Indigenous Language Policy Conference April 26–27

Posted by on Apr 10, 2010 in Conferences | No Comments

The 2010 International Indigenous Language Policy Research Conference, covering indige­nous language policy in the Americas, will be held at the University of New Mexico on April 26–27, 2010. Dr. Richard Little Bear, Dr. Matthew Martinez and Dr. Barbara Rogoff are among the speakers. More infor­ma­tion is avail­able on the univer­sity web site, and a schedule of events is in the works.

Photo © Jan Csernoch | Dreamstime.com

Language Celebrations Abound

Posted by on Feb 21, 2010 in Announcements, Conferences | No Comments

International Mother Tongue Language Day is being honored today through Tuesday, February 21–23. This is the eleventh year for the cele­bra­tion, which was initi­ated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2000. Following an opening cere­mony at UNESCO head­quar­ters in Paris on Monday morning, an International Symposium on Translation and Cultural Mediation will be held Monday and Tuesday. An infor­ma­tion session will be held Tuesday after­noon following the symposium.

The Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, is holding Endangered Languages Week, February 22–27. Activities include a variety of work­shops, films and presen­ta­tions regarding dying languages and the field­work involved in attempting to preserve them.

It seemed appro­priate to begin a language policy blog in a week when multiple language events are in session. One purpose of this site is to gather news on language policy matters around the world, keep tabs on upcoming confer­ences and discuss recent and upcoming publi­ca­tions. Another is to provide tools and data for language policy research. Language policy measure­ment scales and some of the data coded using those scales are already present on the site. Additional data will be made avail­able for down­load as datasets are prepared. Please explore the research pages and use the contact form to ask ques­tions or provide feed­back, whether on site navi­ga­tion or content. This site is a work in progress and can benefit from your input.

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