Language planning and language ideologies in Guernsey

Sallabank, Julia

Abstract

The Bailiwick of Guernsey is a small, semi-autonomous archipelago in the English Channel. Although it is a British Crown dependency and part of the British Isles, it has its own parliament and does not belong to the United Kingdom or the European Union. This unusual geopolitical situation means that the nation-state has little relevance. It is only recently that the indigenous former vernacular has been accorded any worth, at either grass-roots or government level: as its vitality declines (increasingly rapidly), its perceived value for individual and collective identification has grown. Although public opinion overtly supports indigenous language maintenance, and increasing its vitality is a stated aim (e.g., a government Language Commission was announced in 2012), effective top-down measures to increase the number and fluency of speakers appear to be low on the agenda. This article explores the implications of this socio-political background for language policy. It discusses language-related activities which reveal a lack of ideological clarification and strategic direction at all levels, compounded by issues of control, epistemic stance and language ownership.

Citation

Sallabank, J. (2018). Language planning and language ideologies in Guernsey. Multilingua: Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication, 38(1), 93-111. https://doi.org/10.1515/multi-2018-0002

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 17, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Sep 4, 2018
• Publication Date: Sep 4, 2018
• Deposit Date: Sep 18, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 18, 2018
• Print ISSN: 0167-8507
• Electronic ISSN: 1613-3684
• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 38
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 93-111
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/multi-2018-0002
• Keywords: Guernsey; endangered languages; ideologies; language policy; language revitalization
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/multi-2018-0002
• Related Public URLs: https://doi.org/10.1515/multi-2018-0002