ERDF co-funded project "Funding of international projects in research and innovation at Rezekne Academy of Technologies
PLENARY SESSIONS
Developing Latgalian literacy: From practices to texts to skills
Literacy can be seen as a set of practices involving written texts and/or as a set of skills involved in reading and writing. What, then, is “Latgalian literacy”? This talk sets out to give such a concept a meaning. It will survey factors that have characterized Latgalian literacy practices and Latgalian texts from their beginning in the 18th century to our times. It will argue that insights about the historical development of literacy and the study of current practices can be made fruitful for developing literacy skills for the future.
Since the 1980s, literacy has been studied in various parts of the world from an ethnographic perspective, viewing it as a set of social practices in specific circumstances, thus investigating what people do with written texts. These practices can be described by various factors, among others those characterizing the actors, the social context, the languages, and the technologies involved. Figure 1 shows examples of such elements and categories. Relations among elements both within and across categories form a network.
Figure 1. Elements characterizing literacy practices and texts
Examples from Latgalian writing will illustrate this approach and show how it can be used to study practices as well as texts. Examples will include the first secular Latgalian book (printed in 1832), works created by manual copying of printed texts at the turn of the 19th and 20th century, and poetic texts published in social media today. The historical approach discloses both changes and constants; furthermore, it shows how old and new literacy practices overlap. Constants characterizing Latgalian literacy through the ages include a negotiation between dialect variation and standardization and between features reflecting the primarily oral uses of the language and the principles of written registers. The latter are usually adapted from other languages, today mostly from Standard Latvian.
Education through Digitalization? - Learning Potentials for Regional and Minority Languages
Nowadays, digital media determine significant parts of everyday communication. Numerous different technologies for communication (cf. Thurlow et al. 2012) have become established and enable translocal (Kytölä 2015) communicative networking across spatial boundaries. At the same time, a co-constitutive design of technology and pedagogy is taking place, as in the computer-assisted language learning (CALL) approach (Warschauer 2004).
What did these changes mean for regional and minority languages (RML) and their acquisition? Since the early 2000s, there has been discussion about the role that the internet can play in the preservation of RML, which are facing the loss of communication domains to dominant standard languages. The effects of digital mediatisation are manifold (Crystal 2006; Reershemius 2017). The question is repeatedly raised whether Web 2.0 can lead to new “communities of practice” (Arendt 2021), support new speakers (Jaffe 2015) and thus new forms of using smaller languages (Kelly-Holmes/Atkinson 2017; Cunliffe & Herring 2005).
The core thesis of my talk is that digitalisation can change learning opportunities for RML. The example of Low German will be used to show how digital development can create particular learning spaces. Using data from online courses, the talk will focus on agency, practices and evaluation from a learner-oriented perspective. It is becoming apparent that not only the development of literacy skills is relevant for language maintenance and the promotion of new speakers, but also the teaching of digital literacy in particular (Warschauer 2004; Knobel/Langshear 2015).
References
Arendt, B. (2021): A Long-Lasting CofP of New and Native Speakers—Practices, Identities of Belonging and Motives for Participation. In: Languages 6, 1:30.
Crystal, D. (2006): Language and the internet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kytölä, S. (2015): Translocality. In: Georgakopoulou, A./Spilioti, T. (Eds.): The Routledge Handbook of Language and Digital Communication. London/New York: Routledge, 371-388
Cunliffe, D. /Herring, S. C. (2005): Introduction to Minority Languages, Multimedia and the Web. In: New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia, 11:2, 131-137.
Jaffe, A. (2015): Defining the new speaker: theoretical perspectives and learner trajectories. In: International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 231, 21-44.
Kelly-Holmes, H./Atkinson, D. (2017): Perspectives on Language Sustainability in a Performance Era: Discourses, Policies, and Practices in a Digital and Social Media Campaign to Revitalise Irish. In: Open Linguistics 3, 236-250.
Knobel, M./Lankshear, C. (2015): Digital media and literacy development. In: Georgakopoulou, A./Spilioti, T. (Eds.). The Routledge Handbook of Language and Digital Communication. London/New York: Routledge, 151-165.
Reershemius, G. (2017): Autochthonous heritage languages and social media: writing and bilingual practices in Low German on Facebook. In: Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 38:1, 35-49.
Thurlow, C./Lengel, L./Tomic, A. (2012): Computer Mediated Communication. Social Interaction and the Internet. London: Sage.
Warschauer, M. (2004): Technological change and the future of CALL. In: Fotos, S./Brown, Ch. M. (Eds.). New Perspectives on CALL for second language classrooms. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 15-26.
“The other Estonian language” at the nexus of power and technology: how a language becomes visible?
In the plenary speech I describe the development of written standard (cf. re-standardization) of “the other Estonian language” – Võro (aka Võro-Seto) –, its implementation and adoption. I also discuss its corpus, status and acquisition planning at the nexus of power and technology by framing those processes in language ideological debates (cf. Blommaert 1999).
Võro is seen, depending on one’s stance, as a heritage language or a dialect of Estonian spoken mostly in south-eastern Estonia. Today, Võro is the most widely used and cultivated South-Estonian variety. In the Early Modern Period, the administration of South-Estonian-speakers’ traditional habitat switched from Polish Livonia to Swedish Livonia, to the Governorate of Livonia in the Russian empire with the centres in Riga and Tartu. Following the Lutheran credo of disseminating the Scriptures, Tallinn- and Tartu-based written varieties were developed by the Estophile clergy and used by mostly L2 speakers since the 17th century before Modern Standard Estonian got its form at the turn of 19th century (Raag 1999). The functions of Standard Estonian expanded especially after Estonia was proclaimed independent in 1918. By intensifying the contact of vernacular speakers with Standard Estonian, Estonian-medium schooling has had an enduring effect not on language variation only, but on further standardization efforts as well. As for the latter, both traditions of orthography, Tartu-based and Modern Standard Estonian, have influenced the graphization of Võro and the reception of the new standard since when its cultivation in the 1990s. To maintain the language and to nurture the speech community, language activists have invested a lot in the standardisation of Võro. Schooling in Võro was planned as one of the measures to slow down the interruption of intergenerational language transmission and reverse the language shift. Today, there are two broad types of Võro-speakers:
L1-speakers who have learned Standard Estonian at school between the wars or in the 2000s (elderly, some activists’ children);
L2-speakers who have learned it later in life or simultaneously with Standard Estonian (late bilinguals, new speakers, incl. many activist speakers) (Koreinik, Plado 2022 [forthcoming]).
Neither of those groups, different in size, have power to establish the standard. It has to be first adopted as a technology of writing and reading (cf. Lane 2015) to become a socio-culturally constructed phenomenon of literacy. During the last thirty plus years there has been debate about the languageness of Võro, which offers an insight into arguments used in standardizing and teaching a minority language.
References
Blommaert, Jan (ed.) 1999. Language Ideological Debates. De Gruyter Mouton.
Koreinik, Kadri; Plado, Helen 2022 [forthcoming]. Linguistic and extra-linguistic arguments in graphization debates: an unsettled standard of Southern Estonian. – XXX
Lane, Pia. 2015. Minority Language Standardization and the role of users. – Language Policy 14: 263-283.
Raag, Raimo 1999. One plus one equals one: The forging of Standard Estonian. – International Journal of the Sociology of Language 139: 17–38.
PARALEL SECTIONS Rezekne Academy of Technologies 16.06.2022
Joys, Sorrows and Fears of the Latgalian Written Language
The proposed paper is to present, analyze and comment the results of 2019-2020 fieldwork survey carried out single-handedly by the present author in Latvia (Riga and Latgale) on language attitudes among speakers of Latgalian towards the orthographic standards and the role of scriptal factors in the modern history and current sociolinguistic constellation of Latgalian.
