LANGUAGE PRESERVATION AND REVITALISATION STRATEGIES. THE CASE OF THE NORMAN LANGUAGE IN FRANCE

One of the most fundamental issues in sociolinguistics today is the grow‑ ing number of moribund languages that need urgent attention regarding their revitalisation. While there are many language communities that have succeeded in implementing effective language planning strategies, there are still languages that are severely endangered and in need of further support. The present paper examines the current situation of the Norman language. Norman is a severely endangered language. For the last four years, Norman authorities have been im‑ plementing various initiatives involving promotion and documentation of the language. The results of the surveys conducted for the purpose of writing this paper allow conclusions to be formed, regarding the attitudes and commitment shared in the Norman‑speaking community.


INTRODUCTION
France is highly diversified regarding the languages spoken on its territory.Although the French constitution states that French is the language of the Republic and thus is the only official language, many lesser-known languages still prevail.Their status and condition are different, as well as the support they receive from the state.however, the number of people fluently speaking a regional language keeps declining, not just in the context of France and Europe -the issue is observed all over the world.Researchers and lawmakers constantly seek strategies to help reverse the language shift (Grenoble & Whaley 2006).however, to start effective language revitalisation for any language, we must first assess the community's goals, needs, resources and, most of all, commitment.The success of a potential revitalisation programme depends on the motivation of the speech community it concerns (Grenoble & Whaley 2006).This paper is about the recent revitalisation initiatives adopted by the authorities of the Normandy region and some Norman speakers.It includes an overall description of the planning done by the region and the results of a survey conducted among Norman speakers participating in various initiatives.The research results will hopefully shed more light on the language attitudes, motivations and limitations that concern the Norman-speaking community.
The Norman language (le Norman) is originally spoken in Normandy, an administrative region in north-western France (previously composed of Basse Normandie and Haute Normandie).The Norman language is currently listed as severely endangered according to the UNESCO Atlas of the World Languages in Danger (Moseley & Nicolas 2010).This categorisation implies that grandparents and older generations speak the language, but it is not spoken by their children, even though they might understand it.This generation of passive speakers does not transmit the language to their children; thus, generational transmission stops.however, for some -or maybe even for the majority -generational transmission had already stopped in their grandparents' generation.They might have feared their children would face the consequences of speaking a regional language as, for a long time, speaking a regional language or speaking with 'an accent' entailed various types of stigmatisation.After conducting his research on l'Atlas Linguistique Norman, Patrice Brasseur claimed he had rarely met people proud of speaking Norman.They considered their language as a problematic skill, and they were ashamed of not speaking 'good' (i.e.standard) French (Brasseur 1980a).
Although the Norman language is severely endangered, it does not mean it cannot be successfully revitalised.For the last couple of years, regional authorities and various Norman associations have put effort and time into language planning.La FALE (la Féderation des Associations pour la Langue Normande), a Norman umbrella association, has been organising various events and workshops about Norman culture and the Norman language, successfully promoting the language in the region.Most of these initiatives are supported by regional authorities.

