The @Culture, Media and Sport Committee UK Parliament Culture committee is in Glasgow They are taking evidence on Scots Language - @michael dempster - cyberscots ᛞᚩᛗ @Prof Joanna Kopaczyk & @Dawn Leslie on the panel I’ll make a thread of some highlights as it happens live

Guid point fae @Dawn Leslie - Scots dialects hae their ain distinct identities, but cause we dinnae get tae hear ane anither in the media or professional settings, we arnae yaised tae hearin dialects fae ootwith wir ain area … 2/

.@Prof Joanna Kopaczyk is here baith as Professor of Scots and English, and as a memmer o @Oor Vyce People want to talk to each other, but issues of authenticity come in. Some people think that *their* Scots is the *authentic* Scots, to the exclusion of others … 3/

“Parents, family, children, need to embrace the language, accept its validity, and something that is celebrated not just at home but in wider society. Particularly in the workplace. There is a challenge in making it normalised in other spheres” 4/

“Who’s responsible for transmission?” “Wider society, education, broadcasting” - Prof K. “Things like Scots bookbugs sessions by @Scottish Book Trust very important in allowing Scot’s at that very early age, at pre school and early years” - Dr D. 5/

“To what extend is Scots used in your workplace?” “I use it in emails to colleagues that I know are Scots speakers…I’ve been quite vocal about bringing it into work…it’s about encouraging a cultural shift in workplaces” - Dr Leslie 6/

“People who come to Scotland with English as a second or other language can become socially isolated as they don’t understand Scots” - Dr D “Learning Scots as a foreign language is something that New Scots are often willing to embrace…” - Prof K 7/

“There’s a cultural silo of Scots. It’s encouraged on Burns Day, but not beyond that. Or it’s ok in comedy but not other sectors It would be useful to disrupt these silos”-Prof K “There needs to be a braver approach. We need everyday content in Scots, not about Scots…” Dr L 8/

Now discussing tension between dialects and national language “If we had the news read in Scots, what dialect should be reading it?” “Any of them.” Says @Dawn Leslie Prof K expands, concurs Dr Dempster talks on … 9/

…about how stage productions he’s worked on with Scots speakers, the group share comprehension of the different dialects and work together to create a coherent work 10/

Dr Dempster, asked aboot potential in digital media, points oot that it would be so easy to produce Paw Patrol etc for bairns in Scots, in different dialects, and this would be useful “Gie is a cartoon for bairns in Scots” is a community desire, reports Prof K. 11/

Dr @Dawn Leslie cautions “minority languages can’t just be led by consumer demand, as they are small markets.” The panel are asked what funded professional pathways there are in Scots to become performers None, at a national level, the panel report. 12/

Dr Leslie on Scots Languages Bill “It’s important this isn’t seen as a top down imposition on Scots speakers. A proper funding source There needs to be regional input to make sure that whatever is introduced works for the country as a whole…” 13/

Prof K agrees “Avoiding top down structure, and a budget. Real support, not just something stamped on paper. Official status is good, but what does that change for everyday speakers?” 14/

Dr D agrees “It needs to be facilitated from the grassroots up. There’s a lot more work coming to the Scots Language Centre through the Bill which we welcome, but we need funding” (All quotes in this thread are approximate. Daein ma best x) 15/

“Is Scots a language or a dialect?” MP asks “What do you think a language is?” Asks Dr @Dawn Leslie “Different words.” MP responds “Well we’ve got that. If ye dinnae think it’s a language, I’m no buthered.”

“Scots is a language with 1000 years of literature, it was used as language of administration, language of law, in medieval and early modern Scotland The hierarchy between a dialect and language is based on status and power” concurs @Prof Joanna Kopaczyk Dr D agrees 17/

“Scots doesnae make sense as a series of exceptions to an English norm, linguistically. It only makes sense when it is understood as a language, and when it is analysed as such” “Celebrating multilingualism. Not seeing it as a problem.” 18/

Now @JOHN NICOLSON M.P. 🇵🇸 🇺🇦; These languages didn’t go into decline by accident. There was an effort to stamp them out. My granny was belted for speaking Gaelic. In my case, I had red lines put through my writing at school if I used Scots words. Are we being too nice about this?… 19/

“shouldn’t we be a bit more insistent about our language rights?  We were at the BBC where we got a very halfhearted slideshow on Scots, where there was no status on the language, the clips were years out of date and they showed us people speaking Scottish standard English” 20/

John making excellent points: In Scots towns, why don’t we have the Scots place names on the signs? If a place is kent locally as Toonheid, say, how come the sign says Townhead? Panel offering v interesting answers. 21/

The panel wrapping up with practical recommendations I simply cannae tweet fast enough. Yous will hae tae watch the committee back https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/4643cd15-6620-458e-9f57-b34d8544af26…