nTCDmc9RYXJqyxDgpSdR_hIYZ-Rnkqb9yqtCD6qGk719LinTuxPsIDYD6TGvkqJSRuhot-u8mjD51Emguo5h_6lS8B2yL3y6pse8pG6YCmKac7CEn4FsqiyqBVD0ox-qIarc_cFldgeOy90AAOAeM150cuy8apzPA/s1754/Hindia.%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%AD%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%BE%20%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%B8.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1754" data-original-width="1240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgua3xGtZICzgSbR3DN0lGidPT94nTCDmc9RYXJqyxDgpSdR_hIYZ-Rnkqb9yqtCD6qGk719LinTuxPsIDYD6TGvkqJSRuhot-u8mjD51Emguo5h_6lS8B2yL3y6pse8pG6YCmKac7CEn4FsqiyqBVD0ox-qIarc_cFldgeOy90AAOAeM150cuy8apzPA/s320/Hindia.%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%AD%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%BE%20%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%B8.png" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UEA IMLD 2023 poster in Hindi.<br />Designed by Stefano Keller.<br />Tr. Harjinder Singh Laltu.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghcJIMSTkJKCRk9hz0tH38RMDfJTjms4MY6JfaAB296wZ-tHff2hXfyFN7s5WFYH8f3B8YhjXBEN0JvBgHIH3v-RTkY7_4pZKiQeMwb4mg5DhcxSxuoYYs2KSRXDsSN4of4dxweIt0lgyCJkRLKPJFgQHCjRGZtp6etAPB4cechVnCUi053lrra1ma6Q/s1754/Kannada.%E0%B2%AE%E0%B2%BE%E0%B2%A4%E0%B3%83%E0%B2%AD%E0%B2%BE%E0%B2%B7%E0%B2%BE%20%E0%B2%A6%E0%B2%BF%E0%B2%A8.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1754" data-original-width="1240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghcJIMSTkJKCRk9hz0tH38RMDfJTjms4MY6JfaAB296wZ-tHff2hXfyFN7s5WFYH8f3B8YhjXBEN0JvBgHIH3v-RTkY7_4pZKiQeMwb4mg5DhcxSxuoYYs2KSRXDsSN4of4dxweIt0lgyCJkRLKPJFgQHCjRGZtp6etAPB4cechVnCUi053lrra1ma6Q/s320/Kannada.%E0%B2%AE%E0%B2%BE%E0%B2%A4%E0%B3%83%E0%B2%AD%E0%B2%BE%E0%B2%B7%E0%B2%BE%20%E0%B2%A6%E0%B2%BF%E0%B2%A8.png" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UEA IMLD 2023 poster in Kannada.<br />Designed by Stefano Keller.<br />Tr. S S Pradhan.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEislAGJoBifuobC6LjnLXIcTXodxEue9fGGuREhsCWV28w-ufl96tMl_c27ZfqSy4sb8-tGAlskDHYaSwekMdvv-dC4MdZYHmftDjQYibPLuRETERYwdrx-NBuX3QpmML4H4XnIjq4ISxHH_kNfPhg5EZwbdsfiupru0Og9SVD2zZDtwn7k5CG95UskwA/s1754/Lua.Chieng%20dho%20mama.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1754" data-original-width="1240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEislAGJoBifuobC6LjnLXIcTXodxEue9fGGuREhsCWV28w-ufl96tMl_c27ZfqSy4sb8-tGAlskDHYaSwekMdvv-dC4MdZYHmftDjQYibPLuRETERYwdrx-NBuX3QpmML4H4XnIjq4ISxHH_kNfPhg5EZwbdsfiupru0Og9SVD2zZDtwn7k5CG95UskwA/s320/Lua.Chieng%20dho%20mama.png" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UEA IMLD 2023 poster in Luo.<br />Designed by Stefano Keller.<br />Tr. Abado Jack Mtulla, Abado Joseph Mtulla.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvS7e6CTHarC2kmVwZwsM6ObNY-PNLlhFgf2ovi0aOECiSiSgo9RUM86sLijzgW7-Bfy1WOfRxI5jnzRoTKpmgGTYPY05179RYjAZ0kJ2W1yX70X16ZGoDESFb7pHL1-i7RdVJfiwjY4j9gys9y8Wag5bGH_vBbcF3K4QGNCgJwjFMHQg1n0HE41X-Wg/s1754/Malajala.%E0%B4%AE%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%83%E0%B4%AD%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%B7%E0%B4%BE%20%E0%B4%A6%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%A8%E0%B4%82.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1754" data-original-width="1240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvS7e6CTHarC2kmVwZwsM6ObNY-PNLlhFgf2ovi0aOECiSiSgo9RUM86sLijzgW7-Bfy1WOfRxI5jnzRoTKpmgGTYPY05179RYjAZ0kJ2W1yX70X16ZGoDESFb7pHL1-i7RdVJfiwjY4j9gys9y8Wag5bGH_vBbcF3K4QGNCgJwjFMHQg1n0HE41X-Wg/s320/Malajala.%E0%B4%AE%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%83%E0%B4%AD%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%B7%E0%B4%BE%20%E0%B4%A6%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%A8%E0%B4%82.png" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UEA IMLD 2023 poster in Malayalam.<br />Designed by Stefano Keller.<br />Tr. Anand Kurien.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXj-4cBHDh91AS_tXfRMBO9uzzpRPVAUSwI-B0lmWjIO3dSGn7ufY2MgYQwJeyn4bigasZmH3lYMn62DUDUuopCy1LzRuo_dcxykBILPTScHtli1NDIwnOL3HAIEGYt7sjjktBrM-HFWfY56vDcLe8DdHABxfG4oiZAUZYqjCIIsoz8fNe08GOOMueog/s1754/Maratha.%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%AD%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%BE%20%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%B8.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1754" data-original-width="1240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXj-4cBHDh91AS_tXfRMBO9uzzpRPVAUSwI-B0lmWjIO3dSGn7ufY2MgYQwJeyn4bigasZmH3lYMn62DUDUuopCy1LzRuo_dcxykBILPTScHtli1NDIwnOL3HAIEGYt7sjjktBrM-HFWfY56vDcLe8DdHABxfG4oiZAUZYqjCIIsoz8fNe08GOOMueog/s320/Maratha.%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%AD%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%BE%20%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%B8.png" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UEA IMLD 2023 poster in Marathi.<br />Designed by Stefano Keller.<br />Tr. Omkar Devlekar.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE8r7rWWdgxnifnhAsaMmav46KPsYuSW4wR78Nm-pFCfyoSBZnHLds97ZqAPGl8-RV1l-saGBiN8pM5slFd2_dHQEBK1_rPzUkkzXlbYEiMALbQOeWbboIEwqmlyLmmZ5xZ6v8erzwu78x-_Jc-_hSOVbHnC7qdJg2Sksn_wAr8VSV6GtldUg12JcsfA/s1754/Odia.%E0%AC%AE%E0%AC%BE%E0%AC%A4%E0%AD%83%E0%AC%AD%E0%AC%BE%E0%AC%B7%E0%AC%BE%20%E0%AC%A6%E0%AC%BF%E0%AC%AC%E0%AC%B8.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1754" data-original-width="1240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE8r7rWWdgxnifnhAsaMmav46KPsYuSW4wR78Nm-pFCfyoSBZnHLds97ZqAPGl8-RV1l-saGBiN8pM5slFd2_dHQEBK1_rPzUkkzXlbYEiMALbQOeWbboIEwqmlyLmmZ5xZ6v8erzwu78x-_Jc-_hSOVbHnC7qdJg2Sksn_wAr8VSV6GtldUg12JcsfA/s320/Odia.%E0%AC%AE%E0%AC%BE%E0%AC%A4%E0%AD%83%E0%AC%AD%E0%AC%BE%E0%AC%B7%E0%AC%BE%20%E0%AC%A6%E0%AC%BF%E0%AC%AC%E0%AC%B8.png" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UEA IMLD 2023 poster in Odia.<br />Designed by Stefano Keller.<br />Tr. Amalendu Jyotishi.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7USuaMQQewIh2DKi-UvwDhybN9Js-kZMpDRYe4TmtuliheK83wSG3lfhJhSsgL4VEPOUh13txMoRtjsJNtcjMFUt9N0foqRwr7uZrlh_Pvg1bL1UgwDuev7reZePUWFghcY4kF1qxMcOvmvi-_TrcZe0sbJr5FSp0Vncpg2cgbhvD7Wj3GVMI7-hJmw/s1754/Pan%C4%9Daba.%E0%A8%AE%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%82%20%E0%A8%AC%E0%A9%8B%E0%A8%B2%E0%A9%80%20%E0%A8%A6%E0%A8%BF%E0%A8%B9%E0%A8%BE%E0%A9%9C%E0%A8%BE.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1754" data-original-width="1240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7USuaMQQewIh2DKi-UvwDhybN9Js-kZMpDRYe4TmtuliheK83wSG3lfhJhSsgL4VEPOUh13txMoRtjsJNtcjMFUt9N0foqRwr7uZrlh_Pvg1bL1UgwDuev7reZePUWFghcY4kF1qxMcOvmvi-_TrcZe0sbJr5FSp0Vncpg2cgbhvD7Wj3GVMI7-hJmw/s320/Pan%C4%9Daba.%E0%A8%AE%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%82%20%E0%A8%AC%E0%A9%8B%E0%A8%B2%E0%A9%80%20%E0%A8%A6%E0%A8%BF%E0%A8%B9%E0%A8%BE%E0%A9%9C%E0%A8%BE.png" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UEA IMLD 2023 poster in Punjabi.<br />Designed by Stefano Keller.<br />Tr. Harjinder Singh Laltu.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhieiY_TVBHJWvhd24Cw7cSGMkkX-xinHQs8UWks3H9q-HwCqqnNa44KGhGRR96vmA8DdV9kU4bYSqNaXwqtydoPTzSvHn4ceB7hGfI4Jq-3BqS9hVH2vPpssI8CtnVFUaGbiiLKJZNCFT9GMdWk2h7qwZ80mXJkNclt3trPu5v_hskcKBegSYzLcAkOw/s1754/Sanskrita.%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%AD%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%BE%20%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%B8.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1754" data-original-width="1240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhieiY_TVBHJWvhd24Cw7cSGMkkX-xinHQs8UWks3H9q-HwCqqnNa44KGhGRR96vmA8DdV9kU4bYSqNaXwqtydoPTzSvHn4ceB7hGfI4Jq-3BqS9hVH2vPpssI8CtnVFUaGbiiLKJZNCFT9GMdWk2h7qwZ80mXJkNclt3trPu5v_hskcKBegSYzLcAkOw/s320/Sanskrita.%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%AD%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%BE%20%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%B8.png" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UEA IMLD 2023 poster in Sanskrit.<br />Designed by Stefano Keller.<br />Tr. P V Ranganayakulu.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzILmxd9oTjMAmjo51YdjJwRBrwRyODyJcFXGBi_Y5ZsD65A_yAOq-u73QknTXhh_-42kWf_ZT-CEOYO3yh-OP3gFZJ8PvkgBe5eKaU37tVWG9HMWegUVcGmk33_Idl603Cq2lQbFkuGhXNeVDWAAFko_iF_psCgirV4frbCBJQIlmopSG8jUqTooVeA/s1754/Svahila.Siku%20ya%20lugha%20ya%20mama.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1754" data-original-width="1240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzILmxd9oTjMAmjo51YdjJwRBrwRyODyJcFXGBi_Y5ZsD65A_yAOq-u73QknTXhh_-42kWf_ZT-CEOYO3yh-OP3gFZJ8PvkgBe5eKaU37tVWG9HMWegUVcGmk33_Idl603Cq2lQbFkuGhXNeVDWAAFko_iF_psCgirV4frbCBJQIlmopSG8jUqTooVeA/s320/Svahila.Siku%20ya%20lugha%20ya%20mama.png" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UEA IMLD 2023 poster in Swahili.<br />Designed by Stefano Keller.<br />Tr. Abado Jack Mtulla.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHdowKTnE8Cpm8_Mq6fhqwFkgDb9_mwul-PVTJomQIUKMnW96U1KljzfZ50R2f7YDeQfqVf3EbFhIdWIDSfA-ZJc_HGB0Xqbc3vYNNZwTDLg4EEPw6_yx7N_xCZodfoSPMWumiauyExjk1IHuxK3hl8azF5MFBTxE3v_OSnTbVjsryuqe5jo6pVlnH5g/s1754/Tamila.%E0%AE%85%E0%AE%A9%E0%AF%88%E0%AE%A4%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%A4%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%B2%E0%AE%95.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1754" data-original-width="1240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHdowKTnE8Cpm8_Mq6fhqwFkgDb9_mwul-PVTJomQIUKMnW96U1KljzfZ50R2f7YDeQfqVf3EbFhIdWIDSfA-ZJc_HGB0Xqbc3vYNNZwTDLg4EEPw6_yx7N_xCZodfoSPMWumiauyExjk1IHuxK3hl8azF5MFBTxE3v_OSnTbVjsryuqe5jo6pVlnH5g/s320/Tamila.%E0%AE%85%E0%AE%A9%E0%AF%88%E0%AE%A4%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%A4%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%B2%E0%AE%95.png" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UEA IMLD 2023 poster in Tamil.<br />Designed by Stefano Keller.<br />Tr. P. Arul Nehru.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfQB7PeRJaIH9Q0DwBEfZP4sfMmD4nPSkUvF7MjdS2i29Es041YAbL5PHwq60ot5H3trxHXChNXxtPcu-3isRr2sm9n3vMBI0-2Z2785CncuWMLx7m9eh-1iDBPRo_0WxFHH-mdYTprbqMY54km9Djw_d67WxGd74ynQYXo3rSbOiJHLIABAVvVf1HcA/s1754/Telugua.%E0%B0%AE%E0%B0%BE%E0%B0%A4%E0%B1%83%E0%B0%AD%E0%B0%BE%E0%B0%B7%20%E0%B0%A6%E0%B0%BF%E0%B0%A8%E0%B0%82.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1754" data-original-width="1240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfQB7PeRJaIH9Q0DwBEfZP4sfMmD4nPSkUvF7MjdS2i29Es041YAbL5PHwq60ot5H3trxHXChNXxtPcu-3isRr2sm9n3vMBI0-2Z2785CncuWMLx7m9eh-1iDBPRo_0WxFHH-mdYTprbqMY54km9Djw_d67WxGd74ynQYXo3rSbOiJHLIABAVvVf1HcA/s320/Telugua.%E0%B0%AE%E0%B0%BE%E0%B0%A4%E0%B1%83%E0%B0%AD%E0%B0%BE%E0%B0%B7%20%E0%B0%A6%E0%B0%BF%E0%B0%A8%E0%B0%82.png" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UEA IMLD 2023 poster in Telugu.<br />Designed by Stefano Keller.<br />Tr. P V Ranganayakulu.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-4812155215880427232020-08-27T06:58:00.013+05:302020-08-27T08:52:18.264+05:30Multilingual education in India: tasks and challenges<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YCpQZwGk-HE/X0b9_Vt-NjI/AAAAAAAA1R4/-3WWfmqAGag_LqXNaOH6axr8ZBwawbI1gCPcBGAsYHg/s1187/image.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="665" data-original-width="1187" height="184" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YCpQZwGk-HE/X0b9_Vt-NjI/AAAAAAAA1R4/-3WWfmqAGag_LqXNaOH6axr8ZBwawbI1gCPcBGAsYHg/w328-h184/image.png" width="328" /></a></div>"Multilingual education in India: tasks and challenges" was the (online) talk I gave on 22 August at the London Esperanto Club (<a href="https://esperanto.org.uk/lek/lek.htm" target="_blank">in Esperanto</a>). Some 60 Esperantists from around the world logged in. The 30-minute talk followed by an hour's conversation with the audience is available <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huo7PNPDbPY" target="_blank">here</a> on YouTube. Do listen to some of it if you want to hear Esperanto spoken more or less as an everyday (second) language! :-) Absorbing as the discussion was, in this post, already too long, I will limit myself to a report on my talk.