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Professor Colin H. Williams Professor Colin Williams, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, has been active in the promotion of minority rights for over thirty years. He is Research Professor in the School of Welsh at Cardiff University, Adjunct Professor in the Department of Geography, the University of Western Ontario and Hon. Professor, Celtic Studies, University of Aberdeen and the University of Highlands and Islands. Language Rights – Relevance for the speaker For individual speakers the two most fundamental language rights tend to be the right to receive a proportion of one’s statutory education through one’s mother tongue or language of choice, and the right to receive certain public services through a designated language. The three pillars of language maintenance are the family and community, the educational system and the local state. When all three act in concert to reinforce the lesser used language there is obviously a much greater chance of strengthening that language over the long term and of securing a very useful public role for the language in society. When one or more of these supporting pillars is weak it can threaten the long term vitality of the language. In advanced societies, language legislation has come to be seen as an essential adjunct to these pillars so as to guarantee, or at least facilitate, the use of the former discriminated language within new domains. A sympathetic legal framework can improve the socioeconomic situation of lesser used language speakers by ensuring that they have increased opportunities to exercise their language of choice in specific contexts. The law, thus regarded, can be seen as an empowering instrument. When allied with progressive social policy, language rights and statutory language plans can make a significant difference to the actual use and hence relevance of promoting bilingualism within the community. For individual speakers the most fruitful way of increasing competence in the target language is to experience a significant amount of one’s formal education within a bilingual or multilingual milieu. However, there is a general tendency to assume that unilingual or monolingual education is the norm in the world. In many circumstances, bilingual or multilingual education has been used by government as a means of promoting fluency in the state’s dominant language, rather than promoting greater usage of the minority language. This is particularly true where children come into the formal school system with little command of the dominant language. In this context, education in the mother tongue or in the minority language is used as a mechanism through which the dominant language can be more effectively introduced, and, ultimately, full competence in that language can be promoted. Thus, early mother tongue education tends to give way to education in the state language as the child progresses through the school system. Specialists describe this tendency as ‘subtractive bilingualism’ because the first language will almost inevitably provide a bridge to full competence in the second or target language and because instruction in the mother tongue ceases once such competence is achieved, maintenance of the mother tongue is actually discouraged. However, a second policy option is ‘additive bilingualism’, where two languages are promoted throughout the child’s education and are treated as related elements in the child’s cognitive, social and educational development. It is this second type of bilingualism that is favoured in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Advocates of bilingualism in society and in formal education argue that there are several advantages that tend to characterise most cases. These would include:- - Cognitive advantages – bilingual children tend to think more creatively and flexibly because they have more than one word for every object and concept - Educational advantages – research evidence from several countries (Canada, the US, the Basque country, Catalonia, Wales and Scotland) show that bilingual children tend to do better in the curriculum and to show slightly higher performance in examinations - Economic advantages – two languages offer a wider range of employment opportunities; many jobs now require bilingual skills - Social and cultural advantages – speaking two languages leads to a wider range of social activities and gives access to two cultures - Easier to learn a third language – there is growing evidence from European research that bilingual children tend to find it easier to learn other languages. (Extract from POBAL document, The Irish Language Act Issue 11)
