Multilingualism and New Media Cor van der Meer Fryske Akademy Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning Brussels, 27 September, 2013

Overview Friesland (Fryslân) Mercator European Research Centre, networks, provisions and resources Social media & language ICT & Best practice

dianûmer Fryslân Province of The Netherlands 627,000 inhabitants Frysk (Frisian) 2 nd official language 54% mothertongue Frisian Frisian adolescents 50,000 teenagers 50% mothertongue Frisian 3

Visit Kazakh delegation February 2010 Education in Fryslân

Trilingual education in Fryslân (1) Model used: - Group 1-6: 50 % Frisian, 50 % Dutch - Group 7-8: 40 % Frisian, 40 % Dutch, 20% English Systematic use of Frisian, Dutch and English as a medium of instruction. Interactive language education

Trilingual education in Fryslân (2) Results: - Good quality of Frisian - Results of Dutch at the same level at the end of grade 8 as all other pupils in the Netherlands - Results for English slightly better, but not significantly

Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning Platform in Europe and beyond Regional and Minority languages Research & Information/documentation Centre Funded by the Province of Fryslân and the municipality of Ljouwert/Leeuwarden Co-operation with the Basque country

Mercator’s activities Research Publications & databases Network of Schools Conferences & seminars Projects Q&A service

Fields of Research Language Survey Fryslân Trends in Policies and Practices for Multilingualism in Europe (LRE) New technologies; E-learning & Social media Application of the CEFR and the ELP in Europe Informal learning and promotion of reading in families & households Early Language Learning

Research reports Articles Newsletters Regional dossiers series - > 40 language descriptions - Update every 5-8 years - Online available Publications

Early Language Learning MELT Project Products: Brochure for parents Guide for pre-school practitioners Research paper Local awareness raising events Closing conference

1) Development of pre-school teaching methodology 2) Encouraging practitioners on how to immerse children in the minority language 3) Increase of parents’ awareness about multilingualism 4) Raise awareness of policymakers across Europe 2. MELT goals

I. MELT product: Brochure for parents Multilingualism in everyday life Bilingual brochures translated in eight languages: Frisian-Dutch Welsh-English Swedish-Finnish Breton-French Arabic, Portuguese, Turkish, German, Low- German

Implemented in 40 pre-school provisions in four regions Tested and evaluated by 120 practitioners and their mentors The MELT Guide: provides ideas a supportive and rich language environment language agreements in pre-school provisions children’s multilingual development in the pre-school age II. MELT product: Guide for pre-school practitioners

Adults as linguistic role models Interaction Observing and recording Collaboration with (grand) parents Working with themes and concrete materials II. MELT product: Guide for pre-school practitioners

Story box- telling; For example, the book: ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ Using a ‘minority charachter’ Goals of those activities: Identification Methodology of story telling Immersion Interaction Increase vocubulary II. MELT product: Guide for pre-school practitioners

Summary of relevant literature on early multilingual learning, related to European smaller state and regional & minority language communities (2011, Bangma I. & Riemersma A.M.J. ) III. MELT Research paper

EU policy recommendations based on best practices of the four regions Necessary to draft a explicit language policy about multilingualism and immersion for minority languages Good skills of the pre-school practitioners are required, coached by mentors To offer a rich language environment, including enough input of the minority language

dianûmer Language use on social media by Frisian adolescents 20 Twitter research

dianûmer Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Introduction

dianûmer Frisian adolescents 93% can understand Frisian (ave. 94%) 71% can speak Frisian (ave. 73%) 77% can read Frisian (ave. 76%) 33% can write Frisian (ave. 30%) Source: provinsje Fryslân, fluchhifking Fryske taal, Introduction

dianûmer Dutch adolescents 97% have a computer with internet connection 76% have a smartphone with internet connection 95% is active on social media 65% are 24/7 online through their smartphone >50% consider internet to be indispensable Source: Jongeren lijden aan Social Media Stress (2012) / CBS (2013) 23 Introduction

