The following item from the Buea biweekly The Post was seen on AllAfrica.com at http://allafrica.com/stories/200504181382.html . DZO
SIL to Develop Cameroonian Languages The Post (Buea) http://www.postnewsline.com/ April 18, 2005 Posted to the web April 18, 2005 Chris Mbunwe The new Regional Director of the International Linguistic Organisation, SIL, Chris Jackson, has said most of the local languages in the Southwest, West and Northwest Provinces shall be developed. SIL is charged with promoting linguistic research, translation, training and literacy for the three provinces. Speaking at his installation ceremony at the SIL Regional Office recently, Jackson said the desire of his organisation is to see young Cameroonians writing and speaking fluently their mother tongues. He said SIL-Cameroon will depend largely on Cameroonians to carry out this task. "One of our central goals is to provide the training and opportunities necessary so that Cameroonians of all linguistic communities can participate in the development of their own languages. We carry out training in basic linguistic description of languages, literature development, literacy programme management, literacy teacher training and translation," Jackson said. He added, "the end result of these training programmes is that each language community will be able to sustain ongoing development of their own language as a tool of economic, social and spiritual progress." Some of SIL's partners, who have been collaborating in advancing the work of language development in Cameroon, include the Cameroon Association for Bible Translation of the Holy Scriptures, the National Association of Language Committees of Cameroon, the Bible Society of Cameroon and the Ministries of Scientific Research and Basic Education. Earlier, the General Director of SIL-Cameroon, George Shultz, while installing the pioneer Regional Director, said Jackson was the right person for the job, because he had undergone training in linguistics and theology. Having worked for so many years in the Southwest Province, Shultz said Jackson has the ability to create effective partnerships with national and local institutions and churches, and will be able to promote the training of speakers of minority languages. Shultz said his organisation, which is non-profit making, has studied all the languages of Cameroon and has grouped the 270 Cameroonian languages into 36 linguistic sub-families. "It is hoped that this will contribute to the development of all the language sub-families�-oe." said Shultz. The greatest dream and vision of SIL, according to Shultz, is to start a language development project for every language that is viable before the year 2025. -- ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> In low income neighborhoods, 84% do not own computers. At Network for Good, help bridge the Digital Divide! http://us.click.yahoo.com/S.QlOD/3MnJAA/Zx0JAA/TpIolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AfricanLanguages/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
