scholarly journals Translating German philosophy into English: The case of Martin Heidegger

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Martin Arndt
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Language Loss ◽  
Pop Music ◽  
Language Death ◽  
Language Endangerment ◽  
Library Research ◽  
German Philosopher ◽  
Inherent Problem ◽  
New Perspective

Language endangerment and language loss have become of focal interest for linguists and cultural anthropologists who bemoan the loss of linguistic diversity. The coinage of the term “linguicide” indicates the inherent problem that is related to mondialisation, universalization, and urbanization, which in itself is a highly controversial subject. The recent discoveries of Martin Heidegger’s black notebooks cast a new perspective on his work, revealing his revulsion at universalist ideologies and his antimodernism – and, most fatefully, his antisemitism: Jews who are to him the incarnation of rootlessness, distance from the soil, and thus subversion. Heidegger was born in a rural provincial German – and for many remained so, walking in the countryside, hating TV, airplanes, pop music, and processed food that all conspire to distract us from the basic wondrous nature of Being, overwhelming us with information, killing silence, and never leaving us alone, and thus keep us away from the confrontation with “das Nichts” (the Nothing), which lies on the other side of Being, that is, however, unknown to the chatter (das Gerede), which can be perceived in the newspapers, on TV and in the cities Heidegger hated to spend time in. Although he was a Nazi to the end, this does not mean that nothing can be learned from him or problems connected to his work. This library research deals with the complexity of translating this German philosopher into the English language. It draws not only on typical examples from Heidegger’s path-breaking philosophical work Sein und Zeit and presents attempts at translating it, but also points out their shortcomings and drawbacks. Additionally, it presents solutions to the problems that emerge from Heidegger’s idiosyncratic language. Generally speaking, it reveals the almost unbridgeable language barriers that can only be overcome at the expense of depth and authenticity. Homogenization can be seen as a way of leveling down ideas and concepts that end in language death.

What Are We Trying to Preserve? Diversity, Change, and Ideology at the Edge of the Cameroonian Grassfields

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierpaolo Di Carlo ◽  
Jeff Good
Keyword(s):  
Language Ideologies ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Extreme Case ◽  
Language Loss ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Language Endangerment ◽  
Local Language ◽  
Key Aspects

Losses associated with language endangerment need not be restricted to individual language systems but can also involve the disappearance of distinctive language ecologies. This chapter explores the language dynamics of the Lower Fungom region of Northwest Cameroon, which offers an extreme case of linguistic diversity, from an areal and ethnographically informed perspective. Key aspects of local language ideologies are explored in detail, and it is argued that in this area languages symbolize relatively ephemeral political formations and, hence, should not be taken as reflections of deeply rooted historical identities. This conclusion has significance both regarding how research projects in the area should be structured as well as for what it might mean to ‘preserve’ the languages of a region that historically appears to have been characterized by frequent language loss and emergence, conditioned by changes in territorial and political configurations.

Language Ecologies: Ethics, Community, and Digital Affect

PMLA ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 131 (2) ◽  
pp. 373-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Hsy
Keyword(s):  
Language Loss ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Humanitarian Crisis ◽  
Language Death ◽  
Language Endangerment

The global linguasphere is in a state of ecological and humanitarian crisis. In a powerful meditation in pmla, simon gikandi notes that the loss of any language (and of a culture sustained by it) is worthy of mourning and that language death around the globe is a matter of urgent collective concern. Relating great emotion when the “UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger confronted me with the bleak reality of language endangerment measured in maps, graphs, and data sets,” he ponders the ethical and political stakes of widespread language loss (9). He ends by quoting (and translating) a poem by the anthropologist Miguel León-Portilla “captur[ing] what happens when a language dies” (13), and he builds to a stark closing dictum: “Letting a language die is an injustice, a denial of will to those who speak it” (14). In this forceful essay, metaphorical discourse of language death gives way to a poignant elegy that registers a strong affective and political investment in the sustainment of languages.

scholarly journals Educational Practices on Ethnic-racial Relations and the English Language Teaching through Image and Literature in an EFL Classroom

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Jânderson Albino Coswosk
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Literary Traditions ◽  
Racial Relations ◽  
Colonial Legacy ◽  
Federal Institute ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
African Writers ◽  
Photo Book

The article analyzes the unfoldings of the teaching project Introducing Literatures in English, held in 2018 at the Federal Institute of Espírito Santo (IFES), based in Alegre-ES, Brazil. The project aimed at promoting the improvement of reading, writing and speaking skills of English as a foreign language (EFL) learners, departing from African Literature in English and photography, so that they had the opportunity to improve their language skills while developing a broader discussion on Africa’s ethnic-cultural and linguistic diversity, building a viewpoint about the African continent less tied to colonialism, slavery, apartheid and victimization.For reading and written analyses, the students took into consideration the photo-book Another Africa (1998), with photographs by Robert Lyons and poems by Chinua Achebe (1930-2013). Based on the poems and photographs brought to light in Another Africa, I analyzed 1) the students’ multimodal reading process, by connecting images generated by poems and photographs and written and oral texts the students produced around them; 2) the students’ reception of the poems, considering Achebe’s constant use of code-switching and 3) the construction of new viewpoints around Africa elaborated by the students, bearing in mind the importance of the role of language, memory and history, oral and literary traditions when it comes to African writers and a new perspective concerning the colonial legacy and its impact on English language.

