Galician and Irish in the European Context

BERNADETTE O'ROURKE lecturers in Spanish and General Linguistics at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK. Her main research interests, on which she has published various articles and chapters, are in sociolinguistics and the sociology of language, with a particular focus on minority language issues.

• List of Tables Introduction Language Attitudes Evolution of Attitudes towards Irish and Galician A New Policy for Ideological Change Effects of Language Policies on Attitudes A Cross National Study of Young People's Attitudes Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

This comparative analysis of the Irish and Galican languages is framed by the persepctive that the impact on language maintenance and shift of macro-ocial factors such as political and institutional support can only be assessed adequately through 'the interpreative filter of linguistic eliefs,/attitudes and ideologies' (p. 3/4). The rationale for this and other compartive studies is that they offer 'a broader and more objective framework than can be achieved through single case studies' (p. 4) avoding the solipsism that can be found in the limited horizons of one langauge studies and benefitting from the novel insights that O'Rourke offers.' Dick Vigers, University of Southampton, Current Issues in Language PLanning, Sept. 2012