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Attitudes towards Non-Native Speakers of
Frisian in a Historically and Culturally
Important Community in Friesland: The
Theatre Community.
An analyses of interviews with members from different theatre societies in FrieslandNienke Paulien Eikens
S2581981
MA thesis
Departments of Applied Linguistics and Frisian Language and
Culture
Faculty of Arts
University of Groningen
Dr. C.S. Gooskens and prof. Dr. G.T. Jensma
08-07-2018
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Preface
This study was started based on a great interest of the author in not only multilingualism and linguistics but also in theatre, the theatre society and the history of theatre in the province of Friesland. During my short time in an amateur theatre society in the province of Friesland, the idea of a thesis based on the creative society that was surrounding me came up in my mind. I heard so many interesting things that triggered my curiosity to this society. I heard Frisian with a Dutch accent and I heard Dutch with a Frisian accent. Some of the theatre players were talking in Dutch while other theatre players were talking Frisian. I heard theatre players codeswitching between both Frisian and Dutch as if it was just one language for them. While processing all those different things, the two main topics “theatre” and “Frisian” came together into this Master Thesis.The target group of this paper is everyone interested in the field of multilingualism and new speakers of minority languages but also the theatre players in the province of Friesland or in the rest of the Netherlands, who are curious about the use of Frisian in the theatre community and more precisely about the attitudes towards Frisian in the theatre society.
I would like to give my word of thanks to some people. This thesis would not have been finished without the help of some, for me, important people. First of all, I would like to thank my thesis supervisor Dr. C.S. Gooskens for keeping me motivated and helping me with the writing of this master thesis. Second, I want to thank the second reader Prof. Dr. G.T. Jensma, who was not only the second reader of this thesis but also helped with conducting my first interviews. I would also like to thank my mother-in-law and father-in-law who helped me with the translation of the Frisian words even in the middle of the night. I would like to thank my parents for not asking too many questions when I was heavily stressed and moody. And last but not least I want to thank Matthijs, who supported my throughout this entire journey, without his help a support I would have never finished this thesis.
Nienke Paulien Eikens Leeuwarden, 04-07-2018
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Abstract
This study researches the attitudes of native Frisian speaking theatre players towards non-native Frisian speaking theatre players. The study aims at providing more information, than is currently available, about new speakers and non-native speakers of Frisian. Besides, it tries to give more insight in attitudes towards non-native speakers by native speakers of the minority language in a historically and culturally important society in the province of Friesland: the theatre society. The main research question is: What are the attitudes of native Frisian speaking theatre players towards non-native Frisian speaking theatre players?
The study involves six semi-structure interviews with twelve different theatre players from
four different theatre societies. The theatre societies are divided into professional, semi-professional and amateur theatre societies.
The study indicates that there is a positive attitude among native Frisian speaking theatre players towards non-native Frisian speaking theatre players, they encourage them. However, it is also shown that the audience sometimes reacts negatively. The audience is the group which comments on the pronunciation of not only the non-native speakers but also the native speakers. The study also reveals that most of the theatre players, both natives as well as non-natives, think that theatre could be a platform to preserve minority languages such as Frisian but that it should not only depend on the theatre. In sum, within the theatre society there is no negativity towards non-native Frisian speaking theatre players. However, the group which is keenest on speaking “good” Frisian is the audience. There are some limitations. First of all, not every interview was exactly the same. Some were in groups, some were at the home of the theatre player and some were in a public environment. Second, the sample size was twelve, however some of the children did not seem to dare to speak and that led to some of the subjects having the upper hand in the interview. Last, partly due to having an interview in a group and not with only one subject per interview, not every question in the list about the attitudes of non-natives and the attitudes of t audience were asked to every subject For further research it is recommended to focus on more cultural societies in the province of Friesland such as sport clubs and music societies. It would also be interesting and recommended to take a look and compare the use of dialects in theatres, in other provinces. Besides, it would also be recommended to interview more people and distribute the number of males and females more equally. Further research should also take the group interviews into consideration, it would be recommended to do only individual interviews.
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Table of contents
Preface ... 2Abstract ... 3
1. Introduction ... 6
1.1 Motivation research ... 6
1.2 Research questions ... 6
1.3 Paper outline ... 7
1.4 Conventions ... 7
2. Literature review ... 8
2.1 The province of Friesland and Frisian ... 8
2.2 Friesland and Theatre Societies ... 9
2.3 Attitudes towards new speakers and non-native speakers of minority languages ... 10
3. Methodology ... 11
3.1 Introduction ... 11
3.2 Subjects ... 11
3.2.1 Tryater ... 13
3.2.2 Burdaarder Toaniel ... 14
3.2.3 Berne Iepenloftspul ... 15
3.2.4 Masquerade Theater ... 16
3.3 Materials ... 17
3.4 Procedures ... 17
3.5 Design and analyses ... 18
4. Results and Discussion ... 19
4.1 If the pronunciation of words, in Frisian, is incorrect, will the speaker be corrected? ... 19
4.1.1 Results professional theatre society ... 19
4.1.2 Results semi-professional theatre society ... 19
4.1.3 Results amateur theatre society ... 20
