2. Development of the Foundation

FEL Achieves Charitable Status

On 27 July 1998 the President received a letter from the Charity Commission for England and Wales informing him that:

FOUNDATION FOR ENDANGERED LANGUAGES Registered No. 1070616
has been entered in the Central Register of Charities.

This new status should be a major asset to our fund-raising activities. And if these activities are successful, it should also benefit us when it comes to paying (less) tax: Andrew Phillips, in his “Charitable Status – a Practical Handbook” (Directory of Social Change, 1994), states that Britain is now probably the most generous tax régime in the world as regards charities.

The only possible disadvantage that it might entail is a limit on our ability in the UK to agitate politically for changes in the law. In current circumstances this does not appear to be a problem.

We should especially thank especially Andrew Woodfield, our Secretary, for securing this recognition. He has been diligently following up this necessary path to our future for almost three years now.

We are classified as follows:

Beneficiaries Class 3-10-104 International culture, heritage
Functional class Class 50-3-200 Conservation / preservation activities
Topic class Class 5-80 Cultural heritage
Governing Document Constitution, adopted 4 July 1996.
Charitable Objects To support, enable and assist the documentation, protection and promotion of endangered languages.

FEL Conference - Edinburgh, 25-27 Sept. 1998: What Rôle for the Specialist?

This will take place at the Pollock Halls, Edinburgh University, as advertised in the previous issue of Ogmios. It is possible to register at the door, and there is still accommodation available for latecomers.

The Proceedings from the Conference are available for purchase by mail. See the relevant section of the order sheet at the back of Ogmios.

The programme is as follows:

Keynote Address
Donna B. Gerdts
The Linguist in Language Revitalization Programmes (Salishan, W. Canada)

Successful interactions
Bill Jancewicz
Developing Language Programs with the Naskapi of Quebec (Algonquin, E. Canada) Jon Reyhner, Gina Cantoni
What Educators Can Do to Aid Community Efforts at Indigenous Language Maintenance and Revitalization (USA)
Veronica Grondona
Endangered languages, their speakers and the language specialist: the case of Mocovi (Waikuruan, Argentina)

Understanding the Language from the Outside
Jens Eberhard Jahn
Istria: Between Regional Ethnic Awakening And Nationalism
Diego Quesada
Competing Interpretations of History: What if they are Wrong? (Chibchan, Costa Rica) Tapani Salminen
Minority Languages in a Society in Turmoil: the Northern Languages of the Russian Federation M. Lynn Landweer
Indicators of Ethnolinguistic Vitality: Case Study of Two Languages, Labu and Vanimo (Austronesian/ Sko, NiuGini)

Understanding the Language from the Inside
N. Louanna Furbee, Lori Stanley and Tony Arkeketa
Two Kinds of Expert in Language Renewal (Siouan)
Kim Hardie
Role of Specialists: Flemish in Belgium

OPEN FORUM: at least
Birger Winsler, Jarmo Lainio

Digitalization : to reverse language shift in Ireland, Scotland, Sweden and Wales. Iseabail Macleod

The state of Scots and Gaelic
Anda Hofstede
Jibbali, a Modern South Arabian language
Doreen Mackman
Yamaji Language Centre, Western Australia

The New Role of Information Technology
Bojan Petek
Slovenian Language in the Information Age
RC MacDougall
Effects and Defects of E-mail (Mohawk, US)

Taking Stock
Mari Rhydwen
Strategies for Doing the Impossible
Hilaire Valiquette
First Things First: on Language Preservation/Revitalization Efforts Akira Yamamoto

Language Community, Scientific Community and Mutually Supported Community

Contents.