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Article published In:
Pragmatics of Active Social Inclusion
Edited by Yoshiko Matsumoto and Heidi E. Hamilton
[Pragmatics and Society 15:1] 2024
► pp. 67–84

Attitudes to language and bilingualism in residential care for older persons in Ireland

Inclusiveness and construction of positive identities

| University College Cork
ORCID logo | Florida International University

Language as a primary vehicle for communication and cognition is intimately linked to the construction of identities and social relationships, and to social participation and inclusion. By means of appraisal analysis (a tool grounded in Systemic Functional Linguistics) of interview data, we explored attitudes to language(s), speakers and language use in a nursing home for older people in Ireland, where a large proportion of residents and staff are bilingual in Irish and English. We found that in their interviews, participating residents accord high value to their bilingualism and status of native Irish speakers. Participating staff members emphasize the value of Irish for relationship building and positive interactions among residents and staff. Residents’ strong bilingual identities and language preferences set a standard for deliberately bilingual practices, which affirm the local linguistic and cultural identity, while also actively including non-Irish speaking residents by treating both languages as resources for belonging.

Keywords: bilingualism, Irish language, residential care for older persons, Systemic Functional Linguistics, Appraisal analysis, language and identity
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Social engagement and language in residential care
  • 2.Methods
    • 2.1Participants and data gathering
    • 2.2Data analysis
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Cross-participant summary and categories of items appraised
    • 3.2Individual profiles
      • 3.2.1Resident: Jane
      • 3.2.2Resident: Lisa
      • 3.2.3Staff member: Amanda
      • 3.2.4Staff member: Karen
      • 3.2.5Staff member: Owen
      • 3.2.6Staff member: Paula
  • 4.Discussion
    • 4.1Strengths and limitations
    • 4.2Implications
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 21 December 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.23064.mul
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