Word Up

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts(NCCA) and Filipinas Institute of Translation (FIT)sponsor Sawikaan 2006: Pambansang Kumperensiya sa Salita ng Taon that looks at the development of Filipino as a national language and focuses on new
words or phrases that were popular in the local socio-cultural scene in the preceding year. Sawikaan will be held on August 3-4 (Thurs & Fri) at the College of Arts and Letters, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City.

The conference, with this year's theme "The Filipino National Language and Philippine Education," has two parts. The first one is a discussion on the development of Filipino language in contemporary Philippine education with invited resource speakers from the government and private sectors. Also, there will be lectures on the development of national languages in other countries with guest scholars from Spain and Indonesia talking on language policies and engineering in their respective countries. Filipino language planners and users are expected to learn much from the discussions.

The second part of Sawikaan is the search for the "Salita ng Taon." Scholars, linguists, students, teachers, and language enthusiasts are encouraged to
submit 2-5 paged papers that argue why particular words/phrases deserve to be called as "Salita ng Taon." Finalist entries will be presented in the conference. Entries must be new words, i.e. not found in the dictionary. Or if already a dictionary entry, it must have acquired a new meaning. Words contained in phrases can also be considered as entries. Participants and a panel of judges will choose the
word most deserving of the title.

By analyzing words or phrases that influenced the lives of Filipinos in the past year, we gain a deeper understanding of the national language. This can be an
indicator of how far have we gone in making it a truly nationalistic tool.

Deadline of submission of entries will be on July 15, 2006. For details, please contact Ms. Eilene Narvaez at 09209144723 or Mr. Romulo P. Baquiran, Jr. at
9244899. Or visit the website www.sawikaan.net or email to filipinas.translation@gmail.com.