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