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Language policies on the ground: Parental language management in urban Galician homes Anik Nandi, MA (English), MPhil (Linguistics) A Dissertation submitted of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Languages. Heriot-Watt University School of Social Sciences Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies November 2016 The copyright in this thesis is owned by the author. Any quotation from the thesis or use of any of the information contained in it must acknowledge this thesis as the source of the quotation or information. Abstract Recent language policy and planning research reveals how policy-makers endorse the interests of dominant social groups, marginalise minority languages and perpetuate systems of sociolinguistic inequality. In the Castilian-dominated Galician linguistic landscape, this study examines the rise of grassroots level actors or agents (i.e. parents, family members, and other speakers of minority Galician) who play a significant role in interpreting and implementing language policy on the ground. The primary focus of this study is to investigate the impact of top-down language policies inside home domain, it looks at how the individual linguistic practices and ideologies of Galician parents act as visible and/or invisible language planning measures influencing their children’s language learning. However, these individual linguistic ideologies and language management decisions are difficult to detect because they are implicit, subtle, informal, and often hidden from the public eye, and therefore, frequently overlooked by language policy researchers and policy makers. Drawing from multiple ethnographic research methods including observations, in-depth fieldwork interviews, focus group discussions and family language audits with thirty-two Galician parents, this study attempts to ascertain whether these parents can restore intergenerational transmission of Galician and if their grassroots level interrogation of the dominant discourse could lead to bottom-up language policies. Keywords: Galician, bottom-up language policies, family language policy, language management, bilingualism. i Acknowledgements I take this opportunity to express my deep sense of gratitude to my primary supervisor Prof. Bernadette O’Rourke. Her encouragement, able guidance, insightful comments, patience and constant support from the initial to the final level enabled me to develop a proper understanding of the research area and helped me in finishing this study on time. I heartily thank my second supervisor Prof. Máiréad Nic Craith, for her excellent guidance in the conduct of my study. As a James-Watt scholarship holder between 2012-15, I acknowledge my deepest gratitude to the School of Management and Languages of Heriot- Watt University for funding this project. I would also like to express thanks to my colleagues at the Dept. of Language and Intercultural studies (LINCS) where I developed as a researcher. I am grateful to eminent Galician sociolinguist Prof. Xosé Henrique Monteagudo Romero for his enthusiasm, detailed comments and recommendations since the commencement of this study. It is an honour for me to express sincere thanks to distinguished Galician Scholar Dr. Fernando Ramallo for his lucid explanations on several sociolinguistic issues of Galicia. Words are inadequate in offering my thanks to my intimate friend Dr. Ashvin I. Devasundaram who always helped me with his valuable suggestions and comments. I am also greatly indebted to Dr. David Casales Johnson, Dr. Francis M. Hult, Dr. Gabriel Rei Doval, Dr. Ibon Manterola, Dr. Alba Alonso Álvarez for enriching my preliminary observations through their valuable comments. My extended thanks to Valentín Garcia Gomez, the General Secretary of Language Policy of the Xunta de Galicia (Government of Galicia) for his unconditional help during the intial phase of this study. Being an external collaborator of the Instituto da Lingua Galega, I acknowledge further my indebtedness to the Secretary of the Institute, Dr. Xulio Sousa and my other colleagues in the same organisation for their unconditional and unstinted support. I would like to specially thank my fellow researcher from ILG, Alba Aguete for helping me with the transcriptions in Galician. I am also thankful to my close friends Xurxo Salgado, Iñigo M. Riobó, Facundo Reyna and Amal Kiran Prasad for their immense support throughout this journey. I shall be failing in my duty if I do not express my gratitude to all my participants who shared their lived experiences with me and allowed me to look into their daily linguistic practices. Last, but not least, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my parents for their blessings and encouragement to pursue my interests, even when the interest went ahead of the territorial boundaries of language and topography. ii Dedicated to my parents iii ACADEMIC REGISTRY Research Thesis Submission Name: ANIK NANDI School: School of Social Sciences Version: (i.e. First, First Degree Sought: PhD (Languages) Resubmission, Final) Declaration In accordance with the appropriate regulations I hereby submit my thesis and I declare that: 1) the thesis embodies the results of my own work and has been composed by myself 2) where appropriate, I have made acknowledgement of the work of others and have made reference to work carried out in collaboration with other persons 3) the thesis is the correct version of the thesis for submission and is the same version as any electronic versions submitted*. 4) my thesis for the award referred to, deposited in the Heriot-Watt University Library, should be made available for loan or photocopying and be available via the Institutional Repository, subject to such conditions as the Librarian may require 5) I understand that as a student of the University I am required to abide by the Regulations of the University and to conform to its discipline. 6) I confirm that the thesis has been verified against plagiarism via an approved plagiarism detection application e.g. Turnitin. * Please note that it is the responsibility of the candidate to ensure that the correct version of the thesis is submitted. Signature of Date: Candidate: Submission Submitted By (name in capitals): Signature of Individual Submitting: Date Submitted: For Completion in the Student Service Centre (SSC) Received in the SSC by (name in capitals): Method of Submission (Handed in to SSC; posted through internal/external mail): E-thesis Submitted (mandatory for final theses) Signature: Date: iv Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ iii List of figures ............................................................................................................... viii List of pictures ............................................................................................................... ix List of acronyms in alphabetical order ............................................................................ x Chapter 1: Introdction 1.1. Why study the role of human agency in language policy? ........................................ 1 1.2. Research questions .................................................................................................... 6 1.3. The Galician sociolinguistic context: a present day perspective .............................. 8 1.4. The setting: a sketch of the research sites ............................................................... 10 1.5. Structure of the dissertation .................................................................................... 14 1.6. Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 17 Chapter 2: Language policy and planning: A critical perspective 2.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 18 2.2. The field of LPP research: situating the study ........................................................ 19 2.3. Defining language policy and planning: overt and covert ...................................... 21 2.4. Language planning .................................................................................................. 29 2.5. Language education policies: school as an LPP mechanism .................................. 32 2.6. Knowledge/power nexus: counter-elites’ role as LPP arbitrators ........................... 35 2.7. Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 41 Chapter 3: Speakers as stakeholders: Role of parental agency in framing bottom-up LPP 3.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 42 3.2. Family language policy: a semi-planned and jointly developed endeavour ........... 45 3.2.1 Language ideology ....................................................................................... 49 3.2.2 Language management ................................................................................. 50 3.2.3 Language practices ....................................................................................... 53 3.3. The role of Children’s agency in FLP .................................................................... 54 3.4. Conclusion .............................................................................................................