EDUCATION SYSTEM AGAINST LANGUAGE TRANSMISSION? CASE OF MINORITY LANGUAGES IN INDIA

Статья посвящена межпоколенческой передаче шести миноритарных языков Индии: трёх индоарийских, включая кумаони (штат Уттаракханд), куллуи (штат Химачал-Прадеш), западный марвари (штат Раджастан), и трёх языков мунда, а именно сора, бонда и гутоб (штат Одиша). Все перечисленные языки не имеют официального статуса и литературной нормы, используются почти исключительно для устной коммуникации, являются малоизученными и в той или иной степени находятся под угрозой исчезновения. Исследование основывается на полевых данных лингвистических экспедиций в Индию, в штаты Уттаракханд, Химачал-Прадеш, Раджастан и Одиша в 2014–2018 гг. Одной из задач, стоящих перед авторами во время изучения социолингвистической ситуации в ареалах распространения перечисленных выше миноритарных языков, было выявить основные причины и факторы утраты межпоколенческой передачи языков. В ходе исследования мы пришли к выводу, что одним из основных факторов, негативно влияющих на межпоколенческую передачу миноритарных языков Индии, является существующая в Индии система образования. Школьное образование ведется на официальных языках штатов Индии, и миноритарные языки в образовании не участвуют. Использование родных языков в школе в лучшем случае не одобряется, в худшем — находится под негласным запретом, поскольку воспринимается как помеха на пути качественного овладения официальным языком. Помимо этого, мы отмечаем непосредственную зависимость социальной устроенности от результатов школьных экзаменов, общую директивность индийского образования и практическое отсутствие в образовании диалога. Все перечисленное становится источником большого стресса как для самих учащихся, так и для их семей, в связи с чем родители стараются оградить детей от проблем, связанных с освоением языка образования, и предпочитают не говорить с ними на родных языках. Другим серьезным фактором, способствующим созданию негативного образа родных языков, становятся лингвистические предрассудки, преподаваемые в Индии в рамках школьной программы. Сюда относится терминологическое разделение языковых идиомов на языки (официальные языки) и говоры (миноритарные языки), закрепление понятия «родной язык» за официальным языком штата, представления о том, что язык должен иметь письменность на оригинальной основе, отличающуюся от письменностей других языков. Отдельное внимание уделяется освещению такого феномена индийской действительности как языковая дискриминация представителей племенных (так называемых «неприкасаемых» в индуистской традиции) этносов в рамках школы. Помимо проблем, связанных с существующей в Индии системой образования, мы обсуждаем и попытки их решения — инициативы языковых активистов и правительства. Ряд мер по продвижению многоязычного образования включены в программу MultiLingual Education (MLE), которая в настоящее время получила наиболее широкое распространение в штате Одиша. Рассматривается устройство и функционирование программы MLE в Одише, после чего обсуждается возможность её применения в других регионах. The paper deals with the intergenerational transmission of six minority languages in India, three Indo-Aryan languages, viz. Kumaoni (state of Uttarakhand), Kullui (state of Himachal Pradesh), Western Marwari (state of Rajasthan) and three Munda languages, viz. Sora, Remo and Gutob (state of Odisha). None of these languages has an official status or standardized written form, all of them are used almost exclusively for oral communication, poorly described and, to one degree or another, endangered. The data come from sociolinguistic surveys conducted by the authors in the states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha in 2014–2018. One of the tasks during the sociolinguistic study in the areas of the above-mentioned minority languages was to identify the main factors of the intergenerational transmission loss. We claim that the modern education policies in India are one of the main factors disrupting language transmission. School education is conducted in the state official languages, and minority languages are not involved in it. Speaking minor languages is restricted by teachers at school, while the importance of the official languages is imposed on children. We note also the facts that the social level depends directly on the results of school exams and that Indian education is highly directive and excludes any dialogue. All of the above causes a great stress for students and their families. In this regard, parents try to protect their children from problems of mastering the language of education, and prefer not to speak with them in their native languages. Another major factor contributing to the negative image of native languages are linguistic prejudices taught in India as part of the school curriculum. This includes the division of idioms into languages (official languages) and dialects (minority languages), fixing the concept of “native language” for the official state language, the idea that the language should have a script on an original basis that differs from the scripts of other languages etc. Special attention is paid to such a phenomenon of India’s reality as linguistic discrimination of people from tribal (“untouchable” in Hindu tradition) ethnic groups within the school. In addition to the education system problems in India, the authors mention attempts to solve them by initiatives of language activists and the government. A number of measures to promote multilingual education are included in the MultiLingual Education (MLE) program, which is currently the most widely adopted in the state of Odisha. Considering structure and functioning of the MLE program in Odisha we discuss the possibility of its application in other regions.

Monitoring the condition and use of the Russian language and other languages of the peoples of the Russian Federation

The article outlines the ideology of monitoring the transgenerational transmission of the Russian language and other languages of the peoples of the Russian Federation for the national-territorial subjects of the Russian Federation, emphasizing the importance of data on the number of speakers of a particular language in different age and social cohorts, on their competence levels, on real bilingualism and multilingualism, on language transmission mechanisms from older to younger generations to determine the viability of minority languages and thus to plan measures to save, support and revive them. The provisions of the "Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities" relating to the study of majority and minority languages in the educational systems of multilingual and multinational states are also analyzed, and the leading role of Russian as the national language is shown. Developed a monitoring scenario for transgenerational language transmission (for households), taking into account maximum unification with the program of the General Population Census of the Russian Federation, which was published during the trial census in 2018. The monitoring questions are grouped into three clusters, each of which reflects different aspects of the sociolinguistic situation: the territorial distribution of languages and family relations within the household; the ethnic, socio-age and educational characteristics of the respondent; the linguistic characteristics of the respondent.