dianûmer Social media usage Dutch adolescents (15-20 years) 87% use Facebook – 65% daily 82% use YouTube 54% use Twitter – 35% daily source: newcom.nl (January 2013) 24 Introduction

dianûmer It is said that….. Since the upswing of social media, Frisian youth is writing more in Frisian Supposedly they are writing Frisian phonetically 25 Introduction

dianûmer Mercator European Research Centre / Fryske Akademy Research question: To what extent do social networks influence language use by Frisian adolescents aged years? 26 Research description

dianûmer Methods Literature research Twitter research Online questionnaire through social media and schools 27 Research description

dianûmer Literature 1/2 Cunliffe et al. (2013) Internet and social networking both a threat and opportunity for minority languages Ó Riagáin et al. (2008) & Cunliffe et al. (2013): Teenage years crucial period for attitudes towards a minority language 28 Literature

dianûmer Literature 2/2 Jones and Morris (2005): Tendancy by Welsh speaking persons to switch their conversation to English as soon as non-Welsh speakers join them Cunliffe et al. (2013): Language use on social networks reflects the language of real-world communities Jones et al. (2013): Intended audience influences choice of language 29 Literature

dianûmer Twitter research April 18th 2013: Frisian Twitterday Almost 10,000 tweets with #frysk Research Selection of 50 adolescents Analysis of 6,019 tweets 30 Twitter research

dianûmer Research question What is the language use in tweets of adolescents aged years who used the hashtag frysk during the Frisian Twitterday? Subquestions: 1.Ratio Frisian – Dutch 2.Variables of influence 3.Frisian language use 4.Influence of the #Frysk campaign 31 Twitter research

dianûmer Ratio Frisian - Dutch On the Twitterday: around 50-50% On other days: Dutch > Frisian To be continued (March 2014) 32 Twitter research

dianûmer Variables of influence on language use Audience Gender Tweet intensity To be continued (March 2014) 33 Twitter research

dianûmer Frisian language use 1/5 Often phonetical spelling –/ ɔ / written as o instead of a: mon (man), dot (dat), ol (al) –silent letters omitted: wost (wolst), kist (kinst), dost (dochst) –‘broken’ diphtongs: jer (hear), skwalle (skoalle), gjit (giet) 34 Twitter research

dianûmer Frisian language use 2/5 Use of Dutch-isms (lexical) –erch (= slim) –vriendintsje (= freondin) Use of Dutch-isms (syntactic) –Heit powerpoint litte sjen (= Heit powerpoint sjen litte) 35 Twitter research

dianûmer Frisian language use 3/5 Dialect instead of standard language –harre, hewwe (hawwe) –mut (moat), fut (fuort) –hij, wij, mij (hy, wy, my) 36 Twitter research

dianûmer Frisian language use 4/5 Twitter language and acronyms –sws (sawysa, sowieso) –ff (’effe’, efkes) –gm (goodmorning/goeiemoarn) –btw (by the way) –1en (‘ienen’) 37 Twitter research

dianûmer Frisian language use 5/5 Code switching: –ik kin de kneepjes von 't vak onderhands wol –Dus jim hawwe nog een wieke von dot dodelijk saaie examen training? –Seker fja herhaling vatbaar. 38 Twitter research

dianûmer Questionnaires Planning: autumn 2013 Through social media and schools Questions: –Demographic data –Frysk as mothertongue –Language use in different contexts –Use of social media –Language use on social media 39 Questionnaires

dianûmer Future plans Finish this research spring 2014 International cooperation More research 40 Future plans

Good practice Edufrysk, E-learning tool developed in Friesland –Provincial government policy –For learning Frisian language (& culture) –Age group 16+ –For all levels –Dutch as medium of instruction

Structure Language & culture online learning through: –Text (according interest) –Music / songs –Poetry –Games

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dianûmer MySchoolsNetwork (MySN) P2bEuOf0http:// P2bEuOf0 44

dianûmer Education & Technology Technological revolution is due OER and MOOC Opportunities for smaller languages

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