Mercator Newsletter - n.20, Jan. 2006

[Mercator-Education (ME)] [Mercator-Legislation (ML)] [Mercator-Media (MM)]

From January 2005 the Mercator Common Newsletter is a monthly newsletter. This way you will be kept informed with more recent and updated information.

News	17th Frisian Philology Conference at the Frisian Academy Mercator-Education
Legislation News Media News
Publications	Miscellany
Legislation Publications - ML Working Paper n.21 Dossier n.19 Bulletin n.64 Education Publications - ME Two new dossiers	Minority Media Project Seeks Researchs- MM Friulan film hits the news in the Italian press - MM New titles Library - ME

17th Frisian Philology Conference at the Frisian Academy MERCATOR-EDUCATION

For the seventeenth time, the Frisian Academy in Ljouwert organized the Frisian Philology Conference. The conference, which was held on 15 and 16 December 2005, was built around three central themes: the literary canon in minority languages; multilingualism and education; and (renewal in) lexicography. Sytske de Jong and Martine van der Meulen from Mercator-Education attended the sessions that were related to the second theme: multilingualism and education. After the opening of the conference by Durk Gorter who dedicated a few words to the sudden death of education expert Jehannes Ytsma, the floor was given to Kees de Bot, University of Groningen, who was asked to take care of the plenary session. Kees de Bot elaborated on foreign language acquisition at an early stage. He started his presentation by touching upon some myths that exist with regards to multilingualism. One of these myths is the assumption that early bilingualism would lead to cognitive and emotional disorders. Mr de Bot explains that assuming that such a correlation exists would be as irrational as assuming that there is a connection between having two arms and stuttering. Throughout the day it became clear that many myths indeed exist with regards to bilingualism. Not only among parents, but also among professionals such as speech therapists and teachers. Ms Hilde Hacquebord for example explained that in the Netherlands both children of immigrants and autochthonous children from the countryside seem to lag behind in their linguistic competences at school. Speech therapists groundlessly ascribe this phenomenon to the discrepancy of the language used at school and spoken at home. Research done in Eastern Groningen by the Groningen Expertise Center (ETOC) has taught us that the use of a regional language has no influence on the achievement of linguistic competences at school at all. In fact, when talking about the achievement of linguistic competences by children, this research has proven that the most determining factor is the level of education of the mother. In her speech, Bernie van Ruijven confirmed that there is no connection between the language used at home and the school performance of the children. She highlighted that the subject of conversation at home, for example more abstract subjects, is more determining than the language of conversation. Now that research has proven that bilingualism at home and in education has no negative effects on the development of children, it is a challenge to transfer this knowledge to teachers. Margriet Kat, Instituut Service Management, presents teachers with the possibility to get a professional degree as language coordinator. Coaching and policy planning are key competences of a language coordinator. ‘Early Bird’, developed by the CED-Groep, is an initiative that helps teachers to introduce a foreign language in primary school. Aartje van Dijk and Eugenia Codina elaborated on this initiative on behalf of the CED-Groep, which is a center for educational advice. The closing presentation was done by our colleague Tjeerd de Graaf. He spoke about small language communities in Southern and Eastern Russia. Here initiatives are taken to preserve endangered languages through education. Such initiatives are inspiring to all of us involved in minority language education: preserving a language with so little speakers and years of repression requires a great deal of hard work and dedication. Sytske de Jong & Martine van der Meulen

News Jan. 2006(links to the Mercator websites)

Legislation news - ML

Expolangues 24th edition to be held in Paris [+] The European Parliament prevents MP from using Catalan [+] The European Commission launches new website on Rom [+] A Draft Bill proposes making Friulan Compulsory [+] Welsh Language Board issues a statement on the legislative position of the Welsh Language [+] CoE Parliamentary Assembly debates on the concept of ‘Nation’ [+]

Media news - MM

Scottish Executive to bridge Gaelic TV Funding Gap (Eurolang) [+] New IT tools available in Basque [+] New Local Daily Newspaper in Basque [+] Celtic Film and Television Festival 2006 – Shortlist Announce [+] Conference on "New technology and the Breton Language" [+]