The results of semi-structured interviews with a sample of ca. 50 speakers of Latgalian (living in capital Riga and/or Latgale) shall be presented in the context of covert and overt language ideologies in Latgale and concerning Latgalian. Some preliminary conclusions will be proposed as for the role of written standard policy in the Latgalian language planning.
Latgaliešu valoda iesācējiem: kad mazāk lietota valoda ir svešvaloda
Lai latgaliešu valodu saglabātu nākamajām paaudzēm, ir nepieciešams veicināt tās apguvi, t.sk. izdot mūsdienīgus, komunikatīvi orientētus mācību materiālus, kas ieved latgaliešu valodas pasaulē arī jaunus interesentus. 2020. gadā Valodu māja sāka veidot mācību grāmatu “Latgaliešu valoda iesācējiem”, ar mērķi palīdzēt jauniešiem un pieaugušajiem apgūt latgaliešu valodu iesācēja līmenī. Plānotais izdošanas laiks ir 2022. gada beigās, bet jau tagad tās audio materiāli un tekstu tulkojumi angļu valodā ir pieejami tiešsaistē, un 2021. gada rudenī materiālu aprobēšanai tika organizēts tiešsaistes kurss dalībniekiem no dažādām valstīm, kam nebija nedz latgaliešu, nedz latviešu valodas priekšzināšanu. Projekta mērķis ir izveidot mūsdienīgu, komunikatīvajā metodē balstītu mācību grāmatu iesācējiem, kurā valodas pamati tiek pasniegti vizuāli pievilcīgi, ar humoru, caur reālām ikdienas dzīves situācijām. Grāmatas un tiešsaistes mērķauditorija ir jaunieši un pieaugušie gan Latvijā, gan citur pasaulē bez latgaliešu valodas priekšzināšanām. Latvijā tie var būt cilvēki, kas dzīvo Latgalē, bet nerunā latgaliski, cilvēki citur Latvijā, kam ir latgaliešu saknes vai kas interesējas par latgaliešu kultūru. Turklāt grāmatu varēs izmantot kā papildu resursu latviešu valodas nodarbībās. Ārzemēs tie ir galvenokārt baltu filoloģijas studenti, cilvēki ar latgaliešu saknēm un poligloti, kas vienkārši mācās valodas prieka pēc. Grāmatu varēs izmantot arī bez latviešu valodas priekšzināšanām, jo atbalsta teksti ir arī angļu un krievu valodā. Referāts ir par to, kādi bija pedagoģiskie un metodoloģiskie apsvērumi, izstrādājot materiālus valodai, kura līdz šim bijusi mazāk populāra apgūšanai tiem, kam tā nav dzimtā.
Ideological debates around Kashubian language education and literacy
Kashubian was recognized as the only “regional language” in Poland in 2005. At the beginning of the 1990s, there were first bottom-up initiatives of teaching it at school. The two first schools provided different types of Kashubian language education: bilingual and teaching Kashubian as an additional subject, “the regional education” that soon became the teaching model.
The growing presence of Kashubian in public life increased the need to create a common writing system approved by the community and used in educational materials. The “compromise” writing system of 1996 was created with school children in mind, for most of whom Polish was their first language. Such a system was supposed to be as easy as possible for the dominant language speakers. Although generally accepted, the official Kashubian script largely depends on the Polish standard. Thus, it positions Kashubian in subordination to Polish and strengthens the “Polonocentric” vision of the community. While officially recognized as a “language”, the way Kashubian is taught and written preserves its ideological status as a “dialect” of Polish.
To oppose it, in 2018, Maciej Bandur published his translation of Saint-Exupéry’s “Le Petit Prince” (Môłi princ) written in his so-called “classical orthography”, based on the original Ceynowa’s proposition from the 19th century. The publication was accompanied by some articles explaining the need to modify the current spelling, considered too similar to the majority standard. The “Kashubocentric” vision, ideologically reflected in the “classical” script, is associated with striving for differentiation, perceived from the “Polonocentric” perspective as unnecessary or even dangerous.
In my paper, I will present ideological debates in Kashubia around the script, teaching it, and two visions of Kashubian: the “regional” language always in relation to the dominant Polish language, a distinct self-sufficient language and accessible to non-Polish speakers.
It just feels like I’m writing it wrong: Learning to write Scots, focussing on building pupil and teacher confidence and self-esteem alongside literacy skills development
Scots is one of three indigenous languages in Scotland, alongside English and Gaelic, spoken by 1.5 million people (National records of Scotland 2011). In the past Scots was actively excluded from formal education contexts, but since the launch of the Scots Language Award qualification in 2014, Scots is now taught in a growing number of schools.
In this presentation, I share findings from a school-university partnership research into contemporary use of Scots, particularly among young people. In my fieldsite, a secondary school in Aberdeenshire, North-East Scotland, Scots is spoken by approximately 50% of pupils. I used Participatory Action Research and Linguistic Ethnography (Shaw, Copland & Snell 2015; Creese 2010) as both a method and theoretical framework to explore young people’s attitudes towards Scots, with a focus on their emotional connection to Scots as part of their cultural identity, as well as their everyday spoken language, set within a broader language policy framework. Drawing on ethnographic interview data, recordings of classroom interaction, and artwork produced by the class, I argue that building pupil confidence and self-esteem is equally important as literacy skills development.
Pupils discussed their early experience with reading and writing Scots, lack of exposure to written Scots, lack of a standardised orthography, teacher attitudes, and their own of confidence writing Scots as factors which influence their literacy development, despite many of them using written Scots to communicate with peers on social media.
Pupils, teachers, and Scots Language experts made recommendations for raising awareness of Scots as a language and future educational developments. Our innovative approaches to creative language learning and teaching could be beneficial to others working in regional language contexts.
Korpuspratība latgaliešu valodas mācību procesā: īpašvārdu apguves iespējas
Korpuspratību (corpus literacy) var uztvert kā daudzveidīgu prasmju kopumu, spēju izmantot korpuslingvistikas tehnoloģiju, lai pētītu valodu un pilnveidotu valodas prasmi (Heather & Helt, 2012, 417). Ir identificēti vairāki korpusa lietotprasmes komponenti: 1) izpratne par korpuslingvistikas pamatjēdzieniem; 2) korpusu meklēšana un datu analīze, izmantojot korpusa programmatūras rīkus; 3) korpusa datu interpretācija; 3) korpusa datu izmantošana mācību nolūkos (Mukherjee, 2006, 14).
Pēdējās desmitgadēs arvien vairāk tiek veidoti tekstu un runas korpusi reģionālajām un mazāk lietotajām valodām, tas ir nozīmīgs autentisku tekstu resurss valodas apguves kontekstā. Arī latgaliešu valodas apguvējiem un skolotājiem ir pieejams mūsdienu latgaliešu valodas korpuss “MuLa” (2013). Mācību priekšmeta “Latgaliešu rakstu valoda 1. – 9. klasei” programmas paraugā valodas kompetences aprakstā minēts, ka 7.-9. klasē izglītojamie “prot izmantot (..) latgaliešu valodas korpusu (..) mācībām nepieciešamās informācijas ieguvei” (Andrejeva et al., 2020, 94). No otras puses, Rēzeknes Tehnoloģiju akadēmijas pētnieku 2021. gada pavasarī veiktajā pētījumā, aptaujājot 214 respondentus, konstatēts, ka korpuss tiek lietots ļoti maz. Tikai 15 aptaujas dalībnieki atzīst, ka izmanto korpusu lielākoties zinātniskiem un profesionāliem nolūkiem., savukārt 43 respondenti ir informēti par korpusu, bet to nelieto.
