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Year of grant: 2016 Research Area: Mentan Project type: Ph.d.verkætlan Project title: New Times in the Faroe Islands, New Speakers of Faroese and the Sociolinguistics of Labour Market Inclusion: Challenges and Opportunities Grant number: 0229 Project manager: Elisabeth Holm Institution/company: Herriot-Watt University Other participants: Professor Bernadette O’Rourke, Professor Mike Danson Project period: 2016-2019 Total budget: 980.974 Grant from the FRC in DKK: 412.375 Project description: Original Over the last few decades, contemporary societies have undergone rapid social, cultural and linguistic change brought about by globalization, increased mobility, transnational flows, new technologies and a changing political and economic landscape. These changes have had major implications for the ways in which we conceptualise the relationship between language and society in the twenty-first century. A new communicative order has emerged in which we find new types of speakers, new forms of language and new modes of communication. The Faroe Islands have in recent years experienced a rapid increase in in-migration to the area and a contrasting trend of out-migration among highly educated ‘native’ speakers of Faroese. This study looks at the effect of these processes on the linguistic and cultural landscape in the Faroe Islands. In particular, it looks at the impact of these processes on the use of Faroese as the local language of the islands and amongst “new speakers” of the language as newcomers to the island community. Little is known about the language trajectories or professional experiences of these “new speakers” who as second language speakers of Faroese adopt the language as part of their multilingual repertoire. The acquisition of a new language such as Faroese is essential to the prospects of these newcomers when it comes to integrating into Faroese society and in playing their part in its economic, social, political and artistic life. This study looks systematically at the experience of migrants in acquiring, using and becoming speakers of Faroese. Language is a key component in accessing education, employment, social services and for community participation. However, the processes whereby people learn new languages and become legitimate speakers of these languages are complex. Therefore, a key aim of the project is to examine whether or not language acts as a barrier to the social and economic integration of Faroese speakers of migrant origin. The project on new speakers of Faroese is part of a broader European discussion which brings together experts from across different multilingual research strands with the aim of providing a holistic response to the inter-linked issues around adopting a new language and becoming a multilingual citizen in a multilingual Europe. The network brings together researchers and practitioners from twenty seven countries, drawing on the expertise of more than 350 well-established, mid-career and early-career researchers. The findings from the Faroese project will feed into a broader body of knowledge being developed by scholars working in the area of multilingualism including Europe’s lesser-used languages, immigrant communities and transnational workers. The Faroese project will also benefit from stakeholder events and consultations with language planning bodies at national and regional levels, educationalists, and public sector workers. There will be sharing of good practice and knowledge on the lessons that can be learned from the Faroese context and what it can learn from other European lesser-used languages. The theoretical perspectives used in this research project are drawn from the fields of multilingualism, the sociolinguistics of globalization, the study of migration and contemporary social theory relating to mobility. The actual focus of the project is on language and migration in the Faroes. The research will be ethnographic in nature and will trace the migration trajectories of two groups of adult migrants: those long-settled in the Faroes and those who have arrived more recently. Particular attention will be paid to: (1.) language learning, including the learning of Faroese; (2.) the use and value of different language resources and different forms of linguistic capital as the adult migrants seek employment and negotiate access to different domains of Faroese life; (3.) the lived experiences of adult migrants on entering the workplace and the attitudes they encounter, as new speakers of Faroese, in the day to day routines of interactional life at work. It is anticipated that findings from this research project will contribute to the building of a fuller understanding of the changing sociolinguistic landscape of the Faroe Islands and provide useful outcomes relevant to the management of linguistic diversity from both a policy and research perspective. Final This thesis presents a critical sociolinguistic ethnography of the role of language in gaining access to resources and how new