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Bilingual education and Signlanguage as the mother tongue
of Deaf children
TOVE SKUTNABB-KANGAS
University of Roskilde, Denmark, and
bo Akademi University, Vasa, Finlandwww.Tove-Skutnabb-Kangas.org
http://www.tove-skutnabb-kangas.org/http://www.tove-skutnabb-kangas.org/ -
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List of contents 1
1. The future of languages?
2. Why have languages become extinct or seriouslyendangered? Old ideologies of homogenisation as aroad to unity and prevention of disintegration?
3. Agentless neo-imperialistic control as acontext for Linguistic Human Rights
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List of contents 1
1. The future of languages?
2. Why have languages become extinct or seriouslyendangered? Old ideologies of homogenisation as aroad to unity and prevention of disintegration?
3. Agentless neo-imperialistic control as acontext for Linguistic Human Rights
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Over half of the worlds
languages are IndigenousOf the worlds almost 7,000
spoken languages (theEthnologue, 15th edition) atleast some 4,500 areIndigenous (Oviedo & Maffi2000; Terralingua,
www.terralin ua.or5
http://www.terralingua.org/http://www.terralingua.org/http://www.terralingua.org/http://www.terralingua.org/ -
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Endangered languages 1
Over 50% of the worlds almost7000 languages are endangered
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Endangered languages 2
96% of the world's 6000 languagesare spoken by 4% of the world's
population. 90% of the world's languages are notrepresented on the Internet.
One language disappears on averageevery two weeks. 80% of the African languages have n
orthography (UNESCO).8
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http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=8270&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.htmlhttp://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=8270&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.htmlhttp://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=8270&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.htmlhttp://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=8270&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.htmlhttp://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=8270&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html -
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If 90-95% of the worlds languages disappearbefore 2100, most Indigenous languages will go
There may be only 300 to 600 oral languages left in
2100 as unthreatened languages, transmitted by the
parent generation to children. These would probably
include most of those languages that today have more
than one million speakers, and a few others. Almost all
languages to disappear would be Indigenous, and most
of todays Indigenous languages would disappear, withthe exception of very few that are strong numerically
(e.g., Quechua, Aymara, Bodo, Mapuche) and/or have
official status (e.g., M!ori, some Saami languages).
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Endangered languages 3
What about Sign languages? How many Sign languages arethere?
What is their future?
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The future of Si n lan ua es? 1
How many Sign languages are there NOBODY KNOWS!!!!!
The World Federation of the Deafs Fact Sheet on Signlanguage(s) does not mention any figures:http://www.wfdeaf.org/documents.html- it only says(downloaded 18 June 2007):
There are currently about 4,000 recorded spoken/written languages in the world if more countriesrecognise sign languages as well, this number would goup dramatically.
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The future of Sign languages? 2Sadly, there are several errors in this sentence.
Firstly, the number of recorded spoken/writtenlanguages (provided the WFD means spokenlanguages, regardless of whether they are written
or not, and all are not) is almost 7,000 (see above),not 4,000 (and there are 114 Sign languagesincluded).Secondly, each country that has so far recognised
sign languages, has recognised one and oneonly. Since there are somewhat over 200 states inthe world, the number of the worlds languages
would not go up by more than around 100 more.13
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The future of Sign languages? 3
In fact, there may be as many Signlanguages as spoken languages in theworld. Every society has deaf people,
and they have developed sign languageseverywhere, with many dialects.When Deaf organisations become
stronger, maybe we learn how manySign languages there are unless mostof them are extinct at that point.
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The future of Sign languages? 4
What is happening to Signlanguages?Many of them are disappearing,and we can predict that there willbe even fewer Sign languages
left than spoken languagesaround the year 2100.
Why? 15
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The future of Sign languages? 5There are two main reasons and both are,paradoxically, connected to more rights toDeaf people
1. States grant rights to only ONE Signlanguage, if at all. The other Signlanguages may disappear.
2. If cochlear implants are usedsubtractively, instead of in addition toSign languages, Sign languages may
disappear.16
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The future of Sign languages? 6
Sign languages recognized in theConstitution, according to the WorldFederation of the Deaf, are
Brazil, Czech Republic, Ecuador,Finland, New Zealand, Portugal, South
Africa and Uganda
(Fact Sheet on Sign language(s): http://www.wfdeaf.org/documents.html,downloaded 18 June 2007).
