Governments worldwide employ a spectrum of strategies to prevent borrowings in their state languages, particularly from English, reflecting deep-seated concerns about cultural identity, linguistic purity, and political sovereignty.

These interventions range from stringent legislative bans and regulatory frameworks to educational reforms, financial investments, and grassroots mobilization, all shaped by the sociocultural and political contexts of each country.

**Legislative and Regulatory Approaches** Italy exemplifies a robust legislative response with its proposed Language Protection Bill, spearheaded by the nationalist Brothers of Italy party.

The bill seeks to prohibit the use of foreign terms, especially English, in official communications, asserting that English "demeans and mortifies" Italians.

It mandates that all job-related applications be submitted in Italian, allowing foreign terms only when no Italian equivalent exists, and imposes fines up to 100,000 euros for violations.

This initiative underscores a legal commitment to promoting the "language of Dante" and resisting English encroachment in public and private sectors .

France’s Toubon Law is another prominent example, requiring the use of French in official documents and public signage to safeguard the French language from English borrowings.

This law institutionalizes linguistic protection and reflects a broader European trend of legislating against English dominance in public life and education .

Quebec, Canada, has enacted Bill 96, which will take effect in June 2025.

The law requires French to be the predominant language in commercial signage and mandates that businesses with 25 to 49 employees register with the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) to demonstrate the use of French in their operations.

This includes undergoing a linguistic analysis and obtaining a francization certificate, aiming to promote French and limit English influence in business contexts .

Estonia’s language development plan seeks to phase out independent Russian schools by 2035, reflecting a nationalistic approach to language policy aimed at reinforcing Estonian identity and reducing foreign linguistic influence .

In Russia, language is wielded as a political tool, with writers framing language preservation as part of a "linguistic war" and national identity, especially amid geopolitical tensions with Ukraine .

**Educational Policies and Language Planning** India’s language policy is multifaceted, balancing the promotion of Hindi as a national language with efforts to support regional languages.

The government has advocated for Hindi to replace English as the "link language" in government work, making Hindi compulsory in schools and using it in official communications.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has urged the promotion of local languages in higher education, and the National Education Policy 2020 encourages the use of mother tongues in instruction, with initiatives to produce textbooks in regional languages.

Assam’s plan for bilingual textbooks in English and local languages for core subjects reflects a nuanced approach to language education .

Nigeria’s National Language Policy mandates mother tongue instruction in primary education to improve literacy and learning outcomes, with English introduced later.

However, implementation has been delayed due to a lack of qualified teachers and educational materials, highlighting the challenges of operationalizing such policies .

Ghana’s policy requires the use of the child’s first language as the medium of instruction from kindergarten through Grade Three, transitioning to English thereafter, though critics argue for a more balanced approach .

South Africa, despite constitutional recognition of multiple official languages, faces the dominance of English in government departments.

The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities has recommended establishing language service centers and promoting indigenous languages in education and government functions.

Education Minister Angie Motshekga has emphasized teaching in home languages, especially in foundational education phases, to promote linguistic diversity and cultural heritage .

**Technological and Cultural Initiatives** China and India are developing native-language large language models (LLMs) to address cost disparities and accessibility issues associated with English-language AI technologies, reflecting governmental recognition of the need to preserve and promote local languages amid English’s global dominance .

In China, the National Language Promotion Base is part of broader efforts to assert cultural identity and counter linguistic imperialism .

Cultural festivals and community-driven initiatives also play a role.

Pakistan’s Mother Languages Literature Festival, supported by government and cultural organizations, promotes linguistic diversity by emphasizing mother tongue education and encouraging policies prioritizing local languages .

In Ireland, the Conradh na Gaeilge organization advocates for allocating 0.4% of the national budget to support Irish language revival, reflecting both governmental and grassroots recognition of the need to counteract English influence .

**Suppression and Political Control of Minority Languages** Some governments regulate language use by suppressing minority languages, indirectly affecting borrowing dynamics.

In Iran, the Azerbaijani language is banned in media, literature, and arts, infringing on the rights of Azerbaijanis and suppressing cultural identity .

Myanmar’s "Burmanisation" policies promote Burmese at the expense of ethnic languages, leading to their decline among younger generations .

**Media Influence and Governmental Response** Media is a powerful driver of language borrowing, especially from English.

In Korea, Kwon Jae-il, chairperson of the Korean Language Society, has criticized the trend of adding English suffixes to Korean words, particularly in media, viewing it as detrimental to the language’s integrity.

He calls for public organizations and media to use standardized Korean to prevent further erosion .

In the UK, teachers have noted the need to teach standard English to counteract media-driven language changes among students, as British schoolchildren have developed American accents after extensive exposure to US videos and TV programs .

**International Comparisons and Effectiveness** The effectiveness of language protection laws varies.

Italy’s proposed fines and Quebec’s francization requirements represent strong enforcement mechanisms, while South Africa’s efforts are hampered by budget constraints and lack of skilled personnel .

In Kenya, the decline of native languages is linked to educational policies favoring English and Kiswahili, with growing advocacy for government policies promoting indigenous language teaching in schools .

Ukraine’s new minority language law, which restores some rights for the Hungarian minority, has been criticized for not fully complying with international recommendations, highlighting the political complexities of language legislation .

**Grassroots and Community-Led Efforts** Grassroots movements complement governmental interventions.

The Cherokee Nation’s "Durbin Feeling Language Preservation Act" allocates $16 million to establish immersion schools and a language center, emphasizing community engagement to revitalize the Cherokee language .

In Ireland, over 130 affiliated groups work collectively to fund education and support services for Irish language revival .

The Macanese youth movement revitalizes the endangered Patuá creole language through arts, emphasizing cultural identity and heritage preservation .

**Academic and Institutional Roles** Academia shapes language policy and public attitudes through research, advocacy, and collaboration with governments.

Conferences and research initiatives explore the intersections of linguistics, cultural identity, and technology, influencing supportive language policies .

Scholars advocate for translanguaging approaches in education, integrating both English and mother tongues to enhance learning outcomes and challenge the dominance of English .

Institutions like India’s Sahitya Akademi promote literature and language diversity, though they face challenges such as bureaucratization and reduced accessibility to younger generations .

**Sociocultural and Political Contexts** The drive to regulate borrowings is often rooted in concerns over cultural erosion, linguistic imperialism, and the desire to preserve national identity.

Public attitudes range from protective resistance, as seen in Finland’s emotional resistance to English influence , to adaptive acceptance, as in India, where younger generations embrace English as part of their identity while remaining aware of the risks of diluting native languages .

The distinction between cultural appropriation and appreciation is significant, with appropriation viewed negatively when it involves power imbalances and lack of respect for origins .

**Conclusion** Governments employ a diverse array of legal, educational, technological, and cultural strategies to prevent borrowings in their state languages, especially from English.

The success of these interventions depends on enforcement mechanisms, resource allocation, community involvement, and the broader sociopolitical context.

While some countries adopt stringent legal measures, others focus on educational reforms, technological innovation, or grassroots mobilization.

The ongoing tension between globalization-driven English dominance and efforts to preserve linguistic heritage underscores the complexity of regulating language borrowing in a rapidly changing world [d209a6c6_1

Governments worldwide employ a spectrum of strategies to prevent borrowings in their state languages, particularly from English, reflecting deep-seated concerns about cultural identity, linguistic purity, and political sovereignty.

These interventions range from stringent legislative bans and regulatory frameworks to educational reforms, financial investments, and grassroots mobilization, all shaped by the sociocultural and political contexts of each country.

**Legislative and Regulatory Approaches** Italy exemplifies a robust legislative response with its proposed Language Protection Bill, spearheaded by the nationalist Brothers of Italy party.

**Legislative and Regulatory Approaches** Italy exemplifies a robust legislative response with its proposed Language Protection Bill, spearheaded by the nationalist Brothers of Italy party.

**Legislative and Regulatory Approaches** Italy exemplifies a robust legislative response with its proposed Language Protection Bill, spearheaded by the nationalist Brothers of Italy party.

The bill seeks to prohibit the use of foreign terms, especially English, in official communications, asserting that English "demeans and mortifies" Italians.

The bill seeks to prohibit the use of foreign terms, especially English, in official communications, asserting that English "demeans and mortifies" Italians.

The bill seeks to prohibit the use of foreign terms, especially English, in official communications, asserting that English "demeans and mortifies" Italians.

It mandates that all job-related applications be submitted in Italian, allowing foreign terms only when no Italian equivalent exists, and imposes fines up to 100,000 euros for violations.

It mandates that all job-related applications be submitted in Italian, allowing foreign terms only when no Italian equivalent exists, and imposes fines up to 100,000 euros for violations.

It mandates that all job-related applications be submitted in Italian, allowing foreign terms only when no Italian equivalent exists, and imposes fines up to 100,000 euros for violations.

This initiative underscores a legal commitment to promoting the "language of Dante" and resisting English encroachment in public and private sectors .

Title:

Content: Advertisement

New Liberal English language critic says he feels the angst in the community

Quebec's political parties are bracing for a fall language debate with the Liberals changing their point person for the English-speaking community. David Birnbaum will replace Greg Kelley in the strategic role.

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QUEBEC — David Birnbaum knows the road ahead will not be an easy one.

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As Quebec braces for a fresh debate about language this fall at the National Assembly — one that the English-speaking community would have preferred to avoid — the veteran Liberal anglophone MNA says he knows all about the mood out there.

“There’s no underestimating the level of concern and anger in the English-speaking community,” Birnbaum said in an interview with the Montreal Gazette. “I hear about it quite constantly.

“It’s my responsibility to make sure that anger is channelled and heard and addressed with transparency, courage and honesty. At the end of the day there are always compromises necessary but those compromises have to be respectful of the two pillars I mentioned.

“Can both play their full role? The promotion and strength of the French language and the continued and legitimate place of the English speaking community and its rights to its services in its language.”

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Birnbaum last week found himself thrust back into the hot seat of minority issues when Liberal leader Dominique Anglade shuffled her shadow cabinet of caucus critics to prepare for the 2022 general election.

Out as the opposition critic for relations with English-speaking Quebecers is Jacques-Cartier Gregory Kelley. In to replace him is Birnbaum, the MNA for D’Arcy-McGee who also retains his role as critic for mental health issues.

Liberal officials said Friday that Kelley was moved so he can spend more time on his other major portfolio: Indigenous affairs.

First elected in 2014, Birnbaum, 65, is no stranger to the themes on the table, from access to services in English to calls for a beefing up of language laws.

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Before being elected the MNA for D’Arcy-McGee, Birnbaum worked 10 years as director-general of the old anglophone lobby group, Alliance Quebec, plus another 10 as director-general of the Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA).

He steps into the role just as the language debate roars to life. A committee of the legislature will hold hearings into the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s proposed overhaul of the Charter of the French Language, Bill 96.

Those hearings start Sept. 21.

The Liberal opposition critic for the French language is Hélène David. At the hearings she will have the main job of questioning the minister responsible for French, Simon Jolin-Barrette, on the part of the official Liberal opposition, but Birnbaum will have a place at the committee table too.

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The Bill 96 debate puts the Liberals in an awkward position: desperate to defend French to rebuild fences with francophone Quebecers while not irritating its traditional loyal base of English-speaking voters.

The Liberals are trying to play it both ways, presenting in April their own 27-point language reform package which, in some respects, mirrors ideas in the CAQ’s own bill.

On the other hand, the Liberal policy paper also reaches out to English-speaking Quebecers by saying the party will defend their right to services.

“Before (the CAQ) tabled their bill, the Liberal Party put forth detailed and inclusive proposals that balance the two imperatives: the place of our community and our role to secure and promote the French language,” Birnbaum said.

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“The CAQ doesn’t seem to worry about the English-speaking side of that imperative. We do.

“We’ve worked to build bridges. I don’t think the CAQ even has that on its list, to look for that common ground. They get to a bridge and look at destroying it. So our approaches are radically different. The job is really tough but our community has got to be heard.”

Birnbaum described Bill 96 as “deeply flawed,” a view shared by English lobby groups such as the Quebec Community Groups Network. Birnbaum said the Liberals will be seeking “serious and substantive” amendments to the proposed bill as the adoption process unfolds.

Birnbaum said he too has heard complaints from the English community that it is under-represented among the groups presenting briefs to the committee. Of the 52 people and organizations to be heard over the nine days of hearings, only three represent the anglophone community.

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Also excluded is QESBA plus the new language lobby, the Task Force on Linguistic Policy being organized by Cowansville lawyer Colin Standish.

The hearings are expected to become a kind of tug-of-war between groups that think the bill goes too far and those that think it does not go far enough.

Birnbaum said he is disappointed the group is not more diverse but defended his party from hardline anglophone critics who say the Liberals have gone too far down the nationalist path with the CAQ in its zeal to gain francophone support.

Birnbaum said the Liberals remain the only party in the legislature defending and balancing the need to protect French and the English-speaking community at the same time.

“They (in the CAQ) are not balancing two priorities,” Birnbaum said. “They should be. They are the government of Quebec.”

pauthier@postmedia.com

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France’s Toubon Law is another prominent example, requiring the use of French in official documents and public signage to safeguard the French language from English borrowings.

France’s Toubon Law is another prominent example, requiring the use of French in official documents and public signage to safeguard the French language from English borrowings.

France’s Toubon Law is another prominent example, requiring the use of French in official documents and public signage to safeguard the French language from English borrowings.

This law institutionalizes linguistic protection and reflects a broader European trend of legislating against English dominance in public life and education .

Title:

Content: Intermarriage, policies pushing Kenya’s native tongues into oblivion

A famous quote attributed to writer Ngugi wa Thiongo underscores the importance of mother tongues: “If you know all the languages in the world and do not know your mother tongue, that’s enslavement, and if you know your mother tongue and add all the languages in the world to it, that’s empowerment.”

But when children cannot speak their mother tongues, who is to blame? Parents, guardians or the children themselves?

Sasha Idebe, 23, says she wanted to learn the native languages of her parents but she didn’t get that opportunity since she grew up in Nairobi. But she doesn’t think she has to learn the languages.

“My mother is a Kisii and my dad is a Luhya. Growing up was difficult because both my parents could only communicate in Kiswahili,” she said.

“The only time I would hear my parents speak in their mother tongues was when they would talk to my aunts upcountry, and they never taught us the languages in school,” she added.

Until the 1990s, it was fairly common for Kenyan children to speak at least three languages fluently — their mother tongue, English and Kiswahili. But now many only speak Kiswahili and English. Some parents even prefer to teach their children English as their first language.

On the streets, it is common to hear someone say: “Nasikia tu lakini sijui kuongea” (I understand the language but I can’t speak it).

Esther Lutukai grew up in Lang’ata, Nairobi, in a family of five. Her parents are both Luhya, “but the only thing I know is saying hello, because my parents never taught us to speak the language.”

“When I was growing up, my dad worked in South Africa, so there were minimal interactions with my mum in Luhya, and it was hard for me and my siblings to grasp the language,” she added.

“I have a son and his father is from Central Kenya, so it is difficult to teach him a mother tongue, because I can’t speak Luhya and his father cannot speak Kikuyu, so his first language is English.”

Keith Salmini, 22, a student who has a Digo father and a Kamba mother, never learned to speak his parents’ native languages and has no interest in learning them, though he said he enjoys listening to people speak their mother tongues.

“My siblings and I grew up in Mombasa, so definitely our first language is Kiswahili,” he said.

He added: “I know and I feel it is important to know our mother tongue because it is our culture, and we need to pass it to the next generation, but I am not doing a good job of it, and my parents did not help at all.”

As a child, Maimuna Mikidadi, 25, did not see the importance of learning the native languages of her parents, until she started seeking job opportunities.

“I didn’t think of it as a big deal until I was older. My mother is from Central Kenya while my father is from Ethiopia. His ethnicity is Oromo,” she said.

Her mother spoke Kikuyu with their neighbours but for her and her brother, their “first language was Kiswahili, [cross-cultural marriage] affects the mother tongue tradition”.

She said she wanted to speak her father’s native language “so bad” but did not learn it, though she understands some Kikuyu “but I cannot speak a word”.

“If I get a husband who will give the time of day to my children and teach them his mother tongue, well and good, but if he doesn’t know his language, I guess we will just go with Kiswahili and English,” Ms Mikidadi said.

Though Kenyan native tongues are slowly sliding into oblivion, Kiswahili and English seem to be marching steadily ahead. Both languages are thought to open up opportunities in the job market for those who speak them fluently. Ironically, post-independence progress has been made by prioritising the two languages, when colonial policies discriminating against mother tongues no longer exist.

A recent report, Extinct and Endangered Languages, by Unesco stated that 16 of Kenya’s 42 languages are at serious risk of disappearing. The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues estimates that of the world’s 6,700 languages, one indigenous language dies every two weeks.

The UN classifies indigenous peoples in Africa as mainly hunter-gatherers and pastoralists. Could this narrow definition be restricting the protection of all African mother tongues as indigenous?

Ironically, language revivalists expend substantial human and financial resources in research on indigenous languages that are dying or have died.

Joyce Nyairo, a cultural analyst and author, argues that current education policies have contributed to the death of native languages. “The reason these languages are dying is that our education policy does not encourage native languages and they are viewed as inferior,” she said. “Now you find that if you are speaking English, you will look like you are more educated, but if we are genuine in fighting ethnicity, start teaching the native languages in school.

She added that there must be a policy to make it mandatory for everyone to at least know two Kenyan languages.

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Quebec, Canada, has enacted Bill 96, which will take effect in June 2025.

Quebec, Canada, has enacted Bill 96, which will take effect in June 2025.

Quebec, Canada, has enacted Bill 96, which will take effect in June 2025.

The law requires French to be the predominant language in commercial signage and mandates that businesses with 25 to 49 employees register with the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) to demonstrate the use of French in their operations.

This includes undergoing a linguistic analysis and obtaining a francization certificate, aiming to promote French and limit English influence in business contexts .

Title:

Content: UGC urges governors, CMs, to encourage teaching, learning in mother tongue

Kumar noted that it is a matter of concern that the textbooks and study materials are unavailable in local languages for many of the courses in higher education, science, commerce, and professional courses.

PTIUpdated: Friday, February 17, 2023, 08:56 PM IST
Representational image |

New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has written to all governors and chief ministers requesting them to encourage teaching and learning, and the production of textbooks in their mother tongue in their Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), according to chairman M Jagadesh Kumar.

"Teaching through Indian languages is a key area of focus of the National Education Policy 2020. The policy emphasises the importance of teaching and teaching materials in the mother tongue. It is heartening to note that textbooks in the mother tongue and local languages are promoted and used by higher education institutions in our country," Kumar said.

"Teaching is also being imparted in the mother tongue and local language in many college and university undergraduate programmes in social sciences, commerce, and science. This has benefited students from all strata of our society, particularly the disadvantaged sections and those residing in rural and remote areas," he added.