speakers can be delegitimated as part of that process. It focuses on newcomers to the Faroe Islands and the situated ways in which the Faroese and Danish languages are linked to career advancement, labour market mobility and processes of inclusion and exclusion. The ethnographic research focuses on migrants of non-Nordic origin working in fish-processing and cleaning. The research includes participant observation in fish factories, interviews with 29 participants and follow-up interviews with focal participants. These data are analysed drawing on recent theory-building in New Speaker studies (e.g. O’Rourke et al. 2019), research into global mobilities, labour migration and linguistic inequalities (e.g. Duchêne et al. 2013), and a new framework for research into investment in language learning (Darvin and Norton 2015). The thesis makes a distinctive contribution to the sociolinguistics of the periphery (e.g. Pietikäinen et al. 2016), revealing specific challenges involved in acquiring small languages in a bilingual context; the conditions for learning Faroese, the limited language learning opportunities in blue-collar workplaces, the barriers for newcomers in finding jobs commensurate with their qualifications, and the role of language ideologies in this respect. Main results In the final chapter, Chapter 9, the main findings from this research project are summarised, taking account of the questions guiding the study and its theoretical framework. This concluding chapter also includes a sketch of potential new areas of investigation, and it examines some of the implications of my research for policy and practice in the fields of adult language education and social inclusion in the Faroe Islands and for the teaching of Faroese as an Additional Language to adult migrants. This study showed that language learning, in the context of migration and globalisation, is a complex process and an underestimated endeavour, and that language learning trajectories of adult migrant language learners in the Faroe Islands were highly diverse and situated. It also showed that the conditions for settlement and employment, and the constraints, can prove to be insuperable, even for those who were best placed to exercise agency in defining their futures, who were most committed to learning the local language and who had considerable ‘funds of knowledge’ (e.g. in terms of language proficiency and educational qualifications). In sum, what well educated blue-collar workers of migrant origin had in common was that (1) in the factory context, they were not perceived as having any identity other than that of fish factory worker; (2) they had not been able to utilize their capital (their educational qualifications) in the course of many years in the islands; (3) they experienced identity disruption (i.e. loss of professional identities) and faced the long-term implications of deskilling due to downward occupational mobility; and (4) they felt stuck in blue-collar work. Also, there was evidence of long-term consequences of rigid immigration rules and the way in which these rules acted as obstacles to labour market progression, potential de-skilling, and, consequently, the lack of incentives to further invest in Faroese. Following that short summary of findings, I have drawn up the following list of findings (see below) as was spelled out in my concluding chapter: - There was a clear discrepancy between the adult migrants’ language learning needs, at different competence levels, and what was available in terms of language learning support at institutional level in different regions. This poor and uneven provision was contributing to inequalities and acted as a potential barrier to social mobility and career advancement. - Becoming a new speaker of Faroese posed particular challenges, in part due to: its status as a globally small and minoritized language (small in terms of numbers of speakers); to the fact that the teaching of Faroese to adults is still an underdeveloped field of education, due to the concentration of provision around the capital city, due to the fact that migrant workers have long working hours and challenging personal circumstances, and due to the prevalence of Danish in bureaucratic and media settings. - Investment in language learning is a highly situated type of activity and it is contingent on personal circumstances, and on workplace and structural conditions. - There is no straightforward connection between language competence and opportunity to move into the professional sectors of the labour market. - Opportunities for language learning in the local fish factories and cleaning jobs were scarce. - English was widely used as a lingua franca in the factory setting. It was used among migrant workers with different origins. It was also used by Faroese workers and supervisors to communicate with workers who were still learning Faroese, and it was used as a ‘tool’ in the process of learning Faroese. - Structural factors, combined with ideological ones, have an impact on people’s commitment to language