Note from the President

FIPLV News

Applied Linguistics: a new frontier ...

Congress Calendar

Forum on Controversial Issues

News and Views

Books and Journals

2002 over, I put pen to paper on this first day of the new year of 2003. What does it have in store for us . . . and to what extent can we control our own agenda?

Basing my response on the accomplishments of 2002, I remain positive and optimistic.

While action on languages policies in some states may be slow or non-existent, this has been an important focus for UNESCO. In my recent "Note", I wrote of a languages policy for UNESCO. Since then, I have been informed that it is undergoing translation, presumably into the official languages of UNESCO. The additional presumption - subject to confirmation - is that the draft policy generated at the expert meeting in September has been adopted by UNESCO. Language policy was also the focus of the World Congress on Language Policies held in Barcelona in April. The proceedings have been placed on the Linguapax website (www.linguapax.org), as the UNESCO Centre de Catalunya farewells Professor Félix Marti as its Director. We congratulate him for his achievements, wish him well for the future and anticipate more as he remains the head of the Linguapax Institute in Barcelona. Whether through the leadership of UNESCO or through far-sighted change agents working within the UNESCO network, we would expect that the above initiatives will have an impact on UNESCO's 190 member states.

Regrettably, a counterpoint to the above would appear to be an "English Only" policy in individual states of the USA. In April, we were told by Dr. Zeynep Beykont at the World Congress on Language Policies that 23 states had such policies. I hear more recently that this number has increased since. I for one do not believe that the future lies in a protectionist, monolingual stance, but rather in a resourced policy of multilingualism and promotion.

At the other end of the continuum of language strength, viz., language endangerment, we are delighted to learn of the appointment of Professor Peter Austin to the Marit Rausing Chair in Field Linguistics and to be the Director of the Endangered Languages Academic Program at the University of London. Not a priority at all a decade ago, language endangerment and language death have surfaced prominently - thanks to the efforts of David Crystal, Claude Hagège, Tove Skuttnab-Kangas and many others - and have attracted considerable funding from the Lisbet Rausing Charitable Fund.

I can also share the news that there has been recent work in the area of the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights (UDLR), about which we have heard little over the last four years.

From policy to practice, from strength in linguistic pluralism to redressing language death, there is action. There is also evidence of action in a related area, a particular focus and concern for me : languages education. Following recognition of a looming crisis in education - on which FIPLV developed its discussion paper, "The Future of the Profession" - UNESCO has undertaken a study of the situation in many states. Published as "A Statistical Profile of the Teaching Profession", this 2002 report has investigated the challenges at the international level. Let's assist with the required action!

Notwithstanding the above, it is also time to reflect on the troubles confronting the globe and value the integrity of our cause which, we would hope, is a major medium in bringing about the peace which we believe is the best objective for the world.

Reflecting upon our successes of the past and the current reality, we must consider the best solutions to the challenges that confront us in the future. There is still much to be done . . .

Let's work together on our cause as there is little strength in isolationism! One way in which we can do this is to unite at the next FIPLV World Congress (FIPLV 2003) in Auckland Park (South Africa) on 2-5 July 2003.

Denis Cunningham
President, FIPLV, djc@netspace.net.au

FIPLV News

21st FIPLV Congress
2 - 5 July, RAU, South Africa
Accomodation and transport

ACCOMMODATION
Johannesburg is a vast city. Please do not try to arrange your own accommodation. The Congress organizers have already done it for you.

NB: No accommodation and transport can be booked by the Congress Secretariat without prior payment.

HOTELS
The Congress organizers have block booked accommodation for delegates in certain hotels. All the block booked hotels are good. On the Registration Form you only need to indicate the class of hotel you would prefer, the number of persons, whether you are going to share the room, the dates and the number of nights, as is specified in the list below. The Congress Secretariat will do the bookings for you after payment.

In the one star family hotel (basic, but neat and tidy) two or three people may share a room without extra cost (only extra for breakfast).

B&Bs / GUEST HOUSES
South Africa's B&B's are excellent. You will have a friendly host who will pay personal attention to you. B&Bs differ in size: they usually have between three and ten rooms available. The Congress Secretariat will also do bookings for you after payment.

ACCOMMODATION IN GAME LODGES
For information about accommodation in game lodges near Johannesburg, contact Nicolene Muerdoch nmu@edcur.rau.ac.za

TRANSPORT
South African towns have no metros, trams, etc. The Congress Secretariat has organized transport for delegates. On the Registration form you can book your transport as set out below:

Transport from and to Johannesburg International Airport
$20 (USD) / R200 (ZAR)
There will be a FIPLV desk in the international arrivals hall of the Johannesburg International Airport. If you have booked transport, please report at the FIPLV desk. You will be taken to your hotel or B&B.

