The Esperantic Studies Foundation, abbreviated ESF is a non-profit organisation initiated in 1968 by
Jonathan Pool
Jonathan Pool, born 1942 in Chicago, is a political scientist from the United States. He works on the political and economic consequences of linguistic circumstances and language policy.
Pool studied political science in Harvard between 1960 and ...
, E. James Lieberman and
Humphrey Tonkin
Humphrey R. Tonkin (born 2 December 1939) is professor of English, and served as the 4th president of the University of Hartford. He is also a dedicated Esperantist.
Biography
Born in Truro, UK, Tonkin is a dual citizen of the U.K. and the ...
, with the aim to further the understanding and practice of
linguistic justice in a
multicultural
The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...
world, with a special focus on the study of interlinguistics and the role of
Esperanto
Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...
.
Under the banner "For linguistic justice in a multicultural world," ESF supports education and research programs that promote linguistic justice and equality. ESF aims to create environments in which languages are treated as equal and communication occurs in a non-discriminatory manner and to develop and support excellence in scholarship, education and
interlingual communication.
[Happy Birthday, ESF!](_blank)
/ref> Its priorities and values are shaped through engagement with the worldwide community of Esperanto speakers, as well as with researchers, educators and activists in many language-related fields. ESF's current president is Humphrey Tonkin
Humphrey R. Tonkin (born 2 December 1939) is professor of English, and served as the 4th president of the University of Hartford. He is also a dedicated Esperantist.
Biography
Born in Truro, UK, Tonkin is a dual citizen of the U.K. and the ...
.
The interlinguistic support fund
Together with the Center for Research and Documentation ( CED), Foundation to support Esperanto
Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...
and interlinguistics
Interlinguistics, as the science of planned languages, has existed for more than a century as a specific branch of linguistics for the study of various aspects of linguistic communication. Interlinguistics is a discipline formalized by Otto Jespers ...
, ESF (Esperantic Studies Foundation) invites proposals for research grants to assist scholars and graduate students in conducting and publishing research in such fields as language planning
In sociolinguistics, language planning (also known as language engineering) is a deliberate effort to influence the function, structure or acquisition of languages or language varieties within a speech community.Kaplan B., Robert, and Richard ...
, interlinguistics, transnational language policy, linguistic justice, and ' ''planned'' languages' (including Esperanto)
ESF has funded hundreds of different projects including the development of the educational websites ''lernu.net,'' a website to learn Esperanto and ''edukado.net'', a website for teachers and learners of Esperanto, ''Tekstaro.com'', a text corpus
In linguistics, a corpus (plural ''corpora'') or text corpus is a language resource consisting of a large and structured set of texts (nowadays usually electronically stored and processed). In corpus linguistics, they are used to do statistical a ...
of Esperanto, ''Summer Esperanto Workshop in Europe'' (SES), ''North American Summer Esperanto Institute'' (NASK) to promote the continued study of Esperanto in the United States. ESF continues to support the Esperanto edition of UNESCO Courier
''The UNESCO Courier'' is the main magazine published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It has the largest and widest-ranging readership of all the journals published by the United Nations and its sp ...
, the ''Conference on the Application of Esperanto in Science and Technology'' (KAEST),Adam Mickiewicz University
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
in Poznan, Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
and the Chair of Esperanto and Interlinguistics at the University of Amsterdam
The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...
.
ESF sponsors also a number of other events, including the ''Nitobe Symposia'', a conference series on world language problems that bring together activists, academics and politicians. as well as a series of symposia on language and development in New York aimed at raising the awareness of the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
about the importance of language equality for human development and human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
.
ESF also sponsored the creation of the documentary film The Universal Language
''The Universal Language'' is a short comedic play written by David Ives. The play is part of the collection of plays called ''All in the Timing.'' The show features two characters, Don and Dawn. Don is a con artist trying to swindle customers int ...
, produced the video course ''Esperanto-Pasporto al la Tuta Mondo'' (available on YouTube),
ESF also helped to establish official Esperanto examinations in accordance with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
Esperanto "Access To Language Education" Award
Esperantic Studies Foundation,[Esperanto Access to Language Education Award](_blank)
Calico.org, 25 July 2007. Lernu.net and CALICO (''Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium''),[CALICO is the most important American organisation in the field of computer assisted language learning (CALL).]
See also
Interlinguistics
Interlinguistics, as the science of planned languages, has existed for more than a century as a specific branch of linguistics for the study of various aspects of linguistic communication. Interlinguistics is a discipline formalized by Otto Jespers ...
Esperantology
Esperantology, or Esperanto studies, is a special Esperanto linguistics whose subjects are word construction, word assembly, word introduction and transcription of umbrella terms and proper names. Esperantology principles of word construction are ...
References
External links
*
Lernu!
CALICO
{{Authority control
Foundations based in Canada
Esperanto organizations
Esperanto in Canada
Esperanto
Interlinguistics
International auxiliary languages