Kumar noted that it is a matter of concern that the textbooks and study materials are unavailable in local languages for many of the courses in higher education, science, commerce and professional courses. "Hence as a first step in providing quality education in the mother tongue medium as recommended in NEP 2020, it is desired that textbooks may be produced in the mother tongue, local language through writing or translation for the subjects of which textbooks are not available in mother tongue and local language at present.

"Promotion of writing or translation of textbooks and teaching process in undergraduate and postgraduate levels in higher education through mother tongue medium will have greater results in improved Gross Enrolment Ratio from 27 percent to 50 percent by 2035, increased access to disadvantageous social groups, and better reach.

"There is a need to strengthen these efforts and promote such initiatives as writing textbooks in the mother tongue and encouraging the use of the local language in teaching, including translating good books from other languages," he added.

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Content: Back To Top
Hashtag Korea

'Destruction' from within: Linguist calls for efforts to safeguard Korean language

Korean Language Society chairperson laments diminishing respect for Korean language from its native speakers, public organizations and media

[HERALD INTERVIEW]

Kwon Jae-il, chairperson of the Korean Language Society (Courtesy of Kwon Jae-il)

Among the key elements of a language -- its vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar -- grammar is the least affected by foreign influence, but Kwon Jae-il, chairperson of the 115-year-old Korean Language Society, says he has noticed the "destruction" of Korean grammar for some years now.

One example of such "destruction" prevalent on television shows and in other media, is the trend of adding the English suffix “-er,” as in “doer,” to all kinds of Korean words. Someone who is good at making up his mind (“gyeolshim”), for instance, is called a “pro gyeolshim-ler.”

“To think that this could spread further and get fixated (in the Korean language) is horrendous,” said Kwon, a professor emeritus of linguistics at Seoul National University, told The Korea Herald.

“It’s a much bigger destruction compared to incorrect pronunciations or misusing of words.”

Destruction of the Korean language in terms of pronunciation has long been underway, with news broadcasters mixing up rules on how to pronounce certain syllables with long or short vowels, according to Kwon.

Mispronunciation of final consonants before vowels is commonplace. “꽃이,” or the word “flower” (“kkot”) followed with a vowel, should be pronounced as “kkochi,” but is commonly mispronounced as “kkoshi.”

“Adopting broken English halfway is the worst case of destruction. And political parties and government agencies are at its forefront,” Kwon said.

In one example, Seoul city government named a project to retrain women whose careers have been interrupted, “Women Up.”

“Naming a public policy in a way no one would understand shows such destruction at its height,” Kwon said.

Koreans have long used abbreviations, or the shortening of phrases by using only the first syllable of each word, and their usage among peer groups isn’t a problem, but they can impede communication between different generations.

The older generation uses abbreviations like “yeta,” short for “preliminary feasibility study.” Homemakers use “cho pum ah,” short for “apartment complex that has an elementary school within it.” Younger Koreans use “ah ah,” short for “ice Americano.”

“What can be understood or excused within a peer group can hamper communication, which is the key function of any language, once it comes out of that group,” Kwon said.

“I witnessed a case at a Mongolian university where pupils who had been in Korea for a year as exchange students used Korean abbreviations and neologisms, which their professors in Mongolia didn’t understand, and the students wouldn’t trust them.”

If too many of these words get in the way of communication, it could lower the overall Korean language proficiency level of Koreans, Kwon said.

The media, educational institutions and public organizations need to make more effort to use standardized Korean in public spaces, and work together with groups like the Korean Language Society to raise public awareness of the matter, he stressed.

caption: Kwon Jae-il

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)
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LATEST NEWS

Estonia’s language development plan seeks to phase out independent Russian schools by 2035, reflecting a nationalistic approach to language policy aimed at reinforcing Estonian identity and reducing foreign linguistic influence .

Title:

Content: Karl Lembit Laane: Russian schools, Jakob Hurt and would-be Estonianness

Any attempt to rob a person of their nationality is among the greatest crimes one can commit against a human being and justifies resistance, Karl Lembit Laane writes based on the ideas of Jakob Hurt.

Estonian nationalism has been preoccupied with the so-called Russian question since the 1990s. The question of what to do with the local Russian minority.

Proposals to that effect have always included a voice urging the direct or indirect erasure of Russian nationhood in Estonia and dismantling of institutions manufacturing Russian identity. Independent Russian schools are one such institution.

By late 2021, we know from the national Estonian language development plan that the end of the institution will happen gradually between now and 2035. Estonian nationalism seems to have arrived at a final solution.

Among Socrates' endless conversations, we find two claims that could be considered teachings. That it is "better to harm oneself than others" and that it is "better to be at odds with the world than with oneself."

Therefore, it would perhaps be good to return to the origins of Estonian nationalism and consider how our ancestors would have answered this question were they among us today – among people who are rulers in their own land, as opposed to subjects, and whose actions determine the fate of the peoples they rule over.

What would Jakob Hurt, who knew that Estonians would never become great in number and could only become great in spirit, think of our solution?

In his 1874 speech titled "Current Estonian Affairs" that was given at the Livonian Teachers Synod where the national aspirations of Estonian ministers had been suppressed, Hurt offered three ideas that can be considered noteworthy in the current context:

Firstly:

"Every nation has a natural and God-given right to exist and develop… Every… violent repopulation committed against that nation's will constitutes interfering with the natural order of things… and a spiritual massacre against the progression of humanity that will prove extremely costly in the end."

In other words, any attempt to strip a person of their nationality is among the greatest crimes one can commit against a human being and justifies resistance.

Secondly, a person's language hides the center of their nationality:

"Language holds layer upon layer of the wisdom of centuries past, it affects how we think and desire, our heart and frame of mind. Language is the tool through which spirit manifests itself… Uprooting a person from the soil of their mother tongue and the traditions of their forebears… it cannot but have the gravest of effects. As far as language and customs are mixed and spoiled, a person's spiritual and emotional life will wither. Their thinking will become muddy, their sight blurred, distinctions blunt and feelings bleak. Tradition will be turned into a conglomerate of borrowed false luster… Life take on a shapeless, often distasteful form."

That is what Hurt believed would happen were a person stripped of their language and customs. This effect manifested among Estonians who acted like would-be Germans.

Thirdly, native-language school was considered the best remedy against such a shameful human condition:

"Numerous Estonians have not just gained an education in German schools but have been renationalized and alienated from their people… As concerns folk schools then… they have traditionally taught in Estonian and can only teach in Estonian in the future. If there is, for instance, the desire to teach young people in a foreign language in parish schools, the latter will not learn the language nor take with them any other wisdom for life. The student's head would remain empty, their heart barren and bleak…"

The only surefire result would be "convincing oneself of the crazy notion of being German and doing what no true German has perhaps ever done: holding in contempt the people whence one came."

Almost 150 years later, Germans have been replaced by Russians and their mastery over Estonians overturned. I cannot tell you what degree of Estonian or type of school organization would be best from the point of view of national minorities – only they can answer that question.

However, I do believe we should remember the words we sing together at Song Festivals and that carry the spirit of Jakob Hurt: "Renouncing one's nationality is no less grievous than selling oneself into slavery."

I feel that is just what we are expecting our Russians to do. If that is indeed the case, we should ponder whether we are acting contrary to ourselves, harming those over whom we rule. Are we ruling as we ourselves would like to be ruled over? And what was the purpose of shaking off slavery? Was it freedom or merely becoming the slaver?

--

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Editor: Marcus Turovski

Hea lugeja, näeme et kasutate vanemat brauseri versiooni või vähelevinud brauserit.

Parema ja terviklikuma kasutajakogemuse tagamiseks soovitame alla laadida uusim versioon mõnest meie toetatud brauserist:

In Russia, language is wielded as a political tool, with writers framing language preservation as part of a "linguistic war" and national identity, especially amid geopolitical tensions with Ukraine .

Title:

Content: MyVoice: Views of our readers 15th March 2022

x

MyVoice: Views of our readers 15th March 2022

Highlights

Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Germany, France, Russia, Germany, and Israel using exclusively their own languages blow the myth of a connection between English medium and economic prosperity.

The English medium myth

Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Germany, France, Russia, Germany, and Israel using exclusively their own languages blow the myth of a connection between English medium and economic prosperity. By making English compulsory in schools and colleges as a medium of instruction, there is a destruction of culture and a deracination of its citizens. By trying to make English medium compulsory at primary level instead of allowing an Indian to reach the highest levels of arts and sciences in any vernacular language of comfort, our state policies are only hastening the demise of the great Indian culture based on Sanskrit and a huge number of vernacular languages (equally or more advanced than English). A destruction which even our colonials could not achieve.

Dr Pingali Gopal, Hanamkonda

Apropos "Telugu teachers face testing time over teaching in English medium" (14 March). English language politics both by the Centre and the state government continues to ruin the future of the students still in school/colleges and those who have completed. Leave alone Telugu teachers, even other languages including those who have completed their studies in English are not fully competent in English language. We can't blame them for being victims of unclear English language policy. Our policy makers continue to treat English as a subject and not as a skill. No wonder English teachers are also asked to teach Social Studies/EVS. If the classroom size is reduced and teachers are allowed to train the children in the English language, we can expect a change. A crash course for two months can't make a teacher competent.

Nagarajan, Hyderabad

EPF Trust stance not justified

Those were the days when EPF contributors were benefited with 12% interest. This rate of interest came down to 9% and now it is brought down further to 8.1%. The claim of the Employees' Provident Fund Trust that still the rate of interest is more than that is offered by the banks makes it clear that the Trust is viewing its activity mainly as a business rather than a Social Security related activity. The Trust has around Rs 9 lakh reserve, out of which it invests around 45% in government securities and around 5% in share market. It earns a good amount every year and therefore it should not be a problem to extend a higher rate of interest to contributors. It is time the government intervenes and ensures a higher rate of interest to its contributors to prove its benevolent character.

AG Rajmohan, Anantapur

Pak concerns on missiles valid

Pakistan raised meaningful questions and India should look into the technical malfunction that led to the accidental firing. Whatever has happened only confirms that in the army merit has been compromised to a large extent. Pakistan saved the subcontinent from unnecessary misery by its presence of mind and wisdom by not jumping to dangerous presumptions. It is now left to us to prove to them that the violation of their air space and putting their lives in danger was indeed an accident caused more by negligence and not by intent. Technical answers sought by them should be taken in a professional sense without needless nose lifts from both sides. We are indeed grateful to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for its presence of mind. Its very presence is indeed a boon to the subcontinent. Maybe you can your friends there to display the same presence of mind and wisdom to not sponsor terror attacks against Bharat.

CK Subramaniam, Mumbai

That Pakistan seeks joint probe into missile misfiring incident of India is a bit absurd. Pakistan has nothing to do with the incident, though its concern over the lapses is understandable. But India should take a serious note of the misfiring incident and fix the problem so that such blunder should never happen again. There should be zero tolerance for any error in highly sensitive areas like defence of the nation.

Dr DVG Sankararao, Vizianagaram

Gandhis a huge liability for Congress

Won't the Congressmen ever learn? If they're serious about forming an alternative to the BJP government, or, to at least function as an effective opposition so crucial in a democracy, it must be shepherded by somebody who is genuinely interested in the same. The present representatives of the Nehru-Gandhi family have been a colossal failure in infusing life into an organization that seriously lacks life.

Dr George Jacob, Kochi.

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**Educational Policies and Language Planning** India’s language policy is multifaceted, balancing the promotion of Hindi as a national language with efforts to support regional languages.

**Educational Policies and Language Planning** India’s language policy is multifaceted, balancing the promotion of Hindi as a national language with efforts to support regional languages.

**Educational Policies and Language Planning** India’s language policy is multifaceted, balancing the promotion of Hindi as a national language with efforts to support regional languages.

The government has advocated for Hindi to replace English as the "link language" in government work, making Hindi compulsory in schools and using it in official communications.

The government has advocated for Hindi to replace English as the "link language" in government work, making Hindi compulsory in schools and using it in official communications.

The government has advocated for Hindi to replace English as the "link language" in government work, making Hindi compulsory in schools and using it in official communications.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has urged the promotion of local languages in higher education, and the National Education Policy 2020 encourages the use of mother tongues in instruction, with initiatives to produce textbooks in regional languages.

Assam’s plan for bilingual textbooks in English and local languages for core subjects reflects a nuanced approach to language education .

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Azerbaijanis in Iran deprived of rights to speak their own language - The Geopolitics

Politics Materials 22 February 2023 11:27 (UTC +04:00)
Maryana Akhmedova
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 22. The rights of Azerbaijanis in Iran to use their mother tongue are infringed by the Iranian authorities, limiting their cultural expression, the article in The Geopolitics magazine said, Trend reports.

According to the author, although South Azerbaijani activists and organizations have long advocated for the expansion of linguistic and cultural rights, the Iranian government has responded with further repression by cracking down on dissidents.

The Iranian Government has banned the use of the Azerbaijani language in the media, literature, and the arts, as well, which has resulted in a suppression of cultural identity and a lack of representation for South Azerbaijanis in Iranian society, the article said.

Moreover, as the author noted, this policy has resulted in a high rate of students dropping out of schools early in Iran’s marginalized non-Persian regions, due to the challenges of learning the Persian language.

As the author rightly pointed out, the efforts to promote and provide education in the Azerbaijani language can positively impact Azerbaijani students’ psychological well-being and academic achievement in Iran.

"Providing instruction in one’s mother tongue can help students feel a greater sense of belonging, cultural identity, and pride in their heritage. It can also help them better understand and engage with the material being taught, leading to improved academic achievement and a greater likelihood of completing their education," the article said.

"The Iranian regime refuses to give up its forcibly acquired acquisitions and will seek to preserve them by oppression and extremism. What no one in positions of power in Iran appears capable of understanding is that the Persian language will not actually be jeopardized if the non-Persian peoples gain the right to receive education in their own languages; indeed, people are less likely to resent it if they also have the chance of proper education in their mother tongue," the article concluded.

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This is the difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation

From Blackface minstrelsy to Elvis Presley and Miley Cyrus, Porter Braswell breaks down how to navigate when cultural appreciation crosses the line.

[Photo: Lester Cohen/WireImage/Getty Images]

The phrase “cultural appropriation” appears in many forms and many contexts. And the debates surrounding it have swelled periodically, especially in the last 20 years. But what does it really mean, and when does it become truly problematic?

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The type of cultural appropriation we need to be vigilant about is fairly simple. It occurs when members of a dominant culture – for example, white Americans or white Australians – take elements from the culture of an ethnicity or racial group they have typically oppressed – e.g. Indigenous peoples – and use them for themselves. That is, they appropriate a culture that is not their own. And it’s most problematic when that appropriation occurs for reasons of power or profit.

When cultural appropriation = profit

Let’s use one example of profit in an industry heavily associated with cultural appropriation: music and entertainment.

A few years ago, Nicki Minaj called Miley Cyrus out at the MTV Video Music Awards for appropriating elements of hip-hop culture without truly engaging with Black issues. She wrote on Twitter: “Come on you can’t want the good without the bad. If you want to enjoy our culture and our lifestyle, bond with us, dance with us, have fun with us, twerk with us, rap with us, then you should also want to know what affects us, what is bothering us, what we feel is unfair to us. You shouldn’t not want to know that.” –Nicki Minaj (2015)

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These comments came at a time that Cryus was experimenting with elements of hip-hop culture in her music, videos, and overall public image. Miley was attempting to shed her public image as innocent Hannah Montana and recast herself as a fully grown woman – in part by consciously borrowing the musical and aesthetic languages of hip hop. And of course, she was not the first.

Christina Aguilera, P!nk, Britney Spears, Iggy Azalea – the list of white female musicians who have worked with hip-hop artists and producers or explicitly appropriated elements of Black culture runs long. The common thread is that for many of them, these experiments of appropriation allowed them to gain money and publicity by livening up their performances with elements from a culture that wasn’t authentically theirs. Music managers and executives have followed this pattern for years, using it to transform their artists and keep them relevant.

There are many reasons why they do it, but the bottom line is simple: white artists can use the language, sounds, and style of hip-hop and R&B, which are primarily Black art forms, to change their public perception in a way that’s often beneficial to their careers. This is a prime example of cultural appropriation in the service of profit and public image.
Professor Lauren Michele Jackson, who has written extensively about the white appropriation of Black culture, cites the late scholar bell hooks when she explains this phenomenon in her book White Negroes: “‘Ethnicity,’ in this case blackness by way of hip-hop culture, ‘becomes spice, seasoning that can liven up the dull dish that is mainstream white culture.'”

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The difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation.

Nicki Minaj’s callout to Miley Cyrus underlines another important feature of cultural appropriation: its perpetrators often don’t engage with the cultures they’re taking from. And that’s what really helps us distinguish between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation.

Many critics of cultural appropriation argue that it’s too difficult to distinguish between the two. Culture is such a broad concept, they argue. Cultural exchange is a good thing, they protest. And their arguments don’t fall on totally deaf ears – most people my age grew up with Multiculturalism – the celebration of cultural difference and ethnic diversity – as a mainstay of schools, community organizations and even family life.

But in this country, there’s a long history of appropriation and denigration that exists alongside the relatively recent Multiculturalist ethos.

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One of the earliest (and still most commonly discussed) instances of cultural appropriation is blackface, which is when white people impersonate Black people by darkening their skin with cosmetics.

The history of blackface actually begins with a man whose stage character was named “Jim Crow.” Thomas Dartmouth Rice (1808-1860) was a white actor from New York who became famous for his blackface minstrel shows, in which he caricatured the lives of slaves in skits and musical numbers, all while in blackface. These shows were of course primarily targeted toward white audiences.

Blackface minstrelsy, as it is now known, became an incredibly popular theatrical form in the U.S., reaching a peak between 1850-1870 – which includes the period in which enslaved people were first emancipated. This was an early example of white performers appropriating and exploiting the experiences of Black Americans for profit.

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Interestingly, after the Civil War, some Black Americans repurposed the minstrel show format and created traveling musical troupes of their own, offering some former slaves (and their descendants) a shot at economic freedom, celebrity, and the chance to travel the country.

These traveling shows also began attracting Black audiences, which meant they naturally included themes and art forms that were more geared toward our communities. Amongst these was a new form of soulful music that was born in the Mississippi Delta and had deep roots in Black spirituals: the Blues.

By the 1920s, America had its first record label stars and household names, several of whom were actually Black female Blues musicians. Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith became nationally recognized artists and even managed to acquire some real wealth thanks to the popularity of the Blues and the booming production of records.

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But eventually – not unlike the appropriation of hip-hop – white artists, managers, and record label owners realized they could market these new “race records” (which is what any Blues and Jazz record was called at the time) to a much larger white audience.

