How to save the practice of the mother language when using the net
hytran
how to save the practice of the mother language when using the net
Art and Literary E-magazine, 476, 7/99
Note : Just for online reading
Pham Van Huong
INTRODUCTION
The computer revolution is changing the world. The technologies of
information not only help to bring closer men and nations, but
constitute a great tool for production, management and especially
education. They can contribute, even in short term, to improve the well
being of people.
A recent survey, published in The Economist shows that more than 89 %
of the volume of information on the Net are in English, 1.4 % in
German, 1.3 % in French, 1.1 % in Japanese.... The volume of
information in Vietnamese can be evaluated as less than 0.2 %. Finding
on the Net something written in his mother language is already
pleasant; but one cannot ignore the tremendous possibilities offered to
him on the Net by the information written in English.
Before searching a solution to save the practice of the mother language
on the Net and, by way of consequence, to save the practice of the
mother language itself, let us have a look on the evolution of the
information technologies in a small country.
EVOLUTION OF THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN A SMALL COUNTRY.
Countries of South and Southeast Asia are implied in a particular
manner in this worldwide computer revolution:
* Just as the other countries manufacture big computers, the Asian
countries produce small and microcomputers;
* In certain Asian countries, one counts an extraordinarily great
number of programmers. Is the drain of these brains towards high wage
countries damaging for their country of origin?
* Other countries are still touched very little by this revolution. But
they cannot neglect to take the evolution in march, for the risk to be
let behind? or worse: for the risk to be obliged to pay at the heavy
price for the future consumption? Is it preferable to make at once
efforts in the development of information technologies? And what is the
best strategy, in the affirmative, while holding into account the
economic conditions and human resources of the country?
* The internationalization of economy and culture is encouraged by the
computer tool. For peoples speaking different languages, the problem of
adoption of a language vehicle on the freeways of information is
crucial; or does exist an alternative solution?
CREATIONS AND INVENTIONS BORN FROM POVERTY
Countries of South and Southeast Asia are some poor countries. Women
and men born in these areas have very weak means for their education.
But when they are educated, they often have tendency to exploit in
maximum the few means of which they acquire, in the hope to progress
and to make better. This mind permits us to understand some aspects in
the development of information technologies in Asia and even in the
world.
Creation of microcomputer.
At the time where reigned big computers, it was while certainly
thinking about the small means of individuals and organisms that Truong
Trong Thi, a Vietnamese of origin, created his first microcomputer. The
world knew then the fantastic development of the PC for personal use.
Birth of programmers.
Among certain peoples that have few means, to equip themselves with a
microcomputer already represents a considerable effort. Then some
talented users try to exploit in maximum the capacities of their
equipment, while writing more and more softwares or programs, data
processing and analyses, first to solve their more and more arduous
problems and then to solve problems of others. This is the case of
India, Sri Lanka and a few other countries that count an impressive
density of programmers. We will see in the following, other favorable
grounds to the birth of programmers.
DEVELOPMENT THANKS TO EDUCATION.
It is often in countries of weak rate of illettrism that the computer
technological instruction can be easily developed. This is sometimes
assured by private initiatives, but often encouraged by governmental
authorities. Korea, Taiwan and Singapore make part of these wise
countries and it is not surprising to find in these countries a
stupendous development of information industries.
The computer technological instruction must not only make itself at the
level of universities, but also in high schools, colleges and primary
schools.
It is of course the spring of governments anxious of the well-being
that can bring the computer revolution.
DEVELOPMENT THANKS TO GOVERNMENTAL AUTHORITY WILL.
Technological Instruction.
Governments can and must act for the technological instruction because
the human resources constitute the indispensable raw material to all
industrial and economic development of a country.
The density of competent citizen promotes production and management in
a country. It attracts foreign investment. It is for example the case
of Bangalore in India and Singapore.
Foreign Business Implantation.
Incitative measures of several governments that consist in creating
some special offices to simplify bureaucratic formalities, to reduce or
suppress some taxes, to create some technological zones, encouraged the
implantation of numerous foreign businesses.
