Introduction to Scots language debates

1. Introduction to the Scots language debates

This unit by Sylvia Warnecke is particularly valuable for those teachers who are new to the discussions around Scots language in education. Those teachers who have already engaged with this topic, might want to skim this unit and only study the aspects they find useful.

Scots is one of the four so called home languages spoken/used in Scotland, alongside English, British Sign Language and Scottish Gaelic. Sots and Gaelic are indigenous languages to Scotland. Scots is recognised as a language in its own right by the Council of Europe's European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, the European convention for the protection and promotion of languages used by traditional minorities. The UK Government, and the Scottish Government through ratifying the charter in 2001, therefore recognise Scots as a language in its own right. To realise the vision expressed in the charter, the Scottish Government published its Scots Language Policy in 2015, together with Education Scotland.

As opposed to English and Gaelic, Scots is a non-standard language. This means that it does not have a written standard and has less ‘institutional support or sanction [compared to] a standard language. Like any dialect/language however, it has its own vocabulary and an internally consistent grammar and syntax; and it [is] spoken using […] a variety of accents’; as a non-standard language, Scots ‘has historically been stigmatised, and a debate continues about the extent to which non-standard [use of Scots] should be encouraged, and even simply tolerated, [e.g.] in education’ (What is the difference between standard and non-standard languages? Pal, 2018).

When exploring this debate, you will become aware that the story of Scots can be told in two versions: the official history of Scots as told through policy changes, and the lived experiences of Scots-speaking people.

Despite differing points of view, Scots remains an essential part of Scotland, its history, culture and identity. In accordance with this, the Scots Language Policy outlines the reasons why it is important to engage with and promote this language:

Scots is an essential element of the culture and heritage of Scotland. For many of us, it is a familiar aspect of our song, poetry and literature and a recognised feature of how we express ourselves in our community life. The Scots language is only spoken within Scotland and it is not used anywhere else in the world by a community of significant number or extent. Therefore steps need to be taken within Scotland to ensure its preservation.

The Scottish Government will promote and support Scots, and encourage its respect and recognition in order that, what for many is the language of the home, can be used in other areas of Scottish life. (https://www.gov.scot/publications/scots-language-policy-english/, 2015)

In the latest policy development around Scots in Scotland, the Scottish Government proposed a new Bill dedicated to raising the profile and recognition of the two indigenous languages of Scotland, Gaelic and Scots. The Scottish Languages Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament in November 2023, following an extensive process of consultation. You can read the Scots Language Centre's response to the consultation and explore aspects the Scots community wanted to highlight for consideration for the Scottish Languages Bill.

Input from experts with suggestions for amendments to the proposed Bill was sought before the highly controversial Stage 1 debate in Parliament in September 2024 for this new legislation. Following further engagement with key Scots stakeholders, at stages 2 and 3, the process of creating this new legislation concluded with the much more focused and constructive Stage 3 debate where all parties unanimously voted in favour of and thus passed the new Bill. It received Royal Assent on the 31st July 2025 making the Scottish Languages Act 2025 law, which means that Scots, for the first time in history, has official status as a language in its own right in Scotland. This has significant implications for the role/status of the Scots language in education and across wider society. The Government, in collaboration with diverse stakeholders, are setting out to develop a dedicated Scots strategy designed to realise the ambitions of the Act to secure survival of the language for future generations.

The key learning points of this short unit are:

• to learn about the role and use of Scots language in Scotland today

• to find out about the position of Scots language in the history of Scottish education

• to evaluate attitudes towards Scots language in your immediate context

• to work towards a definition of Scots as a language in its own right

 

2. Input

Activity 1

Is Scots a language?

You might have come across this question before, and also a wide range of views on Scots in your professional context and personal life. Possibly, not all views held by the people you spoke to were in favour of recognising Scots, some might even have confused Scottish Gaelic with Scots or considered Scots a dialect of English.

