LL-L: "Language conflicts" LOWLANDS-L, 26.JUL.2000 (03) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 26.JUL.2000 (03) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
 Posting Address: <lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org>
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 A=Afrikaans, Ap=Appalachean, D=Dutch, E=English, F=Frisian, L=Limburgish
 LS=Low Saxon (Low German), S=Scots, Sh=Shetlandic
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From: John M. Tait [jmtait at altavista.net]
Subject: LL-L: "Mutual comprehension" LOWLANDS-L, 24.JUL.2000 (01) [E]

PBarr wrote:

 We all know what happened to
>
>the Oakland, CA school board when it tried to recognize bilingualism among
>their students.

Afraid we don't - could you tell us?

John M. Tait.

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From: John M. Tait [jmtait at altavista.net]
Subject: LL-L: "Language conflicts" (was "Loanguage politics",
"Language maintenance", "Language planning") LOWLANDS-L, 24.JUL.2000 (04) [E]

Ron wrote:

>As far as I know, a "minority" person (either "indigenous" or "foreign")
>learning minority languages of countries or regions in which they live is
>most certainly not unheard of, though it may be rare.
>
When I moved into the North East, I asked the young girl in the Chinese
restaurant if she spoke Chinese as well as English, and she replied with some
indignation, 'I dinna spick English - I spick Scots!' I have however met her
since she's been to University, and she appears to speak English now.

If the English are regarded as a minority in Scotland, then the children of
English incomers may learn Scots. The reasons for this may not be productive,
however. One I met, who spoke rather good Scots, told me that she only learned
to speak it to avoid being mocked at school, and now regretted it - she
obviously wished not only that she had continued to speak standard English
(which she could do in any case), but that she had retained her English
accent. Again, absence of the idea of bilingualism, and the identification of
Scots with a form of childish intolerance towards incomers (where its lack of
status, rather than its status, is the point) combine to make Scots appear
undesirable even where it has been learned. It is seen as the rough element in
the local school having managed to drag you down to their level. In my short
excursion into teaching, I was warned by other teachers that this is how
pupils would see it if I spoke Scots to them. At the time I thought this was
simply paranoia and prejudice, but I'm not so sure now.

John M. Tait.

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