Bernadette O'Rourke

What can language attitudes, ideologies and beliefs tell us about the survival of a minority language? The book examines this question in relation to Irish in the Republic of Ireland and Galician in north-western Spain and in bringing these two languages together, offers the first systematic study of this minority language pair.

The book begins with a thorough review of relevant theoretical debates, followed by an analysis of the socio-historical factors which led to the stigmatisation and 'minorization' of these two languages. It looks comparatively at the role of language policy in attempting to reverse these processes, drawing on existing attitudinal research, as well the author's own cross-national study of young people's language attitudes. Through its comparative approach, the book provides a fresh perspective on the Irish and Galician contexts. It gives new insights into the factors affecting attitudes towards minority languages more generally and will be of interest to language planners, educators and policy makers.

http://www.palgrave.com/PDFs/9780230574038.Pdf

Presentation of book at Universidade de Vigo
Noemí Rey | Vigo

http://duvi.uvigo.es/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4452&Itemid=12

Bernadette O’Rourke presenta un libro que compara a realidade sociolingüística de galego e gaélico

Galicia e Irlanda, a loita das minorías
Centrar o fomento do idioma só no ámbito educativo, un dos erros máis graves que cometeu a república irlandesa


É obrigatorio na escola dende os 4 anos, aparece en todos os carteis xunto co outro idioma oficial, conta na nota para entrar na universidade, é un orgullo falalo aínda que sexa mal fóra das súas fronteiras xeográficas… e sen embargo moi poucos adultos son capaces de manter unha conversa nesta lingua. Trátase do gaélico, un idioma do que o galego pode tomar nota para debuxar o seu futuro. “A planificación lingüística en Irlanda ten case un século, mentres que en Galicia comezou nos anos 80. Debería aprender dos éxitos e dos fracasos do gaélico”, recordou Bernadette O’Rourke, autora de Galician and Irish in the European Context.


Bernadette O'Rourke presentou en Vigo 'Galician and Irish in the European context'A autora fixo parte do traballo de campo na Universidade de Vigo

É obrigatorio na escola dende os 4 anos, aparece en todos os carteis xunto co outro idioma oficial, conta na nota para entrar na universidade, é un orgullo falalo aínda que sexa mal fóra das súas fronteiras xeográficas… e sen embargo moi poucos adultos son capaces de manter unha conversa nel. Trátase do gaélico, un idioma do que o galego pode tomar nota para comezar a debuxar o seu futuro. “A planificación lingüística en Irlanda ten case un século de vida, mentres que en Galicia comezou nos anos 80. Por iso, en lugar de ter medo á ‘irlandización’ do galego e de que se converta nunha lingua ritual, o que debería de facer é aprender dos éxitos e dos fracasos do gaélico”, recordou Bernadette O’Rourke, autora de Galician and Irish in the European Context, un libro que recolle un estudo comparativo entre galego e irlandés e a actitude lingüística dos mozos cara eles.

Foi durante a súa primeira estancia en Galicia hai xa 10 anos cando O’Rourke comezou a afondar nas diferenzas e aspectos en común que comparten ambas linguas. A conclusión foi clara: o galego ten que ser capaz de crear oportunidades fóra do eido educativo, nos sectores que realmente preocupan aos mozos, como o mundo laboral ou as novas tecnoloxías. “Un dos fracasos máis grandes de Irlanda é que dedicaron moito tempo e diñeiro a estudar a situación da educación e a tomar medidas neste contexto, pero despois dos 18 anos non había opcións para vivir en gaélico”, lamentou. Un exemplo desta pouca visión foi a aparición dunha canle de televisión só en irlandés, que se demorou ata 1996, cando a TVG xa levaba 10 anos funcionando. Como atraer público nun país onde só fala irlandés un 5% da poboación? Con subtítulos animando á xente a mellorar o idioma, con deportes que outras cadeas non retransmiten e “con rapazas moi guapas que crean unha imaxe positiva do irlandés”.

A gran diferenza entre o galego e o irlandés é o seu nivel de protección. O gaélico é a primeira lingua oficial de Irlanda a pesar do baixo porcentaxe de falantes; en Galicia, aínda que as estatísticas reflicten un 60% de falantes habituais, é un idioma cooficial. En común teñen a actitude positiva cara eles da poboación: nun estudo que fixo no ano 2004 para a súa tese de doutoramento en Vigo, O’Rourke concluíu que 87% dos mozos galegos considera que Galicia perdería a súa cultura propia sen o idioma. Pero “as actitudes non se converten en usos”, queda moito por facer.


