Mackenzie, Gordon H. (2018) Minority Language
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MacKenzie, Gordon H. (2018) Minority language media, status planning & linguistic attitudes in Scotland: the sociolinguistic impact of the Gaelic television channel - BBC Alba. MLitt(R) thesis. https://theses.gla.ac.uk/30737/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Minority Language Media, Status Planning & Linguistic Attitudes in Scotland: the sociolinguistic impact of the Gaelic television channel - BBC Alba Gòrdan Hamaltan MacCoinnich / Gordon Hamilton MacKenzie BA; MRes Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Letters (MLitt) School of Humanities College of Arts University of Glasgow August 2018 1 Abstract Minority Language Media, Status Planning & Linguistic Attitudes in Scotland: the sociolinguistic impact of the Gaelic Television channel - BBC Alba This thesis mixes the disciplines of sociolinguistics, media and minority language studies. Over the past decade the availability and prominence of Gaelic television in Scotland has significantly increased through the launch of Scotland’s first stand-alone Scottish Gaelic television channel – BBC Alba. The presence of Minority Language Media (MLM) is popularly considered as an important element of efforts at maintaining and revitalising minority languages, however the ways in which the language in question actually benefits is keenly debated but still largely unknown. Studies by Moriarty (2007) showed that is media impact upon minority language indirect and is mediated through language attitudes whilst De. Bres (2008) discovered that MLM normalises the language amongst the majority language dominated society through promotion of positive attitudes and behaviours. This study concentrates on viewers of BBC Alba, sampling a sports viewing population. The study deploys a mixed method approach of both qualitative and quantitative methods. The quantitative element revealed stronger correlations between attitudinal positivity and favourability towards Gaelic than had been previously discovered in other studies such as (West & Graham: 2011) and O’ Hanlon & Paterson (2012). The qualitative element revealed strong connections to issues of identity and Gaelic, whilst the promotion of Gaelic services especially Gaelic-medium education were topics of repeated participant discussion. Analysis of the overall data concludes that exposure to Gaelic television by the majority language population raises the status of the language in wider society, promoting a healthy acceptance of bilingualism in Scottish society ultimately fostering an improved linguistic environment for Scottish Gaelic to be sustained for future generations. 2 Table of Contents Title Page ......................................................................................................... 1 Abstract ............................................................................................................ 2 Buidheachas (Acknowledgements) ................................................................. 7 Author’s Declaration ......................................................................................... 8 Abbreviations .................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 1 - Introduction ................................................................... 10 1.1 Minority Language Media ......................................................................... 10 1.2 – The Gaelic language in Scotland ................................................ 11 1.2.1 - Gaelic maintenance and revitalisation in Scotland ......... 11 1.2.2 - Scottish Gaelic Television, Reversing Language Shift (RLS) & Status Planning ................................................................................ 14 1.3 – Specific Research Focus and Selected Cohort .......................... 16 1.4 - Aims and Objectives ................................................................... 18 1.5 - Choice of Research Cohort ......................................................... 18 1.6 - Thesis Outline .............................................................................. 19 Chapter 2 – Literature Review ....................................................... 22 2.1 – Theoretical Framework - Attitudes & Identities .................................. 22 2.1.1 - Introduction ............................................................................. 22 2.1.2 - Linguistic Attitudes .................................................................... 22 2.1.3 - Linguistic Status ...................................................................... 25 2.1.4 - Attitudes towards Gaelic in Scotland ........................................ 26 2.1.5 - Gaelic identities: Gaeldom, Gàidhealtachd & Scotland............. 29 2.2 - The role of the media in ‘Reversing Language Shift’ (RLS)…....31 2.2.1 - Introduction .............................................................................. 31 2.2.2 - Media’s contribution to RLS: competing standpoints ............... 32 2.2.3 - Minority Language Media Research ......................................... 33 2.2.4 - Minority language media & RLS - a transnational perspective . 34 2.2.5 - Social impact research conducted on Gaelic television ............ 38 2.2.6 - Dearth of research in the comparative Scottish Gaelic context 39 2.3 - Gaelic media in Scotland ...................................................................... 41 2.3.1 - Background to Gaelic media .................................................... 41 3 2.3.2 - Gaelic media - Foundations of BBC Alba ................................ 42 2.3.5 - Remit, Development, Structure, Governance, Funding & Audience .............................................................................................. 43 2.3.5.1 - Remit ......................................................................... 43 2.3.5.2 - Audience .................................................................... 44 2.3.6 - Audio-visual Translation (Subtitling) and Dubbing ......... 45 2.3.6.1 - Function of subtitling…………………………………….46 2.3.6.2 - Audience Requirements: subtitling for whom? .......... 47 2.3.6.3 - To what extent is the ‘Gaelic channel’ operating as a Gaelic language channel ........................................................... 48 2.3.7.1 - Governance ................................................................ 49 2.3.7.2 - Responsibilities of the Chief Executive BBC Alba & the MG Alba Board ....................................................... 50 2.3.7.3 - Collaboration agreement between MG Alba and the BBC in terms of management: the Joint Management Board ... 50 2.3.7.4 - Progress in governance: greater involvement of the public through the BBC Audience Council ................................ 51 2.4.1 - Minority Language Media in Scotland ....................................... 51 2.4.2 - The Indirect Impact of Minority Language Television................ 53 2.4.3 - Language promotion through direct advertising ....................... 54 2.4.4 - A distinctly Scottish language salvage situation ...................... 55 2.4.5 - Is BBC Alba currently operating as quasi-national broadcaster? ....................................................................................................................... 56 2.4.6 - Status Impact ........................................................................... 58 2.5 – Literature Review - Discussion & Conclusion ........................................ 59 Chapter 3 – The Quantitative Element – Survey Questionnaire ............... 63 3.1 - Introduction ............................................................................................ 63 3.2. - Research context .................................................................................. 63 3.2.2 – Choice of method: Influencing studies ................................................ 64 3.2.3 - Research design process ....................................................... 65 3.2.3.1 - Choice of participant ......................................................................... 65 3.2.3.2 - Questionnaire Design ....................................................................... 65 4 3.2.4 – Ethics ............................................................................................ 67 3.2.5 - Participant Enrolment ..................................................................... 68 3.3 – Descriptive Data Analysis of the Survey Questionnaire .................69-108 3.4 - Qualitative Survey Data ........................................................................ 109 3.4.1 - Language learning ................................................................. 109 3.4.2 - Gaelic symbolic of Scottishness / Identity / Heritage ............. 110 3.4.3 - Attitudes towards BBC Alba .................................................... 110 3.5 - Survey Questionnaire Data Summary – key findings ................ 112 Chapter 4 – The Qualitative