THE ATTEMPT OF TEACHING THE LOCAL LANGUAGES TO THE ENGLISH OFFICIALS (1878-1908)
KIBRIS’TAKİ İNGİLİZ MEMURLARA YEREL DİLLERİ ÖĞRETME GİRİŞİMİ (1878-1908)

Author : Mehmet DEMİRYÜREK
Number of pages : 359-371

Abstract

Having occupied Cyrus in 1878, the British confronted a pivotal problem. Since Cyprus had two different peoples, Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot, there was two different language and culture. In addition to this, the language of the rulers was also different. As a result there were three languages in Cyprus. The problem was to contact with the local peoples, the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot. In other words, the British officials working in Cyprus had to understand the peoples living in Cyprus and communicate with them successfully. Firstly, the Cyprus official gazette published by the Government was printed in three languages. To contract with the local peoples, there were translators but it was not enough for a fruitful administration. Thus, it was understood that the stuff all, especially judges and commissioners, had to speak, write and read the local languages, the Greek and Turkish. As a result the British administration in Cyprus made a regulation concerning the local languages of Cyprus on 10 August 1884 and it was published in the Cyprus Gazette on 16 August 1884. According to it, the British stuff, such as judges, commissioners and ordinary officials had to learn the Turkish and Greek. The aim of this study is to describe and evaluate this attempt by the British rulers in Cyprus from 1878 to 1908. In addition to, it will be attempted to reveal the examination and evaluation methods, and results of this practice. Consequently this article will contribute both the history of the foreign language teaching and history of Cyprus.

Keywords

Foreign language teaching, British rule in Cyprus, The administration history of Cyprus, Foreign lan

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