2005 Shetland dialect in primary

Summary and recommendations of 2005 survey

 

Summary and recommendations of
Dialect Survey of Shetland Primary Schools, 2005

Survey carried out for Shetland ForWirds
by Laureen Johnson and Christian Tait
with the support of Shetland Education Services

The authors would like to thank all those who assisted with the survey,
in particular Iris Sandison

BACKGROUND

In March 2004, in recognition of the strength of local feeling about the future of the Shetland dialect, a two-day Dialect Conference was organised by Shetland Arts Trust. Shetland ForWirds is the committee set up as a result, its overall aim being to promote the continued use of the dialect. An Education sub-group was formed with the overall aim of promoting the use of the Shetland dialect in Shetland schools.

 

AIMS OF THE SURVEY

To gauge the status quo of dialect use in Primary schools/departments.

To identify their requirements in terms of resources and support

and consequently

To recommend ways of providing support which would enable teachers to use the dialect more widely, more confidently and more frequently

 

OVERVIEW

In the course of our survey, we asked teachers to give us an indication, often completely off-the-cuff, of the prevalence of dialect use among their pupils in 2005. Teachers usually reflected on what they heard in the classroom (pupil to teacher, pupil to pupil), both formally and informally, together with what they heard in the playground when children were at play.

The dialect spoken by pupils was often described by dialect-speaking teachers as ‘watered-down’.

From the answers we obtained, we estimate that approximately a third of primary school pupils in Shetland, at the time of the survey in 2005, were seen by teachers as having some capability in speaking dialect. This is not, of course, a figure obtained by a scientific survey.

In any one school, the proportion of dialect users might be greater or smaller than a third.

We have, of course, no estimate of pupils who can and do speak dialect at home, though they may not do so in a school setting.

 

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

Encourage! Support! Value! Share!

In accordance with the stated aim of the Shetland Dialect Project 1996 , the existing ‘Early Years’ and ‘Primary’ packs of dialect material should be updated now and regularly thereafter, and their range of topics widened. New material should take full account of teachers’ suggestions, changing lifestyles, children’s experience and developments in education. Presentation should be child-friendly and attractive, and make use of modern media.

In order to help address teachers’ stated needs, new packs should include

- a rationale based on the aims of the National Guidelines English Language 5-14. This should reassure them that time spent on dialect is a valuable aid to children’s knowledge about language, supports personal development and develops a range of positive attitudes (see page 19)

- guidelines for teachers, e.g. dialect spelling; assessment of written work

 

The Dialect Speakers in Schools Initiative, previously funded by Shetland Arts Trust, should now be reinstated.

 

There should also be a Dialect Writers in Schools Initiative.

 

A similar survey to this one should now focus on nursery schools and playgroups, to find out about the language children take to school, identify requirements and make recommendations.

 

A similar survey in secondary schools should assess the prevalence of dialect speech, attitudes to dialect, and requirements in terms of support, and make recommendations.

 

All individuals (particularly parents) and all organisations who can help should be involved now to raise the profile of the dialect, celebrate it and show that it is valued.