Daily transport from hotel or B&B to RAU and back to hotel or B&B:
$10 (USD) / R100 (ZAR) per day.

RENT A CAR
If you prefer to, you may rent a car from one of the well known car rental firms. (Remember that South Africans drive on the left hand side of the road.) You may also contact Nicolene Murdoch nmu@edcur.rau.ac.za for advice.

TOURS
For information on tours in South Africa, see the Tour link on
http://general.rau.ac.za/fiplv

Applied Linguistics:
A new frontier for TESOLers

by Francisco Gomes de Matos

Given the increasing interest in PEACE within TESOL--cf. its Interest Group, TESOLers for Social Responsibility--and the human-improving role of applied linguists, this article is meant to be a plea for TESOL professionals to also engage in applications of Peace Linguistics. In such spirit, let's bring together TESOL, Applied Linguistics, and Peace so as to help develop an Applied Peace Linguistics as a new frontier for TESOLers.

The catalog of things that applied linguists can do is a long one, as shown by the list of topic sections in meetings of the International Association of Applied Linguistics-AILA (cf. the forthcoming 13th Congress of AILA, Singapore, December 16-21,2002) or by the increasing, diversified literature in that field. A significant example of the latter is Kaplan (2002), a Handbook in which 19 of its 43 contributors are active in TESOL. Given the tendency for applied linguistics to incorporate emerging language-related approaches, it is natural that in its vast, multifaceted territory, space be set aside for peace linguistics as well as for the outcome of its applicational probing: applied peace linguistics. In such spirit, a case is made for an APL and its potential relevance for teachers of English to speakers of other languages. To define peace linguistics, I quote from a pioneering entry on that emerging area by David Crystal (1999: 254 - 255): "An approach which emerged during the 1990s among many linguists and language teachers in which linguistic principles, methods, findings and applications were seen as a means of promoting peace and human rights at a global level. It emphasizes the value of linguistic diversity and multilingualism . . ."

If we share Crystal's characterization of peace linguistics as an approach for promoting peace and human rights through the use of linguistic principles, methods, and findings, what would be some of the principles underlying an applied peace linguistics for TESOL action? The following open-ended listing is aimed at drawing colleagues' attention to the need for a collectively drafted set of principles, so as to reflect universally shared ways of doing applied linguistics within TESOL contexts. For limitations of space, each principle will be stated without a corresponding interpretation. The sequence is organized from general to specific levels of abstraction.
(1) Language should have a deeply humanizing function. For a discussion of the influence of traits of language on language teaching, see Gomes de Matos (2001 a).
(2) Languages should be taught/learned and used for humanizing purposes, on the basis of such values as human rights, justice, and peace.
(3) Language users/learners should learn how to interact and to be interacted with in human-dignifying, peace-promoting ways.
(4) Teachers of English to speakers of other languages should be educated not only to be able to communicate about peace but to know how to communicate in peaceful ways, with a focus on communicative peace, as a deeper dimension of communicative competence.
(5) TESOL Education Programs should include a methodological component centered on how to prepare teachers to teach English for communicative peace.

The following checklist is suggestive of classroom applications. Colleagues are urged to expand upon and to refine it so as to best reflect the educational and sociocultural contexts in which they help students learn English. Some of the strategies worth trying out for teaching friendly uses of English are as follows:
1) Selecting and systematically teaching peace-promoting vocabulary. Included therein: positivizers, a term coined by this author to refer to adjectives and verbs which maximize positive features in a human being's characteristics and actions. To give a specific example of positivizers (Gomes de Matos, 2001 b) imagine a speech act (or a situation) in which you feel like praising someone's performance. You could say: S/he did a fine / great / superb / wonderful job on that project. Similarly, while witnessing two friends arguing over a current issue, you decide to exercise your right as a peace-oriented mediator and say to them: "both of you have the right to disagree, but how about seeing eye to eye on this matter, (or "how about compromising a little").

