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SIL International is a worldwide Non-profit organization whose main purpose is to study, develop and document lesser-known Language s in order to expand Linguistic knowledge, promote Literacy and aid Minority Language development. SIL International has a close relationship with Wycliffe Bible Translators , an agency dedicated to translating the Bible into minority languages. SIL provides resources in language research through the Ethnologue , a database of the world's languages. SIL's philosophy is that "no language is insignificant". It has more than 6,000 members from over 50 countries. History SIL International, originally the ''Summer Institute of Linguistics '', started as a small summer training session in Arkansas in 1934 to train Missionaries of what later became Wycliffe Bible Translators in basic Linguistic , Anthropological and Translation principles. The founder was William Cameron Townsend ( 1896 - 1982 ), a former Disciples Of Christ missionary to Guatemala . From the 1950s to 1987, SIL training was hosted by the University Of Oklahoma in Norman . The agreement between the university and SIL was terminated in 1987 after a controversy about SIL being involved in missionary activities and its relationship with Latin American governments. One of the students at this first summer institute was Kenneth L. Pike ( 1912 – 2000 ), who was to become the foremost figure in the history of SIL. He served as SIL's President from 1942 – 1979 and then as President Emeritus until his death in 2000. He worked at the University Of Michigan for many years. Dr. Pike was nominated fifteen consecutive years ( 1982 - 1996 ) for the Nobel Peace Prize . SIL's current president is Carolyn P. Miller , who took the office in 1999 and participates in the linguistics program at Houghton College . Contributions The work of SIL has resulted in over 20,000 technical publications, all of which are listed in the SIL Bibliography.[http://www.ethnologue.com/bibliography.asp] Most of these are a reflection of linguistic fieldwork.[http://www.sil.org/linguistics/fieldwork.html] A particular focus of SIL is to help document the lesser-known languages of the world, including endangered languages. {Link without Title} SIL endeavours to share both the data and the results of analysis in order to contribute to the overall knowledge of language. Another focus of SIL is literacy work, particularly in indigenous languages. SIL assists local, regional, and national agencies that are developing formal and informal education in vernacular languages. These cooperative efforts enable new advances in the complex field of educational development in multilingual and multicultural societies. {Link without Title} SIL provides instructors and instructional materials for linguistics programs at several major institutions of higher learning around the world. In the USA these include Biola University , Moody Bible Institute , Houghton College , University Of North Dakota , Northwest Christian College , Bryan College , University Of Texas At Arlington , University Of Oregon , and Dallas Theological Seminary . Other universities with SIL programmes include Trinity Western University in Canada and Charles Darwin University in Australia . SIL also presents the fruits of some its research through the International Museum of Culture. {Link without Title} Located in Dallas, Texas , it was developed by linguists and anthropologists associated with SIL International for the purpose of celebrating peoples of diverse cultures in an effort to promote greater appreciation and understanding of cultural differences. International Recognition SIL holds formal consultative status with status in many countries. SIL's work has received appreciation and recognition in a number of international settings. In 1973, SIL was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding. This foundation honors outstanding individuals and organizations working in Asia who manifest greatness of spirit in service to the peoples of Asia. Other notable examples include a UNESCO award and the 1979 International Reading Association Literacy Award for literacy work in Papua New Guinea.[http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/SS/pas2_print.html Ethnologue and the SIL code See Also: Ethnologue The Ethnologue , the most comprehensive guide to the world's languages, is published by SIL. While widely respected and used by the academic community, it is nonetheless not 100% accurate, and has a tendency to 'split' into Language s what others might term Dialects , which attracts a siginificant level of criticism (e.g. Here ) from some linguists. It assigns three-letter codes to languages, which are widely used by other linguists. The 14th edition, published in 2000, included 7148 language codes which generally did not match the ISO 639-2 codes. (Some of the reasons for these differences are discussed in a paper on the "Mapping Between ISO 639 and the SIL Ethnologue: Principles Used and Lessons Learned" {Link without Title} .) The 15th edition, published in 2005, includes 7299 codes and these updated codes mostly match those in the new ISO 639-3 . The differences between the codes in the 14th and 15th editions are outlined in (and the entire list from the 15th edition can be downloaded from [http://www.ethnologue.com/codes/#downloading ). Controversy Missionary activities SIL has been accused of being involved in moving indigenous populations in South America from their native lands to make way for exploitation schemes of North American and European oil corporations. The most well-known example is the case of the Huaorani people in Ecuador , which resulted in many deaths and the moving of the people into reservations controlled by the missionaries. In 1975, thirty anthropologists signed the "The Denouncement of Pátzcuaro", alleging that SIL was a "tool of imperialism", linked to the CIA and "divisions within the communities that constitutes a hindrance to their organisation and the defence of their communal rights". In 1979, SIL was officially expelled from Mexico , but continued to be active in that country. (Clarke, p. 182) In 1980, SIL was officially expelled from Ecuador (Yashar 2005, p. 118), although a token presence remained. Remnants of SIL presence were protested in every subsequent Indian uprising. (Cleary/Steigenga 2004, p. 37) In the early 1990s, the newly formed organisation of