4.2 What does the audience think of non-native speakers of Frisian according to theatre players? ... 20
4.2.1 Results professional theatre society ... 20
4.2.2 Results semi-professional theatre society ... 21
4.2.3 Results amateur theatre society ... 21
4.3 Is it accepted for theatre players to speak other languages or dialects on stage? ... 21
4.3.1 Results professional theatre society ... 21
4.3.2 Results semi-professional theatre society ... 22
4.3.3 Results amateur theatre society ... 22
4.4 Could theatre be a platform to preserve minority language such as Frisian? ... 22
4.4.1 Results professional theatre society ... 22
4.4.2 Results semi-professional theatre society ... 23
4.4.3 Results amateur theatre society ... 23
4.5 Is there a difference in attitudes towards non-native Frisian speakers between professional theatre societies, semi-professional theatre societies and amateur theatre societies? ... 24
4.5.1 Results professional theatre society ... 24
4.5.2 Results semi-professional theatre society ... 24
4.5.3 Results amateur theatre society ... 24
4.6 What are the attitudes of native Frisian speaking theatre players towards non-native Frisian speaking theatre players? ... 25
4.7 Mentionable Comments ... 25
4.8 Advice ... 25
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4.9 Limitations ... 265. Conclusion ... 26
Appendices ... 29
1.1 Interview format – NNFS ... 29
Basis ... 29
Toneelachtergrond ... 29
Fries/taal ... 29
1.2 Interview format - NFS ... 30
Basis ... 30
Toneelachtergrond ... 31
Fries/taal ... 31
2.1 Interview 1 ... 32
2.2 Interview 2 ... 39
2.3 interview 3 ... 43
2.4 Interview 4 ... 48
2.5 Interview 5 ... 53
2.6 Interview 6 ... 56
Bibliography ... 60
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1. Introduction
1.1 Motivation research
Last year, I was asked to be a member of a band in a theatre society. I was asked to accompany the play of the amateur theatre society with my saxophone. During my time with the theatre society, I immediately noticed some of the children speaking Frisian with each other outside of the play, while others were speaking Dutch with each other. Soon I understood from some of the children that they were not native Frisian speakers. Some of the children stated that their parents did not speak Frisian at home or in some cases the parents did not speak Frisian at all, since they were not born in Friesland. However, the play of the theatre society was almost completely in Frisian, therefore, some of the children had to learn Frisian to be able to be a member of the amateur theatre society. One of the youngest players in this theatre society seemed to not really care about her pronunciation of Frisian words, even I, as a non Frisian speaker, could hear this immediately. And what if she did not remember the Frisian word? She just spoke Dutch and switched between Frisian and Dutch. However, none of the Frisian native members seemed to care about this, they did not try to correct the non-native Frisian speaker nor did they try to push her to speak Frisian. This made me curious about the use of Frisian in theatre societies.1.2 Research questions
In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in attitudes towards new speakers, however, there is not much information yet about attitudes towards new speakers in cultural environments and societies such as theatre. Therefore, I would like to research and gather more information about attitudes towards non-native Frisian speakers in an environment in which Frisian seems to be the norm, the theatre society.The title of the thesis is: Attitudes towards Non-Native Speakers of Frisian in a Historically and Culturally Important Community in Friesland: The Theatre Community. First of all, why are so many of the plays in Friesland in Frisian? And why is the theatre society so important in the province of Friesland? Second, how do others, such as the audience and the native Frisian speaking players in the theatre society, react towards the non-native Frisian speaking players. What do the native Frisian speakers think if a non-native Frisian speaker pronounces a word in Frisian incorrectly? Will they correct the non-native speaker, is it accepted at all in Frisian theatre societies to speak Frisian as a non-native? And what about other languages, is it accepted to speak dialects and foreign languages?
All these questions have lead to the following research questions: What are the attitudes of native Frisian speaking theatre players towards non-native Frisian speaking theatre players? Subdivided into:
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1. If the pronunciation of words, in Frisian, is incorrect, will the speaker be corrected? 2. What does the audience think of non-native speakers of Frisian, according to theatre players? 3. Is it accepted for theatre players to speak other languages or dialects on stage? 4. Could theatre be a platform to preserve minority language such as Frisian according to theatre players? 5. Is there a difference in attitudes towards non-native Frisian speakers between professional theatre societies, semi-professional theatre societies and amateur theatre societies? The research questions will be answered by conducting interviews with theatre players from different theatre societies, different levels of theatre societies, different ages, different language backgrounds and different theatre backgrounds.1.3 Paper outline
The next chapter will be a literature review in which previous papers about Frisian, theatre in the province of Friesland and attitudes towards new speakers will be reviewed. The first chapter will be followed by the methodology section.In the methodology section I will explain who the subjects of my research are, what their linguistic and theatre background is, which questions were asked to the subjects, how the questions were designed and how the interviews were analysed afterwards.
The fourth chapter will be the results and discussion chapter. In this chapter the research questions will be answered based on the results from the interviews with the subjects of the theatre societies. Besides, the findings will be discussed and the findings and expectations will be reflected. Some possible explanations for the findings in this study will be discussed. The last section of the fourth chapter will discuss the limitations of the study. The last chapter will be the conclusion. I will review my main findings and offer some directions for further research in this topic.
