Immigrants as new speakers in Galicia and Wales: issues of integration, belonging and legitimacy

Abstract

Immigrant integration in nation states increasingly focuses on the importance of learning the national state language. This is evidenced by increased emphasis on rigorous language testing and tighter citizenship regulations. This paper analyses immigrant integration in two sub-state contexts, Galicia and Wales, where presence of a national language as well as a local language reveal different linguistic complexities and realities which concern the new speaker. How do immigrants respond to bilingual host community settings? To what extent are new speakers able to claim ownership on more than one host community language? Are new immigrant speakers of Galician and Welsh considered 'legitimate' speakers of these languages? To answer these questions, this paper will compare and contrast results from two ethnographically-based research projects, showing that immigrants in both these contexts are challenging traditional concepts of new speakers of minority languages, opening up new ways of belonging but also revealing boundaries to their pathways of becoming legitimate new speakers.

Contesting sub-state integration policies: migrant new speakers as stakeholders in language regimes

“…Although participants don't consider the minority language by any means equal to the economic value of the state language, participants nevertheless perceive the growing value of the minoritised language. This has been argued elsewhere by Bermingham and Higham (2018) as an expansion of linguistic capital of the minority language. According to Duchêne and Heller's 'pride and profit framework' (2012), the learning of Basque and Welsh is viewed not only as a 'pride' motivation, but also as a 'profit' motivation.…”

Majority nation‐building through language requirements: Minority perspectives from EU27

“…75–76). Research on immigrant integration carried out on substates, such as Quebec (Barker, 2015; Kymlicka, 2001; Taylor, 1994), the Basque Country (Jeram & Adam, 2015), Wales (Augustyniak & Higham, 2019), Catalonia (Hepburn & Zapata‐Barrero, 2014), Scotland (de Casanova, 2014), Galicia (Bermingham & Higham, 2018), and South Tyrol (Carlà, 2018; Strazzari, 2016), shows how such territories operate to some extent like nation‐states in relation to immigration and thereby make nation‐state‐like requirements on immigrants, albeit not nationally but regionally.…”

“…Access to education in minority languages may nevertheless be limited. It has been demonstrated how in both Wales and Galicia it is challenging for immigrants to access appropriate education in Welsh or Galician (Bermingham & Higham, 2018, p. 403) and in Finland the right to attend orientation courses in Swedish has been ill implemented (Creutz & Helander, 2012). When the possibilities exist, we can nevertheless see that some migrants opt for the minority language, without any coercion.…”

Untitled

“…Språkundervisningen i katalanska erbjuds i första hand för dem som redan kan spanska, och även många förespråkare för katalanskan anser att migranter hellre bör lära sig spanska för att ha bättre möjligheter på arbetsmarknaden även utanför Katalonien. För vissa arbeten med högre status i områden där minoritetspråket har en officiell ställning krävs dock kunskaper i båda språken, och detta uppges av migranter som en orsak till att vilja lära sig minoritetsspråket (Bermingham & Higham 2018). Föreställningen om att det är bättre för migranter att lära sig majoritetsspråket bygger, som Pujolar (2010) påpekar, i viss mån på tanken om att de placerar sig i yrken med lägre status och krav.…”