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An tOllamh Colin H. Williams Is le tríocha bliain anuas atá an tOllamh Colin Williams (Comhalta de Chumann Ríoga na nEalaíon) gníomhach i gcur chun cinn chearta an mhionlaigh. Tá sé ina Ollamh Taighde i Scoil na Breatnaise, Ollscoil Chaerdydd, ina Ollamh Taca sa Roinn Tíreolaíochta, Ollscoil Iarthar Ontario agus ina Ollamh Oinigh sa Léann Cheilteach, Ollscoil Obar Dheathainn agus Ollscoil na nGarbhchríoch agus na nOileán. Cearta Teanga – Ábharthacht don chainteoir Don chainteoir féin is gnách gurb iad an dá cheart teanga is bunúsaí an ceart le cuid dá (h)oideachas reachtúil a fháil sa teanga mháthartha nó sa rogha-theanga, agus an ceart le seirbhísí áirithe poiblí a fháil i dteanga ainmnithe. Is iad trí chuaille chaomhnú teanga, an teaghlach agus an pobal, an córas oideachais agus an stát áitiúil. Nuair a ghníomhaíonn siad triúr i gcomhar leis an teanga is ísle úsáid a dhaingniú, is cinnte gur mó i bhfad a thig an teanga sin a neartú san fhadtréimhse agus páirt phoiblí áisiúil sa tsochaí a fháil don teanga. Nuair is lag é ceann amháin nó níos mó de na cuaillí taca seo is baol do bheocht fhadtréimhseach na teanga. I sochaithe forbartha, glactar anois leis go bhfuil reachtaíocht teanga ina nasc riachtanach leis na cuaillí seo lena chinntiú, nó lena éascú cibé, go n-úsáidfear an teanga ar a ndéantaí leatrom, i limistéir úra. Féadann creat dlí báúil cás socheacnamaíoch cainteoirí teangacha neamhfhorleathana a fheabhsú trína chinntiú go mbíonn deiseanna méadaithe acu leis an teanga is rogha acu a chleachtadh i sainchomhthéacsanna. Maidir leis sin, tig an dlí a fheiceáil ina uirlis chumasaithe. Agus iad ceangailte le beartas sóisialta forásach, tig le cearta teanga agus leananna reachtúla teanga difear suntasach a dhéanamh do dhearbhúsáid agus mar sin, d’ábharthacht chothú an dátheangachais sa phobal. Do na cainteoirí féin is é an dóigh is tairbhí le cumas sa sprioctheanga a mhéadú, go bhfaigheadh duine méid suntasach dá oideachas foirmiúil i dtimpeallacht dhátheangach nó ilteangach. Ach, tá claonadh coiteann ann glacadh leis gurb é an t-oideachas aonteangach an gnás tríd an domhan. Ina lán cásanna, d’úsáid rialtais oideachas aonteangach nó ilteangach le líofacht i dteanga cheannasach an stáit a chur chun cinn, seachas úsáid na mionteanga a chothú. Is fíor seo go háirithe nuair a thagann páistí isteach sa chóras foirmiúil oideachais agus gan ach beagán den teanga cheannasach ar a dtoil acu. Sa chomhthéacs seo, úsáidtear an mháthairtheanga nó an mhionteanga mar uirlis leis an teanga cheannasach a thabhairt i láthair go héifeachtach, agus sa deireadh, le lánchumas sa teanga sin a chothú. Sa chás sin is riachtanas éigeantach oideachas sa mháthairtheanga nó sa teanga mhionlaigh chun lánchumas a bhaint amach i dteanga cheannasach an stáit. Is minic a ghéilleann luathoideachas sa mháthairtheanga d’oideachas i dteanga an stáit agus an páiste ag gabháil trí chóras na scoile. ‘Dátheangachas laghdaithe’ a thugann teangeolaithe ar an chlaonadh seo nó is beagnach dosheachanta go mbeidh an chéad teanga ina droichead a fhad le lánchumas sa dara teanga nó sa sprioctheanga. Ach, is rogha bheartas eile é ‘dátheangachas breisithe’, mar a gcothaítear dhá theanga agus a gcaitear leo mar eilimintí gaolmhara i bhforbairt chognaíoch, shóisialta agus oideachasúil an pháiste. Is é an dara cineál dátheangachais seo an rogha i dTuaisceart na hÉireann, in Albain, sa Bhreatain Bheag agus i bPoblacht na hÉireann. Áitíonn cosantóirí an dátheangachais sa tsochaí agus san oideachas fhoirmiúil go bhfuil roinnt buntáistí ar de thréithe bhunús na gcásanna iad. Orthu sin bheadh:- - Buntáistí cognaíocha – bíonn claonadh i bpáistí dátheangacha smaoineamh níos cruthaithí agus solúbtha cionn is go mbíonn níos mó ná focal amháin acu ar gach rud agus coincheap - Buntáistí oideachasúla – léiríonn fianaise taighde ó thíortha éagsúla (Ceanada, SAM, Tír na mBascach, an Chatalóin agus an Bhreatain Bheag) gur nós le páistí dátheangacha déanamh níos fearr sa churaclam agus go n-éiríonn leo beagán níos fearr i scrúduithe - Buntáistí eacnamaíocha – tairgeann dhá theanga réimse níos leithne deiseanna fostaíochta; tá a lán post anois ann a éilíonn scileanna dátheangacha - Buntáistí sóisialta agus cultúrtha – tagann labhairt an dá theanga a fhad le réimse níos leithne gníomhaíochtaí sóisialta agus le rochtain dhá chultúr - Níos fusa an tríú teanga a fhoghlaim – tá an fhianaise ag fás ó thaighde Eorpach gurbh fhusa go minic le páistí dátheangacha teangacha eile a fhoghlaim. (Sliocht ó doiciméid POBAL, Acht na Gaeilge Eis 11)