In this activity you will engage with a presentation by OU PhD student Linda Bruce, who is undertaking the first ever study of adult learners of Scots, so-called new speakers of Scots. In her presentation she explores what makes a language a language in its own right, what factors influence the public recognition of languages and what linguists think about Scots as a language in its own right.

1. To start with, watch and listen to Linda sharing some her the findings from her PhD study in this PowerPoint presentation "Whit we hink we ken aboot Scots".  

Please note, 

•  Linda has added notes in her presentation to make it more accessible for you.
•  to listen to her voice, please click on the audio speaker icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the slides . 
•  If you click on the icon on the presentation start page, it will play automatically all the way through.
•  Linda has included samples from interviews with study participants on slides 21 and 22. To listen to them, please stop the main presentation, again clicking on the speaker icon; then click on the smaller speaker icon  on the same slide (you will see two).
• Here is a written transcript of the audio.

2. While listening to Linda, think about aspects from the presentation that: 

• are new to you,
• you find interesting,
• you find confusing,
• you might want to use in your classroom teaching.

We will discuss this presentation and the question of Scots as a language in its own right at the Unit 1 tutorial in week 3 of the course. You might also want to post any comments or questions on the presentation in the Course Forum. Please keep all posts relating to this in one forum strand to make using the forum as manageable as possible. Simply start a new discussion strand yourself or respond to an existing post in the forum.

3. You can now take some notes in your Learning log. The learning log is a useful tool in this course where you can keep a record of your learning, keep a note of things you want to ‘take away’ from or want to revisit in the course. Only you and your tutor have access to your learning log. Your tutor will not comment or mark anything in your learning log, but you can invite your tutor to comment, if you so wish.

Activity 2

First of all, think about your own Scots language skills, your own experiences and attitudes, as well as the educational benefits of Scots in schools you would like to explore in more detail.

Answer the following questions.

1. Can you

2. If you speak Scots, where do you use it?

• at home with family/ when socialising with friends
  
• when out and about, shopping, in a restaurant, on public transport etc.
  
• at work
  
• or elsewhere.
  

2. There are often issues around using and/or teaching Scots in education  settings. Can you list some examples from your own experience either as a teacher or as a pupil?

3. As discussed above, Scots now has support at policy level from government and councils. The use of Scots is becoming more and more encouraged. Can you list some of the positive examples you have seen or experienced of Scots in education?

You may want to keep a record of your notes by pasting them into a Word document or in your Learning log for future reference. Please remember using the Learning log is optional, and just one way we suggest you can keep track and a record of your learning on this course. The Learning log is for your personal use, other students cannot see your entries. But, if you wish to do so, you can invite your tutor to have a look at specific posts in there for comment.

Activity 3

Depending on your familiarity with use of Scots language in Scotland today, you may wish to read and engage with the materials and activities in our public-facing course on Scots language and culture on this platform.

You may be familiar with this course already, but we would encourage you to study at least a selection of activities from one of the units we propose in each of our CPD course units.

For this unit, we suggest you engage with either Unit 1, Scots today, or Unit 3, Scots in Education, of the Open University’s Scots language and culture course. When engaging, please select aspects of these units that are of most interest to you. And feel free to incorporate materials from these units in your own teaching.

Undertake as many activities in the unit of your choice as you want and take notes on the aspects that are relevant to the key learning points listed for this Unit.

You may want to keep a record of your notes by pasting them into a Word document or in your Learning log for future reference. Please remember using the Learning log is optional, and just one way we suggest you can keep track and a record of your learning on this course. The Learning log is for your personal use, other students cannot see your entries. But, if you wish to do so, you can invite your tutor to have a look at specific posts in there for comment.

Activity 4

Now you will familiarise yourself with the Scots language policy from 2015, specifically, with the role of education in realising the aims of this policy. For this purpose, read CfE Briefing 17 - Curriculum for Excellence: Scots Language (education.gov.scot) , which explores the aims and purposes of including Scots language in the Curriculum for Excellence.