Historians like Amiri Baraka have argued the Folk and Rock music that took hold of the country in the 1950s and 60s – popularized by mega stars like Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, and even the Beatles – could not have existed without Blues music, a quintessentially Black American art form. Baraka thought the Blues were “the basic national voice of the African-American people,” and argued that white America had consistently appropriated Black musical styles since the 19th century, saying in Blues People: Negro Music in White America: “…after each new wave of Black innovation, i.e., New Orleans, big band, bebop, rhythm and blues, hard bop, new music, there was a commercial cooptation of the original music and an attempt to replace it with corporate dilution which mainly featured white players and was mainly intended for a white middle-class audience.”

Obviously it’s difficult to pin down who “owns” a musical style or who has the right to perform it. The commercial success of a musician depends on their ability to reach a large number of people, and some of those listeners are bound to be musicians, eager to learn, imitate, or evolve from what they hear – regardless of their ethnic or racial identity.

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However, when it comes to dollars and cents, we know that Black musicians like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith (as well as the many other Blues and Jazz innovators of the period) were never paid as much as their white counterparts. Nor did they receive any kind of meaningful acknowledgement by white artists for their role in this history. Elvis never had to acknowledge the dark history behind the Blues in order to profit from their appeal.

This form of cultural appropriation is deeply intertwined with systemic and institutionalized racism rooted in capitalism. In theory, art and other cultural products are created for the benefit of everyone. But in practice, they are also monetized for the benefit of the few. So we need to be aware of the dynamics of appropriation when we’re talking about who makes money and earns publicity off of what art.

In today’s world, globalization and digitization make it easier than ever to access different cultures and their artistic creations. That can be a beautiful thing. But it also makes it easier to appropriate them.

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The fashion industry has come under scrutiny in this respect, since they sit at the center of global trade in design, textiles, and artisanship. The Mexican government publicly condemned mega retailer Zara just last year for appropriating the native style of Indigenous craftspeople in the Oaxaca region. In response, Zara apologized and pulled a few garments from their website, but there’s nothing really stopping them from repeating this behavior.

Other designers have made a point of bringing Indigenous people into their process from the beginning. When the director of Brazilian sportswear brand, Osklen, visited the Asháninka tribe in South America, he didn’t just lift motifs and styles from their traditional crafts for his next season. He worked with the tribe to ensure they’d get a share of the profits, as well as publicity for their struggle to protect their land from industrial encroachment. It may not be a perfect exchange, but it’s more thoughtful and engaged than your average “inspired-by” collection.

Moving forward in a multicultural world

The globalized world we live in is the product of a centuries-old colonial conquest by Western, predominantly white superpowers. European and American imperialists handed down a racist heritage to us – and part of that is the systematic denigration of Indigenous cultures as inferior (and therefore conquerable).

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We have to acknowledge that appropriation of indigenous cultures without proper engagement, credit, or economic benefits tends to further the imperialist project in a culturally violent way. So when we talk about cultural appropriation and its pitfalls, we’re not really focused on your Italian espresso-maker or your Russian vodka. We’re looking out for instances of dominant cultures appropriating from historically oppressed or marginalized communities.

Because of our multicultural world, it’s inevitable that cultural appropriation, appreciation, and exchange will happen. On the whole, different cultures sharing with each other is a great thing. That said, there are some pretty basic guidelines to follow when it comes to cultural appreciation, especially if you’re a member of a dominant culture:

  1. Never use other countries or cultures that are not your own as jokes or costumes (e.g. wearing a sombrero at your Cinco de Mayo party)
  2. Don’t misrepresent traditional or sacred elements of a culture that have profound meaning for its members (e.g. wearing a Native American warrior headdress to a music festival)
  3. If you are engaging with another culture, make sure you are engaged with its members and see how you can use your platform to benefit their interests
  4. Don’t allow cultural appropriation to fuel profits without acknowledging the contributions and historical origins of a cultural product – and where possible, work to share those profits with the communities you’re engaging with

Cultural appropriation can be a big gray area, but it can also be pretty straightforward. If it feels like you have to ask the question or call something out, chances are it’s worth digging deeper into the situation. (One popular British chef even has a team of Cultural Appropriation experts to make sure he’s giving proper credit when creating recipes inspired by other cuisines.)

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If we are going to borrow or learn from cultures beyond our own, we have to make sure we engage with them on a deeper social and economic level. That means amplifying voices from underrepresented communities and giving them compensation or equity for their contributions. It also means going beyond the blame game to create space for deeper conversations about appropriation. Calling it out is only the beginning: we have to talk about how the dynamics of appropriation work and why they’re damaging.

Culture is vast. It encompasses so much of what makes humans great. Art, crafts, music, literature, dance, sport, language, food – all the greatest things in the world live under the giant umbrella of “Culture”. These things should be treasured and protected, and when they intersect with money and power – which they often do – we have to be vigilant about who gets to benefit from them.

This article was adapted and reprinted with permission from Diversity Explained.

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About the author

Porter Braswell is the Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Jopwell, Founder of 2045 Studio, author of Let Them See You, and host of the podcast Race at Work. Subscribe to his weekly content pieces at Diversity Explained.

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#FCFestival returns to NYC this September! Get your tickets today!

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ISLAMABAD: A three-day ‘Pakistan Mother Languages Literature Festival’ concluded here on Sunday as it has become one of the important elements of Islamabad’s cultural and literary scene for the last eight years.

Indus Cultural Forum, a volunteer organisation comprising literary and cultural enthusiasts arranged the festival in collaboration with Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA), said a news release.

The festival was supported by the National Heritage and Culture Division of Federal Government, Culture Departments of Governments of Sindh and Balochistan provinces, Friedrich Nauman Foundation (FNF), Forum for Language Initiatives, Idar Brae Taleem-o-Taraqi (IBT), Sindhi Language Authority, ECO Science Foundation, Society for Alternative Media and Research.

Speaking at the concluding ceremony, Indus Cultural Forum Chairman Dr Manzoor Hussain Soomro said that the eight-year journey of the festival on a voluntary basis and with limited resources is a testimony that with hard work, enthusiasm, and dedication, we can do a lot to promote and protect Pakistan’s true diverse face.

He called for greater collaboration between the government and other institutions to sustain such initiatives.

ICF General Secretary Ashfaq Hussain Chandio said that the festival is a great source of bringing people from all language communities together.

He said the exchanges of ideas and creative works between writers, artists, poets, and activists during these three days are further cultivated across the year and these three days become the source of years-long bonding and collaborations between them.

Senior member of ICF, Munawar Hassan said linguistic diversity is the greatest strength of the country, which should be a cause to bring people together and not divide them.

Director General PNCA, Muhammad Ayub Jamali in his remarks said that institutions like PNCA were open to collaboration with civil society organizations. It is part of the mandate of the PNCA to promote the linguistic, artistic, and cultural diversity of the country.

Earlier in the day, the speakers called for an education policy that centered around the cognitive abilities of children to learn effectively in their mother language at the primary level and gradually move to other languages. Zubair Torwali, Aftab Ahmed, Ameer Haider, Inamullah Shaikh, Shahid Rahman, and others called for revisiting current education policies and practices to pave the way for learning in the mother language.

Three-day literature festival concludes

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Nigeria’s National Language Policy mandates mother tongue instruction in primary education to improve literacy and learning outcomes, with English introduced later.

Nigeria’s National Language Policy mandates mother tongue instruction in primary education to improve literacy and learning outcomes, with English introduced later.

Nigeria’s National Language Policy mandates mother tongue instruction in primary education to improve literacy and learning outcomes, with English introduced later.

However, implementation has been delayed due to a lack of qualified teachers and educational materials, highlighting the challenges of operationalizing such policies .

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Content: Thursday, April 21, 2022

Minister Angie Motshekga promises mother tongue lessons in schools

South African is forging ahead with plans to incorporate mother-tongue languages in schools. Picture: African news Agency (ANA)

Published 49m ago

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Pretoria - Education Minister Angie Motshekga has yet again promised that her department would be moving forward with plans to incorporate mother tongue languages in schools.

Speaking in Parliament last week, she said education was highly valued and the department wanted to encourage pupils to learn in their home languages wherever practicable.

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Motshekga said this was a constitutional obligation.

“The Constitution lists the official languages as IsiZulu, IsiXhosa, IsiNdebele, Siswati, Sesotho, Setswana, Sepedi, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, English and Afrikaans, and all these languages can be used as languages of learning and teaching or, as subjects,” she told MPs.

She also quoted the Bill of Rights, saying it provided that everyone has the right to receive education in the official languages of their choice in public educational institutions, where that was reasonably practicable.

The department had developed the National Curriculum Statement Grade 1 to 12, which makes provision for equal use of all 11 official languages and South African sign language in the schooling system.

“The National Curriculum Statement Grades 1 to 12 encourages learners to learn through their home languages, particularly, though not limited, in the foundation phase,” Motshekga said.

She said the policy did not restrict the use of home language instruction up to Grade 3, but emphasised the use of the home language in Grade 1 to 3.

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“Additive multilingualism allows maintenance of learners’ home language as they acquire additional languages as subjects or as languages of instruction,” Motshekga said.

In 2014, the minister made an undertaking that would see schools introduce indigenous languages, aimed at strengthening the development of the use of African languages from grades 1 to 12.

The plan also included ensuring that non-African language speakers also knew at least one indigenous language.

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Stakeholders at the time blamed the department, and government, for the incremental demise of African language-speaking communities and said the task was bigger than the department to handle on its own.

Even teacher unions said it would not take off and commentators said mother languages were viewed as a “domestic appliance” to be kept at home.

While Motshekga said the plan emphasised the need to develop mother tongues as integral to education, science and technology, develop and preserve these languages, stakeholders, among them education experts and unions, said without consulting them it would again fall flat on its face.

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“The hegemony of English as a preferred medium of instruction and communication seems to prevail, which together with Afrikaans are still the dominant languages of learning and teaching in the majority of South African schools.”

She added some teachers used multiple different languages to help children learn and get their point across, but when it came to assessments – typically done in English – they were forced to grapple with a language they did not understand while they were learning .

“They are no longer being tested on their cognitive development or understanding (of the work).

“Government has begun the process of changing this, and the next step is to assess them in the language they are taught,” the minister said.

Pretoria News

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Ghana’s policy requires the use of the child’s first language as the medium of instruction from kindergarten through Grade Three, transitioning to English thereafter, though critics argue for a more balanced approach .

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Reviving Patuá: Young Macanese Lead Charge to Preserve Endangered Language Through Arts

In Macau, a dynamic youth movement is breathing new life into the endangered Patuá language, using theatre and music to preserve their unique cultural identity.

Aqsa Younas Rana
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Walking the streets of Macau, the city’s rich history as a Portuguese trading outpost is evident in its architecture and cuisine, yet the critically endangered language of Patuá remains largely unknown. Developed in the 16th century, Patuá is a creole language that reflects the diverse cultural heritage of the Macanese community, integrating elements from Portuguese, Cantonese, and several other languages. Today, a movement spearheaded by the youth seeks to revive Patuá, employing theatre and music as primary mediums for its preservation.

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Heritage at the Heart

Elisabela Larrea, an eighth-generation Macanese, has been pivotal in Patuá’s resurgence. Growing up, Larrea was introduced to Patuá through theatre, sparking a deep connection with her heritage. Despite not speaking Patuá at home, her exposure to a play written in the language unveiled a personal and communal identity deeply embedded in its words. This discovery led her to learn and subsequently work towards preserving Patuá through academic and creative endeavors, including a documentary and participation in the Patuá-speaking theatre group, Dóci Papiaçám di Macau. Larrea’s journey reflects a broader shift in perception among the Macanese, who now view creole languages as integral to understanding their history and cultural identity.

Music as a Medium for Cultural Expression

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Delfino Gabriel, an amateur contemporary musician, represents another facet of the effort to keep Patuá alive. Gabriel’s journey into the world of Patuá was influenced by his experiences in Europe and the birth of his daughters, prompting him to explore his cultural identity more deeply. By incorporating Patuá into his music, Gabriel aims to appeal to younger audiences, mixing it with Cantonese, Portuguese, and English to broaden its reach. His work is not just about creating music but about fostering a sense of belonging and pride in the Macanese heritage among the younger generation.

A Community’s Endeavor

The efforts of individuals like Larrea and Gabriel are emblematic of a larger community-driven initiative to save Patuá. These endeavors are not isolated acts but part of a collective movement recognizing the importance of linguistic diversity as a reflection of cultural richness. The initiatives undertaken by the young Macanese serve both as a preservation of their unique linguistic heritage and as a bridge connecting them with their ancestral roots. Through theatre and music, they are crafting a narrative of resistance against the erasure of their language, ensuring that Patuá remains a living testament to the historical and cultural mosaic of Macau.

As this movement gains momentum, the revival of Patuá speaks volumes about the power of youth in cultural preservation. It challenges the community and the world at large to reevaluate the significance of endangered languages and the role they play in the continuity of cultural identities. The journey of the Macanese youth in safeguarding Patuá is a beacon of hope, signaling that even the most critically endangered languages can find new life in the hearts and minds of those who cherish their heritage.

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South Africa, despite constitutional recognition of multiple official languages, faces the dominance of English in government departments.

South Africa, despite constitutional recognition of multiple official languages, faces the dominance of English in government departments.

South Africa, despite constitutional recognition of multiple official languages, faces the dominance of English in government departments.

The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities has recommended establishing language service centers and promoting indigenous languages in education and government functions.

Education Minister Angie Motshekga has emphasized teaching in home languages, especially in foundational education phases, to promote linguistic diversity and cultural heritage .

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Content: The Cherokee Nation is stepping up efforts to preserve its native language, with immersion schools and programs designed to protect elders..

Principle Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said it is the tribe’s “sacred mission” to save and revitalize the language.

“Nearly three years ago, Deputy Chief Bryan Warner and I proposed to the Council of the Cherokee Nation the ‘Durbin Feeling Language Preservation Act.’ The act enabled us to make a historic $16 million investment in additional language preservation and perpetuation measures,” said Hoskin. “This act is how we are building the state-of-the-art Durbin Feeling Language Center in Tahlequah to house, for the first time, all of our Cherokee language programs under one roof.”

Other projects were made possible under this act, including a new immersion school in Adair County, a housing village for Cherokee speakers, and more.

The greatest enemy of the Cherokee language, Hoskin said, is the passage of time and the fragility of human life.

“Our Cherokee language is key to our identity as Native people. It’s the chain that links us to our past, and it’s what binds us together today,” said Hoskin. “Long into the future, may we look back on this decade to see that we revitalized the Cherokee language and other Indigenous languages across the globe, and that we did so because we understood the importance of our immersion programs.”

Howard Paden, executive director of the Cherokee Language department, talked about the programs.

“Cherokee Nation offers several avenues for our citizens — or even those who may not be citizens – to immerse themselves in the Cherokee language, and we are working diligently on new and more modern immersion opportunities all the time,” said Paden.

This includes the immersion school, which offers its students in grades preK-8 with curriculum taught at grave-level standards set by the state of Oklahoma, and exclusively taught in the Cherokee language.

“The books they read and write in, the posters that hang on the walls of their classrooms, the music they sing in music class – all of it is in Cherokee through an immersive environment,” he said.

Paden said the school is called “Tsalagi Tsunadeloquasdi” in Cherokee. It first opened in 2001 and received its charter in 2010, making it the first Oklahoma charter school for Cherokee language immersion.

With construction of the Durbin Feeling Language Center, the immersion school will soon be moving to this new building, southwest of the W.W. Keeler Tribal Complex in Tahlequah.

On Aug. 19, Paden led a tour through the construction area, showing off future sites of classrooms, a library, cafeteria, recording room and archive.

Tahlequah resident Dora Dunn is a fluent Cherokee speaker and immersion school teacher. A participant in the Friday tour, Dunn saw her future classroom for the first time.

“Golly, it was overwhelming, just thinking about the class,” said Dunn. “I just picture [the classroom] sparkling and beautiful — ready to teach.”

Dunn teaches preschool and has been doing immersion for 21 years. She said the new school is much “bigger and better” than the current one and thinks kids will learn better in the space, with more room for interactive play and learning.

“I just love to teach and give back my language to someone who will carry it on,” said Dunn.

Construction Manager Kenny Foreman said the project is about 80 percent complete and should be operating by the end of the year.

“[The language center is] probably one of the most, if not the most, important project the Cherokee Nation has ever done,” said Foreman. “It’s an honor to be a part of it.”

Foreman said the center measures about 56,000 square feet.

Paden said there are immersive language programs for adults, too, like the Cherokee Language Master Apprentice Program.

“The CLMAP is pairs novice learners with master-level fluent Cherokee speakers. Participants are immersed full-time Monday-Friday, all day, and receive pay as a part of this program,” he said.

Paden described the program as an “intense, two-year commitment.” Upon completion, he said, participants are expected to be at least conversational in Cherokee.

“There have been 32 graduates so far, with the seventh cohort just recently graduating. The majority of our CLMAP graduates have become teachers, gone back to college to get a teacher verification or degree, or they have been hired into one of our Cherokee language programs,” said Paden.

With recent expansion, Paden said, they hope to grow this program.

Paden said most Cherokee citizens aren't necessarily raised in a home with a fluent Cherokee speaker. He estimated there are around only 2,000 first-language Cherokee speakers remaining, among more than 430,000 tribal citizens.

“So creating opportunities for our citizens to be immersed in the Cherokee language is absolutely critical to ensuring we not only save the language in the coming years, but that we establish a sort of re-growth that has the language being spoken by more and more Cherokees as a natural part of their everyday life,” said Paden. “Immersive learning is key to that success.”

Paden said he believes “with all [his] heart” that the Cherokee language is not going to be lost. There are 26 projects or programs in the Cherokee Language Department.

“We’re going to grow it and begin more and more to use it instinctively,” said Paden. “Our cultural identity is foundational to our uniqueness as Cherokee people.”

Paden talked about the difficulties that come with learning Cherokee.

“It’s not easy to learn a language that has more than 80 characters and a number of different pitches. Some of our estimates show it takes 3,500 hours to become conversational,” said Paden. “That’s an enormous amount of time when you compare the Cherokee language to a language like Spanish, which is described as a ‘Level 1’ language and takes around 430 hours to learn and be conversational. That again drives home how critical it is to be in an immersive environment where everything is said or written in the Cherokee language.”

Paden said that without their language, the Cherokee lose “the ability to our uniqueness.”

“I believe Cherokee immersion programs will allow us to maintain the traditional relationships we have had with our spirituality, the land, our communities, and our families,” said Paden. “Fluent Cherokee speakers often remind us the wisdom and cultural knowledge of the Cherokee people is found in the language.”

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The next part in this three-part series on the Cherokee language will focus on the tribe's new Speaker Services program.

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Indigenous languages not enjoying parity at state departments

English still dominant at the expense of other tongues

David Mosoma chairperson of CRL Rights Commission.
Image: Antonio Muchave

The usage of indigenous languages, especially in government departments, is still not equitable after 27 years since SA declared them as official languages.