indigenous people of Ecuador CONAIE once more demanded the expulsion of SIL from the country. (Yashar 2005, p. 146) At a conference of the Inter-American Indian Institute in Merida, Yucatan , in November 1980, delegates denounced the Summer Institute of Linguistics for using a scientific name to conceal its religious agenda and capitalist worldview that was alien to indigenous traditions. (Bonner 1999, p. 20) Victor Halterman of SIL has explained SIL methods to change traditional patterns of livelihood: :When we learn of the presence of an uncontacted group, we move into the area, build a strong shelter — say of logs — and cut paths radiating from it into the forest. We leave gifts along these paths — knives, axes, mirrors, the kind of things the Indians can't resist — and sometimes they leave gifts in exchange. After a while the relationship develops. Maybe they are mistrustful at first but in the end they stop running when we show, and we get together and make friends. :We have to break their dependency on us next. Naturally they want to go on receiving all these desirable things we've been giving them, and sometimes it comes as a surprise when we explain that from now on if they want to possess them they must work for money. We don't employ them but we usually fix them up with something to do on the local farms. They settle down at it when they realise there's no going back." That work at the "local farm" often times amounts to slavery was (indirectly) admitted by Halterman when he mentioned that "abuses" sometimes occur. (Pettifer/Bradley, p. 105) SIL was allegedly financed initially by Expatriate coffee processors in Guatemala, and later by the Rockefeller s, Standard Oil , the timber company Weyerhauser, and USAID . By the 1980s, [SIL was expelled from Brazil , Ecuador, Mexico , and Panama , and restricted in Colombia and Peru . (Cleary/Steigenga 2004, p. 36) Today, according to SIL's annual report, funds are donations from individuals, churches, and other organizations, channelled to SIL by the Wycliffe Bible Translators. {Link without Title} John Perkins provides an example of the criticism, he notes rumors of SIL perfidy, and cites the Ecudorian president's criticism, he wrote: : Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), an evangelical missionary group from the United States, [was accused of sinister collusion with the oil companies. I was familiar with SIL missionaries from my Peace Corps days. The organization had entered Ecuador under the pretext of studying, recording, and translating indigenous languages. :SIL had been working extensively with the Huaorani tribe in the Amazon basin area, during the early years of oil exploration, when a disturbing pattern emerged. Whenever Seismologist s reported to corporate headquarters that a certain region had characteristics indicating a high probability of oil beneath the surface, SIL went in and encouraged the indigenous people to move from that land, onto missionary reservations; there they would receive free food, shelter, clothes, medical treatment, and missionary-style education. The condition was that they had to deed their lands to the oil companies. :... Rumors abounded that SIL missionaries used an assortment of underhanded techniques to abandon their homes and move to the missions. A frequently repeated story was that they had donated food heavily laced with Laxative s — then offered medicines to cure the Diarrhea Epidemic . Throughout Huaorani territory, SIL airdropped false-bottomed food baskets containing tiny radio transmitters; receivers at highly sophisticated communications stations, manned by U.S. military personnel at the army base in Shell, tuned into these transmitters. Whenever a member of the tribe was bitten by a poisonous snake or became seriously ill, an SIL representative arrived with Antivenom or the proper medicines — often in oil company helicopters." (John Perkins, '' Confessions Of An Economic Hit Man '', p.142) :(The president of Ecuador, Jaime Roldós ,) openly accused the Summer Institute of Linguistics of colluding with the oil companies, and then, in an extremely bold — perhaps reckless — move, he ordered SIL out of the country. He died in a fiery helicopter crash on May 24, 1981. [… Osvaldo Hurtado took over as Ecuador’s president. He reinstated the Summer Institute of Linguistics and their oil company sponsors." (op. cit. p.156f.) SIL has responsed to the allegations by Perkins in this official response: :John Perkins in ''Confessions of an Economic Hit Man'' (...), makes a number of egregious errors in fact and presents false statements about SIL's activities in Ecuador in the 1950-60s. The comments are based on rumors that have never been substantiated and are contrary to documented eyewitness accounts. Throughout its 70 year history, SIL (Summer Institute of Linguistics) has been an active advocate and supporter of indigenous language communities in Latin America and around the world. :SIL entered Ecuador in 1953 in response to the expressed invitation of then President Galo Plaza to study, record and work on translation of materials into indigenous languages. SIL performed the work it was invited to do and maintained a full reporting relationship with Ecuador's Ministry of Education through 1982. At the urging and support of many indigenous communities, respected journalists, and civic leaders the government granted visas to certain SIL members to continue their activities until work was completed in 1992. SIL's linguistic research work was donated to local universities and is a matter of public record. Today a number of indigenous groups in eastern Ecuador enjoy their protected land as a result, in part, to SIL's advocacy before the government. :Perkins contends that SIL worked under the sponsorship and in support of oil companies in the Amazon. This is absolutely untrue. SIL has had no involvement with oil exploration and has never had any agreements with oil companies or any other parties to promote oil exploration. In fact, SIL members were known to have intervened to prevent violence between indigenous communities and oil company workers. Further, the accusation by Perkins that SIL has received support from the Rockefellers in Amazonia is also false. SIL has never received funding from the Rockefeller Foundation. {Link without Title} External links Links to the SIL website
Criticism of SIL activities
Other sites
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