Written Language, Standard Language, Global Language
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Language, Culture, and National Identity
Language, Culture, and National Identity BY ERIC HOBSBAWM LANGUAGE, culture, and national identity is the ·title of my pa per, but its central subject is the situation of languages in cul tures, written or spoken languages still being the main medium of these. More specifically, my subject is "multiculturalism" in sofar as this depends on language. "Nations" come into it, since in the states in which we all live political decisions about how and where languages are used for public purposes (for example, in schools) are crucial. And these states are today commonly iden tified with "nations" as in the term United Nations. This is a dan gerous confusion. So let me begin with a few words about it. Since there are hardly any colonies left, practically all of us today live in independent and sovereign states. With the rarest exceptions, even exiles and refugees live in states, though not their own. It is fairly easy to get agreement about what constitutes such a state, at any rate the modern model of it, which has become the template for all new independent political entities since the late eighteenth century. It is a territory, preferably coherent and demarcated by frontier lines from its neighbors, within which all citizens without exception come under the exclusive rule of the territorial government and the rules under which it operates. Against this there is no appeal, except by authoritarian of that government; for even the superiority of European Community law over national law was established only by the decision of the constituent SOCIAL RESEARCH, Vol. -
Dialects, Standards, and Vernaculars
1 Dialects, Standards, and Vernaculars Most of us have had the experience of sitting in a public place and eavesdropping on conversations taking place around the United States. We pretend to be preoccupied, but we can’t seem to help listening. And we form impressions of speakers based not only on the topic of conversation, but on how people are discussing it. In fact, there’s a good chance that the most critical part of our impression comes from how people talk rather than what they are talking about. We judge people’s regional background, social stat us, ethnicity, and a host of other social and personal traits based simply on the kind of language they are using. We may have similar kinds of reactions in telephone conversations, as we try to associate a set of characteristics with an unidentified speaker in order to make claims such as, “It sounds like a salesperson of some type” or “It sounds like the auto mechanic.” In fact, it is surprising how little conversation it takes to draw conclusions about a speaker’s background – a sentence, a phrase, or even a word is often enough to trigger a regional, social, or ethnic classification. Video: What an accent does Assessments of a complex set of social characteristics and personality traits based on language differences are as inevitable as the kinds of judgments we make when we find out where people live, what their occupations are, where they went to school, and who their friends are. Language differences, in fact, may serve as the single most reliable indicator of social position in our society. -
The Standardisation of African Languages Michel Lafon, Vic Webb
The Standardisation of African Languages Michel Lafon, Vic Webb To cite this version: Michel Lafon, Vic Webb. The Standardisation of African Languages. Michel Lafon; Vic Webb. IFAS, pp.141, 2008, Nouveaux Cahiers de l’Ifas, Aurelia Wa Kabwe Segatti. halshs-00449090 HAL Id: halshs-00449090 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00449090 Submitted on 20 Jan 2010 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. The Standardisation of African Languages Language political realities CentRePoL and IFAS Proceedings of a CentRePoL workshop held at University of Pretoria on March 29, 2007, supported by the French Institute for Southern Africa Michel Lafon (LLACAN-CNRS) & Vic Webb (CentRePoL) Compilers/ Editors CentRePoL wishes to express its appreciation to the following: Dr. Aurelia Wa Kabwe-Segatti, Research Director, IFAS, Johannesburg, for her professional and material support; PanSALB, for their support over the past two years for CentRePoL’s standardisation project; The University of Pretoria, for the use of their facilities. Les Nouveaux Cahiers de l’IFAS/ IFAS Working Paper Series is a series of occasional working papers, dedicated to disseminating research in the social and human sciences on Southern Africa. -
Burmese Buddhist Imagery of the Early Bagan Period (1044 – 1113) Buddhism Is an Integral Part of Burmese Culture
