Language Revitalisation: Attitudes, Engagement and Linguistic Interaction, 2011.

The project examines the revitalisation of a North- and a Lule-Sámi variety in two communities of speakers from the perspective of linguistic interaction. It asks what speakers do with their languages and why their linguistic acts take the particular forms they do take. An important issue in the context of language revitalisation is the speakers' personal engagement, their evaluation of the values and meanings of their ethnic heritage language, and their emotions and attitudes towards it. This is expressed through language in interaction with others and embedded in a complex situational, social and cultural context. Fieldwork for this case study was carried out in two communities of speakers in the municipalities of Gáivuotna/Kåfjord (Troms) and Divttasvuodna/Tysfjord (Nordland). The data contains recorded interviews with 6 individuals engaged in Sámi revitalisation.