Papers by Julia Sallabank
Revitalizing Endangered Languages, 2021
Reading, 2003
Abstract. This article looks at the role language plays in identity, and examines the effects of ... more Abstract. This article looks at the role language plays in identity, and examines the effects of identity on revitalisation efforts in the context of a small and dwindling language community. The paper first reviews the historical and sociolinguistic background of the community in question ...
This article looks at the role language plays in identity, and examines the effects of identity o... more This article looks at the role language plays in identity, and examines the effects of identity on revitalisation efforts in the context of a small and dwindling language community. The paper first reviews the historical and sociolinguistic background of the community in question and outlines the research methodology. It then discusses the nature and interrelationship of identity, ethnicity and culture, and their roles in language choice and attitudes, before relating these to the ethnolinguistic vitality of the indigenous language in Guernsey. * This paper originated at a mini-symposium on Language and Identity at the University of Reading in February 2003, organized by Paul Kerswill, to whom I am grateful for ideas and suggestions. I would also like to thank Alison Sealey for comments which considerably improved the paper. Rose-Marie Crossan (who is doing a PhD at Leicester University on immigration into Guernsey 1814-1914) provided indispensable historical information and discussions of Guernsey identity.
Multilingual Matters eBooks, Dec 31, 2008
This paper discusses language planning measures in Guernsey, Channel Islands. The indigenous lang... more This paper discusses language planning measures in Guernsey, Channel Islands. The indigenous language is spoken fluently by only 2% of the population, and is at level 7 on Fishman's 8-point scale of endangerment. It has no official status and low social prestige, and language planning has little official support or funding. Political autonomy has not increased the language's status or stopped intergenerational transmission from declining. Most language planning initiatives are very small-scale and are undertaken by pressure groups or individuals, who focus on social prestige at grassroots level rather than official status. The likelihood of success of current efforts is evaluated.
Bat: Soziolinguistika aldizkaria, 2016
Lan honek galzorian dauden hizkuntzen politika eraginkorrak nolakoak izan litezkeenaren inguruan ... more Lan honek galzorian dauden hizkuntzen politika eraginkorrak nolakoak izan litezkeenaren inguruan hausnartzen du. Horrez gain, hizkuntzaren biziberritze-gaiak lantzen ditu, besteak beste, definizioak, helburuak, metodoak eta erronkak, eta emaitzak ebaluatzeko irizpide posibleak planteatzen. Lanak duen helburua “hizkuntza bat salbatzeak” eta hizkuntza biziberritzearen eraginkortasunak zer esan nahi duen ulertzen laguntzea da. Lanak hizkuntzarekin lotura duten jarduerak aztertzen ditu eta beren funtsezko arrazoiak eta ondorioak azaltzen, bi ikerketa-kasuetan oinarrituz: Kanaletako uharteak eta Man uhartea (Britainiar uharteen mende dauden gobernu sistema txikiak). Kanaletako uharteetan, bertako hizkuntzak ez daude ikasketa-planetan, eta biziberritze-ahaleginek ere ez dute oraindik hizkuntza menderatzen duen hiztunik eman. Nolanahi ere, Man uhartean, manxerako azken hiztuna 1974an hil zen arren, hizkuntzak gaur egun laguntza publiko handia du, eta gainera, manxeraz erakusten den eskola bat dago. Nahiz eta hori lortu duten, oraindik hizkuntza biziberritzearen iraunkortasunari dagozkien kezkak egon badaude.
Language Learning Journal, Apr 1, 2011
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Jan 10, 2014
Attitudes to endangered languages is the result of more than ten years of research into language ... more Attitudes to endangered languages is the result of more than ten years of research into language endangerment based on fieldwork on Britain's periphery-the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Although the title and subtitle suggest a broad treatment, the book is not in fact a general overview of or theoretical approach to the topic. Its focus is on three separate case studies, which are discussed in the second part of the book. The book starts with a comprehensive introduction to the field of study in Ch. 1; Ch. 2 then gives the sociocultural and political background of the islands studied, and Ch. 3 is devoted to the study of language attitudes and ideologies. After these three introductory chapters, the book shifts its focus to language endangerment and revitalization efforts on the Isle of Man, Guernsey, and Jersey. Ch. 4 discusses language practices, Ch. 5 language attitudes and language ideologies, and Ch. 6 language planning and policy. Chs. 4 to 6 are thus an application of Spolsky's (e.g. 2004) well-known and useful tripartite division of language policy. Investigating how practices, beliefs, and management of languages interact constitutes an important heuristic means to understand trajectories of languages and their speakers in the dynamic setting of changing language ecologies. The sociopolitical setting of the three case studies deserves attention. All three islands feature their own distinct languages and enjoy far-reaching autonomy, being self-governed dependencies of the British Crown. In Guernsey and Jersey, the Oïl languages Jèrriais and Guernesiais, respectively, are spoken. On the Isle of Man, the Celtic language Manx is spoken. The level of endangerment differs between the three cases. Jèrriais and Guernesiais are considered severely endangered today, whereas Manx is considered critically endangered after having been dormant (or 'extinct') for three decades (Moseley 2010). There are a number of important lessons to be learned from Ch. 2, most notably from the discussion of small islands and 'imagined communities'(41-42). This is largely uncharted territory in language endangerment studies, and the discussion of a number of factors impacting on language vitality, such as war, evacuation, and repatriation on some of the islands, is also very instructive. The fact that all three languages are endangered despite the political autonomy of the three islands is not fully discussed. I would have liked to know more details about how