1. “Gàidhlig ga bruidhinn an seo”
Linguistic practices & ideologies of Gaelic speakers in Stornoway
Ingeborg Birnie

2. Gaelic in Scotland 2011 National Census
~ speakers of Gaelic (1.1% of the population)
Around 25% of all Gaelic speakers live in the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles)
Status of Gaelic
Recognised through European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (UK ratification)
Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005
‘an official language of Scotland commanding equal respect to the English language’
Establishment of Bòrd na Gàidhlig (Gaelic Language Board)
Public authorities in Scotland are required to produce a Gaelic Language Plan (GLP) to ‘increase the provision of goods and services in the Gaelic language’
In Scotland there has been a census question about Gaelic since the late 19th century. In 1971 this question changed from asking people to report on their linguistic practices (‘do you speak Gaelic’) to, instead, asking individuals to report on their ability to speak Gaelic (‘can you speak Gaelic’) – although at first glance this seems a valuable data set, it does not provide any information about frequency and domains of usage or even about the ability of those self-reporting to be able to speak the language.

3. Aim of the study
To assess the impact of the official language support initiatives on the de facto linguistic practices & ideologies of Gaelic speakers
‘Declared policies do not always reflect the de facto and real language policies … the de facto polices are determined somewhere else’
(Shohamy, 2006: 52 – 53)

4. Study location: Stornoway
Despite the census data going back to the late 19th century it is surprising how little information there is about actual linguistic practices of Gaelic speakers especially in the heartland of the language. Previous studies date back to the 1970 and early 21st century. These studies have mainly focused on self-reported language use
Study location: Stornoway

5. Stornoway
Only ‘urban’ settlement in Scotland where a significant proportion of the population can speak Gaelic:
Parish population of ~ (46% of the population of the Western Isles)
42.2% of the population self-reported to be able to speak Gaelic
Administrative and commercial centre of the Western Isles:
Selection social and formal public spaces
Locations with and without a statutory Gaelic Language Plan

6. Linguistic soundscape study
10 different locations:
5 locations with a statutory Gaelic plan (GLP)
5 locations without an official language policy
2000 observed interactions
1020 in locations with GLP
980 in locations without an official language policy
4563 individuals involved

7. Overall results Where? Gaelic used in 182 out of 2000 interactions
Overall level of Gaelic use in public places with and without a GLP identical at 9.1%
405 interlocutors participated in Gaelic interactions (203 in public spaces with a GLP vs 202 in spaces without a GLP)

8. Results - Participants
Who?
Results - Participants
Members of staff in locations with a GLP more likely to use Gaelic
Incidence of Gaelic use amongst members of the public remained constant regardless of the location
In public spaces without a GLP no Gaelic was spoken by members of staff. They could speak Gaelic as they used the language in mixed participant interactions. Limited mixed participant interactions – topic specific or participant

9. Why?
Results - Purpose
Gaelic significantly more likely to be used in private interactions than business transactions
Locations with a GLP recorded a higher incidence of Gaelic in business transactions than in locations without a GLP
This higher incidence of business transaction in locations with a GLP can be attributed to the use of the language by members of staff
Purpose of the interaction – all interactions between members of the public were private conversations. This distinction in purpose of the interaction only applied to conversations involving at least one member of staff -

10. Individual practices – language diary
11 proficient Gaelic speakers
7 L1 speakers
4 New speakers
Each diary covered at least 7 days
472 eligible conversations recorded
Semi-structured interviews with language diary participants

11. Individual Linguistic practices Results
Overall Gaelic language use 47.5%
Education referred to some form of Gaelic education (as student or facilitator)
8 out of 11 informants employed in the ’Gaelic sector’
Frequency of Gaelic usage with service providers lowest
Domains according to the CEFR language domains

12. Private domain – language shift?
“Everyone in my family can speak Gaelic, my brothers and my parents can all speak Gaelic. They have had Gaelic all their lives. I was brought up speaking Gaelic as my first language and my brother did as well … I never speak to my brother in Gaelic. Well, when we were younger I suppose we spoke Gaelic a lot more than we do now, but I suppose it is because all of my friends won’t have Gaelic … When we are all (= parents and brother (IB)) talking together, we talk in Gaelic but probably if my parents weren’t there, then all would be in English.”
(Transcript BP06_01 from interview with Informant BP06).

