Minority language ownership and authority: perspectives of native speakers and new speakers

Abstract New speakers of Catalan have come to represent, from a demolinguistic perspective, a substantial part of the community of speakers. Of those who presently speak Catalan as an “habitual language”, 41.6 percent are native speakers of Spanish. In this article, we shall follow up the various ways in which native Castilian speakers incorporate Catalan into their lives. This happens, as we will show, in specific biographical junctures that we call mudes, a Catalan term referring to (often reversible) variations in social performance. Our analysis is based on a qualitative study that included 24 interviews and 15 focus groups covering a total of 105 people of different sexes and linguistic, educational, social and residential backgrounds. We shall give a general overview of these mudes as we typified them: when subjects entered primary school, secondary school, the university, the job market, when creating a new family and when they had children (if they did). The study of linguistic mudes provides, in our view, a new and productive perspective on how people develop their linguistic repertoire, their attachment to specific languages and the significance of these aspects for social identity. It facilitates a processual, time-sensitive analysis that allows to contextualise and critique ethnonationalist discourses that have often saturated our understanding of language use.

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“New speakers” of Gaelic: perceptions of linguistic authenticity and appropriateness

Applied Linguistics Review ◽

10.1515/applirev-2015-0008 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 151-172 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Wilson McLeod ◽

Bernadette O’Rourke

Keyword(s):

Language Production ◽

Language Use ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Minority Languages ◽

Medium Education ◽

New Speakers ◽

Traditional Communities

AbstractThis article considers the experiences and views of “new speakers” of Gaelic, focusing on how they characterise their language production and its relationship to the language of traditional speakers. In contrast to some other European minority languages, a significant population of new Gaelic speakers in Scotland has emerged only recently, particularly with the development of Gaelic-medium education since 1985, provision that increasingly serves children who do not acquire Gaelic in the home. Given the ongoing decline of Gaelic in traditional “heartland” areas, it is apparent that new speakers of Gaelic emerging from urban Scotland will become increasingly important in coming years. This study of 35 new speakers in the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow builds on emerging research on new speakers of minority languages across other European contexts (see O’Rourke et al. 2015) where traditional communities of speakers are being eroded as a consequence of increased urbanisation and economic modernisation. This article considers issues involving legitimacy, authority and authenticity amongst new speakers of Gaelic and the extent to which new speakers are producing their own set of contexts of language use and their own standards of performance or conversely, if they continue to reproduce ideals of localism, tradition and linguistic purity. Participants expressed contrasting views on these topics, some of them endeavouring to accommodate what they perceived as native speakers’ perceptions and preferences, others expressing a rather more oppositional viewpoint, rejecting practices or assumptions that they view as impeding the modernisation and normalisation of the language.

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MESSAGES TO URBI ET ORBI: ARMENIAN COMPONENT IN THE LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE OF MOSCOW

Culture and Text ◽

10.37386/2305-4077-2021-1-228-244 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 228-244

Author(s):

L. L. Fedorova ◽

Keyword(s):

Native Speakers ◽

Minority Language ◽

Linguistic Landscape ◽

Symbolic Function ◽

Dynamic Landscape ◽

The City

The paper offers a communicative analysis of signs and texts of Armenian component in the linguistic landscape of Moscow. It aims to highlight the functions of Armenian signs and texts. There are mastered Armenian names in the onomasticon of Moscow; Armenian characters are present on several city objects. Duplicated in Russian or English, the messages are addressed to urbi et orbi - the residents of the city, native speakers of Armenian and Russian, to migrants from Armenia, to guests of the Western Diaspora; they help them to “get in touch” with the city. The Armenian alphabet on several objects of the city has a symbolic function. Signs of a dynamic landscape serve to maintain contact and express solidarity. The paper focuses on the problems of language contacts in a modern megalopolis, preservation functions of a minority language in the environment of a dominant one.