Šī referāta mērķis ir popularizēt “MuLa” korpusa izmantošanas iespējas latgaliešu valodas skolotāju un apguvēju vidū, tādējādi paaugstinot arī vispārējo korpuspratības līmeni.
Projektā “Humanitāro zinātņu digitālie resursi: integrācija un attīstība” “MuLa” tiek pilnveidots un papildināts ar jaunākajiem tekstiem, tiek veidots latgaliešu runas korpuss “MuLaR”, kā arī viens no uzdevumiem ir sagatavot videolekcijas par korpusa izmantošanas iespējām. Referātā tiks prezentētas dažas videolekciju iestrādnes, ar praktiskiem piemēriem ilustrējot, kā korpusa datus var izmantot mācību materiālu un aktivitāšu ģenerēšanai. Piemēri gatavoti, ņemot vērā mācību priekšmeta “Latgaliešu rakstu valoda 1. – 9. klasei” programmas paraugā minētās tēmas, kas saistītas ar Latgales vietvārdu un personvārdu apguvi: “Māju pasaulē” (1.-3.klasē), “Kur mēs dzīvojam”(4.-6.klasē) un “Latgales pilsētas un novadi” (7.-9.klasē). Proti, tiek aplūkoti īpašvārdu pareizrakstības un izrunas jautājumi, salīdzinot savas dzimtās izloksnes, latgaliešu rakstu valodas un latviešu literārās valodas datus. Tādējādi tiek aktualizēts arī salīdzinošais aspekts dažādu korpusu materiālu izmantošanā.
Literatūra
Andrejeva, Aelita, Dundure, Veronika, Vulāne, Anna, & Žulina, Vanda (2020). Latgaliešu rakstu valoda 1. – 9. klasei. Mācību priekšmeta programmas paraugs. Pieejams: https://www.visc.gov.lv/lv/media/11407/download
Heather, Julian & Helt, Marie. 2012. Evaluating corpus literacy training for pre-service language teachers: Six case studies. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education 20(4): 415–440.
Mukherjee, Joybrato. 2006. Corpus linguistics and language pedagogy: The state of the art – and beyond. In Corpus Technology and Language Pedagogy: New Resources, New Tools, New Methods, Sabine Braun, Kurt Kohn & Joybrato Mukherjee (eds), 5–24. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.
Korpuspratības iespējas folkloras izpratnes diagnostikā Latgales kultūrtelpā
Vispārējās izglītības standartos Latvijas kultūrvides, sabiedrības, tajā notiekošo procesu labākai iepazīšanai un saprašanai tradicionāli tiek iekļauta arī folklora. Tomēr tās izpratne nereti paliek sastingušu definīciju aplocē, kas neveicina folkloras kā dzīvas tradīcijas izpratni visā tās daudzveidībā. Folkloras izpratnes aktuālo semantisko un pragmatisko kodu noteikšanai kultūrā iespējams izmantot mūsdienu latgaliešu tekstu korpusu (MuLa), kur leksēma ‘folklora’ sastopama 320 vārdlietojumos. Leksēmas ‘folklora’ kontekstuālais lietojums, iesaistoties vārdsavienojumos, atklāj plašāku folkloras izpratnes aploci, aktualizējot folkloras kontinuitātes procesus to dalībnieku, pasākumu un attieksmju līmenī. Referātā paredzēts skart vairākus teorētiskus un metodoloģiskus jautājumus: 1) galvenās pieejas un tradīcijas folkloras izpratnes dialektikā; 2) folkloras izpratne Latgales kultūrtelpā salīdzinājumā ar kopnacionālo tradīciju, kas tiks identificēta, izmantojot arī līdzsvaroto mūsdienu latviešu valodas tekstu korpusu; 3) folkloras izpratnes diagnostikas metodika mūsdienu latgaliešu tekstu korpusā; 4) korpuspratībā (corpus literacy) balstītas folkloras izpratnes iespējas skolēnu lietpratības veidošanā.
Grassroots literacy in educational context of the Moldavian Csángó and a local Romani vernacular in Hungary
We deal with grassroots literacy in the special educational contexts of the Moldavian Csángó in Romania and Romani translanguaging pedagogy in Tiszavasvári, Hungary. In both sites bilingual speakers produce writings in contested languages. Grassroots literacy consists of “‘non-elite’ forms of writing, or writing performed by people who are not fully inserted into elite economies of information, language and literacy” (Blommaert 2008:7). The contested languages we are going to examine have no extended literacy nor a standardized register and they do not serve as languages of instruction at school, often they are not treated as (literary) languages by their speakers either.
The Csángó is no longer passed on to children by the parents, who still might use it among themselves, thus the children still might acquire a passive knowledge of the Csángó. Since 2001, a relatively popular and successful educational program teaching Hungarian to children in basic education has evolved. In the Moldavian Csángó educational program, which teaches standard Hungarian literacy, grassroots literacy practices occur among children, who have the Csángó way of speaking as their heritage language. As our data, we use texts, both traditional and digital, produced by c. 100 participants of the program from 8 villages.
Romani standardisation is a pluricentric process, usually linked to activist groups across countries or regions. In Hungary, a group of intellectuals produced textbooks and a dictionary as early as the 1980s, using a writing system based on the Hungarian alphabet. However, neither the proposed standard forms nor the proposed writing system have been adopted by the broad masses of Roma in Hungary. In the past few years, our team carried out participatory research activities in Tiszavasvári, place of residence of about 3000 bilingual Roma. Among them there is a tradition of grassroots literacy based on heterographic writing solutions. The presentation describes how this writing system is used to support local Roma and thus cooperation between Roma and non-Roma, based on a shared appreciation of each other.
Even though grassroots literacy is practiced typically outside educational contexts, local literacies serve as potential resources in education as well. Our contribution is to investigate how grassroots literacy can constitute a resource not only for the local low prestige register or vernacular ways of speaking in question, but also for the development of literacy skills in the elite register in the long run through developing non language bound skills.
References
Blommaert, Jan 2007. Grassroots Literacy. Working papers in language diversity 2. University of Jyväskylä
Attitudes towards Wymysorys. The case of literacy in the 21th century
Wilamowice is a small town in Southern Poland, which was established in 13th century by the settlers from the West. It is now known as a town with an exotic, distinct culture and Germanic language called Wymysorys, which is undergoing revitalization process lead by the local activists with support from the academics.
During my long-lasting fieldwork I have collected diverse set of data for language documentation, as well as for further anthropologic and ethnolinguistic studies. Collecting songs in Wymysorys was an important part of my fieldwork. Both me and my interview-partners considered them as worth of being documented. I have published the standardized versions of these songs, for the purposes of language revitalization.
The songs I have collected vary in melodies, topics, genres, but also in language and origin. Some of them were written by modern Vilamovian poets. Some of them were translated into Wymysorys from Polish or German, but the most of them were created before the World War 2 by anonymous authors.
Every person, who passed me on a text, created an individual version of it. These varieties are interesting from an ethnolinguistic point of view as sometimes they reveal the attitude of the author or the singer towards their mother tongue.
In my paper, I will analyze the texts of songs and compare the analysis with the statements of their authors or people who passed on these texts. I have asked them about their opinion about the words or grammatical constructions, which I considered to be borrowed from another language. Then I will present and analyze the conflicts between native speakers about the “correct” version of the songs.
