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LANGUAGE AND IDENTITY: DON MACLEOD
This piece attempts to cast a side-light on the current debate about the connectedness (or lack of it) between Gaelic educational settings, the attempts being made to revitalise the language, and the community. It seeks to do so in outline, avoiding the caveats and elaborations of academic discourse, in order to clarify some ideas that could contribute to that debate.
Language is THE defining attribute of the human being. It mediates personality, understanding, progress, culture and civilisation. The living continuation of language(s) is what underwrites all of these. Language has to have a continuing (continuous) presence in a way that reminds us of genetics. There is an unbroken genetic route from your earliest ancestor to you. (If you break it by having no offspring, the line ceases.) Similarly, there is an unbroken linguistic path from your earliest linguistic ancestor to you.聽
Survival and continuation of a language as a living language is crucially dependent on at least four elements:聽
1. Transmission within the family. Children absorb the demotic (everyday) language (or languages) they hear around them, from infancy.2. Use of the language in the community as a natural medium of everyday communication.3. Use of the language in the peer group as a natural medium of everyday communication.4. Use of the language in new (鈥榥ext-generation鈥) families in order to ensure transmission to the new generation of users. 聽Language can only live if it is carried in the bodies of living hosts.聽
GAELIC MEDIUM EDUCATION.
A main (perhaps the main) response to the decline of Gaelic has been the establishment of Gaelic Medium Education (GME). GME was first established in 1985. The continued, even accelerating, decline of Gaelic as a living, spoken language indicates that this has not been a particularly successful intervention. That is not due to a lack of effort, will and passion on the part of those advocating it as a part of a strategy of revitalisation. Why, then, has it not shown more success?
鈥淏i-lingualism After School?鈥 is a PhD thesis by Stuart S. Dunmore - University of Edinburgh (2014).
His sets out to examine how the experience of the earliest pupils to be exposed to GME has influenced how they use the Gaelic language in their lives. This is a lengthy and detailed piece of work and only a flavour of it is given below. Its importance lies in the clarity with which it points to the failure of GME as a tool even to maintain the language, far less as a route to revitalisation.
Over the decade 1985-95, 1,285 pupils were enrolled. Of these he was able to contact a sample of 130; and of those he carried out interviews with 46.
Although this is a small sample, it was self-selecting and it is probable that they are the people with the most active interest in Gaelic.
112 individuals also completed a questionnaire, which was designed to elicit similar information to that gained from the interviews.
The quantitative analysis of that produces results remarkably similar to the qualitative analysis of the interview cohort.
That a significant proportion of GME pupils go on to use the language is, of course, the central aim of the initiative. The 46 interviewees were categorised as follows:
1. High use of Gaelic. 10 of the 46 were put in this category. Their use of the language was associated with work or study.2. Intermediate/limited use. 12 of the 46 were put in this category. Used with older family members. Limited with children. Weak with friends, siblings and partners.3. Low use. 24 of the 46 were put in this category. Crucially, this group showed no interest in language-transmission.
Dunmore summarises:
鈥淪ocial use of Gaelic at present is therefore reported to be somewhat fragile across the qualitative data set, and especially among participants whom I have grouped in the second and third categories discussed here. The relatively few interviewees in the first category (of 鈥榟igh鈥 use) are a possible exception to this pattern, and such individuals鈥 participation in Gaelic-based employment or postgraduate study seems to encourage social use of the language outside of these formal domains.鈥
It is critical that interest in and understanding of language-transmission was weak across the whole sample.
THE CENTRALITY OF LANGUAGE.
Language is the central human attribute.
Human beings are born in a state of great immaturity (in comparison to other mammals). Humans have the longest childhood of any being.
This is necessary so that the developing brain can complete a number of tasks in order to attain maturity.
Central to that is the acquisition of language 鈥 and all the other developments consequent on that.聽
The human infant is born with a great many attributes. These are based on genetic endowment and the nature and content of the 鈥榗hemical bath鈥 within which it developed during pregnancy, both of which create the detailed structure of the individual brain. (Brain morphology.)
Every human being is unique, yet all share certain attributes and abilities that are essential to the creation of a whole, fully functioning human being.
Five essential attributes are:聽
(1) The beginnings of feelings and emotions;聽(2) The ability to absorb the language or languages found around it;聽(3) The beginnings of being able to understand other human beings. (Empathy.);聽(4) The beginnings of being able to connect with other people (the infant鈥檚 directed smile is the earliest manifestation of this); and聽(5) The ability to absorb the culture it finds around it 鈥 how to be one of 鈥榰s鈥.
CREATING THE PERSON.
The developing infant is surrounded by the language of its carers 鈥 and usually the extended family or kin-group.
It begins to recognise that objects have names. This is not simply a passive process of absorption; infants begin to invent their own names for objects.聽
From birth, infants are aware of feelings that signal pleasure and aversion. This leads to bonding with carers and a growing understanding of others as distinct from the self 鈥 and eventually, of the self as distinct from others.
As language develops, it begins (quite literally) to make sense of feelings and emotions.
Without language there is no vehicle with which to think: language is prior to thought.
Without a language, we can only feel.
[See Vygotsky on 鈥楾hought and Language鈥. A compelling account of the awakening of thought through language is Hellen Keller鈥檚. She was born deaf-blind and only began to discover herself and the world around her as she began to learn sign language.]
The infant begins to absorb the world it finds around it 鈥 family, extended family, relatives, family friends, activities, etc. This world is unique to each individual that has ever existed.聽
Some of the people with influence in families will be 鈥榞hosts鈥. Although their presence and/or influence is important, they are not physically present 鈥 for example, they may live at a distance or they may be deceased.
聽LEARNING THE 鈥楩AMILY SCRIPT鈥.
One way of seeking to understand this is through 鈥榮cript theory鈥.聽
The notion here is that the newly born infant is 鈥榙ropped鈥 into a continuing drama (perhaps 鈥榮oap opera鈥 would be a better approximation). It then has to learn its own script, rather in the way that a 鈥榤ethod actor鈥 has to create the appropriate part to play in a naturalistic (un-scripted) play, by observing the actions of others and reacting appropriately to them.
The scripts of all others in the infant鈥檚 world consist not only of language, but also actions and all the modes of the expression that make up communication.
[Eric Berne originated the notion of 鈥榮cripts鈥 in his academic work on 鈥楾ransactional Analysis (TA) 鈥 a psychotherapeutic system he created. He also laid out his ideas in popular books that became best-sellers. See Games People Play. Many others have developed his ideas 鈥 e.g. Muriel James in Born to win.]
It is through this process of immersion in the world of family 鈥 and the absorption of the languages, nuances and mores of the family - that the child becomes 鈥榦ne of us鈥.聽
It is an extraordinarily flexible process. Every child ever born at any time and at any place has undergone this. The result is (if there are no threats to 鈥榥ormal鈥 development) that it produces an individual perfectly suited to its social milieu.
I refer to this as the Family Script.
THE FAITH SCRIPT.
There are many 鈥榮ub-scripts鈥 within the Family Script: e.g. the 鈥楨tiquette Script鈥 鈥 how do we behave? The 鈥楶ractical Skills Script鈥 鈥 what skills do I need to function as a part of the family? Etc.
All scripts are important in fitting in and being 鈥榦ne of us鈥.聽
One of the most important is the Faith Script. At different times and in different places, the Faith Script can exert a central influence on the developing person.聽
Since the introduction of Christianity to the Gaeltachd, it has been central in shaping Gaelic culture. Although its influence has been waning for some time, it is still important. In some faith groups, the Faith Script is pre-dominant. E.g. a devout Muslim鈥檚 life is shaped around religious observance.
THE PEER SCRIPT.
As we begin to move out into the world, we will encounter the Peer Script 鈥 what it is to be 鈥榦ne of OUR crowd鈥. This is a powerful influence 鈥 it can begin to 鈥榦ver-write鈥 the Family Script.聽
The Peer Script will continue to change and influence change in us, usually fading as we mature and become secure in our own identity.
It is the Peer Script that teaches us how to be individuals in the world, how to relate to others outside the family, how to make friends and alliances and avoid bullies and those we do not approve of.聽
At this stage of development, most children feel a strong need to 鈥榖elong鈥, to be a part of a particular group of similar individuals.聽
At some times there may be a powerful youth culture 鈥 such as the eras of 鈥楾eddy Boys鈥, 鈥楻ockers鈥, 鈥楳ods鈥, 鈥楶unks鈥, 鈥楪oths鈥, etc. Members of 鈥榠n-groups鈥 of this kind will define themselves against an 鈥榦ut-group鈥. These Peer Script identities often fade with time 鈥 but some are life-long.
Again, the Peer Script may be seen as many interacting sub-scripts.
The Game Script. Which games and sports are of particular interest to the Peer Group?
The Music Script. What music 鈥 and other cultural pastimes 鈥 do 鈥榳e鈥 appreciate?
The Sexuality Script. This derives from how the peer-group members express their sexuality. What behaviours are appropriate? Is it allowed to express 鈥榦ther鈥 sexualities, such as being openly lesbian or gay?
In our rapidly liberalising society, this is increasingly the case 鈥 but it is not universally so. It is a totally different experience to be 鈥榙ifferent鈥 in a liberal, educated community, to being 鈥榙ifferent鈥 in a conservative, religious, traditional community.
The Peer Language Script is critical. It is more important than the Language Scripts of either the Family or the School. It is another form of demotic language; and it may be adopted in opposition to the Family and School scripts.聽
When there is a conflict between a minority and a dominant language, the dominant language will tend to be chosen as the language of 鈥榗ool鈥 as against the 鈥榦ld-fashioned鈥 language of the elders.
THE SCHOOL SCRIPT.
In entering education, the child begins to move into the wider world and to be influenced by the systematic presentation of a 鈥楩ormal Language Script鈥 and a 鈥楩ormal Cultural Script鈥.聽
These emanate from the larger society that is usually thought of as the State 鈥 the formal curriculum. For Scots, this means Scotland and its institutions.
The Formal Language Script often seeks to overwrite the Demotic Language Script. Although speaking 鈥榗orrectly鈥 is one of the core values of education, it usually fails.
What actually happens is that the young person learns the Formal Language Script, while retaining the Demotic Script of the Family and of the Peers.聽
In this sense, almost all children are (at least) bi-lingual (or tri-lingual).
A young person from Glasgow will not begin to use the 鈥楨xtended Code鈥 of formal English in the home and with the peers. They will continue to use the simpler (but no less expressive) 鈥楻estricted Code鈥 of the home and the community.[See Basil Bernstein.]
In Gaelic speaking households, children will use a demotic form of that language. In households where Gaelic could be spoken but is not, the young person will resort to the demotic English with which it was raised and finds entirely natural. (The best outcome would be a mixture of both.)
Critically, the School Script gives access to an aspect of language which is even more extraordinary than the existence of language itself: literacy. Literacy transcends language (or provides a transcendent form of language) that overarches time and place. I can read and understand the words of people who have been dead for thousands of years, who lived in places I have never been.
Literacy consisted originally of the written word. It now embraces all the means we have of recording words and images.
Literacy enables vicarious learning, which, in turn, enables the individual to learn across time and space.
THE CULTURAL SCRIPT.
The Family Script + the Faith Script + the Peer Script + the School Script = the Cultural Script.
Another, more usual, way of expressing this is to say that the person has been 鈥榮ocialised鈥: they have become a well-adapted member of the social grouping within which they have been socialised. (The circularity of this process is, of course, an aspect of its logic.)
All cultures have a dominant language. Many localities have another language or languages (usually referred to as 鈥楳inority Languages鈥). Think of the number of minority languages that are spoken across the English-Dominant world.
All cultures have 鈥榮hared myths鈥 that bind them together: beliefs, history, myths, patriotism, etc. It is difficult to describe this with any precision, since different families and individuals 鈥榯ake鈥 and create the parts of this complex of ideas and shared memories, into their own version.
[See Harari鈥檚 description of this (p. 30).]
The usual way to refer to this is through the name of the culture. E.g. 鈥楽cots鈥 usually see themselves as having a particular accent, musical tradition, literary tradition, entertainment tradition, as well as haggis, whisky, tartan and the kilt.
Despite these similarities, which Scots all over the world would recognise and identify with to a greater or lesser degree, there are many dialects of Scots English in Scotland. The Gaels have a whole language, completely unrelated to the dominant language 鈥 but, again, with local accents and variations.
This reflects a central truth in my description of the process of learning the Cultural Script 鈥 of socialisation: it is done through the DEMOTIC language of the family and the surrounding community, i.e. the language 鈥榦f the people鈥; the local accent and colloquial speech. Later, it is through schooling and formal education the individual begins to learn the FORMAL language(s) and the formal version of the culture presented through it to them.
SELF-IDENTITY AND PERSONALITY.
In order to side-step the vast and hotly disputed literature on 鈥楽ocial Identity Theory鈥, 鈥榩ersonal identity鈥, 鈥業dentity鈥, 鈥榩ersonality鈥, 鈥榩ersonhood鈥 and any other terms used to point to individual human beings, I wish to use the terms 鈥楽elf-Identity鈥 and 鈥楶ersonality鈥 in what follows.
The notions of Self-Identity and Personality are notoriously difficult to describe. There are theories of personality that seek to describe different 鈥榯raits鈥 and combine them into personality types.
These are attempts to objectify and describe concepts that seek to capture the notion of personality. They may be useful for some purposes, but they miss the essential point.
[E.g. the Meyers-Briggs Inventory seeks to do just that and it is a useful tool for person-management in the workplace.]
Self-Identity and Personality, consist of our subjective experience as we live in the present. Furthermore that subjective experience changes moment to moment, depending on what we are doing, where we are, who we are with, etc.聽
Self-Identity and Personality consist of the phenomenological playing-out of the scripts we have absorbed up until that moment.
What that means is that what we are as personalities is created by our absorption of the various scripts we have encountered, largely through the medium of language.
Hence the centrality of language in creating us as personalities.
This is further illustrated by the widely acknowledged idea that bi-lingual (or multi-lingual) people鈥檚 personalities seem to change, depending on the language they are using at a given time.
[The Sapir-Wharf hypothesis is the most widely-known exposition of this. See link below.]
Self-Identity is based on memory, including the conviction that we are the same person as the person who lived through these memories.
The future is imagined through the lens of our (encultured, socialised) personality.
We are not only created by the scripts we absorb, we are also caught in them.
[This resonates with Jacques Derrida鈥檚 view that there is 鈥榥othing outside the text鈥. His use of 鈥榯ext鈥 can be interpreted in a similar way to my use of 鈥榮cript鈥.]
On the other hand, we continue to change as we encounter new scripts and influences. Indeed, one way of seeking to describe this, is that much of what we regard as personality or personal identity exists outside ourselves. Our environment is replete with information 鈥 from other people and other sources. It is our absorption of this in the minutes 鈥 as well as in the past 鈥 that creates the personality we exhibit at any given time.聽
COUNTER-SCIPTING
It is also possible for us to 鈥榗ounter-script鈥 ourselves.聽
An example is the woman, raised by a cold unresponsive mother, who decides she will be the opposite for her children.
The point here is that 鈥榮cripts鈥 or 鈥榯exts鈥 can and do change. Indeed the course of a life is the course of a changing person-ality.
SELF-IDENTITY: WHO ARE YOU?
It is for these reasons (outlined above) that the question of who we are, of self-identity, is so difficult to answer. Most of us apply a common-sense 鈥榗omposite identity鈥 approach to the question 鈥 if, indeed we ever think about it: we wear our self-identities lightly in most circumstances.聽
We will tend to think of 鈥榗ollective鈥 descriptions: race, place, religion, class; 鈥榩resentational鈥 descriptions: likeability, reputation, contribution, profession; 鈥榗haracteristic鈥 descriptions: values, beliefs, qualities; 鈥榬ole鈥 descriptions: as a family member, in the community, in the workplace.聽
It is immediately striking that this is a complex matrix of descriptions to get around, far less distil into a succinct statement. In fact, we can wear many identities at the same time, quite naturally and without thinking about it. It is only when we do begin to think about it that we become aware of any 鈥榙ifficulty鈥 or ambiguity.
This is an attempt I made having begun to think about my own identity in preparation for a paper I was writing:
鈥淚dentity is a journey, both chronologically and geographically. I began as an Island-Gael, secure in my Cultural Script and the Cultural Identity it conferred on me. I then became, in turn, an Island-Gael-Scot, an Island-Gael-Scot-Briton, and an Island-Gael-Scot-Briton-European; and my reading of Western philosophy and ideas made me a Westerner, while my modest travel across the world 鈥 and the influence of the mass-media - made me to some modest degree a citizen of the world.鈥
[See MacLeod - Proceedings of the Gaelic Society of Inverness.]
