Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Home
Hostname: page-component-5c569c448b-bmzkg Total loading time: 0.384 Render date: 2022-07-01T09:11:38.824Z Has data issue: true Feature Flags: { "shouldUseShareProductTool": true, "shouldUseHypothesis": true, "isUnsiloEnabled": true, "useRatesEcommerce": false, "useNewApi": true } hasContentIssue
  • English
Language in Society Language in Society

Article contents

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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2020

Stuart S. Dunmore
Stuart S. Dunmore*
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh, Scotland
*
Address for correspondence: Stuart S. Dunmore School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures University of Edinburgh 50 George Square EdinburghEH8 9LH, Scotlands.dunmore@ed.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions[Opens in a new window]

Abstract

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)*

Type
Articles
Information
Language in Society , Volume 50 , Issue 2 , April 2021 , pp. 259 - 281
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

This research was generously funded by a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship held at the University of Edinburgh from 2016 to 2019. I am grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions on a previous draft of the article, and to several friends and colleagues for their valuable insights after reading the article.

References

Baker, Colin (2011). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism. 5th edn. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Barrow, Geoffrey W. S. (1989). The lost Gàidhealtachd of medieval Scotland. In Gillies, William (ed.), Scotland and Gaelic/Alba agus a’ Ghàidhlig, 67–88. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Bòrd na Gàidhlig (2014). Gaelic education helps reverse decline of the Gaelic language. Online: http://www.gaidhlig.org.uk/bord/en/news/article.php?ID=474; accessed July 9, 2016.Google Scholar
Bòrd na Gàidhlig (2018). National Gaelic language plan, 2018–2023. Inverness: Bòrd na Gàidhlig.Google Scholar
Boudreau, Annette, & Dubois, Lise (2007). Français, Acadien, Acadjonne: Competing discourses on language preservation along the shores of the Baie Sainte-Marie. In Duchêne & Heller, 99–120.Google Scholar
Bourdieu, Pierre (1991). Language and symbolic power. Trans. by Raymond, Gino & Adamson, Matthew. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Bucholtz, Mary, & Hall, Kira (2004). Language and identity. In Duranti, Alexander (ed.), A companion to linguistic anthropology, 369–94. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Bucholtz, Mary, & Hall, Kira (2005). Identity and interaction: A sociocultural linguistic approach. Discourse Studies 7:585–614.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, Donald, & MacLean, R. (1974). Beyond the Atlantic roar: A study of the Nova Scotia Scots. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart.Google Scholar
Cavanaugh, Jillian (2013). Language ideologies and language attitudes. In Auer, Peter, Reina, Javier Caro, & Kaufmann, Göz (eds.), Language variation: European perspectives IV, 45–55. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clancy, Thomas O. (2011). Gaelic in medieval Scotland: Advent and expansion. Proceedings of the British Academy 167:349–92.Google Scholar
Dorian, Nancy (2010). Linguistic and ethnographic fieldwork. In Fishman & García, 89–106.Google Scholar
Dörnyei, Zoltán (2005). The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Dörnyei, Zoltán, & Ushioda, Ema (eds.) (2009). Motivation, language identity and the L2 self. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duchêne, Alexandre, & Heller, Monica (eds.) (2007). Discourses of endangerment: Ideology and interest in the defence of languages. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Duchêne, Alexandre, & Heller, Monica (2012). Language in late capitalism: Pride and profit. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunbar, Rob (2008). Minority language renewal: Gaelic in Nova Scotia, and lessons from abroad. Report for NS Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage. Halifax, NS: Office of Gaelic Affairs.Google Scholar