This was revealed by an investigation conducted by the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission) on marginalised languages and the need to elevate them. It tabled its report yesterday at its offices in Braamfontein, Johannesburg.

The findings show that even though government departments have adopted two or three official languages as per Language Act, English was still predominantly used at the expense of other languages. The investigation further found that the obstacles for all official languages to enjoy parity of esteem were caused by lack of budget and lack of skilled personnel.

The investigation included 16 organs of state which were randomly picked and invited to share what they are doing regarding the promotion and equitable use of all official languages. Chairperson of the commission, Prof David Luka Mosoma, said the purpose of the investigation was to establish the extent of the equal use and status of the official languages by government departments.

“Since the constitution affirms that these languages should be given their due and constitutional status, we had to do this investigation to gauge how far we are. We wanted to assess the positive measures that departments are employing to elevate the status and advanced the use of these languages. These hearings had to investigate and ascertain the measures [if any] that are in place to advance the equal treatment of all the South African official languages.

“The investigation was to assess the current efforts and future plans being followed by departments to regulate, monitor and elevate the use of all the official languages among other things for teaching, research, science, technology, commerce as well as to be languages of record.”

In its recommendations, CLR Rights Commission stated that all government departments, enterprises and entities should establish functional language service centres. It further called on the department of higher education to identify a pool of teachers who will teach mathematics, science and technology in their mother tongues.

“We encourage the department of higher education and training to subsidise institutions of higher learning to elevate, prioritise and promote official languages to become languages of record, teaching, research, science and technology.”

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**Technological and Cultural Initiatives** China and India are developing native-language large language models (LLMs) to address cost disparities and accessibility issues associated with English-language AI technologies, reflecting governmental recognition of the need to preserve and promote local languages amid English’s global dominance .

Title:

Content: On 23 February 2022, one day before the war started, an open letter appeared in the Russian weekly literary journal Literaturnaja Gazeta. The letter came from Russian writers, expressing their full support for a special military operation in the Donbas region and eastern Ukraine. In hysterically emotive language they asked, ‘Who are playing the victims here? Our [Russian] troops who have not deliberately killed a single civilian? Or those who continue to wage a linguistic war on the Russian language, as well as an information war on the Russian collective consciousness?’

For the authors of this letter, the answer was easy: ‘the West’, which has banded together with Ukrainian ‘Nazis’ against Russia, is responsible for everything. By the start of May, 500 Russian writers had signed the letter according to its authors. Even if supposedly renowned authors are among the signatories, it soon becomes clear that Russian cultural creatives are being co-opted by the Kremlin. In claiming to defend the Russian language and culture in and outside of Russia, they are justifying the incipient war against Ukraine.

The Kremlin’s claim over the Russian language

This rhetoric isn’t new as, time and again, Russia has escalated military action under the pretence of defending Russians and Russian speakers, be it in Georgia in 2008 or in Ukraine since 2014. It’s important to note that, in doing so, Russia is claiming ownership of the Russian language to some extent. Nowhere else is this made so perfectly clear as by state cultural foundation Russkiy Mir (‘Russian world’), founded by none other than Vladimir Putin.

Up until 2021, the foundation’s aims could be seen on the German version of its website, but they are no longer accessible. They read: ‘The core objectives of the foundation are to popularise the Russian language, which is the national property of Russia and the most important component of Russian and world culture, and to support Russian-language programmes within the Russian Federation and abroad.’

For many Russian speakers, this comes across as a threat. After all, not every person who speaks Russian, whether in or outside of Russia, wants to be associated with the Kremlin.

The ‘Russian world’ is broadly defined, as exemplified by the quote: ‘Russkiy mir includes not only Russians, not only inhabitants of Russia, not only our fellow countrymen in foreign countries near and far, emigrants, expatriates, and their descendants. It also extends to foreign citizens who speak, learn, and teach Russian and all people with a sincere interest in Russia and her future.’ This sweeping claim that the Kremlin represents all these people’s interests was formulated by the foundation and has been embedded in Moscow’s politics for years. For many Russian speakers, this comes across as a threat. After all, not every person who speaks Russian, whether in or outside of Russia, wants to be associated with the Kremlin.

Owning their language

In particular, this claim concerns those whose most powerful tool is language, namely, writers. So, it’s not surprising that it’s Russian-speaking authors who, since 2014 at the latest, have led the discussion on how people should think about the Russian language, its usage as a literary language, and Russia herself.

These topics are fiercly debated in Ukraine, which is home to a large number of Russian speakers. After 2014, many Russian-speaking authors, including poets Iya Kiva and Boris Khersonsky, decided to write more frequently or even exclusively in Ukrainian, a trend that has understandably gained steam since the war began. For example, the platform ‘Poetry of the Free’ was set up by the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture in March as a place to gather poems on war for the sake of posterity. The majority of the over 20,000 texts, which anyone can upload to, is written in Ukrainian.

Language doesn’t belong to politicians; it belongs to people.

Of course, not all Russian speakers are prepared to concede their language to the Kremlin. Back in 2017, Ukrainian poet Alexander Kabanov published an anthology under the title In the Language of the Enemy: Poems about War and Peace in which he reflected, in Russian, on the war in eastern Ukraine. The main thesis of the anthology is that language doesn’t belong to politicians; it belongs to people. Kabanov made this clear in an interview on 16 May 2022: ‘Russia does not have a monopoly on the Russian language. Giving our Ukrainian Russian to Putin would be the same as giving German to Hitler. I personally don’t plan to surrender my language to anyone.

The Russian language cannot belong to one country

This trend can also be seen in other countries, like Kazakhstan. As the largest country in central Asia, Kazakhstan has a large number of Russian speakers even 30 years after its independence was declared. Not just ethnic Russians but also many Kazakhs and members of ethnic minorities use Russian as a lingua franca. There is a living Russophone literature and culture scene which, for years, has been investigating how the Russian language could be preserved, but this scene is now between a rock and a hard place.

While the Kremlin wants to declare Kazakhstan’s Russian speakers for themselves, Kazakh nationalists want to limit the influence of the Russian language. In his 2019 essay The Russian Language – This is Kazakhstan, Yuriy Serebriansky, one of the leading representatives of Young Russian Literature of Kazakhstan, considered whether the heated discussion around the usage of the Russian language in Kazakhstan could be de-escalated if the Russian language were seen as something that belonged to the Russian-speaking citizens of Kazakhstan, and not just Russia.

When the war kicked off, the young Russophone literature scene in Kazakhstan stood almost unanimously in solidarity with Ukraine – demonstrated not only by taking part in rallies and making statements on social media, but also in literature. Kazakh literary journal Daktil dedicated its March edition ‘to the Ukrainian people and everyone who is undergoing adversity’. It continues: ‘We stand for world peace. Say no to war!’, which may come across as a hackneyed phrase, but in a time when any mention of war is officially forbidden, at least in Russia, this is a political statement. It also shows that Russian-speaking Kazakhs are not prepared to bow down to the linguistic demands of the Kremlin.

ROAR gives them the chance to make their voices heard in opposition of the war and to show that they – as Russians and Russian speakers – do not want to be associated with Putin.

ROAR, short for Russian Oppositional Arts Review, is an international cultural project which collects and shares Russophone opinions on the war. Launched by Israeli author Linor Goralik, who was born in Dnipro in Eastern Ukraine, ROAR is an online platform for Russian and Russian-speaking creatives who consider themselves and their art to stand against that segment of Russian culture which serves the ‘current criminal political regime in Russia’.

ROAR gives them the chance to make their voices heard in opposition of the war and to show that they – as Russians and Russian speakers – do not want to be associated with Putin. Created by a decentralised global volunteer collective, ROAR embodies the argument that neither the Russian language nor Russian culture can belong to any one country. And like many other projects, it shows that there is and will continue to be a Russian and Russian-speaking culture far removed from the warmongering, Kremlin-worshipping propaganda.

In China, the National Language Promotion Base is part of broader efforts to assert cultural identity and counter linguistic imperialism .

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Content:

On how to tell the China stories more effectively

Wan Lixin
Some experts gathered at Tongji University recently to explore challenges confronting the shaping of a more effective Chinese narrative in the changing world.
Wan Lixin
Ti Gong

Experts gather at Tongji University to share their views on how to create a more effective Chinese narrative in the changing world. The forum coincides with the official launching of the National Language Promotion Base at the university. Wang Hui, an official from the Ministry of Education, expresses his hope that the base could develop smoothly and contribute solidly to the cause of promoting the Chinese language.

A number of experts were here to explore some of the challenges confronting the shaping of a more authentic and effective Chinese narrative in the changing world, with some envisioning new trends and opportunities looming in the post-pandemic era.

The experts shared their views at a recent forum held at the International School of Tongji University, which also coincided with the launching of a book series featuring the perception of China by international students at the university. The series include, notably, a book entitled "The China Stories Told by International Students."

In his keynote speech, Li Yuming, professor from Beijing Language and Culture University, set forth the economic attribute of language by suggesting a combination of language instruction with professional needs, citing language data as an essential factor of production in digital economy. As has been observed, digital economy has already emerged as a new economic form in addition to traditional agricultural economy and industrial economy.

Li stressed that this agreement about language data is an innovative attempt at grasping, theoretically, the essence of information society, against the backdrop of rapid development of digital economy, with considerable significance for the promotion of Chinese language teaching and learning overseas.

Economic development as a driver of learning a particular language has not been something new. For instance, it could be observed that the international propagation of the Chinese language has been inextricably linked up with the development of the Chinese economy. Similarly, when China's Taiwan region proceeds with its promotion of Chinese language learning among overseas Chinese, it is as a rule accompanied by the passing down of skills, in catering, motor repairs, and agricultural technology. Similarly, in Japan, language promotion has always been linked up with exports of its products.

Ti Gong

The forum also coincides with the launching of a book series published by Tongji University Press.

Productive exchange

All suggest the commodization of language dissemination as a trend, hinting at the new perception of language promotion as a measure to raise productivity level along with the introduction of relevant industries, with a view to fostering local economic development. Obvious this goes down particularly well with developing countries which stand to benefit.

In conclusion, Li believes that China is advantageously positioned in this aspect, given its over 3,000 colleges and universities and the many vocational senior high schools, and the host of Chinese enterprises active along the Belt and Road regions.

Chen Shenglai, a senior researcher from Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, believes that post-pandemic era will afford good opportunities for the dissemination of the Chinese culture. "The onslaught of the pandemic, by plunging the world into the abyss of bewilderment and dismay, puts everyone on high alert when it comes to inter-personal contacts, naturally leading to suspension of all forms of cultural communication," Chen observed, adding that this pandemic had led to major changes in human society whether in systems, ethical considerations, ways of life, manners, or customs. All these constitute major challenges and crisis to previous international cultural communication based on globalization. With cloud computing-based cultural events leading the way in lifting the cultural barriers imposed by the pandemic prevention measures, and new media gaining growing acceptance, Chen predicted that post-pandemic communications will be more "soft," more individualized and more responsive to the needs of the consumers.

In the post-pandemic time, Chen predicted, some cultural communication modes that have proved effective during the pandemic would be here to stay, and China's cultural enterprises must adapt to the changing scenario, by exploiting the country's edge in cyber infrastructure.

Obviously, the book series featuring international students' narrative of their China experience is a case in point.

The book, an anthology of about 150 stories told by students from over 40 countries, is a collection of personal reports of their studies, life, and travels in China, free of embellishments, intimate, thus vivid and compelling.

For instance, a Japanese student gives her story of studying, finding a husband, getting married, and settling down in Shanghai. A German student tells of her affection for her ayi in Shanghai, who urged her to get married and have a child, so that the ayi could prove useful again, and why the student thinks differently.

If anything, many of these students have demonstrated their competence at telling a good story, in their own way.

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Cultural festivals and community-driven initiatives also play a role.

Cultural festivals and community-driven initiatives also play a role.

Pakistan’s Mother Languages Literature Festival, supported by government and cultural organizations, promotes linguistic diversity by emphasizing mother tongue education and encouraging policies prioritizing local languages .

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Unanimous Call for Increased Irish Language Funding at Conradh na Gaeilge Ard Fheis

Explore the transformative proposal, An Plean Fáis, advocating for 0.4% of the national budget to revive the Irish language. Learn about the challenges, opportunities, and the call to action for preserving Ireland's linguistic heritage.

Ebenezer Mensah
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In a spirited gathering over the weekend, an ancient language found its champions. At the heart of the event was Conradh na Gaeilge, an esteemed organization with a mission to nurture the Irish language, which hosted its annual Ard Fheis. It was here, amidst the passionate speeches and fervent discussions, that a landmark motion was passed. More than 130 affiliated groups came together in unanimous agreement, advocating for a transformative approach to Irish language funding. The proposal, known as An Plean Fáis, seeks to allocate 0.4% of the government's budget towards the revival and promotion of the Irish language. Julian De Spáinn, the General Secretary of Conradh na Gaeilge, underscored the motion's significance, pointing out the historical shortfall in support of the language and its cultural manifestations.

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The Proposal: An Investment in Identity

The initiative, An Plean Fáis, isn't just a call for funding; it's a vision for the future. By earmarking 0.4% of the national budget for Irish language initiatives, the proposal aims to significantly bolster education programs and support services that are vital for the language's survival and growth. This strategic investment, as highlighted by De Spáinn, is not merely about preserving a language but is also an investment in Ireland's unique cultural identity and heritage. The motion's unanimous passage sends a strong message to political parties and policymakers about the community's resolve to see the Irish language flourish once more.

Challenges and Opportunities

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Despite the enthusiasm surrounding An Plean Fáis, the proposal does not come without its challenges. Allocating budgetary funds is always a contentious issue, with various sectors vying for more support. However, the advocates of An Plean Fáis argue that the investment in the Irish language is not just a cultural imperative but also has the potential to yield significant social and economic benefits. By enhancing Irish language education and increasing the language's visibility in public life, Ireland can strengthen its cultural tourism sector, create new employment opportunities, and foster a greater sense of national pride and unity.

A Call to Action

The unanimous decision at the Ard Fheis is just the beginning. The real work lies in convincing political parties and the government to adopt An Plean Fáis as a part of their policy platform. Conradh na Gaeilge has pledged to continue advocating for this cause, emphasizing the importance of a collective effort to ensure the Irish language's vibrancy for future generations. As De Spáinn eloquently put it, "This is not just about funding; it's about honoring our heritage and building a future where the Irish language thrives."

As the proposal gains momentum, the question now is not just about the feasibility of allocating 0.4% of the budget, but about Ireland's commitment to its cultural legacy. With the passionate backing of Conradh na Gaeilge and its affiliates, An Plean Fáis stands as a beacon of hope for the Irish language, calling on everyone to play a part in its revival.

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In Ireland, the Conradh na Gaeilge organization advocates for allocating 0.4% of the national budget to support Irish language revival, reflecting both governmental and grassroots recognition of the need to counteract English influence .

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Companies face confusion as they prepare for Quebec's new language rules next year

A person holds a Quebec flag during Fete Nationale in Montreal, Saturday, June 24, 2023. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)
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In just under a year's time, important pieces of the new French language law are set to come into force for companies operating in Quebec. Although many are preparing for the laws to be applied, the future requirements are still causing some stress, notably because of the paperwork involved and what some say is a lack of clarity.

As June 1, 2025 approaches, Isabelle Jomphe and Brittany Carson, two lawyers at law firm Lavery, have their hands full. Since the adoption of Bill 96 in 2022, they have been helping numerous companies in Quebec and abroad to comply with the various amendments.

"We're coming up to the last law. So, we need to look for the little additional details to try to advise companies as well as possible and avoid unpleasant surprises on June 2, 2025," said Jomphe in an interview.

The lawyer devotes much of her time to the issues surrounding future trademark regulations.

One of these concerns exterior commercial signage. French will have to appear "clearly predominant" when a company's trademark is displayed in a language other than French. A company that has a name with an expression taken from a language other than French is also affected by the measure.

"It may require merchants to make major changes to their storefronts if they don't already meet this criterion," said Jomphe.

Carson is working on the issue of francization, which from now on will affect small businesses with 25 to 49 employees. They must register with the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) before June 1, 2025, and begin the process of francization.

This involves carrying out a linguistic analysis to demonstrate the widespread use of French at all levels of the organization and obtaining a francization certificate from the OQLF.

Carson said many of the questions she receives are from companies headquartered outside Quebec.

"For people who may work on a daily basis with people outside Quebec who don't speak French, who don't write in French, it's quite a challenge," says the labour and employment lawyer.

Still a "lack of understanding"

According to François Vincent, Quebec vice-President at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), there is still a "lack of awareness of what's coming" among its members.

"Especially the administrative burden of being told that they function well in French," he added, referring to the documents companies will need to complete as part of the francization process.

CFIB estimates that it will take between 20 and 50 hours for companies to answer francization-related questions. And based on the latest OQLF data, most of them will be told that they are meeting their linguistic obligations, Vincent believes.

As of March 31, 2023, 66 per cent of certified companies "obtained their certificate without having to implement a francization program," according to the OQLF's 2022-2023 annual management report.

With companies facing many challenges today, the francization process may be far down their list of priorities, Vincent said.

"Not that they don't want to do it, or that they don't operate in French. It's just that it's a real rush at the moment. The first consequence of the labour shortage is that the company director is on the floor putting out fires," he said.

His organization is busy informing its members with a web page and webinars dedicated to the new obligations. On its website, CFIB has also launched a countdown to the new rules.

Vincent believes that Quebec could make an "extra effort" to better inform companies.

The OQLF said it's planning "awareness-raising actions to inform companies of the new requirements."

"It will offer personalized assistance to enable companies to validate their correction project, if necessary," the office said by e-mail.

Grey areas

Implementing the new rules is causing "frustration" among retailers, said Damien Silès, general manager of the Retail Council of Quebec.

"Because it takes time, it takes money. And it was already very strict, so it's making some of our retailers a little grumpy," he said, noting that trademark display legislation was already updated a few years ago.

Véronique Proulx, president and CEO of Quebec Manufacturers and Exporters, noted that her members are "still very skeptical" about the usefulness and relevance of the measures.

"There's also a lack of clarity," she pointed out. "What we've often asked the OQLF for is a clear guide."

The absence of an application guide creates a certain "concern among companies, because you don't know whether you're complying or not," said Proulx.

Many are eagerly awaiting the final version of the regulations on the language of commerce and business to clarify the new provisions.

"There are still a few gray areas," noted Jomphe. "There are still points that are open to interpretation, so we're hoping for more clarification."

Quebec's Ministry of the French Language has said that "the regulation will be made public shortly."

Silès hopes that retailers will be given more time to comply.

"Eighty per cent of the 32,000 businesses in Quebec have fewer than 20 employees. So they don't have the same means to change," he explained.

