Linguistics Project

• Step 1. Conceptual Lens
• Sociocultural Lens: Applied Linguistics as social practice and mindful of cultural, historical, and political power dynamics.
• Step 2. Language Problem
• Language revitalization projects in post-colonial societies.
• Step 3. Intervention
• Problem Definition: Clearly describe the issue.
• Erosion of Irish due to (1) occupation, (2) warfare, (3) transfer of populations, (4) establishment of a dominant English-speaking class in urban areas that developed into all-English cities, (5) repeated famines that destroyed authentic rural life, (6) legal prohibitions against Irish, (6) periods of abandonment from Church authorities, (7) the rise of Anglo-Irish culture that claimed worldwide attention, (8) constant emigration to English-dominant countries. (122)
• Lens: How does your definition of Applied Linguistics shape your solution?
• The main purpose of Irish revitalization is cultural. Two thirds of Irish population believe Irish language is crucial for maintaining cultural identity despite half of those people having no ability to speak Irish. (143)
• "the image of Irish has generally remained a distinctly positive one and one that is widely associated with the exhilarating purposefulness and the affirmation of ethnocultural authenticity and creativity ... in Irish intellectual, political and social life" (123)
• Proposed Intervention: What is your solution, policy, or approach?
• "Radio na Gaeltachta, which began regular broadcasts in 1972, provides programs in Irish for the country as a whole and for the Gaeltacht in particular." (140)
• This old media approach is widely lauded for its role in preserving the Irish language, but our solution is a new media approach. We propose a proliferation of Irish language videos on TikTok and other social media platforms. We propose spotlighting Irish celebrities and employing them as ambassadors for Irish.
• Potential Limitations: What challenges or criticisms might arise?
• The criticism of using new media to revitalize Irish would be the same criticism of old media:
• "more Irish speakers are anglified via the ocean of English radio than English speakers are strengthened in their Irish via the single existing channel of Irish radio" (140)
• Even if Irish language TikToks became popular, TikTok as a platform would still overwhelmingly help push the spread of English more than it would strengthen Irish even with our proposal.
• Presentation: Be ready to present your solutions to the class.
• Reversing Language Shift, Joshua A. Fishman