ThE STATUS OF ThE NORMAN LANGUAGE
The French constitution clearly states: The language of the Republic is French.It is considered the only official language to the exclusion of other languages spoken in the territory of France.however, an amendment from 2008 has recognised the cultural value of regional languages to a certain point.Article 75-1 of the constitution states that: Les langues régionales ap-partiennent au patrimoine de la France.1 According to the Ministry of Culture, Norman is listed alongside the other regional languages of France, such as Basque or Breton.however, Norman has not yet been recognised by the state in the Education Code, which means that it cannot be taught in public schools as a separate subject in the same way as Breton or Corsican.The president of the region of Normandy and the president of la FALE wrote an official letter to the president of France, in which they emphasised the severely endangered state of the Norman language and that it is not recognised by the Education Code in terms of immersive learning.This recognition is crucial for Norman, because it would enable the organisation and funding of Norman language classes in public schools as part of the regular curriculum.
As mentioned, the Norman language is spoken throughout Normandy and the Channel Islands.There are several varieties of Norman, differing in terms of pronunciation and vocabulary.According to research conducted by Jones, Guernésiais is the variation spoken the most frequently, with 41.4% of respondents speaking it daily, and Cauchois is spoken the least frequently, 0% of respondents speak it daily and only 20% a few times a week (Jones, 2015).According to the same source, less than 60 years ago in the Channel Islands, it was uncommon to speak English rather than Norman in everyday conversations.however, the attitudes in the Pays de Caux on the continent differ greatly, with even older people claiming not to speak Norman on an everyday basis.They do not speak it to their children and at the time of the research, they claimed that their version of the Norman language was no longer as 'pure' as it used to be.
According to Jones (2015), the Norman language is no longer passed onto younger generations.This is partly due to intermarriage with non-Norman speakers and because many do not see the need to pass on the language to their children or they even think it might be disadvantageous for them.The older generations might still remember how they were treated at school or in other public spheres because they spoke their regional language and these memories may be why they are reluctant to teach their native tongue to their children (Blanchet & Conan, 2019).Moreover, many spoke Norman before starting school at the age of six and for many it was the only language they knew.however, French schools have imposed French as the language of instruction and Norman has shared the fate of many other regional languages.People speaking it were frowned upon and they were discouraged from using it even outside classes at schools throughout Norman territories (Jones 2015).

