How green is their valley? Subjective vitality of Welsh language and culture in the Chubut Province, Argentina
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Ian Johnson
Abstract
Drawing upon the theories and taxonomy of vitality, suggested by Giles, Bourhis, and Taylor (1977), a questionnaire was developed to uncover the subjective perceptions of Welsh language and culture in the Chubut Province. This questionnaire was distributed between September and November 2004 in seven locations with 369 completed questionnaires being returned by inhabitants of these municipalities. The distribution of the questionnaires included a wide cross-section of society to reflect perceptions of the strength of the Welsh language among the society as a whole and not just the Welsh community. This article concentrates upon important questions relating to the current perceptions of the strength of Welsh language and Welsh culture and perceptions of the prevailing historical and future trends. Analysis of the questionnaire results shows positive trends in informants' responses linked to the informants' affiliation to the Welsh community, fluency in oral Welsh, and location. Some significant differences exist according to the informants' age and the region of the province in which they live.
© 2009 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, D-10785 Berlin
Articles in the same Issue
- Preface
- In memoriam: Alan Richard Thomas
- Introduction: a critical approach to the revitalisation of Welsh
- Code switching and the future of the Welsh language
- Bilingual literacy in and for working lives on the land: case studies of young Welsh speakers in North Wales
- Language attitudes and identity in a North Wales town: “something different about Caernarfon”?
- Accommodating “new” speakers? An attitudinal investigation of L2 speakers of Welsh in south-east Wales
- Issues of gender and parents' language values in the minority language socialisation of young children in Wales
- How green is their valley? Subjective vitality of Welsh language and culture in the Chubut Province, Argentina
- Diasporic ethnolinguistic subjectivities: Patagonia, North America, and Wales
- Commentary: the primacy of renewal
- The straw that broke the language's back: language shift in the Upper Necaxa Valley of Mexico
Articles in the same Issue
- Preface
- In memoriam: Alan Richard Thomas
- Introduction: a critical approach to the revitalisation of Welsh
- Code switching and the future of the Welsh language
- Bilingual literacy in and for working lives on the land: case studies of young Welsh speakers in North Wales
- Language attitudes and identity in a North Wales town: “something different about Caernarfon”?
- Accommodating “new” speakers? An attitudinal investigation of L2 speakers of Welsh in south-east Wales
- Issues of gender and parents' language values in the minority language socialisation of young children in Wales
- How green is their valley? Subjective vitality of Welsh language and culture in the Chubut Province, Argentina
- Diasporic ethnolinguistic subjectivities: Patagonia, North America, and Wales
- Commentary: the primacy of renewal
- The straw that broke the language's back: language shift in the Upper Necaxa Valley of Mexico
