Attitudes to Gaelic in Scotland

近几十年来，盖尔语在苏格兰的地位越来越高，但很少有证据表明公众对这种语言的态度，特别是以英语为母语的大多数人的态度。寻求资金的目的是通过一个学术上严格的调查来源来填补这一证据空白：拟议的研究将在2012年的年度苏格兰社会态度调查中插入一个关于对盖尔语的态度的问题模块，衡量对盖尔语在公共领域的使用、盖尔语在教育中的地位、盖尔语在广播中的使用、盖尔语在地区、苏格兰和英国身份中的地位以及盖尔语的未来等主题的看法。苏格兰政府和Bord na Gaidhlig(负责推广盖尔语使用的法定机构)对调查费用的贡献表明了这一证据的政策重要性。然后，申请者将使用产生的数据来分析问题并提交报告。分析和传播阶段的大部分资金不是在这里寻求的，而是作为大学间盖尔语研究网络Soillse的一部分进行的(以25%的时间为一名研究员提供一年的时间，该研究员将在主要申请人的监督下工作；有关进一步的细节，请参阅‘学术受益者’。)将在该分析中讨论的主题在支持案例中得到了充分的解释，并概括地说：像所有依赖公共资金来源的少数族裔语言一样，盖尔语依赖于非盖尔语多数人的支持--或者至少是默许。它的立场在几个方面是自相矛盾的。一方面，似乎对盖尔语有很大的好感；另一方面，在盖尔语上花费公共资金的具体建议(例如在广播或双语标牌上)可能会引起激烈的争议。盖尔语通常被视为苏格兰身份认同的重要组成部分，但只有一小部分人说盖尔语。它最近通过立法和苏格兰议会的拨款得到了鼓励，但在20世纪80年代也得到了坚决反对权力下放的保守党政府的支持。因此，分析的目的是更好地理解支持在哪里，支持的深度有多深，盖尔语政策的哪些方面导致了争议，以及人们如何看待它在苏格兰文化中的地位。关于盖尔语的辩论是世界范围内对少数族裔语言兴趣增长的一个例子，其中一些语言在近几十年得到了国家的鼓励。学术界对少数群体语言未来的看法从支持语言权利到持怀疑态度，后者往往基于这样一种观点，即会说多数人语言是社会机会所必需的。因此，分析的另一个目的是了解在这一更广泛的背景下对盖尔语的态度。来自其他国家的最相关的研究是关于爱尔兰两地对威尔士人和爱尔兰人的态度，这项研究将密切关注这些研究的方法和结果，并将在Soillse的主持下成立一个专家咨询小组。

The Gaelic language has acquired growing prominence in Scotland in recent decades, but there is very little evidence on public attitudes to the language, especially those of the anglophone majority. The purpose of the funding sought is to fill this gap in evidence with an academically rigorous survey source: the proposed research would insert a module of questions on attitudes to Gaelic in the annual Scottish Social Attitudes Survey of 2012, measuring views about such topics as the use of Gaelic in public areas, the place of Gaelic in education, the use of Gaelic in broadcasting, the place of Gaelic in regional, Scottish and British identities, and the future of Gaelic. The policy importance of this evidence is signalled by the financial contribution which the Scottish Government and Bord na Gaidhlig (the statutory body responsible for promoting the use of Gaelic) are making to the costs of the survey.The applicants would then use the data generated to analyse the issues and report on them. Most of the funding for the analysis and dissemination phases is not being sought here, and will be carried out as part of the inter-university Gaelic research network Soillse (in the form of 25% of the time for one year of a Research Fellow who will work under the supervision of the Principal Applicant; for further details, see 'Academic Beneficiaries'.)The topics to be addressed in that analysis are explained in full in the Case for Support, and are in summary: Like all minority languages dependent on sources of public funding, Gaelic relies on the support - or at least the acquiescence - of the non-Gaelic-speaking majority. Its position is paradoxical in several respects. On the one hand, there seems to be a great deal of goodwill towards Gaelic; on the other, particular proposals to spend public money on Gaelic (eg in broadcasting or on bilingual signage) can generate intense controversy. Gaelic is often seen as an essential part of Scottish identity, and yet is spoken by only a small minority. It has received recent encouragement through legislation and funding from the Scottish Parliament, and yet was supported also by the Conservative government in the 1980s that was firmly opposed to devolution. Thus the purpose of the analysis is to develop a better understanding of where support lies, how deep it is, what aspects of Gaelic language policy lead to controversy, and how people view its place in Scottish culture. Debates about Gaelic are one instance of a world-wide growth of interest in minority languages, some of which have achieved state encouragement in recent decades. Academic views about the future of minority languages range from support for language rights to scepticism, the latter often based on the view that being able to speak a majority language is necessary for social opportunity. The further purpose of the analysis is thus to understand attitudes to Gaelic in this wider context. The most relevant research from other countries is on attitudes to Welsh and to Irish in both parts of Ireland, and this research will pay close attention to the methods and results of these studies, advised by an expert advisory group which will be set up under the auspices of Soillse.