A really interesting Project. “There is enough anecdotal evidence to show the language used at home should be utilised more in school as it would be the best one for pupils to express themselves confidently and creatively. There is a wealth of vocabulary that is not currently explored in the classroom to its full potential.”
Shetland Dialect and Education
Building a Nation which aims to look at the growth of a city (Glasgow) against the backdrop of inter-country migration from various parts of the country, and the impact that has had on our language(s) and ability to communicate, as well as exploring ideas of class, judgement and the infamous Cringe.
However over on FB Bruce Eunson’s advice that “Each pupil can choose to codify Scots any way they like as long as they consider it and remain consistent. And then the question of it’s consistency is no different to the lessons of how to spell in English – it reinforces literacy” was challenged as this seems a heavy demand on individual students and ignores the important issues of readability.
The later comment was also discussed, “I’m happy with the idea that someone could take a careful in-depth approach as to how we can standardise Scots but I am not in favour of accepting central belt Scots that mostly gets published getting called Scots language – to me that would be a death nail (sic) between relations between regions. Why do we need to have one way to say something?“. Again there seems to be a curious understanding of the relationship between the written language (which can be pan-dialectic i.e pronounced in different ways) and the spoken tongue.
As I said, every serious minority language movement in the world is faced with the standard vs spoken dialect issue. Every single one. With exactly the same arguments. Most seem to manage to overcome it some way.
Another post on the Orkney dialect below.
Orkney Dialect with Tom Rendall
For the past year, I have been investigating my practice within the realm of the Scots language, and it’s place in contemporary performance and poetry. When I first began writing my own material for performance, including spoken word, I admit that I started with the intention of making people laugh.