Scottish Executive to bridge Gaelic TV Funding Gap (Eurolang) The Scottish Executive has agreed to raise its contribution to Gaelic broadcasting by £3M per annum in order to break the deadlock over a Gaelic television channel. The Executive funded Gaelic Broadcasting Fund is to increase from £8.5M to £11.5M as part of a financial package to enable a Gaelic digital television channel by 2007. Moves towards a Gaelic channel have been difficult and protracted due to a longstanding funding dispute between the UK Government and the Scottish Executive as to who should foot the bill. While broadcasting is the responsibility of the UK Parliament, the funding of Gaelic broadcasting is devolved to the Scottish Parliament. In April the UK Government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport announced a one-off payment of £250,000 as their contribution to the establishment of a channel. This was followed by an announcement from the UK broadcasting regulator Ofcom that the commercial broadcasters Scottish and Grampian Television were to be freed from most of their obligations to show Gaelic programming in peak time in return for making a contribution of £1.2M to the proposed channel over 3 years. The small amounts contributed by the UK Government and the commercial broadcasters have been widely criticised by the Gaelic community and meant that the funding available was insufficient to establish even a basic service. The Scottish Executive’s announcement that it is to fill the funding gap should now enable the creation of a Gaelic channel by 2007. It is understood that following this move final negotiations are now taking place between the Gaelic broadcasting agency Seirbheis nam Meadhanan Gàidhlig and the BBC as to the level of the BBC’s final financial contribution and that a final announcement will be made in the new year. Despite progress, however, concerns remain amongst the Gaelic community. While the final funding package will enable the creation of a Gaelic channel, it is only likely to be sufficient to allow the screening of a few hours of Gaelic television per week. It is also unlikely to be enough to allow the channel to be broadcast on both digital terrestrial television (Freeview) and digital satellite. Unless the channel is available on both platforms, a large number of Gaelic speakers will be unable to view the new channel. (Eurolang 2005) New IT tools available in Basque The Department of Langauge Policy of the Basque government has made available new electronic dictionaries to assist those working in Basque. These are available as plug-ins from the site http://www.euskara.euskadi.net. The dictionaries in question are two dictionaries by Elhuyar, one Basque/Spanish and one Basque/French and a third dictionary of synonyms bu UZEI. Once the dictionaries have been downloaded and installed it is possible to consult them all at any time from within a document being worked on. New Local Daily Newspaper in Basque The development of the Basque language press has taken another step forward with the appearance of the title Busturialdeko Hitza. The paper first appeared on 31 October last year and since December has appeared from Tuesday to Sunday. This brings to a total of six the local daily papers in Basque appearing under the Hitza title, the others being Tolosaldeko eta Leitzaldeko Hitza, Oarsoaldeko Hitza, Lea-Artibai eta Mutrikuko Hitza, Urola Kostako Hitza and Goierriko Hitza. Celtic Film and Television Festival 2006 – Shortlist Announced The shortlisted entries for the 2006 Celtic Film and Television Festival have been announced on the festival’s website. The festival, which rotates yearly between the Celtic nations and is now in it’s 27th year, will be hosted by the town of Falmouth, Cornwall, from the 29th to 31st March. The 17 award categories range from film and television documentaries, drama, and current affairs to radio and new media. Winners last year included RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta for best Radio Station and to the Irish hour-long documentary “Cinegael Paradiso” directed by Robert Quinn which took the Spirit of the Festival Award, which is presented to the best film / TV programme that is produced wholly or substantially in a Celtic language. The documentary focuses on the director’s father, Bob Quinn's, pioneering cinema project in the Connemara Gaeltacht thirty years ago. The shortlisted entries can be viewed on http://www.celticfilm.co.uk/?node_id=1.2.9 Conference on "New technology and the Breton Language" organised by TermBret, Ofis ar Brezhoneg Saturday 11 March 2006 Collège Diwan du Morbihan 2 rue Jean-Marie Allanic 56000 Vannes The terminology centre of the Ofis ar Brezhoneg, TermBret, are organising a conference dedicated to the discussion of new technologies and the Breton language. The Breton language is becoming increasingly visible on the internet and computer software and the current projects taking place within the fields of new technology are both numerous and diverse. In organizing this event the Ofis ar Brezhoneg hope to facilitate the discussion of this theme, with the aim of creating an overview of the current situation, discovering who is active in the field, understanding what tools currently exist in the Breton language, and identifying any future needs...This discussion allows one to approach questions regarding the correct terminology for new technologies. How does one ensure that the language used is both precise and comprehensible for all Breton speakers? How does one ensure the uptake of the new tools and language? Each invited conference delegate will present their current or recent project related to the theme. For more information or to register for the conference, contact: TermBret - Office de la Langue Bretonne 10 rue Nantaise 35000 RENNES, Tel : 02 23 44 04 37 Email: termbret.ofisr.bzh@wanadoo.fr

Publications

Legislation publications - Mercator-Linguistic Rights and Legislation

Working Paper n.21: Cornish: Language and Legislation. Dossier n.19: The Catalan language and the Proposed Revision of the Catalan Statute of Autonomy. Bulletin n.64

Media publications - Mercator-Media

Mercator-Education published two new Regional Dossiers last month: Catalan. The Catalan language in education in France, written by Mr. Daniel Sanchez. The other one is an update: Slovene. The Slovene language in education in Austria 2nd edition compiled by Eithne Mclaughlin. Both dossiers are online available at our website.