investment. - Future prospects are at stake for individual newcomers if their professional qualifications are not used for years (long-term implications of de-skilling). - Monolingual ideologies were prevalent in public media discourse. There was also a notable contrast between dominant ideologies about migrants' language learning and the views and lived experiences of the participants. - Language learning was recurrently discussed in public discourse in general terms that took no account of the specific sociolinguistic context nor adult migrants’ lived realities in language marginal jobs. In contrast, the participants’ accounts provided revealing insights into their lengthy, complex and challenging language learning trajectories and into the constraints that they had faced along the way. Thus, there was a clear discrepancy between the way adult language learning was talked about in media reports, and in participants’ accounts of their experiences of realities on the ground. - Research participants were charting new futures, and struggling to find strategies to acquire Faroese in spite of facing conditions and lived realities that were not conducive to language learning. - There were additional challenges due to the ‘double language barrier’. Several participants indicated that they felt daunted because investment in Faroese was not sufficient to access a professional job or to undertake further studies: they faced the context specific reality of having to acquire two globally small languages, Faroese and Danish. - In addition, ideologies about bilingualism as ‘a problem’ were clearly alive and well in some circles. As the findings listed above are highly relevant to Faroese policymakers responsible for adult migrant language education, immigration and labour market policies, policy recommendations need to be formulated and promoted, based on these findings. Project status: Liðug Project output: Scientific articles, books, thesis etc. Holm, A.E. (2021) New Times in the Faroe Islands, New Speakers of Faroese and the Sociolinguistics of Labour Market Inclusion: Challenges and Opportunities. Unpublished thesis, Heriot-Watt University. Holm, A. E., O’Rourke, B., & Danson, M. (2019). “Employers could use us, but they don’t”. Voices from blue-collar workplaces in a northern periphery. Language Policy. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10993-019-09513-4 Alexander, R., Holm, A.E., Hansen, D. & Motzfeldt Vahl, K. (2020). Careers Guidance in Nordic Self Governing Regions: Opportunities and Challenges. Book chapter in Career and Career Guidance in the Nordic Countries, https://brill.com/view/title/57290?fbclid=IwAR2gadrtG7F2d0lGW0tbqS3GsBWO1gD5OxIhOpi2jmfHO3CCzX1R6bitUm8 Other results, such as unpublished articles, patents, computer systems, original models and new procedures Hoffmann, L. & Holm, A.E. (forthcoming). Learning Insular Nordic Languages: Comparative Perspectives on Migrants’ Experiences Learning Faroese and Icelandic. Nordic Journal of Migration Research (NJMR). Publications outside the scientific community, i.e. lectures, periodicals, articles in newspapers, television and radio Lectures/presentations in 2021 24 February at the National Library (in Faroese): Almennur fyrilestur um mál og inklusjón: Nýggjar tíðir í Føroyum, nýmælt í føroyskum og samfelagsmálvísindi í sambandi við inklusjón á arbeiðsmarknaðinum: Avbjóðingar og møguleikar. 12 March at Smæran: Invitation from Tórshavn Evening School to give a presentation (in English) on my research project & findings to language teachers and adult language learners. 18 March at the National Library (in English): Public presentation on language and inclusion: New Speakers of Faroese and the Sociolinguistics of Labour Market Inclusion: Challenges and Opportunities. 25 March: Online presentation for a conference at the University of Akureyri. Presentation headline: Language learning & migration: Voices from blue-collar workplaces in the Faroe Islands. Participation in radio interviews/programmes in 2021 5 February: Nón: ”Tilflytarar sleppa ikki at nýta sínar førleikar” (Immigrants struggle to make use of their skills): https://kvf.fo/non?sid=120004 4 October: Nón: Tilflytarar og førleikar (Immigrants and competences): Útlendskar kvinnur sleptar uppá fjall: https://kvf.fo/non?sid=129478 5 October: Morgunsendingin: Interview about a new Postgraduate Diploma in Faroese as an Additional Language: https://kvf.fo/gmf?sid=129470 Article about my research: Written by Højgaard, S. (2021). ”Er sproget den magiske nøgle til arbejdsmarkedet?” (Is language the magic key to the labour market?), DialogWeb: https://nvl.org/Content/Er-sproget-den-magiske-noegle-til-arbejdsmarkedet Thesis abstract included in: NORDAND 1/2021 (https://www.idunn.no/nordand ). Every year, NORDAND publish an overview of dissertations within the broad field of second language and multilingualism in the Nordic countries. Mine was included in their overview in the first NORDAND journal in 2021. << Back |
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