Language Policy and a Just World Order

Mazrui Ali A. in A World Federation of Cultures: An African Perspective (New York: The Free Press, 1976) has proposed a world political system based on five languages (English, French, Russian, Chinese, and Arabic) and their accompanying cultures, but this approach ends up with no language for the global community. Everyone in the world is to learn one of the five “world languages,” p 476, but in this system these are not really “world languages” at all but only inter-continental or international languages. In Mazrui's scheme there is no language known by all people in the total world community. He seems more interested in preserving certain existing cultural traditions than in developing a global community. Mazrui's proposal is also described in his “World Culture and the Search for Human Consensus” in Saul H. Mendlovitz (editor), On the Creation of a Just World Order: Preferred Worlds for the 1990's (New York: The Free Press, 1975), pp 1–37.

Mendlovitz Saul H. , “The Struggle for a Just World Order; An Agenda of Inquiry and Praxis for the 1980s” Working Paper No 20, World Order Models Project (New York: Institute for World Order, 1982).

It is generally estimated that students can become proficient in Esperanto in 20–25 percent of the time it takes them to reach the same level of competence in English or French. See Piron Claude , “Understanding among Africans: Linguistic Isolation and Linguistic Communication” (Esperanto Documents, New Series, 17A, Rotterdam: Universal Esperanto Association, 1979, p 15), reprinted in Esperanto in the Modern World compiled by Rüdiger and Vilma Eichholz, Bailieboro, Ontario, Canada: Esperanto Press, 2nd edition, 1982), pp 282–96 with the relevant quotation on p 296; and Bruce Sherwood, “The Educational Value of Esperanto Study” in Esperanto in the Modern World, p 408.

Esperanto in the Modern World, ibid, p 6.

Byron Janet , “An Overview of Language Planning Patterns in Socialist and Non-Socialist Countries of the Developing World,” in World Communications Year 1983: Language and Language Learning (Report of a Conference Sponsored by the Center for Research and Documentation on World Language Problems and the Esperantic Studies Foundation, New York, NY, December 15, 1982), pp 49–72, available from the Esperantic Studies Foundation, 777 UN Plaza, New York, NY 10017.

For expanded statements of this argument see Sekelj Tibor , “The Language Problem of the Non-Aligned Movement and Its Possible Solution” (Esperanto Documents, New Series, 26A, Rotterdam: Universal Esperanto Association), reprinted in Esperanto in the Modern World, op cit, note 3, pp 385–93; and Piron, “Understanding among Africans: Linguistic Isolation and Linguistic Communication,” op cit, note 3.

The details of how this might be done are set forth by Ralph Harry, former Permanent Representative of Australia at the UN, and Mandel Mark in “Language Equality” (Esperanto Documents, New Series, 21A, Rotterdam: Universal Esperanto Association), pp 25–26, reprinted in Esperanto in the Modern World, op cit, note 3, pp 236–63 with the relevant material on pp 260–61.

Sherwood Bruce , “The Educational Value of Esperanto Study” in Esperanto in the Modern World, op cit, note 3, pp 408–10.

Forster Peter G. , The Esperanto Movement (The Hague, Paris, and New York: Mouton Publishers 1982), Volume 32 of the series “Contributions to the Sociology of Language,” edited by Fishman Joshua A. , pp 188–210.

Ibid, pp 89–107, 212–58.

Ibid, p 97.

This situation parallels that of the report to UNESCO by the McBride Commission entitled Many Voices, One World (London: Kogan Page; New York: Unipub; and Paris: Unesco, 1980.) The report concerns communication problems in the world community, but nothing was said about the problem of different languages in international communication and Esperanto is not even mentioned.

Forster, op cit, note 9, pp 101, 105.

Mario Pei noted in his 1958 book One Language for the World (New York: Devin-Adair Company, 1958) that there were 13 languages spoken by at least 50 million people, pp 10–11. They are Chinese, English, Hindustani (includes Hindi and Urdu), Russian, Spanish, German, Japanese, Malay (includes Indonesian), French, Portuguese, Bengali, Italian, and Arabic. According to The World Almanac for 1986 (New York: Newspaper Enterprise Association), p 198, all those languages but Italian are now spoken by at least 100 million people.

Pei Mario , Wanted: A World Language (New York: Public Affairs Pamphlet No 434), p 2. It is noteworthy that in this pamphlet Pei openly advocates Esperanto. In his earlier works he had argued for the need for a single world language but had not explicitly recommended Esperanto.

See Pei, op cit, note 14, pp 206, 211, 215, 240–44, 246–51. See also his The Story of Language (Philadelphia and New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, revised edition, 1965), pp 437–40.

