What Are Staff Perceptions Of Safeguarding Children And How The Essay

What Are Staff Perceptions Of Safeguarding Children And How The Implement Into Practise - Essay Example This essay stresses that the concerned staff members maintain their responsibility towards the children in effective manner. Additionally, analysis of the staff perception with respect to safeguarding of children signifies the fact that the practitioners are aware of their duties and responsibilities and practice. However, the presentation provided to the practitioners has proved to be more beneficial as it has further enhanced the quality of services provided to the concern child. The collected data also signifies that the children are most vulnerable to different situation of abuse in nursery setting. However, facilitating proper communication between staff, parents, teachers as well as children required to maintain proper environment of nursery and care. Moreover, the staff members interacts with the higher authorities in order to solve different issues with respect to child abuse is highly important. This paper makes a conclusion that the staff members are regarded to have provided with proper training with the aim of enhancing their ability and skills timely. Safeguarding of children not only requires development of proper environment, but also requires for proper identification of abuse faced by the children. In this regard, it can be recommend that providing facilities to develop competency skills can be beneficial for both the staff members as well as service providers to facilitate better care to children.

Ultimate Poverty Reduction Strategy Social Policy Essay

Ultimate Poverty Reduction Strategy Social Policy Essay A dynamic, growing global economy is the ultimate poverty reduction strategy (Colin Powell, July 2001). Discuss this assertion in the light of economic development in India and by reflecting on development theory and thinkers to inform analysis. The assertion of A dynamic, growing global economy is the ultimate poverty reduction strategy (Colin Powell, July 2001) has long been a controversial topic across the world. Truly, the economic growth is an essential implement to reducing poverty as Rodrik (2007) said Growth is the most powerful instrument for reducing poverty. The evidences, on the other hand, have been expressed the serious doubt that million of people are still living in poverty condition[1] which has intensively questioned whether the economic growth is really guaranteed poverty reduction for everyone. This essay carefully aims to focus on India economic growth and examines the development theory which has been applied as a tool behind its spectacular growth nowadays, called Liberalization. This is particularly concerned the period when India economic transformed from strict economic as Protectionism to Trade liberalization. Furthermore, it also attempts to focus on the impact of economic growth on poverty reduct ion in India in order to criticize the assertion above. At the last stage, I will focus on the meaning of poverty and argue in this essay on whether the economic growth data such as GDP, which is normally used to describe the economic growth situation, is actually be the right tool for the poverty reduction or not. India Economic Development First of all, the speed of economic growth in India at the present period has emerged as one of the fastest growing major economies along with China.[2] For a better understanding on India economic development, it is necessary to understand its background because based on historical of India in particular economy section, it has long evolution in itself. Focusing on long term period, India has undergone four steps of growth. During the colonial period, under the British rule, the overall record of economic performance was pretty dreadful. Per capita economic growth during the period 1870 to independence in 1947 was only 0.2% per year. Later, Nehru became the first prime minister; a strategy of democratic socialism was applied resulted in Protectionism which was highlighted on import substitution, business regulation, state intervention and central planning in 1947- 1970. In addition, there was a strong state control and licenses were strongly needed for everything as well as bank acc ount, money transfer and foreign investment all were required licenses. Obviously, there was a sluggish growth from both time under British Raj and Nehrus License Raj. However, there was a faster growth in 1970-1991 due to Green revolution which introduced new high-yield crop technology caused of income rising but economic growth was relatively slow in general (Sachs, 2005). It had become clear that that the states ambition of pushing the country into the front rank of the developing world had fallen far of its target, with seemingly few prospects of changing in the near future (Chibber, 2006, p.3). There are many critiques against India government