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Transatlantic Context for Gaelic Language Revitalisation

Studia Celtica Posnaniensia ◽

10.2478/scp-2020-0001 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 1-20

Author(s):

Stuart S. Dunmore

Keyword(s):

Nova Scotia ◽

North America ◽

Language Learning ◽

Crucial Role ◽

Minority Language ◽

Current Policy ◽

Frequent Use ◽

New Speakers ◽

Language Revitalisation

Abstract The notion of the ‘new speaker’, and its salience particularly in relation to minority language sociolinguistics, has become increasingly prevalent in the last decade. The term refers to individuals who have acquired an additional language to high levels of oracy and make frequent use of it in the course of their lives. Language advocates in both Scotland and Nova Scotia emphasise the crucial role of new speakers in maintaining Gaelic on both sides of the Atlantic. As a result, Gaelic language teaching has been prioritised by policymakers as a mechanism for revitalising the language in both polities. This article examines reflexes of this policy in each country, contrasting the ongoing fragility of Gaelic communities with new speaker discourses around heritage, identity, and language learning motivations. Crucially, I argue that challenging sociodemographic circumstances in Gaelic communities in Scotland and Nova Scotia contrast with current policy discourses, and with new speaker motivations for acquiring higher levels of Gaelic oracy in North America.

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‘Northmen, Southmen, comrades all’? The adoption of discourse like by migrants north and south of the Irish border

Language in Society ◽

10.1017/s0047404519000800 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 49 (5) ◽

pp. 745-773 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Karen P. Corrigan ◽

Chloé Diskin

Keyword(s):

Northern Ireland ◽

English Proficiency ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Northern Irish ◽

Republic Of Ireland ◽

Chinese Adult ◽

Original Contribution ◽

New Speakers ◽

The Republic ◽

North And South

AbstractThe Republic of Ireland (ROI) and Northern Ireland (NI) have recently become attractive migrant destinations. Two main dialectal varieties are recognised on the island, but little is known about their adoption by new speakers. Focusing on a panlectal feature, discourse like, we conducted a quantitative sociolinguistic investigation of its adoption by seventeen young Polish and Lithuanian migrants in Armagh (NI), and thirty-six Polish and Chinese adult migrants in Dublin (ROI), with comparator samples drawn from native speakers. Findings show that like rates in both cities diverge, but that migrants mirror local frequencies. Clause-final like is restricted primarily to native speakers, but is twice as frequent in Armagh than in Dublin. English proficiency has a significant effect on the likelihood of young migrants in Armagh adopting the clause-final variant. The article's significance also stems from the original contribution it makes to our understanding of how sociolinguistic competence is acquired in ‘superdiverse’ settings. (Discourse like, identity, migration, Northern Irish-English, Hiberno-English, Ulster English, Southern Irish-English)*

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Approaches to and Strategies for Language Revitalization

The Oxford Handbook of Endangered Languages ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190610029.013.22 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 442-465

Author(s):

Leanne Hinton

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Language Revitalization ◽

Language Education ◽

Writing Systems ◽

Home Schools ◽

Critical Part ◽

Endangered Language ◽

New Speakers ◽

Learning Language

There are many paths language revitalization can take, but they are not mutually exclusive. A central aspect of language revitalization is the creation of new speakers. One path is for families to learn and transmit the endangered language at home. Schools are major venues for language learning. Language nests and immersion schools have been especially effective. Adult language education has also become a critical part of language revitalization. Universities and “bootstrap” methods such as the Master-Apprentice Program have been able to bring adults to high proficiency. Linguistic archives have been useful for access to language, especially when there are no speakers left. Modernization of the language is also unavoidable, including new vocabulary and the development of writing systems if necessary. Most importantly, language revitalization should involve increased use of the language, by native speakers and learners alike.

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National identity and belonging among gay ‘new speakers’ of Irish

Journal of Language and Sexuality ◽

10.1075/jls.18008.wal ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 53-81 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

John Walsh

Keyword(s):

National Identity ◽

Rural Communities ◽

Language Ideologies ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Urban Settings ◽

New Speakers

Abstract ‘New speakers’ refer to people who use a language regularly but are not traditional ‘native’ speakers of that language. Although this discussion has been going on for some time in other sub-disciplines of linguistics, it is more recent in research about European minoritised languages. A feature of discourse around such languages relates to their perceived suitability for diverse urban settings removed from their historical rural heartlands. Irish is an example of a minoritised language which was long associated with conservative rural communities, a reified Catholic discourse of national identity and language ideologies based on nativism. Such an approach not only marginalised urban new speakers of Irish but also exhibited hostility to LGBTQ citizens who did not befit its particular version of Irishness. In this paper, a framework of Critical Sociolinguistics is used to analyse identity positions and ideologies expressed by urban new speakers of Irish who identify as gay and/or queer.

