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Thursday, 02 September 2010 08:11
The Verdict is Finally In: Language Informs the Way We Think
Since the beginning of recorded history, poets and philosophers have suspected that language speaks us more than we speak language. Science tried in the twentieth century to prove the notion empirically, but ultimately failed. Now science is back – it appears our languages do make us think differently. Which is…
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International
Thursday, 26 August 2010 14:42
Does Your Language Shape How You Think?
Seventy years ago, in 1940, a popular science magazine published a short article that set in motion one of the trendiest intellectual fads of the 20th century. At first glance, there seemed little about the article to augur its subsequent celebrity. Neither the title, “Science and Linguistics,” nor the magazine,…
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International
Thursday, 19 August 2010 08:05
Language Matters
IT IS that time of the year when we are prompted to revisit language issues in our society. In what language should we educate our children? What language should the government use to communicate with our people? What language should the courts in our country use? Is the bilingual policy…
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International
Tuesday, 17 August 2010 09:31
Huge Collection of Written Legal Texts in Māori Now Available
A large collection of written legal texts in Māori was recently made available online. This is one of several key outputs of the Legal Māori Project, co-led by Māmari Stephens of the Law Faculty at Victoria University of Wellington, and Dr. Mary Boyce, the Māori Program Coordinator at UH Mānoa. The…
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International
Saturday, 14 August 2010 11:19
When one death endangers a language
A language dies every 14 days, and half those spoken today are expected to vanish by 2100. The secret language of the Kallawaya, in central South America, is more than 400 years old and spoken by fewer than a hundred people.
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International
Wednesday, 04 August 2010 13:11
Aboriginal education needs a legal framework, says NDP
DUNCAN, BC– New Democrat MP Jean Crowder (Nanaimo-Cowichan) hopes today’s meeting between Aboriginal leaders and the Premiers will be a catalyst for a change in how education is delivered to Aboriginal students.
“The discrimination in funding is most clear for First Nation students living on-reserve but there is an education…
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International
Thursday, 29 July 2010 08:58
Maori in Australia Losing Language
The large number of Maori living in Australia face losing their native language in part because they assimilate so easily, according to findings by a Victoria University researcher.
One in six Maori live in Australia, with more than 10,000 speakers of te reo Maori crossing the Tasman between 1986 and…
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International
Thursday, 29 July 2010 07:49
The Lasting Power of Oral Traditions
Modern generations are now realising that the immediacy and intimacy of live storytelling cannot be captured by technology.
Are oral traditions still relevant? Are they slowly being replaced with technology? In 1992 my son Jesse, the anthropologist Robert Bruce and I drove 400 miles in Robert's beat-up VW van…
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International
Thursday, 22 July 2010 15:39
Indigenous Language Institute Looking at High-Tech Solutions to an Age-Old Challenge
(Edmonton) The herculean task of preserving and teaching endangered Aboriginal languages in Canada is getting a high-tech boost.
Phillip Cash Cash, a PhD candidate in the Anthropology and Linguistics program at the University of Arizona, was in Edmonton to share his research and insights into the use of multimedia with…
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International
Thursday, 22 July 2010 08:25
20 Endangered Languages in Alaska; InField to the Rescue.
Now one workshop can’t save any language, but a recent institute certainly boosted the attendees’ capacities for skills, strategies, and spirit in this challenging endeavor. University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) Alice Taff, Marsha Hotch and Jordan Lachler joined 120 other linguists, language activists, and students June 21 through July 2,…
Published in
International