taigu Kaihsu Tai

taigu Kaihsu Tai 
No mentioning of "Taiwanese Hokkien" education (as if it were not a
worthwhile issue), when Hakka and aboriginal languages are discussed.

Even worse, the "Mandarin Promotion Council" still sticks with bopomofo,
even in the case of Aboriginal languages.

Anyone wants to write a (collective) letter to the editor supporting
Peh-oe-ji and Ho-lo-oe? It is the best for both internationalisation and
localisation (paradoxically so!), and both forward-looking and
historically rooted. (Henry?)

----- Forwarded message from Kaihsu Tai  -----
> X-URL: [http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2000/10/22/story/0000058219](<https://web.archive.org/web/20060117052637/http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2000/10/22/story/0000058219>)
>
> Sunday, October 22nd, 2000
>
> Click image to enlarge (Size is 35444 bytes)
> Puyuma singer Samingad (Chi Hsiao-chun), standing in front of her
> grandmother's picture, sings a traditional song at the closing
> ceremony of the Taipei Arts Festival last night. Samingad, who sings
> mainly in Puyuma, has long supported the promotion and revival of
> Aboriginal languages.
> PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMESN
>
> Critics speak out against Taiwan languages policy
>
> MOTHER TONGUES: Although the government has agreed to have indigenous
> languages taught in schools from next year, observers say the program
> has a number of problems to serve as stumbling blocks
> By Lin Mei-chun
> STAFF REPORTER
>
> Professors and lawmakers condemned the government's policy on
> indigenous languages yesterday, saying that poor administration was to
> blame for the gradual disappearance of languages spoken by minority
> groups in Taiwan.
>
> "Language is the most pivotal element for a culture. To maintain a
> culture, one must first work on the continuation of its languages. But
> the protection of languages used by minority ethnic groups in Taiwan
> has never been placed on the government's agenda. This is because
> there has never been a clear language policy," said Fan Jenn-chyan (-
> S振乾), an associate professor at National Taipei College of Business.
>
> There are around four million Hakkas in Taiwan -- the country's
> second-largest ethnic group, next to Hokkien -- and they account for
> approximately 18.5 percent of the entire 23 million on Taiwan. But
> only half of the Hakkas are able to speak their mother tongue,
> according to Fan.
>
> "The Hakka language is on the verge of extinction if authorities fail
> to provide a more effective language policy," he said.
>
> Fan, of Hakka origin, made an urgent appeal at yesterday's public
> hearing at the Legislative Yuan, hosted by New Party Legislator Cheng
> Long-shui (鄭龍水). The hearing was called to discuss the country's
> language policy and the difficulties faced by the Ministry of
> Education prior to the start of native language instruction at
> elementary schools starting next September.
>
> Others representing various minority ethnic groups agreed with Fan's
> assessment. They included lawmaker Payen Talu (巴燕達魯), minister of
> Taiwan's Presbyterian Church Sing 'Olam (林生安) and a professor at
> National Chengchi University Peng Chin-ching (彭欽清).
>
> Participants at the hearing shared the view that the government should
> be held accountable for the extinction of languages used by non-Han
> people in Taiwan.
>
> "For the past 50 years, the government has been focusing its efforts
> on promoting Mandarin under the pretext that the standardization of
> language in a country would facilitate racial harmony among various
> ethnic groups. Languages spoken by minority groups are consequently
> sacrificed by such bigotry," they said.
>
> "With the introduction of the mandatory indigenous languages
> instruction in schools, there seems to be some recognition of the
> importance of the issue. Unfortunately, the program was hastily put
> together and lacks adequate preparation. Ultimately, this will prove
> to be a false start for the betterment of native languages."
>
> During the discussion, scholars criticized the lack of qualified
> language teachers to satisfy the requirements of the language program.
>
> "How can the instruction be efficient without capable teachers? The
> program will begin within a year, but we do not know where we can find
> qualified teachers," Fan said.
>
> Chang Jiunn-yih (張駿逸), associate professor of the ethnology
> department of National Chengchi University, pointed out the barriers
> encountered by Aboriginal students.
>
> "First of all, there are very few Aboriginal teachers who can speak
> their mother tongues," he said. "Even when they do [speak their native
> languages,] they do not teach in the region where the native tongue is
> spoken."
>
> In light of such difficulties, Chang suggested that the education
> ministry first locate Aboriginal teachers who are capable of speaking
> their native languages, then encourage these teachers to return to
> their hometowns to teach.
>
> Sing 'Olam said that given the rarity of teachers who could teach
> Aboriginal languages, the education ministry should relax its rules,
> which stipulate that only teachers with official teaching certificates
> can teach at schools. He said that church missionaries or the
> Aboriginal elderly should also be recognized as instructors after
> receiving proper training.
>
> Meanwhile, lawmakers said the lack of a standardized phonetic system
> would make learning the languages very difficult.
>
> Reports show that native language programs have been offered by local
> governments for the past few years, but there are no consistent
> phonetic symbols. Materials in use vary from county to county.
>
> In response to such questioning, Tsao Feng-fu (曹逢甫), director of
> the education ministry's Mandarin Promotion Council, said that he
> would recommend adoption of the traditional phonetic symbols used in
> Taiwan, which would be supplemented by notation that would be needed
> in specific cases.
>
> Copyright © 1999, 2000 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved.

----- End forwarded message -----