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 WELSH LANGUAGE POLICY IN DEVOLUTION

WALES

• Wales has two official languages: Welsh and English.

• In 2011, 19% of the population spoke Welsh (562,000 people).

• In 2001, 20.8% of the population spoke Welsh.

• (The population of Wales is just over 3 million)

WELSH LANGUAGE (WALES) MEASURE 2011

• gives the Welsh language official status in Wales

• establishes role of Welsh Language Commissioner

• establishes principle that “Welsh language should be treated

• no less favourably than the English language.”

WELSH LANGUAGE STRATEGY 2012 – 2017:

“A LIVING LANGUAGE: A LANGUAGE FOR LIVING.”

• Strategic areas for language policy development identified.

Focus on:

• (1) drop in number of speakers in traditional Welsh speaking areas

• (2) families where only 1 parent speaks Welsh

LANGUAGE AND IDENTITY

PERSONALITY AND TERRITORIALITY PRINCIPLES

1. Personality Versus Territoriality- Personality: Federal, institutional or national bilingualism, considered part of the state's identity.

• Examples: Canada, Luxembourg (to a certain extent)2. Territoriality: Language policy is dictated on regional

need; "under which an individual has the right to receive services in the language of the majority of the population of a given area". 

• Examples: Switzerland, Belgium, Spain (Catalan)

THE PERSONALITY MODEL

THE TERRITORY MODEL

CHALLENGES

• Canada: R. v. Beaulac [1999] 1 S.C.R. 768 (Jean Victor Beaulac Case), Arsenault-Cameron v. Prince Edward Island, [2000] 1 S.C.R. 3, 2000 SCC 1

• Switzerland: Sprachenstreit following the introduction of English as a first additional language in Zurich,

TAMAZIGHT IN MOROCCO

• Tamazight refers to both the Central Tamazight dialect spoken in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, as well as a wider blanket term for the collection of languages commonly labeled as Berber. The Arabic term for Berber, al-barbari, literally means barbaric. Although Berber is used in the West, Tamazight speakers themselves do not use the term because of its derogatory meaning.

• Spoken in significant numbers in Morocco and Algeria , with smaller populations of speakers in Libya, Tunisia, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and the Siwa Oasis of Egypt.

• Tamazight is spoken by between 7.5 and 10 million people in Morocco and roughly 30% of Moroccans are speakers of a Tamazight dialect.

• Speakers of Tamazight in Morocco are generally bilingual out of necessity, speaking the local Moroccan dialect of Arabic as well.

• Since Moroccan independence in 1956 Morocco has had an evolving relationship with its Tamazight speaking population that has evolved from complete repression of Tamazight language & culture to a more recent acknowledgement of the importance of Tamazight to Moroccan identity.

• Prior to 2000, Tamazight was given no official recognition of any kind and was effectively driven out of major Moroccan cities because of the overwhelming influence of Arabic, being relegated to those areas of the country with larger Tamazight speaking populations.

• In 1999,with the ascension of King Muhammad VI, a series of major policy reforms began that opened the door for the official use of Tamazight in government and education. In 2003 the first lessons in Tamazight began in 300 primary schools across Morocco, with students receiving three hours of instruction per week.

• A 2013 goal was set to have Tamazight installed as a language of partial instruction in all schools across Morocco, with additional training courses to be provided for 20,000 teachers.

• As of 2011, constitutional reforms have now placed Tamazight alongside Standard Arabic as an official language of Morocco

• The only country to recognize Tamazight as an official language, although Algeria has given it “national” status.

• Bilingualism has been part of Moroccan identity for centuries, although this bilingualism has been historically asymmetrical, with Tamazight speakers adopting Moroccan Arabic out of necessity. Arabic speakers have not faced the same pressure towards a wider faculty in Tamazight.

• Although bilingualism has not been a stated goal of official language policy in Morocco, the reforms of the past decade are encouraging more wide spread access to Tamazight. Moroccan children regardless of their ethnolinguistic background are now learning and being instructed in Tamazight as part of the school curriculum.

• It may be too early to say what the outcome of the policy reforms has been for prospects of bilingualism in Morocco, but given the history of the state and the apparent willingness of the current king to afford a much more prominent status to Tamazight language and culture, the outlook for continued reform seems promising.