Language Policies and Language Ideologies:

Comparisons between the Irish

and Galician Contexts

Dr Bernadette O’Rourke, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh

B.M.A.O’Rourke@hw.ac.uk

February 2008

Irish and Galician Contexts

Linguistic Differences

Irish - Celtic English - Germanic

7th Celtic Nation? Galician/Castilian -

Romance

Linguistic Proximity and Language Shift

Dutch to English (Clyne 1988)

‘dialectalization’ (Kloss 1967) …the politically-motivated process which occurs

when enough structural similarity exists between a dominant and a subordinate language to classify the latter variety as a substandard dialect

A language is a dialect with an army (Weinreich 1968) Power relations

Demographic Differences

Irish

1851 - 5% monolingual

1922 - 18% 2006 - 43 %

Active use 5 - 10 %

Galician

1877 - 88% monolingual

2001 - 91%

Active use 68 %

Euromosaic Definition of Minority Language

The concept of minority by reference to language groups does not refer to empirical measures, but rather, to issues of power. That is, they are language groups, conceived of social groups, marked by a specific language or culture, that exist within the wider societies and states, but which lack the political, institutional and ideological structures which can guarantee the relevance of these languages for the everyday life of members of such groups (Nelde et al 1996: 1).

‘ Who ’ speaks the language

‘ sociolinguistically naive ’ (Dorian 1981)

Profile of Galician speakers Older age group Rural Lower socio-economic groups

Language ‘ tip ’

In terms of possible routes towards language death, it would seem that a language which has been demographically highly stable for several centuries may experience a sudden ‘tip’, after which the demographic tide flows strongly in favor of some other language (Dorian 1981: 51)

‘demographic tide’ in favour of Castilian Spanish

Symptoms of language decline (Joshua Fishman 1991, 2001) Decline amongst younger generation

Intergenerational transmission of language

43.9% drop in past 50 years (MSG 1994)

Socio-political Differences

Irish Official language of

State

Privileged - ‘state ostensibly dedicated to its protection ’ (Fishman 1991)

Galician Co-official Autonomous

Community of Galicia

Spanish official language of Spanish State

Galician ‘right’, Castilian ‘obligation’

Language as symbol of political struggle

Irish context – independence ‘removed urgency’ (Paulston 1994)

Galician context - ‘militant’ form of ethnicity (Paulston 1994)

Galician Nationalist Party (Bloque Nacionalista Galego -BNG)

Galician language ---- nationalist ideologies (Iglesias 1998; O’Rourke 2005; 2006)

Increased language use

Complexity of Factors affecting Language Maintenance and Shift

Similarities

Socio-historical trajectories

Non-autochthonous centres of political, economic and cultural power

England (later Great Britain) Castile (later Spanish State)

Language stigmatised Similar socio-demographic profiles

Low-prestige Languages

Languages are seldom admired to death but are frequently despised to death (Dorian 1998)

Language policy and planning focus Raising low-prestige status Changing negative language attitudes and

ideologies Removing deep-rooted stigmas

Language Policies in Ireland and Galicia

Irish - Post-independence (1922-present)

Galician - Post-autonomy (1981-present)

Language Policies

Language policy has to do with decisions (rules, regulations, guidelines) about the status, use, domains and territories of language(s) and the rights of the speakers of the languages in question (Schiffman 2000)

What does language policy look like? Overt

Constitutions Laws White Papers

Covert Language practices Language beliefs Laws, regulations,

customary practices

Who develops language policy? Government (top-down)

Institutions (schools, businesses, hospitals etc.)

Individuals (bottom-up)

Language Policies and Language Ideologies

Assumptions and beliefs about what kind of linguistic order is beneficial for a community or nation influence the foundation of language-planning goals (Rajend et al 2000)

Language policy reflects the ideological views or orientation of society, government, institution, individual…(Schiffman 2000)

[language policy reflects]…visions of language as a resource, problem, or a rights or ideologies of linguistic pluralism… (Woolard 1998)

Irish and Galician

Overt Language Policies Top-down and Bottom-up Language Policies

Phases in Language Policy

Language Ideologies

Overt Irish Language Policy

Article 8 Irish Constitution

…the Irish language as the national language is the first official language … the English language is recognised as a second official language

Overt Galician Language PolicyArticle 3 of Spanish Constitution 1. Castilian is the first official language of the State.

