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ESF Research Program
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.
ESF’s
Project Criteria
In general, projects funded by ESF are required to meet
the following criteria:
1. A clear timeline with a definite endpoint.
2. A tangible product, typically a printed or web-based publication.
3. As appropriate, a system of ongoing formative evaluation
that may involve a nominated specialist to serve as project
advisor, an advisory committee, or other means.
4. A research component that may take the form of a summative
evaluation.
ESF allocates funding to projects in accordance with its
strategic priorities and its estimation of the costs and
benefits of any particular project. Applicants are encouraged
to send ESF a preliminary brief description of their project
before proceeding to a detailed proposal. All project-related
correspondence with ESF should be sent to admin@esperantic.org
or to the office of the Executive Director: Esperantic Studies Foundation, c/o
Dr. Timothy Reagan, Faculty of Education & Professional Studies, Central Connecticut State University,
1615 Stanley Street, New Britain, Connecticut 06050, USA.
Click on any of the links in the left margin
for further information about our research programmes
and
activities or choose from the following:
Interlingual
Research | Interlingualism | Interlingual
Projects | Linguistic Ecology
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