That is, of course, a huge over-simplification. Self-identity is nebulous, intangible and difficult to seize, partly because it is very complex and partly because it changes over time and according to the precise contingencies and demands of any situation we find ourselves in. What we reply to the question depends on who asks it, why we think it is being asked, where and when it is asked, and what our internal states, feelings and perceptions are at the time.
THE PERSON.
This analysis of the creation of the person leads to a surprising conclusion: the descriptors 鈥榩ersonality鈥, 鈥榩erson鈥, 鈥榤ind鈥, 鈥榮ocialisation鈥, 鈥榚nculturation鈥, all apply to the same thing. Indeed, they could be viewed as being synonymous, in this sense:
If I think of you as a 鈥榩ersonality鈥, I have in mind other concepts such as 鈥榩erson鈥, 鈥榤ind鈥, 鈥榮ocialisation鈥, 鈥榚nculturation鈥 etc.鈥. All of these are loosely defined concepts, difficult to bring into any clear focus.
What Self-Identity and Personality boil down to is the phenomenological playing out of your interpretation and portrayal of the scripts you have absorbed up until this minute, conditioned by the situation and the demands it places on you, as you understand and respond to it.
I hope that explains why language is so central and important to us: it is what makes us.
EDUCATION.
Since the creation of schools across the Highlands and Islands in the 1600s, a central aim has been literacy 鈥 but literacy in the dominant language. As time moved on and the opportunity of work for payment became possible, the school was a preparation for entry to that world 鈥 which often meant leaving the home community. As industrial capitalism intensified, the primary purpose of the school was to prepare pupils for education and employment in the English-speaking world.聽
By the time I was a pupil in Luerbost School, Gaelic was regarded as an irrelevance (possibly a handicap) in gaining work and a living. And that was nothing new: in 1883, it was recorded in the Luerbost School Log Book that His Majesty鈥檚 Inspector said in a Report: 鈥楢 certain advance has been made in the knowledge of English, but Gaelic seems to be used to a greater extent than is judicious.鈥
This brings me to the greatest threat and the greatest challenge to any minority language. To have the best chance of success in gaining employment, pupils need to be competent in the dominant language of conquest, administration, command, diplomacy and control. That is also the language of the cities and large towns, of new ideas and progress, of advanced learning and commerce, of the mass media and of entertainment. This has been true (to take a few examples) of Greek, Latin, Spanish, Portuguese and English.
It has not been true of Gaelic.
When we consider the plight of Gaelic in this light, it is easy to see that even learning Gaelic formally at school 鈥 or, indeed, engaging in GME 鈥 seems to lead nowhere 鈥 except for a select few, who are crucial in keeping the language going at a formal level.聽
In my boyhood there were two routes into employment that required Gaelic: being a Gaelic teacher (I include academics) or being a Gaelic Minister. Today, opportunities in the mass media have been added. I hope that there are others.聽
Imagine that Comhairle Nan Eilean took a decision to run its affairs entirely in Gaelic. (An outcry about discrimination would disallow it anyway.) It would have to produce all forms and documents in English as well as Gaelic. On the other hand, it would require that many elected representatives and all staff should be fluent and literate in Gaelic 鈥 and that a simultaneous translation service be available in all the chambers of administration and at public meetings. AND all would have to be fluent and literate in English in order to perform the 鈥榦utward-facing鈥 connection with the rest of Scotland, Great Britain and beyond.
This would produce a number of work opportunities and it might even be a useful support to the language; but even were it to happen, it would be peripheral to the larger issues of revitalisation and transmission.
POPULAR CULTURE.
Gaelic has always had an important popular culture 鈥 bards, singers, pipers, accordionists, fiddlers, choirs, augmented in recent times by contemporary artistes in all of these and drama, dance, and traditional and rock bands of various hues. Opportunities should be seized to present these cultural flowerings at all venues from the village hall to the Grande Theatre, from the local celidh to the National Mod.
There is a coming together of speakers and potential speakers at popular cultural events which is unlikely to happen in any other context. Quite how that can be used to encourage wider use of the language is a matter requiring thought and imagination.
PUBLISHING.
Nowhere is the 鈥榤inority鈥 status of Gaelic more apparent than in newspapers and periodicals. Gaelic pieces appear seemingly on sufferance. Even the 鈥榟eartland鈥 prints, the Stornoway Gazette and the West Highland Free Press are sparing in their Gaelic column-inches. On the other hand, this is probably an accurate reflection of demand from a readership largely illiterate in its own language. That was certainly the picture historically; it is to be hoped that literacy has greatly improved: whether that is paralleled by a greater demand for Gaelic material is an open question.
A crucial role for such publications should be a public information campaign 鈥 in both languages 鈥 alerting individuals and communities to the silent disaster that is taking place around them and clarifying what needs to be done.
The situation in book publishing stands in welcome contrast, having a reassuring vibrancy and vigour. Acair and other publishers (e.g. The Islands Book Trust, the Gaelic Books Council and Grace Note Publications) produce a stream of books for infants to academics, from picture books, to factual accounts to novels. This is encouraging: a language needs a formal literature. Gaelic has never been lacking in this and the current volume shows a welcome increase.
The most important function of publishing in the retention and revitalisation of the language is support for learning. Thus, accessibility of texts for learners is crucial. The trend in publishing texts in both languages should be an aid to this.
THE INTER-NET.
The Inter-net is replete with resources 鈥 dictionaries, translators, support sites 鈥 a good example is the support for parents of GME pupils. It provides rich resources for the individual with the knowledge to use them. What is less clear is how, exactly, it can be used in revitalisation and retention.聽
Many sites provide Gaelic versions of their English sites. There are very few that are exclusively Gaelic. The merits or otherwise of these approaches is a matter for debate.
One thing we can be sure of: the future of language 鈥 all language 鈥 will be impacted by the growth and dominance of the inter-net.
ACADEMIA.
Academic analysis, debate, discourse and the 鈥榤eta-language鈥 within which these occur, is important in the life, development, understanding and sustenance of any language. Gaelic is not deficient in this regard, continuing the tradition of the great ancient Scottish universities that stood and stand, at the cutting edge of Western Civilisation. Sabhal Mor Ostaig and the composite University of the Highlands have come to take what I hope will be an influential place beside them. In them (SMO being the pioneer) the language will live and flourish 鈥 within that confined environment. But I fear that, in terms of transmission, revitalisation and preservation of the living tongue, the effect is little different to my imagined Gaelification of Comhairle Nan Eilean.
It undoubtedly produces a number of work opportunities and it is a useful support to the language; but it is peripheral to the larger issues of revitalisation and transmission. I do not mean this as a criticism of academic endeavour, which in the Humanities is, by its nature, a commentary and not a project.
LATIN.
Latin is, famously, a 鈥榙ead鈥 language. It was the most influential language in the Western world for centuries. It was the language of the schools and of the academics throughout the Western World. It was the language of learning and of Faith. All serious education was undertaken as LME (Latin Medium Education). BUT it fell out of use by families and communities. It became the language of privilege, schooling and academia. It died.聽
It is still studied. 鈥楥lassics鈥, the study of the ancient Western Civilisations, largely through the medium of Latin (and Greek) but with large dashes of English thrown in, was the preferred entre of the English Middle Class elite into the world of English Middle Class elitism. It still is, but to a lessening degree.
THE 大象传媒.
The role of the 大象传媒 in revitalising, extending, curating and developing Gaelic cannot be overstated. The nature of broadcasting is entirely different to the closed world of the school (or of academia) because it is in the listener鈥檚 (or viewer鈥檚) ear 鈥 and that is a public ear: all can hear. In its tireless work in broadcasting news, plays, documentaries, music, current affairs, it has looked outward 鈥 as well as inward 鈥 creating an archive of Gaelic unexampled anywhere else. Crucially, it has extended the language 鈥 through the knowledge and expertise of its broadcasters and their contributors 鈥 to enlarge the language of the croft to include reports and discussions on politics, international affairs, economics, philosophy 鈥 and any other 鈥榦logy鈥 you care to think of.聽
Other broadcasters are now very active outside the 大象传媒. The contribution of broadcasters on mic and screen 鈥 and even more so behind the scenes 鈥 is inestimable. They all know who they are.