<br /><p></p><p>The talk began by setting the context of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azim_Premji_University" target="_blank">Azim Premji University</a>'s <a href="https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/SitePages/vision-mission.aspx" target="_blank">social purpose</a> and engagement with school education in India. We then launched into the National Education Policy 2020 (<a href="https://www.mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/NEP_Final_English_0.pdf" target="_blank">NEP 2020</a> [PDF]) -- more precisely, to this recommendation:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>Wherever possible, the medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, will be the home language / mother-tongue / local language. Thereafter, the home / local language shall continue to be taught as a language wherever possible. This will be followed by both public and private schools. (Para 4.9, p. 12)</p></blockquote><p></p><p>However, before looking at the recommendation more closely, I said that the urgent task at hand during the pandemic was to reopen schools. This has to be done safely. Governments and NGOs like <a href="https://azimpremjifoundation.org" target="_blank">Azim Premji Foundation</a> are putting together <a href="https://azimpremjifoundation.org/Covid-19/resources" target="_blank">guidelines and resources</a> for this. The educational needs of the most vulnerable learners -- <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit" target="_blank">Dalits</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adivasi" target="_blank">Adivasis</a>; the nutritional needs of growing children being met through the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midday_Meal_Scheme" target="_blank">mid-day meal scheme</a>; the rising incidence of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labour_in_India" target="_blank">child labour</a>; and especially for girls, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_marriage_in_India" target="_blank">early marriages</a> -- these are all aspects of that urgency. The longer the school remains closed, the greater the number of children who will never return to school.<br /></p><p>We then came back to the mother-tongue education recommendation in NEP 2020. We noted the difficulty of specifying the mother tongue. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhojpuri_language" target="_blank">Bhojpuri</a> is a case in point. Although it has 51 million native speakers, it is <a href="https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language-2011/Statement-1.pdf" target="_blank">listed</a> (PDF) in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Census_of_India" target="_blank">Indian census</a> 2011 as one of the 56 "mother tongues" under Hindi -- as part of the "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindi_Belt" target="_blank">Hindi belt</a>". Thus, if a Bhojpuri child is being taught in Hindi, it is misleading to claim that the child is being educated in their mother tongue. In operationalizing the policy, the compound "home language / mother-tongue / local language" will need a more nuanced approach.<br /></p><p>A second difficulty with the NEP 2020 recommendation is the last sentence in the part cited above: "This will be followed by both public [that is, free] and private [fee-paying] schools." Now, the profit-model of private schools in India crucially depends on English-medium teaching: it is their <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unique_selling_proposition" target="_blank">USP</a>! No wonder, then, that this recommendation has come in for some severe criticism from this vocal and influential lobby. See some of the links in the initial part of this <a href="https://scroll.in/article/969356/why-is-india-obsessed-with-english-medium-education-when-it-goes-against-scientific-consensus" target="_blank">sensible article</a> by Shoaib Daniyal, "Why is India obsessed with English-medium education -- when it goes against scientific consensus?" How policymakers will get this lobby to the table remains to be seen. There may be possibilities in the promise of bilingual education that is mentioned later in the talk.<br /></p><p>Fortunately for the private-school lobby, NEP 2020 itself provides several "escape routes"! In the passage cited above, "wherever possible" occurs twice; the 60-page document offers many such "<a href="https://bolii.blogspot.com/2009/01/mtm-education-in-rte-bill.html" target="_blank">opt-outs, modifications, alternatives, claw-backs</a>" -- as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tove_Skutnabb-Kangas" target="_blank">Tove Skutnabb-Kangas</a> has called them. Instead of framing the issue as a matter of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tove_Skutnabb-Kangas" target="_blank">linguistic rights</a>, the document presents it as a desirable. Thereby, those reluctant to implement the recommendations will find it easy to not act.<br /></p><p>A third battle front for the NEP 2020 recommendation is the fact that in several states the public school system itself is switching to English as medium of instruction! Karnataka has identified a thousand government schools where English-medium education is being given. Neighbouring Telangana is currently training nearly 2000 elementary school teachers to teach in English. These states have adopted English in order to counter the "outflow" of children from regional-language medium government schools to English-medium private schools.</p><p>It is too early to say whether the project has worked, but now that government schools themselves are offering English-medium education, parents have started to pull their children out of private schools, and admit them into public schools. The current pandemic, in which millions have lost their livelihoods, has made this option <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/unable-to-pay-fee-1-lakh-students-move-to-government-schools/articleshow/77217215.cms" target="_blank">even more attractive</a>. To that extent, one might say that the project is successful.<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WAK_AN3nOP4/X0cJ5xmODOI/AAAAAAAA1So/WdTRIfW5mrQUCjrVnAKlErAqjFRY6p13QCPcBGAsYHg/s1366/Screenshot%2Bfrom%2B2020-08-27%2B06-44-20.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="184" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WAK_AN3nOP4/X0cJ5xmODOI/AAAAAAAA1So/WdTRIfW5mrQUCjrVnAKlErAqjFRY6p13QCPcBGAsYHg/w328-h184/Screenshot%2Bfrom%2B2020-08-27%2B06-44-20.png" width="328" /></a></div>As I noted in the talk, this third difficulty has shown up a certain incoherence between the NEP 2020 recommendation and the state governments' language policies. This has begun to be noticed elsewhere too as the title of <a href="https://thewire.in/education/andhra-pradesh-english-medium-national-education-policy" target="_blank">this article</a> indicates: "Will the NEP Throw a Spanner in Jagan Reddy's Plans for English-Medium Education?" What then might be the way forward?<p></p><p>One possible solution seems to be to develop various models of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilingual_education" target="_blank">bilingual education</a>. By this, NEP 2020 means English and a regional language. The document mentions bilingual education at several places. For example here:</p><p></p><blockquote>Students whose medium of instruction is the local / home language will begin to learn science and mathematics bilingually in Grade 6 so that by the end of Grade 9 they can speak about science and other subjects both in their home language and English. In this regard, all efforts will be made in preparing high-quality bilingual textbooks and teaching-learning materials. (Para 4.12, p. 12-13)</blockquote>If that is indeed the aim, then the extensive English-training programmes that some states are currently undertaking can be seen as preparatory capacity-building for a transition to bilingual education. As the document notes, a great deal of material will need to be developed. In fact, NEP 2020 recommends the setting up of an "Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation" (IITI) (Para 22.11, p. 53). The availability of such "high-quality" material might prove to be attractive to the private-school system -- including for-profit educational start-ups -- as well.<br /><p></p><p>The bilingual material will need to be both "from-below" (school textbooks and supplementary material for students) as well as "from-above" (teacher training material and university-level material). For decades, governments as well as NGOs have sporadically prepared bilingual material, often for Adivasi children -- that is, bilingual textbooks in the regional language and an Indigenous language. The main reason for these projects not scaling up is lack of sustained state and institutional support: they depended crucially on individual activists and sympathetic officials in the education bureaucracy. The Odisha project (about which <a href="https://bolii.blogspot.com/2014/07/odisha-promotes-multilingual-education.html" target="_blank">I have blogged before</a>) is one of the few with some sustained government support. Perhaps with an IITI that gap will be closed.</p><p>Meanwhile, in the sphere of higher education -- the "from-above" as I called it -- the talk gave two examples of intiatives already underway. The first is the "<a href="https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/SitePages/research-initiatives-translations-initiative.aspx" target="_blank">Translations Initiative</a>" (TI) at Azim Premji University. A major objective of TI is to make all the readings of the various programmes of the university available (initially at least) in Hindi and Kannada as well. This will enable access to higher education to a much larger pool of students than only those proficient in English. Simultaneously, TI is organizing "seminars in Indian languages on subjects related to school education in collaboration with different Universities across India".<br /></p><p>In alignment with TI is the second initiative that I mentioned in my talk: the National Translation Mission (<a href="http://www.ntm.org.in" target="_blank">NTM</a>). I have <a href="https://bolii.blogspot.com/2020/08/nep-2020-ntm-and-indian-languages-in.html" target="_blank">blogged recently</a> about its work of translating "knowledge texts" into all of India's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_with_official_status_in_India" target="_blank">22 Official Languages</a>. Hopefully, these initiatives -- those from-below and those from-above -- will together create a sustainable ecosystem for multilingual education in India.<br /></p><p>Zooming out, the talk located the 60-page NEP 2020 in the context of a federal democracy: consultation, collaboration, and consent are necessary. And these have to be between multiple stakeholders: central government, state governments, and non-governmental agencies. Further, in the Indian constitution, education is in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concurrent_List" target="_blank">Concurrent List</a> -- states too can legislate on the subject. In such a political structure, a readiness to dialogue becomes that much more important.<br /></p><p>Finally, the talk acknowledged that the road ahead was long, the challenges would need much work, and the task by its very nature was transgenerational. But without persistence, there would be no way to see the optimism that the Urdu poet <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faiz_Ahmad_Faiz" target="_blank">Faiz Ahmad Faiz</a> holds out to us:</p><p style="text-align: center;">"It is but a night" by Faiz<br /><br />The heart is not without hope<br />It has only not tasted success<br />Yes, the night of sorrow is long<br />But it is but a night. <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z3sDThhksFw/X0cB5AZxLJI/AAAAAAAA1SM/Nf2xAOimc2YIONFxFoPvlbDPJmgqxnvnACPcBGAsYHg/s1186/image.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="1186" height="229" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z3sDThhksFw/X0cB5AZxLJI/AAAAAAAA1SM/Nf2xAOimc2YIONFxFoPvlbDPJmgqxnvnACPcBGAsYHg/w410-h229/image.png" width="410" /></a></div>गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-83460170417948603102020-08-10T07:59:00.010+05:302022-08-18T16:30:58.810+05:30NEP 2020, NTM, and Indian Languages in Higher Education<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rWUKnZnfWgA/XzCmwc2kRaI/AAAAAAAA04A/5jO3yRypUWIrCTWaKmHMZnuYAbUS3JqagCPcBGAsYHg/s600/image.png" style="clear: left; display: block; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="527" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rWUKnZnfWgA/XzCmwc2kRaI/AAAAAAAA04A/5jO3yRypUWIrCTWaKmHMZnuYAbUS3JqagCPcBGAsYHg/w423-h480/image.png" width="423" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Language region maps of India. </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Language_region_maps_of_India.svg (Filpro / CC BY-SA)</span></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <p></p><p>The National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) (<a href="https://www.mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/NEP_Final_English_0.pdf" target="_blank">PDF</a>) makes several recommendations for education in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_India" target="_blank">Indian languages</a>. The 60-page document's recommendations for languages in <i>school</i> education are being discussed quite a lot in the media. In the English media, "<a href="https://scroll.in/article/969356/why-is-india-obsessed-with-english-medium-education-when-it-goes-against-scientific-consensus" target="_blank">Why is India obsessed with English-medium education – when it goes against scientific consensus?</a>", by Shoaib Daniyal, is a sensible look at the current debate, and points to several studies worldwide to make its arguments.