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The future of Sign languages? 7
There is, (ibid.) some recognition in terms oflegislation and/or policy in the followingadditional countries: Australia, Belarus,Belgium, Canada, China, Colombia,
Cyprus, Denmark, France, some German
states (Lnder), Greece, Iceland, Iran,
Latvia, Lithuania, Mozambique, Romania,
Russian Federation, Slovak Republic,Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland,
Thailand, USA, Uruguay andZimbabwe.
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The future of Sign languages? 8
The Sign language is, in addition,
officially recognised by thegovernment in the United
Kingdom, Cuba andMauritius.
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The future of Sign languages? 9
There is thus some kind of
recognition of Signlanguages in alltogether 38
states, i.e. fewer than 20%of the worlds states.
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The future of Sign languages? 10
Japan is not on the list.Is this correct?If so, what are you doing about it?
Languages that are completelyinvisible are not going to make it.Is your school a first positive sign
towards formal recognition of Signlanguages in Japan? Or are there otherstoo?
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The future of Sign languages? 11
The second reason for Sign languagesdisappearing is cochlear implants. Users ofcochlear implants should obviously in most
cases be granted the same right to learn anduse Sign languages as non-users of implants.Cochlear implants are probably good if they
are additive (used in addition to Signlanguages) but can be disastrous if they aresubtractive, used instead of Sign languages.
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The future of Sign languages? 12Cochlear implants cannot replaceSign languages if we want Deaf
people to have LHRs.
Unfortunately there is a lot ofwrong information around whichtries to convince people that implant
users do not need Sign languages.But implants do not change Deaf
children into hearing children.
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List of contents 1
1. The future of languages?
2. Why have languages become extinct or seriouslyendangered? Old ideologies of homogenisation as a
road to unity and prevention of disintegration?
3. Agentless neo-imperialistic control as acontext for Linguistic Human Rights
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The old false claim: linguistic assimilationfurthers integration of a state through acommon language. LHRs prevent it.!Many of the fears that prevent states from
guaranteeing LHRs originate from the old falseclaimthat granting LHRsand thus maintaininglinguistic diversity will preventthe integrationofa state through a common language.
!A special type of language policy goal, namelylinguistic assimilationof minorities, is said to
furtherthis integration.25
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"the indivisible integrity of thestate with its territory and nation"
The Turkish Constitutions have
since the 1920s, Mustafa Kemal's(Atatrk's) times stressed "the
indivisible integrity of the state
with its territory and nation".
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Old ideologies of homogenisation as a road to
unity and prevention of disintegration 1
Language is one of the essentialcharacteristics of a nation. Those who
belong to the Turkish nation ought, above all
and absolutely, to speak Turkish. [] Thosepeople who speak another language could,in a difficult situation, collaborate and take
action against us with other people whospeak other languages (Mustafa Kemal,Atatrk, 1931).
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Old ideologies of homogenisation as a road to
unity and prevention of disintegration 2
The USA president Theodore Roosevelt expressedin 1919, three days before his death, sentiments
similar to Atatrks, in a letter to the next
president.
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Old ideologies die hard...
Turkey still sees any official use of Kurdish asa threat to this unity - it is legally forbidden to
use Kurdish as a teaching language or to teachit as a subject in schools.
The attempts in the USA to make English the
only official language and to ban the use of
other languages from schools as much as
possible speak to the same (unfounded) fears.
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Nice phrases - and assimilation
There are thousands of examples of similar quotesfrom the 1860s onwards all over the world.
The question is: why do these attitudes still linger on,
under all the nice phrases about linguistic andcultural diversity?
Can one see them in the relative lack of funds andrights for educational programmes using Indigenousand minority childrens (including Deaf childrens)mother tongues as the main teaching languages??
Even in the best of situations?31
A global phenomenon:
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A global phenomenon:Subtractive assimilation still mostly requiredfrom Indigenous peoples for full human rights
In India the term backward tribes is still in officialuse - they are backward until they are subtractively
assimilated. The phenomenon is global: assimilationthrough linguistic genocide is in many cases stillrequired from Indigenous peoples and minorities forfull linguistic and other human rights.
See Skutnabb-Kangas 2000. See also http://www.samiskhs.no/eng/ToveSkutnabbKangas.htm for some
literature.32
http://www.samiskhs.no/eng/ToveSkutnabbKangas.htmhttp://www.samiskhs.no/eng/ToveSkutnabbKangas.htmhttp://www.samiskhs.no/eng/ToveSkutnabbKangas.htmhttp://www.samiskhs.no/eng/ToveSkutnabbKangas.htmhttp://www.samiskhs.no/eng/ToveSkutnabbKangas.htmhttp://www.samiskhs.no/eng/ToveSkutnabbKangas.htmhttp://www.samiskhs.no/eng/ToveSkutnabbKangas.htmhttp://www.samiskhs.no/eng/ToveSkutnabbKangas.htm -
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Deaf education? 1
Is this true for Deaf people too? Ofcourse.
All education based on orality only,
education that forbids the use ofSign languages, all education of theDeaf which does not use a Sign
language as the main teachinglanguage, is subtractively
assimilationist.34
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Deaf education? 2
Even education where the use of Signlanguage is allowed informally, andeven if Sign language is taught as a
subject but is not the main teachinglanguage, is subtractivelyassimilationist.
It tries to replace the Deaf childrensmother tongue, a Sign language, with aspoken language, and make Deaf
children as much like hearing children35
f d i
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Deaf education? 3
Cochlear implants can do this too, ifthey are used insteadof teachingthrough Sign language. If cochlear
implants are used in an additiveway,in addition to teaching the childrengood Sign language skills, using Signlanguage as the main teachinglanguage, then they can be useful for
many children.36
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Deaf education? 4
Subtractive assimilationist
teaching of Deaf children islinguistic genocide, and
does not respect childrenslinguistic human rights.
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The role of human rights? 1
If we want Deaf children to be able to develop theircapacities fully, what role can human rights play?
For most Indigenous peoples and Deaf people,political, economic and social rightsare extremelyimportant. They are weak or lacking today. Theirachievement often seems to be the first priority.It might seem for some that linguistichuman rights
and other culturalrights come only AFTER basicmaterial needs have been satisfied at least to someextent. The two types of right are often, erroneously,seen as exclusive.
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h l f h i h ? 2
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The role of human ri hts? 2
In fact, LHRs are a necessary prerequisite for bothdemanding and enjoying all the other rights.Understanding and analysing the connectionsbetween language, culture, ethnicity, identity, land
and water, philosophy of life, presupposes language -ones own language, as well as other languages.
Without analysis and understanding, planning
strategies and action may be futile or take a directionleading to assimilation.
The vogue denying the connections and belittling therole HRs and especially LHRs is destructive.
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Hearing people helping the Deaf
There has been and is stillmassive paternalism towardsthe Deaf they are often seenas helpless victims, and inneed of help from hearing
people (rather than justice andhuman rights).
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Not helpless victims but actors
I see the Deaf as active agents in their own lives, inthe sense of the British sociologist AnthonyGiddens: Actors are knowledgeable andcompetent agents who reflexively monitor their
action.In other words, speakers of languages that aresubject to linguistic imperialism are not helpless
victims, but are in a more complex relationshipwith the forces propelling a dominant languageforward, at the cost of a dominated language(Phillipson, in press).
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Glorification, stigmatisation, rationalisation 1
But actors can also act in ways, which may beharmful to them. Some of the help that Deafpeople got earlier from hearing people can beidentified as part of patriarchal control: the hearingpeople claimed that they knew best what was goodfor the Deaf.At the same time as this help was given, it also
hierarchised the hearing and the Deaf. In order tohelp somebody, you first have to create the onesyou are helping as helpless (see Gronemeyer 1992),meaning weaker and less OK than you yourself.
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Glorification, stigmatisation, rationalisation 2
Speakers of the dominated languages can becomecomplicit in the weakening of their own languageswhen they accept/receive this help. This hashappened and may still happen through threeprocesses: glorification, stigmatization andrationalization. Through the processes ofglorification, the dominant language (what it is,
has and does for you) is made to seem modernand useful. Through stigmatising the dominatedlanguage, it is made to seem backward and useless.
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Glorification, stigmatisation, rationalisation 3Rationalising the relationship between them makes
leaving the dominated language behind and learning thedominant language at the cost of it, subtractively, seemboth good, and the only possibility (either/or). Andthose who help you in this analysis, are then made to
seem as if they are doing something good for thedominated group (see Skutnabb-Kangas 2000).