NEW SPEAKERS.
Dunmore notes in his study, that 鈥4 of the interviewees with no home background in Gaelic, were among those using Gaelic regularly in their professional and social lives. 2 were raised in urban communities. 2 were raised in communities where some Gaelic was spoken.鈥
They can be classified as 鈥榥ew speakers鈥 as defined by McLeod et al. (2014: 1). These are people who did not acquire Gaelic within the home in childhood, 鈥渂ut have nevertheless acquired Gaelic to a significant degree of competence and are now making active use of the language in their lives鈥.
New Speakers are among the category of Gaelic users most aware and committed to the notion of inter-generational transmission. They are certainly important to the conservation of the language; they may be crucial to its transmission.
Some of the most influential people in Gaelic academia and broadcasting (and both) are 鈥榥ew speakers鈥. They know who they are.
THE FRAGILITY OF CULTURAL IDENTITY.
An aspect of my analysis of Cultural Identity that took me by surprise when I came to consider it, is how fragile it is.聽
A culture anywhere and at any time in its development has come about without any plan and as a result of the plans, aspirations, decisions, mistakes, triumphs, etc. of unnumbered individuals. And that culture continues to live by virtue of the Personal Identities that carry it: it quite literally has to 鈥榣ive鈥. To those within it, it appears enduring and robust. However, it can disappear in one generation.聽
If the language is not passed on (and, of course, another has to be substituted) large aspects of the culture are not transmitted. A geographical move can be fatal.
A thought-experiment: a young man leaves his tight-knit Gaelic community to gain a university education. He eventually becomes a Barrister, living and practicing in the Home Counties of England. 聽His son has the solid middle-class English Personal Identity we would expect; but he is a dreamer, earning his living from writing. He decides to return with his new wife to the old family home. There they fit into the local community, learn the language and raise their son. His Personal Identity at age 5 is every bit as Gaelic as was his Grandfather鈥檚. A return to the Cultural Identity in 2 generations (Grandfather and Father intervening) or 1 (if we count only the Father as having 鈥榮tepped out鈥 of the Cultural Identity).
It is because of this resilience that cultures can appear to be wiped out, yet can regenerate and prosper. What needs to remain is a cultural enclave within which this is possible. We only need to look at the history of the Jewish people to see this in action down the Centuries.
But notice that people can come and Join a Cultural Identify from anywhere at any time. Genetic inheritance is irrelevant to Cultural Identity.
We all know people who have done just this 鈥 and many who have 鈥榬eturned鈥 in some way or other to their Cultural Identity.聽
WHAT IS TO BE DONE?
It is a nice commentary on where we are that this is written in English. I take some comfort in my observation that most meta-linguistic discourse on Gaelic is in English. (E.g. in Dunmore鈥檚 large References section, I can only find 4 titles in Gaelic.)
It seems clear to me that the GME initiative is an insufficient initiative in the attempt to revitalise Gaelic.聽
It is strange (negligent, even) that GME pupils seem not to have been aware that the whole point of the privilege they were being given was (a) the ability to use the language; and (b) the 鈥榙uty鈥 to transmit it. Put another way: transmission though use.聽
It is also clear the opportunity to use the language is critical. This implies a linguistic community. Where are such communities? Do they need to be created? How can they be created? It seems clear to me that Gaelic activists are essential in all the forms they come in. Could we aspire to Gaelic Community Hubs/Centres (some of these are in already in place, with the potential to play a critical part) with Gaelic Community Workers leading revitalisation initiatives such as that described by the SIL Document 鈥楢 Guide for Planning the Future of Our Language鈥 (Hanawalt, et al.)?聽
If we picture the project of language transmission as a three-legged stool, we need (1) language in the family, (2) language in the community, and (3) language in the peer group. 聽
Extending the analogy and making the stool into a chair, GME is the seat and academia is the backrest. Both of these are useful, but neither is seminal nor sufficient.聽
It is clear that any coherent initiative to further combat the decline in users of the language, must concentrate on items (1) 鈥 (3) above.聽
What Finlay Macleoid of the Moray Language Centre has to say in support and explanation of his Total Immersion Plus (TIP) method of teaching Gaelic should be listened to very carefully. (Link below.) He is right that an important key to retention and revitalisation of the language is in teaching adults and that transmission to future speakers is dependent on them bringing the language into the home. The method and techniques he has developed are a programme for doing just that.聽
A further important insight comes from the work of Chris Harvey. (Link below.) It is the people who USE a language - not those who could speak but choose not to, or those who understand it without speaking - that transmit it. He also demonstrates how a decline in USERS is quickly followed by collapse, even if there are a large number of SPEAKERS. It takes one generation.聽
These observations place the onus on use of the language in the family, in the community and in the peer group. How can this be achieved? The answer is that a lot of thinking, effort and policy development is required.
Finlay MacLeoid鈥檚 approach provides a developed example of what could be possible. (Link below.) But people need to be motivated to learn a language. It would seem to me that a sustained programme of public information/ education is required to explain why the use of the language in the family, in the community and in everyday life is critical.
It is also essential that opportunities to use the language need to be created. The local community shop where only Gaelic is spoken is fanciful 鈥 but something needs to be put in place.
Another area of consciousness-raising is in the notion of Self Identity and its correlate, Cultural Identity. It may seem surprising that most of the people in Dunmore鈥檚 (2014) study resisted the notion that they were Gaels. On the other hand, Self-Identity is a complex notion, as I explain above.聽
People attempting to learn or return to a language often feel self-conscious and intimidated. They feel their efforts fall far short of fluent speakers. I know a number of people who understand Gaelic well, but who will not attempt to speak. This reticence has to be understood by existing users, as they seek to draw learners and returners into their language-community.
Formulating strategies and policies is a matter for the people and communities seeking to revitalise the language. The SIL Document 鈥楢 Guide for Planning the Future of Our Language鈥 (Hanawalt, et al.) is a guide for local communities who are interested in maintaining the use of their traditional language. It is certainly worth exploring. (Link below.)
CONCLUSION
This piece has been an attempt at explaining some of the processes and issues confronting the conservation and transmission of the language from my particular perspective. I hope that it will help to clarify some of these issues and what it might take to meet the challenges they raise. My wish is that it can be useful, in some measure, to those engaged in the debate about the future of Gaelic as a spoken language.
REFERENCES:[An internet search for any of the authors and key words given below will produce more information. The addresses given are the primary sources or provide rapid access.]
Berne, Eric. 1961. Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy. (Grove Press, NY.)Games People Play.[Berne鈥檚 ideas on Transactional Analysis (Usually shortened to 鈥楾A鈥) have been developed and spread, to the extent that they have created an industry. His ideas on 鈥榮cripting鈥 have been similarly developed.]
Bernstein, Basil. 1971. Class, Codes and Control. Routledge, London.
Chandler, Daniel. 1995. The Sapir-Wharf Hypothesis.聽
Derrida, Jacques. 1967. Of Grammatology. (Translated by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak.) Baltimore: John Hopkins Uni.
Dunmore, Stuart. 2014. 鈥淏i-lingualism After School?鈥 PhD thesis - University of Edinburgh.
Hanawalt, Charlie, et al. 2016. A Guide for Planning the Future of Our Language. SIL.
Harari, Yuval Noah. 2011. Sapiens. A Brief History of Mankind. Vintage Books, London.
Harvey, Chris. 2016. 鈥楥oming Back From the Edge: Bucking the Trend to Endangerment鈥. 6th Annual ILI Symposium.
James, Muriel. 1971. Born to Win. Addison 鈥 Wesley Publishing.[Best-selling popular account of TA.]
Keller, Helen. 1990. The Story of my Life. (Bantam Classics.)[Helen Keller鈥檚 original account of her experiences was published in 1902.]聽
Finlay Macleoid. 2014. 鈥業t Starts with the Adults Not the Children鈥. 5th Annual ILI Symposium聽
MacLeod, Don. (Forthcoming.) Proceedings of the Gaelic Society of Inverness.
McLeod, W., B. O鈥 Rourke, & S. Dunmore 2014. 鈥楴ew Speakers of Gaelic in Edinburgh and Glasgow鈥, Soillse Research Report (Sleat, Isle of Skye: Soillse).