due to powerless economic which was seemed to be the major obstacle of country development. Consequently, in the late 1980s, Rajiv Gandhi introduced market reform that encouraged the growth. Reform policy mainly emphasized on opening for international trade and investment, deregulation, tax reforms and privatization. The high growth remai ned with market liberalization since 1990s (Sachs, 2005). The 1990s have witnessed a turning significant change which was particular after the deregulation and liberalization programmes that launched during the mid 1980s and early 1990s (Arup, 2008, p.1057). Accordingly, India has become one of the worlds fastest growing economies with average growth rates of 9% over the past four years[3]. The impact of economic growth: Is it really reduce poverty? Having been mentioned above, it seems that this is a pleasant period for India in term of dramatic growth rate in comparison to others which is believed to be a powerful mean to reduce poverty. Theoretically, the economic growth appears to be ultimate poverty reduction strategy as the assertion above. Arup (2008, p.1067) also noted that the inter-relation between economic growth and poverty reduction is the growth process contributes to generate employment opportunities. The unemployment rate in India has reduced consistently from 9.5% in 2004 to 6.80% in 2009.[4] Beside, growth in high skill activities could increase the demand for goods and services which are involved to labour from poor household. Additionally, it can be noticed from the graph above that poverty in India has been declining continuously and significantly in term of percentage in urban, rural and overall aspect, from 1977 2007.[6] This economic data reports that the amount of people living below poverty has been reduced from 51.8% in 1997 to only 19.8% in 2007. India success at GDP growth rate and percentage of poverty declined are to be admired. This growth number, however, has to be watched in proper perspective (Kohli, 2006). Undoubtedly, the question has remained whether the poverty reduction counts only on the price or not. Thirlwall (cited in Vandana and Robert, 2002) noted that although people living standard is usually measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP)[7], the economic growth is not the same as economic development. Obviously, growth is an essential condition for nation economic and social development but it is not sufficient condition to identify poverty condition as the growth rate of nations cannot be taken alone as a well-being of societies because the quality standard of living is much more comprehensive concept than focusing only on income level. Disparity in India Basically, the Gini coefficient figures are used to measure of income or wealth distribution. A high Gini coefficient indicates more unequal income or wealth distribution, meanwhile a low Gini coefficient indicates more equal distribution.[8] Surprisingly, although the India economic growth rate such as GDP, income per capita or unemployment rate seemed to increase annually which is mentioned earlier, it can be noticed from the Gini coefficient graph above that after 1990s ,when was the period of Liberalization began, the continuing disparities both in rural and urban has been higher. This can be implies that the gap between people has been wider which means higher disparities as well as even the poverty line in urban shows the impressive decrease but the inequality in urban has also increased. Therefore, class system and economic disparities among India have to be strongly concerned. Which group received the benefit from the economic growth is still questionable. The important point that really needs to be noted is the ratio of inequality is most likely leads to the problem such as, shelter, water, sanitation, health, education, social security and livelihoods along with the special needs of vulnerable group like women, children and elderly people (UNDP, 2009, P.1). Growing in GDP probably tell nothing in reducing poverty if life still has not met the basic needs. Does economic growth fight poverty? In order to be able to know how to reduce poverty or what the exact strategy of eliminating poverty is, it is significantly important to understand the meaning of poverty itself. The World Bank gives an overview of poverty as follow; Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time. Poverty is losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water. Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom. (The World Bank, 2009) Clearly, poverty is not count only income or economic resource because poverty involved not only in economic aspect but also social and politic as well. Literacy and education level, fertility rate, life expectancy and health are the essential factor to be told the poverty condition. As Gaurav(2002, p.105) says, the need to combine human development with economic has been well recognized in discussions of policies for fighting poverty. India will require more than economic reform but human development should be included. By doing both of economic and human development can taken India along way from poverty finally. Therefore, Human Development Index, which consists of literacy, education level, life expectancy and per capita income, also should be used to measure the quantity of life. According to the UNDP report (2005) India has an average HDI of 0.63 (medium) and ranks 127 in the world, India high GDP growth contrasts with the poor human development which indicates a failure at the social front. The success in literacy, health and gender equality is far from impressive. Additionally, some thinkers believe that addressing on only economic growth probably is not enough factors to claim as it is a sufficient reason to reduce poverty according to poverty can be valued in various ways. According to UNDP since 1997, the per capita income does not make sense because the world should speak of human poverty instead of income poverty. Not only income, the UNDP also takes the following aspects including, Chance of self determination, Health and expectancy of life, Possibilities of obtaining an education, Political freedom, Human rights and Human dignity and self-respect into consideration (Friedel Hutz-Adams, 2006, p.20). Moreover, UN-Human Development Report (1990) argues the expansion of the economy as measured by GDP per capita does not necessary mean that people are in better living particularly, in regards to health, education and freedom. Goulet (1971) suggests that life sustenance[9], self-esteem[10] and freedom[11] should be regarded as an important basic component for the true meaning of development. Moreover, Sen (1999) also noticed closely related to Goulet that economic growth like GDP should not be evaluated alone for the reason which meaning of achievement is much more wider which should include economic and social development. Beside, poverty in his view is lacking of possibilities of self-realization which refers to income, provision of basic needs and possibilities to access to available resources are very crucial. To conclude, I have to argue Colin Powell statement. I personally believe that it is impossible to measure poverty reduction by focusing on economic development alone. Similarly to when talking about development, it is unfeasible to state on economic, politic or social development alone. Nevertheless, all these factors are essentially need to compromise together in order to achieve the actual development which lastly leads to poverty reduction in the meaning mentioned here which does not focused on being rich and poor only. Economic growth data such as GDP or income per capita do not really tell the truth of better standard of living. Since Poverty reduction meaning has more complex dimensions, other factors are strongly need to be counted. For example, in term of politic, people participation and decentralization are the key point of people freedom and ability to decide what they exactly want. The suitable programme or policies then will be issued properly for them to pursue their l ives better. Beside, social development regards various issues such as gender, equality, education, health and social disparity etc., these issues again require to be provided equally because this is the condition for better living. It can be seen from India that even economic growth rapidly but the social disparities also increase. Other evidences have been shown continuously that some social, politic and human composite indexes go contrast to the economic rate which resulted in nation development difficulties mainly is poverty. Lastly, as the poverty here is defined in term of sociology, politically and economically dimension, the word growth from now on should be talk in term of quality rather than quantity. References: ARUP MITRA, J. P. S. (2008) Growth and poverty in India: emerging dimensions of the tertiary sector. The service Industries 28, 1055-1076. CHANG, H.-J. (2002) Kicking Away the Ladder:The Real History of Free Trade, Anthem, London. CHIBBER, V. (2006) Locked in Place: State- Building and Late Industrialization in India, Oxfordshire, Princeton University Press. EASTERLY, W. (2006) The White Mans Burden: Why the wests efforts to aid the rest have done so much ill and so little good, Oxford, Oxford University Press. FIELDS, G. S. (1980) Poverty, Inequality, and Development, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. FRIEDEL HÃ ¼TZ-ADAMS, R. H., PEDRO MORAZÃ ¡N, ULRIKE LOHR; HARALD ROHR (2006) Does Economic Growth Reduce Poverty? Poverty Reduction and Social Equity in the Age of Globalization. Structural Violence in the Relationships between North and South, 7, 69. GAURAV DATT, M. R. (2002) Is Indias Economic Growth Leaving the Poor Behind? Journal of Economic Perspectives, 16, 89-108. GOULET, D. (1971) The Cruel Choice: A new Concept on the Theory of Development, New York, Atheneum. KOHLI, A. (2006) Politics of Economic Growth in India, 1980-2005, Part II: The 1990s and Beyond. Economic and Political Weekly, 1361-1370. KRUIJER, G. J. (1987) Development through Liberation: Third World Problems and Solutions, London, MACMILLAN EDUCATION LTD. MCKINLEY, T. (2001) Macroeconomic Policy, Growth and Poverty Reduction, London, PALGRAVE. MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN POVERTY ALLEVIATION, UNDP. (2009) INDIA: Urban Poverty Report 2009. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). RODRIK, D. (2007) One economics, many recipes: globalization, institutions, and economic growth Princeton, N.J. ; Oxford : Princeton University Press. SACHS, J. (2005) The End of Poverty; how we can make it happen in our lifetime, London, The Penguin Group. SCHIMTZ, H. (2007) The Rise of the East: What does it mean for Development Studies? 38, 92-106. SEN, A. (1999) Development as Freedom: Human Capability and Global Need, New York, Knopf. THIRLWALL, A. P. (2002) The Companion to Development Studies, London, Arnold, the Hodder Headline Group. TOYE, J. (1988) Political Economy and the Analysis of Indian Development. Modern Asian Studies, 22, 97-122. United Nations Development Programme(UNDP), Human Development Report (2005, 2009), New York, USA. Almost half the world over 3 billion people lives on less than $2.50 a day. There are 1.4 billions people in the developing world who are living in extreme poverty, of which about 600 million are in South Asia. For more information: The developing world is poorer than we thought, but no less successful in the fight against poverty (The World Bank Development Research Group, August 2008: http://www-wds.worldbank.org) The economy of India is the twelfth largest economy in the world by market exchange rates. Indias economy in recent years is growing 9.2% in 2007 and 9.6% in 2006 and has seen a decade of 7% growth. (http://www.economywatch.com/indianeconomy/indian-economy-overview.html) India country overview 2009; http://www.worldbank.org.in/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/INDIAEXTN For more detail, please see http://www.indexmundi.com/india/unemployment_rate.html. http://www.economywatch.com/indianeconomy/poverty-in-india.html The percentage was calculated from people living below poverty line $ 1.00 a day which was based on Indias PPP rate (World Bank.org) This is calculated by the total amount of goods and services produced per head of the population. For more details : http://www.poverty.org.uk/e14/index.shtml Life sustenance is concerned with the provision of basic needs such as housing, clothing, food and education (Goulet, 1971) Self-esteem focuses on the feeling of independence. One country cannot be fully developed where is exploited by others which in this case can be referred to colonization. (Goulet, 1971) Freedom regards to ability to determine own destiny.

Drinking Games :: essays research papers

Drinking Games Drug Dealer Quite a simple game actually, with a low-mid boot factor. This is a game to play while doing other things at a party. To play the game you need one playing card for each participant. You always need one King and one Ace, and a variety of numbered cards some low, some mid, some high, but just one card per player. The cards are dealt face down, take a quick peek. The person who gets the King is the cop, the person who gets the ace is the drug dealer, everyone else are bystanders. It is the drug dealers job to very VERY discreetly wink at another player, this person while enventually say 'the deal has been made.' At this time the cop identifies him/herself and tries to figure out who the dealer is. The cop chooses a player, if wrong the cop drinks the number shown on the card, and then chooses again, if wrong again, he drinks the number on that card. When the cop chooses correctly, the drug dealer drinks the NUMBER OF CARDS remaining NOT the total of the numbers on the cards. After that, the cards are redealt and the game goes on. This is a great game for when people don't feel like playing a game because it's the regular socializing that helps disguise any winks and keep the cop on his/her toes. However, it helps alot if the players do sit in a circle while playing, and not spread around a room. Obviously if you want to increase the boot factor, play with high numbered cards. Fuzzy Duck A good get-to-know-ya kind of game. Simple supplie: people and beer. Low buzz factor. Not too bad of a game after everybody's had a few. Begin the game by saying "fuzzy duck" to the person to your left. That person then says "fuzzy duck" to the person on his/her left. This continues until someone decides to change the direction of play by saying "does he" (duzzy). "Does he" changes the direction and the phrase that is said. Not only does the direction change but the people must say "ducky fuzz." Now the game is going to the right with "ducky fuzz." The direction is then changed back by saying "duzzy." The words to say go back to "fuzzy duck." Any screw-ups ===> drink. After awhile when the mistakes are more frequent, it turns into, "Does he F**ck?" or "F**k he does." Variation: the same player cannot say the same thing consequtively within the same round. ie: if player 1 starts with "Fuzzy Duck," and play comes back around to him, he must say "Does He"

