Celtic Language Revival
Language revitalization, also referred to as language
revival or reversing language shift, is the attempt by interested parties to
halt or reverse the decline of a language or to revive an extinct one. Those
involved can include parties such as linguists, cultural or community groups,
or governments. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_revival
A well-known exercise in language revival is that of the
Irish Language in Ireland, notably being spoken in certain areas called called
Gaeltachtaí. The Gaelic language was banned several times by governments who created
cultural stigmatism. Furthermore,
the constant emigration of speakers during, and after, the potato famine
fostered the loss of native speakers.
Attempts to revitalize the Gaelic language began in the mid-1800s, with
strong efforts in the last few years, due to support from the Irish government
and the recognition from the European Union of Irish Gaelic as an official language
of the EU on 1 January 2007.
However, the language still has many obstacles to surmount,
since those involved with the language revitalization have mostly focused on
Irish teaching only in schools, but not in language immersion, necessary for a
lasting viability of any language, the day-to-day use of a language, not just
in the classrooms.
Linguist Andrew Carnie in his paper “Modern Irish: A CaseStudy in Language Revival Failure” MIT Working Papers in Linguistics 28:99–114,
1996, indicated that people resent being forced by school curriculums to learn
languages, therefore giving the taught language, a negative experience.
If you are interested in learning what is the strategy of the Irish government in relation to the Irish language, check their publication "20-year Strategy for the Irish Language, 2010-2030."