1.4 Conventions
For the remainder of the thesis I will refer to the non-native Frisian speakers as NNFS. Besides, I will refer to the native Frisians speakers as NFS. The questions for the non-native speakers and the native speakers in this thesis have been translated into English by the author. The original and anonymised transcripts can be found in the appendix (1.1-1.2).N.P. Eikens | Master Thesis
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2. Literature review
In this chapter, previous literature on Frisian, the history of theatre in the province of Friesland and attitudes towards new speakers and non-native speakers of minority languages, such as Frisian, will be reviewed. The chapter will start by a review of literature on the province of Friesland and Frisian. In the next section, the chapter will continue by reviewing previous literature on the history of theatre and theatre societies in the province of Friesland. The following section will focus on literature on attitudes to new speakers and non-native speakers of minority languages and attitudes towards non-native speakers of minority languages such as Frisian. The chapter will end with the research questions linked to the literature review.2.1 The province of Friesland and Frisian
The province of Friesland is situated in the northern part of the Netherlands. The capital of the province is Leeuwarden. The province of Friesland has 646.874 inhabitants (CBS, 2017). In the province of Friesland there is a minority language: Frisian (or Frysk) (Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning, 2007). Minority languages are “languages that are traditionally used within a give territory of a state by nationals of that state who form a group numerically smaller than the rest of the state’s population and which is different from the official language(s) of that state” (Thornberry et al., 2004, p. 104).Nowadays, Frisian has an official status in the Netherlands (Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning, 2007, p. 5). Therefore, the spelling of Frisian is standardised and spoken in many parts of the public domain (Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning, 2007). However, national recognition of Frisian is not expressed in the law (Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning, 2007, p 5-6). The Commissie Friese-Taalpolitiek produced a report on the responsibility of the government. The report is seen as the recognition of Frisian as the second language and one of the principles in the report was the recognition of the province of Friesland as a bilingual province (Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning, 2007, p. 6). Two results of the report are the subsidy for organisations that have key roles in the maintenance and preservation of Frisian and the initiative to make Frisian a compulsory in primary education (Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning, 2007, p. 6). However, the current language policy is based on the Bestjoersôfspraak Fryske Taal en Kultuer (Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning, 2007, p. 6). The Bestjoersôfspraak Fryske Taal en Kultuer is an agreement that was written down in 1989 and renewed in 1993 (Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning, 2007, p. 6). The third edition,
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drafted in 2001, was structured according to The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages part III (Council of Europe, 1992). Frisian is a Western Germanic language which is closely related to Dutch (Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning, 2007). However, Frisian is not only spoken in the Netherlands but also in large parts of Germany. Nowadays, Frisian is the official second language of the Netherlands and widely used in the province (Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning, 2007). Although Frisian is used in the province, a study by Provinsje Fryslân (Provinsje Fryslân, 2015) shows that 46.2% of the respondents stated they can speak Frisian very well and 20.4% stated they can speak it well. However, this means there is also a group who cannot speak it well, in their own opinion. They have difficulties speaking Frisian or can not speak Frisian at all. This group probably exists of new speakers of Frisian or non-native Frisian speakers. The study by Provinsje Fryslân (Provinsje Fryslân, 2015) state that more than half of the Frisian inhabitants have Frisian as a mothertongue. However, this means that there is also a big group which does not have Frisian as a mothertongue.2.2 Friesland and Theatre Societies
Friesland and theatre could be mentioned in the same breath. Besides, in the year 2018, Leeuwarden is European Capital of Culture. Therefore culture is very important in 2018 and many theatre plays are promoted in this special year (Merk Fryslân, 2018). Frisian theatre started around 1860 in Koarnjum, a small village in the municipality of Leeuwarden, where the first theatre society was established (Koninklijk Fries Genootschap, 2014). Still, to the present day, even the smallest villages have their own theatre society, or a theatre society together with a neighbouring village (Koninklijk Fries Genootschap, 2014). Most of these theatre societies in Friesland offer their plays in Frisian (Dykstra et al., 2011; Koninklijk Fries Genootschap, 2014). According to Dykstra et al. (2011) there are two reasons for the many theatre societies in the province of Friesland. First of all, there are a lot of residential areas in the province, a lot more than in other provinces (Dykstra et al., 2011). Second, not many speakers of Frisian read in Frisian, however, Frisian is seen as part of the identity by the speakers (Dykstra et al., 2011. Therefore, to still be able to experience Frisian on a cultural level, theatre is the medium (Dykstra et al., 2011). A lot of theatre societies in the province of Friesland are amateur theatre societies (Dykstra et al., 2011). As stated by Dykstra et al. (2011), amateur theatre is one-dimensional and schematically very clear and structured. However, after the second World War there was also interest is professional theatre (Dykstra et al., 2011). In the province of Friesland, there is one theatre society for professional theatre left (Bottema, Deelman, Deinum, & de Wrede, 2018). This theatre society is named Tryater and is situated in Leeuwarden (Bottema, Deelman, Deinum, & de Wrede, 2018). As stated by Dykstra e.a. (2011) it is notN.P. Eikens | Master Thesis
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possible to compare Tryater with amateur theatre societies since Tryater has more ambitions and in better achievements. The theatre society Tryater offers their plays in Frisian not only in the province of Fryslân but also in other provinces of the Netherlands (Bottema e.a., 2018). Besides, Tryater is one of the eldest theatre societies in the Netherlands and also one of the basic facilities of the Frisian cultural infrastructure next to Tresoar, Keunstwork, de Afûk and the Fryske Akademy (Rijksoverheid, 2013). These basic facilities will help in preserving and strengthening the Frisian culture and language and therefore receive the financial support from the Dutch government (Rijksoverheid, 2013, p.16). In the previous paragraph, the subsidy for subsidy for organisations that have key roles in the maintenance and preservation of Frisian is already mentioned. However, other societies can also receive subsidy for their events (Provincie Fryslân, n.d.).2.3 Attitudes towards new speakers and non-native speakers of minority languages
As we saw in previous literature, there is a group who can not speak Frisian well, in their own opinion. The so called new speakers or the non-native speakers of Frisian. According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (n.d.) non-native could be defined as “not born or raised in the place where a particular language is spoken”. Thus, speakers that did not learn the language as a baby but as a child or adult. There is a great interest in the new speakers of minority languages. Different studies havefocused on minority languages such as the Celtic languages (Hornsby 2015; Nance et al 2016; Ó hIfearnáin 2015; O'Rourke & Walsh 2015; Robert 2009) but also on Catalan by Pujolar & Puigdevall (2015), on Basque by Ortega et al (2015) and on Frisian (Hilton & Gooskens, 2013)
In the case of Basque, when speaking about nativeness, the members of the community made
a difference between being Basque and the ability to speak Basque (Ortega et al. 2015). Similarly, new speakers of Galician do not see themselves as “real” speakers (O’Rourke, B.; & Ramallo, F., 2013). Only the speaker of Galician that is historically and biologically Galician, is a real speaker of Galician (O’Rourke, B.; & Ramallo, F., 2013). In the case of Gaelic, the new speakers see themselves as a completely separate group, separate from the natives and unrelated to the “real” native speakers (Wilson & O’Rourke 2015) Identity is also important in minority languages. According to the social identity by Tajfel and Turner (1979), the social identity is someone his or her sense of who they are and it is based on their group membership. We divide people around us to “us” (in-group) or “them” (out-group). According to the theory (Tajfel and Turner, 1979), the in-group will try to find negative aspects of the out-group to enhance the self-image of the in-group (Tajfel & Turner, 1979). Attitudes are also important in new speakers. When there are negative attitudes towards a minority language, there are fewer new speakers and learners of that language. Besides, among the