Nursing ADN vs BSN Essay

If you would have asked me a year ago if there was a difference in the competency level between a nurse who has their associate degree and a nurse that has their baccalaureate degree I would have said, â€Å"No†. That answer would not have been an honest one, but rather an answer born from frustration. When I was in my first year of nursing school, our instructors informed us that all across the nation Magnet hospitals were pledging that they were only going to hire entry-level nurses who had their baccalaureate degree moving forward. That news was discouraging because I had just changed careers and was considered lucky to be in a two year associates degree program, especially since nursing schools everywhere were saturated with applicants. I did not expect to come out of school and have to jump right in to a BSN program to keep myself marketable. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing states that; â€Å"Quality patient care hinges on having a well-educated nursing workforce. (Rosseter, 2012, p. 1) Now as I look back at my three years of nursing experience, I must admit that a higher education in nursing would benefit not only my ability to find and keep a job, become a platform to continue my education but also it will benefit the way I approach planning for my patients care. I now feel that a higher education level brings with it the ability to not only understand how a patient came to be under my care, but also why. If a patient comes to my hospital with a wound to his leg and that same patient has diabetes, as a nurse with an ADN degree, I may be inclined to dress the wound as ordered and treat the diabetes as ordered without thought to why or how this happened. With a higher degree in nursing practice, I will not only have a better understanding of how to help the wound heal quickly and properly ccompanied with the proper tools, but I will also have a better understanding of the patients underlying diagnosis of diabetes and how I can help the patient understand what type of care will be given at the hospital in addition to accessed care out in society to ensure that this particular problem will not arise again. I, most likely will have a better understanding of outside resources that I can pass on to the patient before discharge so that he may better manage his overall health at home. I will hopefully be able to instill in this patient the need to educate himself on his disease so that the visits to the hospital are infrequent. The higher the education level, the more confident the nursing diagnoses are. In other words, as a nurse with a baccalaureate degree, I feel I will know how to articulate in a more productive way to ensure that the patient gets the best explanation of what interventions are being performed and why. With a higher education, I should feel more confident in my abilities to perform any and all tasks needed on a daily basis to help my patients. I am very fortunate to have nurses in my work place that value education and think along the same lines as Grand Canyon University when it stated in its Nursing Philosophy, â€Å"Students are educated to provide, direct and evaluate client-centered care while focusing on the person as an integrated whole. † (Grand Canyon University [GCU], 2011, 9). One huge advantage to becoming a highly educated nurse is that I will feel more comfortable when speaking to multidisciplinary teams about patient care. Most colleagues that we come in contact with during these meetings â€Å"are educated at the master’s degree of higher level. † (Rosseter, 2012, p. 2) Some examples are; case managers, social workers, speech pathologists and pharmacists to name a few. I am currently a charge nurse on the diabetic floor of my hospital and I work with these people every Tuesday to discuss patient flow. I can see the level of confidence they have in their roles having been educated at a higher level than myself and I cannot wait until I can feel that same level of confidence as my co-workers. In conclusion, those of us that are continuing our education should encourage other nurses to advance their careers and education level as well. We all can benefit from higher education and many studies have been done to prove this theory. It makes sense that if we are left in charge of a patient’s well-being, we should know, with confidence that we are doing our job to the best of our ability. One thing that is constant in nursing is change and the way to keep up with change is through continued education.