Abovementioned discussions and conflicts were still current early on my fieldwork. Nowadays, as very few of Vilamovian native speakers left, these discussion do not exist anymore, which makes my data unique.
Can the business help a contested language? The role of commercial projects in standardization of Silesian in Poland
While not recognized by the Polish state, Silesian may be considered the largest minority language in Poland with over 500,000 users. Closely related to the state language (and traditionally considered its dialect), it is a perfect example of a contested language stuck in a vicious circle (Tamburelli 2021). Lacking support from the authorities, Silesian has not developed a universally accepted standard. Yet, such consensus is one of the factors required by the state to acknowledge its distinctiveness from Polish and to allow any kind of official backing. Currently the written standard is being shaped by activists on the internet and in printed media, but the reach of such „spontaneous standardization” (Greń 2007) remains limited without the ability to promote, teach and implement it on a larger scale.
At the same time, the popularity of products using the local language strengthens the community support for Silesian regional and linguistic autonomy. Silesian words, slogans and appeals to the local identity have been used in marketing campaigns by both the small local brands and international corporations such as Samsung or the Coca-Cola Company. The language can be seen in social media, on outdoor advertising, shop signs, clothing etc., written in one of several competing Silesian alphabets or with Polish letters only.
In my presentation, based on interviews with Silesian activists, queries on the Internet and research into the linguistic landscape of Silesian cities, I will try to answer the questions about the influence of commercial enterprises on the contested/minority language situation. Can activities driven mainly by profit-making benefit the otherwise unsupported communities? Does the use of a language on merchandise help to raise its status? Can it promote and solidify the written norm, or is it just a cynical cash grab exploiting the local identity?
References
Greń Z. (2007). Po śląsku w Internecie. Problemy standaryzacji żywiołowej. In: Z. Karwatowa-Rudnik (ed.). Z polskich studiów slawistycznych. Seria 11. Językoznawstwo. Warszawa.
Tamburelli M. (2021). Contested languages and the denial of linguistic rights in the 21st century. In: Tamburelli M. & Tosco M. (eds.). Contested languages. The hidden multilingualism of Europe. Amsterdam.
Literacy amongst the rememberers and new speakers of a moribound variety – why is it so hard? The case of Masurian in the 21st century
The Masurians are an unrecognized ethnic group living in the North-Eastern part of Poland, with ca. 5-10 thousand members. They are descendants of 15th -19th century colonists of mostly Polish and German origin with admixture of the Baltic Old Prussian native inhabitants of the area. Masurians have traditionally used an unrecognized variety – Masurian, considered a specific, old subdialect of Polish, yet they actually in general did not share the common national identity with Poles, declaring themselves more often either Masurian, Prussian-Masurian or German-Masurian, mainly due to religious (Masurians were ca. 90% Lutheran) and historical reasons (Masuria has never been a part of Poland until 1945). The Masurian lect has been widely used for centuries mainly as a spoken, informal way of communication; Standard Polish and High German have been used for formal, religious and literary purposes. However, Masurian has been attested since the second half of 19th century as a written language, yet rather poorly. The variety has been in a strong decline, especially in the 20th century due to strong germanization until 1945 and polonization afterwards. After the WW2 the majority of the Masurian society consisting of at least 200 thousand people was forced to leave to Germany or decided to move to Germany because of discrimination and/or the economical, identity and private reasons. Masurian has been abandoned by most of its original users, replaced by standard German and Polish also in informal, oral contacts. However, there is a small group of language activists that has tried to standardize, promote and informally teach the variety, mostly via the Internet. Are their efforts effective, are there some rememberers and new speakers trying to use their „gádkä grózków” („language of forefathers”) in a written form? The presentation aims to find these traces and to discuss the factors that led to only limited success of the Masurian revitalizationprocess.
Bibliography
Sobolewska, K., Drugie życie słownika gwarowego. Współczesne projekty edukacyjne i artystyczne
promujące gwarę Warmii i Mazur, “Zeszyty Łużyckie” 53, 2019, s. 139-150.
Szatkowski, P., Mazurski fébel abo Mazurská Fibla czyli Elementarz mowy mazurskiej, Ełckie
Centrum Kultury, 2019
Towards greater literacy in regional languages: pointers from Central and Eastern Europe for the Anglophone Caribbean
Over the past 35 years, the linguistic and geopolitical map of Central and Eastern Europe has undergone significant changes. In the Baltic context, for example, the national languages of Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian have come to the fore after centuries of political, linguistic, and cultural Russification, gaining international status as official EU languages in 2004. At the same time, there have been growing moves to recognise and revitalise some of the minority languages spoken across Central and Eastern Europe. Accordingly, there have been several initiatives to promote reading and writing in these languages through the relevant educational context.
Though the warm shores of the Caribbean may at first glance appear to have little in common with the colder ones of the Baltic, a closer look reveals a similar history of language contact, conflict, and controversy marked by colonialism. Though English is the sole official language of all of the Anglophone Caribbean nations, in practice it exists on a continuum with various creole languages which generally have limited status in wider society. In this regard, it could be argued that a similar scenario exists for certain regional languages in the Central and East European context, especially for those which are similar in structure and vocabulary to the national languages.
Through the prism of contemporary literacy-related measures, this exploratory overview seeks to provide a broad panorama of the current situation for several relevant Central and East European regional languages, such as Latgalian, South Estonian, and the Sorbian languages. In exploring various strategies and their implementation, possible initiatives will be highlighted for the two creole languages spoken in the largest countries in the Anglophone Caribbean: Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago. As such, it is intended to provide some pointers regarding the further development and recognition of relevant literacy skills in these languages.
Translanguaging and critical literacy in a bidialectal setting: The case of the Cypriot Greek dialect
The present paper discusses the implication of the pedagogy of translanguaging as a tool for achieving critical literacy in the diglossic Greek Cypriot society. The regional language of Cypriot Greek as spoken in Cyprus seems to play a vital role in education, although it is still considered to be an obstacle to academic achievement by teachers and educational authorities due to its status as a non-standard variety (see Ioannidou, Karatsareas, Lytra & Tsiplakou, 2020). In reviewing relevant literature, it is shown that capitalizing the Cypriot Greek dialect in education alongside Standard Modern Greek is highly beneficial to the students in multiple ways according to the principles of the pedagogy of translanguaging (Garcia & Wei, 2015) and critical literacy (see Tsiplakou, 2019). The pedagogy of translanguaging allows the visibility and the capitalization of all linguistic varieties in a classroom as there are no strict boundaries among varieties. Thus, students are led to develop metalinguistic awareness, to shape a critical reflection on the language(s), and to improve their academic performance. Research has demonstrated that, from a young age, children use the two varieties during their play-time, namely Cypriot Greek and Standard Modern Greek, assigning different functions to each one of them. However, numerous studies have also shown that teachers systematically correct students when they use Cypriot Greek in the classroom. The promotion of national language and monolingualism is associated with the protection of the nation and “national unity”. Despite the current educational practices that prevail in Cyprus today, according to the principles of critical literacy, the text is analyzed as indexical of identities and ideologies (Tsiplakou et al., 2018) since language is indissolubly linked with the society. Therefore, the school curriculum should embrace students’ everyday social life including all aspects of their linguistic and cultural identity (Cummins, 2015). Drawing on the above-mentioned arguments and recent research, it is argued that the capitalization of Cypriot Greek alongside Standard Modern Greek is critically important in education.