Miscellany

Minority Media Project Seeks Researchers - MM

Six doctoral and post-doctoral researchers in social sciences are to be recruited for the European project MINORITYMEDIA (2006-2010): · 2 Early Stage Researchers : 1 PhD student full time + 1 PhD student half time · 4 Experienced Researchers : 3 post-doctoral full time + 1 post-doctoral half time Successful candidates will be recruited for 2 years renewable once and be attached to MIGRINTER (a CNRS research centre), University of Poitiers, France. The research MINORITYMEDIA will examine ethnic media (newspapers, radio and TV channels created by and for immigrants and/or minority groups), from a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective. The fieldwork is based in 9 European countries: · Old immigration countries: France, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom ; · New immigration countries: Italy, Portugal, Spain ; · Countries with national minorities: Hungary, Turkey. The research team should respect the balance between nationalities, be pluridisciplinary and give the priority to careers showing a high level of mobility. Women are encouraged to apply. The closing date for receipt of applications is 28 February 2006 The other key dates are as follows: 8 March 2006 : selection of the candidates for audition 17 March 2006 : interview in Poitiers, France 20 March 2006 : selection of the candidates for the posts 1rst April 2006 : beginning of the contracts For further information, those interested can contact Isabelle Rigoni (scientific coordinator of the project): isabelle.rigoni@club-internet.fr.

Friulan film hits the news in the Italian press - MM

It’s not often that the main Italian newspaper, Corriere Della Sera, dedicates a full page spread to an independent film produced with a budget of less than 500 Euros. This was recently the case for “Lidris cuadrade di tre” (Square root of three), a horror film by Friulan director Lorenzo Bianchini. It’s not often either that the press give attention to a film shot not in Italian nor English, but in Friulan. Winner of the Friulan Film Festival in 2001, since then “Lidris cuadrade di tre” has been screened in towns and villages in and around Friul, some of the biggest multiplexes and even on university courses. It has now been released on DVD with Italian and English subtitles in the hope of reaching a wider market. Thanks to good reviews by important magazines and articles like the one in Corriere Della Sera, the DVD has rapidly sold 1,500 copies and is now ready for the release of a second run of DVD’s. Bianchini is considered by some critics to be a promising director in the horror genre, one who could follow the steps of important Italian horror film auteurs like Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci. Bianchini has also directed two other films, one with Friulan and Italian dialogues and one played mainly in Italian. Despite the fact that they were produced with the help of friends and very little money, both films have been successfully screened in the region. Now, with the DVD of “Lidris cuadrade di tre” (which also contains the first short film produced by Bianchini and trailers of the other two) commercially available and subtitled both in Italian and English, the director hopes for greater recognition. The DVD was produced by Centro Espressioni Cinematografiche. More information can be found on their web site www.cec-udine.org. [article written by Max Mauro]