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new speakers and the native speakers, there is a strong difference concerning the attitudes. The new speakers seem to promote the minority language more actively than the native speakers do (Wilson & O’Rourke 2015, p. 260-285). In the case of Frisian (Hilton & Gooskens, 2013) stated that concerning attitudes towards Frisian, most of the informants would evaluate Frisian negative or neutral, only a few would evaluate the language positive. So, even though there is a great interest in new speakers of minority languages, there has not been much research towards the attitudes from native speakers towards new speakers in an historically and culturally important community in Friesland: the theatre community. Therefore, this study aims at researching the attitudes of native Frisian speaking theatre players towards non-native Frisian speaking theatre players.3. Methodology
3.1 Introduction
For this study it was decided to do a qualitative research by conducting semi-structured interviews with ten different theatre players from four different theatre societies in the province of Friesland. In this section the method that was used in the study will be discussed, as will be the subjects that were interviewed, the materials that were used, the procedures that were followed as well as the design and analyses for the interviews.3.2 Subjects
The subjects were divided into professional theatre societies and amateur theatre societies and then subdivided into Non-native Frisian Speaker (NNFS) and Native Frisian Speaker (NFS). It is important to mention that, in Friesland, there is only one professional theatre society: Tryater. However, there are many amateur theatre societies and some semi-professional theatre societies. In this study, theatre societies that have a selection by conducting auditions before accepting the theatre player into the theatre society, are referred to as semi-professional theatre societies. The motivation to divide the subjects into professional theatre players, semi-professional theatre players and amateur theatre players is because it is interesting to see if there is a difference in attitudes between professional theatre players, semi-professional theatre players and amateur theatre players, it could be that the pronunciation of Frisian is more strict and important in professional theatre than in amateur theatre and therefore the players are more keen on speaking “correct” Frisian. Besides, it is important to compare the attitudes of NNFS and NFS, that is the reason for the subdivision into NFS and NNFS.N.P. Eikens | Master Thesis
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The different theatre players were contacted by email. An email was send to Tryater and to 36 amateur and semi-professional theatre societies in Friesland. Next, the secretary of some of the theatre societies forwarded the emails to possible subjects for the interview. The subjects were then selected randomly. As for the children under the age of sixteen, the parents were informed about the study and they gave permission to conduct the interview with their child. In total, thirteen subjects offered their help in the study, however, only twelve of the subjects were interviewed and one of the subjects was not interviewed due to the lack of time since their play was almost going into première. Chart 1: A chart of the number of subjects divided into males versus females and native versus non-native
As mentioned before, in total twelve subjects were interviewed. Seven of the interviewed theatre players were NFS and the other five theatre players were NNFS, as can be seen in chart 1. Besides, there were four male subjects, of which two were non-native Frisian speakers, and eight female subjects, of which three were non-native speakers of Frisian. The distribution of natives versus non-natives for each theatre society level can be found in chart 2. The age of the subjects lay between eleven years old from the youngest theatre player to fifty-six years old for the oldest subject in this study. In the following section I will give more details about the different theatre societies and the interviewees per theatre society. Besides, information about theatre background, age and native language background of the subjects will be provided. 0 2 4 6 8 10 Male Female
Distribution of the subjects
Native Non-NativeN.P. Eikens | Master Thesis
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Chart 1: A chart of the number of subjects in each theatre society level, divided into amateur versus semi-professional versus professional and native versus non-native3.2.1 Tryater
Tryater, located in Leeuwarden (red marker on image 1), is the oldest theatre society, and one of the nine subsidized theatre societies in the Netherlands (Bottema e.a., 2018). Tryater does not only play in the province of Friesland but also in the rest of the Netherlands and sometimes even outside of the Netherlands (Bottema e.a., 2018). However, Tryater is the only professional theatre society in the province of Friesland (Visser, 2015). Tryater uses Frisian in their plays (Bottema e.a., 2018).Two theatre players from Tryater were interviewed. The first subject (NFS-S1) is a native speaker of Frisian and theatre player at Tryater. NFS-S1 was interviewed alone, in a theatre practice room in Leeuwarden. The NFS-S1 is a female of 28 years old and born in Marssum, Friesland. The subject moved to Leeuwarden at a later age. NFS-S1 is a native Frisian speaker, her parents always spoke Frisian to her and she only learned Dutch when she went to school. However, at school, some of the teachers would also speak Frisian to her. NFS-S1 is now a player at Tryater, but started playing theatre at eleven years old. However, before this she already had some experience with the stage by reading out aloud poems. The subject started at Tryater as an intern for her training to become a theatre teacher. Later on, the subject also started to perform in plays from Tryater. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Amateur Semi-professional Professional
Distribution of the subjects per theatre society level
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The second subject of Tryater (NFS-S2), is a native speaker of Frisian as well. NFS-S2 was interviewed alone, in a quiet room in Tresoar (Leeuwarden). NFS-S2 is a 31-year-old male. He is born in Leeuwarden, Friesland. NFS-S2 started speaking Frisian since he started talking. He is a theatre player at Tryater now but started playing in a theatre society at the age of nine. NFS-S2 does not only play theatre at the theatre society of Tryater but the subject also has an own theatre group and plays at multiple other groups too.
3.2.2 Burdaarder Toaniel
Burdaarder Toaniel group named “Op, mar net út 'e hichte”, this translates literally to “on, but not out of the height” which means that they are informed but not supercilious. Burdaarder Toaniel is an amateur theatre society from Birdaard (green marker on image 1). Burdaarder Toaniel has around fifteen to twenty theatre players. The theatre society offers plays in Frisian. Every year they offer one play in Frisian for children and one play in Frisian for adults. Both of the subjects stated that it is a traditional Frisian amateur theatre society in a small village. The theatre society is mainly for adults, however, in the past they have had some youth playing in the theatre society too. The first theatre player from Burdaarder Toaniel is subject NNFS-S3. The subject is a male of 24 years old and does not speak Frisian at home or with friends, only at the theatre society. He learned Frisian as a second language at school when he was around eight years old. The subject started playing theatre in 2011. Image 1: Map of the different locations, in Friesland, of the four theatre societiesN.P. Eikens | Master Thesis
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The second theatre player from Burdaarder Toaniel that was interviewed is NNFS-S4. NNFS-S4
is a 56 years old male and not a native speaker of Frisian, it is the subject his second language which he learned at the age of twenty years old. The subject was born in Overijssel, a province in the Netherlands. However, nowadays the subject speaks Frisian at a daily basis. The subject states that it is the language people use on a daily basis in Birdaard, for example in the supermarket, at the bakery and the butchery, so it is self-evident to speak it. NNFS-S4 has been playing in a theatre society for four years now.
