Linguistic situation in Scotland 15-SJWS-CE-11
This course concentrates on the linguistic diversity in Scotland and traces the developments that have led to the current picture of language use. Students gain insight into Scottish vernaculars through diverse media and materials, such as internet resources, audio recordings, literary and utilitarian texts, historical records and language corpora. Language contact and the socio-political situation are discussed to provide external background for linguistic developments. The position of English and its impact on Scottish vernacular(s) is addressed, too. The course makes use of the e-learning platform, and is assessed on the basis of class contribution and a 20-min presentation on a selected topic.
Major
Cycle of studies
Year of studies (where relevant)
Learning outcomes
KNOWLEDGE AND COGNITIVE SKILLS
Students can: define characteristic features of the languages used in Scotland; analyze aspects of language use in Scotland in its social and historical context; list major literary and historical figures who are important for the linguistic situation in Scotland; explain how the geography of Scotland relates to the linguistic situation.
PRACTICAL SKILLS
Students can: listen to and read samples of language from Scotland and understand the general meaning; use the Internet to find materials connected to language use in Scotland and assess the quality of the website; prepare a good-quality presentation and handout.
AFFECTIVE SKILLS
Students: are conscious of the linguistic diversity in Scotland and the social tensions it creates; formulate own opinions and assessments of this situation and are open to the views of others on the matter; appreciate the cultural Scottish heritage and the role of language in identity formation.
Assessment criteria
class contribution and a 20-min presentation on a selected topic
Bibliography
Scots Language Centre materials
MacKinnon, K. 1998. “Gaelic in Scotland”, in: A. Ó’Corrain (ed.) Minority languages in Scandinavia, Britain and Ireland. Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet. 175-197.
MacKinnon, K. 2007. Scots Gaelic.
BBC Voices. http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/multilingual/scots_gaelic.shtml#A
McClure, J.D. 1986. “What Scots owes to Gaelic”, Scottish Language 5: 85-98.
Millar, Robert McColl. 2006. Nation, language, and power. London: Routledge. Ch6: "Language planning: Process", pp. 94-114.
MacKinnon, K. 2013. "Public attitudes to Gaelic: A comparison of surveys undertaken in 1981, 2003 and 2011.", in Janet Cruickshank and Robert McColl Millar (eds.) After the storm. FRLSU proceedings. Aberdeen.
+ excerpts from the National Gaelic Language Plan 2012-2017
Barnes, Michael. 2010. "The study of Norn", In Robert McColl Millar (ed.) Northern lights, northern words. Aberdeen: FRLSU. 26-47.
< http://www.abdn.ac.uk/pfrlsu/uploads/files/Barnes,%20The%20Study%20of%20Norn.pdf >
Millar, Robert McColl. 2010. "The death of Orkney Norn and the genesis of Orkney Scots", Scottish Language 29: 16-36.
Melchers, Gunnel. 2010. "'This unique dialect': the profile of Shetland dialect in a typology of World Englishes", Scottish Language 29: 37-52.
Scott, Margaret. 2003. “Scottish place-names”, in: John Corbett – J. Derrick McClure – Jane Stuart-Smith (eds.) The Edinburgh companion to Scots. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 17-30.
Crystal, David. 1996. The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language. Cambridge: CUP. pp. 52-53, “Middle Scots”.
Corbett, John. 1997. Language and Scottish literature. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Chapter 12: “The language of Older Scottish literature”, 214-238.
Görlach, Manfred. 2001. A textual history of Scots. Heidelberg: Winter. Section 8.2.1.-8.2.2. "Literary Scots before 1603", pp. 141-145.
Görlach, Manfred. 2001. A textual history of Scots. Heidelberg: Winter. 9. “Anglicisation” and 9.1.1. “Anglicisation before 1707”, 168-170.
Görlach, Manfred. 1987. “Lexical loss and lexical survival: The case of Scots and English”, Scottish Language 6: 1-20.
Dossena, Marina. 2005. Scotticisms in grammar and vocabulary. Edinburgh: John Donald. Chapter 5: "New status for the vernacular", 83-115.
Görlach, Manfred. 2001. A textual history of Scots. Heidelberg: Winter. Sections 8.6. 'Hugh MacDiarmid and the Scottish Literary Rennaisance", 8.7. "Modern choices" (159-167), 9.3. 'Scots in education', 9.4. 'Scots in the church', 9.5. 'Scots in the media' (177-186).
Stuart-Smith, Jane. 2004. “Scottish English: phonology”, in: Bernd Kortman et al. (eds). A handbook of varieties of English. vol. 1. Berlin – New York: Mouton de Gruyter. 47-67.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: