Ci a ion: E xeba ia, A.; Iglesias, A.;
Eguskiza, N.; Unamuno, L. An
Educa ional P ojec Based on he
YouTube Phenomenon o he
De elopmen o a Mino i y
Language. Sus ainabili y 2022,14,
6242. h ps://doi.o g/10.3390/
su14106242
Academic Edi o : Rosabel Roig-Vila
Recei ed: 18 Feb ua y 2022
Accep ed: 17 May 2022
Published: 20 May 2022
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sus ainabili y
A icle
An Educa ional P ojec Based on he YouTube Phenomenon o
he De elopmen o a Mino i y Language
Ain zane E xeba ia , Ai o Iglesias * , Naia Eguskiza and Lo ea Unamuno
Hizkun za en e a Li e a u a en Didak ika Saila, Uni e sidad del País Vasco/Euskal He iko Unibe si a ea,
UPV/EHU, 48940 Leioa, Spain; [email p o ec ed] (A.E.); [email p o ec ed] (N.E.);
[email p o ec ed] (L.U.)
*Co espondence: ai o [email p o ec ed]
Abs ac :
In he Basque Au onomous Communi y (BAC), he “Basic Law on he no maliza ion o
he use o Basque” (law 10/1982, o 24 No embe ) es ablishes ha Basque ci izens ha e he igh
o exp ess hemsel es in ei he o he wo o icial languages (Basque and Spanish), and o ecei e
ins uc ions in bo h languages. The e o e, he Facul ies o Educa ion mus ain u u e eache s o be
able o each and communica e in he Basque language. Howe e , da a om he las VI sociolinguis ic
su ey (2016) ell us ha 33.9% o he popula ion aged 16 and o e li ing in he BAC is Basque-
speaking, bu balanced bilinguals who exp ess hemsel es wi h he same luency in bo h Basque and
Spanish make up only 29.3% o Basque speake s. In a s udy on linguis ic cus oms in he academic
ield ca ied ou on a g oup o u u e p ima y educa ion eache s, i was obse ed ha al hough
Basque is he language hey will each in he schools o he BAC, i is no hei main language o
communica ion. Gi en his si ua ion, i was deemed necessa y o in oduce he use o echnology
o p omo e he use o Basque. To his end, a p ojec was designed and implemen ed, in ol ing he
in ensi e use o he social ne wo k YouTube. This pape p esen s he esul s o he da a gene a ed in
his didac ic expe imen a he uni e si y le el.
Keywo ds: sus ainabili y objec i es; mino i y language; YouTube phenomenon
1. Theo ic In oduc ion
In he Basque Au onomous Communi y (BAC), nume ous languages a e spoken om
all o e he wo ld, bu he e a e wo o icial languages: Basque and Spanish. The Basque
Go e nmen ’s Depa men o Cul u e and Language Policy seeks o achie e balanced bilin-
gualism, ollowing he la es sociolinguis ic su ey [
1
] ca ied ou among he popula ion
o e he age o 15 o ob ain in o ma ion on he knowledge, use and amily ansmission o
Basque. The indings ell us ha while 33.9% o he popula ion aged 16 and o e li ing
in he BAC is Basque-speaking, balanced bilinguals who exp ess hemsel es wi h equal
luency in bo h Basque and Spanish accoun o only 29.3% o Basque speake s. Mo eo e ,
bilinguals who a e mo e luen in Spanish han in Basque make up 44% o he popula ion,
and cons i u e he majo i y g oup among Basque speake s, wi h mo e han hal o Basque
speake s aged 16–24 yea s old being bilingual wi h hei p edominan language being
Spanish (55.7%). In e ms o gende , women we e ound o speak his mino i y language
mo e han men, al hough he di e ence was no s a is ically signi ican .
Consequen ly, he Depa men o Language Policy ensu es he co ec de elopmen
and applica ion o Law 10/1982 o 24 No embe : he Basic Law on he s anda diza ion o
he use o Basque and o he complemen a y egula ions, including he o de o
15 June 2021
,
o he Regional Minis e o Cul u e and Language Policy, which egula es and calls o he
g an ing o subsidies o he p omo ion, dissemina ion and/o s anda diza ion o Basque
in social aspec s o li e in 2021. In he digi al sphe e, he Basque Go e nmen has p esen ed
he 2021–2024 oadmap o he p omo ion o Basque in he digi al en i onmen , which
Sus ainabili y 2022,14, 6242. h ps://doi.o g/10.3390/su14106242 h ps://www.mdpi.com/jou nal/sus ainabili y
Sus ainabili y 2022,14, 6242 2 o 10
includes 4 s a egic lines o wo k, 10 ecommenda ions and 24 p oposals o ac ion, which
a e: (1) o p omo e digi al con en in Basque; (2) o p omo e digi al ools, applica ions and
esou ces in Basque; (3) o gi e isibili y o Basque and o p o ide digi al esou ces in
Basque so as o encou age hei use; (4) o gua an ee echnological igilance. Ou ocus
he e is on he i s o hese s a egic lines (h ps://www.ehu.eus/es/web/sae-helaz/ikd-
cu iculum-ga apena-oina iak (accessed on 18 Janua y 2021)).
In he ield o digi al communica ion and educa ion, nume ous s udies ha e shone a
ligh on Rela ion, In o ma ion and Communica ion Technologies (RICTs) [
2
–
4
], de ining
hem as “spaces o con e sa ion, play, ec ea ion, in e ac ion and cons uc ion; o laugh e
and gossip; o pa odies and li a ions; spaces which gene a e a se o oppo uni ies o lea n
wha we call ‘li e skills’, he capaci y o eel and be mo ed, o mee o he s and socialise” [
3
].
RICTs ha e as a main componen he “R- ela ional ac o ” in he digi al en i onmen
o he pu pose o lea ning. I s main cha ac e is ics a e collabo a ion, c ea i i y, mo i a ion
o me acogni ion [
5
]. I is impo an ha we all ha e access o hese ypes o ools; howe e ,
no all languages ha e he same space o he same impo ance on he In e ne and in
digi al communica ion. Nume ous au ho s [
6
–
9
] unde line he hegemony o he English
language on he In e ne ; he e o e, he digi al space seems o be a om being linguis ically
di e se—English is s ill he mos used language, and he e a e languages ha canno
access he In e ne . Howe e , he alue o such ools is no denied; K ishna [
10
] said ha
communica ion echnologies ha e opened up he geopoli ical bounda ies o adi ional
na ion-s a es and o e ed a numbe o esou ces o diaspo a membe s o cons uc and
econs uc hei iden i ies. Belma and Glass [
11
] unde line ha he p esence o a mino i y
language online seems o be a necessa y s ep o he empowe men o linguis ic mino i ies
in he digi al sphe e (Facebook, Twi e , Ins ag am and Wha sApp, o example). In
Ree shemius’ [
12
] s udy on he use o Low Ge man (a se o Ge manic language a ie ies)
in such domains, i was examined how speake s o he i age languages make use o digi al
media h ough i ual media. The s udy was based on a six-mon h obse a ion pe iod,
and he analysis showed ha new li e acy p ac ices a e de eloping among speake s o his
language, such as he use o hei language on Facebook, e en hough he speake s we e
p e iously eluc an w i e s o hei mo he ongue.
In addi ion o he social ne wo ks men ioned abo e, he e a e pla o ms o he p o-
duc ion and consump ion o mul imedia con en , such as YouTube, which o e s a mul-
idimensional space o cul u al ac i i ies and p oduc s. YouTube is a con e gen and
di e gen medium, as i allows o in e connec ions be ween media pla o ms and p oduc s
on he one hand, and a channel o speci ic g oups and in e es s on he o he hand [
13
]. The
YouTube pla o m is a space ha u ns o dina y people in o in luen ial communica o s:
“Fo he i s ime in his o y, common people a e becoming communica o s wi h
g ea in luence, ga ekeepe s o non-o icial agen s who de e mine he message low o
hei communi y [
14
,
15
] hanks o hei use o he YouTube pla o m and hei social
ne wo ks” [16] p. 97.
In addi ion, YouTube has enabled he p esence o many languages and cul u es.
Globally, YouTube egis e s abou 2 billion use s pe mon h, and is conside ed he mos
iewed ideo con en se ice, ahead o Ne lix and Ins ag am (h ps://www. o bes.com.
mx/ (accessed on 21 Janua y 2021)). Acco ding o he YouTube s a is ics a ailable online,
on a e age, 8 ou o 10 people aged 18–49 wa ch mo e YouTube pe mon h han ele ision.
