Social media in Bilingual Environments: online practices of Frisian/Dutch teenagers
description
Transcript of Social media in Bilingual Environments: online practices of Frisian/Dutch teenagers
Social media in Bilingual Environments: online
practices of Frisian/Dutch teenagers
Lysbeth Jongbloed-Faber
In cooperation with:
2dianûmer
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs 2.0
Introduction
3dianûmer
Overview• Introduction• Research description• Literature• Twitter research• Questionnaire• Future plans• Discussion
Introduction
4dianûmer
Fryslân• Province of The Netherlands• 627,000 inhabitants• Frysk (Frisian) 2nd official language• 54% mothertongue FrisianFrisian teenagers• 50,000 teenagers• 50% mothertongue Frisian
Introduction
5dianûmer
Young Frisians (18-29 years)
• Understanding Frisian 82% well – 93% reasonably
• Speaking Frisian 62% well – 71% reasonably• Reading Frisian 46% well – 77% reasonably• Writing Frisian 11% well – 33% reasonably
Source: provinsje Fryslân, fluchhifking Fryske taal, 2011
Introduction
6dianûmer
Dutch teenagers• 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) Introduction
7dianûmer
Social media usage Dutch teenagers (15-20 years)
• 87% use Facebook – 65% daily• 82% use YouTube• 54% use Twitter – 35% daily
source: newcom.nl (January 2013)
Introduction
8dianûmer
It is said that…..
• Since the upswing of social media, Frisian youth is writing more in Frisian
• Supposedly they are writing Frisian phonetically
Introduction
9dianûmer
Research question
To what extent do social networks influence language use by Frisian teenagers aged 14-18 years?
Research description
10dianûmer
Methods
• Literature research• Twitter research• Online questionnaire through
schools and social media
Research description
11dianûmer
Literature 1/2
• Ó Riagáin et al. (2008) & Cunliffe et al. (2013):Teenage years crucial period for attitudes towards a minority language
Literature
12dianûmer
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
Literature
13dianûmer
Twitter research• April 18th 2013: Frisian Twitterday • Almost 10,000 tweets with #frysk
Research• Selection of 50 teenagers• Analysis of 6,019 tweets
Twitter research
14dianûmer
Research questionWhat is the language use in tweets of adolescents aged 14-18 years who used the hashtag frysk during the Frisian Twitterday?
Subquestions:1. Ratio Frisian – Dutch2. Variables of influence 3. Frisian language use4. Influence of the #Frysk campaign
Twitter research
15dianûmer
Ratio Frisian - Dutch Table 1. Language use of Frisian teenagers
Twitter research
Language Before Twitterday
On Twitterday
After Twitterday
Mostly Frisian
12% 53% 13%
Mostly Dutch
65% 29% 63%
Mostly English
8% 4% 8%
Other 15% 14% 16%
16dianûmer
Variables of influence on language use: audience
Table 2. Share of Frisian messages
Twitter research
Language Before Twitterday
On Twitterday
After Twitterday
Public self-generated messages
8% 53% 9%
Addressed messages (@)
25% 47% 26%
Retweets 4% 58% 4%
17dianûmer
Variables of influence on language use: genderTable 3. Share of Frisian messages
Twitter research
Language Before Twitterday
On Twitterday
After Twitterday
Male (n=24) 16% 61% 18%Female (n=26)
9% 42% 9%
18dianûmer
Frequency of Frisian tweets
Twitter research
More than once a day
at least once every two days
at least once a week
at least once a month
less often never0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
19dianûmer
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)Twitter research
20dianûmer
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)
Twitter research
21dianûmer
Frisian language use 3/5
• Dialect instead of standard language– harre, hewwe (hawwe)– mut (moat), fut (fuort)– hij, wij, mij (hy, wy, my)
Twitter research
22dianûmer
Frisian language use 4/5
• Twitter language and acronyms– sws (sawysa, sowieso)– ff (’effe’, efkes)– gm (goodmorning/goeiemoarn)– btw (by the way)– 1en (‘ienen’)
Twitter research
23dianûmer
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.
Twitter research
24dianûmer
Questionnaires • Planning: start last week of October• Through schools and social media:
– Target: min. 1,000 participants– Representative for Frisian teenagers
• Questions:– Demographic data– Frysk as mothertongue– Language use in different contexts– Use of social media– Language use on social media
Questionnaires
25dianûmer
Future plans• Finish this research spring 2014• International cooperation and
comparison in the field of language use on social media in bilingual environments
• More research about other target groups
Future plans
26dianûmer
Discussion statement 1
The phonetic spelling of Frisian on Twitter shows that minority languages should
be simplified in order to keep new generations interested.
Discussion
27dianûmer
Discussion statement 2
The EU should oblige (and subsidize) social media to
make their platforms/applications
available in all recognised minority languages in the EU
before 2015.Discussion
28dianûmer
Discussion statement 3
Teachers should be encouraged to use social media use as a tool for
instruction.
Discussion
29dianûmer
Discussion statement 4
Social media is a threat to minority languages
Discussion
30dianûmer
Any more questions?
Discussion
31dianûmer
QuestionWhat is in your opinion the best way to ask for minority language use in a questionnaire?
- Shares, how detailed?- Frequency of minority language use- In comparison with majority languages
Discussion