</p><p>However, this post is about the <a href="http://www.ntm.org.in" target="_blank">National Translation Mission</a> (NTM), which is already addressing several of the Policy's recommendations for Higher Education Institutes (HEIs). The Policy observes:</p><blockquote>22.7. For languages to remain relevant and vibrant, there must be a steady stream of high-quality learning and print materials in these languages – including textbooks, workbooks, videos, plays, poems, novels, magazines etc. Languages must also have consistent official updates to their vocabularies and dictionaries, widely disseminated so that the most current issues and concepts can be effectively discussed in these languages. Enabling such learning materials, print materials, and translations of important materials from world languages, and constantly updating vocabularies has to become a national priority. (pp. 52-53)</blockquote><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>NTM is seriously engaging with a part of this "national priority". <a href="http://www.ntm.org.in/languages/english/knowledgetexts.aspx" target="_blank">Here</a> is a list of the 69 "chief domains" in which NTM has identified "knowledge texts". As their website notes: "All prescribed text books, reference books and articles that are considered foundational in any discipline of college / university education are included for translation. Specific attention is given to the disciplines of Natural Sciences and Social Sciences." The result is a list that currently ranges, alphabetically, from "Adult / Continuing Education" and "Anthropology", through "Linguistics" and "Management", to "Women's Studies" and "Zoology (General)".<br /><br />To create a network of translators for such a massive project, NTM has been conducting regular Translator Education programmes – currently on hold because of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic" target="_blank">COVID-19</a>. Here is what their <a href="http://www.ntm.org.in/languages/english/translatoreducation.aspx" target="_blank">Translator Education page</a> says:<p></p><blockquote>Translator Education Programme of NTM primarily aims to orient the translator towards the translation of knowledge texts. It also offers academic support to those who are willing to take up translation as their profession. It orients translators about the history and tradition of translation in India, problems and challenges in knowledge text translation in Indian Languages and how to use translation tools such as dictionaries, glossaries and thesaurus. It also intends to prepare versatile and efficient professional translators. To achieve the said goal, NTM conducts events like Workshops, Orientation Programmes and Seminars. <a href="http://www.ntm.org.in/languages/english/translationtoday.aspx" target="_blank"><i>Translation Today</i></a> (NTM′s biannual journal), Handbook for Translators, AV materials produced by NTM Media and NTM′s Course Materials would act as apparatus in educating translators. </blockquote>Thus, NTM is already performing some of the functions envisaged in NEP 2020 for the "proposed Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation" (p. 53).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BDRZHLGjjSw/XzC5dIHpEuI/AAAAAAAA04o/ZDVRYHxD8iE003HzRhmH4UPRs0Nt4-ZzQCPcBGAsYHg/s420/image.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="80" data-original-width="420" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BDRZHLGjjSw/XzC5dIHpEuI/AAAAAAAA04o/ZDVRYHxD8iE003HzRhmH4UPRs0Nt4-ZzQCPcBGAsYHg/s0/image.png" /></a></div>Nor is all this somewhere in the future! Here is NTM's <a href="http://www.ntm.org.in/download/catalogue/catalogue_2018-19.pdf" target="_blank">2018-2019 Catalogue</a> of 63 translations already published and available – in India's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_with_official_status_in_India" target="_blank">22 Official Languages</a>! A few examples of what is already available in their catalogue:<p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogri_language" target="_blank">Dogri</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telugu_language" target="_blank">Telugu</a>: <i>An Introduction to the Study of Indian History</i> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damodar_Dharmananda_Kosambi" target="_blank">D. D. Kosambi</a><br /></li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindi" target="_blank">Hindi</a>: <i>Abnormal Psychology</i> by Carson et al.</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kannada" target="_blank">Kannada</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maithili_language" target="_blank">Maithili</a>: <i>Fundamentals of Molecular Spectroscopy</i> by Banwell and McCash</li><li>Kannada, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathi_language" target="_blank">Marathi</a>: <i>Heat Transfer</i> by J. P. Holman</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayalam" target="_blank">Malayalam</a>: <i>Principles of Mathematical Analysis</i> by W. Rudin</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodo_language" target="_blank">Bodo</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urdu" target="_blank">Urdu</a>: <i>The Penguin History of Early India from the origins to AD 1300</i> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romila_Thapar" target="_blank">Romila Thapar</a> </li></ul><p>And here's a list of "<a href="http://www.ntm.org.in/languages/english/shortlisted_books.aspx" target="_blank">Shortlisted Books for Translation</a>". There are many more fascinating details: see NTM's <a href="http://www.ntm.org.in/languages/english/dpr.aspx" target="_blank">Detailed Project Report</a>. Further, appropriately enough for a project addressing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_India#Multilingualism" target="_blank">India's multilingualism</a>, the NTM website is available not only in English, but in all the other 22 Official Languages as well!<br /><br />On a smaller scale, such systematic translation projects are going on in other places as well – at <a href="https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/translations-initiative" target="_blank">Azim Premji University</a>, for example. As details become available, we will blog about those too.</p><p>However, as this post shows, there is much to learn from this National Translation Mission project to keep our languages "relevant and vibrant".<br /></p>गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-44975925393245732922020-02-23T13:46:00.000+05:302020-02-23T13:48:03.132+05:30Can a language with millions of speakers be endangered?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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"<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288188951" target="_blank">Can a language with millions of speakers be endangered?</a>" asked <a href="https://www.sas.rochester.edu/lin/people/faculty/abtahian_maya/index.html" target="_blank">Maya Ravindranath</a> and Abigail Cohn in 2014. Their sobering answer?<br />
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<i>In terms of language endangerment then it seems there is no such thing as "too big to fail".</i><br />
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In this nuanced essay on language endangerment in Indonesia, the authors portray <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_language" target="_blank">Indonesian</a> as "a successful example of language planning and language standardization in the interest of nation building". But this has diverse implications for other local languages.<br />
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However, "the negative impact of Indonesian on local languages is not limited to the “smaller” languages in Indonesia, but is even affecting the larger languages, not generally thought to be at risk." They first demonstrate a weak correlation between number of speakers and language vitality. As they note, "considering how widely it is assumed that language size and vitality correlate this is a startling result."<br />
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They then present a case study of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javanese_language" target="_blank">Javanese</a> (drawing on the work of others as well). And conclude:<br />
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As Indonesian takes over in more and more domains of communication and intergenerational transmission of Javanese breaks down, we are led to conclude that even a language with over 80 million speakers can be at risk, a trend that has serious implications for all of the local languages of Indonesia.<br />
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And not only of Indonesia. As Ravindranath and Cohn say, "We hypothesize that this fact may be true elsewhere in the world."</div>
गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-60741446424031886432019-06-16T23:13:00.000+05:302019-06-17T08:11:04.836+05:30Esperanto and the translation scene<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n4GSufez89o/XQZ1AjJ2yNI/AAAAAAAAq-4/TNPpys-Eh4Ug1h2CNxZ3LZuWxLqatTVcQCLcBGAs/s1600/vjetnama_antologio_kovrilo_1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n4GSufez89o/XQZ1AjJ2yNI/AAAAAAAAq-4/TNPpys-Eh4Ug1h2CNxZ3LZuWxLqatTVcQCLcBGAs/s320/vjetnama_antologio_kovrilo_1.jpg" width="226" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: Yûiti Sawaya</td></tr>
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The recent launch of the Esperanto volume <i>Vjetnama Antologio</i> (<i>Vietnamese Anthology</i>; details below) is a welcome addition to the diversity of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto_literature" target="_blank">Esperanto literature</a> in translation. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abel_Montagut" target="_blank">Abel Montagut</a>, in a 2004 study, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/17ysNUKFy-w7yIbr5OG2P9UQYR9UFI4BR/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">concluded that</a> between 1957 and 1966 in the Esperanto world, English, Russian, French, and German (the "Big Four") accounted for only 30% of the source languages; 70% of the translations into Esperanto were from other languages. In sharp contrast, these Big Four accounted for 70% of the source languages in the UNESCO database <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_Translationum" target="_blank">Index Translationum</a>. <br />
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This prompted me to have a quick look at other parts of the world. A June 2019 <a href="https://qz.com/quartzy/1634382/which-countries-do-books-translated-for-the-us-come-from/" target="_blank">article by Dan Kopf</a> celebrates that, "in 2018, 632 never-before-translated books of fiction and poetry were published in the United States. It’s the fifth straight year the US has published more than 600 translations". Moreover, as <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2019/05/translated-fiction-has-been-growing-or-has-it.html" target="_blank">Chad Post notes</a>, "the number of original works of fiction and poetry published annually in the US expanded from roughly 360 in 2008 to more than 600 in recent years. That may not seem like a lot, but a 67% increase over a decade is no fluke."<br />
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But Gabriella Page-Fort <a href="https://lithub.com/why-do-americans-read-so-few-books-in-translation/" target="_blank">puts that into perspective</a>: this is 632 out of an estimated 30 000 new books published in the US every year -- that's less that 1%! Indeed, <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2019/05/translated-fiction-has-been-growing-or-has-it.html" target="_blank">Post</a> mentions the 2005 study which "announced that less than 3% of all the books [not just literary fiction and poetry] published in English [in the United States] were originally written in another language". (And hence his international literature resource, "<a href="http://www.rochester.edu/college/translation/threepercent/" target="_blank">Three Percent</a>".)<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hy1yfmMCozE/XQZ1RtHKaqI/AAAAAAAAq_A/6yk-lPA4olI7Oc9Ym3wCMoqGm67YqmqMQCLcBGAs/s1600/giridhar-poezio-breto-2006-2.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="1600" height="124" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hy1yfmMCozE/XQZ1RtHKaqI/AAAAAAAAq_A/6yk-lPA4olI7Oc9Ym3wCMoqGm67YqmqMQCLcBGAs/s320/giridhar-poezio-breto-2006-2.JPG" width="320" /></a>Besides, <a href="https://qz.com/quartzy/1634382/which-countries-do-books-translated-for-the-us-come-from/" target="_blank">Kopf tells us</a>, "Of the nearly 5800 books of fiction and poetry translated from 2008 to 2018, more than half were from just nine countries, seven of which are in Europe (the exceptions are Japan and China). Over 10% of books were originally published in France alone. Over that same period, only one book each was translated from Benin, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Mali, and Myanmar." No Vietnam there, incidentally! (The data comes from the <a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/translation/search/index.html" target="_blank">Publishers Weekly database</a>.) The Big Four in the US were French, German, Spanish, and Italian. (In that 2006-photo of my poetry bookshelf, the books are in English, Esperanto, Hindi, and translations from French, Greek, Persian, Sanskrit, and Urdu.)<br />
