One Nation, One Language? Language use, language perception, and language revitalisation in the British Isles

Abstract

The rise of English as a global lingua franca has led to declining usage and speaker numbers of many minority and heritage languages. The decrease in speaker activity and rising utility of English have similarly resulted in receding levels of intergenerational transmission of these minority and heritage languages. In many countries, these developments gave impetus to a call for language stabilisation and/or revitalisation by means of governmental or institutional intervention. The degree of success in achieving these goals varies significantly, as can be seen for instance in the British Isles, where efforts are underway to ensure the survival of Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, and Irish, alongside other smaller languages. This thesis investigates the attitudes towards and use of these languages, and explores the effects of a number of these revitalisation initiatives by means of three questionnaires filled in by natives of Scotland, Wales, and the Republic of Ireland.