Bernadette O'Rourke

Competing ideologies of linguistic authority amongst new speakers in contemporary Galicia

While in many indigenous minority-language situations traditional native speaker communities are in decline, new speakers are emerging in the context of revitalization policies. Such policies, however, can have unforeseen consequences and lead to tensions between newcomers and existing speakers over questions of ownership, legitimacy, and authenticity. This article examines these tensions in the case of Galician in northwestern 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 the legitimate speakers of Galician, who has authority, and the potential tensions that such questions generate. To illustrate the tensions and paradoxes that new and native speakers face in this postrevitalization context, we draw on three discussion groups consisting of sixteen young Galicians. (New speakers, authority, authenticity, minority languages, Galician) *

Whose Language Is It? Struggles for Language Ownership in an Irish Language Classroom.

The purpose of this article 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 that emerge between so-called native, or L1, and nonnative, 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 that 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.

New speakers of minority languages: the challenging opportunity – Foreword

In this special issue we examine and reflect upon the emergence of “new speak ers” in the context of some of Europe’s minority languages. The “new speaker” label is used here to describe individuals with little or no home or community exposure to a minority language but who instead acquire it through immersion or bilingual educational programs, revitalization projects or as adult language learners. The emergence of this profile of speaker draws our attention to the ways in which minority linguistic communities are changing because of globalization and the new profiles of speakers that this new social order is creating. The concept also focuses our attention on some of the fundamental principles which had for a long time been taken for granted in much sociolinguistic research and in particular, language planning associated with linguistic revitalization (O’Rourke and Pujolar 2013). The authors of the eight articles included in this issue engage with these issues through their analyses of new speaker communities across a variety of European contexts including the Basque Country, Brittany, Catalonia, Corsica, Galicia, Ireland, the Isle of Man and Occitania.

New speakers of Irish: shifting boundaries across time and space

Abstract While traditional Irish-speaking communities continue to decline, the number of second-language speakers outside of the Gaeltacht has increased. Of the more than one and half million speakers of Irish just over 66,000 now live in one of the officially designated Gaeltacht areas. While “new speakers” can be seen to play an important role in the future of the language, this role is sometimes undermined by discourses which idealise the notion of the traditional Gaeltacht speaker. Such discourses can be used to deny them “authenticity” as “real” or “legitimate” speakers, sometimes leading to struggles over language ownership. Concerns about linguistic purity are often voiced in both academic and public discourse, with the more hybridized forms of Irish developed amongst “new speakers” often criticised. This article looks at the extent to which such discourses are being internalised by new speakers of Irish and whether or not they are constructing an identity as a distinct social and linguistic group based on what it means to be an Irish speaker in the twenty first century.

Neofalantes as an active minority: understanding language practices and motivations for change amongst new speakers of Galician

Abstract In this article we use Moscovicis (1976) notion of active minorities as a framework to explain the linguistic practices and motivations behind linguistic change amongst new speakers of Galician. Revitalization policies since the 1980s brought about changes in the symbolic and economic value of Galician on the linguistic market. However, this has not been significant enough to change the rules of social mobility and Spanish has continued to be the language of prestige. Despite this, neofalantes ‘new speakers of Galician’ have opted for linguistic change and engage in the process of majority language displacement. We argue that this displacement can at least in part be explained by a move away from functionalist models of language contact and shift and towards an understanding of these processes from a language conflict perspective. This allows us to explain the practices of neofalantes as not simply deviations from the sociolinguistic “status quo” but as reactions to it and as proponents of social change. To explore the behavioural styles and practices of neofalantes as an active minority, we analyse the discourses which emerge from discussion groups involving twelve new speakers of Galician about their sociolinguistic practices.

New speakers of Gaelic: perceptions of linguistic authenticity and appropriateness

Abstract This 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.

Expressing Identity Through Lesser-used Languages: Examples from the Irish and Galician Contexts

This paper looks at the degree and way in which lesser-used languages are used as expressions of identity, focusing specifically on two of Europes 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.

Language-learning holidays: what motivates people to learn a minority language?