13. Language ideology driving practice
Indicators
“Bidh mi dìreach ga cleachdadh leis an teaghlach agus na co-obraichean agam san oifis … chan eil mi ga cleachdadh anns na bùthan – chan eil fhios agam cò leis a’ chànan” – Participant 16 (female, 30 – 60, L1)
(I just use it (Gaelic – IB) with my family and colleagues in the office … I don’t use it in the shops – I don’t know who speaks the language)
Participants – not lexicon
“Tha Gàidhlig aig a h-uile duine san oifis ach cuid de na luchd-obrach againn aig nach eil Gàidhlig, so, tha iadsan ag obair air falbh à seo, ach a-màireach tha coinneamh luchd-obrach againn, so, nuair a thig iadsan, bidh Beurla a’ dol cuideachd, an dà chuid” (Transcript BP03_01 from interview with Informant BP03)
“Everyone in the office has Gaelic, but some of our members of staff don’t speak Gaelic, so, they work away from here, but tomorrow we have a staff meeting, so, when they come, there will be English too, both” (Translation of Transcript BP03_01).

14. Language ideology driving practice
Domains of usage- expectation
“Chan eil mi a’ bruidhinn Gàidhlig aig an taigh. Chan eil Gàidhlig aig an duine agam …Chunnaic mi advert airson an obair a tha seo, neach-fàilteachaidh, receptionist, so, lìon mi a-steach am foirm, chuir mi a-steach e. Fhuair mi fios airson agallamh agus thug mi fòn thuice, is thuirt mi “no, chan eil mi airson …, chan eil a' Ghàidhlig agam cho math ri sin.” Cha robh mise air Gàidhlig a bhruidhinn really airson fichead bliadhna, you know, on a dh'fhàg mi Sabhal Mòr, bha beagan agam, ach bha e uabhasach lapach. Shaoil mi “dè tha thu a' dèanamh - 's e companaidh Gàidhlig”, so bruidhnidh mi ris an tè seo, “No I want to withdraw”. Agus thuirt i, “no, thig a-steach, feuch co-dhiù”. 'S bha mise a' dol ann (Transcript BP10_02 from interview with Informant BP10)
“I don’t use Gaelic at home. My husband doesn’t speak Gaelic… I saw an advert for this job, receptionist, so, I filled out the form and submitted it. I got an invite for an interview and I phoned her and I said, “no, I don’t want, my Gaelic is not that good” I hadn’t really spoken Gaelic for twenty years, you know, since I left Sabhal Mòr, I had a bit, but it was very sloppy. I wondered to myself “what are you doing, it is a Gaelic company”, so, I spoke to this woman, “no I want to withdraw”. And she said, “no, come in, try it anyway”. And I went. (Translation of Transcript BP10_02)
Created an expectation – individual who is an L1 speaker of Gaelic

15. Conclusions
Decline of Gaelic as a language of ”traditional social networks” – the home and family
New domains of language use – education and occupational where Gaelic is the norm
Linguistic repertoire of the participants and established norms, not lexicon knowledge(!), driver for language choice
Gaelic increasingly being seen as being of instrumental value in certain (established) domains rather than of intrinsic value as the language of communication within a social network.

16. Conclusion So what about Gaelic language plans?
English is the ”default” language in public domains
BUT
Gaelic management initiatives have the potential to (officially) create the conditions in which members of staff can (under specific circumstances) establish Gaelic as part of the linguistic soundscape which can influence the choice of language by members of the public.

17. Tapadh leibh Thank you Kiitos
Ingeborg Birnie