Language Endangerment in Africa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tucker Childs
Keyword(s):  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Government Policies ◽  
Language Loss ◽  
Language Diversity ◽  
Language Endangerment ◽  
African Languages ◽  
World Languages ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Concomitant Reduction

As elsewhere in the world, languages in Africa are endangered. The estimates for language loss on a world scale likely hold for Africa as well. Although the particular group of factors at work in Africa may be unique, they come from a well-established inventory familiar elsewhere. The forces reducing African language diversity come from the combination of a set of macro socioeconomic factors and historical events, such as colonization and globalization, coupled with local factors such as military conquest and misguided government policies. Simple demographic factors, such as number of speakers, are also important: the less widely spoken languages are more severely threatened than are those spoken more widely. The shift from African languages is to both European languages and the more widely spoken languages on the continent. Shifts also occur to localized or appropriated versions of the two. Climatic factors, most notably global warming, have played and will continue to play a role as well; the correlation between biological and linguistic diversity has often been remarked. For example, with the growth of plantation economies and the destruction of rain forests, there is a concomitant reduction in linguistic diversity.

scholarly journals The Malaysian EFL Education: A Brief Historical Review and Literacy Issues

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Harison Mohd. Sidek ◽  
Wahiza Wahi
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Historical Review ◽  
Literacy Curriculum ◽  
Tertiary Institutions ◽  
Library Research ◽  
English Literacy ◽  
Higher Institutions ◽  
Document Review

Hailed as a lingua franca, the English language maintains its significance at the global level and due to such status, ithas been made a mandatory subject at the elementary, secondary and tertiary institutions in Malaysia. This paperpresents the review of English literacy in terms of its historical path and its status as a second language (EFL) issueswithin the Malaysian educational context. Document review was conducted for the study to find out the MalaysianEnglish literacy historical path. A library research on mainstream journals was carried out to find out EFL literacyissues in Malaysia. The historical review reveals that the mandatory inclusion of the English literacy in the schooland higher institutions’ curriculum could be traced back as a linguistic culturalization effect of the Britishcolonization. The review also indicates that the pattern of inclusion of the English literacy in the Malaysianeducational system seems to be developmental in nature but with some patterns of consistency at the initial stage ofits inclusion. With regards to the EFL literacy issues, the review shows that the shifting from the English to theMalay medium in public schools could be inferred as one of the root causes of the emergence of issues in the EFLliteracy amongst Malaysian learners. The outcomes of the review have implications on English literacy policy, futurerevisions of English literacy curriculum to alleviate the current EFL literacy issues and to increase its effectiveness inEFL teaching and learning in the Malaysian context.

scholarly journals Individual, Social and Psychological Characteristics of Smoking Cessation Behaviors: A Systematic Review

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Susi Ari Kristina ◽  
Vo Quang Trung ◽  
Ni Putu Ayu Linda Permitasari ◽  
Eliza Dwinta ◽  
Faisal Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Smoking Cessation ◽  
English Language ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Smoking Cessation Program ◽  
Psychological Characteristics ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
New Perspective

About two thirds of active smokers want to quit smoking, yet not many people finally succeed in smoking cessation. Smoking cessation involve complex behaviors associated with individual, social and psychological characteristics as the key factors. Our objective is to review the studies about smoking cessation behavior correlated issues in order to find effective interventions of smoking cessation program. Terms and keywords pertinent to individual, social and psychological characteristics of smoking cessation behavior were used in a search of the electronic databases. Searches were limited to English language, included papers were: a) had clearly report the predictor variables related to smoking cessation behaviors, b) exclusively represent nation/s of study population, c) the time frame for the analysis was limited from 1998 to 2018. A result of 116 individual studies were retrieved at first and reviewed. After further inspection of references from the collected studies, 9 studies were approximately selected that met all inclusion criteria. The final studies consisted of five cross-sectional study and four cohort studies, conducted from different countries. There were several characteristics related to smoking cessation behavior including on levels of nicotine dependence, self-efficacy, smoking restriction and involve other smokers environment, motivation and educational background. Adjusted interventions due to those specific behaviors are needed in order to make more effective smoking cessation programs. Therefore, this study may provide new perspective for encouraged to decrease the amount of smokers worldwide through smoking cessation program.

scholarly journals FROM INLAND TO OUTLAND: EXPERIENCES OF NON-NATIVE EXPATRIATE TEACHERS TEACHING IN A FOREIGN CONTEXT

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-37
Author(s):  
Remart Padua Dumlao ◽  
Trixia Mengorio
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Cultural Awareness ◽  
English Language ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Future Research ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Native English Speaking