The local technicians don't make that to execute services or to
assemblage components. The advanced technology encounter induces new
creations. It is a simple and ineluctable process in the work of a
normally organized specialist, because in the data processing as in all
other technological domains, take place the four stages nearly
naturally:
* to observe,
* to copy,
* to improve and
* to invent.
It is certainly this process that droves CREATIVE in Singapore to the
production of audio and multimedia systems that flooded the worldwide
market.
In the same way, by dint to assemblage computers for others,
technicians of the country end up having ideas that induce the
production of their own computers. The success of ACER in Taiwan is an
eloquent proof of it.
I will even add that if he doesn't have the means to locally produce
his inventions, the inventor can always sell his patents.
Reserved Profits.
The governmental will can appear under the shape of obligation to
enterprises and industries to reserve (from 0.2 to 0.5 % for example)
of their profits to the formation and research in information
technologies.
Optional Orientations.
The Korean will to orient itself toward the production of living memory
chips carried fruit: SAMSUNG controls nowaday 13 % of the worldwide
market of DRAM, whereas 10 other % are in the hands of HYUNDAI and LGS.
In the same way, in the domain of liquid crystals displays, SAMSUNG
succeeds in selling to Japanese TOSHIBA up to a million of integrated
circuits LCD per month !
In this ambiance, it is not astonishing to see TRIGEM producing 120.000
SPARC stations every year, as well as multitude of microcomputers
produced by SAMSUNG, DAEWO, GOLDSTAR and ANAN.
Telecommunication Infrastructure.
Human resources and micro-electronic components are not the alone
necessary elements for the development of information systems. The
indispensable support is telecommunication infrastructure. For a small
country, to by pass the classic stages constitutes a good progress. To
adopt digital systems, optic transmissions, asynchrony transfer modes
permit to have quickly a network of quality at little cost.
With a good telecommunication infrastructure, telephone, mobile
telephony, vocal mail, fax, video transmissions are going to greatly
help the development of information systems.
Encouraged by the confinement of their relatively small geographical
area, Hongkong and Singapore possess an excellent network of
telecommunications. It certainly contributes to encourage their
information industries and to give back them auspicious. It is also the
case of Korea and Taiwan.
EXPORTING PROGRAMS AND SERVICES
The incontestable success of the Asian industries of microcomputers and
other hard-wares are reserved now a day to some countries that I have
just mentioned, without forgetting Japan.
But for many other countries, if their industrial means are limited,
one can remark the big capacity of several of their brains. This
manpower in gray matter changes into programmers. Their computer
programs serve naturally for production, management and education in
their own country.
In addition, their talent and especially the extremely low cost of
their work and their service attract a more and more numerous clientele
in the United States, Europe and countries of the Gulf.
Meridian lag between user countries and computer service countries
encourages works with continuous resolution in 24 hours on 24. America
can put her problems when she closes her offices in the evening and
recover the following day morning solutions worked out by Asians during
their daytime at the antipode.
But is it normal that this work is so badly gainful? Programmers of
small countries, unite you! You will better defend the fruit of your
work.
BRAINS DRAIN
The flagrant disparity of wages drags a brains drain from small
countries toward rich countries. One thus attends the exodus of many
Indian programmers towards the United States and countries of the Gulf.
In the interest of a country, the flight of its brains is not
desirable. It is even disastrous in long term. For correcting it,
several measures can be taken. I can mention three of them:
* To increase wages. This is not an easy measure to take, but
considering the impact for short and long terms of information
technologies on the economy of a nation and on the well being of the
population, the effort deserves to be undertaken.
* To improve the cultural ambiance, to make spring the people's pride,
to revive the national values, so that the individual likes to live in
his country.
* To create a technological environment in which men of the computer
art would like to be well while remaining in their country.
This last condition becomes less critical because of the
internationalization of information networks of freeways. Through
INTERNET, the programmer or user of a small country can often and
instantaneously have access to the documentation and the computer means
of rich countries people. It is an immense luck for his information,
for his education and for his contact with others in the world. The
access by the inforoads to powerful calculators also permits to improve
their means for research, production and management in a small country.