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The situation with German is much better. "German publishers, for example, bought translation rights to 3782 American books in 2002, while American publishers bought rights for only 150 German books," <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/26/books/america-yawns-at-foreign-fiction.html" target="_blank">Stephen Kinzer informs us</a>. The situation has only improved since then, <a href="https://lithub.com/why-do-americans-read-so-few-books-in-translation/" target="_blank">notes Page-Fort</a>: "in 2016, 9882 new translations were published in Germany, 13.6% of new releases".<br />
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These observers of the translation scene offer a familiar list of reasons for the situation. Here's <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2019/05/translated-fiction-has-been-growing-or-has-it.html" target="_blank">Post's one-paragraph summary</a>: "economic censorship (translations don’t make profits, so corporations don’t bother with them), they spiral out to a host of intertwined cultural issues: Editors don’t read foreign languages; it doesn’t pay to fund a translator as well as an author; corporate consolidation has made it harder to publish books that sell modestly; indie presses can’t afford to market the foreign titles they do publish; American readers “yawn” at translations, and so bookstores don’t stock them and reviewers (or the handful that have survived the newspaper die-off) don’t review them. The more you look at it, the more the “problem” begins to feel like a self-fulfilling prophecy." <br />
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But, <a href="https://lithub.com/why-do-americans-read-so-few-books-in-translation/" target="_blank">as Page-Fort notes</a>: "These dire statistics are focused only on the number of translations published, but demand for international books forces a shift. In China, the top five bestselling fiction books of 2017 were translations (including works by Japan’s Keigo Higashino and Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini); compare that to the US top five, who were all American, save for Canadian Margaret Atwood. We, the readers, have the power to change this trend."<br />
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<a href="https://www.vulture.com/2019/05/translated-fiction-has-been-growing-or-has-it.html" target="_blank">Post offers another perspective</a>. "If there are a few thousand above-average titles to choose from every year [from the world's languages], why not choose the ones that people will be debating and discussing decades from now, instead of the immediate successes?"<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XrO6ZrtUau4/XQaH5CbSzII/AAAAAAAAq_s/DjsszsLJ4pwFLp_LBNPGAZ939MXWFGj0QCLcBGAs/s1600/giridhar-poezio-libroj-2017-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="1600" height="108" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XrO6ZrtUau4/XQaH5CbSzII/AAAAAAAAq_s/DjsszsLJ4pwFLp_LBNPGAZ939MXWFGj0QCLcBGAs/s320/giridhar-poezio-libroj-2017-1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Let me end with <a href="https://lithub.com/why-do-americans-read-so-few-books-in-translation/" target="_blank">Page-Fort</a> again (and with a 2017-photo of five books from my poetry shelf.): "It is easy for me to imagine a more compassionate world, a place where education brings people together and empowers us to find one another through the arts. I would like to think that globalization will lead us toward a new cultural unity; a world where books are as unique as the people who write them and readers are drawn together through stories, beyond the borders of language or country."<br />
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I'm glad to see that the world Esperanto movement is playing a role here!<br />
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<i>Vjetnama Antologio</i> (2019), edited by Nguyen Thi Phuong Mai and Luon Ngoc Bao, was launched during the 9th Asian-Oceanian Congress of Esperanto in Danang, Vietnam (25-28 April 2019). The book is 14.5 x 20.5 cm, and has 386 pages. Price: 350 VND (about 15 EUR). Cover Photo credit: Yûiti Sawaya</div>
गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-1368171501252057462019-04-15T20:18:00.000+05:302019-04-15T20:18:30.615+05:30Multilingual Education in South Asia - Unicef Report<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p_sTXw_63d8/XLSYmbI8TKI/AAAAAAAApxg/JAU1Lj60TxYsCH_3dxYPgGeH_5GxIwdDwCLcBGAs/s1600/Jhingran-Unicef-report-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="582" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p_sTXw_63d8/XLSYmbI8TKI/AAAAAAAApxg/JAU1Lj60TxYsCH_3dxYPgGeH_5GxIwdDwCLcBGAs/s320/Jhingran-Unicef-report-cover.jpg" width="242" /></a></div>
“<a href="https://www.unicef.org/rosa/reports/early-literacy-and-multilingual-education-south-asia" target="_blank">Early Literacy and Multilingual Education in South Asia</a>” (2019) analyses the varying language situations in South Asia and the existing policies and practices of using languages as medium of instruction (MoI) and as subjects in primary education curriculum. The report's author is <a href="https://azimpremjifoundation.org/content/%C2%A0including%C2%A0children%E2%80%99s%C2%A0languages" target="_blank">Dhir Jhingran</a> of the <a href="https://languageandlearningfoundation.org/" target="_blank">Language and Learning Foundation</a>. The report concludes that "improving early literacy teaching and learning, and including non-dominant children’s languages in the teaching and learning at primary level, are two of the most important initiatives for ensuring inclusive and equitable student learning" (p. 6).<br /><br />Here is a chapter-outline of the report (adapted from pp. 5-6):<br /><br />Chapter 1 presents the rationale for using children’s first language as the medium of instruction. It lays out the principles of language learning, including learning of an unfamiliar language.<br /><br />Chapter 2 provides a review of learning outcomes of language and literacy in eight countries -- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.<br /><br />Chapter 3 reviews the language speech patterns and linguistic diversity and complex sociolinguistic situations in each country, including the hierarchy between languages. The issue of the high value attached to learning English and also instruction through the medium of English is discussed.<br /><br />Chapter 4 presents a typology of school-level sociolinguistic situations commonly found in the region. The approaches of bilingual and multilingual education are introduced. Introduction of non-dominant languages as mediums of instruction requires intense preparation. More importantly, this requires a shift in mindset and attitudes towards these languages and cultures.<br /><br />Chapter 5 outlines two case studies of mother-tongue-based multilingual education from India and Nepal.<br /><br />Chapter 6 makes recommendations for policies and programmes for supporting children’s language and literacy learning.<br /><br />As the report wisely notes: "Prescriptive formulations of policy and programmes will not be effective where language situations are fluid and diverse. The bottom line for any flexible language-in-education policy or programme should be that children’s linguistic and cultural resources must be valued and used" (p. 2).<br /><br />Hope practitioners, policy makers and educators often return to this report for possibilities and direction!<br /><br />Citation: Jhingran, D., <i><a href="https://www.unicef.org/rosa/reports/early-literacy-and-multilingual-education-south-asia" target="_blank">Early Literacy and Multilingual Education</a></i> in South Asia, United Nations Children’s Fund Regional Office for South Asia, Kathmandu, 2019.</div>
गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-84469302717834619172018-12-28T18:37:00.000+05:302018-12-28T18:51:08.211+05:30Lessons from Bhutan do not include English-medium education<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
"<a href="http://practiceconnect.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/2018/12/27/improving-the-quality-of-schooling-some-observations-from-bhutan/" target="_blank">Improving the Quality of Schooling: Some Observations from Bhutan</a>" is an interesting essay by Phuntsho Choden and my colleague <a href="https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/SitePages/v-santhakumar.aspx" target="_blank">V Santhakumar</a>. A key insight seems to be the following: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
There is also a realization that 'quality schooling for all' cannot be achieved merely through the improvements in the provision of schooling such as providing better school infrastructure, having better-qualified teachers, or making the curriculum and pedagogy attractive to the students. There may be an equally, if not more, important need for demand measures, which encourage parents to use schools not only to enrol their children but also to retain them through it and ensure that the children learn at school....</blockquote>
Among these "demand measures" is what Section 7 of the essay calls "Focus on government schools":<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It is remarkable to note that there is a much greater focus [than in India] on government schools in Bhutan not only by the government but also among the parents.... The majority in Bhutan wants their children to be educated in government schools. Unlike Indian states, there is no notable exodus of children from middle-class families to private schools. Though there are a few good-quality private schools in the capital and a few district headquarters, the rest are considered as an inferior option by the parents who believe that the facilities and quality of teachers are relatively better in government schools.</blockquote>
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Bhutan's focus on improving the public education system is commendable indeed. Government expenditure on education was 7.39% of the GDP in 2015; the 2013 figure for India was 3.84%. The figure on the left is a comparison from <a href="http://data.uis.unesco.org/index.aspx" target="_blank">Unesco's Institute of Statistics</a>. And here is another vizualization from <a href="https://www.gapminder.org/tools/#$state$time$value=2015&delay:100;&marker$select@$country=btn&trailStartTime=2000;&$country=ind&trailStartTime=1997;;&opacitySelectDim:0&axis_y$data=data_wdi&which=se_xpd_totl_gd_zs&domainMin:null&domainMax:null&zoomedMin:null&zoomedMax:null&spaceRef:null;;;&chart-type=bubbles" target="_blank">Gapminder</a>.<br />
<br />
The quality of schooling is good enough for the authors to remark: "A couple of teachers from Kerala who work in Bhutan note that their own children are receiving better schooling in Bhutan than they would have in Kerala." (And Kerala, as we know, has among the better public education systems in India. See, for instance, the <a href="http://img.asercentre.org/docs/Publications/ASER%20Reports/ASER%202016/aser_2016.pdf" target="_blank">ASER 2016 report, pp. 46-49</a>). There are certainly lessons here for various Indian states.<br />
<br />
However, the authors also suggest that the high reputation of government schools in Bhutan could be the following: "The fact that the government schools provide education in English medium could be the added advantage in Bhutan, considering that this is a major reason of migration of children to private schools in India." This suggests that were the Indian public education system to do the same, it too would enjoy a higher reputation than it now does. <br />
<br />
Indeed, earlier in the essay, Section 5 of the post outlines just this as one of those "demand measures": "Schooling in English medium but connect with culture". Here is the section in full:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
One notable feature of the schooling in Bhutan is that the medium of instruction is English. There could be historical reasons for it. The fact that the early teachers came from abroad and did not have proficiency in the local language could be an important reason. However, the adoption of English as the medium of instruction has not led to a neglect of their national language. It is taught as an important subject in schools and we could see teachers who specialize in it and students who do well in the subject. This is an important point since there are politicians and intellectuals (especially in various states of India) who argue that an English medium education makes the children neglect their culture, and the medium of instruction should be the local language. There are no indications that the Bhutanese people have abandoned their own language or culture due to the English medium education. Instead, anecdotal evidence indicates that they are much more wedded to their culture than most Indians are to theirs.</blockquote>
