The Problems of Gaelic ‐‐ the Scottish Administrative Dilemma

Abstract

Abstract Gaelic, once the dominant language of Scotland, is now spoken mainly in the Western Isles and in pockets along the west coast. The difficulties of economic disadvantage, the attraction of richer areas, and the dominance of English in the Church, the law and the State system of education have wrought havoc on the language. In spite of fairly general goodwill, administrators have had to think of their major tasks first. The mass media of press, radio and television, in spite of some specific small efforts to programme in the language, have compounded the problem. Recent changes suggest that independent television at least will become a weapon for survival, and that the media may in future contribute more to the solutions. This is even more true of the new information technologies, which can individualize learning processes to a hitherto unknown level, and so reduce the financial problems of producing for small markets. The best that can be hoped for at present is the establishment in the minority language area of a stable bilingualism.