Meyers-Briggs Inventory. :聽
Vygotsky, Lev S. 1986. Thought and Language. (MIT Press.)[The original English translation, from the Russian, was published in 1962.]
Language is THE defining attribute of the human being. It mediates personality, understanding, progress, culture and civilisation. The living continuation of language(s) is what underwrites all of these. Language has to have a continuing (continuous) presence in a way that reminds us of genetics. There is an unbroken genetic route from your earliest ancestor to you. (If you break it by having no offspring, the line ceases.) Similarly, there is an unbroken linguistic path from your earliest linguistic ancestor to you.聽
Survival and continuation of a language as a living language is crucially dependent on at least four elements:聽
1. Transmission within the family. Children absorb the demotic (everyday) language (or languages) they hear around them, from infancy.2. Use of the language in the community as a natural medium of everyday communication.3. Use of the language in the peer group as a natural medium of everyday communication.4. Use of the language in new (鈥榥ext-generation鈥) families in order to ensure transmission to the new generation of users. 聽Language can only live if it is carried in the bodies of living hosts.聽
GAELIC MEDIUM EDUCATION.
A main (perhaps the main) response to the decline of Gaelic has been the establishment of Gaelic Medium Education (GME). GME was first established in 1985. The continued, even accelerating, decline of Gaelic as a living, spoken language indicates that this has not been a particularly successful intervention. That is not due to a lack of effort, will and passion on the part of those advocating it as a part of a strategy of revitalisation. Why, then, has it not shown more success?
鈥淏i-lingualism After School?鈥 is a PhD thesis by Stuart S. Dunmore - University of Edinburgh (2014).
His sets out to examine how the experience of the earliest pupils to be exposed to GME has influenced how they use the Gaelic language in their lives. This is a lengthy and detailed piece of work and only a flavour of it is given below. Its importance lies in the clarity with which it points to the failure of GME as a tool even to maintain the language, far less as a route to revitalisation.
Over the decade 1985-95, 1,285 pupils were enrolled. Of these he was able to contact a sample of 130; and of those he carried out interviews with 46.
Although this is a small sample, it was self-selecting and it is probable that they are the people with the most active interest in Gaelic.
112 individuals also completed a questionnaire, which was designed to elicit similar information to that gained from the interviews.
The quantitative analysis of that produces results remarkably similar to the qualitative analysis of the interview cohort.
That a significant proportion of GME pupils go on to use the language is, of course, the central aim of the initiative. The 46 interviewees were categorised as follows:
1. High use of Gaelic. 10 of the 46 were put in this category. Their use of the language was associated with work or study.2. Intermediate/limited use. 12 of the 46 were put in this category. Used with older family members. Limited with children. Weak with friends, siblings and partners.3. Low use. 24 of the 46 were put in this category. Crucially, this group showed no interest in language-transmission.
Dunmore summarises:
鈥淪ocial use of Gaelic at present is therefore reported to be somewhat fragile across the qualitative data set, and especially among participants whom I have grouped in the second and third categories discussed here. The relatively few interviewees in the first category (of 鈥榟igh鈥 use) are a possible exception to this pattern, and such individuals鈥 participation in Gaelic-based employment or postgraduate study seems to encourage social use of the language outside of these formal domains.鈥
It is critical that interest in and understanding of language-transmission was weak across the whole sample.
THE CENTRALITY OF LANGUAGE.
Language is the central human attribute.
Human beings are born in a state of great immaturity (in comparison to other mammals). Humans have the longest childhood of any being.
This is necessary so that the developing brain can complete a number of tasks in order to attain maturity.
Central to that is the acquisition of language 鈥 and all the other developments consequent on that.聽
The human infant is born with a great many attributes. These are based on genetic endowment and the nature and content of the 鈥榗hemical bath鈥 within which it developed during pregnancy, both of which create the detailed structure of the individual brain. (Brain morphology.)
Every human being is unique, yet all share certain attributes and abilities that are essential to the creation of a whole, fully functioning human being.
Five essential attributes are:聽
(1) The beginnings of feelings and emotions;聽(2) The ability to absorb the language or languages found around it;聽(3) The beginnings of being able to understand other human beings. (Empathy.);聽(4) The beginnings of being able to connect with other people (the infant鈥檚 directed smile is the earliest manifestation of this); and聽(5) The ability to absorb the culture it finds around it 鈥 how to be one of 鈥榰s鈥.
CREATING THE PERSON.
The developing infant is surrounded by the language of its carers 鈥 and usually the extended family or kin-group.
It begins to recognise that objects have names. This is not simply a passive process of absorption; infants begin to invent their own names for objects.聽
From birth, infants are aware of feelings that signal pleasure and aversion. This leads to bonding with carers and a growing understanding of others as distinct from the self 鈥 and eventually, of the self as distinct from others.
As language develops, it begins (quite literally) to make sense of feelings and emotions.
Without language there is no vehicle with which to think: language is prior to thought.
Without a language, we can only feel.
[See Vygotsky on 鈥楾hought and Language鈥. A compelling account of the awakening of thought through language is Hellen Keller鈥檚. She was born deaf-blind and only began to discover herself and the world around her as she began to learn sign language.]
The infant begins to absorb the world it finds around it 鈥 family, extended family, relatives, family friends, activities, etc. This world is unique to each individual that has ever existed.聽
Some of the people with influence in families will be 鈥榞hosts鈥. Although their presence and/or influence is important, they are not physically present 鈥 for example, they may live at a distance or they may be deceased.
聽LEARNING THE 鈥楩AMILY SCRIPT鈥.
One way of seeking to understand this is through 鈥榮cript theory鈥.聽
The notion here is that the newly born infant is 鈥榙ropped鈥 into a continuing drama (perhaps 鈥榮oap opera鈥 would be a better approximation). It then has to learn its own script, rather in the way that a 鈥榤ethod actor鈥 has to create the appropriate part to play in a naturalistic (un-scripted) play, by observing the actions of others and reacting appropriately to them.
The scripts of all others in the infant鈥檚 world consist not only of language, but also actions and all the modes of the expression that make up communication.
[Eric Berne originated the notion of 鈥榮cripts鈥 in his academic work on 鈥楾ransactional Analysis (TA) 鈥 a psychotherapeutic system he created. He also laid out his ideas in popular books that became best-sellers. See Games People Play. Many others have developed his ideas 鈥 e.g. Muriel James in Born to win.]
It is through this process of immersion in the world of family 鈥 and the absorption of the languages, nuances and mores of the family - that the child becomes 鈥榦ne of us鈥.聽
It is an extraordinarily flexible process. Every child ever born at any time and at any place has undergone this. The result is (if there are no threats to 鈥榥ormal鈥 development) that it produces an individual perfectly suited to its social milieu.
I refer to this as the Family Script.
THE FAITH SCRIPT.
There are many 鈥榮ub-scripts鈥 within the Family Script: e.g. the 鈥楨tiquette Script鈥 鈥 how do we behave? The 鈥楶ractical Skills Script鈥 鈥 what skills do I need to function as a part of the family? Etc.
All scripts are important in fitting in and being 鈥榦ne of us鈥.聽
One of the most important is the Faith Script. At different times and in different places, the Faith Script can exert a central influence on the developing person.聽
Since the introduction of Christianity to the Gaeltachd, it has been central in shaping Gaelic culture. Although its influence has been waning for some time, it is still important. In some faith groups, the Faith Script is pre-dominant. E.g. a devout Muslim鈥檚 life is shaped around religious observance.
THE PEER SCRIPT.
As we begin to move out into the world, we will encounter the Peer Script 鈥 what it is to be 鈥榦ne of OUR crowd鈥. This is a powerful influence 鈥 it can begin to 鈥榦ver-write鈥 the Family Script.聽
The Peer Script will continue to change and influence change in us, usually fading as we mature and become secure in our own identity.
It is the Peer Script that teaches us how to be individuals in the world, how to relate to others outside the family, how to make friends and alliances and avoid bullies and those we do not approve of.聽
At this stage of development, most children feel a strong need to 鈥榖elong鈥, to be a part of a particular group of similar individuals.聽
At some times there may be a powerful youth culture 鈥 such as the eras of 鈥楾eddy Boys鈥, 鈥楻ockers鈥, 鈥楳ods鈥, 鈥楶unks鈥, 鈥楪oths鈥, etc. Members of 鈥榠n-groups鈥 of this kind will define themselves against an 鈥榦ut-group鈥. These Peer Script identities often fade with time 鈥 but some are life-long.
