Globalizing Language Policy and Planning

An Irish Language Perspective

Máiréad Moriarty

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781349562152, 9781137005601
• eBook ISBN: 9781137005618
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Linguistics
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

The book examines the changing relationship between minority languages and language policy and planning in the context of globalization, through an examination of the Irish language context. It demonstrates how localized practices are involved in the refashioning of the value of the Irish language.

1

Setting the Scene

1.1   General observations

The intention of this book is to address the complexity of the nature of the relationship between minority languages and globalization and to draw some conclusions as to what it may mean for future language policy and planning (hereafter LPP) research. The book will address these issues by drawing on the sociolinguistic ecology of Irish. It will draw on approaches and theories from LPP scholarship (cf. Shohamy, 2006; Spolsky, 2004; Wright, 2004) as well as from theoretical advances being made within the sociolinguistics of globalization (cf. Blommaert, 2010; Coupland, 2003, 2010a). The book seeks to map the trajectory of LPP in the context of globalization and to highlight the consequences of this for future theoretical, as well as practical, attempts to encourage minority language revitalization and maintenance. It will challenge some of the assumptions on which LPP is built and will demonstrate how some aspects of these assumptions are called into question in light of global processes of change. LPP can be described as being at a theoretical cul-de-sac and at this juncture in LPP research it may be fruitful to examine how the changing nature of how language is being conceptualized within the sociolinguistics of globalization impacts on LPP.

Since the turn of the twenty-first century scholars within sociolinguistics have directed their attention to describing the relation between language and some of the key aspects of globalization such as mobility and flexibility. The view of language has changed from a fixed entity to one of resources and repertoires; and from stability to mobility where the binary opposition of native and non-native speaker is rendered counterproductive. This conceptualization of language allows for an examination of how language resources are mobilized. Globalization has changed the context for minority languages through a disruption to the social norms of language. Throughout the remaining chapters I will examine sites where these disruptions are evident and how LPP can capitalize on this disruption.

There are several ways in which the present volume explores the relationship between minority language LPP and globalization. First, the various sites of minority language use, discussed in Chapters 4 to 7, points to changing roles for minority languages in contemporary society. I use hierarchically ordered sociolinguistic scales to explain how minority language resources (to include practices and ideologies) are mobilized in the domains of television, comedy, hip-hop and tourism. These domains draw our attention to a counter-movement where LPP moves beyond regimental practices to incorporate a series of overlapping ideologies and practices. These vignettes explore specific language choices and demonstrate how certain linguistic practices gain status and others are erased and undermined. Through this approach the aim is to demonstrate how a scalar frame orientation to LPP illuminates opportunities for LPP that are in tune with the lived sociolinguistic reality of the Irish language. In examining these domains I have two expositional aims. Firstly, by examining key changes to the conceptualization of language, I demonstrate how these changes make possible a critique of LPP and open up avenues for a continued reworking of theoretical models. Secondly, by responding to several key ideas and concepts articulated within the sociolinguistics of globalization, I point to several practical implications for minority language revitalization. Many of the potential challenges and opportunities afforded by globalization are the reason why a (re)evaluation of LPP is necessary. It is not the intention of this book to suggest that these effects create only positive outcomes for minority languages. This is certainly not the case, as we know minority and indigenous languages are dying at an accelerated rate. However, this volume does point to a need for LPP theories to be revisited and reconceptualized to reflect current thinking about the nature of what constitutes a language and who constitutes a speaker of a given language in order to provide remedies for minority languages that are reflective of the lived reality of such languages. This snapshot of the current situation of the Irish language achieves these aims. And, while the outcomes of new spaces and uses of Irish does not always lead to positive results in terms of the practical side of LPP, it does allow for a rethinking of theoretical approaches to LPP and points to a number of avenues for further research.

1.2   Structure of the book

The book comprises eight chapters. This chapter provides an introduction to the book, the following two chapters serve to outline the relationship between globalization, minority languages and LPP, and to contextualize the current sociolinguistic reality of the Irish-language context. In Chapter 2, I discuss the approach taken to globalization and suggest a number of characteristic elements that are relevant for the engagement with the dynamics of LPP. In Chapter 3, I provide a detailed account of the present-day situation of the Irish language within both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. These chapters provide a backdrop to Chapters 4 through 7 where the consequences of the presence of the Irish language in global domains are investigated by focusing on four distinct research sites. Each of the sites discussed in these chapters foreground the role of unintentional LPP actors and focus on the opportunities for use that become available to minority languages irrespective of the size. Chapter 4 takes minority language media as its starting point and focuses on a case study of the Irish-language television channel TG4, where it examines the consequences for minority LPP. Chapter 5 and 6 deal with the domain of popular culture. Chapter 5 examines Irish-language stand-up comedy, while Chapter 6 looks at the genre of hip-hop. Both of these chapters raise interesting questions that are important to consider in the context of LPP. The final site of investigation is the domain of tourism, a site in which the changing ideology surrounding the value of minority language is evident. The emerging language activity evident in these sites allow for localized linguistic processes to be discussed within the wider picture of societal change. These sites were chosen because they are important everyday sites of engagement with minority languages and represent genres that are available to many minority languages no matter how small.