Burmese Buddhist Imagery of the Early Bagan Period (1044 – 1113) 2 Volumes By Charlotte Kendrick Galloway A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The Australian National University November 2006 ii Declaration I declare that to the best of my knowledge, unless where cited, this thesis is my own original work. Signed: Date: Charlotte Kendrick Galloway iii Acknowledgments There are a number of people whose assistance, advice and general support, has enabled me to complete my research: Dr Alexandra Green, Dr Bob Hudson, Dr Pamela Gutman, Dick Richards, Dr Tilman Frasch, Sylvia Fraser- Lu, Dr Royce Wiles, Dr Don Stadtner, Dr Catherine Raymond, Prof Michael Greenhalgh, Ma Khin Mar Mar Kyi, U Aung Kyaing, Dr Than Tun, Sao Htun Hmat Win, U Sai Aung Tun and Dr Thant Thaw Kaung. I thank them all, whether for their direct assistance in matters relating to Burma, for their ability to inspire me, or for simply providing encouragement. I thank my colleagues, past and present, at the National Gallery of Australia and staff at ANU who have also provided support during my thesis candidature, in particular: Ben Divall, Carol Cains, Christine Dixon, Jane Kinsman, Mark Henshaw, Lyn Conybeare, Margaret Brown and Chaitanya Sambrani. I give special mention to U Thaw Kaung, whose personal generosity and encouragement of those of us worldwide who express a keen interest in the study of Burma's rich cultural history, has ensured that I was able to achieve my own personal goals. There is no doubt that without his assistance and interest in my work, my ability to undertake the research required would have been severely compromised – thank you. -
Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and The
Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and The Neighbouring Countries 1 Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and The Neighbouring Countries The Project Gutenberg eBook, Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and The Neighbouring Countries, by William Griffith, Edited by John M'Clelland This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re−use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and The Neighbouring Countries Author: William Griffith Release Date: February 25, 2005 [eBook #15171] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO−646−US (US−ASCII) ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOURNALS OF TRAVELS IN ASSAM, BURMA, BHOOTAN, AFGHANISTAN AND THE NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES*** This eBook was produced by Les Bowler from the 1847 edition. JOURNALS OF TRAVELS IN ASSAM, BURMA, BHOOTAN, AFGHANISTAN AND THE NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES By William Griffith. Arranged by John M'Clelland. [Sketch of William Griffith: pf.jpg] CONTENTS. Notice of the author from the Proceedings of the Linnaean Society, and Extracts from Correspondence. CHAPTER IProceeding with the Assam Deputation for the Examination of the Tea Plant. II Journal of an Excursion in the Mishmee Mountains. III Tea localities in the Muttock Districts, Upper Assam. IV Journey from Upper Assam towards Hookum. V Journey from Hookum to Ava. VI Botanical Notes written in pencil, connected with the foregoing Chapter. Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and The Neighbouring Countries 2 VII General Report on the foregoing. -
Writing Systems Reading and Spelling
Writing systems Reading and spelling Writing systems LING 200: Introduction to the Study of Language Hadas Kotek February 2016 Hadas Kotek Writing systems Writing systems Reading and spelling Outline 1 Writing systems 2 Reading and spelling Spelling How we read Slides credit: David Pesetsky, Richard Sproat, Janice Fon Hadas Kotek Writing systems Writing systems Reading and spelling Writing systems What is writing? Writing is not language, but merely a way of recording language by visible marks. –Leonard Bloomfield, Language (1933) Hadas Kotek Writing systems Writing systems Reading and spelling Writing systems Writing and speech Until the 1800s, writing, not spoken language, was what linguists studied. Speech was often ignored. However, writing is secondary to spoken language in at least 3 ways: Children naturally acquire language without being taught, independently of intelligence or education levels. µ Many people struggle to learn to read. All human groups ever encountered possess spoken language. All are equal; no language is more “sophisticated” or “expressive” than others. µ Many languages have no written form. Humans have probably been speaking for as long as there have been anatomically modern Homo Sapiens in the world. µ Writing is a much younger phenomenon. Hadas Kotek Writing systems Writing systems Reading and spelling Writing systems (Possibly) Independent Inventions of Writing Sumeria: ca. 3,200 BC Egypt: ca. 3,200 BC Indus Valley: ca. 2,500 BC China: ca. 1,500 BC Central America: ca. 250 BC (Olmecs, Mayans, Zapotecs) Hadas Kotek Writing systems Writing systems Reading and spelling Writing systems Writing and pictures Let’s define the distinction between pictures and true writing. -
Teaching English with a Pluricentric Approach: a Compilation of Four Upper Secondary Teachers’ Beliefs
