Languages of Scotland: Culture and the classroom

Abstract

The indigenous languages of Scotland are in a precarious position faced with the massive presence of English. This essay examines the state and nature of the Scots and Gaelic languages. It places them in their historical context and traces how each has had its heyday in Scotland, in the case of Gaelic to be supplanted by Scots and in the case of Scots to be supplanted by English. Both have become marginalised in Scottish life and in the Scottish school. Both have been subject to various concerted campaigns aimed at their destruction. Gaelic, however, has at least had the consolation of being regarded as a language while Scots has not. The changing relationship between the school and these languages is examined in the context of the current revival of Scottish culture on a multiplicity of fronts.