Weel duin tae The Future of Scots wha hae bin nominatit in Scots Project o the Year in the Scots Language Awards. Vote now!
The Scots Language Awards are in the Johstone Toon Ha, Johnstone on 16th September at 7pm. Tickets fir the ceremony are available tae buy here: https://handsup.link/SLA-BuyTickets.
We askit Joanna Kopaczyk o The Future of Scots thae speirins.
Tell us aboot yersel or yer ootfit.
The Future of Scots project, funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh and run at the University of Glasgow in collaboration with Education Scotland and Oor Vyce, set out to lay the groundwork for a community- and stakeholder-driven language policy and planning for the Scots language. We ran a public attitude survey and a series of stakeholder workshops (with representatives from the fields of education, the media, creative industries, and policy making). Our final symposium brought the results of the project together and created a lively forum for a wider, honest discussion, and for setting out future directions of research, advocacy, and language policy and planning. The project report has fed into the Scottish Government consultation on the Language of Scotland Bill and provided a number of actions and research questions for future work.
Whit wis it got ye involvit wi the Scots leid?
The project arose out of conversations within Oor Vyce about the 2015 Scots Language Policy, how it could be revised and what research is needed to inform future developments. Language policy with Scots in focus is a relatively new area of study and the University of Glasgow is very well placed to advance it, drawing on extensive expertise in sociolinguistics and the history of Scots. The project was a great opportunity to connect academia with the community and various institutions who have stakes in the future of Scots.
Why dae ye feel it is important tae use Scots in everyday life?
A minority language needs users to survive and be passed on to the next generation. Without speakers (and writers), there's no language!
Dae ye hae a favourite Scots phrase or saying?
Gie it laldy!
Is there a Scots speaker who inspires you?
Everybody who uses Scots, especially outside the typical context of pub and home.
Do you hear Scots spoken regularly in your local area? Have you noticed any changes over time?
This is exactly what future research projects could look at in a more structured way.
Ony particlar career heighlichts
We are proud that the project has resulted in conversations and actions within our national and regional institutions, such as the Scottish Government, Education Scotland, Scots Language Centre, Creative Scotland, Scottish Book Trust, National Library of Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Ulster-Scots Community Network, and many more. Our work has also inspired a collaboration between The Ferret, the investigative journalism outlet, and Lennie Pennie, resulting in a myth-busting piece on Scots for The Herald (https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/23166037.lennie-pennie-debunking-myths-scots-language/) and an opinion piece by Michael Russell for The National after participating in our workshop on language policy and planning with other policy makers (https://www.thenational.scot/culture/23103187.michael-russell-attempts-silence-languages-will-backfire/).
Wha’s yer plans fir the days aheid?
At our final symposium, we captured the main themes and discussions live in a poster format. We now have 5 large-scale posters to give away (250cm x 80cm), so get in touch if you want it for your wall at your school or institution!
Read more about The Future of Scots
https://scotslanguagepolicy.ac.uk/en/welcome/
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The Scots Language Awards are in the Johnstone Toon Ha, Johnstone on 16th September at 7pm. Tickets are available to buy here: https://handsup.link/SLA-BuyTickets There wull be some grand entertainmint oan the nicht tae, includin a recital fae Renfrewshire’s poet laureate Shaun Moore,wha wis appointit as the region’s Tannahill Makar last year. talks fae weel regairdit Scots scrievers Cat Cochrane an Shane Strachan, alang wi musical performances fae celebratit multi-instumentalist brithers Euan and Lewis McLaughlin, an sangster Iona Fyfe.
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