Web Communication of French Geoparks in Education: The Expression of Their Legitimacy

International audienceIn France seven areas are labeled “UNESCO World Geoparks”: the Haute-Provence national nature reserve, the Luberon massif, the Bauges Mountains, the Chablais Alps, the Ardèche Mountains, the causses du Quercy and the Beaujolais. To obtain the label, the geopark must be able to justify its active participation in school education for sustainable development, which addresses socioenvironmental issues related to the territory and heritage. French geoparks are thus faced with a dual problem of public recognition, sometimes in a context of hyper-patrimonialization, and a demand for deployment to formal educational environments. To open a web page of a site related to a geopark is to immerse yourself in a (geo)graphic environment. The analysis of the statements on the education of the websites of French geoparks according to the different dimensions of a unified educational theory for each territory shows that, beyond the specific territorial features advanced, convergence with education for sustainable school development is preponderant

Irish travellers’ views on cant: what folk criteria of languageness tell us about the community

This article argues that Irish Travellers’ ideologies of languageness and their definition of Cant are closely linked to their perceptions of social reality. Cant is a communicative code which Travellers use beside English in Traveller-specific situations. Based on the analysis of focus groups, I take a folk-linguistic and anthropological approach and examine instances of metacommunication in which languageness and the status of Cant are negotiated among speakers, and explore what they suggest about the community and the local social setting. The analysis uncovers the criteria of ‘ownership’, ‘activity’, ‘understanding’ and ‘privacy’ as essential in the participants’ definition of languageness. I argue that these criteria are strongly linked to the community’s understanding of themselves and relationships with Irish society. Further, I analyse speakers of different age groups’ evaluations of Cant according to the above criteria, and show how what is considered as ‘authentic’ Cant is linked to life trajectories and perceptions of linguistic and social reality

Vlogs, Video Publishing, and Informal Language Learning

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