A Model for the Implementation of Non-Formal Language Acquisition in Language Revitalization: the Case Study of Irish
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A Model for the Implementation Of Non-Formal Language Acquisition In Language Revitalization: The Case Study of Irish Anne Beltman 12299448 MA Thesis Language and Society University of Amsterdam Supervisor: prof. F. Gobbo 06-08-2019 Acknowledgements I would like to thank Prof. dr. Gobbo, my thesis supervisor, for his guidance throughout this project. In agreeing to take on this project, he has taught me a lot about sociolinguistics, but also about academia itself. I would like to thank my friends and family for all their support, for proofreading all the drafts I sent and calming me down in cases of panic. Finally, my thanks to Fien, Kim, Zach and Jenna for being there always. 2 Abstract Non-formal language acquisition (NFLA) is language acquisition that is embedded in planned activities that are not explicitly designated as learning and is intentional from the learner’s point of view (Colardyn & Bjornavold, 2004). Using existing frameworks, a model was created to test whether a threatened language has enough support to implement NFLA- based programs, in order to help revitalization of the language. To test the proposed model, it has been applied to Irish. From this case study, it can be concluded that while the model provides a good basis, there are still improvements to be made. 3 Table of contents 1. Introduction 6 1.1. Background 6 1.2. Relevance 7 1.3. Research question 8 2. Methodology 10 3. Theoretical Background 11 3.1 Non-formal language acquisition 11 3.2 Terminology 12 3.3 Language Revitalization 12 3.4 Frameworks 14 3.4.1. GIDS and E-GIDS 14 3.4.2. Edwards’ typology of minority-language settings 17 3.4.3. The Digital Language Vitality Scale 18 3.5. Concluding remarks 19 4. Proposed Model 20 4.1. Factors used 20 4.2. Coding 22 4.3. How to use the model 24 4.3.1. Example of the application of the model 24 5. Case Study: Irish 27 5.1. Historical Overview of the Irish language 27 5.1.1. Decline 27 5.1.2. Current situation 28 5.2 Revitalization 29 5.2.1. Early revitalization (1892 – 1999) 29 5.2.2. Revitalization 2000-2010 29 5.2.3. Revitalization after 2010 30 5.3 Application of the model 31 6. Discussion 36 6.1. Discussion of the model 36 6.2. Case study 37 6.3. Research Question 37 6.4. Limitations of the study 37 6.5. Further research 38 6.6. Concluding remarks 38 7. References 39 4 8. Webography 42 9. Appendix A - Scoresheets 43 9.1. LVE scoresheet 43 9.2. Digital Language Vitality scoresheet 45 5 1. Introduction 1.1. Background In education, a distinction can be made between three different forms of learning: formal, informal and non-formal. Formal learning consists of all learning that takes place in institutional settings, while non-formal and informal learning both consist of learning taking place outside of institutional settings. The difference between these two forms is that non- formal learning is intentional from the learners’ perspective, while informal learning is not intentional (Colardyn and Bjornavold, 2004b). These forms of learning can also be applied to the learning of languages. Formal language learning is language education in a classroom setting, by (qualified) teachers. The informal learning of language is for example the learning of words from television, while non-formal language learning is for example someone learning a language with the help of a textbook, but not in a classroom setting. In the last three decades, there have been several significant developments in technology, which has had major consequences for non-formal language acquisition. For example, the Internet being more accessible to people everywhere made online language learning more accessible (Colardyn and Bjornavold, 2004b). Nowadays, the main examples of non-formal language acquisition are websites and apps like Duolingo, Busuu, Memrise or the aptly named Rosetta Stone. These apps all share the fact that the learning is noncommittal. Users can learn at their own pace, skip lessons they find unimportant, or repeat previous lessons as frequently as they like. Apps like Duolingo offer established languages with millions of speakers worldwide like Spanish and English, but also languages that are considered endangered, or minority languages, like Irish, Welsh, Catalan and even Navajo (“Duolingo”, March 12th, 2019). According to the website, 973.000 users are actively learning Irish, and 330.000 users are actively learning Welsh (“Duolingo”, March 12th, 2019). Compared to the last recorded number of speakers, 1.2 million and 570.000 respectively (Eberhard, Simon and Fennig, 2018), these are staggering numbers. While this proves that there is a significant number of learners of these languages, the question is whether all these learners will eventually become speakers, and if so, what type of speaker they will become. Gobbo (2019) identifies several types of speakers: old fluent speakers, young fluent speakers, semi speakers, terminal speakers, ghost speakers, neo-speakers and rememberers. The first two types, old