negative views of the indigenous languages have entered these islands, how they were spread and reproduced, and by whom, when, and why. Ch. 3 is dedicated to the study of language ideology and language attitudes. It focuses by and large on what publications on language endangerment have to say. In particular, expanding the approach of language ideology for the study of language endangerment would have been desirable. The study of language ideology engages not only in ideas about language structure and use, but also in the background from which ideology emerges in the first place, and the processes concerning how ideology is normalized and spread as being 'commonsensical'. In fact, the entire book could have benefited from including more consideration from neighboring disciplines such as sociology or political science. Chs. 4 to 6 constitute the core of the book. They relate Sallabank's fieldwork results to other cases of language endangerment. Her discussions of language shift and language revitalization refer mainly to the theoretical work done by Fishman (1991, 2001). In these chapters, S demonstrates detailed knowledge of her field of study, gained though numerous visits, during which she conducted surveys and interviews and also learned to speak Guernesiais fluently. Her observations of and participation in these language ecologies enable her to give detailed accounts of language use, ideology, and management. There are too many insights to cover in a brief review, but the following examples can be listed: phatic communication plays an important role in grassroots language revitalization efforts (85); among some speakers, fear of language change appears to be greater than that of language extinction (137); language loss (loss of proficiency) in speakers deepens over the course of language shift (96)-loss is not just between generations but is within individual speakers as well; there is playful language use of endangered languages, which places 964 LANGUAGE, VOLUME 91, NUMBER 4 (2015)
Multilingualism and Identity
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development
Creating Orthographies for Endangered Languages
Revitalizing Endangered Languages
Local languages have been falling into disuse and becoming forgotten in an increasingly accelerat... more Local languages have been falling into disuse and becoming forgotten in an increasingly accelerating pace over the last century or so: media and scientific reports keep reminding us, with quite alarming statistics. However, the last few decades have also witnessed another steadily growing trend: initiatives, both grassroots and top-down, to counteract the devastating loss of linguistic diversity and to promote multilingualism and the use of local languages. There have been programs and activities that can be considered real success stories or at least important steps toward them, even if revitalizing and supporting endangered languages is a never-ending task. But it is a task that can be planned, implemented, evaluated, and brought into a next stage thanks to this growing body of individual and collective experience and generated knowledge. This book is meant for anyone who feels concern or even pain because of the loss they and their communities might face; it is for people who experience joy when speaking their languages and want to have them heard, spoken, and strong. It is for people who learned their languages, or who wish to learn them, from their parents, grandparents, community members, or on their own. It is also for people who want to pass their ways of speaking to children and peers. As an Indigenous teacher in the Navajo reservations recently shared with one of us, the most committed parents wanting their children to learn the ancestral Diné language were those who grew up in borderland towns and lost it themselves. Loss can be an empowering stimulus to act. It can also lead to a profound joy of reclaiming a language, learning, speaking, and passing the language to other people, to experiencing the world through its unique perspective, to accessing the knowledge generated and transmitted by the ancestors. But language revitalization is not about going back to the past; it is about acting in the present and heading toward the future, recognizing that the past provides an important foundation and stimulus to achieve it. 1
Transmitting Minority Languages
The Routledge Handbook of Language Revitalization, 2018
New Speakers of Minority Languages, 2017
South East Asia Research, 2022
This report stems from a brief visit to Rarotonga in April 2013 facilitated by Roderick Dixon, Di... more This report stems from a brief visit to Rarotonga in April 2013 facilitated by Roderick Dixon, Director of the University of the South Pacific in the Cook Islands. It addresses the following topics: 1. Language maintenance / shift 2. Languages and dialects 3. Expatriate / diaspora members of the speech community 4. Language policy and language in education 5. Dictionaries of Cook Islands Maori 6. Records of Cook Islands Maori: (a) oral, and (b) written 7. Proposals.
This paper looks at examples of language-related activities in the Channel Islands (between Brita... more This paper looks at examples of language-related activities in the Channel Islands (between Britain and France) and relates them to theoretical issues regarding language revitalization, in an attempt to address the fundamental questions of what is meant by ‘saving a language’, and what might constitute ‘success’ in language revitalization. With reference to the case studies I discuss common trends such as: - a focus on formal education, ‘technical fixes’ and language as ‘window-dressing’ - a general lack of ‘prior ideological clarification’ when planning revitalization activities - a tendency not to specify short- and long-term goals (except in very broad terms) - lack of evaluation of outcomes, especially in terms of symbolic value versus sustainable language use in the community, or what other value(s) might be invested in language revitalization (e.g. political capital or social revitalization) - the assumption that ‘the community’ is homogeneous - prioritising the maintenance of...
Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft / Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science (HSK), 2019
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Papers by Julia Sallabank