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Wilson, Gary, Johnson, Henry and Sallabank, Julia (2015) '“I’m Not Dead Yet”: A Comparative Study of Indigenous Language Revitalization in the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey.' Current Issues in Language Planning, 16 (3). pp. 259-278.

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Abstract

At the outset of the twenty-first century, the survival of many minority and indigenous languages is threatened by globalization and the ubiquity of dominant languages such as English in the worlds of communication and commerce. In a number of cases, these negative trends are being resisted by grassroots activists and governments. Indeed, there are many examples of activists and governments working together in this manner to preserve and revitalize indigenous languages and cultures. Such coordinated efforts are vital to the success of language revitalization. This article compares the work of language activists and governments in three small island jurisdictions in the British Isles: the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey. Comparison between these cases is greatly facilitated by similarities in their political, economic and demographic circumstances. The cases, however, reveal important differences in the way that activists and governments have responded to the challenges of language revitalization, as well as some interesting insights on the future prospects of the indigenous languages of these small island jurisdictions.

Item Type: Journal Article
Keywords: language revitalization; indigenous languages; grassroots activists; government; Manx; Jèrriais; Guernesiais
SOAS Departments & Centres: Departments and Subunits > School of Languages, Cultures & Linguistics > Department of Linguistics
Legacy Departments > Faculty of Languages and Cultures > Department of Linguistics
ISSN: 14664208
Copyright Statement: © 2014 Taylor & Francis This is an original accepted manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Current Issues in Language Planning (2014), available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14664208.2014.972535
DOI (Digital Object Identifier): https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2014.972535
Date Deposited: 05 Nov 2015 10:18
URI: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/21243

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