A number of different methodologies were used in gathering the data presented in Chapters 4 to 7. Some of the data stems from a number of wider research projects I have been involved in, including the Northern Multilingualism (2008–2012) and Peripheral Multilingualism (2012–2014) projects funded by the Finnish Academy, as well as the COST network New Speakers in a Multilingual Europe chaired by Bernadette O’Rourke and Joan Pujolar. These sites do not provide an exhaustive account of all of the global domains in which Irish is present. However, they are very distinct examples of genres in which the use of the Irish language has been largely absent or substantially refashioned under the conditions afforded by globalization. Collectively, these sites create opportunities for identifying productive ways in which LPP can be (re)examined in the context of globalization. Chapter 8 brings the discussion back to the level of LPP theory and attempts to provide a more nuanced account of LPP in globalized times and provides further directions for LPP research. Overall, the book will show how past and current LPP research is challenged by the changing nature of society and the type of globalization we are currently experiencing. It aims to go beyond a superficial fascination with novel usages of minority languages for its own sake, towards a more critical engagement with questions of language maintenance and language revitalization.

1.3   Globalizing LPP

There is little interaction between globalization theorists and LPP theorists. However, I argue that it is productive to consider the ways in which the accelerated processes of globalization are (re)shaping LPP. To do so, it is necessary to briefly look at some of the ways globalization is changing the nature of the relationship between language and society. Globalization and its accompanying processes have led to great societal changes over the last decades. And while it is not the intention of this book to contend that globalization is something new, the form of globalization being experienced has undoubtedly accelerated processes of language change. Lull argues that it is best to consider globalization as a complex set of ‘interacting often counterrailing human, material and symbolic flows that lead to diverse, heterogeneous cultural positioning and practices, which persistently and variously modify established sectors of social, political and cultural power’ (2001: 150). Language has been overlooked as a key phenomenon in the context of globalization, yet the changes outlined in the above quote by Lull lead to a number of questions surrounding the potential consequence for language. There is a movement from a monolingual norm to a multilingual norm, in which old value systems about ‘majority’ versus ‘minority’ languages still exist but have been altered to such an extent that the imbalance between language types is being readdressed. A new linguistic order where individuals do not pick one language over another, but use different languages in diverse settings for various purposes is emerging. Globalization raises many questions surrounding language norms such as who produces such norms and who enforces them? Also, there is a growth in spaces of language innovation and use and many of the existing barriers to minority language production which are being eroded through global changes. As the discussion in Chapter 2 will outline, language is no longer seen as a fixed bounded entity and at a time when the very concept of language and what constitutes a language is being questioned, it is necessary for LPP to adapt and focus on what can be achieved within the context of a given speech community. For this reason existing models of LPP need to be reassessed.

LPP research has changed and evolved in many ways over the course of its short history. LPP is built on a number of working assumptions that get called into question in the context of globalization. For example, one significant consequence of the changing nature of the relationship between language and society under global conditions is a decentring of the role of the state in language issues. Theoretical approaches to LPP have often foregrounded the state in bringing about successful language revitalization. As Wright (2012) suggests, the nation state was largely concerned with creating monolingual nations and such a narrow focus limited the possibility of seeing minority languages as anything other than a problem that needed to be solved. However, as we enter the era of post-nationalism, where the development of transnationalism and globalization is taking over, the focus on state-led LPP initiatives needs to be (re)evaluated. It is important at this juncture to point out that I am deliberately avoiding the use of micro and macro LPP as I do not want to imply that there is an unequal relationship between the levels on which LPP can occur. Although problematic I will refer to macro LPP to mean those LPP initiatives enacted at the state or official level and micro LPP to refer to those initiatives that take place at local levels often in the form of grassroot initiatives. This approach does not imply that one level is any more effective than the other in exerting language change. It simply implies that the macro LPP has more of an official power to do so, as micro LPP actors do not act in an official or even intended capacity. The inclusion of LPP at the micro level is important. As Shohamy contends, ‘the real language policy of a political and social entity should not be observed only through declared policy statements, but rather through a variety of devices that are used to perpetuate languages practices, often in covert and implicit ways’ (2006: xvi). The focus on micro LPP provides ‘an enabling and flexible policy which nevertheless requires the development of local responses appropriate to local needs’ (Lamb, 2001: 11). Although recent work has highlighted the significance of language actors from the micro level, the aim of this book is to put forward the notion that LPP can be most effective when macro and micro LPP work in tandem with one another (cf. Lenihan, 2011; Moriarty 2009a, 2009b; Moriarty and Pietikäinen, 2011).