This was how Deaf people were and often still are made to believe that orality was best for them and that
learning and using Sign language was not useful andcould even be harmful, and that in any case Signlanguages were not real languages and not fit for beingused as teachin lan ua es in schools.
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Li i ti i i li t f d
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Linguistic imperialism as part of modern
agentless neoimperialistic control? 3
This modern agentless neoimperialist controlcreates subjectivities FOR Indigenous peoplesand minorities that divide them, so that those
who support the revival of old traditions andphilosophies of life, the reversal of languageshift, and revitalisation of languages and cultures
are constructed as anti-modern, backword, whilethose who are constructed as modern are theones despisingthe linguistic maintenance of thegroup and seeing mother-tongue-based multilingual
education as romantic but unrealistic.46
Li i ti i i li t f d
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Linguistic imperialism as part of modern
agentless neoimperialistic control? 4
There might be similarprocesses going on in relation tothe Deaf, both vis--viscochlear implants and education
through the medium of Signlanguages.
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Li i ti i i li t f d
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Linguistic imperialism as part of modern
agentless neoimperialistic control? 5
In fact, of course, what the modern world needs is
exactly those philosophies of life and traditionsand cultures and knowledges that Indigenouas
peoples may still have, philosophies of life
which (without romanticising them asrepresenting noble ecological savages) have
many of the keys to sustainable, holistic life.
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The context of Linguistic Human Rights
This agentless neoimperialistic control is the contextwithin which I look at (the lack of) linguistic humanrights, especially in education. I claim that demandsfor LHRs must be based on historical and present-day
analysis of why languages need regenesis in the firstplace and what kind of structures, ideologies andpractices keep them down. The analysis must also lookinto the future (what are the alternative scenarios) and
plan arguments and strategies accordingly."I also claim that if more and proper rights are granted
NOW, it saves the state from later court cases and largecompensations. Thus it is also in the interest of states togrant proper Human Rights NOW.
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Li t f t t 2
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List of contents 2
4. Who/what can have language-related rights?
Termsusedwhen rights are granted: own
language, minority language, mother tongue5. Definitions of mother tongue - can one have amother tongue that one does not know?
6. Compensation for loss of the mother tongue?7. Concluding remarks
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Wh h t h i ht ?
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Who or what can have rights?
Individuals, collectivities, or languages 1
Languagesthemselves may have rights to beused, developed and maintained.
Alternatively, individualsor collectivitiesofpeople (individuals, groups, peoples,
organizations, or states)may have rights to use,develop and maintain languages or duties to enablethe use, development or maintenance of them.
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Wh h t h i ht ?
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Who or what can have rights?
Beneficiaries?
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Childgrants rights to the individualchild.
Council of EuropesFramework Convention on theProtection of NationalMinoritiesgrants rights to(national) minorities, i.e. groups/collectivities.
Council of EuropesEuropean Charter on Regionalor MinorityLanguagesgrants rights to languages,not speakers of the languagesconcerned.
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Terms for beneficiaries?
But if we want to look at to what extent theexisting fairly few binding rights
can be and are being applied to Sign languagesand their users, we need to examine what theterms used in various HRs instruments are when
individuals or collectivities or languages arebeing granted rights? Are they defined, and ifso, how?
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Whi h l ? T d h i h d
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Which language? Terms used when rights are granted:own language, minority language, mother tongue 1
What are the terms used in various HRs instrumentswhen individuals or collectivities or languages arebeing granted rights? Are they defined? How? Some
examples:
UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR), Article 27 http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/a_cescr.htm
In those states in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minoritiesexist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be deniedthe right, in community with other members of their group, toenjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own
religion, or to use their own language(emphasis added).54
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/a_cescr.htmhttp://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/a_cescr.htmhttp://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/a_cescr.htmhttp://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/a_cescr.htm -
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Which language? Terms used when rights are granted:own language, minority language, mother tongue 2
UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belongingto National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic
Minorities, 1992, Art. 4.3.:
www2.ohchr.org/english/law/minorities.htmStates shouldtake appropriatemeasures so that,
wherever possible, persons belonging to minoritieshave adequateopportunities to learn their mothertongueorto have instruction in their mother tongue(emphases added).