Facerlle caso a Fernández Del Riego
Xa o dixo Francisco Fernández del Riego cando era presidente da Real Academia Galega: se o galego “resistiu catro séculos de desatención, que parvada é iso da morte do idioma?” As estatísticas históricas parecen estar do lado do galego: mentres que o gaélico comezou a perder falantes xa no século XVII e en 1851 só o 5% dos irlandeses era monolingüe, o galego tiña en 1877 un 88% de falantes. Segundo O’Rourke a viabilidade futura pasa por ter unha boa planificación lingüística, pero tamén pola situación socioeconómica que se viva. “A diversidade lingüística está ameazada constantemente por convivir nun mundo globalizado. Os responsables deben ter claro que o traballo nunca termina”, recalcou a escritora.

O libro significa a “inmersión da situación sociolingüística galega no mercado anglófono, xa que ata agora todos os foráneos que se achegaron a este campo coñecían pouco ou mal a nosa realidade. Ela racha con esa tendencia”, asegurou o profesor Fernando Ramallo durante a presentación.

While in many indigenous minority language situations traditional native speaker communities are in decline, at the same time, “new speakers” are emerging in the context of revitalization policies. Such policies can however have unforeseen consequences and sometimes lead to tensions between newcomers and existing speakers over questions of ownership, legitimacy and authenticity. This paper examines these tensions in the case of Galician in north-western Spain, where “new speakers” have emerged in the context of revitalization policies since the 1980s. The subsequent spread of the language outside traditional Galician strongholds and into what were predominantly Spanish spaces, complicates the traditional ideology about sociolinguistic authenticity and ownership and raises questions about who are now the legitimate speakers of Galician, who has authority and the potential tensions that such questions generate. To illustrate the tensions and paradoxes which “new” and “native” speakers face in this post-revitalization context, we draw on qualitative data generated from three discussion groups made up of sixteen young Galicians.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how struggles over language ownership are played out in a minority language setting, focusing on the case of Irish in the Republic of Ireland. The article examines the more or less serious struggles which emerge between so-called ‘native’ or L1 and ‘non-native’ or L2 speakers of Irish in a language learning environment and the effect of these struggles on language acquisition and language choice. The discussion of these issues is based on a qualitative study of language ideologies held by 33 undergraduate students pursuing an Irish language degree. The study highlights some of the social and cultural differences which exist between these native speakers of Irish and second-language learners and the need to find ways in which the two groups can work more productively together.

A basic premise of modern linguistics is that all languages are functionally equal (Edwards 1979; 1994). In the same way that anthropologists will not judge the relative worth of cultures, linguists believe that one language is as good and adequate as any other (Grillo 1989: 173; Trudgill 1983: 205). Despite this, languages are often evaluated and judgements are made about their worth as well as that of their speakers, leading to the national distribution and transnational hierarchies of languages that we know today. In applied linguistics such evaluations and judgements are frequently looked at under the generic heading language attitudes.

In minority language contexts, the aim of language policy and planning initiatives is frequently to enhance their survival prospects by increasing individuals’ knowledge and use of such languages in a variety of social contexts. The success of such policies depends on a variety of factors. These include the ability of policy to encourage maintenance of the language amongst existing speakers (the so-called ‘native’ speakers of the language) and its revival amongst individuals in the community who no longer speak it and who have become ‘native’ speakers of another language, typically, the dominant language. However, the task of policy makers and language planners is often made more difficult by sociolinguistic, socio-economic, socio-geographical and ideological differences between ‘native’ speakers and ‘non-native’ newcomers to the language. Rather than forming a unified speech community, ‘native’ and ‘non-native’ speakers of the minority language very often see themselves as being socially and linguistically incompatible. The purpose of this article is to examine the native-non-native dichotomy in two minority language contexts: Irish in the Republic of Ireland and Galician in the Autonomous Community of Galicia.