It is not clear what one is to make of these observations. The authors assert that the use of English as the medium of instruction (MoI) has not led to the neglect of the national language, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dzongkha" target="_blank">Dzongkha</a>. As evidence they say that Dzongkha is "taught as an important subject in schools"; that they saw "teachers who specialize in it and students who do well in the subject". Yes, this is evidence that Dzongkha is not being "neglected".<br />
<br />
Surely, a far more desirable state would be for Dzongkha to flourish! Evidence that Dzonghka is flourishing would be if the language is being used as a knowledge-language in the sciences, the social sciences and the humanities -- at the school level as well as in higher education; if dictionaries, specialist terminologies and other reference materials are constantly being produced in the language; if books, magazines, mass media, the entertainment industry, and the internet use Dzonghka for pretty much all purposes -- from discussing politics to the latest developments in art, science and technology; if there is vibrant literary activity, including translations into and out of Dzongkha.... <br />
<br />
"There are no indications that the Bhutanese people have abandoned their own language or culture due to the English medium education," say the authors. Unless there is evidence of the language flourishing, choosing English as the MoI must <i>necessarily</i> mean neglect of their national language. And if there is indeed evidence of Dzongkha flourishing (in most, if not all of the domains mentioned above), it would be interesting to understand how and why that is happening!<br />
<br />
A word on the other languages in Bhutan. It is worth noting that speakers of the other 21 languages that <a href="https://www.ethnologue.com/country/BT" target="_blank">Ethnologue lists for Bhutan</a> need to learn the national language, Dzongkha, as well as English. Their educational trajectory is likely to be different from that of native speakers of Dzongkha.<br />
<br />
Thus, while there is no doubt much to learn from Bhutan's schooling system, switching to an English-medium education is certainly not one of the lessons India can learn from Bhutan.</div>
गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-52347177503858145702018-07-22T19:16:00.001+05:302023-11-30T11:30:24.678+05:30PLSI volume on English and other international languages<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Volume 37 (of the projected 50 volumes) of the People's Linguistic Survey of India (<a href="http://peopleslinguisticsurvey.org/">PLSI</a>) is being launched in Hyderabad on 27 July 2018. This volume is titled <a href="http://www.orientblackswan.com/BookDescription?isbn=978-93-5287-292-3&t=e"><i>English and Other International Languages</i></a>.<br />
<br />
As the <a href="http://www.orientblackswan.com/BookDescription?isbn=978-93-5287-292-3&t=e">publisher's blurb</a> says, the book "discusses the status of English and other foreign languages which continue to have a presence in India. While Section I discusses the complex progression of English in the Indian linguistic scene and its increasing acceptance among the people here, Section II describes the status and development of eight other international languages in use in India. The volume also observes how India’s engagement with foreign cultures has enriched the multilingual mosaic of the country."<br />
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The other eight languages are: Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish in India. This post deals only with the section on English. The 20 chapters include my essay, "English as the Medium of Instruction at School" (<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n2DYEFNB8tLyCK8K4aV73epB-5bpxywe/view?usp=sharing">PDF</a>). The contents of the volume are <a href="http://www.orientblackswan.com/BookDescription?isbn=978-93-5287-292-3&t=e">listed here</a>.<br />
<br />
The 27 July launch will feature both the series editor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._N._Devy">Ganesh Devy</a>, as well as the volume editor <a href="https://www.bits-pilani.ac.in/hyderabad/prof-vijay-kumar-tadakamalla">T. Vijay Kumar</a>. <br />
<br />
The volume also has a useful set of appendices. Here is the list with links to where they can be found on the net:<br />
<br />
I. <a href="https://dalitmuslims.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/our-icon-savitribai-phule/">Mother English</a> (1854) -- a poem by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savitribai_Phule">Savitribai Phule</a><br />
<br />
II. <a href="http://www.oxfordfirstsource.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199399680.013.0218/acref-9780199399680-e-218">Address, dated 11th December 1823</a>, from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_Mohan_Roy">Raja Rammohan Roy</a> to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Amherst,_1st_Earl_Amherst">Lord Amherst</a><br />
<br />
III. <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00generallinks/macaulay/txt_minute_education_1835.html">Minute</a> on Indian education by the Hon’ble <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Babington_Macaulay">T. B. Macaulay</a>, dated 2nd February 1835<br />
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IV. Gandhi on the English Language - 5 excerpts from <a href="http://gandhiserve.org/e/cwmg/cwmg.htm">his writings</a>. Two books that bring together Gandhi's writings on education are <a href="http://gandhiashramsevagram.org/towards-new-education/english-education.php"><i>Towards New Education</i></a> (ed. Bharatan Kumarappa, 1953) and <a href="https://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/ghp_booksection_detail/Ny02MDQtMg==#page/1/mode/2up"><i>Evil Wrought by the English Medium</i></a> (ed. K. R. Prabhu, 1958) <br />
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V. Debates in the Constituent Assembly on the English language, Constituent Assembly of India Volume III, Friday 2nd May, 1947 -- A recent commentary on the debates is by <a href="https://du-in.academia.edu/RamaKantAgnihotri">Rama Kant Agnihotri</a>, "<a href="https://www.academia.edu/11097079/EPW_article_on_Constituent_Assembly_Debates">Constituent Assembly Debates on Language</a>", <i>Economic and Political Weekly</i>, Vol. 50, Issue No. 8, 21 Feb, 2015<br />
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VI. Address by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh at Oxford University -- the comments on English language are <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/2005/07/10/stories/2005071002301000.htm">in this transcript</a>.<br />
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VII. Excerpts from interviews with Chandrabhan Prasad -- The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandra_Bhan_Prasad">Wikipedia entry on him</a> gives the links to many of his writings.<br />
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All in all, the PLSI volume promises to be a rich resource.</div>
गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-55261392107239970492018-06-19T00:12:00.000+05:302018-06-19T00:12:59.094+05:30Multilingual education in India report coming in July 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The "early research findings" of the language and literacy project <a href="https://www.mam.mml.cam.ac.uk/">MultiLila</a> will be announced and discussed in <a href="https://www.britishcouncil.in/events/multilingual-india">a two-day seminar</a> in New Delhi in July 2018. The project's formal title is <b>Multilingualism and Multiliteracy: Raising learning outcomes in challenging contexts in primary schools across India</b>. This four-year UK-India project with its extensive, multidisciplinary <a href="https://www.mam.mml.cam.ac.uk/collaborations-india-and-uk">network of partners</a> (including institutions and people we have met often in this blog) began in 2016. Its <a href="https://www.mam.mml.cam.ac.uk/being-ml/overview/mmintro/project-objectives-and-outcomes">primary question</a> is <i>"Why do some children in India not benefit from being multilingual or bilingual to the same degree as children in other ESL/EFL contexts?"</i> (ESL is English as a Second Language, and EFL is English as a Foreign Language.)<br /><br />As Mukhopadhyay (see below) notes, the project covers:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>1200 children in 4th standard [i. e. 10-year-olds] to be tested at two time points (4th and 5th standard)</li>
<li>800 children living in urban areas in Delhi and Hyderabad (200 in slums, 200 in non-slums)</li>
<li>400 children living in rural areas in Bihar-Patna (200 in semi-urban, 200 in urban areas)</li>
<li>Average ability children, no history of learning disabilities</li>
<li>No children from upper end of middle class or above</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://www.mam.mml.cam.ac.uk/being-ml/overview/mmintro/project-objectives-and-outcomes">Some of the other questions</a> the project asks are:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Is there a relationship between basic literacy and numeracy levels and school drop-out rates on the one hand, and language of instruction and support for MT education provision on the other?</li>
<li>Is multiliteracy associated with better skills in critical thinking and problem solving when MT literacy is available?</li>
<li>Are critical thinking and problem solving skills in the medium of instruction transferred in the child’s use of English for similar tasks?</li>
<li>Do multilingual children show comparable developmental knowledge of semantic fluency, syntactic knowledge, reading and retelling skills across MT and English?</li>
</ul>
One of the project's co-investigators, Lina Mukhopadhyay, amplified some of the objectives in the <a href="https://www.britishcouncil.com.sn/en/programmes/language-development-conference-2017">Language and Development Conference</a> in 2017 (<a href="https://www.mam.mml.cam.ac.uk/impact/Linaslides/at_download/file">PDF</a>):<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>To explore how the complex dynamics of social, economic and geographical contexts affect the delivery of quality of multilingual education in India.</li>
<li>To investigate how educational policy regarding the role of mother-tongue education (the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-language_formula">three language formula</a>) is implemented in schools, and how the language(s) of instruction impact on learning outcomes in basic literacy and numeracy but also higher level literacy skills expressed through critical thinking and problem solving in the language of education and in the development of English as a second language.</li>
<li>To evaluate how negative consequences of [structural inequality]... on learning outcomes can be attenuated when mother-tongue education is available.</li>
</ul>
We look forward to learning more about the seminar and the project's report, <i>Multilingual classrooms: opportunities and challenges for English medium instruction in low and middle-income countries</i>.</div>
गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-30762390381468034982017-11-08T15:54:00.000+05:302017-11-08T15:54:18.397+05:30Language and Education resources at Early Literacy Initiative<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In September 2017 I argued for MTME -- Mother-Tongue Based Multilingual Education -- in a blog post titled "<a href="http://eli.tiss.edu/index.php/why-mother-tongue-medium-in-a-multilingual-context/" target="_blank">Why Mother Tongue Medium in a Multilingual Context?</a>"<br />
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The post is part of the recently launched website, Early Literacy Initiative (<a href="http://eli.tiss.edu/" target="_blank">ELI</a>), of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (<a href="http://tiss.edu/" target="_blank">TISS</a>). As <a href="http://eli.tiss.edu/index.php/objectives/" target="_blank">the ELI website states</a>:<br />
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ELI is working broadly towards accomplishing:<br />
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<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Research: To conduct new research in early language and literacy in India; and to disseminate knowledge that is already available.</li>
<li>Teaching: To create a cadre of knowledgeable and well-prepared professionals in the area of early language and literacy.</li>
<li>Advocacy: To provide visibility and leadership to work in early language and literacy by engaging in national level dialogues with scholars, policy-makers and other professionals working in allied areas. ELI will also provide networking support for practitioners and scholars working in the domain through a variety of means, such as, a visible and dynamic web presence, offering short-term workshops and courses, collecting and disseminating relevant information, and so on.</li>