Again, the Peer Script may be seen as many interacting sub-scripts.
The Game Script. Which games and sports are of particular interest to the Peer Group?
The Music Script. What music 鈥 and other cultural pastimes 鈥 do 鈥榳e鈥 appreciate?
The Sexuality Script. This derives from how the peer-group members express their sexuality. What behaviours are appropriate? Is it allowed to express 鈥榦ther鈥 sexualities, such as being openly lesbian or gay?
In our rapidly liberalising society, this is increasingly the case 鈥 but it is not universally so. It is a totally different experience to be 鈥榙ifferent鈥 in a liberal, educated community, to being 鈥榙ifferent鈥 in a conservative, religious, traditional community.
The Peer Language Script is critical. It is more important than the Language Scripts of either the Family or the School. It is another form of demotic language; and it may be adopted in opposition to the Family and School scripts.聽
When there is a conflict between a minority and a dominant language, the dominant language will tend to be chosen as the language of 鈥榗ool鈥 as against the 鈥榦ld-fashioned鈥 language of the elders.
THE SCHOOL SCRIPT.
In entering education, the child begins to move into the wider world and to be influenced by the systematic presentation of a 鈥楩ormal Language Script鈥 and a 鈥楩ormal Cultural Script鈥.聽
These emanate from the larger society that is usually thought of as the State 鈥 the formal curriculum. For Scots, this means Scotland and its institutions.
The Formal Language Script often seeks to overwrite the Demotic Language Script. Although speaking 鈥榗orrectly鈥 is one of the core values of education, it usually fails.
What actually happens is that the young person learns the Formal Language Script, while retaining the Demotic Script of the Family and of the Peers.聽
In this sense, almost all children are (at least) bi-lingual (or tri-lingual).
A young person from Glasgow will not begin to use the 鈥楨xtended Code鈥 of formal English in the home and with the peers. They will continue to use the simpler (but no less expressive) 鈥楻estricted Code鈥 of the home and the community.[See Basil Bernstein.]
In Gaelic speaking households, children will use a demotic form of that language. In households where Gaelic could be spoken but is not, the young person will resort to the demotic English with which it was raised and finds entirely natural. (The best outcome would be a mixture of both.)
Critically, the School Script gives access to an aspect of language which is even more extraordinary than the existence of language itself: literacy. Literacy transcends language (or provides a transcendent form of language) that overarches time and place. I can read and understand the words of people who have been dead for thousands of years, who lived in places I have never been.
Literacy consisted originally of the written word. It now embraces all the means we have of recording words and images.
Literacy enables vicarious learning, which, in turn, enables the individual to learn across time and space.
THE CULTURAL SCRIPT.
The Family Script + the Faith Script + the Peer Script + the School Script = the Cultural Script.
Another, more usual, way of expressing this is to say that the person has been 鈥榮ocialised鈥: they have become a well-adapted member of the social grouping within which they have been socialised. (The circularity of this process is, of course, an aspect of its logic.)
All cultures have a dominant language. Many localities have another language or languages (usually referred to as 鈥楳inority Languages鈥). Think of the number of minority languages that are spoken across the English-Dominant world.
All cultures have 鈥榮hared myths鈥 that bind them together: beliefs, history, myths, patriotism, etc. It is difficult to describe this with any precision, since different families and individuals 鈥榯ake鈥 and create the parts of this complex of ideas and shared memories, into their own version.
[See Harari鈥檚 description of this (p. 30).]
The usual way to refer to this is through the name of the culture. E.g. 鈥楽cots鈥 usually see themselves as having a particular accent, musical tradition, literary tradition, entertainment tradition, as well as haggis, whisky, tartan and the kilt.
Despite these similarities, which Scots all over the world would recognise and identify with to a greater or lesser degree, there are many dialects of Scots English in Scotland. The Gaels have a whole language, completely unrelated to the dominant language 鈥 but, again, with local accents and variations.
This reflects a central truth in my description of the process of learning the Cultural Script 鈥 of socialisation: it is done through the DEMOTIC language of the family and the surrounding community, i.e. the language 鈥榦f the people鈥; the local accent and colloquial speech. Later, it is through schooling and formal education the individual begins to learn the FORMAL language(s) and the formal version of the culture presented through it to them.
SELF-IDENTITY AND PERSONALITY.
In order to side-step the vast and hotly disputed literature on 鈥楽ocial Identity Theory鈥, 鈥榩ersonal identity鈥, 鈥業dentity鈥, 鈥榩ersonality鈥, 鈥榩ersonhood鈥 and any other terms used to point to individual human beings, I wish to use the terms 鈥楽elf-Identity鈥 and 鈥楶ersonality鈥 in what follows.
The notions of Self-Identity and Personality are notoriously difficult to describe. There are theories of personality that seek to describe different 鈥榯raits鈥 and combine them into personality types.
These are attempts to objectify and describe concepts that seek to capture the notion of personality. They may be useful for some purposes, but they miss the essential point.
[E.g. the Meyers-Briggs Inventory seeks to do just that and it is a useful tool for person-management in the workplace.]
Self-Identity and Personality, consist of our subjective experience as we live in the present. Furthermore that subjective experience changes moment to moment, depending on what we are doing, where we are, who we are with, etc.聽
Self-Identity and Personality consist of the phenomenological playing-out of the scripts we have absorbed up until that moment.
What that means is that what we are as personalities is created by our absorption of the various scripts we have encountered, largely through the medium of language.
Hence the centrality of language in creating us as personalities.
This is further illustrated by the widely acknowledged idea that bi-lingual (or multi-lingual) people鈥檚 personalities seem to change, depending on the language they are using at a given time.
[The Sapir-Wharf hypothesis is the most widely-known exposition of this. See link below.]
Self-Identity is based on memory, including the conviction that we are the same person as the person who lived through these memories.
The future is imagined through the lens of our (encultured, socialised) personality.
We are not only created by the scripts we absorb, we are also caught in them.
[This resonates with Jacques Derrida鈥檚 view that there is 鈥榥othing outside the text鈥. His use of 鈥榯ext鈥 can be interpreted in a similar way to my use of 鈥榮cript鈥.]
On the other hand, we continue to change as we encounter new scripts and influences. Indeed, one way of seeking to describe this, is that much of what we regard as personality or personal identity exists outside ourselves. Our environment is replete with information 鈥 from other people and other sources. It is our absorption of this in the minutes 鈥 as well as in the past 鈥 that creates the personality we exhibit at any given time.聽
COUNTER-SCIPTING
It is also possible for us to 鈥榗ounter-script鈥 ourselves.聽
An example is the woman, raised by a cold unresponsive mother, who decides she will be the opposite for her children.
The point here is that 鈥榮cripts鈥 or 鈥榯exts鈥 can and do change. Indeed the course of a life is the course of a changing person-ality.
SELF-IDENTITY: WHO ARE YOU?
It is for these reasons (outlined above) that the question of who we are, of self-identity, is so difficult to answer. Most of us apply a common-sense 鈥榗omposite identity鈥 approach to the question 鈥 if, indeed we ever think about it: we wear our self-identities lightly in most circumstances.聽
We will tend to think of 鈥榗ollective鈥 descriptions: race, place, religion, class; 鈥榩resentational鈥 descriptions: likeability, reputation, contribution, profession; 鈥榗haracteristic鈥 descriptions: values, beliefs, qualities; 鈥榬ole鈥 descriptions: as a family member, in the community, in the workplace.聽
It is immediately striking that this is a complex matrix of descriptions to get around, far less distil into a succinct statement. In fact, we can wear many identities at the same time, quite naturally and without thinking about it. It is only when we do begin to think about it that we become aware of any 鈥榙ifficulty鈥 or ambiguity.
This is an attempt I made having begun to think about my own identity in preparation for a paper I was writing:
鈥淚dentity is a journey, both chronologically and geographically. I began as an Island-Gael, secure in my Cultural Script and the Cultural Identity it conferred on me. I then became, in turn, an Island-Gael-Scot, an Island-Gael-Scot-Briton, and an Island-Gael-Scot-Briton-European; and my reading of Western philosophy and ideas made me a Westerner, while my modest travel across the world 鈥 and the influence of the mass-media - made me to some modest degree a citizen of the world.鈥
[See MacLeod - Proceedings of the Gaelic Society of Inverness.]