As to whether it will be flexible or tolerant in its application, the OQLF said that "certain transitional measures have been planned, notably to allow the sale of products already manufactured on this date that would not comply with the new rules."

"The Office will work with each company to find a solution adapted to its situation," the organization added.

Those interviewed reiterated that companies are keen to promote the French language and want to comply with the legislation.

"There's a desire to do things right," says Carson. But clear rules and a flexible approach are needed to enable "greater buy-in," agreed Jomphe.

The ministry maintains that the government's priorities "in terms of promoting and protecting the French language and the objectives of economic stakeholders are reconcilable."

The new measures in the Official Language Act came into force gradually, some as early as 2002 and others last year.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 26, 2024.

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Things a pediatrician would never let their child do

As summer begins for most children around Canada, CTV News spoke with a number of pediatric health professionals about the best practices for raising kids, and how the profession has evolved since the COVID-19 pandemic.

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**Suppression and Political Control of Minority Languages** Some governments regulate language use by suppressing minority languages, indirectly affecting borrowing dynamics.

**Suppression and Political Control of Minority Languages** Some governments regulate language use by suppressing minority languages, indirectly affecting borrowing dynamics.

In Iran, the Azerbaijani language is banned in media, literature, and arts, infringing on the rights of Azerbaijanis and suppressing cultural identity .

Title:

Content: AI Usage Fees Up to 15x Cheaper for English Than Other Languages

The language you're using for a Large Language Model (LLM) can have a huge effect on its cost and create an AI divide between English speakers and the rest of the world. A recent study shows that, due to the way services like OpenAI, measure and bill for server costs, English-language inputs and outputs are much cheaper than those in other languages with Simplified Chinese costing about twice as much, Spanishing costing 1.5x the price and Shan language going for 15 times more.

Twitter user Dylan Patel (@dlan522p) shared a photograph that leads to research conducted by the University of Oxford which found that asking an LLM to process a Burmese-written sentence cost 198 tokens, while that same sentence in English cost just 17 tokens. Tokens representing the computing power cost of accessing an LLM through an API (such as OpenAI's ChatGPT or Anthropic's Claude 2), this means the Burmese sentence cost 11 times more through the service than the one written in English.

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The tokenization model (which sees AI companies convert user input into computational cost) means that in a less-than-ideal world, models accessed outside the window of English language are much more expensive to access and train on. That's because languages such as Chinese have a different, more complex structure (either grammatically or by number of characters) than English, which results in their higher rate of tokenization.

For example, according to OpenAI's GPT3 tokenizer, giving someone a token of "your affection" would be just two tokens in English but eight tokens in Simplified Chinese. This is true even though the Simplified Chinese text is just 4 characters (你的爱意) and the English one is 14 characters. Aleksandar Petrov et al's Tokenization Fairness page has a number of charts and tools you can use to see the disparity between languages.

OpenAI itself has a pretty helpful page explaining how it monetizes API access and usage of its ChatGPT model, which even includes access to a tokenizer tool that you can use to test the token cost per prompt. There, we see that 1 token is around 4 characters in English, and that 100 tokens would be around 75 English words. But that math just can't be applied to any other language, as OpenAI clearly puts it

There's really no competition against the cost-effectiveness of English in AI-related costs; Chinese, for example, costs twice as much as English in terms of required tokens per output. But it's simply a reflection of the available training data that AI companies have (until now) used to train their models on. If there's one thing the AI explosion has done for the world is show just how valuable high-quality emergent data (that which is created as a record of life) really is.

This issue directly links with AI companies' desire to achieve recursive training, or the ability to train AI models on their own outputs. If that's achieved, then future models will still show the same cost-effectiveness of English compared to other languages whose complexity and more limited availability of base training data. And when that happens, it's not just this vicious cycle of algorithmic bigotry we have to contend with: it's also that for now, research points to AI networks going MAD when trained over five times on their own outputs (synthetic data).

To further complicate the issue, it seems that other ways of quantifying costs (other than tokenization) would end up running into the same problems. Either via bit or character-counting, apparently no language can beat the pragmatic practicality of English - it would still present lower costs due to its inherently higher "compressibility" into a lower token count.

That means the issue isn't in the way models have been monetized; it's an actual limitation of the technology and base models considered for training. And it should be no surprise to know the issue impacts multiple language models across their versions. They're all built mostly the same, after all.

This issue looks like a predictable one when we consider that the companies actually introducing Large Language Models (such as ChatGPT) or Generative Image networks (such as Midjourney) are mostly based in America. Lower usage costs and higher availability of quality data comes with the territory, in a way.

This cost difference has already led to a number of countries launching their own initiatives to train and deploy a native-language LLM. Both China and India have done so, and both claimed the same thing: that their plans were needed to accompany the pace of innovation allowed by English-based AI networks. And that rate is mostly limited by access and training costs.

It's only natural that everyone is looking to pay as little as possible for as much as possible; and these dynamics directly affect the cost of LLM training and deployment according to the base language. It's almost like this AI business is so complex, and its consequences so far-reaching, we have to be very careful with every little step we take.

Freelance News Writer

Francisco Pires is a freelance news writer for Tom's Hardware with a soft side for quantum computing.

Myanmar’s "Burmanisation" policies promote Burmese at the expense of ethnic languages, leading to their decline among younger generations .

Title:

Content: The Language of Mental Health in Myanmar

By Charlie Artingstoll

Guest contributor

Before the coup, mental health was a neglected issue in Myanmar. Now, the situation is even worse.

Mental health in Myanmar is a critical issue. It is an unstable country, both in terms of political and economic factors. Decades of protracted conflict, being home to the longest-running civil war in the world, combined with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and political instability, has led experts to argue that Myanmar is becoming a failed state.

This has had and will continue to have ramifications for the mental health of its citizens. According to a global WHO synthesis of 129 studies done in numerous conflict-affected contexts, “one in five people in conflict-affected populations have mental health conditions.”

Conditions identified among these populations include depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. The report concludes that, “given the large numbers of people in need and the humanitarian imperative to reduce suffering, there is an urgent need to implement scalable mental health interventions to address this burden.”

In Myanmar, the mental health burden is being placed on an extremely strained system. A 2019 HelpAge International study further demonstrated the seriousness of mental health issues in Myanmar with the following findings: “There is, [effectively], no mental health policy in Myanmar; preventing access to professional support through the primary healthcare system.”

While, as we shall see, some care is given through the private sector, this is limited in scope. Regarding state mental health provision, including funding, staff and infrastructure, the HelpAge study found that “staff are not adequately trained and there is little infrastructure to facilitate these services, particularly in rural areas.”

Much of this stems from a chronic lack of funding. Finally, the study pointed out that stigma and cultural understanding are also key issues: “while there is no data in Myanmar on how stigma impacts mental health, studies from other, similar countries suggest it has serious consequences.”

Myanmar’s mental health legislation is outdated, to say the least. The nation’s mental health policy — I’m not making this up — is legislated by The Lunacy Act, dating from 1912. Violate this law at your peril – you can face a fine of 50 Indian rupees – a currency not used in the country since 1952.

“The public health system is near collapse,” Dr. Mitchell Sangma, at Doctors Without Borders (MSF), told the BBC. “It’s a grim situation,” he added. Those who cannot afford private care simply are going without any healthcare. Though no research is currently available, given how limited the public provision of mental health support is at the best of times. It is to non-existent.

Public understanding of mental health is also an issue of concern. I recently spoke to *Nay Chi Soe, a student who graduated with a bachelors degree in Psychology from East Yangon University, about mental health. Two things stood out. Firstly, how unpopular the course was. It was the least popular course in her year. Even Library and Information Studies had around 10 students, while more popular courses such as Engineering and Law had hundreds of graduates.

Secondly, the reaction she received from friends, extended family members ,and fellow students, when she told them what she studied. They asked her questions like: ‘do you want to go to a Ywa Thar Gyii? (Yangon mental hospital)’ and ‘can you tell me, were the crows black or white originally? (a Burmese equivalent of whether the chicken or the egg came first).’

These kinds of questions show how misunderstood the subject was. Indeed the crow comment is a philosophical question: the chicken or egg, white crow or black crow is a philosophical paradox about the nature of causality that has nothing to do with psychology. And even when people don’t confuse psychology with another subject, they tend to associate psychology with extreme mental illness. The subject is deeply misunderstood.

My organisation, Sin Sar Bar, recently conducted the first phase of a project aimed at addressing mental health issues in Myanmar. It was funded by USAID. Our project had two parts – the first was delivering introductory workshops on mental health to over 2,400 community leaders we identified so that they understood the subject. By ‘community leaders’ we mean people who are active in their communities, which could be teachers, doctors but also shopkeepers, village elders – the idea being that if we can reach these individuals, they will spread this knowledge to their communities.

The second was a communications campaign introducing people to the topic of mental health. These 24 posts were used to create a wide variety of content such as graphics, animations, a cartoon series by the Guys of Rangoon, and multiple videos. This content was shared to Facebook, and our partners, KBZ, Skynet and Mizzima – reaching potentially millions of people. We ran workshops with influencers, singers, and actors, so that they knew how to create their own content, making videos or writing songs.

A key decision was made early on. If we wanted to address the mental health of Myanmar as a whole, then simply delivering this content in Burmese was not enough. There is a huge ethnographic and linguistic diversity in Myanmar with 135 ethnic groups and around 110 distinct languages. We decided to use 17 ethnic languages – S’gaw Karen, Moken, Daai Chin, Khong So, Likhy, Hakha, Karenni (Kayah), Kayan, Mon, Tedim (Zomi), East Pwo Shan (Tai Lung), Ta-ang, Rakhine, Rohingya Lainong Naga and Jinghpaw. We have now uploaded all the resources to our website.

The government estimates that 80 percent of the population speaks Burmese. Aside from being an overestimation, this figure is deceptive. For a good number of that 80 percent Burmese is a secondary language spoken with various levels of fluency. Their mother tongue is often one of the many different ethnic languages.

Given that a key aspect of mental health is the expression of one’s feelings, it is best provided in an individual’s mother tongue. While Burmese is spoken widely across the country, for many it is a secondary language, and therefore, wherever possible we will try to communicate in the language that individuals feel most comfortable with. Furthermore, the reality is that for certain groups, given their political history, Burmese can be the language of the coloniser, one of oppression and violence. Obviously, we couldn’t hope to heal people if we used a language that affected people like this.

As an attempt to unify the country, the government has embarked on a number of policies known as Burmanisation, which is considered “a forced assimilation and indoctrination program.” This is a process where education, repressive laws, religious proselytization, economic exploitation and often brutal force are used to wash away ethnic identities. This is most obvious in schools, where teaching is given only in Burmese, meaning that many younger people are no longer able to speak their native languages, which have become endangered and are at risk of dying out completely. In certain places, education in ethnic languages is even illegal.

Aside from these legal problems, there were a number of other challenges – not only because these 17 languages use a huge variety in terms of different alphabets, but also because different languages have different characteristics. For example, some are much more spoken than they are written, with some barely written at all. However, we felt it was a very worthy endeavour, and the feedback we have had has been great:

One participant said “the resources were very useful – I didn’t know anything about mental health before, and it was great to see resources in my native language – I have never seen that before.”

While the situation seems bleak, the first step at least is clear: we need to carry on trying to deal with the stigma associated with mental health in Myanmar, and to help people realise that asking for support is normal and healthy. Only then can mental health issues in Myanmar be truly addressed.

With regards to mental health in ethnic languages, there is also more work to be done. There are far too few trained counselors, even who speak Burmese, let alone who speak the different ethnic languages. A great idea would be to train individuals who speak different ethnic languages to be counselors themselves so that they can further help their communities in their own languages. Developing further resources on mental health in ethnic languages has also shown to be very beneficial.

*not her real name

For more information, check Sin Sar Bar.

**Media Influence and Governmental Response** Media is a powerful driver of language borrowing, especially from English.

**Media Influence and Governmental Response** Media is a powerful driver of language borrowing, especially from English.

**Media Influence and Governmental Response** Media is a powerful driver of language borrowing, especially from English.

In Korea, Kwon Jae-il, chairperson of the Korean Language Society, has criticized the trend of adding English suffixes to Korean words, particularly in media, viewing it as detrimental to the language’s integrity.

In Korea, Kwon Jae-il, chairperson of the Korean Language Society, has criticized the trend of adding English suffixes to Korean words, particularly in media, viewing it as detrimental to the language’s integrity.

In Korea, Kwon Jae-il, chairperson of the Korean Language Society, has criticized the trend of adding English suffixes to Korean words, particularly in media, viewing it as detrimental to the language’s integrity.

He calls for public organizations and media to use standardized Korean to prevent further erosion .

Title:

Content: Language | These Finnish expressions make people cringe

Finns are sensitive to language guidelines. Based on HS's survey, possessive suffixes and conjunctions are sacred to many. Also, the start-to-do structure still arouses irritation.

Finland general language instructions are clearly important to many Finns.

HS told recently, why did the board accept Finnish as a universal language ten years ago start doing -structure. In addition, language experts were asked to reflectwhere the general language instructions are going in the coming years.

At the same time, the readers were asked which of the guidelines they thought would be harmful to the common language. About 230 responses were received to the survey, which convey a lot of emotional attitude towards the language.

HS publishes comments only from respondents who have informed the editor of both their name and contact information.

Particularly the possessive suffix turned out to be dear. It is mentioned dozens of times.

It is especially worrying that the possessive suffix is left out of the places where it belongs according to the instructions of the common language. On the other hand, some mention that it is contrary to current guidelines I'm worried -type structure.

The possessive suffix definitely, the lack of it gives the author a grumpy impression. But I only now heard about the danger that “I'm worried” could be accepted. How on earth could I be in his worries?

Compound words also came up a lot.

Compound words are absolutely sacred to me. Texts written with incorrect and/or incomplete possessive suffixes will still work, but I will not forgive compound word mistakes.

There is probably no need to make the compound word rules any easier than they are now. Regarding punctuation, the French-style space before a question mark or exclamation mark, as well as the state of illegality of hyphens in number expressions and when indicating the missing common part, makes me wake up at night to my own screams.

Defendants feelings are also visible in other cases that received several mentions. They are, for example any more-spelling the word wrong and the fact that is able to do is used instead of the structure can do – structure.

It is no more, it really isn't anymore. Oh my goodness.

Can do. I hardly understand what it means. Somehow infantile, like the speech of a small child. Ugh!

There are also plenty of mentions of the use of pronouns contrary to common language, especially words which and What mixing. In addition, it emerges in some places whouse of the -form Who– in place of the form, although this is not really related to the written common language.

Several mentions were also given to the double passive, comma errors, my and yes, exactlymixing singular and plural in verbs, dawnuse of the word try-in place of the word and in the near future-the use of the word referring to the past instead of the future.

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Many respondents openly admit that start doing still sad. There are other forms accepted in the common language but hated by many come to do -future tense, many-form and someone likes it (and not from someone).

Wider ones phenomena mentioned by the respondents are, for example, the spread of English and the influence of colloquial language on the general language.

As far as vocabulary is concerned, it is specifically Finnish words that are sacred. They are replaced by, you know, English all the time. Holy shit!

If everything goes well, the result is just a gray mess. Besides, how are students taught the difference between common and colloquial language, if there is no difference between them in reality? No one agrees to study the rules of the general language if they do not have to be followed.

One respondent who presents himself as a communication professional is of the opinion that it would be good to keep the changes as minimal as possible, “so that the people would even have a theoretical opportunity to adopt them”.

Some of the answers concern difficult language use, also known as kapula language, where the content has been moved from verbs to nouns.

Run. We perform floor cleaning in the area. We should be washing the floors. That verb is inserted into every sentence and another verb is made into a noun. The police are conducting traffic control, etc. Shocking.

In the same sentence, three or four action expressions turned into nouns are crammed in a row. To the style: “to ensure the centrality of the recognizability of value leadership”. Difficulty seeks importance, but is mostly annoying. The expresser's own understanding of what was being said seems questionable.

Irritation it seems that there are quite a lot of spreaders of evocative language in Finnish society. The answers mention, among other things, ministers, journalists, advertisers, careless teachers and language guardians, as well as rappers.

Some respondents also pondered why the language actually evokes great emotions in them.

– – blood pressure always rises a couple of notches when someone uses “which” or even worse “what” as the only relative pronoun. And I don't really understand why, because my own relationship with grammar rules is quite flexible.

On the other hand, some of the respondents do not feel passionately about any of the general language instructions, but emphasize that the change is natural.

You cannot prevent the language from changing over time, it would be like claiming to be able to stop the seasons.

Nothing is sacred in language. Language is people's home, and at home you can ventilate.

It is sometimes difficult for people to internalize the fact that there is no “absolute, all-knowing” grammar. Language changes and lives all the time. The most important thing is that we understand each other.

#Language #Finnish #expressions #people #cringe

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In the UK, teachers have noted the need to teach standard English to counteract media-driven language changes among students, as British schoolchildren have developed American accents after extensive exposure to US videos and TV programs .

Title:

Content: SPOTLIGHT

The Sahitya Akademi needs to get in tune with the times

Published : Aug 24, 2023 11:00 IST - 14 MINS READ

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru at a Sahitya Akademi book exhibition. | Photo Credit: By Special Arrangement

With the 70-year-old institution caught in a time warp, it must become more accessible and less bureaucratic in order to survive.

It is midday, mid-May, in my Mumbai marketing office, and I find myself repeating the words “Sahitya Akademi” to my colleagues. Evanshi asks me if it is “that literature magazine”. Vruddhi shrugs, unbothered. Niharika jokes about a friend named Sahitya. Alex says he has never heard of it, ever.

I am no better; the Sahitya Akademi has been around for almost 70 years, and yet I fumble to define it. It is many things, I say; it gives awards, translates books, and organises literary events. Like the most recent Festival of Letters, whose diverse panels placed Dalit, LGBTQ+, and ethnic minority writers at the forefront. My colleagues are pleasantly surprised. “I know so many people who would be interested in this stuff,” they tell me. “Why isn’t it everywhere?”

To this, I have no answer. Honestly, I am not sure I have described the body correctly, or if I even know what it does. So I decide to ask writers and academics, only to learn that 20 years ago, Adil Jussawalla raised the same question in The Afternoon Despatch & Courier, in an article titled “What Does The Sahitya Akademi Do?”

The logo of the Sahitya Akademi was designed by the eminent filmmaker Satyajit Ray, who also designed some of its early book covers such as the Makers of Indian Literature series.

India’s national body of letters was born in 1954 with a Nehruvian, idealistic aim to archive and propagate Indian literatures. Its website clearly states its purpose: “As India’s premier literary institution, the Akademi preserves and promotes literature contained in twenty-four Indian languages recognised by it through awards, fellowships, grants, publications, literary programs, workshops and exhibitions.”