Faculty of Education and Society Department of Culture, Languages and Media Degree Project in English Studies and Education 15 Credits, Advanced Level Teaching English with a Pluricentric Approach: a Compilation of Four Upper Secondary Teachers’ Beliefs Att undervisa i engelska med ett pluricentriskt tillvägagångssätt: en sammanställning av fyra gymnasielärares föreställningar Agnes Rauer and Elena Tizzano Master of Arts/Science in Education, 300 Credits Supervisor: Vi Thanh Son 2019-06-09 Examiner: Anna Korshin Wärnsby Acknowledgements We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the upper secondary teachers who agreed to participate in our study, without them it would have been no study at all. We also want to thank Malin Reljanovic Glimäng for making us aware of how the English language is used in the globalized world and also for guiding our first steps in this field of research. And last but not least, we would like to thank our supervisor Vi Thanh Son for guiding and supporting us through this writing process. Contribution to the Synthesis This degree project is a result of a collaborative and equally divided effort. The research, collecting of data and the writing has been fairly distributed among the students/writers. The writing was carried out in a process made of virtual, as well as physical meetings, and facilitated by the use of Google Docs. By using this tool it was possible to follow each other’s creative process and give thorough feedback in order to improve the project. The workload was continuously discussed and adjusted throughout the writing-process and we both gained a deep knowledge of the contents of the text. -
Attitudes Towards the Safeguarding of Minority Languages and Dialects in Modern Italy
ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE SAFEGUARDING OF MINORITY LANGUAGES AND DIALECTS IN MODERN ITALY: The Cases of Sardinia and Sicily Maria Chiara La Sala Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds Department of Italian September 2004 This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. ABSTRACT The aim of this thesis is to assess attitudes of speakers towards their local or regional variety. Research in the field of sociolinguistics has shown that factors such as gender, age, place of residence, and social status affect linguistic behaviour and perception of local and regional varieties. This thesis consists of three main parts. In the first part the concept of language, minority language, and dialect is discussed; in the second part the official position towards local or regional varieties in Europe and in Italy is considered; in the third part attitudes of speakers towards actions aimed at safeguarding their local or regional varieties are analyzed. The conclusion offers a comparison of the results of the surveys and a discussion on how things may develop in the future. This thesis is carried out within the framework of the discipline of sociolinguistics. ii DEDICATION Ai miei figli Youcef e Amil che mi hanno distolto -
The Differences Between Spoken and Written Grammar in English, in Comparison with Vietnamese1
GIST EDUCATION AND LEARNING RESEARCH JOURNAL. ISSN 1692-5777. NO. 11, (JULY - DECEMBER) 2015. pp. 138-153. The Differences between Spoken and Written Grammar in English, in Comparison 1 with Vietnamese Las Diferencias entre la Gramática Oral y Escrita del Idioma Inglés en Comparación con el Idioma Vietnamita Nguyen Cao Thanh2* Tan Trao University, Vietnam Abstract The fundamental point of this paper is to describe and evaluate some differences between spoken and written grammar in English, and compare some of the points with Vietnamese. This paper illustrates that spoken grammar is less rigid than written grammar. Moreover, it highlights the distinction between speaking and writing in terms of subordination and coordination. Further, the different frequency of adverbials and adjectivals between spoken and written language is also compared and analyzed. Keywords: spoken and written grammar, English, Vietnamese 138 1 Received: July 15, 2015 / Accepted: September 10, 2015 2 [email protected] No. 11 (July - December 2015) No. 11 (July - December 2015) CAO Resumen El principal objetivo de este artículo es describir y evaluar algunas diferencias entre la gramática oral y escrita del idioma inglés y comparar algunos aspectos gramaticales con el idioma vietnamita. Esta revisión muestra como la gramática oral es menos rígida que la gramática escrita. Por otra parte, se destaca la distinción entre el hablar y el escribir en términos de subordinación y coordinación. Además, la diferencia en el uso de adverbios y adjetivos entre la gramática oral y escrita también es comparada y analizada. Palabras clave: gramática oral y escrita, inglés, vietnamita Resumo O principal objetivo deste artigo é descrever e avaliar algumas diferenças entre a gramática oral e escrita do idioma inglês e comparar alguns aspectos gramaticais com o idioma vietnamita. -
Eight Fragments Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian
EIGHT FRAGMENTS FROM THE WORLD OF MONTENEGRIN LANGUAGES AND SERBIAN, CROATIAN, SERBIAN, CROATIAN, BOSNIAN SERBIAN, CROATIAN, BOSNIAN AND FROM THE WORLD OF MONTENEGRIN EIGHT FRAGMENTS LANGUAGES Pavel Krejčí PAVEL KREJČÍ PAVEL Masaryk University Brno 2018 EIGHT FRAGMENTS FROM THE WORLD OF SERBIAN, CROATIAN, BOSNIAN AND MONTENEGRIN LANGUAGES Selected South Slavonic Studies 1 Pavel Krejčí Masaryk University Brno 2018 All rights reserved. No part of this e-book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission of copyright administrator which can be contacted at Masaryk University Press, Žerotínovo náměstí 9, 601 77 Brno. Scientific reviewers: Ass. Prof. Boryan Yanev, Ph.D. (Plovdiv University “Paisii Hilendarski”) Roman Madecki, Ph.D. (Masaryk University, Brno) This book was written at Masaryk University as part of the project “Slavistika mezi generacemi: doktorská dílna” number MUNI/A/0956/2017 with the support of the Specific University Research Grant, as provided by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic in the year 2018. © 2018 Masarykova univerzita ISBN 978-80-210-8992-1 ISBN 978-80-210-8991-4 (paperback) CONTENT ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................. 5 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 7 CHAPTER 1 SOUTH SLAVONIC LANGUAGES (GENERAL OVERVIEW) ............................... 9 CHAPTER 2 SELECTED CZECH HANDBOOKS OF SERBO-CROATIAN -
Writing Systems: Their Properties and Implications for Reading
Writing Systems: Their Properties and Implications for Reading Brett Kessler and Rebecca Treiman doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199324576.013.1 Draft of a chapter to appear in: The Oxford Handbook of Reading, ed. by Alexander Pollatsek and Rebecca Treiman. ISBN 9780199324576. Abstract An understanding of the nature of writing is an important foundation for studies of how people read and how they learn to read. This chapter discusses the characteristics of modern writing systems with a view toward providing that foundation. We consider both the appearance of writing systems and how they function. All writing represents the words of a language according to a set of rules. However, important properties of a language often go unrepresented in writing. Change and variation in the spoken language result in complex links to speech. Redundancies in language and writing mean that readers can often get by without taking in all of the visual information. These redundancies also mean that readers must often supplement the visual information that they do take in with knowledge about the language and about the world. Keywords: writing systems, script, alphabet, syllabary, logography, semasiography, glottography, underrepresentation, conservatism, graphotactics The goal of this chapter is to examine the characteristics of writing systems that are in use today and to consider the implications of these characteristics for how people read. As we will see, a broad understanding of writing systems and how they work can place some important constraints on our conceptualization of the nature of the reading process. It can also constrain our theories about how children learn to read and about how they should be taught to do so. -
The Politics and Ideologies of Pluricentric German in L2 Teaching
Julia Ruck Webster Vienna Private University THE POLITICS AND IDEOLOGIES OF PLURICENTRIC GERMAN IN L2 TEACHING Abstract: Despite a history of rigorous linguistic research on the regional variation of German as well as professional initiatives to promote German, Austrian, and Swiss Standard German as equal varieties, there is still a lack of awareness and systematic incorporation of regional varieties in L2 German teaching. This essay follows two goals: First, it reviews the development of the pluricentric approach in the discourse on L2 German teaching as well as the political and ideological preconditions that form the backdrop of this discussion. Particular emphasis will be given to institutional tri-national collaborations and the standard language ideology. Second, by drawing on sociolinguistic insights on the use and speaker attitudes of (non-)standard varieties, this contribution argues that the pluricentric focus on national standard varieties in L2 German teaching falls short in capturing the complex socioculturally situated practices of language use in both (often dialectally-oriented) everyday and (often standard-oriented) formal and official domains of language use. I argue that the pluricentric approach forms an important step in overcoming the monocentric bias of one correct Standard German; however, for an approach to L2 German teaching that aims at representing linguistic and cultural diversity, it is necessary to incorporate both standard and non-standard varieties into L2 German teaching. Keywords: L2 German w language variation w language ideologies w language politics Ruck, Julia. “The Politics and Ideologies of Pluricentric German in L2 Teaching.” Critical Multilingualism Studies 8:1 (2020): pp. 17–50. ISSN 2325–2871.