3.2.3 Berne Iepenloftspul
The third theatre group which participated in this study is Berne Iepenloftspul. Berne Iepenloftspul is a theatre society for children in Easterwierrum (purple marker on image 1) (Stifting Berne Iepenloftspul, n.d.). The theatre society welcomes around 2700 visitors to their play every year. The goal of the theatre society is to get the children in contact with culture by theatre, dance and music. Berne Iepenloftspul has emerged from the iepenloftspul in Jorwert. The theatre society ‘Jorwerter Iepenloftspul’ is a theatre society for adults but, the organisation also wanted a place for children to get into contact with iepenloftspul. After using the décor of Jorwerter Iepenloftspul in 1989, the Berne Iepenloftspul became an independent organisation, officially established in 1991. Berne iepenloftspul uses a text writer to adjust an existing story. Therefore, the plays of Berne Iepenloftspul are recognized by many visitors. At Berne Iepenloftspul, everybody is involved in the production of the play. Fathers help to build the décor and the mothers help to make the costumes. Berne Iepenloftspul is a semi-professional theatre, the children have to do two auditions before they get accepted to the theatre society.Six theatre players from Berne Iepenloftspul were interviewed in a group. The interview started with four children, however, later two children stepped into the interview to participate too. NFS-S5 was the first subject in the interview, NFS-S5 is a female of twelve years old. She was born in the province of Friesland and a native speaker of Frisian. At home, the subject speaks in Frisian towards her mother, brothers and sisters but to her father she only speaks Dutch. Berne Iepenloftspul is the first theatre society she joined and this is the second year she will participate in one of their plays. The second subject of Berne Iepenloftspul is NFS-S6. The subject is a female of twelve years old. She was born in the province of Friesland and is a native speaker of Frisian. Last year, the subject started playing theatre with Berne Iepenloftspul and this year she was asked to participate again. NNFS-S7 is a female of twelve years old. She was born in the province of Noord-Holland. Her father spoke Frisian to her when she was little but she did not speak it herself. The subject started speaking Frisian when they moved to Friesland, about two or three years ago. Now, the subject speaks
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Frisian towards her father and Dutch towards her mother. NNFS-S7 has been a theatre player for four years now. She started her theatre career at different theatre schools in the province of Noord Holland. The fourth subject of Berne Iepenloftspul is NNFS-S8. The subject is a male of twelve years old that was born in the province of Friesland. He speaks Frisian at home, he is a native speaker of the language. The interest in theatre started at a musical at his school, he really enjoyed the musical and then decided to join the theatre society. Subject NNFS-S9 stepped into the interview a little bit later. NNFS-S9 is a female of twelve years old. Even though the subject was born in the province of Friesland, she does not speak Frisian at home, it is not her native language. The subject learned Frisian from her friends at school. It is the second year the subject plays a role in the theatre society. The last subject to enter the interview is NFS-S10. NFS-S10 is a female of eleven years old. The subject has spoken Frisian since she was really young. It is her first year in a theatre society.3.2.4 Masquerade Theater
Two theatre players from Masquerade theatre were interviewed. Masquerade theatre is an amateur theatre society for children and youth (Masquerade Theater, z.d.). The theatre society is located in Kollumerzwaag (yellow marker on image 1). The children, between eight and eighteen years old, are not only the theatre players but also the board of the theatre society, they organize everything from the beginning to the end (Masquerade Theater, z.d.). Even the music is written and performed by the children and youth as well. However, the stage manager is an adult and just like Berne Iepenloftspul, parents help with the décor and the costumes. Masquerade Theater is now a group of 28 theatre players and musicians. This year, they will play the same piece in three different locations in Friesland but also the Waddeneilanden. The first theatre player from Masquerade Theater that is interviewed is, NNFS-S11. NNFS-S11 is a female of 45 years old. The subject is not only a player but also a stage manager for Masquerade Theater. NNFS-S11 is not born in the province of Friesland but in the province of Utrecht. The subject moved to the province of Friesland at the age of four. However, the subject only started speaking Frisian when she was fourteen and the subject states that the way she spoke Frisian at that ages was how she thought Frisian was spoken. Eventually, she learned Frisian at the age of seventeen. The subject started with playing theatre at the age of 24 years. NNFS-S11 played theatre at different theatre societies, also semi-professional. Nowadays, she is the stage manager of Masquerade Theater. The second theatre player from Masquerade is NFS-S12. NFS-S2 is a female theatre player that was interviewed the day before her sixteenth birthday. NFS-S2 is born in Leeuwarden, Friesland but grew op in three villages, all situated in the province of Friesland: Kollum, Harkema and Zwaagwesteinde. She started speaking Frisian when she started at the kindergarten, since everyoneN.P. Eikens | Master Thesis
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there was speaking in Frisian. NFS-S2 has been a theatre player since the age of six years old. She did several plays with other societies and theatre groups before joining theatre society Masquerade Theater.
3.3 Materials
The material this study used for the interviews, is a list with questions to ask to the different theatre players. There is one list for the non-native Frisian speakers (see appendix 1.1) and one for the native Frisian speakers (see appendix 1.2), both with similar questions but adapted to their language background, native Frisian or not native Frisian. The interviews were conducted in Dutch and therefore the questions are asked in Dutch too. In the first part of the interview, questions about the subject his or her background such as age, birthplace and age of acquisition of Frisian were asked. In the second part, information about the theatre background of the subject were asked. Lastly, questions about the attitudes towards Frisian of non-native Frisian speaking theatre players were asked. The list used for the interviews with NFS and the interviews with NNFS can be found in the appendix, both with a translation of the questions into English.
