Seeing is believing? Public exposure to Gaelic and language attitudes

Abstract

In language planning for minority languages, policy often aims to positively influence attitudes towards the language by increasing its salience in key areas of public life such as broadcasting and signage. This is true for Gaelic in Scotland, where recent national initiatives have included the establishing of a Gaelic language television channel in 2008, and the launch, in the same year, of a bilingual brand identity for ScotRail (Rèile na h-Alba), resulting in Gaelic-English signage at railway stations across Scotland. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence on the effects of such an increase in national visibility of Gaelic on public attitudes towards the language. The present paper explores this using a national survey of public attitudes conducted in Scotland in 2012. Exposure to Gaelic broadcasting was found to be positively associated with attitudes towards the status of the Gaelic language (as a language spoken in Scotland, and as an important element of cultural heritage), and with attitudes towards the greater use of Gaelic (in public services and in the future). However, exposure to Gaelic signage was often negatively associated with such broader attitudes to the language and culture. The implications of the results for Gaelic language planning, and for future academic studies of language attitudes in Scotland, are explored. The authors acknowledge the support of the funders of the research – the ESRC (Grant number ES/J003352/1), the Scottish Government, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, and Soillse.

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