Makes accessible to English speakers the current status of the development and distribution of the French language, the international movement for using it through nearly 50 countries and regions, and the cultural and political values it offers to the rest of the world. Outlines the development and distribution of Francophonie; problems of culture and identity, the last colonies, economics and organization; and prospects in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe. For North Americans, places the otherwise sometimes perplexing concerns of Quebec into a historical and international perspective. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
"This fascinating study, grounded in vivid depictions of local life, relates to larger questions about the postcolonial exercise of political and economic power, when ostensibly sovereign states such as Madagascar are so profoundly controlled by international organizations unattached to any particular state. Sharp asks how young people in these radically changing circumstances are taught and teach themselves to understand their past, present and future."—Gillian Feeley-Harnik, author of A Green Estate "Sharp's work is in the best tradition of classic anthropology, extending the critiques of Fanon, Mannoni, Memmi, and Freire by examining the effects of the socialist revolution, the birth of Malagasy nationalism, and the imposition of a postcolonial pedagogy on the minds of the 'sacrificed generation.' Her detailed ethnography is superb."—Nancy Scheper-Hughes, author of Death without Weeping
This accessible textbook offers students the opportunity to explore for themselves a wide range of sociolinguistic issues relating to the French language and its role in societies around the world. It is written for undergraduate students who have a sound practical knowledge of French but who has little or no knowledge of linguistics or sociolinguistics. It combines text with practical exercises and discussion questions to stimulate readers to think for themselves and to tackle specific problems. In Part One Rodney Ball looks at the diversity of the French-speaking world and the function of French in particular countries and regions, including Switzerland, Belgium and Canada. He explores its status in relation to other languages and its role in intercommunity relations. In Part Two the focus shifts to individual language features and among topics explored are regional speech forms, the differences between written and spoken French, the `social meaning' of different styles and levels of language, and French used by immigrants. Part Three looks at recent developments in the French language particularly in France itself. Key features of this book: * Informative and comprehensive: covers a wide range of current issues * Practical: contains a variety of graded exercises and tasks plus an index of terms * Topical and contemporary: deals with current situations and provides up-to-date illustrative material * Thought-provoking: encourages students to reflect and research for themselves Rodney Ball is a lecturer in French in the School of Modern Languages, Southampton University. He teaches General Linguistics and French Sociolinguistics, on which he has published a number of articles, and is involved in designing practical courses.
Le travail de sape dont le Liban a été l'objet, dès les années 1970, en prémices à la guerre qui l'aura ravagé pendant 17 ans, n'y a pas épargné la langue française. Contesté par certains comme un signe d'inféodation à l'Occident, rendu vulnérable par ceux-là mêmes qui devaient naturellement oeuvrer pour son maintien, nié parfois à l'aide de chiffres contestables, l'usage du français au Liban a subi des secousses qui l'auraient éradiqué dans tout autre pays. Pourtant, alors même que les plus pessimistes s'apprêtaient à l'enterrer, que d'autres ne voulaient voir en lui qu'une langue étrangère comme une autre qui céderait bientôt le pas à l'anglo-américain, que d'autres enfin le réduisaient à la trace résiduelle d'une classe sociale en voie de disparition, le français demeure la langue seconde au Liban. En effet, et aux côtés de l'arabe, langue officielle du pays et langue maternelle des Libanais dans sa forme dialectale, le français est vécu comme une langue de culture et une marque identitaire ; le "Colloque sur le français langue seconde" organisé à Beyrouth par la Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines de l'Université Saint-Joseph les 20, 21 et 22 mai 1993 en a apporté la preuve éclatante, comme en ont témoigné la présence massive à ce colloque d'enseignants libanais de français, venus des quatre coins du pays, et la couverture médiatique qui l'a accompagné. Ce colloque, dont Une francophonie différentielle constitue les Actes, a donc revêtu une importance particulière aux yeux des Libanais : coupés du monde, et plus précisément du monde francophone, pendant près de 17 ans, ils se sont trouvés à l'écart des grands mouvements qui ont animé la francophonie, et en marge de leurs pairs dont les expériences peuvent éclairer la leur. Le colloque a donc donné lieu à un échange interfrancophone puisque des intervenants originaires ou spécialistes de pays aussi divers que le Cameroun, le Zaïre, la Roumanie, l'Egypte, le Québec, l'Algérie, le Maroc, la Tunisie, le Sénégal, la Belgique, Madagascar et la France y ont exposé leur expérience, qu'il a permis d'entendre la voix d'écrivains francophones, ces "heureux élus de la différence", ainsi que les appelle l'un des intervenants, et de faire le point sur les concepts du français langue seconde et leurs implications méthodologiques.
This innovative work offers the first comprehensive transcultural history of historiography. The contributors transcend a Eurocentric approach not only in terms of the individual historiographies they assess, but also in the methodologies they use for comparative analysis. Moving beyond the traditional national focus of historiography, the book offers a genuinely comparative consideration of the commonalities and differences in writing history. Distinguishing among distinct cultural identities, the contributors consider the ways and means of intellectual transfers and assess the strength of local historiographical traditions as they are challenged from outside. The essays explore the question of the utility and the limits of conceptions of modernism that apply Western theories of development to non-Western cultures. Warning against the dominant tendency in recent historiographies of non-Western societies to define these predominantly in relation to Western thought, the authors show the extent to which indigenous traditions have been overlooked. The key question is how the triad of industrialization, modernization, and the historicization process, which was decisive in the development of modern academic historiography, also is valid beyond Europe. Illustrating just how deeply suffused history writing is with European models, the book offers a broad theoretical platform for exploring the value and necessity of a world historiography beyond Eurocentrism.
How can teacher education prepare future teachers for their work in increasingly diverse classrooms? How does the concept of plurilingualism inform language educational policy in different countries? What are the current opportunities and challenges in the domain of internationalisation in teacher education? The contributions to this volume address these questions from different theoretical perspectives, and with a strong emphasis on the actual practices in various classrooms. At a time when simplistic, essentialist, biased, and discriminatory ideologies and practices see a rebirth in public discourse, and represent a risk to education, the contributors here take stock and describe some worthwhile alternatives. The first set of chapters addresses the integration of ethnic, religious, and gender diversity in teacher education colleges. In the second part, the notion of plurilingualism in different educational contexts is explored from a critical sociolinguistic point of view. The chapters in the third part present evidence from innovative international academic exchange programs and how they contribute to socio-spatial learning amongst others. The common denominator in this volume is the notion of convergence – the coexistence of people and practices in diverse contexts.
Our choice of linguistic code is one of the most fundamental ways open to us of establishing our membership of some groups and our distance from others. This symbolic value of language may often leave it open to exploitation, especially by the state. The present volume demonstrates how the multi-faceted nature of the concept of identity makes its relationship with language both complex and unpredictable. Because of its particular historical and social characteristics, the French language provides especially fertile territory for the exploration of this theme. Four main axes stand out in the French context: 'institutionalised' identity, regional identity, social identity and competing identities. These themes are explored from different perspectives by leading experts from Britain, Europe and North America: Roger Baines, Kate Beeching, Danielle Bouverot, David Cowling, Edith Esch, François Gadet, Penelope Gardner-Chloros, David Hornsby, John E. Joseph, Dominique Lagorgette, Jacques Landrecies, Dawn Marley, Nicolas Pepin, Tim Pooley, Gilles Siouffi, Albert Valdman, Barbara von Gemmingen and Chantal Wionet.
The West African Research Association (WARA) was founded for the purpose of promoting scholarly collaboration between American and West African researchers. In June 1997, WARA held its international symposium. This is a compilation of selected essays that were presented at that symposium.