References
Cummins, J. (2015). Intercultural education and academic achievement: a framework for school-based policies in multilingual schools. Intercultural Education, 26(6), 455-468. doi: 10.1080/14675986.2015.1103539
García, O. & Wei, L. (2015). Translanguaging, bilingualism and bilingual education. Στο W. Ε. Wright, S. Boun & O. García (eds.), Handbook of Bilingual and Multilingual Education (pp.223-240). Malden, MA: John Wiley.
Ioannidou, E., Karatsareas, P., Lytra, V. & Tsiplakou, S. (2020). Why and how to integrate non-standard linguistic varieties into education. Languages, Society & Policy. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.54137
Tsiplakou, S. (2019). Which dialect? What literacy? In I. Kappa & M. Tzakosta (eds.), Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Modern Greek Dialects and Linguistic Theory (MGDTL 7), 6-8 October 2016 (pp. 28-37). University of Patras: Laboratory of Modern Greek Dialects.
Tsiplakou, S., Ioannidou, E. & Hadjioannou, X. (2018). Capitalizing on linguistic variation in Greek Cypriot education. Linguistics and Education, 45, 62-71. doi: 10.1016/j.linged.2018.03.006″
A Study on the Effect of English in the Language Use of L1 Speakers of Hungarian in Romania
It is natural that English, a global language, influences other languages, especially in domains connected to IT, technology or sciences, areas which show a rapid development and a continuous need for naming new realities. However, beyond these domains, English affects the everyday language use of ordinary people. For example, we had to come to terms with words like breaking news or talk show/reality show used quite often in the Hungarian or Romanian media, or terms like team-building, meeting or trainer used very often in business environment or even in the field of education. In the present paper we will be focusing mainly on this second type of terms, not necessarily related to terms specialised in IT, technology or sciences.
Expectedly, the effect of English on is mostly visible in the language use of the youth who on the one hand have a more dynamic contact with English, and are more open to the new, not reluctant with the non-traditional means of communication on the other hand. This is why in the empirical part of the paper I am going to analyse data collected from young people, mainly students with diverse linguistic background. The subjects are all L1 speakers of Hungarian who speak Romanian, the official language of the country, at different levels. Romanian, the official language of the country, itself faces a real offensive of the English language (Ivan 2013). So, those who use Romanian might be influenced by English through Romanian as well.
Linguistics concepts, educational policy, language use in minority settings
My presentation will focus on the language use specificities of the Hungarian minority schools in Romania, which represent 4.9% of the total school population in the education system in Romania and 9.5% of the total pre-university institutional system (according to data provided by the National Statistics Institute Tempo, 2019). In the first part of my presentation, I will describe the language behaviors of students attending in these institutions: what languages they use in different situations, what are the characteristics of language use in that schools. After that, I will describe the relationship between linguistic concepts and pedagogical practice, in the context of code-switching and translingualism. Using data from an empirical study of teachers’ reflective diary entries, I will show that the selection, interpretation and pedagogical application of linguistic concepts should always be a good function if we take into account the local specificities and their socio-cultural and linguistics characteristics.
In the Grip of Hellenism Regional Languages in Western Thrace of Greece
The presentation examines current issues in teaching Turkish as the dominant regional language in Western Thrace of Greece, which is spoken by the Turkish minority. Besides, conventional approach of Greece towards regional and minority languages is provided. Education in their mother tongue Turkish is guaranteed to the Turkish minority of Western Thrace throughout international treaties and bilateral conventions between Turkey and Greece as well as contemporary human rights standards. However, quality of education in teaching the Turkish for minority pupils in Western Thrace has been reduced throughout years as a result of minority policy of Greece that stands on denial of an ethnic Turkish minority in the region. Denying ethnic identity of a group generates great problems in teaching the mother tongue of the group as well as its integration to wider society. As a result, a holistic approach is taken to the question of how inadequate mother tongue education affects learning the official language and minority’s integration into mainstream society.
State, law and constitution about languages in Bangladesh
The study investigated the role of the state, law, and constitution regarding language issues in Bangladesh. It explored how the constitution and state policy in Bangladesh violate linguistic human rights from a legal and sociolinguistic perspective. Regional languages of common people, ethnic groups, and daily life languages of the people are not promoted and even not acknowledged by state policy. This paper seeks to locate how and why linguistic dominance happens by the national language over masses languages in Bangladesh. To answer this question, state policy and constitutional acts are critically examined. The analysis showed a strong correlation between the violation of language rights and state policy in the Bangladesh context. From a sociolinguistic perspective, this study emphasizes the need to take into account the impact of these issues to develop a sustainable language policy reflecting linguistic human rights in Bangladesh. The investigation concluded that the most important variables in the violation of linguistic human rights in Bangladesh are the state’s role, legal policy, and constitutional acts.
Latgalīšu volūda školuos: školānu I školuotuoju pīredze
Pietejuma “Latgalīšu volūda školuos: školānu i školuotuoju pīredze” mērkis ir izzynuot i saleidzynuot vysaiduoka vacuma školānu i jūs školuotuoju vīdūkli par piltoprojektu, kura gaitā školuos var vuicētīs latgalīšu rokstu volūdu, kab nūskaidruotu, voi i parkū školānim gribīs voi taišņi ūtraižuok nasagribīs vuiceitīs latgalīšu volūdu, kū bārnim i jaunīšim pateik i napateik darēt itamuos stuņdēs i, kū školuotuojupruot, tuoļuok eistynojūt projektu byutu juoizloboj voi juomaina. Tai bolstūtīs iz jūs pīredzis byus izstruoduoti īsacejumi programys autorim tuoļuokai latgalīšu rokstu volūdys stuņdžu īvīsšonai Latgolys izgleiteibys īstuodēs.
Aizdavumi:
- Īsapazeit ar teoretiskū informaceji par latgalīšu rokstu volūdys vuiceibu stuņdžu pilotprojektu.
- Izstruoduot aptaujis anketu ar vaicuojumim par latgalīšu rokstu volūdys vuiceibu stuņdem školānim i školuotuojim.
- Veikt vysaiduoka vacuma pūsma školānu i jūs školuotuoju aptauji, kai ari intervejis Rēzeknē i Rībeņūs.
- Pieteit i analizeit školānu i jūs školuotuoju pīredzi: 2022. goda majī anketuos i intervejuos paustū vīdūkli.
- Analizēt, kaidi faktori ītekmej školānu īinteresieteibu i vieļmi vuiceitīs školuos latgalīšu rokstu volūdu.
- Izstruodut īsaceejumus tuoļuokajai latgalīšu rokstu volūdys vuiceišonai školuos.
Pietejuma gaitā iz izvierzeitīm vaicuojumim (Voi i parkū školānim gribīs voi nasagribīs, pateik voi napateik vuiceitīs latgalīšu rokstu volūdu? Voi školānim ir motivaceja tū darēt? Kaidi temati latgalīšu rokstu volūdys vuiceibu stuņdēs školānim ir vysmeiluokī i i kuri nav, kū vysvaira pateik i napateikt darēt? Kū tuoļuok pilotprojektā byutu juouzloboj/juomaina?) atbiļdis giutys daleji. Suokumškolys vacuma pūsma školāni snāguši vaira vyspuoreigys atbiļdis i nav spējuši izprast, kas ir tys, kū jīm da šam nav patics darēt latgalīšu rokstu volūdys stuņdēs, satureiguok sovu vīdūkli izkluosta vydškolys pūsma jaunīši, bet ari jūs atbiļdis navar attīcynuot iz vysim, konkretajā gadiejumā lela daļa aptaujuotūs vydsškolnīku ir krīvvolūdeigi. Tys, kū izsver gon vysi školāni, gon ari pedagogi – ir cīši svareigi vuiceibu procesu organizēt dinamisku, izmontuot jimā jaunuokuos tehnologejis i vysaiduoku spieļu elementus. Kūpumā var secynuot, ka gon školāni, gon školuotuoji pilotprojektu viertej atzineigi, tūmār ir vairuoki faktori, kam tuoļuok juopīgrīž leluoku viereibu – programys ilgtspiejai vuicūt latgalīšu rokstu volūdu na viņ reizi trejūs godūs, bet kotru godu, juoizviertej, kaidim bārnim i jaunīšim tū vuiceit padziļinuoti, kurim vyspuoreiguok, juorganizej pīredzis apmaini školuotuoju vydā, īsaistūt pasuocīņūs ari tūs pedagogus, kas sovuos školuos pagaidom veļ navuica nikuo par Latgolu i latgaliskū.