Apart from having a publishing wing, its major awards include the Bal Sahitya for young writers, the Yuva Puraskar for young adults, the Bhasha Samman translation prize, and the iconic Sahitya Akademi Award. On paper, it seems like the Akademi is doing everything right: offering prizes, promoting young writers, translating, publishing, hosting literary events (online and offline), and digitising archives. Still, there is a gap in public reach.

“On paper, it seems like the Akademi is doing everything right: offering prizes, promoting young writers, translating, publishing, hosting literary events (online and offline), and digitising archives. Still, there is a gap in public reach.”

Dr Semeen Ali, assistant editor of the Akademi’s journal Indian Literature, says: “This disconnect is surprising to hear, considering that many submissions we receive are from young people. But one needs to also look at what they are interested in reading.” The Tamil poet Salma agrees: “Youngsters don’t have interest in literature, even though the Akademi’s books are quite affordable.”

The politics of money must play a great role, says A.J. Thomas, former editor of Indian Literature: “People value things that are priced, and Sahitya Akademi might not be the ‘in’ thing. Poetry readings, tribals’ readings, women’s programmes, transgender programmes, queer literatures—all have been done. This is the only democratic organisation, in that sense.”

Of course, this is not to blame young readers alone. As the writer and translator Arunava Sinha tells me: “[The Sahitya Akademi] needs to make more effort. For example, I have translated a book that won an award, but nobody knows of its existence. Because they don’t try. I don’t think marketing is part of their brief at all. Occasionally when officers take personal initiative, things happen.”

The Marathi poet and playwright Akshay Shimpi points out: “Since the body falls under India’s Ministry of Culture, it has to follow due process; it has certain responsibilities to rules, regulations, and the law.” And if the Akademi begins to “compete” and “sell”, what becomes of the value of writing, asks Arundhathi Subramaniam. She adds: “How does one locate the quiet writer of credibility in an age when brands, brochures, and hashtags speak louder than real poetry?”

According to Ernst & Young’s 2021 report, the Indian publishing industry is estimated to reach Rs.80 crore by 2024. Private publishing has morphed into an aggressive industry of its own, including growing verticals like printing, translating, illustrating, distributing, marketing, advertising, self-publishing, digitising e-books, involving international markets and awards, to name a few. The PR expert Atika Gupta emphasises the importance of the industry: “Books need to get space in main lines, like newspapers and TV programmes, shop windows and bookstores. People like to read reviews, watch influencer videos, and find out more before buying them.”

At the Chennai Book Fair in 2014 . To read Sahitya Akademi’s books, one needs to visit their local offices, attend State book fairs, or hunt them down in archaic libraries. | Photo Credit: G. SRIBHARATH

Against all this, what chance does a government body have? To read Sahitya Akademi’s books, one needs to visit their local offices, attend State book fairs, or hunt them down in archaic libraries. It is near impossible to find book reviews, author interviews, or publicity material on national award-winning literature. Even when the Akademi makes itself accessible, like placing a bookshop at the University of Delhi’s Metro station exit, youngsters still throng around nearby restaurants and kiosks—almost tauntingly so. Sahitya Akademi publications are judged by their dull covers; their social media presence is reclusive and unattractive. At a time when marketing agencies spend lakhs on making every Instagram post artistic and trendy, the Akademi’s online existence is bureaucratic, and definitely not aligned with the latest trends.

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This economic approach to literature spills over into litfests as well. On World Poetry Day this year, the Sahitya Akademi live-streamed an event with diverse poets. I began watching enthusiastically, only to zone out midway. Fewer than 10 audience members were live with me, and the current total view count is at 168. In contrast, the 2023 Jaipur Literature Festival had more than five lakh guests, 300 speakers, and was marketed as “part-circus, part-postgraduate seminar and part-revolutionary assembly”. The 2023 Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (KGAF) was a packed affair. Yashasvi Vachhani, assistant organiser of literary events, says: “KGAF’s Literature panels usually enjoy a regular audience; partly due to the festival’s legacy, and partly due to marketing.” Most of the attendees were young people from urban, tier-2 and tier-3 cities. The same people who have little to no idea about India’s national body of letters.

We live in an age of excess, so it makes sense that literature has to reach us first, and not the other way around. With money on its side, private publishing and festival ventures are able to control market forces and influence readership. How much this makes for egalitarian literature and how much this cordons off reading to the urban elite is not yet clear.

National recognition and controversies

So, if Instagram poets, international prizes, and private publishing groups are in vogue, do we then look to Sahitya Akademi for a stamp of legitimacy, approval, or honour? The literary agent Kanishka Gupta questions how much credibility can be given to the well-intentioned Akademi awards jury committee if their selection process is ambiguous. He says: “While Akademi winners are always good, there are always three or four weak, questionable books nominated in the shortlist. Some are published by unknown presses and some are not even literary! This makes selecting the winner an easy exercise for the jury. The awards process needs to be revamped, and the method of shortlisting should be made transparent.”

At a time of either rising sycophancy towards, or distrust in, national authorities, I wonder how writers feel about Sahitya Akademi’s claims of sovereignty, while existing under India’s Ministry of Culture.

Arundhathi Subramaniam, who won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2020 for When God is a Traveller, puts it quite honestly: “It was affirmation, and it was certainly welcome to be acknowledged by a jury of my peers. But my real habitat lies in those dark spaces of hard creative labour and occasional magic.”

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Mihir Vatsa, whose travel memoir Tales of Hazaribagh won the 2022 Yuva Puraskar, says: “Not only do I feel recognised by the Akademi, but more so by Indian readers in general. After the award, sales went up, the book was inducted in the syllabus of the Vinoba Bhave University, Hazaribagh, and multiple opportunities opened up.” The Maithili poet Ajit Azad, who won the 2022 award for Pendrive Mein Prithvi, says: “Winning a Sahitya Akademi award is definitely on every writer’s mind. The experience is both exciting and nerve-wracking.”

The involvement goes beyond simply winning awards. For the Kashmiri poet Dr Naseem Shafaie (2011 award winner for Na Thsay Na Aks), the feeling is that of belonging to a family: “Because of the Akademi, I’ve been to so many other cities for events, interacted with so many writers—opportunities you get only here. I’m grateful that the Akademi exists, giving writers respect, a community, and a destination.” Salma has not won an award but always feels included: “Every time there’s a literary panel or event, they always think of me and invite me.”

The poet Vivek Narayanan says: “The Akademi library in Delhi is a place of almost mythic significance—portions of both [my] later books, Life and Times of Mr. S and After were composed there.” For Akshay Shimpi, even having his book, Bincheharyache Kabhinna Tukade, nominated for the Yuva Puraskar was encouragement enough: “It felt like the Akademi was sending me a message: ‘keep writing’. So I kept writing.”

The Yuva Puraskar inspires young writers; Sufia Khatoon, whose book Death in the Holy Month has been nominated twice, says: “[It] gives me hope for all writers (of all ethnicities and beliefs), who have only their craft and a madness for writing.”

The credit for this emphasis on representation must then be given to well-meaning Sahitya Akademi officers. K. Satchidanandan, who played a major role in this during his tenure as secretary, along with then president U.R. Ananthamurthy, says: “I organised two all-India Dalit, Adivasi, and women writers’ meets. I also started Asmita for identity literature, and Mulaqat for writers under 35. Strange as it may seem, I was the first south Indian, non-Brahmin secretary of the Akademi too! But let me admit that the new accent on the marginalised was prompted by new social movements.”

“I am not aware of any transgender writer being considered for an award; the day that happens will be my dream come true.” Manobi Bandyopadhyay, writer and academic | Photo Credit: Sanjoy Ghosh

In 2018, the Sahitya Akademi organised its first transgender poets’ meet in Kolkata. The writer and academic Dr Manabi Bandyopadhyay, who hosted the event, says: “I am happy with these activities, but to an extent. I was a member of Kolkata’s regional office, but that tenure lasted five years. I am not aware of any transgender writer being considered for an award; the day that happens will be my dream come true.”

“ [The Akademi] acknowledges some to show that nobody is ignored. Otherwise, it does not seem to really recognise marginalised voices.” Perumal Murugan, Tamil writer | Photo Credit: Siva Saravanan S

The Tamil novelist Perumal Murugan agrees that the Akademi can do more: “It acknowledges some to show that nobody is ignored. Otherwise, it does not seem to really recognise marginalised voices.” When One Part Woman, the English translation of Murugan’s controversial Madhorubhagan was conferred the Translation Prize in 2017, its translator, Aniruddhan Vasudevan, declined because agitators petitioned against him in the Madras High Court. The court ordered a stay on the English translation prize “until further notice”. Murugan believes that “Aniruddhan’s rejection was the right thing to do. Sahitya Akademi did not arrange a lawyer to make strong arguments. A government agency will always justify its actions. This award does not show sufficient concern in the matter.”

Can one really blame writers for being wary of the government body, no matter how autonomous? Ajit Azad puts it perfectly: “If you are locked in a kajal ki kothri [dark room] and told to go about your business without being tainted by darkness, will that be possible?” A burning question that the writer Anjum Hasan also asks: “What form does that serious, conservative, preservationist, establishment approach to literature take when the space for writing and writers in public life, unless it’s entertainment they are producing, starts to shrink?”

“What form does that serious, conservative, preservationist, establishment approach to literature take when the space for writing and writers in public life, unless it’s entertainment they are producing, starts to shrink?” Anjum Hasan, writer

I am reminded of the award wapsi wave of 2015, in protest against the NDA government’s rising intolerance and the writer and scholar M.M. Kalburgi’s murder. Adil Jussawalla, who earlier served on the Akademi’s advisory committee, returned his award for Trying to Say Goodbye (2011) because “the president should not be bound to a committee for every decision, especially while making a statement in cases like the murder of writers. Because just a simple condolence message is really not enough. This institution concerns all writers in India.”

Eight years on, however, it seems like all forms of protest are futile. A parliamentary panel recommended in August 2023 that award winners sign an undertaking that they will not return their awards at any stage to protest against any political incident. Imposing such a caveat will entirely alter the identities of both Indian writers and a supposedly autonomous national body of letters.

As a writer myself, I want to have faith in the Sahitya Akademi because I want to have faith in Indian literatures. I turn to Dr S. Radhakrishnan’s Editorial Note in Indian Literature, Volume 1, Number 1(October 1957), for hope: “[Writers] seem to think that the Akademi having been founded by the State is necessarily under the control of the Government.... Except for [financial expenditure] there is no other interference or pressure from the Government side.”

Arunava Sinha believes that “Until now, the Akademi has not been politically influenced in a way that bows down to the diktat of any government. It is almost shockingly independent in that sense.” A.J. Thomas seconds this: “If writers are free to choose their representatives in the general council, and if the autonomous democratic structure continues, I think Sahitya Akademi will continue to be as it has been till now. This is one hope I have—till now it has been democratic and autonomous.”

K. Satchidanandan is slightly more pessimistic: “It has so far retained its autonomy and refused to be the arm of any political party or a propaganda wing, but as a close observer, I can say this is slowly changing. I gather for the first time there was a whole panel in the Akademi elections propped up by one party.”

Highlights
  • The Sahitya Akademi, India’s premier literary institution, was formed in 1954 in order to “preserve and promote literature contained in twenty-four Indian languages recognised by it through awards, fellowships, grants, publications, literary programs, workshops and exhibitions.”
  • Today, the Akademi continues to be the only junction for all Indian literatures to meet, but there is a younger generation that does not appear to have even heard of it.
  • It is time for the Akademi, a 70-year-old brand of undoubted value, to change its staid old ways, become more accessible and less bureaucratic, and be in tune with the times as the national body of letters without losing sight of its core values.

A junction for languages and literatures

Initially a colonial consideration in 1944, the Sahitya Akademi has parallel institutions across the world, with parallel problems. Germany’s DeutscheAkademie für Sprache und Dichtung has been accused of nationalism and language gatekeeping. The Académie Française, also known as the French Academy, has been called conservative, anti-feminist, and famously opposed its government’s 2008 proposal to include indigenous, regional languages. In contrast, the Sahitya Akademi commits to annually preserving four unrecognised Indian languages (The Saora dialect was chosen as one for 2023). The reason, says the Akademi’s current secretary, K. Sreenivasarao: “We do not want any language to go extinct.”

“Every single writer I have spoken to thus far has agreed upon one thing: the Akademi has to matter, because languages have to matter, and for 69 years it has been the only junction for all Indian literatures to meet.”

Every single writer I have spoken to thus far has agreed upon one thing: the Akademi has to matter, because languages have to matter, and for 69 years it has been the only junction for all Indian literatures to meet. Their online events range from “Marathi-Santhali Poets Meet” to “Kathasandhi with Abdus Samad”, “Tamil-Kashmiri Poet Meets”, and an annual “All India Dalit Writers Meet.”

Searching for this ideal junction, I take a trip to Mumbai’s Dadar office of the Akademi. Walking down its dingy basement, I see innumerable books, in their dusty, multilingual glory, ready for my perusal. I leave with two big bags of poetry, prose, rare translations, and essays in English, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil—all under Rs.2,000. Anjum Hasan’s words ring in my mind as I think of the office’s “certain attractive dullness, the feeling that literature is being preserved, even if in bland rooms, even if in a formal, sarkari way”.

Sitting in my room, I am surrounded by Akademi publications: Imayam’s Sellatha Panam, Ambedkar’s essays, Anish Ashfaq’s KhwaabSaraab, Ghalib, Mahasweta Devi, and Tagore. No other private literary festival, bookstore, library, or publishing house carries such linguistic variety and diversity. There is certainly a sense of preservation and propagation, albeit in a non-glamorous, understated manner. These books lie before me, quietly, patiently. It is now up to me to pick them up and take the effort to read them.

Saranya Subramanian is a poet, writer, and theatre practitioner based in Mumbai.

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**International Comparisons and Effectiveness** The effectiveness of language protection laws varies.

**International Comparisons and Effectiveness** The effectiveness of language protection laws varies.

**International Comparisons and Effectiveness** The effectiveness of language protection laws varies.

Italy’s proposed fines and Quebec’s francization requirements represent strong enforcement mechanisms, while South Africa’s efforts are hampered by budget constraints and lack of skilled personnel .

In Kenya, the decline of native languages is linked to educational policies favoring English and Kiswahili, with growing advocacy for government policies promoting indigenous language teaching in schools .

Title:

Content: YouTube binges during the pandemic instead of going to school have given British children American accents

  • Teachers say that the problem is more acute in disadvantaged areas

British schoolchildren have developed American accents after watching hours of US videos and TV programmes on YouTube during the pandemic.

Teachers say the problem is more acute in disadvantaged areas where youngsters were left watching American content on smartphones and tablets, instead of being in class.

English teacher Geoff Logan said: 'I have knowledge of children who returned to school since the various lockdowns with American accents ... Their voices have changed.'

Mr Logan, who teaches in St Helens, Merseyside and has 40 years' experience, added: 'When you consider the amount of time that some young people spend on smartphones and on laptops, it isn't surprising to me that they mimic the accents.

'That's the way we learn language anyway, by mimicking the sounds we hear.

Teachers say the problem is more acute in disadvantaged areas where youngsters were left watching American content on smartphones and tablets, instead of being in class (stock image)

'It used to be that you could have a shared conversation with a child or a class of children about a television programme.

'It is very, very difficult these days to find that common reference point because young people do not watch television.

'They watch streams of things and YouTube videos, where they get their worldview from, and most of these are American.

'If that's all you're watching it's quite reasonable to expect that gradually your voice will change and the way that you pronounce things will change.

'Should we be teaching our pupils spoken English in school? I'm hating myself for saying this, but yes, we should.

'I do it far more than I ever used to because I've decided there is a need for it.

'It annoys me that standard English is being abused in the way it is and it annoys me that there are too many Americanisms.'

YouTube binges during the pandemic instead of going to school have given British children American accents

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Ukraine’s new minority language law, which restores some rights for the Hungarian minority, has been criticized for not fully complying with international recommendations, highlighting the political complexities of language legislation .

Title:

Content: Italian govt drafts bill that seeks to ban English language

RomeEdited By: C KrishnasaiUpdated: Apr 01, 2023, 03:15 PM IST

Calling for the Italian language to be protected and nurtured, the draft bill claims that English “demeans and mortifies” Italians, and called on all public and private bodies to use the “language of Dante” to promote their goods and services, reports Reuters news agency. Photograph:(Reuters)

Story highlights

The bill, which has been drafted by lawmakers of the nationalist Brothers of Italy party, aims to promote Italian language and imposes a fine of up to 100,000 euros ($108,750) if found violating the rule

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s party has proposed legislation that seeks to prohibit public and private bodies in the country from using foreign terms, especially English, in official communications.

The bill, which has been drafted by lawmakers of the nationalist Brothers of Italy party, aims to promote Italian language and imposes a fine of up to 100,000 euros ($108,750) if found violating the rule.

In order to become a law, the bill has to be approved by both houses of parliament. But there was no indication of when this might happen.

“It is not just a matter of fashion, as fashions pass, but Anglomania (has) repercussions for society as a whole,” said the text of the draft bill.

Calling for the Italian language to be protected and nurtured, the draft bill claims that English “demeans and mortifies” Italians, and called on all public and private bodies to use the “language of Dante” to promote their goods and services, reports Reuters news agency.

The draft also specifies that all job related applications, including names and acronyms, should be spelt out in Italian, with foreign words allowed only if they are impossible to translate.

The bill said the widespread use of English in Europe was “even more negative and paradoxical” given that Britain had quit the European Union.

The draft bill comes at a time when the incumbent far-right government takes measures to what it calls preserving the local culture.

Recently, it banned the use of laboratory-produced food to safeguard the country’s agri-food heritage.

When the Brothers of Italy party took office last October, it added the English term “Made in Italy” to the name of the industry minister, while Meloni occasionally drops foreign words into her speeches.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Content: Lead

It is time to let sleeping dogmas lie: on ‘Hindi imposition’

‘Another salvo’ | Photo Credit: K. Manikandan

The Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement recently, saying that Hindi should replace English as the “link language” and that the Government’s work will increasingly be in Hindi, has set the proverbial cat among the Southern pigeons. The “Hindi-Hindutva-Hindustan” ideology that he represents has historically been impatient with the notion of Indian multilingualism, which it sees as a babel undermining national unity rather than the proud showcase of diversity that our constitutional nationalism celebrates. It has been a long-standing policy plank of the Hindutva movement that Hindi, the language of the northern and central Indian States, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has sunk its deepest roots, should be the ‘national language’ of India. BJP MPs have frequently risen in the national parliament to demand that their preference be made law.

