Immersion education outcomes and the Gaelic community: identities and language ideologies among Gaelic medium-educated adults in Scotland

Dunmore, Stuart

doi:10.1080/01434632.2016.1249875

Cited by 20 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…To appreciate the social reality of essentialist perspectives in various communities' conception of language and identity does not necessarily mean assuming such a perspective in one's own theoretical approach (Bucholtz & Hall 2004). Indeed, Dorian Scotland (see Dunmore 2017Dunmore , 2018bDunmore , 2019.…”

Section: Discussion: Gaels and Gaelic In 21st Century Scotland And Nomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Participants' ages ranged from 18 to 82. As discussed elsewhere (Dunmore 2017(Dunmore , 2019, Scottish new speakers' identifications with the Gaelic language varied widely, but were never described in terms analogous to the 'Xians-with-Xish' ideal emphasised in Fishman's (1991Fishman's ( , 2001b at the most minute level of analysis, the speech act (Hymes 1974:52). By focusing on these three levels of analysis, Hymes emphasised that language ought not to be separated from how and why it is used in practice.…”

Section: Analytic Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Emic and essentialist perspectives on Gaelic heritage: New speakers, language policy, and cultural identity in Nova Scotia and Scotland

Dunmore

2020

Lang. Soc.

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The concept of the ‘new speaker’ has gained currency in the sociolinguistics of minority languages in the past decade, referring to individuals who have acquired an additional language outside of the home and who make frequent use of it in the course of their daily lives. Policymakers and language advocates in both Scotland and Canada make frequent reference to the role that new speakers may play in the future of the Gaelic language on both sides of the Atlantic, and Gaelic language teaching of various kinds has been prioritised by policymakers as a mechanism for revitalising the language. This article examines reflexes of this policy in the two countries, juxtaposing the ongoing fragility of Gaelic communities with new speaker discourses around heritage, identity, and language learning motivations. In particular, I consider Nova Scotian new speakers’ sense of identity as ‘Gaels’, an ethnonym largely avoided or problematised by Scottish new speakers. (Ethnolinguistic identity, heritage, language revitalisation, new speakers)*

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Section: Discussion: Gaels and Gaelic In 21st Century Scotland And Nomentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Analytic Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emic and essentialist perspectives on Gaelic heritage: New speakers, language policy, and cultural identity in Nova Scotia and Scotland

Dunmore

2020

Lang. Soc.

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“…"New speakers" (Hornsby 2015; Jaffe 2015) are children or adults who acquire "a socially and communicatively consequential level of competence and practice" (Jaffe 2015, p. 25). In addition, numerous studies have traced partially precarious identity constructions as a specific feature of this group (Dunmore 2016;Puigdevall et al 2018), which can be summarized as "deviant identities". This positioning is, in turn, the result of specific communicative experiences, such as the non-acceptance of their use of language by so-called native speakers (Hornsby 2015), numerous corrections (Arendt 2012) and an ambivalent relationship to belonging, authorities and authenticities (O'Rourke 2015; Bermingham and Higham 2018; Fhlannchadha and Hickey 2018).…”

Section: Theoretical Foundation Of Language Attitudes Small Languagementioning

confidence: 99%

“…] Objects of knowledge acquisition are thus procedural knowledge of use as well as declarative knowledge of the language. Together with the above-mentioned atmosphere of social closeness, the shelter, the cooperative group structure oriented towards egalitarian peers; the independent development of learning objects and acquisition practiced through immersive use, the network exhibits central characteristics of functional learning space, as current language didactic studies on the teaching of languages and minorities show (Sato and Ballinger 2016;Deweale et al 2017;Dunmore 2016;Wind Eskildsen and Majlesi 2018). Tolerant attitudes towards language use as well as the evaluatively positive appreciation of Low German form an important basis for this.…”

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confidence: 97%

A Long-Lasting CofP of New and Native Speakers—Practices, Identities of Belonging and Motives for Participation

Arendt

2021

Languages

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Within sociolinguistic research on small languages like Low German, differentiation into new and native speakers has become established. The relationship between the two different groups of speakers is sometimes conceptualized as an insurmountable “gap”. In addition to different acquisition paths and competencies, identity discourses of belonging, authority and authenticity, as well as typical practices, are all crucial elements of these differences. Despite these differences, the intergenerational language-centered analog community of practice (CofP) “Plattdüütschkring” consisting of approximately 10 new and native speakers of the regional language Low German has existed since 2005. This article is based on an explorative case-study analyzing the network “Plattdüütschkring” as an example of successful cooperation between new speakers and native speakers on the basis of typical attitudes and linguistic practices. In order to gain authentic, subjectively experienced insights into identities, normative conceptions and individual language experiences within and outside the network, meta-linguistic reflections of the members themselves were analyzed. These meta-linguistic reflections were collected through narrative interviews with the same and different members at the two survey dates 2010/11 and 2020. The findings show norms of monolingual language use, narrative identities of a normative hierarchy of acquisition scenarios and competences as aspects of belonging. Social and learning-oriented and thus multiple individually appropriate functions of the network can explain the motivation for long-term membership. These outcomes help to understand the role of language attitudes in CofP in the language development of small languages as well as abstract characteristics of successful language-centered networks.

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“…O' Hanlon 2015 for a history of Gaelic education). Dunmore (2017) notes that the Scottish Government and Bòrd na Gàidhlig (the national public body responsible for the promotion of the language) both align growth in GME with attempts to halt the decline in numbers of Gaelic speakers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Young Speakers: A Pilot Study of Gaelic Bilinguals’ Language Practices

MacLeod

Macleod

2018

Studia Celtica Posnaniensia

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Studies of primary school pupils’ Gaelic to date have largely relied on criterion referenced tests to measure attainment against curricular expectations: with only NicLeòid’s (2015) work on student attitudes and Nance’s research (e.g. 2013 and 2015) on comparative phonology bucking this trend. There is a surprising lack of information or research about the language forms and bilingual repertoire of young speakers. A better understanding of young people’s language practices requires the Gaelic research community to develop datasets from spontaneous interactions. This paper draws on a pilot study with a primary 5-6 school cohort in Gaelic-medium education. Using a combination of audio and audio-visual data from the classroom together with data on young speakers’ language attitudes, this paper examines pupils’ determination and strategies to maintain the classroom language as Gaelic. The results of this pilot study can inform the development of new methodologies for collaborative research with the school community on children’s linguistic development and attainment. Such research, it is argued, is necessary in light of the dependency of the Gaelic language planning model on the primary school for the production of new Gaelic speakers.

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Immersion education outcomes and the Gaelic community: identities and language ideologies among Gaelic medium-educated adults in Scotland

Abstract: There may be differences between this version and the published version. You are advised to consult the publisher's version if you wish to cite from it.

Cited by 20 publications

References 33 publications

Emic and essentialist perspectives on Gaelic heritage: New speakers, language policy, and cultural identity in Nova Scotia and Scotland

Emic and essentialist perspectives on Gaelic heritage: New speakers, language policy, and cultural identity in Nova Scotia and Scotland

A Long-Lasting CofP of New and Native Speakers—Practices, Identities of Belonging and Motives for Participation

Young Speakers: A Pilot Study of Gaelic Bilinguals’ Language Practices

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