El Popola Cinio (Beijing: Chinese Esperanto League) March 1985, p 21.

El Popola Cinio, April 1985, p 30.

Pei, op cit, note 16, p 423.

Sekelj , “The Language Problem in the Non-Aligned Movement and Its Possible Solution,” p 7, p 39 in Esperanto in the Modern World, op cit, note 3.

Pei, op cit, note 14, pp 243–44; and Pei, op cit, note 16, pp 423, 440.

Pei, op cit, note 14, pp 244–46; and Pei, op cit, note 16, pp 24, 315.

Pei, op cit, note 16, pp 419, 436.

Pei, op cit, note 16, p 419. Perhaps Ido, a modified version of Esperanto, should also be included, though its supporters have now divided into various sects. For the history of the “Ido schism” see Forster, op cit, note 9, pp 110–41.

Pei, op cit, note 14, pp 171–72; and Pei, op cit, note 15, p 12.

Forster, op cit, note 9, pp 48–49, 57; Pei, op cit, note 14, p 154; and Pei, op cit, note 15, pp 12–15. According to The World Almanac for 1986, op cit, note 14, p 198, there are about one million Esperanto speakers in the world. Other estimates range from 100,000 to 10 million, Esperanto in the Modern World, op cit, note 3, p 449.

See The World Almanac for 1986, op cit, note 14, p 198. The Romance languages include Catalan, French, Italian, Portuguese, Provençal, Romanian, and Spanish.

Sekelj , “The Language Problem in the Non-Aligned Movement and Its Possible Solution,” op cit, note 6, p 6, or, Esperanto in the Modern World, op cit, note 3, p 390.

Sherwood Bruce , “Speech Synthesis Applied to Language Teaching,” Studies in Language Learning, Occasional Publication 3 (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Language Learning Laboratory, 1981), pp 175–81, reprinted in Esperanto in the Modern World, op cit, note 3, pp 431–47.

Armstrong Scott , “Scientists make gains in long road toward a computer that ‘listens,’” Christian Science Monitor, May 2, 1985, pp 29–30.

Witkam A.P.M. , “Machine Translation in Teletex Systems” in Social and Linguistic Aspects of Modern Communication (Rotterdam: Universal Esperanto Association, 1984), pp 51–59.

For specific examples of this point, see Pei, op cit, note 14, pp 172–73.

Pei, op cit, note 16, pp 13–15. Even when groups of linguists have suggested modifications in Esperanto, it is doubtful whether their proposals were any better than the original. See Forster, The Esperanto Movement, op cit, note 9, pp 110–44.

Pei, op cit, note 14, p 104.

Pei, op cit, note 16, p 7; and Pei, op cit, note 14, p 105.

Fallows James , “Language: Esperanto Lives,” The Atlantic, Vol 258, No 6, December 1986, pp 14–24; Israel Shenker, “Doing Away with All Babble from the Tower of Babel,” Smith-sonian, Vol 17, No 10, January 1987, pp 112–25; John Lee, “In Search of a Common Language,” US News and World Report, Vol 102, No 108, March 2, 1987, p 72; and J.D. Reed, “The Hope of Esperanto,” Time, Vol 130, No 5, August 3, 1987, p 72. The Time article represents a breakthrough of sorts for a popular magazine because the whole article was published in Esperanto as well as English.

Esperanto, September 1983, p 141.

Esperanto, September 1986, pp 141–59; and El Popola Cinio, op cit, note 17, November 1986, pp 2–51, especially p 2.

See the Time article cited in note 36 and “Modest Gains in Acceptance Mark Esperanto's 100th Birthday,” Christian Science Monitor, July 17, 1987, pp 19–20.

Oficiala Situacio de la Esperanto-instruado en la Mondo (Official Situation of Esperanto Instruction in the World) compiled by Germain Pirlot, Ostend, Belgium, June 1986, p 23.

The chief editor is Evaldo Pauli, Rua Conselheiro Mafra 176, BR-88000 Florianópolis-SC, Brazil.

The Esperanto-language version can be found in Esperanto, December 1985, p 203. The English-language version is available from UNESCO, 2 United Nations Plaza, Room 900, New York, NY 10017, USA.

Forster, op cit, note 9, p 58.

Those in the United States who would like more information about Esperanto can get it from the Esperanto League for North America, PO Box 1129, El Cerrito, CA 94530, USA. Outside the United States contact the Universal Esperanto Association, Nieuwe Binnenweg 176, 3015 BJ Rotterdam, Netherlands.