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Which language? Terms used when rights are granted:own language, minority language, mother tongue 3
The Framework Convention on the Protection of National
Minorities, 1998 http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/Treaties/Html/157.htm, Art. 10.2:
In areas inhabited by persons belonging to nationalminorities traditionally or in substantial numbers, if there issufficient demand, the parties shall endeavourto ensure, as
far as possibleand within the framework of their educationsystems, that persons belonging to those minorities haveadequateopportunitiesfor being taught in the minoritylanguageorfor receiving instruction in this language
(emphases added).58
http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/Treaties/Html/157.htmhttp://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/Treaties/Html/157.htmhttp://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/Treaties/Html/157.htmhttp://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/Treaties/Html/157.htmhttp://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/Treaties/Html/157.htmhttp://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/Treaties/Html/157.htmhttp://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/Treaties/Html/157.htmhttp://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/Treaties/Html/157.htm -
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Th t ft d t
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The most often used terms are
their own languagetheir own indigenouslanguage
their mother tongue
the minority language 60
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These terms are not defined
legally in the human rightsinstruments (except when
immigrant languages ordialects are excluded from
minority languages).We need to define them.
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List of contents 2
4. Who/what can have language-related rights?Termsused when rights are granted: own language,
minority language, mother tongue5. Definitions of mother tongue - can one have
a mother tongue that one does not know?
6. Compensation for loss of the mother tongue?7. Concluding remarks
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Definitions of mother tongue
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Definitions of mother tongue
Criterion Definition
ORIGIN The language learned first
IDENTIFI-
CATIONa. Internal (own)
b. External (byothers)
a. The language one identifies with
b. The language one is identified asa native speaker of by others
Competence The language one knows best
Function The language one uses most
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Mother tongue of linguistic
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Mother tongue of linguistic
majorities
For linguistic majorities (e.g. speakersof Japanese in Japan) all the
definitions usually converge. Theyhave learned Japanese first, they
identify with Japanese, are identified
by others as native speakers ofJapanese, know Japanese best and use
Japanese most.64
A combination of all can be used
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A combination of all can be used
Criterion Definition
ORIGIN The language learned first
IDENTIFI-
CATIONa. Internal (own)
b. External (byothers)
a. The language one identifies with
b. The language one is identified asa native speaker of by others
Competence The language one knows best
Function The language one uses most
65
Mother tongue of linguistic
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g g
minorities 1
If linguistic minorities live and work wherethe majority language dominates, the
majority language mostly becomes their
most used language in most formaldomains and often also informally.
Therefore it is not fair to use a mother
tongue definition by function - they havenot chosen freely to use the majority
language most.
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Wh t d f i h ?
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What does fair mean here?
The expression not fair here means thatthe definition does not respect linguistichuman rights, and here especially the right to
choose freely what ones mother tongue is.The red in the next Table thus shows that weexclude the mother tongue definition by
function using it would not show respectfor the LHRs of linguistic minorities.
67
67
Definitions of mother tongue
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Definitions of mother tongue
Criterion Definition
ORIGIN The language learned first
IDENTIFI-
CATIONa. Internal (own)
b. External (byothers)
a. The language one identifies with
b. The language one is identified asa native speaker of by others
Competence The language one knows best
Function The language one uses most
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Mother tongue of linguistic
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g g
minorities 2
If linguistic minorities get their education insubmersion programmes (through the
medium of the majority language), the
majority language often becomes thelanguage they know best in most more
formal domains.
Therefore it is not fair to use a mothertongue definition by competence either.
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Definitions of mother tongue
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Definitions of mother tongue
Criterion Definition
ORIGIN The language learned first
IDENTIFI-
CATIONa. Internal (own)
b. External (byothers)
a. The language one identifies with
b. The language one is identified asa native speaker of by others
Competence The language one knows best
Function The language one uses most
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Definitions of mother tongue
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g
Criterion Definition
ORIGIN The language learned first
IDENTIFI-
CATIONa. Internal (own)
b. External (byothers)
a. The language one identifies with
b. The language one is identified asa native speaker of by others
Competence The language one knows best
Function The language one uses most
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If the forcible assimilation has
happened already for the parent orgrandparent generation, it is not fair
to use a mother tongue definition byorigin either, because the parents have
not spoken (or have not been able to
speak) the mother tongue (e.g. Ainu,Saami or Maliseet) to the children.
