A presentation on Language Cultivation at English Department
A presentation was given by Dr. Muhammad AbdulQadir on Monday November 25th at the Department of English for the teachers on Language Cultivation. Cultivation was the term coined in English by Garvin (1973) to translate Sprachkultur, to refer to establishing and modifying the norms of a literary or standard language.
“Cultivate” or “Cultivation” is often found in the expression “language development” and it signifies “to refine” or “to improve something by rolling out little improvements.”
It is not only a question of making changes in language but also of keeping it in good condition (taking care of language). “Language Cultivation” presumes a pre-existing clarification of which variety is to be cultivated, for which language users it is to be cultivated – or, as the case may be, who is going to cultivate it – in the same way that “cultivation of soil presumes a pre-existing clarification of, e.g. where the soil is located and to whom it belongs.