COUNTRY MERELY CONSUMERS
Some countries don't produce hard-wares nor soft-wares or programs, or
computer services. They are merely consumers or computerly
under-developed.
If countries like Australia, live in the comfort and permit themselves
to cash the deficit in import-export balance in computer matter; other
countries like Vietnam, cannot permit themselves the same.
Vietnam interests himself since 1965 to the data processing. A book on
"The Scientific Data Processing in Fortran Language" by Pham Van Thoai
and Bui Van Quan dates the entrance of the data processing in 1972 to
the University of Saigon. However conflicts of weapons and ideas didn't
create favorable conditions so that Vietnam can put himself on the
tuning fork with the neighboring nations since the beginning of the
computer revolution. Is it still time? The answer is definitely
positive.
In the context of all small countries as for Vietnam , currently
consumers in data processing, options impose themselves:
* Not to consider during a certain time as priority the production of
fast memories and other computers components
* To encourage the instruction on information technologies;
* To develop telecommunications networks;
* To assemblage and to bring up computers with foreign components.
* To incite the foreign computer business implantation;
* To encourage programmers;
* To develop computer services. The other stages will come all alone
later on.
INFOROADS AND LANGUAGES.
Alphabetic Writing and Programming.
One can first of all notice in Asian countries producers of hard data
processing materials, the almost-absence of soft-ware products. In
other words, in these countries, people don't have practice of
alphabetic writing. A question can put itself therefore: is the
alphabetic writing a favorable motor for the progress of computer
programming at people who practice it?
The success of programmers of India and Sri Lanka where the official
language is English would be an indication of it. In this order of
idea, countries as Pakistan and Philippines would be the potential
layers of programmers. In other countries as Indonesia and Vietnam,
their alphabetic writing let augur hopes. Let's recall that the
Vietnamese writing is latinizied since 1645 by Amaral and Barbosa.
What Language-Vehicle for the Info-roads?
On the freeways of information, several language-vehicles circulate,
but one especially meets the English. What is therefore the future of
other languages? And what is the position of users or partners of a
small country and how to save the practice of the mother language?
INFO-ROADS AND MOTHER LANGUAGES.
The British empire dismantled itself but Britains leave their colonies
still in the feast. Even though they let behind them immense problems
and conflicts between the locals, they let still the English language
that continues to be practiced after their departure. It is what
happens in Canada, India, Pakistan, Hongkong etc...
In South and Southeast Asia, one meets people that either speak or
understand the English but they have their own mother language. It is
the language of culture and of everyday uses.
Several actions are possible to give to these people taste to learn and
to practice their mother language on the Net.
Solutions for the immediate:
* To introduce on info-roads, most possible of information and
documents in the mother language;
* To open means of count free through networks of info-roads;
* To offer soft-wares in the mother language with reduction of price to
the extreme, what often remains even inaccessible for many;
*To offer disks or CD ROMS on teaching and culture.
Solutions for the short term :
The aforementioned actions are not sufficient to reinforce the mother
language, being given the considerable and dominant mass of accessible
documents and information in English on the freeways of information.
In the present state of realities, the best solution for the short term
consists in working out a powerful translator software English-Mother
language (that still doesn't exist in English-Vietnamese ), permitting
when encapsulated, to instantaneously translate all consulted English
documents and to put it free for everybody. I do really hope that
good-will people and competent specialists will do it for the happiness
of many.
Solutions for the long term:
The difficulty bound to translation could greatly attenuated thanks to
the use of icons or pictures in data processing, since pictures are a
universal language.
The combination of translater soft-ware, icons and voice processing
would constitute a means to undoubtedly help to save the practice of
the mother language at the crossing of information freeways of tomorrow.
Pham Van Huong
University of Bordeaux 1. 351 Cours Liberation,
33405 Bordeaux-Talence, France,
Fax: 33 556 848402. E-mail: hu...@morgane.lsmc.u-bordeaux.fr
hyt...@my-deja.com
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