Stop the cuts in provision and staff
- by: SOAS LC teaching and support staff
- recipient: College and Language Centre Review team
The SOAS Language Centre (SOAS, University of London) is under grave threat from a restructuring proposal that looks set to result in both a drastic reduction in the number of language programmes currently available and in the number of staff involved in their development and maintenance. Language Centre staff are still reeling from the first phase of restructuring which saw 5 full time posts disappear, followed by resignation of the Head of the Language Centre, resulting in reduction of posts to 13.6FTE posts from 22FTE posts.
The current proposals will make a further 4.0FTE posts redundant, impacting negatively on staff morale and on workloads. It will also damage severely the ethos of the School by reducing the provision of courses (not to mention the number of languages) and undermining SOAS LC mission to provide academically sound, innovative courses to extramural students.
We, the undersigned, have no confidence in these proposals. Rather, we believe that they will do immense damage to the School and to language teaching in general.
We urge you to:
- abandon current restructuring proposals;
- pursue instead the alternative proposals being drawn up by the School staff and the University and College Union, which will save academic jobs, boost market research output and safeguard teaching standards at SOAS LC;
- pledge not to undertake future restructurings involving redundancies but instead work with staff in a collegial way to ensure that the School maintains its core academic values and that the careers of long-serving, loyal staff are not needlessly sacrificed.
In response to an appeal to support the SOAS Language Centre, Professor David Crystal has written the following statement (17th March 2012):
I was saddened to hear of the proposals at SOAS, given the significance people attach to language and languages. They seem to go against the international climate, which is one of increasing concern for linguistic diversity. The UN Resolution 61/185 of 16 May 2007 announcing the International Year of Languages was an important reaffirmation of the basic principles. Its operating principle 25 asked us all 'to develop, support and intensify activities aimed at fostering respect for and promotion and protection of all languages (in particular endangered languages), linguistic diversity and multilingualism.' UNESCO now includes languages as part of 'intangible heritage'.
Academic institutions the world over are the primary means of fostering this resolution, and SOAS has long been among the leaders in this respect. The task of language documentation and maintenance is a major challenge, as SOAS has recognized with its prestigious HRELP initiative. Half the world's languages are so seriously endangered that they are likely to die out during the present century. A language is disappearing somewhere in the world every two weeks on average. Half the world's population is not fully literate.
Languages are the mental equivalent of biological diversity. There are some 6000 languages on planet Earth, each one presenting a unique vision of the world, expressing the identity of its community, and providing a window into human history. Given the remarkable linguistic diversity of Africa and Asia, and the fresh perspectives introduced by genetic profiling, the possibilities for a fruitful research future are immense - but only, of course, if the pool of languages encountered in universities remains vitalized. I very much hope that SOAS will do everything in its power to maintain its strengths in this area, for many linguists look to SOAS as a model of how linguistic things should be done.
With good wishes
David
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