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Language Recovery Paradigms

The Oxford Handbook of Endangered Languages ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190610029.013.25 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 530-552

Author(s):

Alan R. King

Keyword(s):

Adult Learners ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Recovery Process ◽

The Internet ◽

Successful Recovery ◽

Language Recovery ◽

Rural World ◽

New Speakers ◽

New Generation ◽

Over Time

This chapter argues that successful language recovery evolves over time through a series of stages characterized by distinct paradigms (sets of assumptions), each of which in turn challenges deep-rooted assumptions of the preceding stage. The exposition draws on the narratives of Basque and Nawat language recovery to illustrate this, focusing on paradigm transitions which question typical priorities of orthodox approaches, such as the language’s oral character, its purity, native speakers, descriptivism, teaching children, and bonds with the rural world and a traditional lifestyle. A successful recovery process should transcend these constraints. It should recognize the importance of writing, neologisms, new speakers, prescriptive proposals, adult learners, urban settings and ideological neutrality. This alternative paradigm justifies current developments in the Nawat movement powered by the internet, social media, incorporation of new adult speakers, and a new generation of young, university-educated language enthusiasts.

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Adult New Speakers of Welsh: Accent, Pronunciation and Language Experience in South Wales

Languages ◽

10.3390/languages6020086 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 86

Author(s):

Meinir Williams ◽

Sarah Cooper

Keyword(s):

Native Speakers ◽

Language Teaching ◽

Community Perceptions ◽

Speech Sounds ◽

Questionnaire Data ◽

Language Experience ◽

Vowel Length ◽

South Wales ◽

New Speakers ◽

L1 English

This study examines the experiences of adult new speakers of Welsh in Wales, UK with learning pronunciation in Welsh. Questionnaire data were collected from 115 adult L2 speakers with English as an L1 located in South Wales. We investigated self-reported perceptions of accent and pronunciation as well as exploring which speech sounds were reported to be challenging for the participants. We also asked participants how traditional native speakers responded to them in the community. Perceptions of own accent and pronunciation were not rated highly for the participants. We found an effect of speaker origin affected responses to perceptions of accent and pronunciation, as well as speaker learning level. In terms of speech sounds that are challenging, the results show that vowel length as well as the consonants absent in the L1 (English) were the most common issues reported. A range of responses from traditional native speakers were reported, including speaking more slowly, switching to English, correcting pronunciation or not responding at all. It is suggested that these results indicate that adult new speakers of Welsh face challenges with accent and pronunciation, and we discuss the implications of this for language teaching and for integration into the community.

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Hidden language ‘battles’ in the diaspora

Journal of Asian Pacific Communication ◽

10.1075/japc.00065.dal ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Maria Sabaté-Dalmau

Keyword(s):

European Society ◽

Language Maintenance ◽

Political Power ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Educational Status ◽

Minority Language ◽

Spanish Speaking ◽

Naturally Occurring ◽

Visual Materials

Abstract Following a critical sociolinguistics approach to language maintenance in the diaspora, this paper investigates interplaying linguistic identities and ideologies towards home and host languages among four case-study Pakistanis living in Catalonia, a Catalan/Spanish-speaking European society. By drawing on fieldnotes, interviews, naturally-occurring conversations and visual materials gathered in a Barcelona call shop, it shows how informants invest in Spanish as the ‘integration’ language, despite being categorised as ‘deficient’ users of it. They present themselves as ‘native’ speakers of Urdu, which indexes modern ‘Muslimness’ and ‘Pakistaniness’, while Punjabi users, associated with the ‘yokels’, are silenced. English is ambivalently taken-up as an intra-group sign of educational status and political power and as an anti-Muslim ‘coloniser’ language. Overall, these stratifying sociolinguistic behaviours reveal how Pakistanis’ home/host multilingual resources get re-ideologised through linguistic hierarchisations which foster the maintenance of majority languages only, dismissing minority language speakers, in unchartered transnational contexts where these are already ‘delanguaged’.

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