ABSTRACT In this article, we examine the experiences of 18 Galician language learners who participated in what Garland [(2008). The minority language and the cosmopolitan speaker: Ideologies of Irish language learners (Unpublished PhD thesis). University of California, Santa Barbara] refers to as a ‘language-learning holiday’ in Galicia in north-western Spain. We examine what motivates these learners to travel abroad to study Galician and in some cases to become new speakers of this minoritised language. We explore the ideologies and practices of these students, who as edutourists [Yarymowich, (2005). ‘Language tourism’ in Canada. A mixed discourse. In F. Baider, M. Burger, & D. Goutsos (Eds.), La Communication touristique. Approches discursives de l’identité et de l’alterité (pp. 257-273). Paris: L’Harmattan], are the targets and potential consumers of cultural and linguistic commodification. We explore the ways in which students themselves commodify Galician culture and language, in their attempts to capture what they perceive as an authentic learning experience and as a means of accessing a minoritised linguistic and cultural group.

Comparing “new speakers” across language contexts: mobility and motivations: Introduction

In this Special Issue, we describe and analyse the practices and ideologies of ‘new speakers’ of minority languages. The ‘new speaker’ label is used to describe individuals with little or no home or community exposure to a minority language but who instead acquire it through immersion or bilingual educational programmes, revitalisation projects or as adult language learners (O’Rourke, Pujolar, and Ramallo 2015). Dominant discourses in linguistics and its associated strands have tended to prioritise native speech over learner varieties. In applied linguistics, native speech has often been presented to learners as the only authentic and desirable variety (Davies 2003). The revitalisation of minority languages has been framed within a preservationist rhetoric often with little tolerance for linguistic innovation or transgressive practices such as code-switching, translanguaging or hybridisation (O’Rourke and Pujolar 2013). Work on new speakers has been informed by a theoretical framework which critiques such an approach to language revitalisation. Drawing on the work of Romaine (2006), Jaffe (1999), King (2001) and others, we would argue that revitalisation does not necessarily mean bringing the language back to its former use but taking it forward to new uses and practices. The authors of the seven articles included in this volume engage with these issues through their analyses of new speaker practices and processes across a range of contexts. Many of the ongoing discussions in contemporary debates around new speakerness underline the challenges faced when defining the concept of ‘new speaker’. The question arises as to whether this should be understood primarily as an analytical concept or as a tool for categorising speakers, raising concerns over how or whether to define boundaries between ‘old’ and ‘new’ speakers and between ‘new’ speakers and ‘learners’. While the ‘new speaker’ label can be seen as an attempt to move beyond what have often been considered problematic notions (e.g. ‘learners’, ‘L2 speakers’ or ‘non-native speakers’), we recognise that similar to such labels, it is not itself without problems. It could be asked, for instance, when does the new speaker cease to be ‘new’? Is it when he or she has learned the target language to what is considered advanced competence and ‘passes’ (Piller 2002) as a native speaker? Can native speakers who use post-traditional features also be classified as ‘new speakers’? And more importantly, who has the authority to decide? Is it within the realm of a language authority or are these decisions made by speakers themselves? Rather than setting boundaries between ‘native’ and ‘non-native’ speakers and categorising speakers into discrete units, we see ‘new speakerness’ as a lens through which to analyse the contemporary dynamics of multilingual communities and their speakers, rather than a precise concept which can be used to typologise highly complex social groups. As such we see ‘new speakerness’ as a process which comprises a continuum of different new speaker profiles. This becomes part of a wider conceptualisation for all types of speakers to include ‘traditional’ speakers or ‘new’ speakers, etc. In this Special Issue, therefore, we are careful to present ‘new speakerness’ as a theoretical lens and not as a label to be imposed on the speakers themselves. Drawing on the work of Rosch (1978) and Taylor ([1989] 1995), we argue that concepts can

Just use it! Linguistic conversion and identities of resistance amongst Galician new speakers

ABSTRACT In recent years there has been a focus in language policy research on understanding how national policies are interpreted and negotiated by social actors on the ground. This paper looks at the interplay between government and grassroots initiatives to create Galician-speaking spaces in predominantly Spanish-speaking urban settings. While official language policies in Galicia since the 1980s have increased the potential for language use through bilingual educational policies, these policies have failed to convert the large pool of potential speakers amongst a younger generation of Galicians into active language users. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews with Galician neofalantes (new speakers) this paper looks at instances where such policies seem to have worked and where the linguistic capacity created through the education system has been converted into active language use. The article examines how such speakers rationalise their practice of linguistic conversion not as success stories of language policy but as reactions to and dissatisfaction with what is perceived as ‘top-down’ governmentality through a reflexive process in which existing power structures are brought into question. The article looks specifically as the ideologies underpinning their decisions to become active speakers and the role they play as language planners in contemporary Galicia.