7 - Catalonia and Galicia: Unalloyed Support?

Summary

Chapter 7 investigates the reception of, and approach to, new speakers in Catalonia and Galicia. There is considerable evidence of a buy-in to the need to integrate new speakers and thus not only boost the profile of the respective language but also add to social cohesion in an increasingly multicultural and multilingual context. Particular attention is paid to the role of the Voluntariat per la Llengua programme in Catalonia.This pairs indigenous speakers with Catalan learners, several of whom migrated to Catalonia from Africa and Asia. Not only are the linguistic skills of the migrants improved by the programme but so also is the level of social cohesion and integration into the host community. Neofalantes in Galicia offer a quite distinct version of the new speaker phenomenon involving dual or mixed identities, ideological tension and challenges to official policies as to how best to represent the needs and demands of this small but very active section of society.