2) Providing ESL users with contextualized examples of unfriendly English, that is, of vocabulary to be avoided because of their potential offensive / insulting / dehumanizing effect. Random House Webster's College Dictionary (1997) features a section on "Avoiding insensitive and offensive language" ( pp.1507 - 1511). Lexical items to be avoided include terms that emphasize the disability rather than the person. Thus, instead of "AIDS victim" we would say "person with AIDS"; instead of saying "the handicapped, the disabled, cripple," we would say "persons with disabilities, person with a disability, etc."
3) Challenging learners to identify insensitive uses of English in the media (press / television / movies) and in fictional works and to replace such objectionable expressions with humanizingly rendered language.
4) Challenging students to document friendly uses of English heard in public communication situations, such as lectures and talks by local and/or invited speakers (to one's campus, high school, elementary school, community group, etc.).
5) Challenging students to exchange peace-enhancing-sustaining statements, proverbs, and quotations with learners both intraculturally and cross culturally.
6) Challenging students to create peace-promoting mini-glossaries for use in different professions, for instance, tourism and hotel management.
7) Challenging students to cultivate and sustain an awareness of their responsibility as peace patriots through their use of English and of their first language and other languages they are fluent in.
8) Sensitizing learners to the awareness of language using as not only for interacting but for expressing the feeling of loving one's linguistic neighbor.

In short, a plea is made for TESOLers to devote their creative energies and professional competence to both advocating and practicing an Applied Peace Linguistics to TESOL. Let's help enhance the humanizing force of language and avoid as best as we can non-humanizing uses of English. By doing so, we will be doing our share as humanizers, that is, as English language educators who are imbued with the ideals of human rights (linguistic/intercultural), communicative justice and peace and who apply such foundational values in our work. The integration of Peace Linguistics in ESL curricula/contents can become more meaningful if specific educational/cultural contexts are taken into account. Thus, ways of communicating peacefully in a given cultural context could be interpreted in terms of specific communities' expectations (what your listeners/readers could expect, in a peace-promoting or reconciling situation) and of the communicative options available to the language users. In short, becoming an intercultural agent for communicative peace calls for an awareness of local cultural contexts. Just as love begets love, so does communicating peacefully produce "loving one's linguistic neighbor," to expand the biblical teaching. May communicative peace be with you and with your students.

References

Crystal, D. (1999). The Penguin Dictionary of Language. Second edition. London: Penguin Books.
Gomes de Matos, F. (2001 a). Influence of features of language on language teaching. In: FIPLV World News, No. 52. October, pp. 20 -22.
Gomes de Matos, F. (2001 b). Teaching peace-promoting vocabulary. In: FIPLV World News, No. 53. December, pp. 10 -12
Kaplan, Robert B., (ed.) (2002). The Oxford Handbook of Applied Linguistics. Oxford University Press, pp. 374- 391 (Chapter by Peter Mühlhauser on Ecology of Languages)
The Random House Webster´s Colleage Dictionary. (1997). New York: Random House. Cf. Appendix on Avoiding insensitive and offensive language., pp. 1507 - 1511.

Editor's Note: Francisco Gomes de Matos is a professor at Federal University of Pernambuco and a member of the Associação Brasil América, Recife, Brazil. fcgm@hotlink.com.br . The article was prepared for the newsletter of the Applied Linguistics Interest Group - TESOL and has been reprinted with the author's permission.

Congress Calendar

2003

6-7 February             4th CER-FIPLV Conference. Venue: Charles University in Prague, Czech republik. Information: May Hawker: janamos@praha1.ff.cuni.cz

14-15 February                  Bremer Tagung Bilingualer Sachfachunterricht. Thema: Fremdsprachen- und Sachfachdidaktiken im Dialog. Veue: Universität Bremen. Information: http://www.bili-2003.de/

17-21 February                  TAMA. Theme: Multilingual Knowledge and Technology Transfer. Venue: Pretoria, RPA. Information: http://www.tama-sa.gov.za/

Forum on Controversial Issues

Language Teachers Associations Against Terrorism

FIPLV and our Member Associations have been involved in LINGUAPAX activities reports of which can be found in various issues of the FIPLV World News. We try to promote education for peace at all our gatherings. Any act of violence is met with grief and criticism from people we represent. The following letters have been written by the Presidents of NZALT and FIPLV after the attacks of terrorists in Bali and Moscow.

In the context of these and other recent horrifying events Francisco Gomes de Matos' plea for fundamental communicative rights deserves a careful consideration. Acts of terrorism are often expressions of helplessness by those who lost faith in possibility of solving their problems in any other way, who think they are not being treated fair and are unable to communicate their needs. Teaching people to communicate in a way which will not humiliate others but will show understanding of their problems may help in developing a more peaceful communities world-wide.
T.S.-P.

27 October 2002
Mr Denis Cunningham
President: FIPLV

Dear Denis

It is with complete horror and an ensuing immense sadness that we have watched recent tragic events play out on the world stage, and have realized that nowhere in the world are people immune to grief at losing their loved ones and to terrible suffering in the aftermath of terrible attacks while simply enjoying what life has to offer.

We offer our deepest sympathy to your Australian compatriots who so senselessly lost their loved ones recently in Bali and to those who have suffered intolerably as a result of being there. Our sympathy is only heightened by the fact that New Zealand also so needlessly lost young people, as did many other countries around the world.