That is, of course, a huge over-simplification. Self-identity is nebulous, intangible and difficult to seize, partly because it is very complex and partly because it changes over time and according to the precise contingencies and demands of any situation we find ourselves in. What we reply to the question depends on who asks it, why we think it is being asked, where and when it is asked, and what our internal states, feelings and perceptions are at the time.
THE PERSON.
This analysis of the creation of the person leads to a surprising conclusion: the descriptors 鈥榩ersonality鈥, 鈥榩erson鈥, 鈥榤ind鈥, 鈥榮ocialisation鈥, 鈥榚nculturation鈥, all apply to the same thing. Indeed, they could be viewed as being synonymous, in this sense:
If I think of you as a 鈥榩ersonality鈥, I have in mind other concepts such as 鈥榩erson鈥, 鈥榤ind鈥, 鈥榮ocialisation鈥, 鈥榚nculturation鈥 etc.鈥. All of these are loosely defined concepts, difficult to bring into any clear focus.
What Self-Identity and Personality boil down to is the phenomenological playing out of your interpretation and portrayal of the scripts you have absorbed up until this minute, conditioned by the situation and the demands it places on you, as you understand and respond to it.
I hope that explains why language is so central and important to us: it is what makes us.
EDUCATION.
Since the creation of schools across the Highlands and Islands in the 1600s, a central aim has been literacy 鈥 but literacy in the dominant language. As time moved on and the opportunity of work for payment became possible, the school was a preparation for entry to that world 鈥 which often meant leaving the home community. As industrial capitalism intensified, the primary purpose of the school was to prepare pupils for education and employment in the English-speaking world.聽
By the time I was a pupil in Luerbost School, Gaelic was regarded as an irrelevance (possibly a handicap) in gaining work and a living. And that was nothing new: in 1883, it was recorded in the Luerbost School Log Book that His Majesty鈥檚 Inspector said in a Report: 鈥楢 certain advance has been made in the knowledge of English, but Gaelic seems to be used to a greater extent than is judicious.鈥
This brings me to the greatest threat and the greatest challenge to any minority language. To have the best chance of success in gaining employment, pupils need to be competent in the dominant language of conquest, administration, command, diplomacy and control. That is also the language of the cities and large towns, of new ideas and progress, of advanced learning and commerce, of the mass media and of entertainment. This has been true (to take a few examples) of Greek, Latin, Spanish, Portuguese and English.
It has not been true of Gaelic.
When we consider the plight of Gaelic in this light, it is easy to see that even learning Gaelic formally at school 鈥 or, indeed, engaging in GME 鈥 seems to lead nowhere 鈥 except for a select few, who are crucial in keeping the language going at a formal level.聽
In my boyhood there were two routes into employment that required Gaelic: being a Gaelic teacher (I include academics) or being a Gaelic Minister. Today, opportunities in the mass media have been added. I hope that there are others.聽
Imagine that Comhairle Nan Eilean took a decision to run its affairs entirely in Gaelic. (An outcry about discrimination would disallow it anyway.) It would have to produce all forms and documents in English as well as Gaelic. On the other hand, it would require that many elected representatives and all staff should be fluent and literate in Gaelic 鈥 and that a simultaneous translation service be available in all the chambers of administration and at public meetings. AND all would have to be fluent and literate in English in order to perform the 鈥榦utward-facing鈥 connection with the rest of Scotland, Great Britain and beyond.
This would produce a number of work opportunities and it might even be a useful support to the language; but even were it to happen, it would be peripheral to the larger issues of revitalisation and transmission.
POPULAR CULTURE.
Gaelic has always had an important popular culture 鈥 bards, singers, pipers, accordionists, fiddlers, choirs, augmented in recent times by contemporary artistes in all of these and drama, dance, and traditional and rock bands of various hues. Opportunities should be seized to present these cultural flowerings at all venues from the village hall to the Grande Theatre, from the local celidh to the National Mod.
There is a coming together of speakers and potential speakers at popular cultural events which is unlikely to happen in any other context. Quite how that can be used to encourage wider use of the language is a matter requiring thought and imagination.
PUBLISHING.
Nowhere is the 鈥榤inority鈥 status of Gaelic more apparent than in newspapers and periodicals. Gaelic pieces appear seemingly on sufferance. Even the 鈥榟eartland鈥 prints, the Stornoway Gazette and the West Highland Free Press are sparing in their Gaelic column-inches. On the other hand, this is probably an accurate reflection of demand from a readership largely illiterate in its own language. That was certainly the picture historically; it is to be hoped that literacy has greatly improved: whether that is paralleled by a greater demand for Gaelic material is an open question.
A crucial role for such publications should be a public information campaign 鈥 in both languages 鈥 alerting individuals and communities to the silent disaster that is taking place around them and clarifying what needs to be done.
The situation in book publishing stands in welcome contrast, having a reassuring vibrancy and vigour. Acair and other publishers (e.g. The Islands Book Trust, the Gaelic Books Council and Grace Note Publications) produce a stream of books for infants to academics, from picture books, to factual accounts to novels. This is encouraging: a language needs a formal literature. Gaelic has never been lacking in this and the current volume shows a welcome increase.
The most important function of publishing in the retention and revitalisation of the language is support for learning. Thus, accessibility of texts for learners is crucial. The trend in publishing texts in both languages should be an aid to this.
THE INTER-NET.
The Inter-net is replete with resources 鈥 dictionaries, translators, support sites 鈥 a good example is the support for parents of GME pupils. It provides rich resources for the individual with the knowledge to use them. What is less clear is how, exactly, it can be used in revitalisation and retention.聽
Many sites provide Gaelic versions of their English sites. There are very few that are exclusively Gaelic. The merits or otherwise of these approaches is a matter for debate.
One thing we can be sure of: the future of language 鈥 all language 鈥 will be impacted by the growth and dominance of the inter-net.
ACADEMIA.
Academic analysis, debate, discourse and the 鈥榤eta-language鈥 within which these occur, is important in the life, development, understanding and sustenance of any language. Gaelic is not deficient in this regard, continuing the tradition of the great ancient Scottish universities that stood and stand, at the cutting edge of Western Civilisation. Sabhal Mor Ostaig and the composite University of the Highlands have come to take what I hope will be an influential place beside them. In them (SMO being the pioneer) the language will live and flourish 鈥 within that confined environment. But I fear that, in terms of transmission, revitalisation and preservation of the living tongue, the effect is little different to my imagined Gaelification of Comhairle Nan Eilean.
It undoubtedly produces a number of work opportunities and it is a useful support to the language; but it is peripheral to the larger issues of revitalisation and transmission. I do not mean this as a criticism of academic endeavour, which in the Humanities is, by its nature, a commentary and not a project.
LATIN.
Latin is, famously, a 鈥榙ead鈥 language. It was the most influential language in the Western world for centuries. It was the language of the schools and of the academics throughout the Western World. It was the language of learning and of Faith. All serious education was undertaken as LME (Latin Medium Education). BUT it fell out of use by families and communities. It became the language of privilege, schooling and academia. It died.聽
It is still studied. 鈥楥lassics鈥, the study of the ancient Western Civilisations, largely through the medium of Latin (and Greek) but with large dashes of English thrown in, was the preferred entre of the English Middle Class elite into the world of English Middle Class elitism. It still is, but to a lessening degree.
THE 大象传媒.
The role of the 大象传媒 in revitalising, extending, curating and developing Gaelic cannot be overstated. The nature of broadcasting is entirely different to the closed world of the school (or of academia) because it is in the listener鈥檚 (or viewer鈥檚) ear 鈥 and that is a public ear: all can hear. In its tireless work in broadcasting news, plays, documentaries, music, current affairs, it has looked outward 鈥 as well as inward 鈥 creating an archive of Gaelic unexampled anywhere else. Crucially, it has extended the language 鈥 through the knowledge and expertise of its broadcasters and their contributors 鈥 to enlarge the language of the croft to include reports and discussions on politics, international affairs, economics, philosophy 鈥 and any other 鈥榦logy鈥 you care to think of.聽
Other broadcasters are now very active outside the 大象传媒. The contribution of broadcasters on mic and screen 鈥 and even more so behind the scenes 鈥 is inestimable. They all know who they are.
NEW SPEAKERS.