3.4 Procedures
The interviews were all conducted in a quiet surrounding. However, all of the interviews were in a different place. Besides, two of the interviews were in a group and the others were alone, with only one subject per interview. Every interview started with a short conversation about the thesis and the researcher, in order for the subject to get to know the researcher a little bit and to get comfortable. Then, the recording was started and the researcher asked question number 1 to 6 in the case of a NNFS subject and question one to 7 in the case of a NFS subject. These questions were about the subjects age, birthplace and use of Frisian. Thereafter, question 7 to 12 in the case of a NNFS subject and question 8 to 13 in the case of a NFS were asked. These questions focused on the theatre background of the subject. Lastly, questions 13 to 24 in the case of a NNFS subject and questions 14 to 24 in the case of a NFS subject were asked. These questions emphasised on the use of Frisian and other languages and the attitudes towards NNFS. The subjects were allowed to interrupt the researcher during the interview to add extra information or start a discussion on a topic.For the recording of the interview, an Apple iPhone 8 Plus was used. The recordings were transcribed after the interviews had taken place. For the transcriptions, the program Express Scribe Transcription Software (NCH Software, 2001) was used to play the recordings slowly and for the researcher to be able to transcribe the interviews in detail. Besides, the interviews were transcribed based on the format used by DuBois (z.d.). The format (DuBois, n.d.) is a list with symbols to use during
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the transcription. For example, @ stands for laugh, and one @ stands for one per pulse of laughter and @@ stands fort wo pulses of laughter.The duration of the interview recordings lasted between 6 minutes and 45 seconds from the shortest interview up to 12 minutes and 54 seconds for the longest interview. In total, 63 minutes and 25 seconds of data was recorded and then transcribed. The transcriptions of the six interviews can be found in de appendix (2.1 to 2.6)
There were no drop-outs, however, it has to be mentioned that during the interview with NFS-S2 there was a moment in which there was some background noise by which the subject was distracted for a little while. Besides, during the interview with NNFS-S11 there was a short interruption because a third party asked a question, not related to the interview, to the subject. Lastly, during the interview with the subjects of Berne Iepenloftspul, there was a short interruption when two extra children walked into the interview.
3.5 Design and analyses
For the analyses of the data I used the program ATLAS.ti (Markgraf e.a., 2013) for Mac. With this program, the transcribed interviews were coded based on the research questions. The codes were divided based on the interview questions and the main research question with the five subquestions. Code 1: question 1 to 6 for NNFS (see appendix 1.1) and question 1 to 7 for NFS (see appendix 1.2) Code 2: question 7 to 12 for NNFS (seen appendix 1.1) and question 8 to 13 for NFS (see appendix 1.2) Code 3: the main research question: What are the attitudes of native Frisian speaking theatre players towards non-native Frisian speaking theatre players? Code 4: first subquestion: If the pronunciation of words, in Frisian, is incorrect, will the speaker be corrected? Code 5: second subquestion: What does the audience think of non-native speakers of Frisian, according to the theatre players? Code 6: third subquestion: is it accepted for theatre platers to speak other languages or dialects? Code 7: fourth subquestion: Could theatre be a platform to preserve minority language such as Frisian, according to the theatre players?
Code 8 fifth subquestion: Is there a difference in attitudes towards non-native Frisian speakers between professional theatre societies, semi-professional theatre societies and amateur theatre societies?
After coding the six interviews, the results for each code were written down. The results of the coding of the answers are presented in the next paragraph.
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4. Results and Discussion
In this chapter, the results of the interviews with twelve different theatre players from four different theatre societies will be explained and discussed. The chapter is ordered into the the five different subquestions and the main research question. Then each question is subdivided into the three different levels of the theatre societies: profession, semi-professional and amateur. Next, there will be a short discussion on comments made by the subjects, not related to the research questions but that are worth mentioning. The following paragraph will give some implications on the study. Lastly, the chapter will end with some limitations on the current study.
4.1 If the pronunciation of words, in Frisian, is incorrect, will the speaker be corrected?
The first subquestion is about the pronunciation of the words and whether theatre players will be corrected if they pronounce a word incorrect. The results are the answers on question 17, 18 ,19 and 24 in the list of questions for NNFS subjects and question 16, 17 and 24 in the list of questions for NFS (see appendix 1.1 and 1.2).4.1.1 Results professional theatre society
NFS-S1 states that at Tryater, people that are not native Frisian speakers, are encouraged to get tutoring for their pronunciation (interview 1, lines 92-96). With tutoring the subject meant someone, the person who also writes plays, would help with the pronunciation of the sentences in the play. So it seems to be important for the professional theatre society to get the pronunciation right. However, NFS-S2 also a theatre player at Tryater states that it is okay to use Dutch words or a pronunciation that is not perfect (interview 2, lines 102-105). So, even within the professional theatre society there is some discussion about speaking Frisian perfectly.
4.1.2 Results semi-professional theatre society
At the semi-professional theatre society Berne Iepenloftspul people get corrected too as NNFS-S7 states, at Berne Iepenloftspul some children can not speak Frisian very well and they get corrected by the stage manager (interview 4, lines 77-80). However, NFS-S5 states that she has to use words she would not use at home, in the variety of Frisian she speaks at home with her parents (interview 4, lines 87-90). So, this could also be a reason for, even natives, to pronounce the words in Frisian incorrect. The subjects of Berne Iepenloftspul seem to focus on vocabulary and the pronunciation of unknown words.
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4.1.3 Results amateur theatre society
At Burdaarder Toaniel also both the native and the non-native are corrected, as stated by NNFS-S3 (interview 3, line 158). Similarly, NFS-S12 states that people could be corrected for little mistakes in pronunciation, and that this applies to the native Frisian speakers too (interview 6, lines 54-59). Besides, she will also correct the smaller children. Thus, the older youth pay attention to the pronunciation of other theatre players (interview 6, lines 91-93). NNFS-S11 is a stage manager at the amateur theatre society ‘Masquerade Theater’ and she states that as a stage manager, she will try to correct non-native Frisians mainly on their word order, since this is different in Frisian and Dutch (interview 5, line 121). So, NNFS-S11 corrects when wrong word-orders are used and does not focus on pronunciation too much.
