Cindy Lemcke-Hoong wrote:
Hello Dave,
Most of what you analysed I agreed. Not all. I
especially have problem to understand the opening
statement on your post. Quote
"In my view "Language" and "Digital Divde" are two
separate things."
It would be the same as saying cultures has nothing to
do with human beings??? My arguement is based on this
particular discussion on Multilingualism in
Cyberspace.
Digitail Divide consists of two parts: software and
hardware. Most concentrate on the hardware portion,
but the software (content thus language) is what
drives the knowledge. If I am not mistaken?
Hi All
I am still catching up with this thread, due to problems with Bluewin's
e-mail server. But I'd like to add to Cindy's answer to Dave's e-mail,
on one point:
roop dave wrote:
> (...) Internet would, perhaps, will be used as an access mechanism,
> initially, to access specific websites designed and populated for
> delivering custom design services by the local government for rural and
> urban citizens. All these applications will be in vernacular language
> (many of them are available today also). (...)
The capacity to design such services in vernacular language can in turn
be influenced by the language divide. Not in India maybe, where people
who are able to design these services also know English, but in other
countries.
Mine, Switzerland, is affluent - but the training of IT service
designers is seriously hampered by the fact that several Swiss experts
in social/educational uses of ICT have limited or no knowledge of
English, because people learn other national languages as a priority.
Can't we assume, by inference, that this problem will also be present in
other multilingual countries where the main lingua franca is not English?
I'm thinking, for instance, of multilingual African countries where the
lingua franca is French: in spite of laudable efforts, for instance by
the Canadian govertment and above all by Canadian NGO's, updated info on
IT and IT applications in French is far more limited than in English.
cheers
Claude
--
Claude Almansi
Castione, Switzerland
claude.almansi @ bluewin.ch
www.adisi.ch
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