The latest tragedy in the theatre in Moscow would also have affected you personally as well, as you have had many meetings with language teachers in Moscow on behalf of FIPLV, and some of your compatriots were also present for the theatre's performance. I hope that you receive only good news of them all in the next days.

Never has it seemed so important as it does now that people learn tolerance and understanding of other cultures and ideals. Mankind could have and should have learnt from history, but perhaps our only real hope is still the learning of other languages, the valuing and appreciation of other cultures and the steadfast belief in the intrinsic brotherhood of man. Your work with FIPLV is a treasure and to be valued.

With sorrowful yet positive thoughts for the future

Kind regards

Jan Robertson
President NZALT
8 November 2002

Dear Colleagues

I was moved and echo the following sentiments sent to me recently by Jan Robertson, President of the New Zealand Association of Language Teachers.

FIPLV deplores such acts of destruction and death, as our personal values and professional goals aim to achieve the very opposite of what has been destroyed: life, mutual understanding and inter-racial harmony.

In the face of such acts, we must always remember that this does not reflect the views of the majority of the people of any particular religion; the majority share our personal values and professional goals.

To those who have been touched personally, in particular, by loss of family, colleagues or friends, we extend our heartfelt sympathy.

Let's work together always to foster a better world for all!

Kind regards

Denis Cunningham
President Fédération Internationale des Professeurs de Langues Vivantes (FIPLV)

The Fundamental Communicative Right: A Plea

Francisco Gomes de Matos
Federal University of Pernambuco and Associação Brasil América, Recife, Brazil fcgm@hotlink.com.br

A plea nearly 20 years ago

The April 1984 issue of this Newsletter featured a plea of mine for a Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights. That brief text was highlighted by David Crystal in the Preface to his The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language (1st ed.:1987) through these words : "Gomes de Matos´ plea points to the widespread occurrence of linguistic prejudice and discrimination around the world,and to the problems people face when they wish to receive special help in language learning and use. All people the right to use their mother tongue, to learn a second language, to receive special treatment when suffering from a language handicap... but in many parts of the world, these rights are absent or inadequately provisioned. Only concentrated public attention on the issues will promote the recognition of such rights,..."(p.vii; also reprinted in the 2nd ed., 1997, p.vi).

Nearly 20 years have elapsed and the time is now ripe for another plea, of a more specific nature, focused on a dimension of human rights and peace which has been dealt jointly by UNESCO and FIPLV through their LINGUAPAX Project, established in 1987. In these times, sometimes referred to as of "turbulent peace", it behooves us, as language teachers, language teacher-educators/trainers, to consider and to implement the following appeal:

A plea for the fundamental communicative right, namely, the right which all language users (learners included therein) should have: to learn how to communicate peacefully for the good of humankind.

The above formulation can be said to be an in-depth integration of the following fundamental human rights : the right to live in peace , the right to learn, and the right to communicate.

From an educational standpoint, some of the relevant questions we could ask ourselves are :
- How can we help put into practice what Crystal has suggested, that is, how we can bring the fundamental communicative right (and corresponding responsibility) to universal public attention, especially to a serious commitment by all those in charge of language-in-education planning and policy ?
- How can the FIPLV system of national affiliates contribute to a movement in favor of teaching-and-learning languages for communicating for the good of humankind as I have expressed in some of my writings, more recently in a book published in Portuguese, Comunicar para o bem. (São Paulo: Editora Ave Maria, 2002)?
- How can the comprehensive right to learn to communicate peacefully, constructively, for human-dignifying purposes be integrated in Human Rights Education Programs ?
- How can the goal of learning to communicate well be broadened to learning to communicate for the well-being of persons, groups, communities, nations ?
- From a classroom learning perspective, how can the learning of vocabulary be planned so as to systematically include lessons centered on lexical items which can enhance peaceful communication? (For 11 types of such activities, see my article Teaching Vocabulary for Peace Education, in the July-August 2002 issue of ESL Magazine (www.eslmag.com). That text also features a Bibliography for Peace Linguistics.

In short, as peace patriots committed to both effective and affective language education, let´s do our share and help learners of languages communicate peacefully for the good of all humankind. If that is an ultimate communicative right, it could very well be our fundamental communicative responsibility.

News and Views

ALAA

ALAA is announcing their National Congress which will take place in Brisbane at Griffith University on 12-14 July 2003. The general theme of the Congress is Planning for a multilingual future.
Call for Papers

Proposals are now invited on any aspect of applied linguistics, but more especially those addressing the broad themes of the conference. Papers will be 30 minutes, including 10 minute question time. The submission should include the following information: name of all authors, affiliation, full address, phone and fax, e-mail address of all authors, paper title, a 250-word abstract The deadline for submissions, 15 March 2003.