LANGUAGE REvITALISATION
When thinking about language revitalisation, it is automatically associated with the idea of 'reviving' a language.Language revitalisation's primary aim is to increase the number of more or less fluent speakers, simultaneously saving the language from extinction or simply strengthening its position and developing its social prestige.however, language preservation is also relevant to many other aspects of community wellbeing.Perceiving language revitalisation only in terms of language as a species analogue is no longer enough for understanding how important languages are for their communities.The concept of language revitalisation as a way of healing communities and caring for their wellbeing is becoming increasingly popular among scholars (Grenoble & Whaley 2020).It is worth emphasising that language maintenance consists of much more than strengthening the status of a language.It is first and foremost about empowering current and potential language users and it is thus more useful to envision language as a means of cultivating community wellbeing.The value of language is not solely its communicative function, but the sense of belonging it creates (Grenoble & Whaley 2020).The problem with this interpretation of the importance of languages is that the influence of a language on a specific element of a community's health is difficult to prove.The benefits of native language use are not at all direct or simple.Language use consolidates an individual's sense of belonging by rooting it in the community's culture, traditions and social life.
Language revitalisation is multi-faceted and it is constructed from activities in various domains and numerous fields.Language documentation and revitalisation have always been thought of as two separate activities; however, these activities often go hand in hand.A concept that helps blur the line between these two fields is access (Pine & Turin 2017).Access to the effects of documentation work can be granted both in traditional form, by making the materials accessible in libraries and archives, as well as in the digitalised form by creating various dictionaries, online archives and mobile applications.
It can be concluded that documentation is a part of revitalisation or can be as long as the condition of the documentation's accessibility is satisfied.Still, it cannot be stated that it is all there is to language revitalisation.Chromik (2016) proposes the following equation to present what language revitalisation consists of: + Creation of 'spaces' for use of the language + Change of linguistic ideologies Therefore, another necessary element of language revitalisation is education.A language can be taught by family members who speak to children in their native language, so they acquire it naturally, or it can be transmitted through a state-driven education programme.In the case of state languages like French, education often takes both of these forms.The privilege and prestige of such a language are constantly maintained and protected by the state with the help of multiple tools, such as public education.In the case of less-known languages, it is usually -but not always -natural language acquisition that is dominant.Many revitalisation strategies include creating language courses, which are sometimes supported by the state and sometimes organised despite it.An example of a state-funded educational initiative are the Diwan schools in Bretagne with the state paying the teachers and other staff.The schools teach all subjects in Breton and the young people attending these schools are usually children of millitants brétons, Breton activists who want to pass on the feeling of responsibility for the survival of Breton to their children's generation (Dołowy-Rybińska 2022).
The element that seems the most precarious is the creation of 'spaces' for the use of a language.In most cases, minority languages are only used in the domestic sphere.however, some spheres of specific cultural practices, activities or professions often encourage communication in the language concerned.One of the many examples might be various religious rituals conducted in native languages -especially in connection to Indigenous People's religions.Another is whale-hunting for Inuit language communities, like Inupiaq in Alaska or Kalaallisut in Greenland (Grenoble & Whaley 2020).A profession worth mentioning is mining, which to this day encourages the use of Silesian in the region of Silesia, located in the south of Poland.As many of these language-use spaces have already disappeared or might disappear in the future, it is important to find places capable of carrying this important role of a language space.
The last and most crucial element is the change in linguistic ideologies.No language revitalisation can be successful if native speakers of the language do not wish to go through with it.Many less-known languages have been purposefully eradicated in the name of a unified nation or because of brutal colonisation.This kind of language attrition is called 'radical attrition', which comes from political circumstances that make the speakers cease to speak their native language due to repression.Older generations of native speakers of less-known languages are often reluctant or even afraid to use their mother tongue and, as a result, the younger generations of their children and grandchildren do not speak the language sufficiently well or even at all.These language ideologies might turn out to be the most difficult obstacle in the way of language survival.According to Irvine (1989: 255) language ideologies are 'the cultural system of ideas about social and linguistic relationships, together with their loading of moral and political interests'.In terms of ideologies that obstruct the survival or emancipation of a minority language, that of nationalism is worth mentioning when speaking about France.The ideology of nationalism consists of imposing one standardised language upon a state and its people to level any linguistic differences (Coluzzi, 2021).It privileges one language by giving it prestige and status as the language of elites, simultaneously abandoning or, in more extreme cases, eradicating all other languages spoken within the state's boundaries.it would be practical to outline the region's strategy.The revitalisation activi ties have been prepared and implemented according to three focal points: 1. Sauvegarder les parlers normands: this focuses on maintaining the Norman language and primarily includes the element of documentation mentioned before.Minor organisations collect and publish documents and works written in and about the Norman language and strategies planned by the regional authorities and the university.One is the creation of the Atlas Linguistique Norman in digital form, the predecessor of which was created by French dialectologist Patrice Brasseur (1980).2. Valoriser et développer les parlers normands: this is about the general quality of all scientific activities.The Conseil Scientifique et Culturel (CSC) des parlers normands was created to successfully fulfil this objective.Moreover, this point of the strategy concerns all the educational initiatives adopted by the members of the umbrella association la FALE.3. Communiquer auprès du grand public: its focus is to promote all initiatives and events organised for the maintenance of Norman.This role is fulfilled mostly by la FALE, which, thanks to its many organisations, promotes and creates numerous linguistic workshops, meetings, lessons and events.Organisations promote their work and meetings on their websites and social media.
To arrange the variety of initiatives, created by the supporters and activists of the Norman language, they will be described and enumerated according to Chromik's equation.
The initiatives aimed at the maintenance of the language and its documentation are led by scholars and by members of Norman organisations.At the beginning of 2019, scholars started transferring the Atlas into a digital form, L'Atlas linguistique numérique.In recent years there has also been an increase in books published in Norman and about it.Numerous authors publish bilingual books that can serve both as a tool for education and a source for documentation.The association Oû Pyid Des Phares supports active authors and unites a group of translators who convert francophone texts into the Norman language.Many of their works are accessible online for free and are accompanied by their audio form.This documentation activity can be a basis for collecting pedagogical sources for language courses.
Education in the Norman language takes various forms.however, the most popular ones are Norman courses organised in multiple cities and towns of the region in the form of small associations that gather once a week to work on texts in Norman.These organisations primarily unite people of a mature age who want to develop or refresh their knowledge of the Norman language.In terms of education for young people, the situation is more pessimistic for now.As a result of the 1982 Savary Memorandum, Norman was introduced to schools.At its best, there were seven middle schools (collège) offering classes in Norman -Beaumont, Les Pieux, Bricquebec, Portbail, Saint-Jean-de-Daye, Gavray and Avranches -now there is only one that provides optional classes for students in Bricquebec-en-Cotentin, in the Manche department (Jigourel, 2011).
As for 'spaces' for language use, one stands out the most.Cafés Normands are a series of meetings that unite people who want to speak Norman in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.The meetings differ from classes, as they take place in cafés or bars and are more recreational, as well as incorporating other elements of Norman culture, like dance and music.During the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the meetings moved online.Another example of such a space might be sports events, where the participants play traditional Norman sports, or any other event that aims to cultivate Norman culture or identity.however, it is challenging to assume the extent to which the Norman language is spoken spontaneously during these events.
Changing linguistic ideologies shared by the Norman community is challenging, but a gradual change is happening.La FALE and the Normandy region encourage communes to adopt old Norman names.More and more communes are putting town signs in the Norman language at their borders next to their standard French versions, for example, vit'fleu (fr.Vittefleur).It is also crucial for changing linguistic ideologies that many Norman activists speak up about the harmful ideologies and attitudes perpetuated by the French state and ingrained in Norman communities.The feeling of inferiority runs deep in the minds of Norman speakers and many used to refer to the Norman language -or in some cases still doas jargon (jargon), galimatias (gibberish), mélange (mixture), français écorché (flayed French), français ébréché (damaged French), français démanché (dislocated French), français déparé (marred French), français démodé (old-fashioned French), français renié (disowned French), français dédit (retracted French), français injurié (offensive French), français déjoué (frustrated French) (Boissel 1986;Brasseur 1990).Thankfully, some fight against this stigmatisation.In one of the numerous articles in the press about the need to save Norman, we read: On a besoin de l'appellation 'langue' parce que pendant longtemps, on a dit que c'était un patois.Et un patois, ça veut aussi dire 'mauvais français', ce qui n'est pas du tout le cas, parce que c'est une langue d'oïl, qui sort du latin, c'est donc une langue à part entière, il faut lui donner ce titre.2Fauchier Delavigne, Jean [Association Rabuqui], Letondeur, 2022.