LANGUAGE VITALITY OF SUNDANESE IN CIANJUR CITY

Sundanese language usage patterns can cause the ethnic language itself to shift because of switching to using Indonesian in interethnic communication. This study aims to identify language vitality of Sundanese in Cianjur City. Observations focused on language transmission, number and proportion of speakers, domains of use, domains and new media, availability of teaching and literacy materials, and quality of documentation. The formulation of the problem is how the language vitality of Sundanese in Cianjur City? This study uses a qualitative approach with ethnographic methods performed with ethnographic research procedures. The research findings show that the condition of language transmission in children's language acquisition is at an insecure level and the language vitality is decreasing. The condition of the number and proportion of Sundanese speakers is classified as unsafe. The language vitality of Sundanese in the age group 0--14 years is decreasing. The domain of Sundanese language use includes languages that function as multilingual equality and speakers use each language for different functions. The language vitality is decreasing. The condition of the Sundanese domain and new media is dynamic because it is used in the domain of education, employment, broadcast media on television and radio, the internet, and the cyber world. The language vitality is good and could go to the language of science. The condition of Sundanese teaching materials and literacy has a variety of written material and is used as an educational language in schools, but is not used as an administrative language and the vitality of language is good and has the opportunity to go to science and technology. The condition of Sundanese documentation is complete, and the language vitality is good. Therefore, language vitality of Sundanese is decreased in intergenerational transmission indicators needs strengthening.

The Maintenance of Bagongan Language in Yogyakarta Palace

The topic of this research is the maintenance of Bagongan Language in Yogyakarta Palace. The objective of this research is to know the use of the Bagongan language in the Yogyakarta palace, especially as a working language of abdi dalem. Bagongan language is known as the language for every abdi dalem in the Yogyakarta Palace. The research uses qualitative approach with ethography method. The ethnographic research procedure in this study are 1) define sub focus, 2) observation and interview, 3) collect data, 4) make notes, 5), analyze data, and 6) make ethnographic reports. The result is (1) Bagongan language is used in the realm of formal office work and correspondence as well as in cultural customs; (2) Internal threatening factors for Bagongan language, namely the weakening of language transmission to the younger generation and externally the situation of bilingualism in the palace; (3) Efforts to preserve the Bagongan language include fostering a sense of pride in the abdi dalem, language transmission to the younger generation, Bagongan language festivals, held a Pawiyatan course for abdi dalem. The Bagongan language needs to be maintained because this language is no longer used in all domains of use in the palace. The Bagongan language is only used in correspondence and traditional palace cultural events.

Q〈uasi〉 Ciceronis hi uersus? Zur Verfasserfrage des Tierkreisgedichts bei Ausonius (App. A 8 Green)

In the paper the fragment transmitted by Ausonius and ascribed to Quintus Cicero on the signs of the zodiac is analysed in terms of language, transmission history and intertextuality. As a result, authorship by Q. Cicero must be regarded with great scepticism.

Genetic structure correlates with ethnolinguistic diversity in eastern and southern Africa

African populations are the most diverse in the world yet are sorely underrepresented in medical genetics research. Here, we examine the structure of African populations using genetic and comprehensive multigenerational ethnolinguistic data from the Neuropsychiatric Genetics of African Populations-Psychosis study (NeuroGAP-Psychosis) consisting of 900 individuals from Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda. We find that self-reported language classifications meaningfully tag underlying genetic variation that would be missed with consideration of geography alone, highlighting the importance of culture in shaping genetic diversity. Leveraging our uniquely rich multi-generational ethnolinguistic metadata, we track language transmission through the pedigree, observing the disappearance of several languages in our cohort as well as notable shifts in frequency over three generations. We further find significantly higher language transmission rates for matrilineal groups as compared to patrilineal. We highlight both the diversity of variation within the African continent, as well as how within-Africa variation can be informative for broader variant interpretation; many variants appearing rare elsewhere are common in parts of Africa. The work presented here improves the understanding of the spectrum of genetic variation in African populations and highlights the enormous and complex genetic and ethnolinguistic diversity within Africa.

Transcultural and familial factors in bilingualism and language transmission: A qualitative study of maternal representations of French-Maghrebi Arabic bilingual children

This qualitative exploratory study examined transcultural and familial factors involved in bilingualism and minority language transmission among French and Arabic-speaking children. Participants included 30 children aged 4 to 6 years, born in France, and their bilingual French-Maghrebi Arabic-speaking parents. Children’s bilingual language profiles were assessed with the ELAL Scale for Maghrebi Arabic (minority language) and the Neel Scale for French (majority language). Mothers participated in qualitative interviews about cultural and language practices and representations. Interview contents were compared with the children’s language profiles. Results indicated that parents closely associated the transmission of the Arabic language with their cultural heritage transmission. The parents of fluent bilinguals had a strong desire to transmit the minority language. Mothers of minority language dominant bilingual children reported little perception of change in their lives since migration. Half of the mothers of majority language dominant bilingual children reported relationship or emotional difficulties with their children. Four minority language transmission types were identified: direct parent-child transmission; indirect transmission through private classes; indirect transmission through visits to family in the parents' native countries; and alternative transmission by another family member. Direct parent-child transmission was most frequent among the fluent bilinguals. Families' processes of hybridity were related to language transmission and bilingual development of children. Parental cultural affiliations to native country were related to minority language transmission. Perception of change since migration and affiliation to host country may also play a role in harmonious bilingual development. Moreover, the quality of family relationships can affect minority language transmission.