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Definitions of mother tongue
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g
Criterion Definition
ORIGIN The language learned first
IDENTIFI-
CATIONa. Internal (own)
b. External (by
others)
a. The language one identifies with
b. The language one is identified asa native speaker of by others
Competence The language one knows best
Function The language one uses most
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In this case a mother tongue
definition by internal identification
can be the only possible fairdefinition.
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Definitions of mother tongue
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g
Criterion Definition
ORIGIN The language learned first
IDENTIFI-
CATIONa. Internal (own)
b. External (byothers)
a. The language one identifies with
b. The language one is identified asa native speaker of by others
Competence The language one knows best
Function The language one uses most
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Another important exception is the
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Another important exception is the
Deaf. 90-95% of Deaf children are
born to hearing parents. If thechildren were to get a good education,
they would learn Sign language earlyon, and get most of their education
through a Sign language.
In this case, children and parents do
not have the same mother tongue.78
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For most Deaf children the most fair
mother tongue definition is:The language that they identify with
(often, at least later on, also incombination with an external
identification: the language that they
are being identified as native speakersof by others).
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For Deaf children a Sign language is
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For Deaf children, a Sign language is
the only language that they can
express themselves fully in. Theycannot do this in any spoken
language, except in writing. Thereforewe can, for them, also add a modified
definition by competence: The
mother tongue is the language thatthey identify with and that they can
express themselves fully in.80
Definitions of mother tongue
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g
Criterion Definition
ORIGIN The language learned first
IDENTIFI-
CATIONa. Internal (own)
b. External (byothers)
a. The language one identifies with
b. The language one is identified as
a native speaker of by others
Competence The language one can express
oneself best in
Function The language one uses most
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But if the child is unfortunate?
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But if the child is unfortunate?
But what if a Deaf child (or an Indigenouschild) is NOT one of those fortunate oneswhere parents have used the mother
tongue by identification from the verybeginning, and where the child has hadmost of her education through this
mother tongue. What if the child does notknow the mother tongue by internalidentification?
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M l i i
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My claim is:
It is possible to identify with a language
that one does not know.
It is possible to have a mother tongue that
one does not have (any or full)
competence in.
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It is possible to identify with a language that
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It is possible to identify with a language that
one does not know.
It is possible to have a mother tongue that onedoes not have (any or full) competence in.
If this were to be accepted in international law(and it has not yet been tried in court), those
few rights that exist to mother tongue medium
education and to learning the mother tongue as
a subject, would also apply to Indigenous
children in various revitalisation programmes,
and to Deaf children.
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Conclusion for regenesis
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g
When forcible assimilation has led to a language
being seriously endangered (dying, moribund,in need of revival) or neglected (endangered, inneed of revitalisation), the strategy could (should?)
be to use ONLY a mother tongue definition by
internal identification, when demanding fullLinguistic Human Rights for individuals andcollectivities, regardless of whether the individuals
are receptive or productive users or non-users. The same might apply to Deaf children.
At the same time, claims for compensation formother tongue loss should be raised in courts.85
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List of contents 2
4. Who/what can have language-related rights?Termsused when rights are granted: own language,
minority language, mother tongue5. Definitions of mother tongue - can one have amother tongue that one does not know?
6. Compensation for loss of the mother tongue?7. Concluding remarks
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Some examples of court cases
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Compensation for loss of mother
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tongue? 1
Some residential school victims may eventually recoverdamage awards for their language loss.
(Cloud v. Canada (Attorney General) [2005] 1 C.N.L.R.8). The court case still continues - it started in 1992.
Quoted in Leitch, David (2005). Canadas NativeLanguages: Wrongs from the Past, Rights for the Future.
Paper given at the conference First Nations, First
Thoughts, University of Edinburgh, Centre of Canadian
Studies, 5-6 May 2005. Available at www.cst.edu.ac.uk/2005conference/archiveA-M.html
89
Compensation for loss of mother
http://www.cst.edu.ac.uk/2005conference/archiveA-M.htmlhttp://www.cst.edu.ac.uk/2005conference/archiveA-M.htmlhttp://www.cst.edu.ac.uk/2005conference/archiveA-M.htmlhttp://www.cst.edu.ac.uk/2005conference/archiveA-M.htmlhttp://www.cst.edu.ac.uk/2005conference/archiveA-M.htmlhttp://www.cst.edu.ac.uk/2005conference/archiveA-M.html -
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tongue? 2
(Cloud v. Canada (Attorney General) 65 O.R. (3d) 492
[2003] O.J. No. 2698
Court File No.1267
Ontario Superior Court of Justice
Divisional Court
Gravely, Valin and Cullity JJ.
