Málfríður - 15.03.1987, Side 23

Bréf til Málfríðar
Kæra Málfríður!
I. For all readers of Málfríður who
can read English
This heading probably seems
ironic, since it excludes practically
nobody. That is exactly my point.
If you, dear Málfríður, have had
any particular policy regarding the
publication of articles in foreign
languages I haven’t noticed it. It ap-
pears to me that English has en-
joyed some special privileges com-
pared to other languages, but I as-
sume that the reasons are only so-
ciological/economical/military, i.e.
that contributors who write more
readily in English than in Icelandic,
as I do, can simply take for granted
that practically all of Málfríður’s
readers have been forced into so
much exposure to English that it’s
no problem at all for them to read
it. In fact, most of them seem to
have voluntarily succumbed to this
exposure and added to it on their
own account, Iike the general run of
citizens.
Still, I feel this poses a necessary
question for your magazine to face.
I myself am ready to defer to any
iater decisions to the contrary, but
at the moment I see some justifica-
tion in your publishing articles in
the foreign languages of the various
groups of teachers who support
Málfríður, since as far I know it’s
the only means those teachers have
to publish writing directly to their
colleagues, and of course the maga-
zine is for these teachers, in their
various subject groups, to express
themselves to each other. On the
other hand I recognize the unfair-
ness of that, in a way,since what an
English teacher wrote in his lan-
guage could be communicated to
every other man and his dog who
get the magazine, whereas what, say
a teacher of Spanish, wrote in his
language could and probably would
be read by only a handful of people.
That seems an inescapable princi-
ple in Iceland, which undoubtedly
makes it less excusable instead of
more so. If any other teachers wish
to take up the glove in this debate, I
would be thrilled to see their
thoughts.
II. For English teachers in particu-
lar: Should we continue to empha-
size, the English-English diction-
ary?
My main mission is however at
the moment to discuss dictionary
teaching. Now as spring,the JJA va-
cation and book ordering time ap-
proach,I feel we English teachers
are going to have to reconsider the
matter of dictionary teaching. It’s
true that the new English-Icelandic
dictionary from Örn og Örlygur is
expensive, but a lot of students are
already acquiring it and a still
higher proportion will have done so
by the time the confirmation stu-
dents of the church today start
reaching secondary school. With-
out having investigated this consi-
deration thoroughly — and I’d be
happy to hear from anyone that has
— I could even expect this diction-
ary to remain for at least a few years
as up to date or even more so than
the English-English dictionaries we
currently make students buy, even
on top of this excellent dictionary if
they already own it. Really, if we
consider the general run of students
in all schools below the university,
would they get much extra good out
of an English-English dictionary if
we just put sufficient effort into ful-
Iy introducing the possibilities of
the English-Icelandic one? Or could
at least the schools with course sys-
tems (áfangaskólar) at least save in-
struction with English-English dic-
tionaries for, say, the second year
level, after trade apprentice stu-
dents have completed their work in
English and left a more exclusive
group who is more likely to need an
introduction to English-English
dictionary use?
It should be pointed out here that
the new Námskrá handa fram-
haldsskólum leaves this issue open
by saying only ,,nemendum verður
leiðbeint um notkun orðabóka“. Of
course this may only reflect the
committee’s diffículty in reaching
common decisions,which two com-
mittee members have informed me
of by phone, but I unfortunately
don’t know that their disagree-
ments, if any, may have been on
this particular point, and I certainly
haven’t seen them aired in public.
One other significant point is how-
ever that Karl Kristjánsson, the
man in the ministry who is respon-
sible for the committee and the new
catalogue, told me on the phone in
November that I was the only per-
son who had sent in any apprecia-
ble suggestions or criticism on the
committee’s drafts when he had ad-
vertised for it. That indicates to me
that a lot of people need to start
considering this matter of diction-
ary requirements, or at least bring-
ing their opinions out into public. (I
wish to add here that my sugges-
tions and criticism had to do with
entirely other factors than diction-
ary requirements.)
I’d be happy to start hearing
ideas on the dictionary question,
since I think the situation has
changed enough for arguments of
five years ago to no longer necessar-
ily hold. This question has already
come up among us secondary
school teachers of English in East
Iceland, and in fact I credit Einar
Þórarinsson in Verkmenntaskólinn
at Neskaupstaður for having called
it to my attention. It’s perhaps ex-
actly in schools like his, where a
number of students only need to
take one year in English, that the
question becomes a pressing one.
We in the East definitely plan to
contact teachers in other parts of
the country soon and hear their
opinions, if a strike doesn’t pre-
vent us from carrying out work of
that sort.
23