Submit by e-mail to ALAA2003@mailbox.gu.edu.au or in hardcopy to
ALAA2003
Attn: Tony Liddicoat
School of Languages and Linguistics, Griffith University
Nathan QLD 4111, Australia

ALARPM 6th and PAR 10th World Congress
Pretoria, South Africa
21 - 24 September 2003

ALARPM and PAR are announcing their joint Congress which will take place in University of Pretoria, Groenkloof Campus, Pretoria in South Africa.
You are invited to submit proposals for contributions that address the congress theme "Learning partners in action" for presentations as papers,
workshops or posters. All proposals must be in English. In the true spirit of action learning, action research and process management, proposals for
presentations that reflect active participation of the audience will receive favourable consideration.

Guidelines for the submission as well as the enrolment form is attached for your convenience. You can also find it on the web site at
www.education.up.ac.za/alarpm/

For more information contact: Ronelle van Loggerenberg, CE at UP +27 (0) 12 20 5012, ronelle.ce@up.ac.za

ECML/Council of Europe

The European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe has the pleasure to inform you about the following:

1) Preparation of the 2nd medium-term programme of activities

Please find information on the aims and objectives of the years to come, participate in the discussion forum and find out how to submit a proposal
for the new programme 2004-2007 at
http://www.ecml.at/interactive/2MTP_forum.asp

2) Annual Calendar of activities 2003

From the 1 January 2003 you will find the annual calendar of activities 2003 at http://www.ecml.at/activities/calendar.asp. The calendar can now be downloaded in pdf format.

3) European Language Gazette

The Gazette is available through the following link:
http://www.ecml.at/news/gazette.asp?l=E

For more information contact: Elke RESCH Communication Assistant ECML/Council of Europe, T: +43 316 323554-18, F: +43 316 323554-4 http://www.ecml.at/

Goethe-Institut

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,

das ' Internet-Spiel 007' http://www.goethe.de/it/tri/007 wird von vielen Deutsch-lernenden in aller Welt gern gespielt.

Vielleicht haben Sie die Moeglichkeit, es bei einigen Schuelern oder Studenten bekannt zu machen.

Fuer Ihre Hilfe im Voraus herzlichen Dank!

Beste Gruesse

PV-Team, Goethe-Institut Inter Nationes
via Coroneo, 15
34133 Trieste
Tel. +39-040-635763, Fax +39-040-366309, e-mail: goethets@spin.it
http://www.goethe.de/it/tri

PLM 2003

1-3 May Poznan, Poland

The 34th Poznan Linguistic Meeting, organised by the School of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland will be held under the patronage of the Vice-Rector of the University Prof. Bronislaw Marciniak. The conference will focus on hot topics in contemporary linguistics. The already known points of the programme include:

Keynote speakers:
Prof., prof. Ronald A. Cole (University of Colorado at Boulder), John C. Well (University College, London), Peter Trudgill (University of Friburg), Barbara Seidlhofer (University of Vienna), Sharon Ash (University of Pennsylvania).

Panel: "Focus on Accents"

organised by Joanna Przedlacka (Warsaw University)
joanna.przedlacka@mercury.ci.uw.edu.pl
and Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kolaczyk (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan)
dkasia@ifa.amu.edu.pl

Workshop: "Rhythm as structure and process"
organised by Dafydd Gibbon (University in Bielefeld)
gibbon@spectrum.uni-bielefeld.de
and Grazyna Demenko (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan)
lin@ifa.amu.edu.pl

Workshop: "Government Phonology vs. Natural Phonology"
organised by Eugeniusz Cyran (Lublin Catholic University , cyran@kul.lublin.pl
and Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kolaczyk (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan)
dkasia@ifa.amu.edu.pl

Sessions
Planned sessions so far are: syntax (convened by Jacek Witkos, Poznan, wjacek@ifa.amu.edu.pl), socio-pragmatics (convened by Barbara Kryk-Kastovsky, Poznan/Vienna, dieter.kastovsky@univie.ac.at), historical linguistics (convened by Marcin Krygier, Poznan, kmarcin@ifa.amu.edu.pl) and second language acquisition (convened by Sylwia Scheuer, Poznan, scsylwia@ifa.amu.edu.pl).

Proposals
Proposals for papers, other sessions and workshops are invited. 500-word abstracts should be submitted by the end of January 2003, preferably by e-mail (plm@ifa.amu.edu.pl); alternatively, you may send us a diskette (Word for Windows.doc or rtf). The abstracts will be reviewed by an international advisory board. The authors will be notified of acceptance by the end of February, 2003.

