Hi all,
Long post...I wrote this a few days ago, but didn't post it, and then I
added some more to it, so it's grown very long. Apologies in
advance...and hopefully my tagging it with a second subject tag will
keep the uninterested from becoming trapped in my verbosity.
I'll point out in advance that my first language is Bengali, not English
(though I am most fluent in English now) and that I grew up in India.
And I'm not exactly a digital native...I came in to the digital world as
a result of my own personal interest and education, after finishing high
school.
From this perspective, it's easy to say that yes, Bengali speakers
should have website content in Bangla, Chinese speakers in Mandarin, and
so on. And I agree that, theoretically, it is a "good" thing to have
online content in multiple languages. However, the process of making
this happen is bound by purely economic factors, and so it's much more
complex than simple US-led dominance of English or insensitivity to the
needs of the third world.
The fact is, if you actually grab a few Bangladeshi / Indian / Pakistani
villagers and ask them if they would rather learn to use a computer
purely in Bangla / Hindi / Urdu / insert-language-and-dialect here or
learn to speak and read English, they will almost unanimously choose
English. This is why there are thousands of programs in India teaching
English for every one program trying to teach the poor to use a
computer. English is a mark of education, it makes jobs available, it
allows a standard of literacy, it allows further education...all of
these things apply to computer education, but to a lesser degree.
Especially in terms of people's perceptions of English literacy vs.
computer literacy.
English being the defacto language of the internet is not a "status quo"
concept, but more akin to a movement that has momentum. The more English
is used on the internet, the more incentive there is to use it. It's not
a static thing that we can begin to shift because we have a more solid
idealogical underpinning. It's a dynamic system that is heading more and
more into English-dominated waters, with increasing momentum.
Since I spoke earlier of economic factors, I'll state the economics of
this here: What value is there to teaching subject X to use a computer
in the vernacular, and what value is there teaching him to use that
computer in English?
In terms of value to the subject: English is the language of the
internet, the language of the times, the language of jobs and
prosperity, the language of emigration, the language of progress. Using
a computer in English is infinitely more valuable than using a computer
in the vernacular, precisely because it is mostly used thus...and this
demand drives the constant generation of content in English.
Value to me, as the teacher: Digital education in English is more
difficult than in the vernacular, because I have to teach ESL as well as
digital literacy, or build one program on top of the other. However, my
motives as a nonprofiteer have to be tailored more to maximizing value
to the user, not to myself, and so I might still choose to develop
programs in digital literacy in English, because I believe they will
present more value to him. Also, it's easier to get funding if I'm doing
ESL + computer literacy, instead of trying to develop users of the
non-English internet.
Value to the economy: Businesses are marked by purely economically
motives. Is it better for a business to train workers to use the
internet in English or in the vernacular? Is it better for them to
create positions requiring vernacular computer use (which few will ever
qualify for) or in English (which many will qualify for)? Assume that
enough interest was generated, somehow, to enable the production of
computer hardware in Bangla (as it already exists in Korean and
Japanese, to name two other examples). Would a business buy this
hardware, even if they preferred Bangla as a language for their day to
day activities, knowing that their staff would have to be retrained and
that getting tech support would be difficult, if not impossible? As a
techie, I can tell you that I would have a hard time troubleshooting a
computer in Bangla, even though it's my native language. I've done tech
support for machines in Japanese and Korean in the past, and it's a real
pain. Since it takes me longer and I have to work harder, I charge more.
Real life example: My martial arts instructor has a computer with
Windows in Korean, here in Chicago. I troubleshoot his computers and
network once in a while for free, in exchange for free martial arts
classes. Since I usually can't fix problems with his Korean computer,
and neither can his other students, it costs him a significant amount of
money to use that machine...while it costs him much less to use his
other computers in English. Even though he prefers the Korean machine,
he is drifting slowly but surely into the English internet. And that's
for a *Korean* man, who has tons of available content in his language.
Bangla has no such content...a Bangla computer user is at a disadvantage
from the beginning.
The nations that have made the switch to computer and internet use in
the vernacular (again, Korea and Japan come to mind) have done so
because businesses led the way. It became economically feasible to take
their highly educated, vernacular-speaking work force and develop
computer tools that they could use without drastic retraining. In most
of the third world, however, this simply isn't the case. Where is the
highly-educated, affluent Indian middle class that speaks no English? In
Bangladesh? In Pakistan? In all of S. Asia, the educated and the
affluent middle class that comprises much of the potential workforce is
English-speaking.
As long as this remains the case, there cannot be a major shift in
internet content creation for these languages on the internet, simply
because there is no demand. I can walk into Chinatown in Chicago today
and find educated Chinese who speak little or no English, and who would
like to learn to use the internet while demanding content in
Chinese...and as a result, David Wu's community technology center in
Chinatown has classes on computer use and typing in Chinese. Where is a
similar demand for Bengali?
As long as this demand is present only in a niche (as in the case of
those in Dhaka who would like to use email, but can't find a Bangla
email client), the supply will also exist only in the niche. There will
be niche email programs and niche dictionary translators, and that's
about all. To really drive content creation in Bangla, we would need the
economy to produce well-educated, preferably affluent populations
demanding digital content and education in that language. Otherwise, I
doubt it'll happen.
Americanization is a problem. And I agree...I flinch every time I go
back to Calcutta and see the new fast food places and shopping malls. I
prefer my hole in the wall stores and street food, not burgers and
pizza. But Americanization is not at the heart of this problem...the
heart of this problem is perhaps more British colonialism and directions
in postcolonial growth than in Americanization. Either way, as long as
our educated populations speak English, the majority of the workforce
will speak English. As long as the majority of the workforce speaks
English, it will be significantly more profitable to do so. And if there
is more value in speaking English, then that is the language we will
speak, and learn to speak, when it comes to digital access.
The predominance of English as a spoken language bears this out. It's
the most spoken language in the world...everyone knows that, but how
many know that it's that widely spoken only as a second language?
Mandarin is the language most spoken natively in the world. This means
that an overwhelming number of people (like myself) learn English as a
second language...because, for whatever reason, it is more prudent to do
so. First languages are learned of necessity...second languages usually
of economic prudence or interest.
Dave.
-------------------
Dave A. Chakrabarti
Projects Coordinator
CTCNet Chicago
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(708) 919 1026
-------------------
Cindy Lemcke-Hoong wrote:
Hello Nazrul,
Language is a real issue especially since WSIS the
promotion of the 100USD lap-top.
I have always questioned the notion of English as the
defacto internet language. For countries/people who
are not knowledgeable in this langauge, with the
digital content mostly in English, that would mean the
burden is AGAIN on those poorer/digital hungry
countries/people. So how good it is to give them a
lap-top while they cannot read what is there?
I have spoke out about language divide for the past
3,4 years. But, small voice generates no punch. After
all people who is on this list precisely because they
know English, if not English is their native language.
They don't feel the pain of those who are locked out
because they lack the language ability.
Cindy
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
=============
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
_______________________________________________
DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
[email protected]
http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE
in the body of the message.
_______________________________________________
DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
[email protected]
http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE
in the body of the message.