A consideration of the role of globalization in LPP is crucial to the overall concept of language revitalization, but in theoretical debates this has gained limited attention. By venturing into sites of creative language use and production, I hope to offer ways in which LPP can be considered and reinterpreted to include a wider range of LPP actors than it has considered thus far. In so doing, the study aims to highlight some of the ways that LPP scholarship can capitalize on the opportunities afforded to it in these globalized times.

1.4   Globalizing Irish-language policy and planning

The Irish-language situation provides an interesting perspective from which to investigate the changing situation of minority languages in the context of globalization. Arguably, the Irish-language represents the middle ground of minority and endangered language situations. It is neither a success nor a disaster story. It is not in as healthy a position in terms of its language vitality as languages such as Catalan, Welsh or Basque are, yet, it is not on the verge of extinction either. It is for this reason that I feel focusing on Irish will provide a robust account of LPP in global times that will be beneficial to many other minority language contexts.

As the detailed account of the historical context of Irish LPP provided in Chapter 3 will outline, after many years of LPP the Irish language is still in a vulnerable position. Despite many attempts by successive governments to ‘fix’ the Irish-language ‘problem’, the use of the Irish language remains low in everyday society and the value of the language is largely associated with the role it plays in marking ethnic identity. LPP intervention at the macro level has largely been based on the link between the language and nation. Irish as a compulsory school subject has its origins in the state’s desire to move away from English language usage in the early days of the Republic. Yet, the validity of such an approach has to be questioned when compulsory education in Irish fails to produce a significant proportion of active users of the language and the number of students who go on to take third-level degree programmes through the medium of Irish or with Irish as a subject remains low.

However, since the 1990s, there is a noticeable change in the perception of the Irish language and the situations where the Irish language is used. The reinforcement of Irish identity during the period of economic advancement from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s known as the Celtic Tiger, led to a growth in Irish-medium schools, Gaelscoileanna, and to the rise of Irish-language use in urban areas. The frequency of Irish-language use on the global stage increased. For example, an Irish-language film, Kings, was nominated for an Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film in 2010 and, in accepting his Oscar for Best Original Song in 2008, Glen Hansard began his acceptance speech by greeting everyone in Irish. Similarly, there was much enthusiasm for the language following President Obama’s and Queen Elizabeth’s use of the ‘cupla focail’ (few words) in their respective public addresses during their inaugural visits to Ireland in May 2011. Of particular note was the use of ‘Is Feidir Linn’, an Irish translation of Obama’s popular ‘Yes we can’ mantra. March 2013 saw the first Irish-language tweet from space by Commander Chris Hadfield of the International Space Station, in which he said: ‘@Cmdr_Hadfield: Tá Éire fíorálainn! Land of green hills & dark beer. With Dublin glowing in the Irish night.’ All of these events generated much media attention and general interest in the language. These uses of the Irish language could not have been envisaged a number of years ago and are provided for through global changes. Whether or not the change in popular support can be capitalized up on in order to create more use of the language in everyday Irish society is a deeper question, one which will be examined through the four case studies that form the basis of Chapters 4 to 7. These domains represent spaces where the global and local interact, spaces where the traditional role of macro language policy and planning actors are called into question.

This study is very much situated at the interface of linguistic affordances enabled through processes of globalization. The presence of minority languages in new domains or indeed the reorganization of how they are portrayed and/or utilized in domains in which they have traditionally been present, challenge the way in which speakers of minority languages have understood themselves and have been understood by others, which in turn has consequences for LPP research. For example, the popular culture domains, which form the subject of Chapter 5 and 6, offer the possibility of a break with the past and for the evolution of new values and functions for minority languages and points to the significance and importance of so-called ‘new speakers’ (O’Rourke and Walsh, 2015). However, it must be highlighted that the processes by which and the extent to which media and popular culture can positively affect perceptions, usage and viability of minority languages is a complex one, an issue that is addressed throughout this book. Although the work presented in this book provides an illuminating account of the Irish language, it has consequences for minority language communities worldwide and for wider theoretical approaches to LPP.

2

Globalization and Minority- Language Policy and Planning

2.1 Introduction

The central purpose of this chapter is to construct a fresh conceptual framework to understand the relationship between the processes of globalization and minority-language policy and planning. The volume addresses a constellation of concerns including the simultaneous processes of globalization and glocalization, how these processes change our perspective on language and what this may mean for LPP. In particular, the book examines how global process...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• 1  Setting the Scene
• 2  Globalization and Minority-Language Policy and Planning
• 3  The Irish language in Globalization
• 4  Media, LPP and Globalization
• 5  Comedy, LPP and Globalization
• 6  Hip-hop, LPP and Globalization
• 7  Tourism, LPP and Globalization
• 8  Concluding Remarks: Globalizing LPP
• References
• Index