Venue & Accommodation
The conference will be held at the new University campus in Poznan's northern suburb of Morasko. Conference participants will be accommodated at the Polonez Hotel at discount prices. Transportation between the hotel and the campus will be provided by the organisers.

Registration
For preliminary registration, please use our on-line registration form at
http://elex.amu.edu.pl/ifa/plm
Please register as soon as possible but no later than the end of January, 2003. The conference fee of 50 Euros covers conference materials, coffee/tea/biscuits during coffee breaks, transportation between the hotel and conference venue. Additionally: lunches for the three days: 25 Euros; conference banquet: 25 Euros.

For more information contact us by e-mail (plm@ifa.amu.edu.pl) See also our web page http://elex.amu.edu.pl/ifa/plm which will be updated on a regular basis.

The conventional mail address is: PLM 2003, School of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, Collegium Novum, Al. Niepodleglosci 4, 61-874 Poznan, Poland. Tel.: (+48 61) 829-35-06; Fax: (+48 61) 852-31-03.

UNESCO

Young Digital Creators Project

1. Introduction

The use of electronic tools in the field of arts is in line with the growing development of "Information and Communication of Technologies (ICT)". Musical and visual arts creation software for virtual reality, electro-acoustic music or 3D animation are already in daily use by artists, professionals and amateurs. The interactive and innovative features of their work respond to the creative needs of children and teenagers while introducing them to an interdisciplinary, artistic approach to knowledge.

2. Main Objectives

The "Young Digital Creators" project is part of the "Digi-Arts" sub-portal under the "Knowledge" Portal initiated by UNESCO's Director General Mr Koïchiro Matsuura. "Digi-Arts" takes the shape of an experimental portal site dedicated to digital arts, part of it catering to researchers, artists and professional people and another part, which is called "Young Digital Creators", to adolescents and their educators.

The expression, "digital arts", covers the arts using essentially digital media during the creation and production process. Faced by the sudden growth of this new kind of artistic expression, UNESCO intends to initiate a programme dedicated to the young generation, providing them with a number of novel tools to help them experience their own creativity.

Therefore, our project highlights the creative potential of artistic expression in various disciplines and fields of digital arts.

1. Promoting Creativity
One of the project's main aims is to enable young people to share the knowledge, skills and creations connecting to digital arts. Within the framework of "Young Digital Creators", a diversity of artistic activities will provide a rich source of material to feed the youngsters' imagination and creativity and promote a spirit of healthy emulation. They will also be introduced to a variety of cultural events in the interdisciplinary area of arts and new technologies.

The proposed artistic activities will be selected from among the most innovative programmes conceived by the world's educational, interdisciplinary institutions. These interactive programmes are to be gathered at global level and would be in the form of competitions, exhibitions or a presentation of projects, etc., on themes determined in advance in accordance with UNESCO's objectives.

2. Promoting Intercultural Communication and Diversity
The other main objective of "Young Digital Creators" is to focus on the creativity of adolescents with the purpose of promoting their creations crossing geo-cultural boundaries. Each student's cultural identity will be highlighted while assimilating with the "Young Digital Creators" programme. That is, international communication between young people worldwide will be promoted, enabling them to assert their national culture and favouring a dialogue with the most initiative tools of creation and expression. The approach, experiences and results could be shared, either directly between them or through UNESCO and its partners.

3. Development Plan and Outputs

Currently, the project is in its initial phase of creation. Its development will be in the following stages: the first step will be to identify the number of projects which will be available on-line on the "Digi-Arts" portal site; in the second phase a network of cultural and educational institutions catering to teenagers and youngsters interested in digital arts creation programmes will be established; finally, the first international software programmes will be disseminated by the end of September 2003. The software is expected to be user-friendly and present self-teaching programmes with guidelines and, most importantly, be free of charge on the portal in a simplified version.

4. Participants

The interdisciplinary approaches in the "Young Digital Creators" project allow all the art forms to have more fluid interactions with each other. This is why "Young Digital Creators" aims at fostering the participation of youngsters worldwide within or outside the school framework.

Through this new project, UNESCO wishes to make digital arts' knowledge and all the opportunities it offers accessible to secondary schools around the world. Existing school networks will be invited to participate such as UNESCO's Associated Schools Network (ASPnet), the UNESCO clubs network and the network of NGOs catering to the young.

In line with UNESCO's "Education for All" programme, this project will also aim at:
- improving the level and quality of learning ;
- expanding skills with effective programmes geared to future employment and productivity;
- giving equal opportunities for boys and girls;
- increasing access via these media and communication channels to affect social action in terms of behavioural change.