Pietejumā izmontuotuos metodis ir Kvalitativūs datu īgivis metodis: leidzdaleibys nūvāruojums i gadejuma izpiete, kai ari veiktys aptaujis i intervejis.
Taišņi veiktuos aptaujis i intervejis školānu i školuotuoju vydā var minēt kai zeimeiguokū dorba rezultatu, partū ka jimuos apkūpuotī vīdūkli paruoda pilotprojekta eistynuošonys realitati, kaida ir da šam giutuo pīredze i, kai jū izmontuot tuoļuok školānu īinteresieteibys veicynuošonā, kai ari rostys idejis i īsacejumi tuoļuokai pilotprojekta īvīšonai izgleiteibys īstuodēs.
Pietejuma novitāte ir taida, ka pyrmū reizi latgalīšu rokstu volūdys vuiceišonys školuos pilotprojekta prīkšrūceibys i tryukumus analizej izmontojūt aptauju i interveju datus ar realu školānu i školuotuoju pīredzi. Turkluot aptauji i intervejis sagatavuo i analizeja “cylvāks nu molys” aba projekta “Humanitāro zinātņu digitālie resursi” puorstuove Rēzeknes Tehnologeju akademejā, kas jau vaira nakai ostoņus godus struodoj par žurnalisti Latgolys regionalajā televizejī i Latvejis Radivā i da šam nav givusi pīredzi pedagogejī voi ar tū saisteitūs tematūs. Tys dūd īspieji pasavērt iz pilotprojektu nu cyta veida skotu punkta. Pietejums ir aktuals ari deļtuo, ka pilotprojekts par latgalīšu rokstu volūdys stuņdem ir jauns, školuos īvīsts viņ 2021./2022. vuiceibu godā i nu ituom aptaujom i intervejom izrīt ari pyrmī secynuojumi par juo golvonīm īgivumim i tryukumim.
A pedagogical intervention to foster academic language skills and metalinguistic competence in secondary education
Academic language is a very important element in ensuring reading comprehension in secondary education. However, the definition of academic language should not be limited to the lexicon, but different elements and competences should be taken into consideration. Uccelli et al. (2015) distinguish seven skills or domains and make a didactic proposal to work on them using scientific expository texts. This research proposes a pedagogical intervention where three of these seven skills proposed by the researchers are promoted: (1) the ability to unpack dense information, (2) the competence to understand the different points of view of the text and (3) the ability to work with and distinguish the different parts of analytical academic texts related to science and mathematics. The main objective of the intervention is to work on these skills for one month in three schools in the Basque Autonomous Community. The intervention is carried out in the language subjects, Spanish (the majority language), Basque (the minority language) and English (the foreign language) in the third year of secondary education (N=110). Moreover, strategies related to pedagogical translanguaging are used during the intervention to foster the development of metalinguistic awareness in the three curricular languages. Qualitative data is collected through systematic observations during the intervention, think-aloud protocols (introspective research) and focus groups conducted with teachers and pupils during and at the end of the intervention. In addition, data is collected through written productions and reading comprehension tests given to students before and after the intervention. Results indicate that specific work on the three academic language skills helps to develop strategies to improve reading comprehension, increases metalinguistic awareness in the curricular languages, and that this specific work is pedagogically interesting and motivating for both teachers and pupils.
References
Uccelli, P., Barr, C., Dobbs, C., Phillips Galloway, E., and Sánchez, E. (2015). Core academic language skills: An expanded operational construct and a novel instrument to chart school-relevant language proficiency in preadolescent and adolescent learners. Applied Psycholinguistics, 26(5), 1077-1109.
Pre-service teachers’ Multilingual language teaching approaches in the Basque Country
Multilingualism is a common characteristic for most of societies worldwide, and it has gained greater visibility due to increasing globalization, integration of technologies and mobility of population (Cenoz & Gorter, 2022). With regard to the Basque Country, society accepts the challenge to learn English as a third language while becoming proficient in Spanish, the national state language, and Basque, an official and minority language under a normalization process. Education, and future generation of teachers, play a key role in the coexistence of languages and the beliefs attached to them.
Teachers’ beliefs are of high importance, and even more in multilingual contexts where a minority language is under a late standardization process. Teachers’ beliefs constitute the ground for every pedagogical action when teaching, as these are cognitive elements closely associated to teachers’ knowledge, personal convictions and insights (Borg, 2011). Pre-service teachers’ beliefs play a big part in the provision of future educational needs. The aim of this study is double. The first one is to explore and describe pre-service teachers’ beliefs on multilingualism and language teaching methodologies. The second is to measure to what extent the academic year and the teaching practice during the degree is significant in the modulating these beliefs.
The study has a quantitative approach and gathers the beliefs of 564 pre-primary and primary undergraduate students in the field of education. The findings of the descriptive analysis and ANOVA indicate that pre-service teachers’ beliefs are aligned with current school of thought and updated trends about multilingualism. Findings also highlight that both variables, the academic year and the teaching practice during the degree, demonstrate to be significant and therefore have an influence on modulating and updating pre-service teachers’ beliefs towards multilingualism and language teaching methodologies.
References
Borg, S. (2011). The impact of in-service teacher education on language teachers’ beliefs. System, 39(3), 370–380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2011.07.009
Cenoz, J., & Gorter, D. (2022). Pedagogical Translanguaging (Elements in Language Teaching). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009029384
Vowel Alternations in New Speakers’ Kashubian in diachronic perspective
Vowel alternations in the Kashubian language are a result of various language changes
which have occured at different times. Some of them are inherited from Proto-Slavic and
date back to the Proto-Indo-European era, some of them are of more recent origin and are
common to Kashubian, Polabian, and Polish, such as the Lechitic ablaut. Many vowel
alternations are a result of an old opposition between long and short vowels, which later
became a qualitative difference and yielded a set of new phonemes in the Kashubian vowel
inventory. A similar process has occurred in Polish, although to a lesser degree and giving
different outcomes. Most of such contrasts between former long and short vowels have
disappeared in Standard Polish due to a merger.
Vowel alternations are a system of ablauts occurring within a word. The original distribution
of vowel alternations in Kashubian has been modified due to numerous levelings throughout
the paradigm, some of them occurring in respective dialects only, cf. “To speak, he speaks”.
(1) a. Gadac, won gôdô. (Northern Kashubian)
b. Gôdac, won gôdô. (Central Kashubian)
This very complex system of vowel alternations in Kashubian is a serious challenge for New
Speakers of Kashubian with Polish being their L1.
In this talk, I will present an analysis of vowel alternations in New Speaker data which
provides insights into the processes taking place in the speech of young Kashubian
language users. I aim to understand what changes are being introduced by them, whether
there are any common patterns and whether they can be attributed to L1 influence, low
proficiency or other reasons.