</ol>
<br />
The <a href="http://eli.tiss.edu/index.php/blog/" target="_blank">blog</a> is organized thematically. Their first theme is <a href="http://eli.tiss.edu/index.php/category/multilingualism/" target="_blank">multilingualism</a>. The website's <a href="http://eli.tiss.edu/index.php/resources-publications/" target="_blank">Resources</a> are organized around general interest, themes, handouts and publications, and talks and presentations.<br />
<br />
All in all, <a href="http://eli.tiss.edu/" target="_blank">ELI</a> promises some interesting conversations!</div>
गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-54853078860227139062017-08-16T13:08:00.000+05:302017-08-16T13:08:09.700+05:30School closures and mergers - Report<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A report on <i>School Closures and Mergers</i> (<a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2ivpfLn4mKKbGI5TVVZLU1uTFE" target="_blank">PDF 4.5 MB</a>) in India argues that tens of thousands of government schools in three states are being arbitrarily closed down and merged, causing immense hardship to children and their families. Poor girl children, and children with disabilities are the most severely affected, often dropping out of school altogether. The Save the Children report (not yet on <a href="https://www.savethechildren.in/" target="_blank">their website</a>, as of August 2017) studies the implementation and impact of policies of school closures and mergers in Telangana, Odisha, and Rajasthan.<br />
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Among its findings are that:<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>the policies are being haphazardly and arbitrarily implemented (Chapter 3)</li>
<li>no consultation with the community; nor any guidance to the community regarding alternatives (Chapter 7)</li>
<li>"Closures are both a cause and a consequence of the process of privatisation of schooling in educationally advanced districts and urban centres." (p. xi; see also Chapter 11)</li>
<li>"the mergers have only disrupted teaching-learning activities and perhaps further degraded the quality of education" (p. 50)</li>
<li>the closures and mergers impact more severely the economically underprivileged (Chapters 8 and 10)</li>
<li>serious impact on gender equality: "girls will be much more vulnerable to be married off earlier than before" (p. xi; see also Chapter 10.2)</li>
<li>these closures and mergers are a violation of various provisions of the Right to Education Act (Chapter 12)</li>
</ul>
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The Report also documents cases of resistance. Regarding Rajasthan we are told that "about 384 schools were re-started due to the pressures from community members and political parties and representatives, thus making the total number of schools closed 14,673" (p. 69, Annexure 4, footnote 34).<br />
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The Report concludes in its section on "Issues and Recommendations for Advocacy" that the issue of school closures and mergers needs to be more widely known and better understood by the various stakeholders.</div>
गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-55670990891370116502017-07-17T23:45:00.000+05:302017-07-17T23:47:03.647+05:30Information for Interlinguists - IfI<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The Esperantic Studies Foundation (<a href="http://www.esperantic.org/" target="_blank">ESF</a>) website has this news: <br />
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<i>IfI</i> (<i>Information for Interlinguists</i>) is a publication by the Center for Research and Documentation on World Language Problems (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_Research_and_Documentation_on_World_Language_Problems" target="_blank">CED</a>) and the Esperantic Studies Foundation (ESF), for all those interested in news and developments in the fields of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlinguistics" target="_blank">interlinguistics</a>. The publication is available for free in English... and <a href="http://www.esperantic.org/eo/publikajoj/ipi/" target="_blank">in Esperanto</a>. To submit materials and to receive the publication by email, please write to <a href="mailto:ifi@esperantic.org">ifi@esperantic.org</a>. Deadline for the next issue: October 1, 2017.<br />
<br />
Here are the contents of <i>IfI</i> 1/2017 (<a href="http://www.esperantic.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/IfI-101.pdf" target="_blank">PDF</a>):<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li> Editorial</li>
<li> Symposium on Language, the Sustainable Development Goals, and Vulnerable Populations</li>
<li> Future Conferences and other events</li>
<li> Esperantic Studies Foundation and the University of Costa Rica announce an LPP Summer School</li>
<li> Call for Papers</li>
<li> British Association for Applied Linguistics founded</li>
<li> New President for the Center for Applied Linguistics</li>
<li> The 6th Global Esperanto Examinations are complete and a series of individual sessions begins</li>
<li> In memoriam: André Albault (1923-2017)</li>
<li> Recent Publications</li>
<li> Language Problems and Language Planning 41:1 and 41:2 (2017)</li>
<li> Esperantic Studies Foundation appoints a new Executive Director</li>
<li> Languages of Internationalism, University of London</li>
<li> The Interlinguistic Studies program in Poznan is now accepting applications for 2017-2020</li>
</ol>
</div>
गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-23880627434898927022017-05-14T00:37:00.002+05:302020-10-15T01:11:16.961+05:30Some myths about language<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.osmania.ac.in/" target="_blank">Osmania University</a> celebrates its centenary this year (plus a few other anniversaries!). As part of its celebrations, it has brought out a freely downloadable volume called <i>Insights on Global Challenges and Opportunities for the Century Ahead</i> -- here's the <a href="http://www.osmania.ac.in/News2017/Insights%20on%20Global%20Challenges%20and%20Opportunities%20for%20the%20Century%20Ahead.pdf" target="_blank"> link to the 27-MB PDF</a>.<br />
<br />
As the Preface notes, the 400-page volume "contains 81 articles with insights from eminent personalities including Nobel laureates, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Food_Prize" target="_blank">World Food Prize</a> winners, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_honours_system#Padma_awards" target="_blank">Padma awardees</a>, Heads of national and international organizations, distinguished scientists, social workers, and spiritual leaders."<br />
<br />
Among the several interesting contributions to the volume is "Some myths about language" by Duggirala Vasanta, Aditi Mukherjee, and Dipti Mishra-Sharma (pp. 95-99). Addressing a general audience, they briefly discuss the following 10 myths:<br />
<br />
Myth 1: Sanskrit is the ‘mother’ of all Indian languages.<br />
<br />
Myth 2: Borrowing from other languages or language-mixing ‘spoils’ the purity of a language.<br />
<br />
Myth 3: ‘Dialects’ are inferior to ‘languages’.<br />
<br />
Myth 4: ‘Script’ is an essential part of language.<br />
<br />
Myth 5: Exposing preschool children to multiple languages / scripts will hinder their cognitive growth.<br />
<br />
Myth 6: The alphabetic writing system of English is inherently superior compared to Indian scripts.<br />
<br />
Myth 7: Sign languages are not real languages / there is just one universal sign language.<br />
<br />
Myth 8: Men and women differ in their linguistic / spatial abilities because their brains are wired differently.<br />
<br />
Myth 9: Machine Translation (MT) will replace human translators.<br />
<br />
Myth 10: Machine Translation output quality is so bad that it is useless.<br />
<br />
Do take a look at these useful reminders.</div>
गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-49971509010851553542017-04-22T16:57:00.000+05:302017-04-22T16:57:09.351+05:30Myaamia revitalization and well-being<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Tove <a href="http://www.tove-skutnabb-kangas.org/" target="_blank">Skutnabb-Kangas</a> drew our attention to an <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-resurrect-lost-language-180962937" target="_blank">inspiring story of language "resurrection"</a>: that of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami-Illinois_language" target="_blank">Myaamia</a>, the language of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Tribe_of_Oklahoma" target="_blank">Miami tribe</a> in USA. As Lorraine Boissoneault says in the <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-resurrect-lost-language-180962937" target="_blank"><i>Smithsonian Magazine</i> article</a>, "Despite the threat of language extinction, despite the brutal history of genocide and forced removals, this is a story of hope. It’s about reversing time and making that which has sunk below the surface visible once more. This is the story of how a disappearing language came back to life—and how it’s bringing other lost languages with it".<br /><br />But it takes time, as linguists David Costa and Daryl Baldwin know. Costa has already spent 30 years on reviving Myaamia, and we're told that he "anticipates it’ll be another 30 or 40 before the puzzle is complete and all the historical records of the language are translated, digitally assembled, and made available to members of the tribe". As a project that will probably outlive its initiators, the focus has to be on youth. One result of their work has been wide institutional collaboration: "From this initiative came <a href="http://nationalbreathoflife.org/about-the-workshop" target="_blank">National Breath of Life Archival Institute for Indigenous Languages</a>. The workshop has been held in 2011, 2013, 2015 and is slated once again for 2017.... The workshop has hosted community members from 60 different languages already".<br /><br />And the benefits of this revitalization are startlingly tangible!<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
To emphasize the importance of indigenous languages, Baldwin and others researched the <a href="https://f1000research.com/articles/5-852/v1" target="_blank">health impact of speaking a native language</a>. They found that for indigenous bands in British Columbia, those who had at least 50 percent of the population fluent in the language saw 1/6 the rate of youth suicides compared to those with lower rates of spoken language. In the Southwestern U.S., tribes where the native language was spoken widely only had around 14 percent of the population that smoked, while that rate was 50 percent in the Northern Plains tribes, which have much lower language usage. Then there are the results they saw at Miami University: while graduation rates for tribal students were 44 percent in the 1990s, since the implementation of the language study program that rate has jumped to 77 percent.</blockquote>
As the website of <a href="http://www.healingthroughlanguage.org/" target="_blank">Healing Through Language</a> summarizes: "One tool for improving health has become apparent in recent years: language. Communities that maintain their Native language have lower suicide rates. Elders often find renewed vitality when called upon to help the younger generations recover a language. Youths in language programs graduate from high school at higher rates than those who take a mainstream language like Spanish."</div>
गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-17524476918304306042017-01-05T14:30:00.001+05:302020-09-09T18:33:35.874+05:30MTME needed beyond early grades<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In his fortnightly column, <a href="http://www.wipro.com/about-Wipro/Wipro-leadership-team/Anurag-Behar/" target="_blank">Anurag Behar</a> has just published '<a href="http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/cFaLH2HPxOwOsHK26Qbs1N/The-focus-for-education-in-2017.html" target="_blank">The focus for education in 2017</a>' - a comprehensive 'cheat-sheet' of 'approaches and issues, which will be worked upon and fought about, this year and next'. The list of 25 issues range from the high-minded (constitutional values) to the everyday (inadequate water in schools).<br />
<br />
About mother-tongue education, he says:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
21. Mother tongue is the most effective medium of education in early grades. However, given the reality of the social capital of English, all children must have the opportunity to learn the language.</blockquote>
In fact, mother-tongue medium (MTM) education is most effective not just in early grades. It is most effective <i>throughout</i> the schooling years. Several studies show that length of time spent in mother-tongue (L1) schooling is the best predictor of academic performance. This includes performance in the second language (L2). In the world's largest longitudinal study of minority education (over 210 000 students), <a href="http://escholarship.org/uc/item/65j213pt" target="_blank">Thomas and Collier</a> (2002: 7) conclude that 'the strongest predictor of L2 student achievement is the amount of formal L1 schooling. The more L1 grade-level schooling, the higher L2 achievement'. Early-exit to a dominant language does not yield good outcomes. What is needed is a mother-tongue based multilingual education (MTME).<br />
<br />
Regarding this study and another, <a href="http://www.tove-skutnabb-kangas.org/" target="_blank">Skutnabb-Kangas</a> and Dunbar (2010: 96) note, 'The length of MTM education was... more important than any other factor (and many were included) in predicting the educational success of bilingual students. It was also much more important than socio-economic status.' We've blogged earlier about their excellent <a href="http://bolii.blogspot.com/2010/05/indigenous-childrens-education-e-book.html" target="_blank">overview of education of indigenous peoples, tribals and minorities</a>. In the context of this post, see especially Chapter 8, 'What forms of education would be consistent with law and research?' (and section 8.1.3 therein).<br />
<br />
Earlier in their monograph, Skutnabb-Kangas and Dunbar also cite <a href="http://people.unisa.edu.au/kathleen.heugh" target="_blank">Kathleen Heugh</a>'s study (2000) in South Africa (<a href="http://bolii.blogspot.in/2009/09/afrikaans-and-mother-tongue.html" target="_blank">which we've blogged about too</a>) which shows that even under the racist policies of apartheid,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
secondary school pass rate rose, with 8 years of MTM, to 83.7% by 1976 and the English language as a subject pass rate rose to over 78%. When after the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soweto_riots" target="_blank">Soweto uprising</a> MTM education went down to only 4 years, with an earlier transition to English-medium, the secondary school pass rate declined to 44% by 1992, with a parallel decline in English language proficiency. (p. 53)</blockquote>
A final pair of examples for this post are from Assam and Odisha in India, from the work by <a href="http://ajitmohanty.org/" target="_blank">Ajit Mohanty</a> and his colleagues. In a well-controlled study, Bodo children learning in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodo_language" target="_blank">Bodo-medium</a> outperformed Bodos studying in the regional language <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assamese_language" target="_blank">Assamese</a>. In Odisha, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kui_language_(India)" target="_blank">Kui</a>-speaking tribal Kond children in Kui-Odia bilingual programmes 'in their later grades (i.e. the high school grades) were found to perform in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odia_language" target="_blank">Odia</a> language tasks at the same level as the Odia-only monolingual children'. (Skutnabb-Kangas and Dunbar, pp. 97, and 70-71)<br />
<br />
So, a more accurate phrasing of Behar's point would be:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
21. Mother tongue is the most effective medium of education. Given India's multilingual reality and the social capital of English, all children must have the opportunity to get a mother-tongue based multilingual education.</blockquote>
</div>
गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-52068687662396896622016-12-29T20:03:00.000+05:302016-12-29T20:03:51.419+05:302019 UN Year of Indigenous Languages <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In November 2016, the <a href="http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/C.3/71/L.17/Rev.1" target="_blank">71st session</a> of the United Nations <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_General_Assembly" target="_blank">General Assembly</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
13. [<i>Proclaimed</i>] the year beginning on 1 January 2019 the International Year of Indigenous Languages, to draw attention to the critical loss of indigenous languages and the urgent need to preserve, revitalize and promote indigenous languages and to take further urgent steps at the national and international levels, and invites the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to <a href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco-liaison-office-in-new-york/about-this-office/single-view/news/united_nations_general_assembly_proclaims_2019_as_the_intern/" target="_blank">serve as the lead agency</a> for the Year, in collaboration with other relevant agencies, within existing resources.</blockquote>
The session also '5. [<i>Reaffirmed</i>] the decision to convene a high-level event to mark the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_on_the_Rights_of_Indigenous_Peoples" target="_blank">Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples</a>, to be held during the seventy-first session of the General Assembly, in 2017'.<br />
<br />
Further, the Assembly '12. [<i>Decided</i>] to continue to observe in New York, Geneva and other United Nations offices every year on 9 August the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Day_of_the_World%27s_Indigenous_Peoples" target="_blank">International Day of Indigenous Peoples</a>, requests the Secretary-General to support the observance of the Day from within existing resources, and encourages Governments to observe the Day at the national level'.<br />
<br />
Earlier in the document, the Assembly noted that it was:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Deeply concerned</i> at the vast number of endangered languages, in particular indigenous languages, and stressing that, despite the continuing efforts, there is an urgent need to preserve, promote and revitalize endangered languages,<br />[<i>Recognized</i>] the importance to indigenous peoples of revitalizing, using, developing and transmitting their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems and literature to future generations,</blockquote>
Let us hope that the annual observance, the high-level event in 2017, and the UN year in 2019 will raise awareness and result in more effective action.</div>
गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-59685880865909616572016-11-30T11:56:00.000+05:302016-11-30T11:56:36.742+05:30Privatisation, Discrimination and the Right to Education<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A 2015 report on <a href="http://www.iser-uganda.org/images/downloads/privatisation_discrimination_and_right_to_education.pdf" target="_blank">Privatisation, Discrimination and the Right to Education</a> (PDF) observes:<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The State is gradually releasing itself from its obligation to provide quality public education for all, as it is increasingly relying on private actors to provide education. Investment in education is nowhere near internationally agreed-upon norms.</li>
<li>The growing private sector in education has not been matched by appropriate regulatory, supervision and monitoring frameworks, resulting in many rights-issues in private schools.</li>
<li>Parents are often forced to resort to private schools because the public education system is largely failing, while private schools are often perceived to be of better quality. In that sense, the extent of ‘free choice’ exercised is debatable.</li>
<li>The fees attached to privately provided education are bound to result in discrimination by keeping more children out of school, particularly those from low-income households.</li>
<li>Moreover, expanding privatisation is very unlikely to ensure the enrolment of out-of-school children and may increase school dropout rates because of tuition and other fees.</li>
<li>Thus, the 'sad reality' is that parents with higher incomes can ensure a better education for their children, while the poorest children are forced to attend either failing public schools in marginalised areas or the lowest quality private schools.</li>
</ul>
<br />
This could have been a report from India. But this report is from Uganda. The issues afflicting education in developing countries are distressingly similar. This report, by Kampala-based Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (<a href="http://www.iser-uganda.org/" target="_blank">ISER</a>), sets out the international human rights framework in which privatisation of education must be seen. Indeed, ISER's <a href="http://www.iser-uganda.org/index.php/publications/reports.html" target="_blank">reports</a> consistently refer to the constitutional and international obligations that the country has, while balancing the realities of a market economy.<br />
<br />
As one of the authors of the report, Salima Namusobya, notes in a recent opinion piece, '<a href="https://www.devex.com/news/opinion-the-challenge-of-public-versus-private-schools-in-uganda-89231" target="_blank">The challenge of public versus private schools in Uganda</a>':<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Uganda and other developing countries should work towards sustainable, inclusive, quality education for all, while allowing for a well-regulated private education sector that supplements — but does not supplant — the public system, as advised by the July 2016 United Nations Human Rights Council resolution.</blockquote>
</div>
गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-77533264535833888162016-06-23T18:30:00.000+05:302016-06-23T18:30:03.867+05:30Stellenbosch University - New Language Policy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.sun.ac.za/index.asp" target="_blank">Stellenbosch University</a> (SU) has a new <a href="http://www.sun.ac.za/english/Documents/Language/Language%20Policy%20Final%20Draft%20Senate_IF_Council%2025%20May%202016.pdf" target="_blank">Language Policy</a> (PDF, 12 pages). The university went through an elaborate <a href="http://www.sun.ac.za/english/about-us/language" target="_blank">consulation exercise</a>. The policy in "essence"<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
advances institutional multilingualism and individual multilingualism in [the university's] academic, administrative, professional and social contexts. The Policy aims to increase equitable access to SU for all students and staff. Since our campuses are situated in the Western Cape, we commit ourselves to the promotion of the province’s three official languages, namely <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrikaans" target="_blank">Afrikaans</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language" target="_blank">English</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xhosa_language" target="_blank">isiXhosa</a>.</blockquote>
The policy comes in the wake of what a <a href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2016/06/22/Stellenbosch-University-accepts-equal-status-for-English%E2%80%9A-promises-to-grow-IsiXhosa" target="_blank">news report</a> describes as "chaotic scenes last year as student lobby group <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodes_Must_Fall#Stellenbosch_University" target="_blank">Open Stellenbosch</a> protested against the language policy‚ arguing that the policy "safeguards Afrikaner culture" and excludes black students. The group demanded that English be the main language of instruction."<br />
<br />
The new policy, though, gives equal status to the two languages: "Afrikaans and English are SU’s languages of learning and teaching" (p. 4). Section 7.5 of the policy, "Promotion of multilingualism" spells out some of the provisions for Afrikaans and isiXhosa.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
7.5.3 SU advances the academic potential of Afrikaans by means of, for example, teaching, conducting research, holding symposia, presenting short courses, supporting language teachers and hosting guest lecturers in Afrikaans; presenting Afrikaans language acquisition courses; developing academic and professional literacy in Afrikaans; supporting Afrikaans reading and writing development; providing language services that include translation into Afrikaans, and editing of and document design for Afrikaans texts; developing multilingual glossaries with Afrikaans as one of the languages; and promoting Afrikaans through popular-science publications in the general media.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
7.5.4 IsiXhosa as an emerging formal academic language receives particular attention for the purpose of its incremental introduction into selected disciplinary domains, prioritised in accordance with student needs in a well-planned, well-organised and systematic manner.... In certain programmes, isiXhosa is already used with a view to facilitating effective learning and teaching, especially where the use of isiXhosa may be important for career purposes. SU is commited to increasing the use of isiXhosa, to the extent that this is reasonably practicable, for example through basic communication skills short courses for staff and students, career-specific communication, discipline-specific terminology guides (printed and mobile applications) and phrase books.</blockquote>
Here are some other learning and teaching provisions of the new policy.<br />
