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SUMMARY:Endangered language maintenance and revitalisation: issues of ‘a
 uthenticity and ‘correctness’ (with reference to varieties of French).
  - Dr. Julia Sallabank (Endangered Languages Programme\, SOAS)
DTSTART:20081125T204500Z
DTEND:20081125T220000Z
UID:TALK13807@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Professor Mari Jones
DESCRIPTION:According to social network theory\, people are more likely to
  speak a dialect which is a marker of identity with people from their clos
 e social circle (Milroy and Margrain\, 1980\, Milroy\, 1987\, Milroy\, 200
 2). Milroy describes how network density can be correlated with speech ele
 ments to evaluate levels of use of a particular variety. Close-knit networ
 ks where people all know each other\, in more than one context\, correspon
 d to traditional ways of interacting\, while more loose-knit networks corr
 espond more with modern ways of life. \n\nThis theory was originally devel
 oped with regard to varieties of English in Belfast\, but can be extended 
 to language contact and shift. In my research on Guernésiais\, the indige
 nous language variety of Guernsey\, Channel Islands\, the strength of trad
 itional social networks emerged as a major factor in language maintenance.
  The availability of interlocutors correlates strongly with fluency\, for 
 both native speakers and learners\; while the increasing age and linguisti
 c isolation of many native speakers contributes to both individual and soc
 ietal language loss. \n\nThe loss of the last generation of fluent native 
 speakers also has implications for corpus planning. The previous generatio
 n was traditionally seen as the arbiter of correctness\, and would be cons
 ulted by younger speakers with less confidence in their own proficiency\, 
 who now feel the lack of a reliable authority. At the same time there was 
 an acceptance of regional language variation\, which was seen as a source 
 of richness  Together with the lack of a single prestige variety\, this co
 incides with the Corsican linguist Jean-Baptiste Marcellesi’s concept of
  ‘langue polynomique’ (Marcellesi et al.\, 2003). \n\nSociolinguists a
 re increasingly challenging the concept of language boundaries (e.g. Irvin
 e and Gal (2000)\, Pennycook (2005)) and looking for alternative models wh
 ich avoid reproducing the types of linguistic hegemonies which are promote
 d by language standardisation (Joseph\, 1987\; Grillo\, 1989\; Milroy and 
 Milroy\, 1999\; Ricento\, 2000):  “notions of ‘good’ and ‘bad’\,
  ‘correct’ and ‘incorrect’ language are used to create\, reinforce
  and regulate hierarchies and serve as a device to differentiate people”
  (Shohamy\, 2005). On the other hand\, along with many language campaigner
 s\, Williams (1992) maintains that ‘The survival of minority languages i
 nvariably depends ... upon the ability to shift the language into new doma
 ins of language activity’ (which usually involves standardisation\, new 
 terminology and school-based teaching). The paradoxes thus created are exp
 lored with regard to Corsican\, which is taught using a polynomic model (J
 affe\, 2005\, 2008)\, and with regard to writing in Guernesiais. \n\n
LOCATION:Henry Cavendish Room\, Peterhouse
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