Ratio of New and Native Basque Speakers
Ratio of New and Native Basque Speakers
The role of media in the linguistic integration of Basque new speakers
Introduction
Josu Amezaga
(josu.amezaga@ehu.es)
Maite Berriozabal (mberriozabal001@ikasle.ehu.es)
NOR Research Group
Department of Audio-visual Communication and Advertising
University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU
- Concerns about the gap between increase in knowledge (40 %) and increase in usage (4 %) in the last 30 years
- Scattering of speakers as a key factor limiting usage
- Mediated interactions as a characteristic of our times
- Case study: Berria newspaper
- Conclusions: media as a way for integration of new speakers
Over 50 % among young people (16-35)
Sociolinguistic Survey: population over 16, Basque Country
Factors for usage of minority language
Scattering by households
Scattering of Basque Speakers by villages
Context: all members are mainstream language speakers, while some members are minority language speakers too
- Motivations and attitudes
- Fluency
- Presence of non-speakers
Census, population over 2, Basque Autonomous Community
Scattering is a handicap for usage -thus for integration in the community language
Census & Sociolinguistic Survey, population over 2, Basque Country
Txillardegi, Sociolinguistic Survey
Changes in social interactions
Index of circulation of Berria and Basque Speakers density
Geolinguistic regions
Tertiary relationships
- Importance of mediated indirect relationships
- Communication and community based on indirect relationships
- Satellite television as geolinguistic region
- Link between scattered migrants
- Correlation between Basque speakers density and Basque language use in face-to-face relationships
- No correlation between Basque speakers density and circulation of Berria
Conclusions
- Media can be a powerful bridge between new speakers and linguistic minority, specially in the case of minority and scattered languages
- Media studies can help us understand the contexts for integration of new speakers
- Further research on how new speakers use media are needed