METhODOLOGy
The research planned for the purpose of writing this article was conducted during four different meetings of Norman associations: L'Université Rurale de Cauchois (yvetot, Pays de Caux), L'Association Emai (Caen, Calvados), L'Association Arossel (Cherbourg-en-Contetin, Manche) and Café Normand de la Chouque (Bernay, Orne).All the events mentioned here aim at the preservation of the Norman language and the meetings are similar but not identical.The participants' origins were somewhat diverse, thanks to the workshops being organised in four different departments: Orne, Manche, Calvados and Saine-Maritime (Pays de Caux).
It is important to emphasise that the respondents are already engaged to some extent in language revitalisation or at least in its preservation.Participants in the associations' meetings agreed to take part in the survey prepared for the purpose of this research.The questionnaire was created similarly to the socio-biographic one used by hentschel et al. ( 2022) in their research on the Silesian language.The questionnaire distributed to the participants was composed of 26 questions.
Not all of the questions were answered by all the respondents.As ma ny of the respondents were elderly, we may assume that answering as many as 26 questions of different types was not easy for them and many survey sheets were lacking answers.As the reasons for not answering some of the questions are uncertain, they have not been incorporated in the tables presented in the results section, meaning the sum of answers for some questions does not amount to 100%.The survey was composed of socio-biographic questions (e.g., age, profession, origin) and questions concerning the respondents' opinions and preferences on various topics about the Norman language.Forty-eight respondents participated in the survey: 20 women, 27 men and a person who did not specify their gender.The youngest respondent was 21 years old, and the oldest was 88. however, most of the respondents were between 60 and 75 years old.

