Further research
Elaine C Smith and regional variations of the Scots language [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]
Elaine C Smith talks about the different dialects and words she encountered during her Glaswegian upbringing, her teaching career in Edinburgh and her panto performances in Aberdeen. She comments on the regional variations from the Borders to the North East. Elaine's favourite word is 'dreich ' but she enjoys the liveliness of Scots language in everyday speech.
The Scots Language Centre is an online resource with the purpose of promoting Scots. The quote used in section 4.2 to define the various regional dialects of Scots is from the Scots Language Centre.
Shetland ForWirds is a volunteer-run organisation based in Shetland. Their website contains a wealth of information on Shetland dialect, including an online version of John J Graham’s The Shetland Dictionary which is mentioned above.
As in Shetland, Orkney has many volunteers who strive to share the language used in their isles. The Orkney Dictionary website centres around Margaret Flaws and Gregor Lamb’s Orkney Wordbook which is the essential text for understanding the Orcadian dialect.
NRS is a non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government. Their purpose is to collect, preserve and produce information about Scotland’s people and history and make it available to inform current and future generations. All information discussed above relating to the question on Scots language in the 2011 Census can be found on the NRS site.
How bilingual brains switch between languages
This article will provide information on what actually happens in our brain when we switch between languages. This will help you explore the bilingualism and ‘switch-cost’ concepts from section 4.3 further (Devitt-NYU, J. (2018) ‘How bilingual brains switch between languages’, Futurity, 11 September 2018).
This is the website of the research and information centre for bilingualism and language learning based at the University of Edinburgh.
Thomas Bak on the Metis Owris project team
Explore the work of Thomas Bak, a neuroscientist based at the University of Edinburgh, whose research explores the positive effects of bi- and multilingualism on the human brain.
Now go on to Unit 5: Scots Language in Politics.
4.5 The 2011 Census