4.2 What does the audience think of non-native speakers of Frisian according to
theatre players?
The second subquestion is about the attitudes among the audience towards non-native speakers of Frisian according to the theatre players. The results are the answers on question 15 in the list of questions for NNFS subjects and in the list of questions for NFS subjects (see appendix 1.1 and 1.2).4.2.1 Results professional theatre society
The audience of the professional theatre society seems to be very positive when it comes to including varieties of Frisian. As NFS-S1 states: some of the audience enjoys it when a variety of Frisian is used because they will recognize themselves in the language variety, the theatre society will include that group too (interview 1, lines 130-135). However, the audience is not always positive, NFS-S1 states that Tryater also has an audience that is very keen on good and proper Frisian and that Tryater is seen as a theatre society that has an exemplary role (interview 1, lines 144-149). NFS-S2, also a member of the professional theatre society Tryater, agrees with subject 1 and states that the audience is sometimes very convinced that the play should be using good Frisian (interview 2, lines 105-107). Besides, most of the people see Tryater as a medium to preserve the language (interview 1, lines 158-160). NFS-S1 also states that the audience sometimes thinks, when talking about children playing in Frisian, they should only do it when they master the language (interview 1, lines 329-340). In the professional theatre society, it seems to be mainly the older generation that is really strict on speaking good Frisian, as stated by NFS-S1 (interview 1, lines 342-344) and NFS-S2 who says that that it is mainly the older generation that is very strict on good Frisian (interview 2, lines 111-113).N.P. Eikens | Master Thesis
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4.2.2 Results semi-professional theatre society
In the interview with Berne Iepenloftspul we did not really talk about the audience.4.2.3 Results amateur theatre society
Based on the interviews with amateur theatre society it seems as if the audience is a little bit less strict on the pronunciation of non-native Frisian theatre players. NNFS-S4 states that the audience does not really focus on the language, as long as they have laughed, they are happy (interview 3, lines 181-183). NNSF-S11 agrees and states that generally, the audience is positive, especially when the children use old words that even some of the adults will not know the meaning of anymore (interview 5, lines 141-145). However, it is not always positive, also with the amateur theatre societies the audience will comment negatively. For example, subject 11 states that in some cases the audience will comment on the pronunciation, but the subject thinks that the focus should be on fun (interview 5, lines 157-159). However, it could also be a difference between the different ages of theatre players, since NFS-S12 thinks that the audience will not comment on the pronunciation of Frisian words by the younger children, because they are pleased the children will try to speak in Frisian (interview 6, lines 96-102).4.3 Is it accepted for theatre players to speak other languages or dialects on stage?
The next subquestion focuses on the multilingual aspect in theatre: do theatres accept other languages or dialects in their plays. The results are the answers on question 20 in the list of questions for NNFS subjects and in the list of questions for NFS subjects (see appendix 1.1 and 1.2).4.3.1 Results professional theatre society
NFS-S1 states that at Tryater the focus will be on Frisian, however it is not impossible that Tryater will also use other languages such as English, Liwwadders (a variety of Frisian) or Dutch (interview 1, lines 65-74). At Tryater they will try to speak the standardized version of Frisian, however if it fits the role of a theatre player another variety of Frisian could be used too (interview 1, lines 114-121). So it seems that the focus will be on Frisian, however, other languages are not excluded. However, the other subject of Tryater, NFS-S2, states that at Tryater he does not always speak Frisian on the stage (interview 2, 50-55). NFS-S2 states that Tryater is becoming more multilingual and, in one of the plays, he only has one scene in Frisian, the rest of the play is in different dialects of the Netherlands (interview 1, lines 63-71). So, there seems to be a contrast in the idea of multiple languages within the group of members of the theatre society Tryater.N.P. Eikens | Master Thesis
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4.3.2 Results semi-professional theatre society
The semi-professionals seem to mainly focus on Frisian. However, there are some exceptions. For example, NNFS-S7 states that last year the subject had to speak Dutch in the play, and according to the subject, this was an exception (interview 4, lines 144-148). NFS-S5, also a theatre player at Berne Iepenloftspul, agrees and states that sometimes they will use a few words in another language (interview 4, lines 152-153) such as English but that this is an exception (interview 4, line 159).
4.3.3 Results amateur theatre society
Within the amateur theatre societies both Burdaarder Toaniel and Masquerade Theater state they will generally play in Frisian. This could be due to the subsidy they will receive for playing in Frisian, NNFS-S3 states that in their theatre society they will play in Frisian because in that case they will get a subsidy, however sometimes they also use varieties of Frisian in their play (interview 3, lines 121-124). NNFS- S11 from Masquerade agrees that normally they will focus on Frisian in the play (interview 5, lines 109-111) however, in their current play they use a lot of other languages such as German, French, Latin and English (interview 5, lines 97-99). NFS-S12 states the same. Normally they will use Frisian only, however this time, they mixed it a little bit, so they also use other languages such as Dutch, German and French (interview 6, lines 76-79). So, it seems that the use of other languages depends on the script. Thus, if a script is about people from different places, it is logical that these players speak in other languages. NNFS-S4 states that it is self-evident to speak Frisian on the stage (interview 3, line 136).4.4 Could theatre be a platform to preserve minority language such as Frisian?
Subquestion 4 is about preserving minority languages and if theatre could be a platform for the preservation of Frisian. The results are the answers on question 21 and 22 in the list of questions for NNFS subjects and in the list of questions for NFS subjects (see appendix 1.1 and 1.2).
