Print

Mail

wiki links

Editorial: Ensuring linguistic diversity

Two separate events on Monday afternoon reflect the linguistic changes in this country brought about by democratization. The first event was a press conference called by Council for Cultural Affairs Vice Chairman Wu Mi-cha (吳密察) to announce that the draft of a "national languages development law" (國家語言發展法) had been completed and would be presented to the legislature. The proposed law is aimed at overturning the past dominance by a single, official "national language," ie, Mandarin.

The intent behind this legislation is to protect and preserve disadvantaged languages which are in danger of extinction after being marginalized by the forced usage of Mandarin for so many decades. Under the proposed law, all languages used in Taiwan would become national languages and be given equal status.

The bill would authorize the different levels of government -- central, county, etc -- to designate common languages in the areas under their jurisdiction. This would mean the country would have more than one common language. What is extraordinary about this bill is the separation of spoken languages from written ones. Under the bill, once the various governments designate common languages, the language users themselves would decide which language to use on official occasions.

About the same time that Wu was holding his press conference, Council for Hakka Affairs Chairwoman Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) was visiting Examination Yuan President Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文). She wanted to discuss a recent qualification test for civil servants which featured questions on Hoklo, sparking criticism from Hakka-speakers. Yeh wanted to express the Hakka people's concerns and the hope that in the future, such examinations would reflect the interests of all ethnic groups, not just one.

The council's language bill is based on the concept of plurality, respect for all ethnic groups and concern for their interests. It is aimed at reversing past language policies dominated by Mandarin and enriching the country's linguistic assets.

Since the Democratic Progressive Party's Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) became president in 2000, the country has gradually liberated itself from the political framework established and dominated by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Culturally, the long repressed local ethnic cultures are gradually being liberated from the framework of China's central plains culture.

The KMT's national language policy created a single common language, but the deliberate suppression of other languages caused those languages to wither. For example, even though Hoklo-speaking people are the biggest group in the country, not many people under the age of 30 in northern Taiwan can speak fluent Hoklo, even though it is still a common language in the south. Such language loss is even more serious among the Hakka and Aborigines.

The Council for Cultural Affairs is working to transcend the unification versus independence political dispute and allow all ethnic groups to liberate their linguistic energies. Under its proposed bill, administrative procedures will become more complex. For example, because test-takers will be able to decide which common language to use in government tests, multi-language test format and facilities will have to be available. Moreover, when a head of state delivers a speech in a language other than Mandarin, the speech will have to be translated into several languages.

The development of languages is fluid, especially in dynamic Taiwan, where the interaction between different languages may create a richer language environment. The proposed policy will create many problems -- as well as opportunities -- but it is vastly preferable to the previous KMT administra-tion's policy of linguistic favoritism.
This story has been viewed 3465 times.