Language vitality
The first set of questions to discuss is the one concerning language vitality and transmission.When asked in what context and how often the language is mostly spoken, most respondents indicated home is where they use Norman the most.About 8% indicated they speak Norman very often at home, and only 4% said they speak it often.As many as 42% said they use it sometimes, and 19% claim they speak it rarely.The rest of the respondents either did not indicate any answer or said they never speak it at home.The next two most frequently chosen contexts are 'shops and the market', with 19% speaking Norman there sometimes and 27% rarely, and 'bars and restaurants', with 4% often having conversations in Norman, 19% speaking it sometimes, and another 19% rarely.According to these numbers, even for people interested in language revitalisation, the primary place of language use is their home.It is not surprising as the situation is similar for many languages that are endangered to some extent.Norman use in places such as the doctor's office or administrative offices remains fairly low, as these places usually encourage people to use languages or language varieties deemed more prestigious.When the respondents were also asked with whom and how often they speak Norman, four answers were indicated the most frequently.As many of the respondents are of a mature age, their parents and grandparents are mostly deceased, so their siblings are usually the ones who can speak Norman with them.It is quite surprising that many survey participants claim they speak Norman with their children.however, it must be emphasised that the children of the respondents, in most cases, are probably between 40 and 50 years old and verifying whether those people speak Norman to their offspring is beyond the scope of this research.Still, the situation regarding language transmission is slightly more optimistic than what might be assumed based on the research by Jones (2015).A significant number of respondents claim to speak Norman with friends, but this might result from the fact that these friends are the people they meet in the Norman language associations and clubs, so the scale of the phenomenon might be smaller than it initially seems from those numbers.Not all responses have been included in the table, as the numbers are too insignificant to be of real importance.

Language attitudes
The following numbers have been obtained from questions regarding Norman speakers' attitudes towards the idea and scope of ongoing language revitalisation, as well as their opinions on the utility and attractiveness of specific language revitalisation initiatives.The survey included a question concerning the respondents' ambitions and opinions about the future of the Norman language.Norman speakers' attitude towards enhancing the Norman language's visibility in public is relatively positive.The primary place where the respondents want to see more of Norman is in the press.This might result from the fact that the most representative group of respondents is over 60 years old and the press must still be an essential medium and source of information for them.On the other hand, social media gained the least of 'I agree entirely' answers, which might result from social media being still primarily the domain of younger people.Many respondents might have never used social media and thus do not see as much need to enhance the visibility of the Norman language there.Source: own research.
In Table 4, we can see the respondents' attitudes concerning the place of the Norman language in education.When asked if they agree that Norman should have the same rights as French, the respondents were way more prudent when answering.As many as 8% said they did not think they agreed with the statement and 12% said they did not agree.The situation was similar when the respondents were asked if they agreed that Norman should be a compulsory subject; only 6% less than for the first statement strongly agreed with this idea.The least favourable idea is Norman as a language of instruction, but, in turn, the concept of the Norman language as an optional subject gained the most positive reactions.Thus, it can be concluded that the respondents are proponents of optional education in Norman, rather than forcing the Norman language onto students in public schools.Moreover, the idea of Norman having the same rights as French is not as controversial for the respondents as initially assumed before this research.however, it must be noted that the respondents here have already engaged in Norman's revitalisation or, at least, in self-education.The responses of this particular group of respondents might be more optimistic than they would be for Norman speakers who do not participate in educational initiatives.
The following results relate to the respondents' opinions on particular areas of language revitalisation.In the survey, there were two primary questions regarding this topic.In the first one, the respondents were asked to select which revitalisation initiatives they attend and in the second, they were asked to choose which initiatives there should be more of.In this way, it can be determined which initiatives currently attract the most interest from the language community.Additionally, thanks to the second question, it can be concluded which initiatives are the most needed and which would potentially attract the most interest.
The list below presents the initiatives selected by the respondents as the ones they attend.They are in order from the most to the least attended: Norman language lessons: 54%; expositions: 54%; events about Norman history: 46%; writing workshops: 44%; events promoting Norman litera ture: 42%; events promoting Norman music: 42%; theatre: 23%; events concerning local affairs: 19%.
The following list presents the same selection of initiatives, but this time, the respondents were asked to indicate which ones they would like to see more of.They are presented from the most to the least wanted: Norman language lessons: 52%; events promoting Norman literature: 48%; writing workshops: 48%; expositions: 35%; theatre: 35%; events about Norman history: 33%; events promoting Norman music: 31%; events concerning local affairs: 15%.
As observed, Norman language lessons still dominate at the top of the list with the respondents recognising the need for Norman education as the most important.Next are events about Norman literature and writing workshops.The love for the written form could be easily noticed among Norman speakers during the research in Normandy and many publish books in Norman or write short forms of texts for local papers.According to these results, many also wish to see more initiatives concerning Norman theatre.As not many people attend this kind of event, we can conclude that it is not accessible for the entirety of the region or that it rarely happens.Shows performed in Norman could be a great way for young people to engage in revitalisation of the language and theatre has the potential to become a place of multi-generational interaction and transmission of language.

