Promoting Scots - Scottish Language Dictionaries
Scottish Language Dictionaries (SLD) is a new body founded in 2002. It combines and continues the work of two earlier dictionary projects: the Scottish National Dictionary and the Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue.
Central to its work is the ongoing task of collecting and documenting Scots words to update and supplement the Scottish National Dictionary. Scottish Language Dictionaries also plans to publish these supplements online.
Scottish Language Dictionaries produces several resources aimed at young people and schools, including the compact and affordably priced Scots School Dictionary, which includes Scots-English/English-Scots sections. A volume of Scots School Dictionary Support Materials containing photocopiable classroom activities is also available.
In November 2003 Scottish Language Dictionaries launched the Scuil Wab with funding from the Scottish Arts Council. To date, it is the most comprehensive online resource in Scots available for school pupils. Its creators hope that by getting children used to seeing written Scots from a young age, and in a modern context, the status of the language will be improved.
Dr Chris Robinson, SLD Outreach Officer, has played a leading role in developing this website, which has the ambitious remit of providing learning and teaching resources for Scots from the early years right through to Higher.
Scuil Wab is divided into four main parts: Notes for Parents and Teachers; Wee Bairnies, a section for early years; Gettin Guid at Scots, for the middle primary to S1/2 stages, and 14+, which provides some texts which could be used by students studying for NQs and which will be developed further thanks to an additional grant from the Scottish Arts Council.
Gettin Guid at Scots, the section which covers the 5-14 stages, contains a series of stories in Scots of increasing length and difficulty. These are accompanied by suggested activities. Adults as well as children will enjoy the multiple-choice quizzes, which test knowledge of Scots words. Another set of pages uses word banks and drag-and-drop chunks of text to develop children's writing skills.
The 14+ section is based around some Scots literary texts and includes excerpts from classic writers such as fifteenth Century poet Robert Henryson, whose fable The Taill of the Paddok and the Mous and accompanying questions may be downloaded as a PDF document. Also available are the traditional tale Whuppity Stoorie and Sir Walter Scott's Wandering Willie's Tale. An informative short history of Scots, written in Scots, provides a context for language study at this stage.
Teachers looking for cross-curricular ideas for using Scots will find some of the materials in Notes for Parents and Teachers useful. It covers a diverse range of topics from Scottish placenames to mini-beasts.
Chris Robinson sees the Scuil Wab as work in progress, and practitioners will be encouraged to use the website to share materials they have developed themselves.
Dictionary of the Scots Language
- Visit the new Dictionary of the Scots Language website. It provides a searchable online version of the Dictionary of the Older Scots Tongue and the monumental Scottish National Dictionary, produced by Scottish Language Dictionaries.