I is a ailable in a ound 80 di e en languages in 91 coun ies (h ps://www.b andwa ch.
com/es/blog/46-es adis icas-you ube (accessed on 21 Janua y 2021)). As can be seen om
hese igu es, he each o his digi al medium is eno mous.
A YouTube o use who c ea es a ideo becomes a social communica o and mus
know wha o alk abou o whom, as well as when, whe e and how o alk abou i and,
he e o e, mus display he cha ac e is ic o communica i e compe ence [
17
] in o de o
be unde s ood.
Belma and Glass [
11
] men ion ha i ual communi ies also seem o help ansna-
ional communica ion in s onge linguis ic communi ies and gi e he examples o lan-
Sus ainabili y 2022,14, 6242 3 o 10
guages such as Ca alan, I ish, Welsh o Basque. Howe e , in o de o access hese digi al
spaces, mino i y communi ies mus ha e esou ces and suppo in he ollowing aspec s,
which is o en no easy o hem: (1) he de elopmen o websi es wi h con en in hei
own language; (2) ee o open sou ce so wa e esou ces; (3) in as uc u e and echnical
equipmen in hei languages and no in English; (4) he use o online o al and w i en o m;
(5) con empo a y and ele an con en o a ac younge gene a ions [18].
This esea ch examines he expe ience o u u e eache s s udying a deg ee in P ima y
Educa ion in he Basque Au onomous Communi y, aged be ween 19 and 22 yea s old, who
a e gi en he ask o c ea ing a digi al esou ce—speci ically, a YouTube ideo—as a g oup,
in o de o de elop hei o al communica i e compe ence in Basque as well as hei digi al
compe ence. The ocus o his expe imen is placed on wo s a egic axes: sus ainable
linguis ic de elopmen and he p omo ion o digi al esou ces in Basque, as egula ed in
he Basque Go e nmen ’s Language Policy.
Thus, we aim o answe he ollowing ques ion: does he c ea ion o a digi al esou ce
in Basque in luence he use o he language among he membe s o he wo k g oup? In
addi ion, does he gende o hese young pa icipan s ha e any bea ing on he use o
he language?
2. Pa icipan s, Ma e ials and Me hods
Be o e hey had begun wo king on he ideo, in o de o ind ou he language choice
p o ile o he pa icipa ing s uden s, hey we e asked abou hei linguis ic habi s. They had
o say which language hey spoke in he di e en a eas o he uni e si y en i onmen . Thei
answe s we e no e y di e en om he da a ob ained in he 2016 sociolinguis ic su ey:
he s uden s who pa icipa ed in he p ojec always o almos always spoke Spanish among
iends in he ca e e ia (80%) and on campus (81.3%). This pe cen age d opped in mo e
o mal o s udious spaces such as he class oom, whe e hal o he s uden s su eyed said
ha hey communica ed in bo h languages (60%) and always o almos always in Basque
(12.5%). In he s udy ooms, he esponses we e simila , wi h 50% saying hey made simila
use o bo h languages, compa ed o 35% who always o almos always spoke in Spanish.
Pa icipan s always o almos always communica ed in Basque wi h he adminis a i e
and se ice s a wo king in he acul y o which hey belonged: 83.8% wi h he o ice s a ,
88.8% wi h adminis a i e s a and 91.3% wi h he deans. Howe e , when in e ac ing wi h
lib a y s a on he uni e si y campus, bu ou side he acul y, hey communica ed in bo h
languages wi h he same equency. This ells us ha s uden s spoke mainly in Basque in
o mal academic a eas o he acul y whe e eaching, adminis a i e o se ice s a a e
p esen . These da a a e shown in Table 1.
In in o mal spaces, among iends and ou side he acul y, ia Wha sApp, o ins ance,
he s uden s communica ed always o almos always in Spanish (Table 2).
These linguis ic habi s did no a y as a esul o he gende o he pa icipan s, as
was ound by applying he Mann–Whi ney U es , since his independen a iable was no
no mally dis ibu ed. Acco ding o he Kolmogo o –Smi no es , he le el o signi icance
was 0.000 (Table 3).
Thus, we applied he Mann–Whi ney U es o ind ou i he e we e signi ican
di e ences acco ding o gende in he use o one o he o he languages in he di e en
a eas o he campus, and we obse ed ha he e we e none acco ding o his a iable
(Table 4).