New titles Library - ME

· Slovak: The Slovak language in education in Hungary / Anton Paulik; [ed. by] Tsjerk Bottema. – Ljouwert [Leeuwarden] : Mercator-Education, 2005. – 34 p. – Regional Dossiers Series – signature 100S00631 · Hungarian: The Hungarian language in education in Slovakia / Ildikó Vanco; [ed. by Tsjerk Bottema]. – Ljouwert [Leeuwarden] : Mercator-Education, 2005. – 34 p. – Regional Dossiers Series – signature 100S00630 · Basque: The Basque language in education in Spain / Nick Gardner; [ed. by] Tsjerk Bottema. – 2nd ed. – Ljouwert [Leeuwarden] : Mercator-Education, 2005. – 39 p. – signature 100S00628 · The message of code-switching : Trilingual kindergarten education in a minority context / Georg Gombos . – Paper presented at the second International Conference on Third Language Acquisition and Trilingualism, Fryske Akademy, 13 – 15 September 2001. – [S.l.] : [s.n.], 2001. – signature 100S00632 · Dyfodol y Gymraeg – Cynllun strategol = the future of Welsh: a strategic plan / Bwrdd yr iaith gymraeg = Welsh Language Board. – Caerdydd [ Cardiff] : Bwrdd yr laith Gymraeg = Welsh Language Board, 2005. – 41 p. – signature 100Wel95 · Fries in het voortgezet onderwijs : een Echternachse processie / Jacob van der Bij en Renze W. Valk. – Ljouewrt [Leeuwarden] : Fryske Akademy, 2005. – isbn 9061719852 - 304 p. – Academisch proefschrift – signature 100Fri232 · Eindverslag Statenwerkgroep Onderwijs / Provinsjale Steaten. – Ljouwert [Leeuwarden] : Provinsjale Steaten, 2005. -29 p. – signature 100Fri322 · Europeeske minderheden hawwe eigen webstek foar taalplenning / Martha Kuitert, Tsjerk Bottema and Alex Riemersma. – In: De Pompeblêden. – No. 5 (2005); p. 68-69. – www.languageplanning.com – signature 100S00632 · Friesen offisjeel ‘nasjonale minderheid’ / Henk ten Hoeve. – In: De Pompeblêden. – no. 4 (2005); p. 45-46 – signature 100S00628 · Tematydskriften : Bern . – No. 14 (2005). – Ljouwert : Afûk, 2005. – signature 100T · Beliedsplan Frysk 2005 / [ ed. by] Trudy Bouma-Boonstra. – Ferwert : Gemeente Ferwerdaradiel, 2005. – 20 p. – signature 100Fri 321 · Latvias Zinatnu Akademijas Vestis [journal] – no. 2, 3 ,4 (2005). – Riga : Latvian Academy of Sciences. – issn 1407-0081 – signature 100TLat2 · Towards linguistic diversity management in the Baltic States / Vadim Poleshchuk – Flensburg : European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI), 2003. – ECMI Report no. 49. – signature 100S00629 · Monikielinen Eurooppa : Kielipolitiikaa ja käytäntöä / [ed. by] Marjut Johansson and Riita Pyykkö. – Helsinki : Gaudeamus, 2005. – isbn 9516629482 – 374 p. – signature 100MLG272 (multilingualism in Europe) · Keelkümluskeskus : kome aasta jagu saavutusi = Immersion Centre : Three years of accomplishment / Estonian Language Immersion Centre. – Tallinn : Estonian Language Immersion Centre, 2003. – 60 p. – signature 100Est9 · Keileier , Ofis ar Brezhoneg : Actualités de la langue bretonne. – Niv. 64 (2005). – Roazhon [Rennes]: Ofis ar Brezhoneg = Office de la Langue Bretonne. – signature 100Bre11 · El marcu llegal del asturianu : Víes pal reconocimientu efectivu de los drechos llingüísticos = El marco legal del asturiano : Vías hacia el reconocimiento efectivo de los derechos lingüisticos / José Manuel Pérez – Oviedo : Fundación Caveda y Nava, 2005. – isbn 849647657X - 92 p. – signature 100Ast16 · Lletres Asturianes : Academia de la Llingua Asturiana. – No. 90 (2005). Uvíeu : Academia de la Llingua Asturiana, 2005. - - signature 100TAst1 · Sociolinguistica : Internationales Jahrbuch für Europäische Soziolinguistik = International Yearbook of European Sociolinguistics = Annuaire International de la Sociolinguistique Européenne / hrsg. Ulrich Ammon, Klaus J. Mattheier, Peter H. Nelde – Vol. 19 (2005). – Tübingen : Max Niemeyer Verlag, 2005. – signature 100Gsg98 · IV Symposiwm Rhyngwladol Mercator ar leithoedd Lleiafrifol : ‘Cyfieithu Diwylliant, Diwylliant Cyfieuithu: leithoedd Mewn Ffilm, Teledu a Llenyddiaeth = IV Symposium international de Mercator sur les langues minoritiaires : “Traduction de la culture de traduction: les langues dans les films, à la television et dans la literature = IV Mercator International Symposium on Minority Languages : ‘Translation of Culture, Culture of Translation: Languages in Films, Television and Literature, 26, 27 and 28 October 2005 / Mercator Media and Prifysgol Cymru Aberystwith = The University of Wales, 2005. – 47 p. – signature 100MLG273 · Butlletí del Centre Mercator: dret i legislació linguistics. – No. 61 (2005), 62 (2005), 63 (2005). – Barcelona : CIEMEN, 2005. – 73 p. – signature 100Cat65

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