"Over the past number of decades, much discussion in sociolinguistics and the sociology of language has centred on concerns over the survival prospects of lesser-used or minority languages such as Galician (see for example Dorian 1989; Edwards 2010; Fishman 1991; Grenoble and Whaley 1998; Hogan-Brun and Wolff 2003; King et al. 2008; Williams 2005). Researchers have been particularly interested in isolating the factors which best determine such survival. However, almost none of the factors cited in connection with language maintenance and shift is on its own a reliable predictor of the outcome of any particular situation of language contact (Romaine 1995). Although a number of these factors have been discussed separately in this article, there is considerable overlap amongst them and their effects cannot be understood in isolation. Socio-political changes have knock-on effects on the level of institutional support for a language and the degree to which language policy in favour of the minority language will be put in place. The numbers of speakers will also be affected by policy intervention but at the same time by other external variables such as the linguistic proximity between the two languages in contact, socio-structural and socio-economic changes.

The apparent strength of Galician in numerical terms conceals the vulnerability of a language which is largely made up of an aging and rural-based population. Migration to urban areas, particularly since the mid-twentieth century, has destabilised its demographic base, advancing the process of language shift, particularly amongst the younger generation. It could, nevertheless, be predicted that the numerical strength of Galician speakers as a minority group, places it in a strong position to mobilize itself in support of the language, a position which has also been strengthened by recent changes in language policy.

Socio-political changes in Galicia since the 1980s in the context of Spain’s transition to democracy have led to an ideological shift in favour of a more pluralistic society. In this context recognition is given to Spain’s linguistic diversity and greater respect is awarded to the different languages of Spain, including Galician. Decentralization has thus shifted some power away from the Spanish centre and given Galicia a degree of control over its own future, including its linguistic future. While regional autonomy as opposed to complete political independence can be seen to limit the powers of the Galician Autonomous administration, the continued presence of the dominant ‘other’ has to some degree maintained the symbolic role of Galician and sustained a sense of urgency surrounding language issues in Galicia.

Language policies for Galician have, however, tended to be lukewarm and have been developed in line with a non-conflictive interpretation of the sociolinguistic situation for the language. This has resulted in a low-intensity model with a strong focus on the educational sphere and with little real revitalization of the language in other domains. Even in the area of education, policies have tended to be weakly implemented. Although the positive reinstatement of the language in formal domains such as education has led to more favourable attitudes towards the language, particularly amongst the younger generation, this is not leading to any significant shifts in language use amongst these age groups. This is despite the fact that ability to speak Galician is high amongst the entire Galician population, even amongst those whose first language is Spanish. Such ability is related to the high level of intelligibility between Galician and Spanish and such closeness in linguistic terms allows for bilingual conversations to take place. Spanish speakers are now more ideologically supportive of the minority language and more tolerant of Galician speakers’ right to maintain their language in conversational interaction. However, Spanish speakers less frequently become active users of Galician themselves, something which may reflect the weakly implemented bilingual policies which have tended to characterise the Galician sociolinguistic context.

In his analysis of language policy in Galicia, the newly appointed General Secretary for Language Policy in Galicia, Anxo Lorenzo Suárez, has suggested that the model of language planning adopted for the Galician language has been based on a false illusion of its linguistic vitality, leading to a distorted analysis of its demographic and territorial strength (Lorenzo Suárez 2008). Given that rural Galician-speaking population is being eroded, if Galician is to be sustained then a stronger focus on activating language use amongst the growing number of second language speakers of the language amongst Galicia’s urban youth."

This chapter looks at the ways in which multilingualism is managed and negotiated in a contemporary Irish educational context. The discussion is based on observations and analysis of a multilingual action research project involving teachers, pupils and parents of pupils at Lane Street Primary School, located in Dublin’s inner city. Through the incorporation of a range of multilingual and language awareness activities into classroom practice, the aim of the project was to create a school environment which explicitly values and recognises the languages that children bring to the school. The chapter reflects on the way in which multilingualism has been negotiated and mediated at various stages of the project. The conclusion drawn from the study is that while schools such as Lane Street Primary are embracing linguistic diversity at many levels, language attitudes and practices remain ambiguous as teachers, parents and pupils struggle to comply with an official discourse of monolingualism.

http://www.channelviewpublications.com/pdf/tocs/9781847693679.pdf

Language Policy for the Multilingual Classroom
Pedagogy of the Possible

Christine Hélot, Muiris Ó Laoire
Format:Paperback - 240 pages
ISBN:9781847693662
Published:15 Apr 2011
Publisher:Multilingual Matters
Dimensions:210 x 148 (A5)
Availability:Available (recent release)

Conflicting values in contemporary Galicia:
attitudes to ‘O Galego’ since autonomy

This article analyses and attempts to explain conflicting views about the value associated with Galician in contemporary Galicia. It does so by tracing the possible source of these conflicting values historically, from the effects of language contact with Spanish since the fourteenth century, right through to attempts made to revive Galician in the late nineteenth century to the current sociolinguistic situation in the context of the twenty-first century. It explores the reasons why the number of Galician speakers continues to decline despite the seemingly more favourable attitudes towards the language amongst the Galician population.