Kashubian New Speakers form a substantial and influential part of the overall speech
community, since, as in case of many minority languages over the world, they often become
language activists, journalists or educators. Understanding structural patterns instantiated by
New Speakers is of important consequence for preservation/revitalization, pedagogy, and
social inclusion within minority-language communities, as well as linguistic theory relating to
language evolution.
The Embassy of Latgale "GORS" 17.06.2022
Võro language technology - possibilities and use
Trond Trosterud, a Norwegian linguist and language technologist who has led linguistic support for a number of endangered and marginalised languages, has recently acknowledged that small languages cannot rely on large language technology companies, but the only way to get them language support is to create it themselves. The report gives an overview of how this creation has been done in the case of Võro language.
The paper gives an overview of the development of Võro digital language resources and language technology from its prehistory, i.e. from the first Võro dictionaries, fonts and keyboards to the present day, when more sophisticated applications have been created for Võro, such as synthetic speech and machine translation systems and morphology machine (FST).
The most well-known and most widely used digital application in Võro is undoubtedly the Võro-Estonian-Võro online dictionary synaq.org / võrosõna.ee, which in turn integrates several other applications, such as various corpora and synthetic speech. Thus, the online dictionary has become a kind of Võro language portal, the usage possibilities and usage statistics of which are briefly introduced and analysed in this presentation.
Research plan for dissertation "Possibilities of ethnical emancipation within a regional language in Samogitia, Latgale, and Võro-Seto"
I am planning to compare 3 Baltic regions in my dissertation; Samogitia, Latgale, Võro-Seto and their possibilities of ethnic emancipation within a language/dialect/ethnolect spoken there.
One of the essential parts of my research will be figuring out if we can call those regions separate ethnic groups, sub-ethnic groups, or even sub-national groups.
Besides that, I plan to look into their cultural traits as well as the phenomena of different spoken languages/ethnolects there. Following up with the institutions which are keeping up, either way, cultural life or even linguistic efforts would show us if there is a bigger or lesser need for this ethnic emancipation in Samogitia, Latgale, and Võro-Seto.
Recent census which has been conducted within Baltic countries in 2021, possibly could give us the newest data about the numbers of regional languages speakers and their growth or declination. The data would also show us if the state allows these groups to recognize themselves in its official census. Statistics obviously would be compared and analyzed with previously existing data and show us the changes in those regions.
Tekstpratība Latvijā: izaicinājumi un tuvākie plāni
Mērķtiecīgu izziņas procesu par agrīnās lasītprasmes attīstību Valsts izglītības satura centrs īsteno jau piecus gadus. Pedagogu atgriezeniskā saite lasītprasmes attīstības dinamikā uzrāda kritumu, kamēr starptautiskie pētījumi vismaz sākumskolas līmenī rāda visnotaļ augstus rezultātus.
Pamatizglītībā centra izmantotie rīki – diagnosticējošie darbi 3. un 6.klasei – ļauj vērtēt izmaiņas pēdējo gadu laikā attiecībā uz dzimtās valodas lasītprasmi. Vienlaikus šie diagnosticējošo darbu rezultāti liek secināt, ka gūtās zināšanas ir iespējams paplašināt un radījusi jaunu izaicinājumu – no 2024.gada nodrošināt izglītības sistēmā jaunus monitoringa instrumentus, kas turpmāk ļaus pārvaldīt informāciju par izglītojamo tekstpratību un veidot datos balstītu profesionālo atbalstu pedagogiem tekspratības prasmju attīstībā pamatizglītības posmā.
"Tava klase" koncepts - mūsdienīga mācību vide un atvērtība daudzveidībai
- gada martā, reaģējot uz COVID-19 izraisīto pandēmiju, divu nedēļu laikā tika izveidota video satura radīšanas un virszemes TV apraides platforma “Tava klase”. “Tava klase” no 2020. gada aprīļa līdz pat mācību gada beigām piedāvāja 20 minūšu garas video mācību stundas pamatpriekšmetos un arī interešu izglītībā 1.–6. klašu, kā arī 9. un 12. klašu skolēniem, lai palīdzētu tiem labāk sagatavoties eksāmeniem. Sagatavotie video tika pārraidīti divos virszemes TV kanālos – “ReTV” un “Sportacentrs.com TV”, un tie bija skatāmi arī tīmekļa vietnē www.tavaklase.lv. Satura veidošanā pavasarī bija iesaistīti vairāk nekā 100 skolotāju praktiķu no visas Latvijas, kas kopumā izveidoja vairāk nekā 1200 video mācību stundu.
Platforma “Tava klase” tika starptautiski atzīta par Latvijas izglītības sistēmas veiksmes stāstu, taču svarīgākais, ka, pirmkārt, pirmo reizi Latvijas vēsturē vispārizglītojošo skolu skolēniem ir iespēja apgūt latgaliešu un lībiešu valodu, stiprinot lokālo identitāti, kā arī piedāvāt interaktīvu mācību materiālu mazākumtautību valodu – igauņu, lietuviešu, poļu un baltkrievu – apguvē.
Otrkārt, platforma “Tava klase” tiek turpināta jau trešo sezonu, uzsverot, ka tās lietotājs ir gan skolēns, kas meklē skaidrojošu, radošu materiālu vielas apguvei vai izpratnei, gan skolotājs un vecāki, kas var iesaistīties skolēna izglītošanā un atbalstīt savu bērnu, īpaši caurviju prasmju nostiprināšanā.
Treškārt, platformai ir būtiska loma, lai radītu līdzvērtīgākas izglītības iespējas konkrētajos vecumposmos visā Latvijā (virszemes bezmaksas televīzijas apraides pārklājums ir ~ 97% valsts teritorijas), mazinot nevienlīdzību, kas rodas skolotāju vai infrastruktūras trūkuma vai nepieejamības dēļ. Sagatavotie materiāli būs pieejami arī pēc ārkārtējā situācijas beigām un varēs tikt izmantoti izglītības procesā ikdienā, piemēram, klātienes mācību procesā kā pilnvērtīga stundu sastāvdaļa. Mācību materiālus būs iespējams izmantot arī pētnieciskajā procesā un jaunu pedagogu sagatavošanas procesā.
Ceturtkārt, tā ir ideju un stundas ierosmju, motīvu, pamatdaļu krātuve, ko izmantot kompetenču pieejas praktizēšanā, meklējot piemērotāko materiālu indivīdam vai vecumposmam.
Plašāk tiks raksturota pieeja, filmējot materiālu latgaliešu valodas un novadmācības stundām vidusskolas posmam.
Reading and Writing Latgalian as a Normality for Everybody: Suggestions for Shaping a Latgalian Linguistic Landscape
Linguistic Landscapes (LL) studies, the analysis of language and other semiotics in public space, have developed rapidly during the past approx. 15 years. A considerable part of such studies has investigated regional or minority languages. Debates on the visibility a minority language in public space are often connected to understanding functions and niches of a variety, but also to analysing its value and power relations between speakers of different languages.
Also for Latgalian, there is a highly symbolic value if its users can frequently see their language, which also may have an economic impact on the region (cf. Lazdiņa 2013). At the same time, the practical value of “normalising” language use in public space also allows users to develop reading practices.
In this sense, this paper uses findings and developments from Linguistic Landscape (LL) research in Latgale for suggesting ways to enhance the development of literacy in Latgalian. The paper provides examples of (the lack of) Latgalian from previous analyses of the LL in Latgale and from new research conducted in 2022 in the parish of Vērēmi, concluding that there is some symbolic use of Latgalian, but that the language is generally highly underrepresented.
