Institutional Breton language policy after language shift
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Tadhg Ó hIfearnáin
Abstract
The last twenty years have seen a remarkable change in public and institutional support for Breton language promotion. Language activists who had previously resisted and opposed the actions of the French state are now to the fore in designing and implementing institutional language policies to promote Breton, particularly in schooling, adult learning, media, arts and the public space. Spolsky (2003) usefully distinguishes between policies aimed at “revitalization” in home language acquisition and usage (notably in educational policy) and “regeneration” in activities in wider society. This paper concentrates on the regeneration efforts exemplified by the Ya d'ar Brezhoneg program for local language plans, drawing on qualitative interview data from Breton language professionals and employees of Ofis ar Brezhoneg, the Region's Breton language promotion agency.
©[2013] by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Introduction
- Langue bretonne : un siècle de mutations
- À propos des relations entre langue et identité en Bretagne
- La langue bretonne dans la société régionale contemporaine
- Will the real Breton please stand up? Language revitalization and the problem of authentic language
- Contested varieties and competing authenticities: neologisms in revitalized Breton
- The social practice of Breton: an epistemological challenge
- Les trois ruptures sociolinguistiques du breton
- Institutional Breton language policy after language shift
- Signe et sens en balance: le breton affiché dans la ville de Brest
- Teaching languages for a multilingual Europe – minority schools as examples of best practice? The Breton experience of Diwan
- Signs of absence: language and memory in the linguistic landscape of Brittany
- Book review
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Introduction
- Langue bretonne : un siècle de mutations
- À propos des relations entre langue et identité en Bretagne
- La langue bretonne dans la société régionale contemporaine
- Will the real Breton please stand up? Language revitalization and the problem of authentic language
- Contested varieties and competing authenticities: neologisms in revitalized Breton
- The social practice of Breton: an epistemological challenge
- Les trois ruptures sociolinguistiques du breton
- Institutional Breton language policy after language shift
- Signe et sens en balance: le breton affiché dans la ville de Brest
- Teaching languages for a multilingual Europe – minority schools as examples of best practice? The Breton experience of Diwan
- Signs of absence: language and memory in the linguistic landscape of Brittany
- Book review