Part of ‘Hindi promotion’

Mr. Shah’s is only the latest salvo of several efforts by the Modi government to promote Hindi. These include: the imposition of Hindi names on Central government programmes and schemes (Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, and the like) instead of translations or ‘neutral’ English labels; a ‘parliamentary committee’s proposal to make the use of Hindi mandatory for MPs and Union Ministers; making Hindi a compulsory subject for Central Board of Secondary Education schools across the country; re-lettering milestones on national highways in Hindi instead of English’; the use of Hindi in airport announcements; the Central government issuing media advertisements in Hindi, and launching ‘promotional campaigns exclusively in the Hindi script’, even when the words used may be from different Indian languages; and the practice of renaming well-known occasions or festivities only in Hindi or Sanskrit, such as Teacher’s Day as Guru Purnima.

The latest controversy has revealed two essential truths about our country. The first is that, whatever the Hindi chauvinists might say, we do not have one “national language” in India, but several. The second is that zealots have an unfortunate tendency to provoke a battle they will lose — at a time when they were quietly winning the war.

Missing the point

Hindi is the mother tongue of some 50% of our population; the percentage has been growing thanks to the spectacular failure of population control in much of North India. It is not, however, the mother tongue of the rest of us. When Hindi speakers emotionally decry the use of an alien language imposed on the country by British colonialists and demand that Hindi be used because it speaks for “the soul of India”, or when they declare that “Hindi is our mother, English is a stranger”, they are missing the point twice over. First, because no Tamil or Bengali will accept that Hindi is the language of her soul, and second because injecting anti-English xenophobia into the argument is utterly irrelevant to the issue at stake.

As Rajaji sagely cautioned the Hindi chauvinists of his era, the opposition to English is counterproductive: ‘Xenophobia is an outmoded form of patriotism. It is a sign of immaturity to feel shame in using a world language in our high affairs. Over and over again the inescapable injustice of imposing Hindi is sought to be covered by a cry against the foreign character of English. …Is not just and fair dealing by all the geographically distributed people of this great country as important at least as national pride?’ Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, too, had expressed the view that the utility of a single language nationwide in the administration and the justice system required the continuation of English as a matter of practical convenience.

Rajaji also gave short shrift to the argument that Hindi was a language of the Indian masses while English was used only by the deracinated elites: ‘When the Hindi protagonists are speaking of the masses they are obviously thinking of the masses of the Hindi area only; they ignore the masses in non-Hindi India who are no less in number.’ Nationalism, he feared, was being used to conceal the naked self-interest of the Hindi-speakers of the north: ‘Love of oneself may easily masquerade as love of language, and love of language as love of country. Let us not deceive ourselves or others with chauvinistic slogans.’

But deluding ourselves is a favoured pastime in New Delhi. The issue is quite simple: all Indians need to deal with the government. We need government services, information and support; we need to understand easily what our government is saying to us or demanding of us. When the government does so in our mother tongue, it is easier for us. But when it does so in someone else’s mother tongue with which we are less familiar than our neighbour, our incomprehension is intensified by resentment. Why should Shukla be spoken to by the Government of India in the language that comes easiest to him, but not Subramaniam?

The de facto solution to this question has been a practical one: use Hindi where it is understood, but use English everywhere, since it places all Indians from all parts of our country at an equal disadvantage. English does not express Subramaniam’s soul any more than it does Shukla’s, but it serves a functional purpose for both, and what is more, it helps Subramaniam to understand the same thing as Shukla.

Ideally, of course, every Central government document, tax form or tweet should be in every one of India’s languages. Since that is not possible in practice — because we would have to do everything in 23 versions (22 and English) — we have chosen to have two official languages, English and Hindi. State governments complement these by producing official material in the language of their States. That leaves everyone more or less happy.

It is about efficiency

The Government’s requirement that Hindi be privileged in official work actually militates against the interests of efficiency. Obliging a Keralite bureaucrat in Delhi to read and write file notations in Hindi to be submitted to a superior officer from Odisha makes no sense, since neither man would be using a language with which he is at ease. Obliging both to digest a complex argument by a U.P.-ite subordinate writing in his mother tongue is unfair to both. Both may write atrocious English, for that matter, but it is the language in which they are equal, and it serves to get the work done. Language is a vehicle, not a destination. In government, it is a means, not an end. The Hindi-wallahs fail to appreciate that, since promoting Hindi, for them, is an end in itself.

In the five decades since the promulgation of the ‘three-language formula’, implementation has largely failed across the country, for two divergent reasons. At an ideological level, in States such as Tamil Nadu, the question of being required to learn a northern language such as Hindi has always been contentious, with anti-Hindi agitations a recurring episode in the State since 1937. In the northern States, there is simply no demand for learning a southern language, and so no northern State has seriously implemented the three-language formula.

Vehicle of entertainment

The irony is that the Hindi chauvinists should realise they were winning the war. The prevalence of Hindi is far greater across India today than it was half a century ago. This is not because of Mr. Shah’s (or even the Vice-President, M. Venkaiah Naidu’s) imprecations or the assiduous efforts of the Parliamentary Committee on the Promotion of Hindi. It is, quite simply, because of Bollywood, which has brought a demotic conversational Hindi into every Indian home. South Indians and north-easterners alike are developing something of an ease and familiarity with Hindi because it is a language in which they are entertained. In time, this alone could have made Hindi truly the national language.

But it would become so only because Indians freely and voluntarily adopt it, not because some Hindi chauvinist in Delhi thrusts his language down the throats of the unwilling. The fact is, its vocabulary, gender rules and locutions do not come instinctively to everyone: native speakers of languages such as Malayalam that do not use gender can understand why a woman must be feminine but are genuinely mystified as to why a table should be feminine too. If you have grown up with Hindi at home, it is a matter of instinct for you that it should be “ desh ki haalat acchi hain” rather than “ desh ka haalat bura hain”, but for the rest of us, there is no logical reason to see anything feminine about the national condition.

Fear of an agenda

Imposition is rarely a good policy in a democracy. But the real fear is far more fundamental: that the advocacy of Hindi is merely the thin end of a more dangerous wedge — the ideological agenda of those in power who believe in a nationalism of ‘one language, one religion, one nation’. This is anathema to those Indians who grew up and believe in a diverse, inclusive India whose languages are all equally authentic. The Hindutva brigade’s attempts to impose cultural uniformity in India will be resisted staunchly by the rest of us; the opposition to Hindi is based on our fear that such cultural uniformity is really what the advocacy of this language is all about.

Still, if we watch enough Bollywood movies, we will pick some Hindi up one day. Just do not tell us that we must, or else. Language should be an instrument of opportunity, not of oppression.

The quest for uniformity is always a sign of insecurity, and the BJP’s majoritarianism has gone to the point where it threatens to undermine the very social fabric that has held the country together since Independence.

It is time to let sleeping dogmas lie.

Shashi Tharoor, MP (Congress party) for Thiruvananthapuram, is the Sahitya Akademi-winning author of 23 books, both fiction and non-fiction, including, most recently, ‘Pride, Prejudice & Punditry: The Essential Shashi Tharoor’

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Printable version | Apr 12, 2022 10:12:32 am | https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/it-is-time-to-let-sleeping-dogmas-lie/article65312129.ece

**Grassroots and Community-Led Efforts** Grassroots movements complement governmental interventions.

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The Cherokee Nation’s "Durbin Feeling Language Preservation Act" allocates $16 million to establish immersion schools and a language center, emphasizing community engagement to revitalize the Cherokee language .

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Content: English is now our own : The Tribune India

Touchstones

English is now our own

For every Tharoor, there is an Indian who uses a mixed vocabulary adapted to a level of individual comfort and expressiveness

Ira Pande

In my last column, I had mentioned how the rise of an India that was invisible to many urban slickers was set to change our country in many areas. The news from the ongoing Asian Games in China and the performance of our cricket team in the Asia Cup have emboldened me to take this further. The confidence of a generation unencumbered by the legacy of the proto-colonialists is what will soon break the glass ceiling in other areas too. This has been noted and applauded by many although there are still some who will never surrender their entitled positions (read snobbery), conferred on them by birth, family connections, facility in the English language and the old boy school network, without a fight. The heartening fact is that they are becoming more and more irrelevant now. In a brilliant article I was sent recently, Sumana Roy — who is on the faculty of Ashoka University — categorises two schools of English spoken in India today. The IIC School and the JLF School, according to her, reflect the old stuffy and elite class (members of the India International Centre, one of Delhi’s most exclusive clubs, aka the IIC) and the high-energy, lively bonhomie and comfort between writers, filmmakers, historians and social scientists who flock annually to the popular Jaipur Lit Fest (JLF) to hear, intermingle and enjoy the open-air discussions by some of the trendiest speakers and writers from across the world.

Some may argue that this facile division is not entirely correct and there are a lot of mavericks in each place, but if her point is to celebrate the breaking-out talent and disruptors of creative energies, she has a strong case. Class, education and social prominence were probably as vicious as the old caste-based social order that thrived on a cruel exclusion of those who were not People Like Us. Untouchability, whether of a religious persuasion or intellectual and social positions, is an undeniable barrier erected around privilege and power. To make fun of those who speak English with strong regional accents (think of North Indians who laugh at Mallu and Tamil accents), those who dispense with grammar when giving public speeches or those who wear clothes that become talking points (the PM’s branded bund gala when having tea with Obama or Trudeau dressed like a baarati on his first state visit) no longer evokes mirth. Speaking in one’s national language at international fora is no longer considered something to feel sheepish about, but an assertion of national confidence. The argument being that if the Chinese and Russians (to name just a few) can hold their head high when doing so, why can’t we?

English is now our own language, argues Sumana Roy, quoting the ‘experimental language jam’ in her hometown of Siliguri. Here are some samples she offers: Urbane Unisex Salon, Hum Toh Hain Like This, Bowtie Automobile Works, Endeavour Global School, Neelkanth Mattrezzz. Again, in the dhaba-like food joints offering delectable street food that marry Chinese, South Indian, Italian and American dishes to the desi spice and sauce tradition, no one asks for forks and knives. You slurp your food from paper plates and eat with your fingers. Street food is now eagerly sought after by foodies and there are many YouTube hosts that take you on culinary tours in cities across the country. Some may shudder at the popular ‘noodulls’ and gobhi manchurian combination available all over India but believe me, authentic Chinese food is not half as exciting. At wedding banquets, the most popular tables are those that offer Chinese and Italian fare, created by desi cooks. Even in traditional South India, guests will happily abandon their sambhar-rasam for dal makhni and karahi paneer.

The limited point I wish to make is that the country is changing — it is up to you to decide whether this is good or bad. The old days and the traditional protocols of public behaviour are melting like Arctic glaciers. There was a time when grammatical rules, syntax and vocabulary ruled our writing — in fact, many of my generation still follow them. However, for the vast army of aspiring Indians who grew up in rough and ready schools and looked at language as a mode of communication rather than a literary form, such niceties mean little. Their confidence in their ability to say what they feel is not tied up in those regulations that inhibited the earlier generation when writing or speaking. Moreover, those who sniff at ‘bad’ English are now sniffed at themselves!

A new publication, edited by the linguist Dr GN Devy, titled ‘The Indians’, is an ambitious work of scholarship that reaffirms India’s infinite capacity to absorb and assimilate foreign tongues. This has made us one of the most culturally diverse and lively civilisations, for no other country can quite match us in this area. The keyword is the capacity to absorb different linguistic registers and make them our own. Thus, for every Shashi Tharoor, there is an Indian who uses a mixed vocabulary adapted to a level of individual comfort and expressiveness. I, for one, find this both an endearing and exciting way of constantly making language relevant and eternally fascinating. What is disturbing is the growing trend to drop one’s native language in favour of fusion pop-speak. How many dialects that fed our national languages will survive this trend remains a worry.

#Asian Games #China #Cricket

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In Ireland, over 130 affiliated groups work collectively to fund education and support services for Irish language revival .

The Macanese youth movement revitalizes the endangered Patuá creole language through arts, emphasizing cultural identity and heritage preservation .

Title:

Content: Use of mother tongue in lower primary unproductive

BY: Augustina Tawiah
Angela Ami Atse

A proofreader and one-time tutor, Angela Ami Atse, has described as unproductive the country’s policy to use only the mother tongue as the medium of instruction for pupils in lower primary schools.

Mrs Atse who is the Assistant Head of Proofreading at Graphic Communications Group Ltd (GCGL) explained that that policy was part of the reasons why some pupils in lower primary in the country were unable to speak and write English language very well.

Mrs Atse has, therefore, called for the use of the English language and mother tongue simultaneously as the medium of instruction for pupils in lower primary.

“One of the reasons cited for the introduction of the mother tongue as a medium of instruction in lower primary schools is that, it will help pupils to speak and write good English. But that is not entirely the case. It is also part of the reason lower primary pupils are not speaking English well.

“They are doing literal translation. All languages have one uniform structure — they express number and time (tense) but there are some other structures that are unique to languages. So if the child does not know at what point the transfer of knowledge should be done, that is when the child learns to speak “vernacular English”. They speak English with a vernacular accent and understanding,” she explained.

What does the policy say

Ghana’s current language policy mandates the use of the child’s first language as the language of instruction from kindergarten through Grade Three with English as the LI thereafter. English is taught as a subject in the lower primary grades while Ghanaian languages become a subject of study from Grade Four through Grade Nine. The language policy states:

“Where teachers and learning materials are available and linguistic composition of classes is fairly uniform, the children’s first language must be used as the dominant medium of instruction in kindergarten and lower primary school “(Ministry of Education, Ghana, 2004, pp27-28).

“Instruction in the indigenous languages is limited to the 11 government-sponsored languages, namely Akuapem Twi, Asanti Twi, Fanti, Nzema, Dagaare and Dagbane, Ewe, Dangme, Ga, Gonja and Kasem.

English language as Ghana’s official language

Mrs Atse, who was speaking in an interview with the Daily Graphic, pointed out that so long as English language remained the official language of the country, it was important that the medium of instruction at all levels of education in the country remained English while the mother tongue was left for parents to teach their children at home at the family level.

This, she explained was because, the family was the first agent of socialisation for the child and the child could easily acquire the language spoken by family members compared to the school environment.

She said the multi-ethnic nature of the country was also another challenge adding that it was likely that children were introduced to a local language for the first time in school, which may not necessarily be their mother tongue.

Explaining why it was important for English Language to be used at all levels of education. She pointed out that even in examinations, with the exception of Ghanaian Language, all other subjects, including mathematics, have the instructions and questions written in English so if the child misunderstands the instructions he or she might end up not doing well in the examination.

“If we really want to be part of the world, we cannot abandon English language. We still have to carry English language along because we will be dealing with people who do not speak or write any Ghanaian language.

“How do we communicate with people? How do we do business with foreigners? So we need to develop the language that can link us up with the rest of the world. Of course, we should bring our languages up so that they do not die but that should best be done at home,” she advised.

Poor spoken and written English

The educationist also spoke about poor English language that was written and spoken by both students and adults nowadays, attributing it to the inability of people to learn the language well.

She, therefore, called for intensive reading on the part of students in order to improve on their written and spoken English.

**Academic and Institutional Roles** Academia shapes language policy and public attitudes through research, advocacy, and collaboration with governments.

**Academic and Institutional Roles** Academia shapes language policy and public attitudes through research, advocacy, and collaboration with governments.

**Academic and Institutional Roles** Academia shapes language policy and public attitudes through research, advocacy, and collaboration with governments.

Conferences and research initiatives explore the intersections of linguistics, cultural identity, and technology, influencing supportive language policies .

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Content: 8°C Viola 2023. december 19.

Finally: Transcarpathia Hungarians' Largest Party Speaks On Ukraine's New Minority Law

Magyar Nemzet
2 órája

The Transcarpathian Hungarian Cultural Association of (KMKSZ) expressed a positive view regarding Ukraine's adoption of a new law that regulates the rights of minorities. However, according to a statement issued by the association today,

the legislation still fails to comply with all the recommendations of the Venice Commission and does not restore the minority rights that existed before.

Some provisions of the law can be seen as a step forward, as they restore certain linguistic rights previously enjoyed by the Hungarian minority, mainly in the areas of education, production and distribution of printed products and the media. A statement from the association's board underlines that in drafting the legislation, some of the Venice Commission's recommendations were taken into account and national minority organizations were indeed consulted.

The fact that Article 7 (re language) of the Education Law guarantees the right of minorities, including Hungarians, to education in their mother tongue is a key step forward. Another positive development is that children who began their Hungarian-language schooling before the 2018 academic year can continue their studies in Hungarian until the end of secondary education.

However, the board of the association (KMSZ) regrets that the new law still fails to allow minority language use at the level of higher administrative units (districts, counties), and that the application of language rights at the level of municipalities is still subject to a majority decision.

According to the declaration released by KMSZ, the law links the possibility of using language rights to the concept of traditional minority settlement, which it determined to be 10 percent.

Thus, minorities living in scattered in certain areas have virtually no language rights, further accelerating the process of assimilation,

 – reads the association's statement forwarded to Hungary's state news agency (MTI).

The law regulates neither the free use of national symbols, nor the conditions that are required for minority representation. - Many provisions within the legislation are discriminatory or merely declaratory in nature, which could be open to arbitrary interpretation, states the document. The interpretation of several concepts remains unclear, which raises further questions, especially with regard to the enforcement of mother tongue education alongside the state language.

The law still falls short of several recommendations put forward by the Venice Commission. It does not guarantee the rights of minorities, as enshrined in the constitution and other international documents, and fails to restore the full range of minority rights that existed previously.

Trusting that the new legislation is only the first step in the process of restoring the entire spectrum of minority rights enjoyed by Transcarpathia's Hungarian communities, KMKSZ continues to support Ukraine's European integration, in line with its current program.

– We wish for Ukraine to become a democratic European state governed by the rule of law, where both human and national minority rights are respected, concludes the statement issued by the board of KMKSZ.

Cover photo: School in Transcarpathia (Photo: István Mirko)

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Scholars advocate for translanguaging approaches in education, integrating both English and mother tongues to enhance learning outcomes and challenge the dominance of English .

Title:

Content: Delayed mother tongue policy creates learning crisis for pupils

The implementation of the National Language Policy which allows the use of mother tongue to teach children up to primary six has dragged on since 2022 with pupils at the receiving end, FRANK IKPEFAN reports

Six-year-old Safiya Bako dozed off intermittently in class at the Local Education Authority (LEA) school in Kubwa, a satellite area in Abuja.

For more than an hour, she could neither grasp what the female tutor was saying nor connect to all her gesticulations.

According to one of the school janitors who brings Safiya home, more than half of her class are lost or distracted during lessons taught in English.

“The only class they all look forward to is when Mallam steps in to teach them the Islamic studies; he will usually speak little Arabic and mainly Hausa,” the janitor added.

From the LEA in Kubwa, Abuja to the core Northern states and down to the Southern region whether east or west, there is a growing concern about children who are in schools but are not learning – especially children in rural communities.

The learning poverty among children in basic schools in Nigeria has persisted despite the investment in  education sector by the political class.

