“Scots language is one of the native languages spoken in Scotland. The other two languages used are English and Gaelic. I believe the Scots language should be taught in the classroom. My main reason for this opinion is because it’s a language in its own right, compared to the English language. The main points that I will include in my essay are that 1.5 million people are still speaking or understanding Scots and that the Scots language is an asset. I will now look at reasons why this is the case and how our teachers can get us interested in our own language. According to the 2011 Census, 1.5 million people were identified as speaking or understanding the Scots language. Learning any language can be good for self – esteem and having good...
“Scots language is one of the native languages spoken in Scotland. The other two languages used are English and Gaelic. I believe the Scots language should be taught in the classroom. My main reason for this opinion is because it’s a language in its own right, compared to the English language. The main points that I will include in my essay are that 1.5 million people are still speaking or understanding Scots and that the Scots language is an asset. I will now look at reasons why this is the case and how our teachers can get us interested in our own language.
According to the 2011 Census, 1.5 million people were identified as speaking or understanding the Scots language. Learning any language can be good for self – esteem and having good self-esteem boosts your confidence levels both in and out of school. There might well be 1.5 million understanding the language and speaking it, but do you think that set of 1.5 million Scots speakers should be the only confident speakers out of Scotland’s total population of 5,373,000? Also, by using Scots, it may make a person feel proud and patriotic and more accepted in their community, using the language of their homeland, even if they were not born in Scotland themselves.
The Scots language is regarded as a national asset. It’s used in Scottish culture in our literature, drama and music and in the work of many famous people like Robert Burns and James Hogg. Every day, not just on St Andrew’s day or the 25th January (Robert Burns’ birthday), people around the world enjoy his poems and songs which are written in the Scots language. Robert Burns’ popularity tells us that people of all nationalities enjoy and appreciate the Scots language, not just the Scots themselves who are happy and proud to use their own language.
Teaching Scots in the classroom might encourage teachers to take their student’s learning outdoors. Teachers would have the opportunity to organise school trips so that students would get the chance to explore the landmarks of Scotland and learn more about its culture and past. For example, if the teacher planned such a trip and the teacher decided to pick a ruined 16th-century castle, e.g. Urquhart Castle, the pupils would get to learn about 500 years’ worth of Scots history which would also include some Scots language for them to learn as well.