<br />
7.1.3.2 Learning opportunities, such as group work, assignments, tutorials and practicals involving students from both language groups are utilised to promote integration within programmes.<br /><br />7.1.4 For undergraduate modules where both Afrikaans and English are used in the same class group...:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
7.1.4.1 During each lecture, all information is conveyed at least in English and summaries or emphasis on content are also given in Afrikaans. Questions in Afrikaans and English are, at the least, answered in the language of the question.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
7.1.4.3 For first-year modules, SU makes simultaneous interpreting available during each lecture. During the second and subsequent years of study, simultaneous interpreting is made available by SU upon request by a faculty, if the needs of the students warrant the service and SU has the resources to provide it. If two weeks have passed with no students making use of the interpreting service, it may be discontinued.</blockquote>
7.1.5.3 Where all the students in the class group agree to it by means of a secret ballot, the module will be presented in Afrikaans only or English only, provided that the relevant lecturers and teaching assistants have the necessary language proficiency and agree to do so.<br /><br />7.1.7.1 All compulsory reading material is provided in English except where the module is about the language itself.<br /><br />7.1.7.2 Compulsory reading material (excluding published material) is also provided in Afrikaans unless it is not reasonably practicable to do so.<br /><br />7.1.8 Question papers for tests, examinations and other summative assessments are available in Afrikaans and English. Students may answer all assessments and submit all written work in Afrikaans or English.<br /><br />7.1.9 In postgraduate learning and teaching any language may be used provided all the relevant students are sufficiently proficient in that language.<br /><br />7.1.10.1 Where students or staff need alternative texts such as Braille or enlarged texts as a means to communicate and understand information and these are not available, the relevant member of staff should liaise with SU’s Braille Office to arrange the timeous availability of the alternative texts.<br /><br />7.1.10.2 As <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_Sign_Language" target="_blank">South African Sign Language</a> is the primary means of communication for some Deaf people, a sign language interpreter and/or real-time captioning is available during lectures, tutorials and principal SU public events, where it is required and it is reasonably practicable to do so.<br />
<br />
The policy lapses after 5 years from its date of implementation. Within this period, or latest during its fifth year, it must be reviewed.</div>
गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-24671922625048071742016-06-17T21:21:00.000+05:302016-06-17T21:21:55.630+05:30Exams and suicides<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My colleague <a href="https://rohitdhankar.com/about-me/" target="_blank">Rohit Dhankar</a> has an essay in today's <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/" target="_blank"><i>The Hindu</i></a> called "<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/staying-power-of-the-passfail-system/article8737707.ece" target="_blank">Staying power of the pass-fail system</a>". It gives a historical and sociocultural perspective on why examinations dominate our education system. Here is one of his conclusions:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
But it seems that the biggest force behind the persistence of this curse [of a] useless examination system is a social one which is grossly under-examined. We are a caste-based and strictly hierarchical society. In earlier times, this hierarchy had the iron-clad stability of the caste system. That determined the place, function, work and life of an Indian even before his/her birth. There are attempts now, which range from constitutional rights to political struggle, to break that mould. It may not have been dismantled yet, but is under tremendous pressure ever since the freedom movement began.<br /><br />But social hierarchies involve privileges, prestige and goods of life that are cherished by all. [No one] is ready to let go of the privileges one has. As a result... attempts to maintain the old hierarchy as well as... ways to challenge it look toward education. Education, therefore, becomes a means of fierce competition either to remain in one’s position of privilege or to rise in the hierarchy. It completely stops being a self-motivated way of forming an authentic self and gaining an understanding of the world, and is reduced to a means to beat/best the neighbour. A more open and thoughtful system of education will challenge the hierarchies which are so dear to a caste-minded Indian. The result is that the authoritarian system of pass-fail stays.</blockquote>
The months of March through June in India are fraught with news reports of students commiting suicide because of the examination system. "<a href="http://www.asianage.com/columnists/let-s-rethink-need-board-exams-383" target="_blank">When will we ever learn?</a>" asks an anguished teacher Devi Kar. As she chillingly says of our suicides: "Our children are usually found hanging from ceiling fans."<br />
<br />
Dhankar's <a href="https://rohitdhankar.com/2016/06/17/staying-power-of-the-pass-fail-system/" target="_blank">essay</a> (also available on his bilingual blog <a href="https://rohitdhankar.com/" target="_blank"><i>Thinking Aloud</i></a>) notes: "There is no commission or committee report after Independence which does not acknowledge the burden of rote learning and the examination system on its students and its futility in assessing their real abilities." In fact, a decade ago, the magazine <a href="http://indiatoday.intoday.in/" target="_blank"><i>India Today</i></a> told us several heart-rending stories about these "<a href="http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/growing-number-of-students-commits-suicide-over-exams/1/194023.html" target="_blank">Killer Exams</a>". It concluded by suggesting the following measures:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Instead of one-shot terminals, exams would be staggered over two semesters to ease pressure.</li>
<li>Evaluations would be a mix of internal and external. No sprinting through answer papers.</li>
<li>Restricting the number of pre-board exams and possibly banning them altogether.</li>
<li>A combination of multiple choice and traditional questions to test understanding and broad skills and not just memory.</li>
<li>No more failures in the new grading system being evolved</li>
</ul>
A decade later in 2016, we seem to be no better in stopping our children from killing themselves because of the examination system.</div>
गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-22145101340647976232016-03-14T16:01:00.000+05:302016-03-14T16:01:22.952+05:30RTE is not causing schools to close - APF Report<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A new report from Azim Premji Foundation (<a href="http://www.azimpremjifoundation.org/">APF</a>) argues that India's Right to Education Act (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_Children_to_Free_and_Compulsory_Education_Act">RTE</a>) "does not in any way by design seek closure of private schools, so long as [the Act's] norms are met. As revealed in this report, it doesn’t seem to result in closure of private schools in practice either, at least in districts of the 7 States and 1 UT where the Foundation operates." (p. 8)<br />
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As the report, "Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009 and Private School Closure in India" (11 pages; PDFs <a href="http://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/SitePages/pdf/Right-to-Education-Act-2009-and-Private-School-Closure.pdf">here</a> and <a href="http://www.azimpremjifoundation.org/sites/default/files/Right-to-Education-Act-2009-and-Private-School-Closure.pdf">here</a>) notes, this is not the dominant narrative about the effect of RTE on private schools. Predictably, the report has raised something of a storm. "Many schools, mostly those under state board syllabus, have voluntarily closed down unable to bear the rigid RTE rules. The study is blind to ground realities," said the Secretary of the Associated Managements of English Medium Schools in Karnataka. A <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/education/azim-premji-university-study-rejects-claim-that-rte-act-has-resulted-in-shutdown-of-private-schools/articleshow/51339206.cms">newspaper reports him saying</a> that, "over 200 economy schools in Karnataka have closed due to the RTE". In contrast, the APF report finds that in the 69 districts that it surveyed:<br />
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only five schools closed down out of a total 34,756 private schools. Of these five schools, four schools were closed in Karnataka (all four in Yadgir district) and only one school was closed in Bageshwar district in Uttarakhand. It could not be ascertained whether non-compliance of RTE alone was the reason for these school closures. Also, whether the schools that were closed, were ‘recognized private’ or ‘unrecognized private’ schools is not stated. ‘Unrecognized private’ schools in any case do not have the license to function. (p.3) </blockquote>
Punjab is one of the states which the APF report does not survey. A 2014 report by Centre for Civil Society (<a href="http://ccs.in/">CCS</a>), informs us that, "The education department of Punjab released a list of 1170 private schools closed down for the year 2013-14. While approaching the school owners of private schools, it came into limelight that some of the schools have been shut down under the RTE before the prescribed deadline [April 2014]." The CCS report (7 pages, <a href="http://ccs.in/sites/default/files/research/research_school-closures-punjab.pdf">PDF here</a>) then goes on to investigate in two districts of Punjab the impact of these closures on the various stakeholders.<br />
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Thus the picture may be varied across the country and needs more investigation.</div>
गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028220025584012684.post-83672691400629699452015-12-14T18:48:00.000+05:302015-12-14T18:48:46.127+05:30Telugu-medium students do better at math than English-medium students - report<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A recent report (<a href="http://www.younglives.org.uk/publications/WP/medium-of-instruction-and-learning-outcomes-in-india">PDF</a>, 18 p. + appendices) concludes that "Telugu (mother tongue) medium students on an average perform significantly better as compared to English medium students after controlling for students ability, household characteristics and parental aspiration. This analysis suggests that introducing English medium of instruction at earlier grades during school life may negatively affect learning outcomes of students."<br />
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The report's author P. Sree Kumar Nair compared math test score data of 182 primary school students from 78 English-medium schools and 694 students in 144 Telugu-medium schools in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. He asks "does medium of instruction affect learning outcomes?" His answer is yes, it does. But the material conditions of these two groups of students are quite different. He notes:<br />
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"Summary statistics indicate that Telugu medium students are still substantial in number and are a disadvantaged lot as they not only have fewer infrastructural facilities but also their nutritional levels are significantly lower than their counterparts. Such a situation leads to lower cognitive development of students. Moreover Human Development Report of Telangana (2014) also reveals that there is lesser accountability on the part of government school permanent teachers that offer Telugu medium education. Against all such odds, there exists a strong potential for Telugu medium students to perform better. Thus, this evidence supports the claim that this paper strives to make about the need to give importance to mother tongue based education at primary levels of education." (p. 16)<br />
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Thus, the report cautions against changing the medium of primary education from Telugu to English. "In other words, a step towards a transition of schools at primary level from Telugu to English medium might create larger inequalities by widening the gap in the achievement levels.... Moreover, insistence on instruction in English is certainly a barrier for the poor, rural and lower caste students as revealed by this study." (p. 16-17).</div>
गिरिधर | giridhar | గిరిధర్http://www.blogger.com/profile/00964919802142337619noreply@blogger.com0