Linguistic Diversity in France

â€Å"La langue de la Republique est le francais. † Article 2 of the French Constitution, revised as recently as 1992, leaves no room for misinterpretation. France is not known as a multilingual nation, nor one with a well known multilingual history. However: The apparent linguistic unity of France hides a rather different reality of considerable linguistic diversity. (Laroussi and Marcellesi 1995, 85) The country’s monolingual facade hides a multitude of regional languages, whose speakers have faced chastisement and suppression for centuries.An enormous amount of conscious manipulation by the powers that have governed France through the ages has led to the complex linguistic situation that can be found in France today. This essay will present an overview of the historical events which have led to France’s present day linguistic situation paying particular attention to the country’s regional languages and their status. Breton and Basque will be the two reg ional languages focused on.French, the â€Å"sole† language of the French Republic, is certainly one of the country’s most powerful and influential assets. France has exported the French language all over the world, resulting in between seventy million and one hundred and ten million native speakers and twenty-nine countries using it as their official language today. However before founding this global platform, French had to establish itself within its own country, a process far more complicated than one might think.When the Romans began extending the frontiers of their empire to Gaul, an area which incorporates modern day France, Belgium, Germany as far as the Rhine and Switzerland from lake Geneva to lake Constance (see Lodge 1993, 39) they encountered a high level of linguistic variety. A mixture of Greek, pre-Indo-European and Celtic languages as well as many other languages that linguists have little knowledge of to this day could be found. As the Romans took con trol of this area from the second century BC, there followed a period of romanisation, and with this, presumably, latinisation.As put forward by Lodge: The rich archaeological record surviving from the Gallo-Roman period enables historians to trace the spread of Roman civilisation in Gaul in some detail (see Thevenot 1948). The process of latinisation undoubtedly followed the same paths as that of romanisation, but direct evidence related to the linguistic history of the period is scanty. [†¦ ] In all probability the latinisation of Gaul was very gradual [†¦ ] (Lodge 1993, 42) As Latin infiltrated Gaul, it most likely became influenced by the languages already present, resulting in a variety of non-standard Latins.The Gallo-Roman period lasted for about five centuries, until the Barbaric Germanic invaders: the Francs, the Visigoths and the Burgundians invaded and took over in the fifth century A. D. leaving behind them a linguistic legacy. The vulgar Latin already present mutated with the arrival of these new linguistic influences and France, at this point, was the proprietor of a large number of different dialects. These dialects became clearly split between the ninth and the thirteenth centuries forming the dialectical divisions of France: the langues d’oil in the North and the langues d’oc in the south.This split came about as the northern half, from around Lyon upwards, said oil for ‘yes’, whereas the southern half said oc. (Davidson 2011, 110) Today, the langues d’oil comprise French, Breton and Alsatian and the langues d’oc are made up of Occitan, Basque, Catalan and Franco-Provencal. The incredibly diverse linguistic platform present at this time still does not shed much light as to why French emerged as the single language of the French Republic. From this point, French emerges as an arguably â€Å"planned language†. see Judge 1993) During the Old French Period, between the tenth and thirteenth centuries, the dialect of l’Ile de France, the region which today incorporates Paris, grew in influence, particularly upon the languages of the North, but also on some South of the Loire. This dialect, Francien, replaced a number of dialects already in existence. During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, as the influence of Paris became more important, so too did its dialect. The invention of printing in the fifteenth century was a highly significant factor in the spread of Francien.It is in the sixteenth century that we truly begin to see the manipulation of language in France, which has resulted in the complex linguistic situation present today. Although Francien had spread and was an important language in the country, the vast majority of the inhabitants of France had no knowledge of it and spoke a variety of regional languages and dialects. Direct linguistic legislation was introduced in an effort to regulate the linguistic situation. Signed into law by Francois I on August tenth 1539, the Ordonnance de Villers-Cotterets stated that all judicial acts must be carried out in Francien, in French.Articles 110 and 111 state: `Et afin qu’il n’y ait cause de douter sur l’intelligence desdits arrests, nous voulons et ordonnons qu’ils soient faits et escrits si clairement, qu’il n’y ait ne puisse avoir aucune ambiguite ou incertitude, ne lieu a demander interpretation. Et pour ce que de telles choses sont souvent advenues sur l’intelligence des mots latins contenus esdits arrests, nous voulons d’ores en avant que tous arrests, ensemble toutes autres procedures,†¦ soient prononcez, enregistrez et delivrez aux parties en langaige maternel francois et non autrement. ’ (Wartburg 1946, 145)This legislation excluded not only Latin, but