All Spaniards have the duty to know it and the right to use it.

2. The other Spanish languages are also official in their respective Autonomous Communities in accordance with their Statutes.

3. The wealth of Spain’s different linguistic varieties is its cultural patrimony which will be the object of special respect and protection.

Language Policy Time Span

Irish - 1922 -present (8 decades)

Galician - 1981 - present (3 decades)

Phases in Language Policy for Irish (Ó Riagáin 1997) 1922 – 1950s Revival

1950s – 1970s Stagnation

1970s –present Laissez-faire

1922 – 1950s Revival ‘gaelicisation’

Irish key symbol construction and legitimisation of a collective national identity. education system, media and public sector.

Implicit goal - Irish-speaking country Ideology - strong intervention on part of the

state top-down control Rewards for competence in Irish

1950s – 1970s Stagnation 1965 White Paper on the Restoration of the

Irish Language ‘bilingualism’ national aim

1973 - end to compulsory passing of Irish Teaching Irish as subject Weakening of state policies Move away from authoritarian implementation of policies

Ideology De-emphasises traditional symbols of identity. Modern element - language as a ‘right ’

1970s –present Laissez-faire

Bottom-up policies Gaelscoileanna movement RnaG TnaG – TG4

...reluctance on the part of the government to clearly define policy and planning initiatives for the Irish language according (Ó Flatharta 2004)

‘ Survival ’ policies (Ó Riagáin 1997)

Recent Language Policy Initiatives The Official Languages Act 2003

First piece of legislation to provide a statutory framework for delivery of public services in Irish

Objective - ensure better availability and higher

standards of public services through Irish

A Policy Based on Individual ‘Rights’ …the more language policy singles out Irish speakers

as the target for language policies on the grounds of their rights as a minority group the less plausible it becomes to sustain existing policies to revive Irish (Tovey 1988: 67)

… the provision of state services to Irish speakers may find that such speakers do no exist in enough numbers nor are they sufficiently concentrated to meet the operational thresholds required to make the service viable (Ó Riagáin 1997)

2006 Government Statement on the Irish Language.

The aim of the 20th century government policies was to reinstate Irish as the main language spoken by the people, but the Government now plan to focus firmly on the practical development of a bilingual society where as many people as possible use both Irish and English with equal ease (Taoiseach Bertie Ahern 2006)

21 year strategy

13 objectives including... Full implementation of the Languages Act The provision of services to parents who wish to raise

their children through Irish The continued development of high quality Irish

language programmes on TV and radio Continued teaching of Irish as a subject at school Further development of all-Irish secondary schools

Language Policy in Galicia

1981- 2004 Laissez Faire

2004- present Revival

1981- 2004 Laissez Faire

Centre-right government Lukewarm policies Maintaining status quo Non-interventionist Equal co-existence of Castilian and Galician

Ideology – Harmonious bilingualism Ignores socio-historical context - Galician

subordinate Bottom-up nationalist support

2004- present Revival

2005 - change in socio-political context Galician Socialists and Galician Nationalist Party (BNG)

Ideology – Language conflict Positive discrimination 2007 – Act (Decreto 124/2007) regulating use of Galician in

education Minimum 50% subjects in Galician – maths, history,

geography, science

‘Catalan model’ – Libertad Lingüística (Linguistic Freedom)

Trends in Top-down Language Policy in Ireland and Galicia

Irish 1922-1950s – momentum

1950-1970 – stagnation

1970-present – laissez faire

…language policy in relation to Irish is at a critical stage (Ó Riagáin 2001)

Galician 1980-2004 – laissez faire

2005-present - momentum