Keywords: Galician language, language attitudes, language decline

International Journal of Iberian Studies
Print ISSN: 1364-971X | Electronic ISSN: 1758-9150
Volume: 16 | Issue: 1
Cover date: March 2003
Page(s): 33-48
http://www.atypon-link.com/INT/doi/abs/10.1386/ijis.16.1.33/0

Galicia is still a majority mother tongue in its community, a region which has not experienced globalization in the sense of movement of peoples into Galicia, although many have emigrated to other parts. In this paper I discuss the impact of modernization, urbanization and the recent Spanish language 'normalization' policies have had in this region and on the use of Galician. I analyse the attitudes of a key group of informants, university students, to gauge likely trends for the future of Galician amongst a group of people who can be expected to be role models in their society. The findings suggest that despite the recent positive political and legal changes towards Spain's minority languages, Spanish is seem increasingly as the hegemonic - necessary - language.

This paper looks at the degree and way in which lesser-used languages are used as expressions of identity, focusing specifically on two of Europe's lesser-used languages. The first is Irish, spoken in the Republic of Ireland and the second is Galician, spoken in the Autonomous Community of Galicia in the North-western part of Spain. The paper reports on some of the findings of a study which looked at contemporary linguistic attitudes and ideologies amongst younger age groups within Irish and Galician societies.

Keywords: language attitudes; identity; minority languages; Irish; Galician

Economic prosperity along with ensuing labour shortages and a marked increase in the number of asylum seekers and political refugees have had a significant impact on the ethnic and linguistic make-up of many of our societies. The past number of years has witnessed a renewed interest in issues of languages and planning, emerigng from these changes, where nation-states have been becoming more varied, diverse and at the same time more global. Language policy and planning initiatives in the area of public sector interpreting in Ireland, Scotland and Spain are examined in this paper. All three contexts offer examples of cases where there has been a marked increase in the number of economic immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers in recent years. Language policy and planning measures which regulate for the provision of interpreting services to non-indigenous ethnic minority language groups in all three contexts are critically explored. This paper explores both overt and covert "top-down" policies at government and institutional level, as well as "bottom-up" and grassroots initiatives taking place to resist, protest about and negotiate declared language policies and toe propose alternatives.

http://www.stjerome.co.uk/books/b/67/contents/

The book proposes a round the world exploration of the way our traditionally monolingual school systems are being challenged by students from diverse language backgrounds, forcing educationalists to question entrenched ideologies of language and challenging teachers in their everyday classrooms to rethink their relationships to language learning and the issue of diversity.

This article looks at the ways in which multilingualism is managed in a contemporary Irish educational context. The discussion is based on observations and analysis of a multilingual action research project involving teachers, pupils and parents of pupils at a Primary School, located in Dublin’s inner city. Through the incorporation of a range of multilingual and language awareness activities into classroom practice, the aim of the project was to create a school environment which explicitly values and recognises the languages that children bring to the school. The chapter reflects on the way in which multilingualism has been negotiated at various stages of the project.

ISBN 978-92-871-6428-5
http://book.coe.int/EN/ficheouvrage.php?PAGEID=36&lang=EN&produit_aliasid=2458

I have also written a chapter entitled 'Negotiating Multilingualism in an Irish School Context' which appears in C. Hélot and M. Ó Laoire (eds.) (2011) Language Policy for the Multilingual Classroom. Multilingual Matters.

This selection of peer-reviewed essays is taken from the Royal Irish Academy Symposium Intercultural Spaces: Language, Culture, Identity, hosted by Dublin City University in November 2003. It brings together a fascinating range of scholarly interpretations of the'intercultural space'with rich contributions coming from the fields of sociology, politics, language teaching and learning, translation, drama, literature, and history.

WITHIN THE past two decades, much discussion in sociolinguistics and the sociology of language has centred on concerns over the survival prospects of lesser-used or minority languages (Dorian 1989; Woolard 1989; Fase et al. 1992; Grenoble and Whaley 1998).