M A C V A Y S I A

As many of my friends and readers (and people who are both my friends and readers) know, I have a certain fondness for the Gaelic language, which was spoken by many of my ancestors, some up until the middle of the last century. As many may also know, Gaelic is struggling to crawl back from the brink of language extinction. Please forgive my tendency to write of a language in such anthropomorphic terms, as if a language can crawl back from anything. But I think such descriptions are apt, as what is sorely needed is for Gaelic to be seen as a living language, not just one used by hobbyists and academics.

I have been trying, in fits and starts and in my own little way, to contribute to the continued flourishing of the language. I’ve been studying Gaelic off and on; I even have a Gaelic blog, which I haven’t updated in quite some time (but I hope to soon). However, my efforts pale in comparison to those of the many passionate learners and native speakers from around the world who actively participate in Gaelic forums and even blog in Gaelic (much more frequently and definitely more fluently than I do). The first person to blog in Gaelic was a learner in Alaska. There’s even a girl in Kazakhstan who has been picking up the language and blogging along happily (and quite fluently) in it. One learner in particular, a gentleman who currently lives in the Hebrides, has been very helpful to me simply because he encourages me and is willing to converse with me on Skype despite my vastly inferior proficiency in the language. Great stuff, and much appreciated.

I know most of the people who read my blog are usually not very interested when I write about Gaelic, most likely due to the fact that most of my readers are Malaysian. Still, this time I’m hoping the small number of friends and others who frequently drop by my blog will pay attention to my rantings about Gaelic just this once and lend their names in support of a good cause.

The cause I’m referring to is the push to have a school in the small community of Sleat on Scotland’s Isle of Skye designated as a dedicated Gaelic medium school. Here’s part of the text of an online petition:

It is wrongly believed that the current school is bilingual but there are no bilingual schools in Scotland. The existing school is diglossic, i.e. two languages are present but one (in this case Gaelic) is of lower status and is used only in restricted situations. Because the Gaelic medium pupils do not regularly hear or speak Gaelic outside of the restricted classroom setting, they are not able to gain the depth and breadth of the language that they would do in a dedicated Gaelic school. A dedicated Gaelic school would include English as part of the curriculum from P3 onwards but would allow the children to socialise with each other and with adults, get their school dinners, take part in all-school activities, enjoy creative and sporting activities through the medium of Gaelic. Sociolinguists and language experts throughout the world agree that the holistic language experience available in this way through socialisation and transaction is what brings children to fluency in any language. For an endangered minority language such as Gaelic in the present day, where language use is so poorly supported in the community, dedicated language schools are essential to produce fully confident and properly fluent Gaelic speaking children. Language units with their restricted opportunities in majority language schools are not enough.

This issue isn’t without controversy, as there are people in Scotland—some Gaels among them—who are opposed to the idea, for various reasons that I would like to explore later (for now I’ll just say that if children can’t be educated in Gaelic in one of the last places on earth where the language still precariously hangs on as a language of daily discourse, the future doesn’t look good).

In fact, I would definitely like to explore this issue more deeply as it relates to the Malaysian context, since mother-tongue education is an important part of the Malaysian education system—for better or worse. I think a discussion on this topic would be fascinating. While I support mother-tongue education in Sleat and think it would be a big help, I don’t necessarily think the mother-tongue education concept has been equally helpful in Malaysia. I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing either. I’d love to hear how some Malaysians feel about mother-tongue education. Do you think it’s been implemented properly in Malaysia? Do you think it’s been successful? Could the system be improved?

In the meantime, if you have a moment, please drop by the online petition site and leave your name and location. That is, of course, if you feel like supporting this particular cause. If you don’t agree with it, I won’t expect you to sign the petition. I will, however, expect an interesting debate one way or the other. Don’t be shy.

Tapadh leibh. Thank you.