Review of 'The Gaelic crisis in the vernacular community, A comprehensive sociolinguistic survey of Scottish Gaelic'

Abstract

This book presents the results of a substantial study completed by a team of colleagues, most of whom are at the University of the Highlands and Islands. The analysis considers the use of Scottish Gaelic and the extent of its transmission, drawing largely upon quantitative survey-based data collected from people in the north-west of Scotland - including the Western Isles, Staffin (north Skye) and Tiree. Since the research was conducted under the banner of Soillse, a government-funded sociolinguistics research network for Scottish Gaelic, the team had access to support from relevant councils and schools. This facilitated community buy-in to their work. The overall message here is that community use and transmission of Gaelic in the area studied are very limited, and that analysis of census data alone may paint an overly optimistic picture. The book concludes with some recommendations for a sea-change in policy and the creation of a community trust for Gaelic. It has received much attention in the media in Scotland (and beyond), and has sparked lively debate in the Gaelic-speaking community and the Scottish political sphere.

Publication
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development