CONCLUSIONS
The Norman language can be categorised as moribund, according to Grenoble & Whaley (2006), as it is no longer transmitted to children.The youngest generations lack competency in Norman, while some might never have heard their grandparents speak it in their presence.The challenges that the speaker communities of moribund languages face are incredibly daunting.Language planning must be undertaken before the generation of fluent speakers dies.Some still speak Norman at home to their family and neighbours, but, if generational transmission is not restored, the language may soon disappear from the homes of Normans as well.There is no doubt that an essential domain of language use is education.Regional languages that are a part of formal education usually maintain a higher degree of vitality (Grenoble & Whaley 2006).According to UNESCO, 'Education in the language is essential for language vitality' (Drude et al. 2003).The attitude of the Norman speakers who participated in this research is relatively positive towards Norman language education and shows they recognise that language education is necessary for the language's main tenance and revitalisation.The idea of Norman as a language of instruction is not yet as well-received as the idea of Norman as an optional subject in schools.Recognising the Norman language in the Education Code will make it possible to introduce formal education in the Norman language into schools; this would be a big step forward for language planning in the region.A recent success in this regard is the introduction of Duen, a type of higher education programme (un diplôme spécifique) at the University of Caen.The programme introduces elements of history, law and dialectology, but it is as yet unknown how many students will want to participate in this programme, as it begins in February 2023.
It can be observed from the survey and the overview of the language planning initiatives that the Norman-speaking communities are in need of more language-use spaces.Cafés Normands are a language-use space of significant potential in their online and live forms.Any initiative promoting the use of the Norman language in any form is useful for revitalising and maintaining the language.According to the answers obtained in the survey, respondents want more initiatives and activities concerning Norman literature.Although these kinds of activities interest the older generations, for younger Normans to take an interest in the Norman language they might need more stimulating activities.
Engaging young people and encouraging them to learn and speak Norman should be the priority of language planning.It is a challenge for the older generations that need to plan and organise to attract the interest of young people and for the potential new speakers of Norman, who need to put time and effort into learning the language.It is crucial to make them feel their efforts are worthwhile and not fruitless.The research conducted for this paper has focused mostly on the attitudes and opinions of Normans of older generations and similar research with the younger generation of potential speakers is needed to recognise their needs.Quantitative and qualitative research would help determine what initiatives should take place to attract the attention of young people and encourage them to learn and then actively use the Norman language.

Table 1 .
Language use in specific places Source: own research.

Table 2 .
Language use with specific groups Source: own research.

Table 3 .
Norman speakers' opinions on potential language visibility Source: own research.

Table 4 .
Norman speakers' attitudes toward Norman's language prestige