There are no indications of an improvement going by the report of the World Bank. According to the Bank’s study 70 per cent of Nigerian children at basic education level are unable to read, write or solve elementary numeracy tasks.

A report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said three out of four children of basic education age, six to 14 years in Nigeria cannot read a text with understanding, or solve simple mathematical problems.

Read Also; It’s only in Madonna university that girls graduate as virgins, founder claims

Unfortunately, there is a limited chance to catch up later. This reality is a contributory factor to high dropout rates as children progress in schooling and social alienation.

Yet a situation where 69 per cent of primary school teachers in the country are said to be unqualified to impart basic foundational skills to children continues to aggravate the situation.

Poor funding of the education sector leads the list of factors responsible for low learning outcomes and poor numeracy skills in children, however, a new school of thought believes, money is only half of the problem.

Experts are now taking a look at the impact of language barriers in teaching and learning at the basic education level, a challenge they say has often been ignored, especially at the primary school level.

Research indicates that many enrolled children lose interest, become absent-minded, appear lost and generally avoid school when tutored in languages other than a familiar tongue.

Children who manage to sit through classes are often said to have a very faint grasp of subjects taught or mix up knowledge because of poor understanding.

Will  mother tongue improve Nigeria’s learning outcomes at basic education level?

Chief of Education at UNICEF Nigeria, Saadhna Panday-Soobrayan believes that teaching in mother tongue at the basic education level would improve the literacy and numeracy of pupils.

The UNICEF education specialist said: “Studies and evidence across the world have shown that when you teach children in their mother tongue especially at age one  to three, they learn better and faster. The use of the mother tongue, unarguably, assists the children to acquire basic numeracy and literacy skills. You can then switch to a second language slightly later in life. Obviously, improved results are achieved with this approach.

“In addition to that, teachers should be trained to teach in local languages. There should also be books and other tutorial materials produced in local languages. These would also go a long way in solving the literacy problems in Nigeria.”

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has tested teaching initiatives to promote mother language-based education in Djibouti, Gabon, Guinea, Haiti and Kenya with  success.

Also, countries like China, Japan, Taiwan, and South Africa that use mother tongue to teach Science and Technology are higher on the United Nations Human Development Index than Nigeria and others that use foreign languages.

Calls for implementation of national language policy grow

Former President Muhammadu Buhari approved a new National Language Policy which made mother tongue a compulsory medium of instruction for public primary school pupils.

Also, former Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, had revealed that the mother tongue would be used exclusively for the first six years of education, while it would be combined with English Language from Junior Secondary School.

Executive Secretary, Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) Prof. Ismail Junaidu, called for the implementation of the policy.

Junaidu said the policy which prescribed the use of mother tongue or language of immediate environment as medium of instruction in basic schools, was approved in 2022 and allowed the use of mother tongue to teach even up to primary six.

While stating that no language should be left out, he said over 60 language autographs, or writing systems have been developed.

He called on communities as custodians of the culture, to step in and complement the effort of the Federal Government, adding that the agency was ready to provide technical assistance to all languages.

The NERDC boss lamented the apathy and lack of political will as well as shortage of language teachers, low capacity and inadequate funds to implement the policy.

He called on relevant bodies to intensify sensitisation, produce more instructional materials, build capacity of teachers and implementing partners, as well as ensure partnership between agencies and development partners for proper implementation of the policy.

Librarian backs policy

Also, the Chief Executive, National Library of Nigeria (NLN), Prof. Chinwe Anunobi has also thrown her weight behind the use of indigenous languages in teaching and learning in schools, particularly at the basic education level.

The National Librarian said children learn better with indigenous languages.

According to her, evidence has shown that children learn better when they are taught in their indigenous language (mother tongue).

She said this was why the agency was pushing for the adoption of indigenous languages for teaching and learning at basic education level.

“There’s a growing concern that, at least, one indigenous language dies every two weeks as highlighted by UNESCO,” she said.

She added: “It’s a testimony of hope that over 600 indigenous languages in Nigeria shouldn’t go into extinction, but rather be preserved like the other aspects of our cultures. The theme for this year’s event is a call for all stakeholders, and practically everyone, to appreciate the fact that multilingual education enhances learning when the language of instruction is the learner’s first language.

“The use of learners’ own languages for literacy and learning provides a solid pillar for education, and for transfer of skills and knowledge to additional languages. Learning in one’s first language facilitates understanding and interaction, and further develops critical thinking.

It strengthens self-confidence and self-esteem and stimulates active participation.

“In addition to boosting learning, multilingual education contributes to opening the doors to intergenerational learning, the preservation of culture and intangible heritage, and the revitalisation of languages.”

The Federal Engagement Lead on the Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE) programme, Abiola Sanusi noted that education in the mother tongue helps children develop a strong foundation in their native language.

According to Sanusi, to fully realise the benefits of education in the mother tongue, it is  essential for policymakers and educators to recognise the importance of language as a tool for learning and development.

Sanusi said: “Education in the mother tongue helps children develop a strong foundation in their native language. This is important for their overall cognitive development, as well as their emotional and social well-being. When children are educated in their mother tongue, they are better able to express themselves, ask questions, and engage in meaningful discussions with their teachers and peers. This leads to a more stimulating and inclusive learning environment and alignment with foundational principles of starting from known to unknown in learning process.

“Furthermore, the opportunity of learning a second language that is inherently part of multilingual education is also associated with cognitive flexibility and cultural empathy. When individuals are proficient in multiple languages, they develop the ability to navigate different linguistic and cultural schemas, expanding their capacity for empathy and understanding. This cognitive flexibility is a valuable skill that prepares individuals to thrive in diverse and rapidly changing environments, both within and beyond their own communities.

“Encouraging the use of the mother tongue does not negate the importance of the English Language in creating a connection with the rest of the global community. However, Nigeria also needs to gain from the widespread opportunities that investment in its numerous indigenous languages could bring. Nigeria has had a lot to show from using the English language, especially in literary endeavours and entertainment with great authors and actors that earn global recognition, with these individuals demonstrating a mastery of not just the English Language but their mother tongue.”qqqq

Nigeria may miss out on SGDs if crises persist – UBEC

The Executive Secretary, Universal Basic Education Commission, Hamid Bobboyi warned that if the learning crisis was not immediately addressed, it could hinder Nigeria from achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically, goal four which deals with inclusive and equitable quality education and the promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Speaking at a two-day stakeholders Dialogue on Reading Initiative in the UBE Programme and the Use of Mother Tongue/Language of Immediate Environment as Medium of Instruction in Abuja, the UBEC chief said: “Studies have shown that Nigeria is experiencing a severe learning crisis. For example, approximately three out of four children of basic education age (6 to14 years) in Nigeria cannot read a text with understanding, or solve simple mathematics problems (NBS and UNICEF).

“The situation, if not immediately addressed will hinder Nigeria from achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Several interventions by the Federal Government, State Governments and International Development Partners have been made to address the endemic issue. However, in spite of the huge resources expended, the challenge remains.”

Nigeria’s exit from the learning crisis requires action – UNICEF

The UNICEF Education Manager, Munamuzunga Sikaulu, stressed that Nigeria’s exit from the learning crisis would be a product of actions, while calling on stakeholders to come up with ideas that would help the delivery of basic education to the Nigerian child.

Sikaulu noted that the use of mother tongue or the language of the immediate environment would improve the motivation of the teachers and students to provide instruction and ensure proper learning.

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Institutions like India’s Sahitya Akademi promote literature and language diversity, though they face challenges such as bureaucratization and reduced accessibility to younger generations .

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Content: Hungary places new obstacle in Ukraine's path to EU, demanding repeal of language law

07.11.2023, 14:23
Viktor Orbán (Photo: EPA/Olivier Matthys)

Hungary promises to block the start of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union, demanding the repeal of the language law. Balázs Orbán, adviser to the Prime Minister of Hungary, said in an interview with NOS.

According to him, Hungary "has always been a supporter of Ukraine's rapprochement with the European Union, but the stricter language law has changed everything."

"We cannot agree with this. Hungary's position is crystal clear: as long as this law exists, there can be no discussions with Ukrainians regarding their integration into the European Union. We will block it until the problem is resolved," Orbán said.

He noted that the language law allegedly "made the life of Hungarians unbearable."

In March 2023, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Péter Szijjártó, stated that if Ukraine "does not respect the rights of national minorities", Budapest may not support its integration into the EU and NATO in the future.

On October 7, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in China. The Hungarian leader said that his country "never wanted to oppose Russia and is trying to salvage bilateral contacts." After the meeting with Putin, Orban was sharply criticized by other EU leaders.

On October 25, after Orbán compared Hungary's membership in the EU to the Soviet occupation, the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell said that no one in the EU is forcing Hungary to stay.

Previously, Orbán stated that helping Ukraine is "not in the interest" of his country, but is "simple civilized behavior."

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**Sociocultural and Political Contexts** The drive to regulate borrowings is often rooted in concerns over cultural erosion, linguistic imperialism, and the desire to preserve national identity.

**Sociocultural and Political Contexts** The drive to regulate borrowings is often rooted in concerns over cultural erosion, linguistic imperialism, and the desire to preserve national identity.

**Sociocultural and Political Contexts** The drive to regulate borrowings is often rooted in concerns over cultural erosion, linguistic imperialism, and the desire to preserve national identity.

Public attitudes range from protective resistance, as seen in Finland’s emotional resistance to English influence , to adaptive acceptance, as in India, where younger generations embrace English as part of their identity while remaining aware of the risks of diluting native languages .

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Content: Sharjah: Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the UAE Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, the Emirate of Sharjah is set to host the Sharjah International Conference for Linguistic Intelligence, set to take place from October 17 to 19, 2024. Organized by American University of Sharjah (AUS) and the Emirates Scholar Center for Research and Studies,  the conference aims to explore the intersections of linguistics, artificial intelligence and cultural development.

The Sharjah International Conference on Linguistic Intelligence will serve as a premier global forum for academics, researchers and industry professionals to discuss the impact of linguistic diversity and technological advancements on community development and cultural identity. The conference will feature over 600 participants, more than 100 presentations and 20 workshops.

Her Excellency Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, President of American University of Sharjah, expressed her pride in Sharjah's hosting and sponsorship of the Sharjah International Conference for Linguistic Intelligence. She highlighted the emirate's rich history and vibrant culture and emphasized her confidence in the conference's ability to illuminate the path for researchers and experts to envision the future of linguistic learning using artificial intelligence technologies to develop cultural identity.

The announcement of the conference was made during a press conference held on the AUS campus, where a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between AUS and the Emirates Scholar Center for Research and Studies. The agreement was signed by Dr. Tod Laursen, AUS Chancellor, and Dr. Fawaz Habbal, Director-General of the Emirates Scholar and Board Member, in the presence of Dr. Firas Habbal, President of the Emirates Scholar Center and Vice Chancellor of its Board of Trustees along with the university's Board of Trustees and members of the center's Board of Trustees. This partnership will facilitate joint research initiatives, conferences and academic activities, fostering a vibrant exchange of ideas and expertise.

His Excellency Dr. Abdullah Bilhaif Al Nuaimi, Chairman of Sharjah Consultative Council , and Chancellor  of the Emirates Scholar Center for Research and Studies, emphasized the importance of this conference in providing an opportunity for the global scientific community to collaborate and innovate in areas related to human language and natural language processing technology, contributing to the development of innovative solutions and deeper understanding of the human mind and various cultures.

"This collaboration with the Emirates Scholar Center for Research and Studies represents a significant step forward in our commitment to advancing research and shaping the future landscape of academia and beyond. By pooling our resources and expertise, we aim to create impactful solutions that benefit not only our institutions but also the broader community. We are particularly excited about the potential this partnership holds for supporting vital policy areas and enhancing our network with both local and international partners," said Dr. Laursen.

Dr. Firas Habbal, President of the Emirates Scholar Center, and Vice Chairperson of its Board of Trustees, stated that the conference plays a significant role in developing policies and strategies that support progress in the fields of artificial and linguistic intelligence, as well as in promoting education and learning in these areas. He expressed his confidence in the strong scientific footprint this conference will leave in linguistic research.

Key objectives of the Sharjah International Conference on Linguistic Intelligence include promoting global dialogue on linguistic diversity, exploring the impact of AI and natural language processing on linguistic studies and advocating for policies that support linguistic diversity as a cornerstone of cultural wealth. The event will also feature dynamic sessions on AI-driven language learning tools, language preservation and multilingual communication platforms.

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Content: Experts bat for translanguaging for children in India

She stressed the need for a shift to a more inclusive model that prioritises linguistic diversity for equitable and high-quality education.

Published: 22nd February 2023 08:48 AM  |   Last Updated: 22nd February 2023 08:48 AM   |  A+A-

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: On the occasion of International Mother Language Day, educationists and language experts pointed out that the early bird doesn’t always get the worm, especially when it comes to introducing English as a medium of instruction in schools and tuition centres. They said a child can gain clarity about basic concepts and the confidence to lead a successful life through his/her mother tongue.

Speaking at a conference on ‘Education in Mother Tongue’, organised by the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) here on Tuesday, experts pointed out that translanguaging, which is using English and mother tongue seamlessly, is the best possible way for educating children.

Many children in India, particularly those from tribal communities, do not have access to education in their native language. The Indian government has officially recognised only 22 languages, leaving many non-scheduled languages, mostly tribal, without State support. Prof Duggirala Vasanta, a linguistics professor at Osmania University, cited a book to explain that the dropout rate among tribals is high. As many as 50 per cent of tribal children never make it to fifth grade, and those who do often struggle with reading. Only 20 per cent complete the years of schooling required to take the high school final exams, and of those, only 8 per cent pass.

Citing the examples of coastal Telugu and Telangana Telugu, she explained that officially recognised languages may have many associated varieties. In undivided Andhra Pradesh, textbooks were written only in the ‘so-called’ standard coastal Telugu for over 50 years. However, when Telangana became a separate State in 2014, the Telangana variety of Telugu was introduced into textbooks, which would have been beneficial for children.

The professor emphasised that the homogenisation of mother tongues under dominant languages reduces linguistic diversity and diminishes the educational rights of speakers. According to her, using the mother tongue as the medium of instruction is the best approach for concept formation and cognitive flexibility, which contributes to enhanced metalinguistic ability. This ability is demonstrated by bi/multilingual children’s superior performance in language games and translation.

Pointing out that the importance of English cannot be overlooked, Professor Aditi Mukherjee from IIT-Hyderabad spoke about being “Janus-faced” in the debate of education in the mother tongue versus in English. All academic research highlights the obvious benefits of mother tongue education, but all aspirations are in the favour of English education, she added.

In addition, Professor Surabhi Bharati of the English and Foreign Languages University discussed the language-related aspects of the NEP, which emphasises the use of the local language for instruction until at least grade 5. She stressed the need for a shift to a more inclusive model that prioritises linguistic diversity for equitable and high-quality education.

Use of ‘hinglish’ in movies

Pofessor Pingali Sailaja of UoH emphasised the need to find a “golden path” between education in the mother tongue and in English. She provided examples of movies like Sholay and Jab We Met to illustrate translanguaging in the media, where Hinglish is used without any issues. She spoke about the possibility of employing similar translanguaging techniques in the classroom.

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The distinction between cultural appropriation and appreciation is significant, with appropriation viewed negatively when it involves power imbalances and lack of respect for origins .

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Content: ‘Bilingual textbooks from next year in both mother tongue and English for subjects of Mathematics and Science’: Education Minister Ranoj Pegu

From the next academic year, students from Class VI to VIII will get bilingual textbooks in both their mother tongue and English for the subjects of Mathematics and Science. The state government is also preparing textbooks in the mother tongues of minor ethnic groups for students at the pre-primary level.

Guwahati: From the next academic year, students from Class VI to VIII will get bilingual textbooks in both their mother tongue and English for the subjects of Mathematics and Science. The state government is also preparing textbooks in the mother tongues of minor ethnic groups for students at the pre-primary level.

This was revealed by Education Minister Ranoj Pegu in the Assembly on the 11th day of the ongoing Budgest Session on Friday.

The Minister was responding to a resolution moved by Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia that those who want to study in English medium should be taught in English, and those who want to study in vernacular medium should be taught in their mother tongue.

Moving the resolution, Saikia said, “The state government has changed the language of mathematics and science textbooks for students from Class VI into English. But the National Education Policy 2020 placed special emphasis on the use of the mother tongue. Even the condition of Assamese-medium schools is in very poor shape. Many schools do not have a sufficient number of teaching staff, and a few schools also have a smaller number of students. As these challenges have appeared for Assamese-medium schools, the students should be given the choice of studying in either English or Assamese language.”

Ranoj Pegu, in his reply to this suggestion, said, “The government has always given more thrust on the use of the mother tongue. We are also giving importance to the mother tongues of small tribes and communities in the state. As a result, we have established 118 model schools in tea garden areas in the vernacular medium. Already, the foundation stones for another 100 model schools have been laid. The government has decided to provide funds of Rs 7 crore to each of the 450 schools in the state for infrastructure development.”

He further said, “We had provided textbooks of mathematics and science in the English language to students from Class VI to VIII, so that our students can learn English along with Assamese in schools. In the recently concluded Gunotsav, students of these classes appeared for the examinations in English. It is only when the results of Gunotsav come out that you will know whether our decision has the right outcome or not. But despite all this, we had consulted with various Xahitya Xabhas and teachers’ organisations regarding the language to be used in the textbooks. From the next academic year, the students from Classes VI to VIII will get bilingual mathematics and science textbooks in both their mother tongue and English. Students will have the option to choose their language of instruction, either in their mother tongue or English. Even the question papers will be bilingual. There are eight mediums of instruction in our schools. As of yet, the books in Assamese, Bodo, and Bengali have been turned into bilingual ones.”

Pegu further stated that the work has already started to bring out the books of smaller communities like Mising, Tiwa, Deuri, etc. at the pre-primary level in their own mother tongue.

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**Conclusion** Governments employ a diverse array of legal, educational, technological, and cultural strategies to prevent borrowings in their state languages, especially from English.

**Conclusion** Governments employ a diverse array of legal, educational, technological, and cultural strategies to prevent borrowings in their state languages, especially from English.

**Conclusion** Governments employ a diverse array of legal, educational, technological, and cultural strategies to prevent borrowings in their state languages, especially from English.

The success of these interventions depends on enforcement mechanisms, resource allocation, community involvement, and the broader sociopolitical context.

The success of these interventions depends on enforcement mechanisms, resource allocation, community involvement, and the broader sociopolitical context.

While some countries adopt stringent legal measures, others focus on educational reforms, technological innovation, or grassroots mobilization.

While some countries adopt stringent legal measures, others focus on educational reforms, technological innovation, or grassroots mobilization.

The ongoing tension between globalization-driven English dominance and efforts to preserve linguistic heritage underscores the complexity of regulating language borrowing in a rapidly changing world [d209a6c6_1