also all regional languages and dialects, and it is here that we see the first inklings of French gaining superiority over its minor neighbours. Through this l aw, as the language of public administration, French quickly gained importance and by the end of the sixteenth century had achieved a heightened linguistic status. Further language legislation came about in 1635 with the official founding of the Academie francaise, a body to encourage, standardize and manage French as a language in all aspects and to create a grammar and a French dictionary.Then Vaugelas (1585-1650) [who was at the forefront of much of the Academie’s early work] published his Remarques sur la lange francaise in 1647 which became a linguistic Bible, the very foundation of le bon usage. (Judge 1993, 11) French had now gained a huge amount of stature. It was the only language of the upper classes, royalty and the educated. Speakers of Breton, Basque, Alsatian, Catalan and all other forms of regional language and dialect were regarded as second class citizens, as they spoke the tongues of the masses. The derogatory term â€Å"patois† was used to describe t his â€Å"crude† form of language.In 1798, as the Ancien Regime was overthrown by the French Revolution, linguistic homogeny and standardization became important issues. How could a country proclaim complete unity without being able to communicate in a common language to all fellow Frenchmen? The executive of the first republic, Abbe Gregoire, sought to gain a better understanding of the linguistic situation, in a battle against the common patois, conducting a survey on the state of French in 1790 entitled â€Å"Sur la necessite et les moyens d’anteantir les patois et d’universaliser l’usage de la langue francoise. His results revealed that French was almost a foreign language in the majority of France. Though Gregoire was ignorant as to what they were speaking, describing Corsican as Italian and Alsatian and its surrounding dialects as German (see Luxardo 2000) he discovered that the vast majority of France’s inhabitants were not speaking French. Only just under an eighth of the entire population spoke the language fluently. The results of Gregoire’s survey led to the issue and ratification of a decree in 1794 declaring unilingualism in all areas of France.The measures were no more extreme than the goal: the complete eradication of the regional languages that undermined France’s unity: The monarchy had reasons to resemble the Tower of Babel; in democracy, leaving the citizens to ignore the national language, unable to control the power, is betraying the motherland†¦ For a free people, the tongue must be one and the same for everyone†¦ How much money have we not spent already for the translation of the laws of the first two national assemblies in the various dialects of France!As if it were our duty to maintain those barbaric jargons and those coarse lingos that can only serve fanatics and counter-revolutionaries now! [Bertrand Barere, a member of the National Convention who had presided over the tria l of Louis XVI] (Davidson 2011, 112) Military conscription, the improvement of communication networks and education became very important in the spread of the French language and the eradication of regional languages and dialects. Any soldiers conscripted into the army from all parts of France were forced to communicate in a common language: French.Communication networks were improved and this increased Paris’s, the centre from which standard French originated, influence over France. In 1832, primary education was established and by the end of the nineteenth century Jules Ferry, the Minister for Public Instruction, made it free and compulsory for all French citizens. The introduction of â€Å"progressive† education came simultaneously with the suppression of minority languages. No other language but French was allowed and French culture and pride was very much promoted within the classroom.These factors had a huge influence on the growing dominance of the French langua ge. Regional languages and dialects faced a bleak future. Brittany can boast one of the most unique and interesting cultures of France. However, Breton is one of the most diminished regional languages in France. It is most concentrated in Le Finistere, and is not, nor has ever been an official language of France. As with all minority communities, the increasing control of the state in all aspects of their everyday lives has subjected the Breton community to a rocess of linguistic and cultural assimilation into the mainstream of French society. (Davidson 2011, 88) Under the third, fourth and fifth French republics, Breton children caught speaking their native Breton in school, as opposed to French, were subjected to the humiliation of having to wear a symbol around their neck which displayed their offence. Others had to do extra homework or received corporal punishment for their transgressions. In Davidson’s book, a Breton looks back on his grandparents experiences at school: My grandparents speak Breton too, though not with me.As children, they used to have their fingers smacked if they happened to say a word in Breton. Back then, the French of the Republic, one and indivisible, was to be heard in all schools, and those who dared challenge this policy were humiliated by having to wear a clog around their necks or kneel down on a ruler under a sign that read: ‘It is forbidden to spit on the ground and speak Breton’. That’s the reason why some older folks won’t transmit the language to their children: it brings trouble upon yourself. Nicolas de la Casiniere, Ecoles Diwan, la bosse du Breton) (Davidson 2011, 