Based on examples from regions with closely related varieties similar to the situation of Latvian and Latgalian, the paper then makes suggestions of where Latgalian could easily be added to the LL. This applies, for instance, to schools and other educational spaces which have gained considerable attention in LL research in recent years. Yet, also outside educational institutions, an increased presence of Latgalian could not only help to raise speakers’ self-confidence, but also support the development of literacy and encourage active users to “normalise” the written use of Latgalian.
Place-based education: kod pogosts kliust par vuiceibu klasi i korpuss – par pogostu
Developing literacy in lesser-used or endangered languages has to be more attractive and innovative than in bigger national or international languages. Whereas motivation for learning the latter is often based on their strong economic value, motivation for learning regional languages such as Latgalian is more often connected with a local or regional identity, or a general passion for languages and cultures.
This connection between identity and the acquisition of a regional language may be particularly strong when learning processes are related to places, which are important in the students’ lives. Learning the regional language helps the students to experience such places in deeper ways, and it may encourage them to reflect about their local environment and the languages, which they see in public space. Place-based education in this sense may, in relation with, e.g., the investigation of linguistic landscapes of a city or a rural area, raise issues of local social life, create partnerships between school and the community, and encourage students to get acquainted with “learning by doing” attitudes.
For illustrating such relations between place and learning in the Latgalian context, my paper discusses examples from a linguistic landscape case study (2022) in Veremi parish in the district of Rēzekne, mostly focusing on house names. The main aim of the presentation is, on the one hand, to share ideas on how outdoor activities (e.g. exploring house name signs) can “bring the parish into the class”, and thereby enhance sociolinguistic awareness and develop curiosity about the symbolic and semiotic meanings of signs. On the other hand, my paper discusses how “to bring the parish into the class” without leaving the class – i.e. by using digital resources (in this case, corpora of Latgalian). All these methodological ideas have the purpose to contribute to developing literacy in Latgalian in a broader sense: to extract meaning from a text, and to convey newly explored meaning into one’s own (oral or written) texts.
Reģionālās valodas apguves un lietojuma nozīme jauniešu vecumposmā multikulturālās vides apstākļos
Multikulturālās vides politika paredz dažādu kultūru daudzveidības saglabāšanu vienā reģionā, kas ir vērtējams konstruktīvi, tomēr multikulturālā vide būtiski ietekmē literārās valodas un reģionālās valodas apguvi un tās lietojumu.
Latviešu valodas aģentūras pētījuma “Attieksme pret latviešu valodu un tās mācību procesu (2017 – 2020)” dati liecina, ka latviešu valodas skolotāji, īpaši Latgales reģionā, bieži sastopas ar izaicinājumu mācīt literāro valodu krievvalodīgajā vidē. Viens no valodas trauksmes kognitīvajiem cēloņiem valodas apguvē ir bailes zaudēt savu identitāti, tāpēc ir būtiski ņemt vērā dažādu etnisko grupu ietekmi uz literārās un reģionālās valodas apguvi. Tā kā darbību veicu profesionālajā vidusskolā, tad katru gadu I kursā (10.klasē) uzsāk skolas gaitas jaunieši no dažādiem Latgales reģiona novadiem, saglabājot savu reģionālo valodu. Iekļūstot multikulturālajā vidē jaunieši iepazīst citu valodu lietojumu, bet diemžēl, pabeidzot vidusskolu, neattīsta savu reģionālo valodu un nekļūst par tās vēstītājiem. Ir svarīgi identificēt iemeslus, kāpēc konkrētajā skolā, novadā jaunieši varētu pazaudēt interesi par savu reģionālās valodas lietojumu un rast iespējamus risinājumus šim izaicinājumam. Īpaša uzmanība jāpievērš reģionālās valodas apguves iespējām multikulturālās vides apstākļos tieši jauniešu mērķauditorijā. Jauniešu vecumposms, sākot no 15 gadiem un līdz pat 18 gadiem, ir tas laiks, kad jaunieši sāk apzināt savu identitāti, veidot savu vērtību sistēmu un meklēt savas personības pašapliecināšanās iespējas. Ir svarīgi savlaicīgi rosināt un piedāvāt reģionālās valodas lietojuma apguves un attīstības iespējas, praktisko pielietojumu (jauniešu organizācijas, interešu grupas, pasākumi, izglītības mācību programmas reģionālajā valodā u.c. ).
Tieši jauniešu vecumposmā ir būtiski iekļaut reģionālās valodas kā ģimenes, dzimtes, reģiona un valsts piederību jauniešu vērtību sistēmā. Multikulturālās vides iespējas ir jāizmanto reģionālās valodas apguves un lietojuma nozīmes stiprināšanai. Tieši multikulturālā vide apliecina, ka valodu, tās paveidu un izlokšņu daudzveidība ir vērtība, kura stiprina personības vērtību sistēmu un apliecina personības piederību savai ģimenei, dzimtei, reģionam, valstij.
Jauniešiem, kuri lieto reģionālo valodu, ir plašāk jāskaidro, ka reģionālā valoda ir vērtība, kura papildina piederības izjūtu savam reģionam. Tiem jauniešiem, kuri nelieto un nezina par reģionālo valodu un kuri pieder citai etniskai grupai, ir jāparāda tās nozīmi reģionālajā politikā un mācībvalodas apguves izglītībā.
Ko un kā mācīt latgaliešu valodas stundās: skolēnu viedoklis
Kai latvīšu i latgalīšu volūdys školuotuoja, bīžuokais vaicuojums, ku dzieržu nu školānim ir: “Deļ kam myusim byutu tei volūda juozyna”? I, ka latvīšu volūdys lītuojumam var rast praktisku pīlītuojumu i pamatuojumu tuos zynuošonys napīcīšameibai, tod ar latgalīšu volūdu ir gryušuok. Vīgluoku situaceji napadora arī vysplašuok pīlītuotuis volūdys vuiceišonys i vuiceišonuos audiāluos metodis – leluokajā daļā gadiejumu bārnu izteiktuokī vyuseišonuos stili ir vizuālais i kinestētiskais, taitod juorauga rast jauni rysynuojumi, pyrmkuort, volūdys vuiceišonā školānim vīgluok uztveramā veidā, ūtrkuort, juoroda napīcīšameiba zynuot latgalīšu volūdu, par tū, ka viņ “kulturys saglobuošana” myusdīnu školānam vaira nav arguments.
Pavasara školys semestra izskaņā tyka veikta aptauja storp 69 Riezeknis Vaļsts gimnazejis, Riezeknis Pūļu Valsts gimnazejis i Nautrānu vydškolys latgalīšu volūdys školānim ar mierči nūskaidruot, kaida ir školānu motivaceja vuiceitīs latgalīšu volūdu, kaidi ir demotivejūšī aspekti, kaidys vuiceibu metodis i stuņdis jī grybātu redziet i kam byutu juonūteik, lai latgalīšu volūdu vuiceitūs vaira cylvāku. Pamatojūtīs iz školānu atbiļdem i īprīkšejuo vuiceibu goda pīredzi, sastuodeits arī nuokamuo goda latgalīšu rokstu volūdys prīkšmata vuiceibu plans, kur leluokais uzsvors lykts iz školānu pašvadeitu vuiceišonūs, izmantojūt vīnkuoršus, tok efektivus digitalūs reikus, kas na tik paleidz apgyut volūdu, bet arī atteistej scenareja raksteišonys, informacejis atlasis, radūšuos pošizpausmis i digitāluos prasmis.