Latest News

A selection of language-related news. Does not claim to be comprehensive or represent the views of SCILT.


Scottish Studies

Scots: do you know your teuchters from your sassenachs?

3 October 2014 (Guardian)

Irrespective of the political fallout from the independence referendum, the UK’s language patchwork is stronger having retained the rich tradition of Scots.

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Which children's books define the Scottish identity?

23 August 2014 (Guardian)

What do you read when you feel both Scottish and British? In the lead up to the independence referendum in September, site member Firebird journeys back through children's books to see what it means to be Scottish.

[...] The same could be said of the various Scottish languages and dialects – all different, but all Scottish. Given the Scottish government's emphasis on Gaelic, one might be excused for thinking that Gaelic was the sole language of Scotland, but in fact Gaelic (which originates from Irish) was only ever spoken in the Highlands and Islands, plus a little in the West of Scotland. In 1755, just 23% of Scots spoke solely Gaelic, and nowadays only 1.1% of Scots speak any Gaelic at all. As for the East of Scotland, they have always spoken Scots, which brings up another question – what on earth do we mean by Scots?

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Let’s hear it for Scots

30 September 2013 (Southern Reporter)

It is good to see figures being produced for the first time from the 2011 census on the number of those speaking Scots.

Now that we know that 1.54million people speak the language and where they are located, we can begin to plan how to support communities of Scots speakers and encourage these communities to value their language and pass it on to future generations.

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Related Links

Action to preserve Scots tongue (The Herald, 28 September 2013)

Scots language survey

14 June 2013 (Teaching Scotland)

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has put together a survey asking for feedback on a possible creation of a separate Scots Unit within the curriculum. The survey has come about as there has been a recent indication of possible growing demand amongst practitioners for a separate Unit focusing on Scots.

The deadline for taking part in the survey is Friday 28 June 2013.

Visit the Teaching Scotland website to complete the Scots language survey online.

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