Dunmore, Stuart S. (2017). Immersion education outcomes and the Gaelic community: Identities and language ideologies among Gaelic-medium educated adults in Scotland. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 38:726–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunmore, Stuart S. (2018a). New Gaelic speakers, new Gaels? Language ideologies and ethnolinguistic continuity among Gaelic-medium educated adults. In Smith-Christmas, Cassie, Murchu, Noel Ó, Moriaty, Mairéad, & Hornsby, Michael (eds.), New speakers of minority languages: Linguistic practice and ideology, 23–44. Basingstoke: Palgrave.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunmore, Stuart S. (2018b). Bilingual life after school? Opportunity, choice and ideology among former Gaelic-medium students. Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness 63:287–316.Google Scholar
Dunmore, Stuart S. (2019). Language revitalisation in Gaelic Scotland: Linguistic practice and ideology. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dumville, David N. (2002). Ireland and North Britain in the earlier Middle Ages: Contexts for Míniugud Senchasa Fher nAlban. In Baoill, Colm Ó & McGuire, Nancy R. (eds.), Rannsachadh na Gàidhlig 2000, 185–212. Aberdeen: An Clo Gaidhealach.Google Scholar
Edwards, John R. (ed.) (1984). Linguistic minorities, policies and pluralism. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Edwards, John R. (1991). Gaelic in Nova Scotia,. In Williams, Colin (ed.), Linguistic minorities, society and territory, 269–97. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Edwards, John R. (2010). Minority languages and group identity: Cases and categories. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, John R. (2013). Bilingualism and multilingualism: Some central concepts. In Bhatia, Tej K. & Ritchie, William C. (eds.), Handbook of bilingualism and multilingualism, 2nd edn., 5–25. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Fishman, Joshua A. (1972). Language in socio-cultural change. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Fishman, Joshua A. (1991). Reversing language shift: Theoretical and empirical foundations of assistance to threatened languages. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Fishman, Joshua A. (ed.) (2001a). Can threatened languages be saved? Reversing language shift revisited: A 21st century perspective. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fishman, Joshua A. (2001b). From theory to practice (and vice versa): Review, reconsideration, and reiteration. In Fishman (2001a), 451–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fishman, Joshua A. (2010). Sociolinguistics: Language and ethnic identity in context. In Fishman & García, xxiii–xv.Google Scholar
Fishman, Joshua A. (2013). Language maintenance, language shift, and reversing language shift. In Bhatia, Tej K. & Ritchie, William C. (eds.), Handbook of bilingualism and multilingualism, 2nd edn., 466–94. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Fishman, Joshua A., & García, Ofelia (eds.) (2010). Handbook of language and ethnic identity: Disciplinary and regional perspectives, vol. 1. 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Fishman, Joshua A., & García, Ofelia (eds.) 2011. Handbook of language and ethnic identity: The success-failure continuum in language and ethnic identity efforts, vol. 2. 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
García, Ofelia (2009). Bilingual education in the 21st Century: A global perspective. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Gardner, Robert C., & Lambert, Wallace E. (1959). Motivational variables in second language acquisition. Canadian Journal of Psychology 13:266–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gardner, Robert C., & Lambert, Wallace E. (1972). Attitudes and motivation in second language learning. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.Google Scholar
Glaser, Konstanze (2007). Minority languages and cultural diversity in Europe: Gaelic and Sorbian perspectives. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heller, Monica (2006). Linguistic minorities and modernity: A sociolinguistic ethnography. 2nd edn. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Heller, Monica (2010). Paths to postnationalism: A critical ethnography of language and identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hymes, Dell (1974). Foundations in sociolinguistics: An ethnographic approach. London: Tavistock Publications.Google Scholar
Jaffe, Alexandra (1999). Ideologies in action: Language politics on Corsica. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jaffe, Alexandra (2007a). Discourses of endangerment: Contexts and consequences of essentializing discourses. In Duchêne & Heller, 57–75.Google Scholar
