social media in bilingual environments: online practices of frisian/dutch teenagers lysbeth...

Social media in Bilingual Environments: online

practices of Frisian/Dutch teenagers

Lysbeth Jongbloed-Faber

In cooperation with:

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Maslow’s hierarchy of needs 2.0

Introduction

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Overview• Introduction• Research description• Literature• Twitter research• Questionnaire• Future plans• Discussion

Introduction

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Fryslân• Province of The Netherlands• 627,000 inhabitants• Frysk (Frisian) 2nd official language• 54% mothertongue Frisian

Frisian teenagers• 50,000 teenagers• 50% mothertongue Frisian

Introduction

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Young Frisians (18-29 years)

• Understanding Frisian 82% well – 93% reasonably

• Speaking Frisian 62% well – 71% reasonably• Reading Frisian 46% well – 77% reasonably• Writing Frisian 11% well – 33% reasonably

Source: provinsje Fryslân, fluchhifking Fryske taal, 2011

Introduction

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Dutch teenagers

• 97% have a computer with internet connection

• 76% have a smartphone with internet connection

• 95% is active on social media• 65% are 24/7 online through their smartphone • >50% consider internet to be indispensable

Source: Jongeren lijden aan Social Media Stress (2012) / CBS (2013) Introduction

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Social media usage Dutch teenagers (15-20 years)

• 87% use Facebook – 65% daily• 82% use YouTube• 54% use Twitter – 35% daily

source: newcom.nl (January 2013)

Introduction

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It is said that…..

• Since the upswing of social media, Frisian youth is writing more in Frisian

• Supposedly they are writing Frisian phonetically

Introduction

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Research question

To what extent do social networks influence language use by Frisian teenagers aged 14-18 years?

Research description

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Methods

• Literature research• Twitter research• Online questionnaire through

schools and social media

Research description

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Literature 1/2

• Ó Riagáin et al. (2008) & Cunliffe et al. (2013):Teenage years crucial period for attitudes towards a minority language

Literature

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Literature 2/2

• Jones and Morris (2005):Tendancy by Welsh speaking persons to switch their conversation to English as soon as non-Welsh speakers join them

• Cunliffe et al. (2013):Language use on social networks reflects the language of real-world communities

• Jones et al. (2013):Intended audience influences choice of language

Literature

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Twitter research

• April 18th 2013: Frisian Twitterday • Almost 10,000 tweets with #frysk

Research• Selection of 50 teenagers• Analysis of 6,019 tweets

Twitter research

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Research questionWhat is the language use in tweets of adolescents aged 14-18 years who used the hashtag frysk during the Frisian Twitterday?

Subquestions:1. Ratio Frisian – Dutch2. Variables of influence 3. Frisian language use4. Influence of the #Frysk campaign

Twitter research

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Ratio Frisian - Dutch

Table 1. Language use of Frisian teenagers

Twitter research

Language Before Twitterday

On Twitterday

After Twitterday

Mostly Frisian

12% 53% 13%

Mostly Dutch

65% 29% 63%

Mostly English

8% 4% 8%

Other 15% 14% 16%

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Variables of influence on language use: audience

Table 2. Share of Frisian messages

Twitter research

Language Before Twitterday

On Twitterday

After Twitterday

Public self-generated messages

8% 53% 9%

Addressed messages (@)

25% 47% 26%

Retweets 4% 58% 4%

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Variables of influence on language use: gender

Table 3. Share of Frisian messages

Twitter research

Language Before Twitterday

On Twitterday

After Twitterday

Male (n=24) 16% 61% 18%Female (n=26)

9% 42% 9%

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Frequency of Frisian tweets

Twitter research

More than once a day

at least once every two days

at least once a week

at least once a month

less often never0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

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Frisian language use 1/5

• Often phonetical spelling– /ɔ/ written as o instead of a: mon

(man), dot (dat), ol (al)– silent letters omitted: wost (wolst),

kist (kinst), dost (dochst)– ‘broken’ diphtongs: jer (hear), skwalle

(skoalle), gjit (giet)

Twitter research

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Frisian language use 2/5

• Use of Dutch-isms (lexical)– erch (= slim)– vriendintsje (= freondin)

• Use of Dutch-isms (syntactic)– Heit powerpoint litte sjen (= Heit

powerpoint sjen litte)

Twitter research

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Frisian language use 3/5

• Dialect instead of standard language– harre, hewwe (hawwe)– mut (moat), fut (fuort)– hij, wij, mij (hy, wy, my)

Twitter research

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Frisian language use 4/5

• Twitter language and acronyms– sws (sawysa, sowieso)– ff (’effe’, efkes)– gm (goodmorning/goeiemoarn)– btw (by the way)– 1en (‘ienen’)

Twitter research

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Frisian language use 5/5

• Code switching:– ik kin de kneepjes von 't vak

onderhands wol– Dus jim hawwe nog een wieke von

dot dodelijk saaie examen training? – Seker fja herhaling vatbaar.

Twitter research

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Questionnaires • Planning: start last week of October• Through schools and social media:

– Target: min. 1,000 participants– Representative for Frisian teenagers

• Questions:– Demographic data– Frysk as mothertongue– Language use in different contexts– Use of social media– Language use on social media

Questionnaires

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Future plans

• Finish this research spring 2014• International cooperation and

comparison in the field of language use on social media in bilingual environments

• More research about other target groups

Future plans

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Discussion statement 1

The phonetic spelling of Frisian on Twitter shows that minority languages should

be simplified in order to keep new generations interested.

Discussion

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Discussion statement 2

The EU should oblige (and subsidize) social media to

make their platforms/applications

available in all recognised minority languages in the EU

before 2015.Discussion

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Discussion statement 3

Teachers should be encouraged to use social media use as a tool for

instruction.

Discussion

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Discussion statement 4

Social media is a threat to minority languages

Discussion

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Any more questions?

Discussion

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Question

What is in your opinion the best way to ask for minority language use in a questionnaire?

- Shares, how detailed?- Frequency of minority language use- In comparison with majority languages

Discussion

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ljongbloed@fryske-akademy.nl

Closure