Symposium on Language, Peace, and Security

The role of language—both as a means of communication and as an expression of identity -- is a vital consideration for any serious discussion of peace and security. The Symposium on Language, Peace, and Security, which marks UNESCO's International Mother Language Day, will:

- Look at the overlooked linguistic and educational dimensions of a simmering conflict pitting Pattani Malay-speaking Muslims against the government of Thailand.
- Address the importance of ensuring linguistic human rights through educational policies and practices that value and promote linguistic diversity.
- Consider language policy in education and how it may serve to exacerbate or mitigate violence.

Can careful consideration of language and communications in discussions of peace and security lead to real solutions to conflicts? How do issues of language, language complexity, and communication play out in peace-building efforts and ongoing security? How can language issues be identified and addressed effectively in policy planning and execution?

Join SIL International, the Center for Applied Linguistics, the Alliance for Peacebuilding, and the United States Institute of Peace for an exploration of these issues at the Symposium on Language, Peace, and Security on February 21, 2014. Registration begins at 12:30.

Keynote Presenters:

Patricia Friedrich
Associate Professor of Linguistics/Rhetoric and Composition
Arizona State University

Suwilai Presrirat
Professor of Linguistics and Founder of the Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia
Mahidol University, Thailand

Terrence Wiley
President
Center for Applied Linguistics

Zeena Zakharia
Assistant Professor of International and Comparative Education
University of Massachusetts, Boston

George A. Lopez, Keynote Discussant
Vice President of the Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding
U.S. Institute of Peace

Peter Weinberger, Moderator
Senior Program Officer
United States Institute of Peace

Perspectives from the Grassroots
Community-based practitioners reflect on the relevance of language to peace and security.

Joel Trudell, SIL International; Unian Samoh, Mahidol University; Cecilia Ochoa, Save the Children; Micael Olsson, World Vision

[AbdulKareemAbdulRahman]

on the argument that a spoken language needs a written script to help it's suvival and growth (1:15:50) i think is too simplistic.

The malay minority dialects throughout Peninsular Malaysia (Kedah, an Kelantanese, Terengganu etc), Thailand (Patani, Satun malay), Indonesia (Riau) ALL already have scripts to write with. And all in scripts that write malay in the standard, not dialect, malay (whether in rumi or jawi).

And yet it is only in Thailand that the rate of decline of use of the dialect (or of inability to participate with the majority/dominant language) is the lowest and chronic. The existence of a written script per se is not the problem for the Patani Malays.

One really would need to look at material and social investments into the dialects concerned. Material investments: Are there teachers and schools readily available (funded posts and funded schools) teaching in rumi and jawi scripts?

Social investments: Are those in power using it? The social elites. Are they invested in it? You talk about 'cool' in that answer: this is part of it. Social prestige.

One really needs to address key and underlying power differences (eg democratic deficits) in helping language skills in minority populations. This is not mentioned explicitly at all in the Thai case in the video. Simply saying that teaching the minoriity language per se will be the 'be all and end all' is too simplistic, and linguistically and sociologically, not to mention politically, incorrect.