Wi h he aim o os e ing he use o he Basque language among iends, bo h in-
side and ou side academic spaces, s uden s we e gi en he ask o c ea ing a YouTube
ideo. The p ojec ollowed he uni e si y’s Coope a i e and Dynamic Lea ning model,
placing emphasis on making s uden s he mas e s o hei own lea ning, and aining
hem in a comp ehensi e, lexible way ha is adap ed o mee he needs o socie y
(h ps://www.ehu.eus/es/web/sae-helaz/ikd-cu iculum-ga apena-oina iak (accessed
on
16 Feb ua y 2021
)). This educa ional model p omo es p ojec s in which he cen al
axis is he lea ne and aims o s uden s o in e ac luen ly wi h hei eache s, pee s
Sus ainabili y 2022,14, 6242 4 o 10
and en i onmen ; o commi hemsel es o sol ing he p oblems and challenges acing
Basque socie y and cul u e wi hin he c i e ia o sus ainabili y and social esponsibil-
i y; o u n lea ning in o a i al and pe manen ac i i y; o use RICTs and o be able
o de elop hei ac i i y in a mul ilingual way. Wi hin his pedagogical amewo k,
he e is a need o de elop communica i e compe ence in Basque and digi al compe-
ence. (h ps://www.ehu.eus/es/web/sae-helaz/ikd-cu iculum-ga apena (accessed on
21 Janua y 2021
)). In addi ion, his add esses wo o he Sus ainable De elopmen Goals
es ablished by he 2030 Agenda o Sus ainable De elopmen passed on 25 Sep embe 2015
a he Uni ed Na ions Gene al Assembly: SDG18 (Linguis ic and cul u al di e si y) and
SDG4 (Educa ion and quali y).
Table 1. S uden s’ linguis ic habi s in o mal spaces.
F equency Pe cen age
Fo mal spaces
In he acul y
In exchanges wi h
he ca e ake s
Simila in bo h languages 9 11.3
Always o almos always in Basque 67 83.8
Always o almos always in Spanish 4 5.0
In exchanges wi h he
adminis a i e s a
Simila in bo h languages 7 8.8
Always o almos always in Basque 71 88.8
Always o almos always in Spanish 2 2.5
In exchanges wi h he deans
Simila in bo h languages 6 7.5
Always o almos always in Basque 73 91.3
Always o almos always in Spanish 1 1.3
In exchanges wi h classma es
Simila in bo h languages 22 27.5
Always o almos always in Basque 10 12.5
Always o almos always in Spanish 48 60.0
In exchanges wi h pee s in
s udy ooms
Simila in bo h languages 40 50.0
Always o almos always in Basque 12 15.0
Always o almos always in Spanish 28 35.0
Ou side he acul y
On campus
Simila in bo h languages 10 12.5
Always o almos always in Basque 5 6.3
Always o almos always in Spanish 65 81.3
In he lib a y
Simila in bo h languages 26 32.5
Always o almos always in Basque 28 35.0
Always o almos always in Spanish 26 32.5
Table 2. S uden s’ linguis ic habi s in in o mal spaces.
F equency Pe cen age
In o mal spaces
In he ca e e ia
Simila in bo h languages 10 12.5
Always o almos always in Basque 6 7.5
Always o almos always in Spanish 64 80.0
Via Wha sApp
Simila in bo h languages 15 18.8
Always o almos always in Basque 7 8.8
Always o almos always in Spanish 58 72.5
Table 3. Kolmogo o –Smi no es o one sample.
Gende
N 80
S anda d pa ame e s a,b Media 1.19
S anda d de ia ion 0.393
Maximum ex eme di e ences
Absolu e 0.496
Posi i e 0.496
Nega i e −0.317
Tes s a is ic 0.496
Sig. asymp o ic (bila e al) 0.000 c
a. The es dis ibu ion is no mal. b. I is calcula ed om da a. c. Lillie o s signi icance co ec ion.
Sus ainabili y 2022,14, 6242 5 o 10
Table 4. Mann–Whi ney U es acco ding o gende in he di e en a eas o he campus.
In he Ca e e ia
wi h Classma es
In he Class oom
wi h Classma es
On Campus wi h
Classma es
Via Wha sApp
wi h Classma es
In he Facul y
wi h he
Ca e ake s
Wi h he
Lib a y S a
Wi h he
Adminis a i e
S a
Wi h he Dean’s
S a
In he Fish Tanks
(Place Whe e he
S uden s Mee
Ou side he Facul y.)