fluent speakers and young fluent speakers are speakers who experience no language loss due to an abundance of conversation partners. The third type, semi speakers, are speakers who have (some) receptive skills, but little to no productive skills. The fourth type consists of terminal speakers, who have limited receptive and productive skills. Type 5 is ghost speakers, speakers who are fluent in a language, but deny having this knowledge. Revitalization programs can cause two new types of speakers to emerge: neo-speakers and remembers. Neo-speakers are speakers who identified as semi or terminal speakers, but who have regained both receptive and productive skills throughout the revitalization program. Finally, remembers are speakers who reacquire their language after a long period of severe language loss (Gobbo, 2019). Language revitalization can be seen as mainly focusing on two important issues: 1) it aims to increase the number of speakers, and 2) it ensures that these speakers transmit the language to the next generation (intergenerational language transmission) (Fishman, 2001). Non- formal language acquisition can be used to achieve the first goal to increase the number of speakers in two ways. First, it can introduce the language to new learners, people with no knowledge of the language but who are interested in learning. Second, it can help semi- 6 speakers or ghost-speakers to reacquire or improve their language capabilities (Gobbo, 2019). This implies that the effect of language revitalization is dependent, among other factors, on the type of speaker the program targets, but also the type of speaker it creates. Ideally, a program would create young fluent speakers, as this is necessary for intergenerational language transmission. The question we can draw from this, is how can non-formal language acquisition help with revitalizing a language? 1.2. Relevance When the mainstream usage of internet began, in 1998, there was virtually no online linguistic diversity: 75% of all webpages were in English, 11% was in Spanish, French, Polish, German or Portuguese, and the final 14% of webpages were in all the other languages of the world combined. This changed rapidly: in 2005, only 45% of all webpages were in English. Spanish, French, Polish, German and Portuguese together accounted for 21% and the category ‘Rest’ now made up 34% (Pimento, Prado & Blanco, 2009). Still, the online linguistic diversity is growing. Major websites like Google are available in more and more languages, not just in official languages, but also in languages that have for a very long time lacked official support, such as Maori ("Languages - Google Translate", n.d.). Large media corporations acknowledge non-standard languages, such as the BBC with its decision to start broadcasting services in Pidgin in West-Africa ("BBC Pidgin service launched in Nigeria", 2017). Additionally, to support the online presence of languages with different characters or scripts than English, the Unicode Standard was developed. This standard, developed by the Unicode Consortium, consists of a database with encodings for all characters from all written languages, where each unique character is assigned a unique code. This can then be used to encode multilingual plain text, which is useful when text files are exchanged internationally ("The Unicode® Standard: A Technical Introduction", 2018). There are also scientific efforts to promote online linguistic diversity. The Digital Language Diversity Project (DLDP) was created to “advance the sustainability of Europe’s regional and minority languages in the digital world by empowering their speakers with the knowledge and abilities to create and share content on digital devices using their minority languages” (www.dldp.eu, April 13th 2019). The project focused on four major points of action. The first goal was to acquire information about the actual linguistic diversity in Europe in general, and more specific information about the digital use of Basque, Breton, Karelian and Sardinian. This was achieved through the creation and distribution of a survey on digital use and usability of regional and minority languages. The second goal was to develop a training program that could be applied throughout Europe, which would stimulate speakers of regional and minority languages to create both digital content as well as language learning materials in their language. In addition, the project created so-called ‘Digital Language Survival Kits’. These Kits are tools for speakers of regional and minority languages who wish to make their language fit for digital use. They contain recommendations on this process, such as possible challenges or difficulties and advice on available aids, as well as a tool to self- assess the digital fitness of the language. Finally, the fourth objective was to create ‘A Roadmap to digital language diversity’. This document, mainly aimed at policy-makers and other stakeholders, outlines challenges that languages face and gives solutions for these challenges, in order to create more digital language diversity in Europe ("Project | The Digital Language Diversity Project", n.d.).