The numbers of English language learners and limited domestic English language teachers have grown exponentially in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as to the ASEAN region over the past decades due to the demand of globalization. Given the huge cultural and linguistic diversity among learners, educating these populations of English language learners can be a challenging but also beneficial for foreign language teachers. This study aimed to analyse the experiences of fifteen Non-native English Speaking Foreign Teachers (NNESFT) teaching in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. The results of this study suggested that although teachers’ reasons in teaching English language in a foreign classroom were more extrinsic reasons rather that intrinsic and altruistic. NNESFT recognized benefits of teaching in foreign classroom, namely, financial aspects, personal development, and building cultural awareness. Meanwhile, challenges were reported include as a non-native English speaking teachers in a foreign classroom, on the part of textbooks and curriculum, and cultural differences in the classroom. Implications were discussed in light of the findings and recommendations formulated for future research directions.

scholarly journals Strengthening Islamic Literature in the Indonesian English Language Teaching

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dedi Irwansyah
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Model ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Educational Context ◽  
Library Research ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Islamic Values ◽  
Islamic Literature

The emerging interest in using literature to teach English has not yet highlighted the significance of Islamic literature within Indonesian educational context. This article presents the portrayal of Islamic literature in English language teaching (ELT) study area and offers a possible conceptual model of integrating Islamic literature into ELT. Following a library research method, with the corpus consisting of fourteen stories and one poem derived from fifteen books, the findings of this study show that: most works of Islamic literature are designed for fluent readers; the presentation of Islamic literature is dominated by Middle East and Western writers; and the Western writers are not always sensitive to the symbols glorified by Muslim English learners in Indonesia. As to deal with the above findings, this study proposes a conceptual model consisting of input, process, and output elements. Not only does the proposed model strengthen the position of Islamic literature, but it also integrates the Islamic literature into English language teaching so that it could reach both fluent readers and beginning readers. The output of the proposed model, abridged and unabridged texts of the Islamic literature, can be utilized to teach vocabulary, grammar, the four basic skills of language, and Islamic values. 

scholarly journals The Interpretation of Anthropomorphic Verses in the View of Muhammad Husain Thabathabai

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
Nurul Khair ◽  
Siti Halimah ◽  
Siti Hadaynayah Salsabila
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Method ◽  
Human Existence ◽  
Textual Interpretation ◽  
Library Research ◽  
Physical Form ◽  
Rational Understanding ◽  
New Perspective

This writing is library research on Muhammad Husain Thabathabai’s thought. It concerns about the anthropomorphist verses which is motivated by the interpretation of the Mujassimah to see that Allah SWT has a physical form in His existence by referring to anthropomorphic verses as the principle of argument. As a result, the existence of Allah as the Creator is the same as human existence. Besides the textual interpretation of anthropomorphic verses can be misunderstood, it's also known that rational view or liberal can cause misunderstanding in explaining about the meaning of divine word. In order to solve this problem, the writing is aimed to examine the interpretation of anthropomorphic verses to obtain the essence of existence of Allah SWT without relying on textual and rational understanding based on Muhammad Husain Thabathabai master piece, Al-Mīzan Tafsīr Al-Qur'an. By using descriptive-analytical method, this paper will get the conclusion that Muhammad Husain Thabathabai studied and examined the anthropomorphic verses using takwil approach as one of the esoteric interpretation methods which implies three terms, namely kinayah, siyaq or context of the verses, and Qur’an bil Qur’an. Based on these three terms, the authors use to question research that what are the implications of the interpretation of anthropomorphic verses in the view of the commentators and how Muhammad Husain Thabathabai's solution in solving the problematic interpretation of anthropomorphic verses. The results of this paper is to offer a new perspective in interpreting anthropomorphic verses, so that each individual can understand the essence and the degree of existence of Allah in his tawhid paradigm

scholarly journals Editorial

2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 190-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Piller
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
English Language ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
English Language Proficiency ◽  
Editorial Introduction ◽  
Original Research

This editorial introduction orients the reader to current public debates and the state of research with regard to the intersection of linguistic diversity and social inclusion in contemporary Australia. These are characterised by a persistent lack of attention to the consequences of linguistic diversity for our social organisation. The editorial introduction serves to frame the five original research articles that comprise this special issue and identifies the key challenges that linguistic diversity presents for a fair and just social order. These challenges run as red threads through all the articles in this issue and include the persistent monolingual mindset which results in a pervasive language blindness and an inability to even identify language as an obstacle to inclusion. Furthermore, where language is recognised as an obstacle to inclusion this usually takes the form of assuming that an individual suffers from a lack of English language proficiency. Improving English language proficiency is then prescribed as a panacea for inclusion. However, on close examination that belief in itself can constitute a form of exclusion with detrimental effects both on language learning and equal opportunity.

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