Jaffe, Alexandra (2007b). Minority language movements. In Heller, Monica (ed.), Bilingualism: A social approach, 50–95. London: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joseph, John (2010). Identity. In Llamas, Carmen & Watt, Dominic (eds.), Language and identities, 9–17. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Kennedy, Michael (2002). Gaelic Nova Scotia: An economic, cultural, and social impact study. Report for Nova Scotia Government. Halifax, NS: Nova Scotia Musuem.Google Scholar
Kroskrity, Paul V. (ed.) (2000). Regimes of language: Ideologies, polities, and identities. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press.Google Scholar
Kroskrity, Paul V. (2004). Language ideologies. In Duranti, Alessandro (ed.), A companion to linguistic anthropology, 496–517. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
MacEachen, Frances (2008). Am blas againn fhìn: Community Gaelic immersion classes in Nova Scotia—An evaluation of activities in 2006–2007. Report for Office of Gaelic Affairs. Halifax, NS: Office of Gaelic Affairs.Google Scholar
MacIntyre, Peter; Baker, Susan; & Sparling, Heather (2017). Heritage passions, heritage convictions and the rooted L2 self: Music and Gaelic language learning in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Modern Language Journal 101:501–516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacKinnon, Kenneth (2001). Gaelic in Canada: Haki and Hekja's inheritance in ‘The land of promise’. In Ureland, P. Sture (ed.), Global Eurolinguistics: European languages in North America – Migration, maintenance and death, 19–47. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer.Google Scholar
MacLean, Raymond (1978). The Scots: Hector's cargo. In Campbell, Donald (ed.), Banked fires: The ethnics of Nova Scotia, 51–72. Port Credit, ON: Scribblers’ Press.Google Scholar
McLeod, Wilson; O'Rourke, Bernadette; & Dunmore, Stuart (2014). New speakers of Gaelic in Edinburgh and Glasgow: Soillse research report. Sleat, Isle of Skye: Soillse.Google Scholar
Magnan, Marie-Odile, & Lamarre, Patricia (2016). Diversité, frontières ethnolinguistiques et éducation au Québec et au Canada. Minorités linguistiques et société 7:4–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Makihara, Miki (2010). Anthropology. In Fishman & García, 32–48.Google Scholar
Mertz, Elizabeth (1982). ‘No burden to carry’: Cape Breton pragmatics and metapragmatics. Durham, NC: Duke University dissertation.Google Scholar
Mertz, Elizabeth (1989). Sociolinguistic creativity: Cape Breton Gaelic's linguistic ‘tip’. In Dorian, Nancy C. (ed.), Investigating obsolescence: Studies in language contraction and death, 103–16. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nance, Claire (2015). ‘New’ Scottish Gaelic speakers in Glasgow: A phonetic study of language revitalisation. Language in Society 44:553–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nance, Claire; McLeod, Wilson; O'Rourke, Bernadette; & Dunmore, Stuart (2016). Identity, accent aim, and motivation in second language users: New Scottish Gaelic speakers’ use of phonetic variation. Journal of Sociolinguistics 20:164–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Records of Scotland (2013). Statistical Bulletin: 2011 Census – Key Results on Population, Ethnicity, Identity, Language, Religion, Health, Housing and Accommodation in Scotland - Release 2A. Online: www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/documents/censusresults/release2a/StatsBulletin2A.pdf; accessed September 26, 2017.Google Scholar
Nettle, Daniel, & Romaine, Suzanne (2000). Vanishing voices: The extinction of the world's languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Baoill, Ó, Colm (2010). A history of Gaelic to 1800. In Watson, Moray & Macleod, Michelle (eds.), Edinburgh companion to the Gaelic language, 1–21. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Office of Gaelic Affairs (2018). Our community. Online: https://gaelic.novascotia.ca/community; accessed October 15, 2018.Google Scholar
Ó hIfearnáin, Tadhg (2002). Doimhne an dúchais: éagsúlacht san aistriú teanga i gCeap Breatainn na hAlban Nua. Taighde agus teagasc 2:62–91.Google Scholar
Oliver, James (2002). Young people and Gaelic in Scotland: Identity dynamics in a European region. Sheffield: University of Sheffield dissertation.Google Scholar
Oliver, James (2005). Gaelic and identities in Scotland: Contexts and contingencies. Scottish Affairs 51:1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oliver, James (2006). Where is Gaelic? Revitalisation, language, culture and identity. In McLeod, Wilson (ed.), Revitalising Gaelic in Scotland, 155–68. Edinburgh: Dunedin Academic Press.Google Scholar
