Actitudes De La Gente Joven En Galicia Hacia Su Idioma

SUMMARY The aim of this thesis was to analyze the sociolinguistic situation of the Galician language in the young inhabitants of Galicia in Spain, especially the attitudes of the young people towards their language. The work aimed at verifying if the stereotypes present in social consciousness for ages are still significant for people. The analysis was based on a survey that was organized in two Galician universities: the University of Vigo and the University of Santiago de Compostela. In both cases it was conducted in groups of 30 people at the age between 18 and 26. As Vigo and Santiago are famous for their different linguistic preferences, the study tried to check what the differences consist in and if the results correspond to the results of former studies. To find out whether the situation has changed over the years, first of all the thesis provides a descri ption of the Galician language situation and status throughout history, from its origins to the 20th century. Of course, it focuses on the most important periods in Galician history, like the Middle Ages, when Galician was widely known as a language of culture and literature; the Dark Ages, when it lost its prestige and the period of its renaissance. It also describes the complicated 20th century, when Galician development and usage was considerably limited by the Civil War and the Spanish Regime. Furthermore, the works gives an insight into the present situation of Galician, describing the official documents that define its usage and status, e.g. the Spanish Constitution of 1978, the Statute of Autonomy and the linguistic normalisation laws and the statistics concerning Galician usage in various spheres of life (administration, media and education). The third chapter is a sociolinguistic introduction to the main part of this work. It provides an analysis of some important sociolinguistic studies conducted so far in Galicia, a descri ption of their methodology and a comment on the results. In the end, in chapter 4 there is a detailed descri ption and analysis of the results of the surveys organised at the chosen universities. They concern the level of Galician, its usage and also linguistic preferences of the youth. According to the study, the situation of the Galician language among young people is very good: it is used frequently with no restraints, it is considered a prestigious language, a cultural and identity mark. Furthermore, the results confirm the traditional opinion about Vigo and Santiago, that the first one is a lot more Spanishspeaking and the other - more attached to Galician. Moreover, they show a high level of bilingualism and linguistic consciousness among students. We can assume that the future of the Galician language will be positive and well-balanced.