5. Wroldwide Network with Collaborative Partners

The integration of digital media across the art domain reveals the immense range of creative potential. It has generated the need to establish centres and schools essentially devoted to the field of digital arts and, throughout the last ten years, research centres have been set up in many universities to offer reliable know-how and access to computer tools. Generally, these centres and institutions are independent and set up contacts with schools and universities outside academic networks. This collaboration ensures all manner of interdisciplinary approaches and joint activities in the fields of research, teaching and creation.

Therefore, within the global scope of the "Young Digital Creators" project, UNESCO plans to create an international forum of collaboration and cooperation. Educational institutions will be linked to facilitate the possibility of practical collaboration in the various aspects of the portal with a wide range of networks leading to establishing interactive communication.

Additional technical support for the project and for students understanding will be provided by a group of interdisciplinary professionals consisting of UNESCO specialists and international experts working in the project's fields of competence.

6. Future Challenges for " Young Digital Creators"

"Young Digital Creators" will present endless possibilities for the digital arts future under the guidance of an expert team of leading professionals. New doors will be opened by encouraging young people to use electronic tools in order to communicate and create, paving their way to the development of novel and unique approaches in various fields and areas of knowledge linked to digital arts. Above all, cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue will be stimulated through shared experience and know-how while assimilating with the "Young Digital Creators" programme.

More information: 1.joubert@unesco.org

Books and Journals

Review

David Ingram, 2001. Language Centres : Their Roles, Language Policies and Language Functions and Management. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 241 pp. Price: US$ 82.00, EUR 81.68, AUD 170.00.

Successful language centres and language policies are regrettably few across the globe. While much has been written on language policies, their development, implementation and fate, David Ingram's Language Centres is the first significant text, I believe, which provides a perspective on and review of a range of language centres. This, then, presents itself as a review of a review.

As such, it is long overdue. And, predictably, we find permeating the text the leitmotif of intrinsic synergy of language policies and language centres.

Differentiating between language teaching centres and language centres, the latter are the focus of this text. They are defined as "units with a defined purpose related, differentially, to the development of applied linguistics, the improvement of language education, and the implementation of language policy in the institution, nation or region that they serve" (p 3).

Identifying the prevailing characteristics of successful language centres (p 4), the author provides a rationale for the choice of the five centres to be reviewed: (1) The National Foreign Language Center (NFLC), USA; (2) The Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research (CILT), UK; (3) The European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML), Austria; (4) The SEAMEO Regional Language Centre (RELC), Singapore; and (5) The Centre for Applied Linguistics and Languages (CALL), Australia.

Each is allocated a specific chapter, after the establishment of the parameters of the study in Chapter 1. Comparisons provide further insights in Chapter 7 before the bonus of creating a template for the creation of language centres in Chapter 8.

The NFLC, the brainchild of Richard Lambert, is highlighted for the major role in promoting language policy in the USA, its autonomy, impartiality and expertise and "lean and mean and flexible" staffing profile.

A key target for action is the perceived crisis in language teaching in the USA (pp 11-12) where the centre uses its expertise to coordinate and impact through research on teaching supply, quality teaching, materials development and methodology evaluation.

Fulfilling its function "to observe, critique and advise" (p 24), the NFLC identifies "leverage" as an effective means to bring about change. Through a think-tank approach which unites national and international expertise through fellowships and links, the NFLC conducts colloquia, undertakes research and projects, diffuses information electronically and in publications, unswerving and independent in "its commitment to the view of language as serving practical needs in the nation's interests" (p 36).

The evolution of CILT over the past 30 years, is provided against a backdrop of the languages scene in the UK. Government funded, CILT's initial and primary role was as a clearinghouse and information centre (p 40) for languages. While this has remained the case, CILT has diversified its scope and activities to include: conferences, training programs, publications, projects and an advisory role in the establishment of language colleges and the expanding use of technology in language teaching and learning. While not involved extensively in language policy development, it is well placed - within its regional centres in Scotland and Ireland and network of Comenius Centres - to advise and assist in the implementation of language policies which reflect the promotion and support of language teaching undertaken nationally by CILT.

A significant component of the chapter on the ECML is devoted to the policy and role of its parent body, the Council of Europe (and the Council for Cultural Coorporation). Established in 1995, the ECML in Graz is very new, but quite exceptional in its pan-European implementation of language policy, its provision of professional development to "multipliers" and others of the 24 participating and other countries.

Also a clearinghouse and dissemination centre, the ECML organises many workshops (and other activities), conducts research and publishes, while not assuming a proactive role of leverage, such as the NFLC. Meeting language teaching needs of Western Europe within an increased focus on Central and Eastern Europe, the ECML's pan-European role has always given it an international flavour.

