Attitudes to Endangered Languages
Identities and Policies

An in-depth study of endangered language revitalisation, which assesses the implications of changing language attitudes for language campaigners and policy-makers.

Julia Sallabank (Author)

9781107030619, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 19 December 2013

286 pages, 11 b/w illus. 3 maps 4 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.55 kg

'… [the author's] insights made this book an invaluable tool for exploring language attitudes and ideologies, while addressing issues on how to 'save a language,' with a reference to what it means to the islanders and how it affects them in the first place.' Zuzana S. Elliott, The LINGUIST List (https://linguistlist.org)

Language attitudes and ideologies are of key importance in assessing the chances of success of revitalisation efforts for endangered languages. However, few book-length studies relate attitudes to language policies, or address the changing attitudes of non-speakers and the motivations of members of language movements. Through a combination of ethnographic research and quantitative surveys, this book presents an in-depth study of revitalisation efforts for indigenous languages in three small islands round the British Isles. The author identifies and confronts key issues commonly faced by practitioners and researchers working in small language communities with little institutional support. This book explores the complex relationship of ideologies, identity and language-related beliefs and practices, and examines the implications of these factors for language revitalisation measures. Essential reading for researchers interested in language endangerment and revitalisation, sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology and language policy and planning, as well as language planners and campaigners.

1. Language endangerment, language revitalisation and language policy
2. Small islands on the periphery of Britain
3. Researching language attitudes and ideologies
4. Local language practices on a small island in the twenty-first century
5. Language attitudes, ideologies and identity on a small island
6. Language planning and policy: bottom-up and top-down
7. Implications.

Subject Areas: Sociolinguistics [CFB], Linguistics [CF]