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Ideology, affect, and socialization in language shift and revitalization: The experiences of adults learning Gaelic in the Western Isles of Scotland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2010

EMILY McEWAN-FUJITA
EMILY McEWAN-FUJITA*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, 3302 Wesley W. Posvar Hall, 230 S. Bouquet Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, emcewan@pitt.edu
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Abstract

The intertwined role of language ideologies and affect in language shift and revitalization can be understood by taking a language socialization perspective on local micro-level interaction between adult Gaelic learners and fluent Gaelic-English bilinguals. Seven adults living in the Western Isles were interviewed about their efforts to learn and speak Scottish Gaelic, a minority language spoken by 1–2% of Scotland’s population. Their negative affective stances in describing their interactions with local Gaelic-English bilinguals indicate that they were being socialized into an ideology of local Gaelic-English sociolinguistic boundaries: an “etiquette of accommodation” to English speakers and wariness about public Gaelic speaking. This socialized combination of ideology and negative affect reduces opportunities for Gaelic speaking, hindering both Gaelic learners’ efforts to become fluent speakers and their potential contribution to language revitalization. In contrast, however, the interviewees described “sociolinguistic mentors” who socialized them into a more inclusive vision of Gaelic speaking laden with positive affect.1

Keywords

Language socializationL2 language learningaffective stancelanguage shiftlanguage revitalizationScottish GaelicScotland
Type
Research Articles
Information
Language in Society , Volume 39 , Issue 1 , February 2010 , pp. 27 - 64
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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