4.4.1 Results professional theatre society
There seems to be a consensus between all the different levels of theatre society about theatre as a platform for the preservation of Frisian. NFS-S1 thinks that theatre could partly help in preserving Frisian, however the subject also states that the preservation cannot only depend on Tryater (interview 1, lines 167-170). NSF-S2 agrees and states that theatre could be a good means to make Frisian theatre popular again, however, in his opinion, it should not be the goal of theatre societies (interview 2, lines 119-121). So both of the theatre players agree about the possibility of theatre in preserving the language but also both agree that is should not fully and only depend on theatre. Subject 1 also states
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that theatre has a function, because theatre could make the language poetic and could play with the language (interview 1, lines 175-179). Subject 1 thinks that theatre shows for children could really help, to make the language more accessible for children (interview 1, lines 183-186). Theatre could be an addition to the preservation of the language, however it should be implemented in every layer of the society such as schools, home and other media as stated by NFS-S1 (interview 1, lines 197-202).4.4.2 Results semi-professional theatre society
The members of the semi-professional theatre society Berne Iepenloftspul also agree that it would be great if Frisian would remain, as stated by subject 5 (interview 4, line 132) and subject 10 (interview 4, line 138). However subject 5 also states that she does not really notices the disappearance of Frisian, she states that only a few of the children can only speak Dutch and the rest speaks Dutch and Frisian (interview 4, line 133-134).4.4.3 Results amateur theatre society
The amateur theatre societies agree partly with the professional theatre societies; it should not depend completely on theatre. NNFS-S3 does not think that theatre could help to preserve Frisian since theatre is also becoming less important, therefore it is difficult to promote the language with theatre (interview 3, lines 201-204). Subject 3 thinks the audience would be just as happy if the play was in Dutch (interview 3, line 206). However, NNFS-S4 disagrees with subject 3. NNFS-S4 thinks that the audience would prefer to see the play in Frisian since it is the language of the village (interview 3, lines 210-211) and agrees with NNFS-S3 that theatre is not the way to preserve Frisian, it is one of the places where it is self-evident to speak Frisian (interview 3, lines 237-240). NNFS-S11, from Masquerade Theater, thinks that theatre could help in preserving the languages. The subject notices that eventually the children will correct each other, so it will help to preserve the language (interview 5, lines 129-131). The other subject from Masquerade Theater, NFS-S12, thinks that theatre is a way to preserve the language within theatre, because you will have to speak it to be a part of the play (interview 6, lines 67-70). So overall the consensus seems to be that theatre could help in preserving the language, however it should not only depend on theatre.
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4.5 Is there a difference in attitudes towards non-native Frisian speakers between
professional theatre societies, semi-professional theatre societies and amateur
theatre societies?
The last subquestion focuses on the different levels in theatre: professional, semi-professional and amateurs. The results are based on the overall attitudes and answers on all of the questions of the different societies.4.5.1 Results professional theatre society
Eventually, it looks like, based on the interviews, that there is not a difference between the different levels. NFS-S1 from the professional theatre society, thinks it is great if someone that does not speak Frisian tries to speak the language (interview 1, line 349). NFS-S2 agrees with subject 1 and thinks that it is lovely that some people, that are not native Frisian speakers, perform in Frisian on stage, however he also states that they will not have to act as if they speak it perfectly since the society is divers and so is the language, we are not perfect (interview 2, lines 93-100)4.5.2 Results semi-professional theatre society
The semi-professional theatre society agrees with the professionals, NNFS-S7 thinks that non-native speakers have more difficulty with difficult and old words in Frisian (interview 4, lines 178-180) but as NFS-S5 states, it is not weird, they understand that the non-native Frisian speakers have difficulties with the language and that is okay (interview 4, line 85).4.5.3 Results amateur theatre society
Lastly, the amateurs agree with the professionals and semi-professionals. NNFS-S11 states that within Masquerade Theater, the children will help each other (interview 5, lines 73-74). Besides, the non-native speakers will at least try to speak the language (interview 5, lines 166-167). The other subject, NFS-S12, thinks it is great to learn others about Frisian (interview 6, lines 48-49). She also thinks that people are pleased non-native Frisians will at least try to speak Frisian (interview 6, 104-105). So, it seems as if the different levels of theatre societies agree on this topic and there is no difference in attitudes towards non-native Frisian speakers between professional theatre societies, semi-professional theatre societies and amateur theatre societies.N.P. Eikens | Master Thesis
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4.6 What are the attitudes of native Frisian speaking theatre players towards non-native Frisian speaking theatre players?
So, the answer to the main question about the attitudes of native Frisian speakers towards non-native Frisian speakers is: positive, at least amongst the theatre players. There seems to be an agreement on the attitudes towards non-native speakers of Frisian within the theatre community: everyone seems to agree that it is great that non-natives at least try to speak the language. However, the audience seems to be the group that will react negatively towards non-native speakers of Frisian. They will be the ones to comment on the pronunciation and the use of “good” Frisian.4.7 Mentionable Comments
As mentioned in the method section, during the interviews, the subject could add information or interrupt the researcher. In almost all of the cases they did and some of these comments could be very interesting for the study and also relate to the literature. Therefore, these will be discussed in this section. Strikingly, during almost every interview and in every level of theatre societies, the subjects would start talking about speaking Frisian abroad. NFS-S1 states that when she is abroad and she recognizes someone speaking Frisian she immediately finds it amusing, something she does not feel when she hears someone speaking Dutch abroad (interview 1, lines 235-244). Similarly, subject 2 states that he really likes it when he hears someone speaking Frisian in a foreign country (interview 2, lines 148-156). Lastly, about this topic NFS-S5 states that sometimes, in a foreign country, people do not realize she is Dutch since she is speaking Frisian, those people think she is German or at least not from the Netherlands (interview 4, lines 189-199). During the first interview, the subject started talking about identity. NFS-S1 states that her native language, Frisian, is a part of her identity and she feels connected to other people speaking the language and playing theatre (interview 1, lines 253-256). NFS-S2 states something similar, he thinks that if you are part of a minority, it is always nice to be connected to others within the same minority (interview 2, lines 148-156). Last, it was a surprise to realize that many of the younger children, within the theatre societies, know so much about Frisian and the different varieties within the language. Besides, they were the only subjects that did not really notice the gradual disappearance of Frisian (interview 4, line 133), although they belong to the generation in which the language is slowly disappearing.