June 23, 2003. http://www.turtleisland.org/news/cloud2.htm
90
Canadian $1.9-billion court settlement 2006 onid ti l h l i ll t d t
http://www.turtleisland.org/news/cloud2.htmhttp://www.turtleisland.org/news/cloud2.htmhttp://www.turtleisland.org/news/cloud2.htmhttp://www.turtleisland.org/news/cloud2.htmhttp://www.turtleisland.org/news/cloud2.htmhttp://www.turtleisland.org/news/cloud2.htmhttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070102.NATIVESCHOOLS02/TPStory/?query=aboriginal -
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residential schools recognizes: allstudents
suffered throughloss of culture and language
Residential schools were originally an extension of the missionary workof European religious settlers who sought to convert aboriginals toChristianity. The federal government became involved in joint ventures
with the churches in 1874 and took over the schools completely in 1969.The last residential school closed in 1996.
While specific lawsuits dealing with sexual and physical abuse continue,the $1.9-billion settlement recognizes that all students suffered through
loss of culture and language and by being forcibly removed from theirhomes to live at the schools. The $1.9-billion settlement was officiallyapproved by the courts last month.http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070102.NATIVESCHOOLS02/TPStory/?query=aboriginal
91
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070102.NATIVESCHOOLS02/TPStory/?query=aboriginalhttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070102.NATIVESCHOOLS02/TPStory/?query=aboriginalhttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070102.NATIVESCHOOLS02/TPStory/?query=aboriginalhttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070102.NATIVESCHOOLS02/TPStory/?query=aboriginalhttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070102.NATIVESCHOOLS02/TPStory/?query=aboriginalhttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070102.NATIVESCHOOLS02/TPStory/?query=aboriginalhttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070102.NATIVESCHOOLS02/TPStory/?query=aboriginal -
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Concluding remarks: summing up
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g g pIf more and proper rights are granted NOW, it saves
the state from later court cases and bigcompensations. Proper rights include really extensiverevitalisation programmes, even reversal, for thoseIndigenous peoples who have lost their mother
tongue. It should be accepted that where the parentsor grandparents have been forcibly assimilated andhave therefore not been able to speak the Indigenouslanguage, for instance Saami, to their children, Saamiis still the children's mother tongue if they identifywith it, even if they don't know the language.Therefore, people can demand that they have theright to mother tongue medium education in Saami.
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Concluding remarks
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g
There is still a gap between nice phrases andthe realities which are not so nice. Low-intensity warfare still prevails againstIndigenous peoples. It is succeeding, more or
less, all over the world, as also shown by thefate of the UN Declaration on the Rights ofIndigenous Peoples.But there is also new awareness, resistance,
and even emerging action, legal andeducational, that is succeeding.
94
Indigenous peoples and minorities (including theD f) th l t b k t
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Deaf) themselves must be key actors
The Deaf should insist that Sign languages (with thepossible exception of ASL, American Sign Language)are endangered and should be included in all endangeredlanguages programmes. But this is obviously notenough. The Deaf must, just like Indigenous peoples,themselves be key actors. Despite a lot of knowledge andnegotiation skills, the Deaf did not, for instance, manage
to get nearly as much into the UN Convention on theRights of Persons with Disabilities as would be requiredfor proper education (http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml).
95
Indigenous examples of civil society action
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In Orissa, India, a project has started where
Indigenous children from 10 groups ofpeoples will be instructed through the mediumof their mother tongues in 200 schools.(Contacts: professor Ajit Mohanty, dr.Mahendra Kumar Mishra)In Nepal, a project has started where allIndigenous children (around 100 groups) will
be instructed through their own languages(Contacts: dr. Lava Deo Awasthi, professorDavid Hough).There are many other examples in all parts of
the world, including all Americas.96
Will you start?
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Will you start?
I would like to see lists of all educationalprojects for/by both Indigenous peoples andthe Deaf on the web, with descriptions of
the set-up, strategies used to get started,results, and contact people. This would be astart. The Japanese project would be in a
good position to start such a website forDeaf education and Deaf Linguistic HumanRights Will you start?