Nora Olson Laura Quaynor Comparative Education 1 February 2009 Language in Nationalism In the seventh chapter of his study American Education in a Global Society, Gerald Gutek cites a nation-states language as the first main factor of building nationalism. Language’s importance in nationalism experiences its strongest influence on children, who are just beginning to hear and speak the language of their parents and place. Gutek explains that growing toddlers and kids convey and internalize a group’s values via language, which “[provides] a way to construct shared meanings and understanding” (Gutek 119). In countries like England and Japan, language definitely stands strong in uniting the people, for only one language is predominately spoken in each. Multi-language speaking countries, like India and more recently the United States (though English is very strong there) experience issues with centralizing their nation on one language. This problem becomes especially difficult in education. For example, what language should be used in schools if students speak varying native tongues? This problem of ‘miscommunication’ reminded me of a conversation I had with my aunt while visiting her in Switzerland this past summer. The country, located in central West Europe borders five countries, which speak different languages. Switzerland itself has four nationally recognized languages: German, French, Italian, and Romanish. My aunt lives in the Canton Zug, where the residents mostly speak German. With my aunt I traveled south closer to the Italian border; the inhabitants spoke mostly Italian and mountain languages. I also visited a few French-speaking towns closer to the Western border. Each day trip took no longer than four hours on the train, yet the language difference in each region made it seem as though I had traveled to a different country. I asked my aunt which languages the teachers and children used in school, and she responded that Swiss school officials were beginning to debate these issues. German and English (even though it is not an official language) are taught in the schools. To me, it seemed that the combination of varying languages improved Switzerland’s nationality, for the people are very proud of their rich and heavy culture. The Swiss flag did decorate most every store and restaurant, after all.
Nora Olson
ReplyDeleteLaura Quaynor
Comparative Education
1 February 2009
Language in Nationalism
In the seventh chapter of his study American Education in a Global Society, Gerald Gutek cites a nation-states language as the first main factor of building nationalism. Language’s importance in nationalism experiences its strongest influence on children, who are just beginning to hear and speak the language of their parents and place. Gutek explains that growing toddlers and kids convey and internalize a group’s values via language, which “[provides] a way to construct shared meanings and understanding” (Gutek 119). In countries like England and Japan, language definitely stands strong in uniting the people, for only one language is predominately spoken in each. Multi-language speaking countries, like India and more recently the United States (though English is very strong there) experience issues with centralizing their nation on one language. This problem becomes especially difficult in education. For example, what language should be used in schools if students speak varying native tongues?
This problem of ‘miscommunication’ reminded me of a conversation I had with my aunt while visiting her in Switzerland this past summer. The country, located in central West Europe borders five countries, which speak different languages. Switzerland itself has four nationally recognized languages: German, French, Italian, and Romanish. My aunt lives in the Canton Zug, where the residents mostly speak German. With my aunt I traveled south closer to the Italian border; the inhabitants spoke mostly Italian and mountain languages. I also visited a few French-speaking towns closer to the Western border. Each day trip took no longer than four hours on the train, yet the language difference in each region made it seem as though I had traveled to a different country. I asked my aunt which languages the teachers and children used in school, and she responded that Swiss school officials were beginning to debate these issues. German and English (even though it is not an official language) are taught in the schools. To me, it seemed that the combination of varying languages improved Switzerland’s nationality, for the people are very proud of their rich and heavy culture. The Swiss flag did decorate most every store and restaurant, after all.