The SEAMEO Regional Languages Centre (RELC) in Singapore, detailed in Chapter 5, stands out as a centre addressing the needs of a region, for which it is ideally situated geographically, culturally and linguistically. In existence for 30 years, RELC's primary focus as a "centre of excellence" is on teacher education, while also offering courses (collaboratively with other institutions), programs, conferences and seminars. While also fulfilling the role of a regional information clearinghouse, its online access to resources both within and beyond its walls single it out as an institution of relevance and respect within the Southeast Asian region and globally. Generating most of its funds, RELC enjoys greater autonomy and flexibility than some other centres in its quest for academic excellence.

The Centre for Applied Linguistics and Languages (CALL), located at Griffith University in Queensland (Australia) stands out among the centres reviewed as the only one which is fully self-funded. While this is a strength, the fact that it is housed within a university - it is answerable to it - imposes innumerable bureaucratic constraints and financial demands which appear unrealistic and unfair, and create significant management challenges.

As with the other centres discussed, CALL provides services in consultancy, research and teaching in applied linguistics. Where it diverges markedly from the other centres is in the courses it offers to full fee paying overseas students, in situ and off-shore, using a flexible delivery approach which encompasses distance education and online learning methodologies. With an expanding website role, international links continue to evolve fruitfully as CALL is a lighthouse institution showing the way for other centres and universities to establish themselves as self-funding, as the exigencies of economic rationalism and government policy demand. The evident downside of operations - which is readily soluble - is the lack of professional development, conference participation and research possibilities available to staff members, as the centre's profits are retained by the host university.

A comparative view of the five centres (Chapter 7) leads into what I believe to be the most important task of assessing issues related to establishing, developing and managing a language centre (Chapter 8). Herein lies the essence and synergy of centres and the motivation of others to create and successfully manage new language centres in response to increasing globalisation.

Key areas of consideration and coverage include: roles, functions and purposes; scope, governance and management; interaction and links; activities; advantages and constraints.

The profile and analysis of the five centres under discussion and the conclusions drawn for successful centres provides a rich springboard from which to establish more centres of similar ilk, a synergetic response to the demands of globalisation and, in this context, the maintenance and promotion of linguistic and cultural diversity.
Denis Cunningham
President - FIPLV

Publications received

European Year of Language 2001. Proceedings of 4th CER-FIPLV Conference. FIPLV-UAM-PTN, Teresa Siek-Piskozub (ed.). Poznan: Motivex, 2002
ETAI Forum. Newsletter of English Teachers' Association of Israel. Vol. XIV No. 1 Winter 2002
Les langues modernes. Bulletin de l'Association des professeurs de langues vivantes (a.p.l.v.), nu. 3, juillet -août, 2002.
Le polyglotte. Les langues modernes supplément. (a.p.l.v.), nu. 50, octobre, 2002.
LMS Lingua. Riksföreningen fór Lärarna i Moderna Språk. Nr 5, 2002.
Neusprachliche Mitteilungen aus Wissenschaft und Praxis, Herausgegeben vom Fachverband Moderne Fremdsprachen im Pädagogischen Zeitschriftenverlag (FMF), H. 4, 2002.
SAVTO Tydskrif vir Taalonderrig / SAALT Journal for Language Teaching. Vol. 36, December 2002.
TESOL Matters. Vol. 12 No.43, September, October, November 2002 & TESOL Publications.

From the Editor

In Note From The President, Denis Cunningham, celebrates multilingualism. FIPLV News provides information on accommodation and transport during our 21st FIPLV World Congress in South Africa. Professor Francisco Gomes de Matos from Brazil writes about a new frontier in Applied Linguistics. As usual our Congress Calendar has been updated. The Member Associations, as well as the institutions co-operating with us, discuss about their recent and future activities and projects (News and Views). In Forum on Controversial Issues, two presidents of teachers associations (Jan Robertson - NZALT and Denis Cunnigham - FIPLV) express their grief on the recent acts of terrorism, and Francisco Gomes de Matos makes a plea for fundamental communicative rights of language learners. A list of journals issued by and for language teachers, sent to the Editor's address, is published in Books and Journals: Publications Received. You can find there also a review of David Ingram's book Language Centres : Their Roles, Language Policies and Language Functions and Management.
Teresa Siek-Piskozub,
Editor of Publications-FIPLV

Notes for Contributors

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Let's meet at the 21st FIPLV World Congress !

21st FIPLV World Congress (with SAALT)

2-6 July 2003
RAU, Auckland Park, South Africa
http://general.rau.ac.za/fiplv

FIPLV WORLD NEWS
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