113) Speaking one’s native Breton tongue had so many negative repercussions that it was far easier to submit to the imposition of the French language, which greatly reduced the number of Breton speakers. The Basque language faced similar repression to Breton. Basque culture is one of great pride in a unique society whi ch differs from the French and Spanish cultures surrounding its locale.Their most apparent distinction is their language: The most obvious difference between the Basques and their neighbours in France and Spain is their extraordinary language which the Basques themselves call euskera or euskara depending on which dialect they speak. (Hooper 1986, 231) The most incredible feature of the Basque language is that, apart from individual words absorbed from French and Spanish, it displays no similarities with its neighbouring languages, nor any trace of romantic, or even Indo-European roots. There is thus an understandable pride in this exceptional language.A language of antiquity, Basque certainly has important ancient roots. Many Basques believe that their language was once spoken all over Europe. Some even state the whole world once spoke Basque. According to Davidson: One theory even has Adam and Eve speaking Basque. (Davidson 2011, 122) The enormous sense of pride in this regional la nguage did not prevent its decline at the hands of the French government. As in in Brittany, children were forced not to speak their native tongue at school, but instead to communicate in the langue de la Republique. Failure to do so would result in punishment. †¦ ] it is schooling in French that has largely accelerated the process of debasquisation. (Laroussi and Marcellesi 1993, 88) The situation for regional languages was dire. However, the linguistic state of affairs with regard to these minorities improved slightly with the introduction of the â€Å"Loi Deixonne† in 1951 which allowed for the teaching of regional languages and dialects in the classroom. Though it was a step in the right direction, the law was criticised for being only tolerant, but not accommodating in the promotion of these languages.Article 3 of the law states: Every teacher who so requests will be authorised to devote each week, one hour of activities to the teaching of elementary notions of read ing and writing in the local idiom and to the study of selected texts from the corresponding literature. This teaching is optional for the pupils. (article 3, Deixonne Law, cited in Grau 1987: 161) (Oakes 2001, 181) This law allowed for Breton and Basque as well as all other native languages and dialects of France to be taught in schools. Extra teaching hours of the languages could also be allocated outside the curriculum.The introduction of these languages into education slowly made allowances for non state-funded immersion schools to be set up in both regions: Diwan schools in Brittany and Ikastolas in Iparralde, the Basque region. In Brittany today, bilingual road signage can be seen. Due to the more important co-official status of Basque within the Spanish Basque country, Basque television, radio and newspapers are available. Though there is now a more sympathetic attitude towards the regions of France which had their original languages or dialects suppressed, the situation toda y is by no means ideal.Breton, Basque and other regional languages do not have official status, nor are they ever used by the authorities. Even though article 75-1 that was added to the French constitution in 2008 states that regional languages are part of the patrimony of the state, their legal status is inappropriate given their historic relevance. France remains one of the few countries not to have ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. These languages still cower beneath the oppressive power of French and the apparent linguistic unity certainly does hide a little known linguistic diversity.In a country with the maxim of â€Å"Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite†, one is forced to wonder, as the language of the republic is French and French alone, where is this liberte and egalite in the suppression of the right to speak, learn and live one’s own language? Select Bibliography â€Å"Constitution de la Republique francaise† in Assemblee nati onal [http://www. assemblee-nationale. fr/connaissance/constitution. asp] (accessed 19th March 2012) Davidson J. P. 2011. Planet Word, London: Penguin Hagege C. 1996. Le francais, histoire d’un combat, Boulogne-Billancourt: Editions Michel HagegeHooper J. 1986. The New Spaniards, London: Penguin Judge A. 1993. â€Å"French: a planned language? † in Sanders C. (ed) 1993. French Today: Language in its Social Context, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Kinsella C. 2011. Senior Freshman Linguistics Class Notes, Dublin: Trinity College Dublin Laroussi F. , and Marcellesi J. B. 1993. â€Å"The other languages of France: towards a multilingual policy† in Sanders C. (ed) 1993. French Today: Language in its Social Context, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Lodge R. A. 1993.French: From Dialect to Standard, London and New York: Routledge Luxardo H. 2000. L'Abbe Gregoire  en guerre  contre les  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Patois†(1790-1794) [http://brezhoneg. gwalarn. org/is tor/gregoire. html] (accessed 19th March 2012) Oakes L. 2001, Language and national identity: comparing France and Sweden, Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins B. V. Rickard P. 1974. A History of the French Language, London: Hutchinson and Co Wartburg W. V. 1946. Evolution et structure de la langue francaise, Bale  : A. Francke S. A. Berne .