Minority language media, status planning & linguistic attitudes in Scotland: the sociolinguistic impact of the Gaelic television channel - BBC Alba

MacKenzie, Gordon Hamilton (2018) Minority language media, status planning & linguistic attitudes in Scotland: the sociolinguistic impact of the Gaelic television channel - BBC Alba. MLitt(R) thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis mixes the disciplines of sociolinguistics, media and minority language studies. Over the past decade the availability and prominence of Gaelic television in Scotland has significantly increased through the launch of Scotland’s first stand-alone Scottish Gaelic television channel – BBC Alba. The presence of Minority Language Media (MLM) is popularly considered as an important element of efforts at maintaining and revitalising minority languages, however the ways in which the language in question actually benefits is keenly debated but still largely unknown. Studies by Moriarty (2007) showed that is media impact upon minority language indirect and is mediated through language attitudes whilst De. Bres (2008) discovered that MLM normalises the language amongst the majority language dominated society through promotion of positive attitudes and behaviours. This study concentrates on viewers of BBC Alba, sampling a sports viewing population. The study deploys a mixed method approach of both qualitative and quantitative methods. The quantitative element revealed stronger correlations between attitudinal positivity and favourability towards Gaelic than had been previously discovered in other studies such as (West & Graham: 2011) and O’ Hanlon & Paterson (2012). The qualitative element revealed strong connections to issues of identity and Gaelic, whilst the promotion of Gaelic services especially Gaelic-medium education were topics of repeated participant discussion. Analysis of the overall data concludes that exposure to Gaelic television by the majority language population raises the status of the language in wider society, promoting a healthy acceptance of bilingualism in Scottish society ultimately fostering an improved linguistic environment for Scottish Gaelic to be sustained for future generations.

• Item Type: Thesis (MLitt(R))
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General); P Language and Literature > PB Modern European Languages; P Language and Literature > PB Modern European Languages > PB1501 Scottish Gaelic Language
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > Celtic and Gaelic
• Supervisor's Name: Ó Maolalaigh, Prof. Roibeard
• Date of Award: 2018
• Depositing User: Mr Gordon H. MacKenzie
• Unique ID: glathesis:2018-30737
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 17 Aug 2018 08:41
• Last Modified: 15 May 2019 08:13
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/30737