Take a note, for example in your Learning log, of at least three key aspects you are taking away from reading the briefing document, which you think are particularly useful for your own work context.

3. Application

 

 

Activity 5

 

The application task in this first unit will focus on establishing the role Scots could play in your own work context and the exploration of any aspects that can support or hinder the teaching of Scots in your school.

A

Run a short survey in your own school among as many or few people as you see fit, ideally including different stakeholder groups – everyone from the Head Teacher to the Janitor, as well as pupils and different members of staff across the school. For this purpose, you may want to use the ‘Scots baseline audit’ (opens in new tab) prepared by Education Scotland.

B

Go through the answers you have gathered and take a note of key positives and challenges you take away from this exercise for your work around Scots in your professional context. These initial notes will help inform your learning as you work through the course and reflect on your journey.

Please note, you will share the findings from your baseline audit with your peers on this course through the Course forum, the details of which will be explained in the following activity, Activity 6.

Learning log

 

 

4. Forum Discussion

 

 

Activity 6

 

Looking back at Activities 1 and 4, where you explored your own and others’ experiences and expectations regarding Scots language in educational contexts, this activity will be an opportunity for sharing your views with your fellow students on this course.

A

Write about 100 words summarising the findings from the baseline audit in your school context regarding Scots language, and maybe focus on the following aspects:

• your own views on teaching Scots compared to those you encountered in your school
• your school’s plans around Scots and possible reasons for them
• attitudes towards Scots you have encountered in your school and beyond, and their impact
• positives you can see coming from teaching Scots in your professional context

Learning log

 

B

Then post your reflective account in the Course Forum in the dedicated forum strand for your tutor group, to share it with your peers.

C

Read the posts by other participants and comment constructively on at least one post you read.

 

 

5. Community Link

Activity 7

A

One of the great achievements that have come out of government support for the Scots language is the establishment of the Scots Language Centre, an online community space for all things to do with Scots. We ask you to take a bit of time to explore the Scots Language Centre website to get an idea of how this might support you in your teaching of Scots language and culture.

You may want to take some notes on/or copy links of the parts of the website you find particularly interesting and useful.

Make sure also you familiarise yourself with the ‘Lairn Scots’ section and all the related education resources: Scots Language: Activities

Learning log

B

Laura Green, who is a Scots Education Specialist at the Scots Language Centre, is among other things responsible for the development of the CLPL and CPD Resources For Teachers on the website. In this short video from October 2020, The Wee Gaitherin Scots in Education, she interviewed writer Susie Briggs and Rhona Alcorn, CEO of the Scots Language Dictionaries, to discuss what's new in Scots in Education. 

Listen to the interview and take some notes on aspects from the video that are particularly relevant to your context.

Learning log

6. Further Engagement

Scots Language Working Group report: Scottish Government response 

EducationScotland, Scots language in the CfE: 

TES article by Bruce Eunson, the Scots language coordinator, entitled ‘The importance of using Scots language in the classroom’:

7. References

Pal, A. (2015) What is the difference between standard and non-standard languages? Quora [Online]. Available at https://www.quora.com/ What-is-the-difference-between-standard-and-non-standard-languages (Accessed 25/08/2025).

Scottish Government (2023) Scottish Languages Bill, 29 November 2023 [Online]. Available at https://www.parliament.scot/bills-and-laws/bills/scottish-languages-bill (Accessed 25/08/2025).

Scottish Government. (2015) Scots Language Policy: English version, 3 September [Online]. Available at https://www.gov.scot/ publications/ scots-language-policy-english/ (Accessed  25/08/2025).

Education Scotland (2015) CfE Briefing 17 - Curriculum for Excellence: Scots Language  (education.gov.scot) [Online] Accessible at https://education.gov.scot/media/gfimmngk/scots-cfe-briefing-17.pdf (Accessed  25/08/2025)

8. Acknowledgements

Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders. If any have been inadvertently overlooked the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangements at the first opportunity.

Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources: