Mission & Vision
Vision statement
Is a world possible in which many languages, large and small, coexist in relative equality, and communication on a global scale is accessible to rich and poor alike?
The Esperantic Studies Foundation (ESF) is dedicated to exploring this question in theory and practice, taking its inspiration from the modest but real success of Esperanto as a language of international and intercultural communication.
Mission statement
The Esperantic Studies Foundation supports educational and research projects in interlingual communication, especially those which:
(a) study or apply Esperanto within a broader disciplinary or educational context;
(b) improve our understanding of language barriers and inequalities, and of ways to overcome them that are both effective and just.
While primarily focused on the North American scholarly community, ESF also works with researchers and educators in other parts of the world who share similar objectives.
An important part of this agenda is concerned with improving our understanding of the phenomenon of Esperanto itself. While the language has been in use for well over a century, it has been relatively little studied, particularly within the disciplinary traditions of North American scholarship. ESF supports research on all aspects of Esperanto, with a strong preference for studies that shed light on wider issues of interlingual communication; it also works to improve the quality and availability of basic research tools such as Esperanto document collections, databases, and bibliographies. At the same time, recognizing that interlingual communication has itself been neglected as a research topic, ESF supports work not directly related to Esperanto that holds the potential of developing new theoretical frameworks or directions for interlingual research, enriching the case study literature, or improving communication across language barriers.
A second part of ESF’s program consists in improving the teaching and learning of Esperanto, particularly in North America. Esperanto is rarely taught in formal settings or by teachers who have undergone adequate training. ESF supports projects that will increase the range, quality, and accessibility of Esperanto instructional materials, teaching methods and programs in North America and on the Internet. ESF also supports innovative educational projects that make use of Esperanto to achieve broader educational goals.
A third part of ESF’s program is to improve communication among researchers and educators with an interest in interlingual topics. Through its website and newsletter, Advisory Board, electronic discussion list, and occasional colloquia and conferences, ESF seeks to make existing research and publications more widely known, and to inspire new scholarly work, both individual and collaborative. ESF also works with the Center for Research and Documentation on World Language Problems to improve communication and collaboration at the international level.