The Galician standard in the new generations: between distance and necessity

Abstract

In this article, we deal with the analysis of the new generations' perception of the Galician standard variety, specifically students of 4th year ESO (equivalent to 10th grade) coming from different backgrounds (rural and urban areas). The qualitative technique of group discussion was used for data gathering. The participants were divided in seven groups of seven to eight individuals each, thus there was a total of 52 subjects. First, we analysed how they perceive the Galician standard variety and their competence of it, both oral and written. Once we found out that they understand the standard as a stylistic or situational variety, at least in the case of Galician, we delved into the issue taking into account its use: In which contexts its use is considered suitable or not and why. To finish the study, we analysed whether the traditional criticism that the standard variety has received is still valid at present.

Keywords

• standard variety
• self-assessment; situational variation; dissemination; acceptance
• self-assesment
• situational variation
• dissemination
• acceptance