Can
you think of any language policy issues which created headlines in
world news? What were they? Why would they be important enough to be
international news?
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I went and saw the Dalai Lama when he made an appearance in Atlanta, and he talked about the way that China has forbidden the use of the Tibetan language in Tibet itself. It made world headlines with all of the protests against this by the 'Free Tibet' movement. Protesters insist that China is not only trying to make Tibet "Chinese" rather than Tibetan and totally control the country, but is on the way to stamping out its culture and heritage as well. I think that when you lose a language, you lose a culture as well and that the two are inextricably intertwined. Anyone interested in preserving a people's tradition and heritage should be concerned about this happening in other places as well.
ReplyDeleteI remember in 1997 when Hong Kong reverted back to control by China rather than by England, there were a lot of discussions around the official language, and how the changes would affect language use in education and commerce, etc. I think this was a particularly significant issue at the time because clearly the ramifications of what was going on politically were reflected in the discussions about language. Chinese officials at the time who were interviewed stated that it was obvious that Chinese would become the dominant language in Hong Kong following the shift in power, although English would still be one of the official languages. I read one article in going back to look at this issue which noted that within 5 months of the switchover schools were systematically being asked to move to Chinese-language teaching as a part of a mother-tongue campaign, but I am not certain how pervasive or successful this effort was. This was one of the most interesting language-policy news items that I've experienced seeing as it happened.
ReplyDeleteJarrod Duarte
ReplyDeleteI don't know if this made world news or not but it does specifically regard the United States and language policy and it does highlight how contentious language policy can be. The synopsis of the story is this: A couple of weeks ago, a woman was trying to run for a city council position in Yuma, Arizona, however she was not allowed to be on the ballot because she was not proficient enough in English. The woman had graduated from a local high school and the majority of the townspeople of Yuma spoke Spanish, but there is a state law that requires all public officials or candidates to be proficient in English. Of course this went to the courts and the woman was given 3 English proficiency tests and according to a "language professional" was deemed to lack sufficient proficiency in English, but the woman's legal team questions the court's definition of "proficiency" and vows to continue to fight the decision all the way to the Supreme Court if need be.
If this does make it to the Supreme Court, this case could have far reaching consequences for language policy here in the United States, especially if "proficiency" is definitively defined.
Jarrod Duarte