Minoritized languages in France and Ireland

Abstract

Abstract This chapter explores policy, practice, and vitality in relation to minoritized languages in France and Ireland, with a focus on the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Setting the discussion of this period in theoretical and historical contexts, the chapter investigates the impact of policy and practice on linguistic vitality. While there are certain parallels between the two settings in the nineteenth century, the situation in the twentieth- and twenty-first centuries demonstrates inverse policy positions in France and the Republic of Ireland, with particular complexities in the case of Northern Ireland. Nonetheless, despite high status in the case of the Republic of Ireland, alongside widespread visibility and high numbers of L2 speakers, minoritized languages in both the French and Irish contexts confront similar problematic issues as far as future vitality is concerned, notably in relation to questions around authenticity, legitimacy, the role of ‘new speakers’, and support for communities of speakers.