O'Rourke, Bernadette, & Ramallo, Fernando (2013). Competing ideologies of linguistic authority amongst new speakers in contemporary Galicia. Language in Society 42:287–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Rourke, Bernadette; Pujolar, Joan; & Ramallo, Fernando (2015). New speakers of minority languages: The challenging opportunity – foreword. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 231:1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pujolar, Joan, & Gonzàlez, Isaac (2013). Linguistic ‘mudes’ and the de-ethnicization of language choice in Catalonia. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 16:138–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richards, Eric (2007). Debating the Highland Clearances. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Romaine, Suzanne (2000). Language in society: An introduction to sociolinguistics. 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Romaine, Suzanne (2006). Planning for the survival of linguistic diversity. Language Policy 5:441–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Romaine, Suzanne (2008). Linguistic diversity, sustainability, and the future of the past. In King, Kendal, Schilling-Estes, Natalie, Fogle, Lyn, Lou, Jia Jackie, & Soukup, Barbara (eds.), Sustaining linguistic diversity: Endangered and minority languages and varieties, 7–21. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Romaine, Suzanne (2013). The bilingual and multilingual community. In Bhatia, Tej K. & Ritchie, William C. (eds.), The handbook of bilingualism and multilingualism, 2nd edn., 445–65. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Saville-Troike, Muriel (2003). The ethnography of communication: An introduction. 3rd edn. Oxford: Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scottish Government (2014). Consultation paper on a Gaelic medium education bill Edinburgh: Scottish Government.Google Scholar
Shaw, John (1977). Bithidh iad a’ moladh na Gàidhlig, ach ‘sann anns a’ Bheurla. West Highland Free Press, 23 September.Google Scholar
Silverstein, Michael (1979). Language structure and linguistic ideology. In Cline, Paul R., Hanks, William, & Hofbauer, Carol (eds.), The elements: A parasession on linguistic units and levels, 193–247. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada (2015). National household survey profile: Nova Scotia 2011. Online: https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/dp-pd/prof/; accessed December 13, 2017.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada (2017). 2011 Census: Detailed mother-tongue – Nova Scotia. Online: https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/; accessed December 14, 2017.Google Scholar
Ushioda, Ema (2011). Language learning motivation, self and identity: Current theoretical perspectives. Computer Assisted Language Learning 24:199–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valdés, Guadalupe; Gonzàlez, Sonia V.; García;, Dania L. & Márquez, Patricio (2008). Heritage languages and ideologies of language. In Brinton, Donna M., Kagan, Olga, & Bauckus, Susan (eds.), Heritage language education: A new field emerging, 107–30. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Watson, Seumas, & Ivey, Marlene (2016). Nàisean cultarach nan Gàidheal: Ath-chruthachadh tìr-dhùthchasaich ann an Albainn Nuaidh. In McLeod, Wilson, Gunderloch, Anja, & Dunbar, Rob (eds.), Rannsachadh na Gàidhlig 8, 183–94. Edinburgh: Dunedin Academic Press.Google Scholar
Withers, Charles W. J. (1984). Gaelic in Scotland 1698–1981: The geographical history of a language. Edinburgh: J. Donald.Google Scholar
4
Cited by

Save article to Kindle

To save this article to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

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

Save article to Dropbox

To save this article to your Dropbox account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you used this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your Dropbox account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

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

Save article to Google Drive

To save this article to your Google Drive account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you used this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your Google Drive account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

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

Reply to: Submit a response

Please enter your response.

Your details

Please enter a valid email address.

Conflicting interests

Do you have any conflicting interests? *