Abstracts
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 Linguapax
Asia 2006
3rd International Symposium
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University of Tokyo
Saturday, October 7, 2006
Theme for discussion: "Who Owns Language?"
Biographies and Abstracts of Participants (in order of appearance)
Frances Fister-Stoga is Director and founder of Linguapax Asia and has been the American foreign lecturer at the University of Tokyo since 1992. She holds a certificate in Peace Education from Teachers College Columbia University and has taught in Poland, Slovenia, Austria, and Canada.
Leo Yoffe is a former Canadian diplomat and a professor at Waseda
University. Professor Yoffe was instrumental in the planning and organization of the 2005 Linguapax Asia Conference.
Charles De Wolf is a linguist, literary translator and writer. He has a
PhD in Linguistics from the University of Hawaii. Currently he is a
professor at Keio University. He first came to Japan in 1970 and has
spent most of his life here. His academic interests and publications
range from morphology, syntax, and historical linguistics to such
sociolinguistic concerns as expressed in the topic here.
Dr. De Wolf writes: "Asked to choose between Herder and Napoleon,
between post-Babelian romantics and McLanguage managers, linguists will
overwhelmingly join the former camp. Why is this so? Surely a partial
explanation lies in what they know about language. Linguistic knowledge
rather than politics explains their opposition to triumphalism,
prescriptivism, and coerced standardization.
Or so we would like to think. The fact is, of course, that linguists
too are susceptible to self-interest and ideological conformity. And so
the debates between specialist and non-specialist alike degenerate into
mutual demonization."
David Burleigh was born in the North of Ireland and studied Social
Science at the University of Ulster at Coleraine. He worked in London
for several years before coming to Japan, where he has now spent over
twenty years. He did research for an advanced degree in English
Literature at the University of Sussex, and is currently associate
professor at Ferris University in Yokohama.
"English is, indisputably, my mother tongue (since my mother was
English), though I grew up speaking the Scots-Irish dialect of the North of Ireland. I wish to explore the contradictory responses to this form of English among other native speakers using my own experience.
Straddling Hibernian and British English, the Ulster dialect is often
unrecognized in the British Isles, yet played a key role in the
development of American English and informs a literary renaissance."
Nicholas Williams was born near London and later educated at London
University. Although originally specializing in South Asian History, he
developed an interest in the theatre and went on to do an MA in European Drama at Exeter University. He is currently a professor at Saitama Institute of Technology.
"My interest in Bernard Shaw's famous 'language play', Pygmalion,
provoked me into the understanding that once again Shaw was ahead of his time in recognizing that the importance of Eliza's transformation lies not in a cockney girl learning to speak like a lady, but in the idea that the language Eliza acquires must be entirely her own or else it has no social value whatsoever."
Mong-Lan is a writer and visual artist. She left her native Vietnam on
the last day of evacuation in 1975. Her books of poetry include Song of
the Cicadas and Why is the Edge Always Windy? Her poetry has been
anthologized in several publications including Best American Poetry. She is an adjunct professor with the University of Maryland, University
College.
Saran Shiroza is a doctoral student at the University of Tokyo, whose
research interests include critical approaches to World Englishes and
English as a global language, and English education policy and planning
in Japan.
"I will focus on some attempts in the past to establish a 'Japanese
variety of English', none of which gained much support in Japan, and
explore why these attempts were not successful in light of Japanese
attitudes towards the two languages of Japanese and English."
Tasaku Tsunoda is a professor at the University of Tokyo. He gained his
PhD at Monash University. His defence of the Australian Aboriginal
language, Warrango, has been his life's work.
Mie Tsunoda is a part-time lecturer at Rissho University and Seijo
University. She gained her PhD at Ochanomizu University. She is a
scholar of Australian Aboriginal languages.
Arudo Debito is a naturalized Japanese citizen, living in Japan for
eighteen years. He is the author of Japanese Only that discusses the
Otaru Hot Springs case and racial discrimination in Japan. He is a
frequent columnist in the Japan Times, and an associate professor at
Hokkaido Information University.
"With many native speakers of Japanese claiming authority on how 'their' language is used, we must understand what impact this 'ownership' of language has on the credibility of non-natives. Even when there a reverifiable sources available-such as dictionaries-many people claim to know the real 'vernacular' usage of important words in a debate by dint of nationality or race. I will discuss the effects of being a non-native speaker with Japanese citizenship, and offer views on how to avoid having one's opinions de-legitimatized merely on the basis of not being'one of us'."
Fernand De Varennes is a former director of the Asia-Pacific Center for
Human Rights and the Prevention of Ethnic Conflict. He is the founding
Editor-in-Chief of the Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law.
He has written two works on the topic of language rights: Language,
Minorities and Human Rights and A Guide to the Rights of Minorities and
Language. He has also held the Tip O'Neill Peace Fellowship at INCORE
(Initiative on Conflict Resolution and Ethnicity) in Derry, Northern
Ireland. He is currently a visiting professor at Gakshuin University.
William Gater was born in Canada in 1942. He read modern languages at
McMaster University and received his doctorate in Linguistics in 1980
from the University of Montreal. He taught at the University of Tokyo
from 1979 to 2004.
"I will talk about the language situation in Latvia from the viewpoint
of nationalism and language. Definitions of language are usually based
on the use of language, birthplace and residency. This brief description
of the language situation in the newly-independent Baltic republics,
with the focus on Latvia, will serve as illustration. I shall include my own impressions and experiences, and further comment on the broader
implications for the European Union and for national language planning."
Olenka Bilash has recently completed a seven year research project in an isolated Cree community in Saskatchewan, looking at Cree language
revival, curriculum development and community involvement. For her
contribution to developing Cree language materials, she received the
Tribal Chiefs' Association award. Among many other academic positions,
she has served as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and
Research at the faculty of Graduate Studies and Research at the
University of Alberta (Edmonton).
Dr. Bilash writes: "Multicultural and plurilingual Canada is the site
for the dialogue between different constituencies of the Canadian
population-aboriginals, anglophones, and francophones whose languages
have official status, and members of hundreds of ethnic groups who speak their languages out of either necessity or choice or both. In this global age, more and more young people recognize the value of additional languages. Which ones are they or their parents choosing to learn?"
Felix Marti is the Honorary President of Centre UNESCO de Catalunya and the Honorary President of the Linguapax Institute.
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Updated June 17, 2006
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