Mann–Whi ney U 480,500 325,500 445,000 468,000 452,500 460,500 408,000 485,500 455,500
W o Wilcoxon 2,625,500 445,500 565,000 588,000 2,597,500 2,605,500 528,000 605,500 575,500
Z−0.124 −2289 −0.771 −0.307 −0.673 −0.353 −1788 −0.050 −0.433
Sig. asymp o ic
(bila e al) 0.901 0.022 0.441 0.759 0.501 0.724 0.074 0.960 0.665
Sus ainabili y 2022,14, 6242 6 o 10
Fo his p ojec , small g oups o s uden s had o become “Euskal YouTube s”, so as o
p omo e he use o Basque in educa ional se ings ou side he class oom. G oups om he
highe yea s accompanied hem h oughou he p ocess, ad ising hem on he mo e o mal
didac ic ea u es o a good educa ional YouTube , and assis ing hem in he sociolinguis ic
esea ch p io o he p oduc ion o he ideo. In addi ion, hey p o ided hem wi h da a
on he use o Basque h oughou his o y. The Coope a i e and Dynamic Lea ning model
hus ollows a me hodology based on C oss-le el Collabo a i e P ojec s, h ough in ensi e
coope a ion among pupils om di e en educa ion le els, and also based on esea ch,
which is seen he e in he s uden s’ s udy on he use o languages, o e seen by he eache s
in ol ed and in collabo a ion wi h an expe in esea ch o his kind.
To ind ou whe he his coope a i e and dynamic lea ning-based p ojec , wi h he in-
clusion o educa ional echnology h ough he in ensi e use o he social ne wo k YouTube,
had con ibu ed o p omo ing he use o Basque wi hin he du a ion o he p ojec ( en
weeks), a es was applied, assessing he linguis ic habi s o he s uden s be o e and a e
he p ojec , whe eby he s uden s had o indica e which language hey spoke wi h each
o he membe s o he collabo a i e g oup, acco ding o he ollowing scale: (1) only in
Basque, (2) mos ly in Basque, (3) mos ly in Spanish, (4) only in Spanish.
3. Resul s
The u u e eache s, bilingual young people om he Basque Au onomous Communi y,
ca ied ou his p ojec . As al eady explained, s uden s o di e en academic le els ook
pa in his collabo a i e p ojec . The da a collec ed in a g aph wi h a scale o 1 o 4 (see
Sec ion 2), be o e and a e he p ojec , was analyzed wi h Mic oso SPSS so wa e.
On he basis o he da a ob ained, we compa ed he sample a e ages be o e and a e
he p ojec and obse ed ha he use o he mino i y language as he main language o
communica ion among he membe s o he wo king g oup did indeed inc ease du ing he
ime he p ojec ook place (Table 5):
Table 5. Compa ison o he sample a e ages be o e and a e he p ojec .
N Media S anda d De ia ion A e age S anda d E o
Be o e he p ojec 80 3225 0.7459 0.0834
A e he p ojec 80 2425 0.6940 0.0776
We used he Mann–Whi ney U es o p o e ha he e we e di e ences be ween he
wo g oups wi h quan i a i e a iables and wi h non-no mal dis ibu ion. This es is based
on ank di e ences, in opposi ion o he S uden ’s es ha uses quan i a i e a iables wi h
a no mal dis ibu ion [
19
]. The Mann–Whi ney U es was applied and, as wi h language
habi s, no signi ican gende di e ences we e obse ed in he sample a e ages be o e and
a e he p ojec (Table 6):
Table 6. Mann–Whi ney U es o he sample a e ages be o e and a e he p ojec a.
Be o e he P ojec A e he P ojec
Mann–Whi ney’s U 349,500 475,500
W o Wilcoxon 469,500 595,500
Z−1832 −0.159
Sig. asymp o ic (bila e al) 0.067 0.874
a. g ouping a iable: gende .