Dunmore notes in his study, that 鈥4 of the interviewees with no home background in Gaelic, were among those using Gaelic regularly in their professional and social lives. 2 were raised in urban communities. 2 were raised in communities where some Gaelic was spoken.鈥
They can be classified as 鈥榥ew speakers鈥 as defined by McLeod et al. (2014: 1). These are people who did not acquire Gaelic within the home in childhood, 鈥渂ut have nevertheless acquired Gaelic to a significant degree of competence and are now making active use of the language in their lives鈥.
New Speakers are among the category of Gaelic users most aware and committed to the notion of inter-generational transmission. They are certainly important to the conservation of the language; they may be crucial to its transmission.
Some of the most influential people in Gaelic academia and broadcasting (and both) are 鈥榥ew speakers鈥. They know who they are.
THE FRAGILITY OF CULTURAL IDENTITY.
An aspect of my analysis of Cultural Identity that took me by surprise when I came to consider it, is how fragile it is.聽
A culture anywhere and at any time in its development has come about without any plan and as a result of the plans, aspirations, decisions, mistakes, triumphs, etc. of unnumbered individuals. And that culture continues to live by virtue of the Personal Identities that carry it: it quite literally has to 鈥榣ive鈥. To those within it, it appears enduring and robust. However, it can disappear in one generation.聽
If the language is not passed on (and, of course, another has to be substituted) large aspects of the culture are not transmitted. A geographical move can be fatal.
A thought-experiment: a young man leaves his tight-knit Gaelic community to gain a university education. He eventually becomes a Barrister, living and practicing in the Home Counties of England. 聽His son has the solid middle-class English Personal Identity we would expect; but he is a dreamer, earning his living from writing. He decides to return with his new wife to the old family home. There they fit into the local community, learn the language and raise their son. His Personal Identity at age 5 is every bit as Gaelic as was his Grandfather鈥檚. A return to the Cultural Identity in 2 generations (Grandfather and Father intervening) or 1 (if we count only the Father as having 鈥榮tepped out鈥 of the Cultural Identity).
It is because of this resilience that cultures can appear to be wiped out, yet can regenerate and prosper. What needs to remain is a cultural enclave within which this is possible. We only need to look at the history of the Jewish people to see this in action down the Centuries.
But notice that people can come and Join a Cultural Identify from anywhere at any time. Genetic inheritance is irrelevant to Cultural Identity.
We all know people who have done just this 鈥 and many who have 鈥榬eturned鈥 in some way or other to their Cultural Identity.聽
WHAT IS TO BE DONE?
It is a nice commentary on where we are that this is written in English. I take some comfort in my observation that most meta-linguistic discourse on Gaelic is in English. (E.g. in Dunmore鈥檚 large References section, I can only find 4 titles in Gaelic.)
It seems clear to me that the GME initiative is an insufficient initiative in the attempt to revitalise Gaelic.聽
It is strange (negligent, even) that GME pupils seem not to have been aware that the whole point of the privilege they were being given was (a) the ability to use the language; and (b) the 鈥榙uty鈥 to transmit it. Put another way: transmission though use.聽
It is also clear the opportunity to use the language is critical. This implies a linguistic community. Where are such communities? Do they need to be created? How can they be created? It seems clear to me that Gaelic activists are essential in all the forms they come in. Could we aspire to Gaelic Community Hubs/Centres (some of these are in already in place, with the potential to play a critical part) with Gaelic Community Workers leading revitalisation initiatives such as that described by the SIL Document 鈥楢 Guide for Planning the Future of Our Language鈥 (Hanawalt, et al.)?聽
If we picture the project of language transmission as a three-legged stool, we need (1) language in the family, (2) language in the community, and (3) language in the peer group. 聽
Extending the analogy and making the stool into a chair, GME is the seat and academia is the backrest. Both of these are useful, but neither is seminal nor sufficient.聽
It is clear that any coherent initiative to further combat the decline in users of the language, must concentrate on items (1) 鈥 (3) above.聽
What Finlay Macleoid of the Moray Language Centre has to say in support and explanation of his Total Immersion Plus (TIP) method of teaching Gaelic should be listened to very carefully. (Link below.) He is right that an important key to retention and revitalisation of the language is in teaching adults and that transmission to future speakers is dependent on them bringing the language into the home. The method and techniques he has developed are a programme for doing just that.聽
A further important insight comes from the work of Chris Harvey. (Link below.) It is the people who USE a language - not those who could speak but choose not to, or those who understand it without speaking - that transmit it. He also demonstrates how a decline in USERS is quickly followed by collapse, even if there are a large number of SPEAKERS. It takes one generation.聽
These observations place the onus on use of the language in the family, in the community and in the peer group. How can this be achieved? The answer is that a lot of thinking, effort and policy development is required.
Finlay MacLeoid鈥檚 approach provides a developed example of what could be possible. (Link below.) But people need to be motivated to learn a language. It would seem to me that a sustained programme of public information/ education is required to explain why the use of the language in the family, in the community and in everyday life is critical.
It is also essential that opportunities to use the language need to be created. The local community shop where only Gaelic is spoken is fanciful 鈥 but something needs to be put in place.
Another area of consciousness-raising is in the notion of Self Identity and its correlate, Cultural Identity. It may seem surprising that most of the people in Dunmore鈥檚 (2014) study resisted the notion that they were Gaels. On the other hand, Self-Identity is a complex notion, as I explain above.聽
People attempting to learn or return to a language often feel self-conscious and intimidated. They feel their efforts fall far short of fluent speakers. I know a number of people who understand Gaelic well, but who will not attempt to speak. This reticence has to be understood by existing users, as they seek to draw learners and returners into their language-community.
Formulating strategies and policies is a matter for the people and communities seeking to revitalise the language. The SIL Document 鈥楢 Guide for Planning the Future of Our Language鈥 (Hanawalt, et al.) is a guide for local communities who are interested in maintaining the use of their traditional language. It is certainly worth exploring. (Link below.)
CONCLUSION
This piece has been an attempt at explaining some of the processes and issues confronting the conservation and transmission of the language from my particular perspective. I hope that it will help to clarify some of these issues and what it might take to meet the challenges they raise. My wish is that it can be useful, in some measure, to those engaged in the debate about the future of Gaelic as a spoken language.
REFERENCES:[An internet search for any of the authors and key words given below will produce more information. The addresses given are the primary sources or provide rapid access.]
Berne, Eric. 1961. Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy. (Grove Press, NY.)Games People Play.[Berne鈥檚 ideas on Transactional Analysis (Usually shortened to 鈥楾A鈥) have been developed and spread, to the extent that they have created an industry. His ideas on 鈥榮cripting鈥 have been similarly developed.]
Bernstein, Basil. 1971. Class, Codes and Control. Routledge, London.
Chandler, Daniel. 1995. The Sapir-Wharf Hypothesis.聽
Derrida, Jacques. 1967. Of Grammatology. (Translated by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak.) Baltimore: John Hopkins Uni.
Dunmore, Stuart. 2014. 鈥淏i-lingualism After School?鈥 PhD thesis - University of Edinburgh.
Hanawalt, Charlie, et al. 2016. A Guide for Planning the Future of Our Language. SIL.
Harari, Yuval Noah. 2011. Sapiens. A Brief History of Mankind. Vintage Books, London.
Harvey, Chris. 2016. 鈥楥oming Back From the Edge: Bucking the Trend to Endangerment鈥. 6th Annual ILI Symposium.
James, Muriel. 1971. Born to Win. Addison 鈥 Wesley Publishing.[Best-selling popular account of TA.]
Keller, Helen. 1990. The Story of my Life. (Bantam Classics.)[Helen Keller鈥檚 original account of her experiences was published in 1902.]聽
Finlay Macleoid. 2014. 鈥業t Starts with the Adults Not the Children鈥. 5th Annual ILI Symposium聽
MacLeod, Don. (Forthcoming.) Proceedings of the Gaelic Society of Inverness.
McLeod, W., B. O鈥 Rourke, & S. Dunmore 2014. 鈥楴ew Speakers of Gaelic in Edinburgh and Glasgow鈥, Soillse Research Report (Sleat, Isle of Skye: Soillse).
Meyers-Briggs Inventory. :聽
Vygotsky, Lev S. 1986. Thought and Language. (MIT Press.)[The original English translation, from the Russian, was published in 1962.]
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