4. Discussion
The Basque You h Obse a o y ci es a s udy ca ied ou by 50 esea che s o e h ee
yea s as pa o he Eu opean p ojec T ansmedia Li e acy: Exploi ing ansmedia skills and
in o mal lea ning s a egies o imp o e o mal educa ion. The main objec i e o said p ojec was
o in es iga e he ansmedia skills ha a e de eloped, among o he hings, h oughou
Sus ainabili y 2022,14, 6242 7 o 10
young people’s p oduc ion o online con en and hei pa icipa ion in social ne wo ks. I
should be no ed ha his p ojec was de eloped in coun ies such as Spain, U uguay and
Colombia, all o which ha e Spanish as hei main language. Based on he esea ch ha
was ca ied ou , speci ic ma e ials consis ing o didac ic ac i i ies we e c ea ed o eache s.
They came o he conclusion ha hese kinds o ma e ials and online p ojec s bene i
s uden s: “The idea is o p opose al e na i es o bene i om he ansmedia compe ences
de eloped by adolescen s ou side school, h ough hei applica ion wi hin he o mal
educa ion sys em”.
Rega ding he in luence o he use o ansmedia esou ces in language lea ning, he e
is alk o ansmedia na a i es ha And ade and Fonseca [20] de ine as hose s o ies ha
a e explained om di e en pe spec i es depending on he media. The mass media o he
In e ne , such as YouTube, acco ding o Ibañez [
21
], allow o he inding o con en and
he c ea ion o ideos o hen be sha ed wi h he wo ld.
In he wo ld, he e a e many languages ha a e in dange o ex inc ion. E hnologue
speci ies he s a us o each language acco ding o he EGIDS scale [
22
] and he ecogni ion i
has in he coun y whe e i is spoken. Basque is de ined as an isola ed language, as a e some
languages o Colombia (Camsá), Nige ia (Cen úúm), Ecuado (Co án) and Mexico (Se i).
Fe nandez de A oyabe e al. [
23
] wa n o he isk ha his ype o language “succumbs o
he push o hegemonic languages such as Spanish and English. And his dange is e en
mo e eal in he digi al age”. The same au ho s ca ied ou a s udy on he p esence o
Basque in he consump ion and c ea ion o online audio isual con en , concluding ha
he p esence o his language in said con en among eenage s in he Basque Au onomous
Communi y is sca ce, and de ended he c ea ion o online audio isual esou ces o p omo e
a mino i y language and he abili y o lea n i :
The p esence o Basque in he consump ion and c ea ion o online audio isual con en
among Basque eenage s is sca ce. Spanish is he dominan language, and English
occupies a ma ginal posi ion, al hough in some cases i e en o e akes Basque. Thus, he
u u e o his mino i y language depends, o a la ge ex en , on encou aging consump ion
and c ea ion among he new gene a ions in acco dance wi h he s eng hs and weaknesses
iden i ied in his wo k. In ela ion o he esea ch ques ions posed, he consump ion and
c ea ion o said con en is mainly in Spanish. While English is ahead o Basque in e ms
o ollowing, i is non-exis en in e ms o c ea ion, whe e bilingualism is p e e ed, bu
wi h a p edominance o Spanish. Re e ence ma e ials o school use a e usually consul ed
in Spanish, al hough Wikipedia in Basque eaches e y high pe cen ages, which suppo s
e o s o p omo e i in his language. Wi h he excep ion o speci ic cases, no signi ican
di e ences ha e been de ec ed ega ding school yea ha indica e any end in his espec ,
which is su p ising, gi en ha his is a signi ican a iable.
([23], p. 368)
In his con ex , UNESCO’s p omo ion o uni e sal access o in o ma ion h ough
open solu ions is a di ec con ibu ion o he achie emen o goal numbe 10 ( educing
inequali ies), ocusing on de elopmen and os e ing inno a ion, especially h ough RICTs.
The “You hMobile” ini ia i e aims o each young people how o mi iga e sus ainable
de elopmen challenges in hei immedia e geog aphical con ex by inding ele an mo-
bile applica ion solu ions in local languages (h ps://es.unesco.o g/sdgs/ci (accessed on
7 Ma ch 2021)).
Taking in o accoun he ansmedia esou ces in mass media such as YouTube, he need
o wo k wi h his educa ional p ojec on he sus ainable de elopmen goal numbe 11 o he
Euskadi 2030 Agenda, which seeks o make ci ies and human se lemen s inclusi e, sa e,
esilien and sus ainable, is clea . One o i s goals is o p omo e he use o he Basque lan-
guage: Euske a (h ps://www.euskadi.eus/con enidos/in o macion/agenda2030/es_de /
adjun os/Agenda_Euskadi_Basque_Coun y_2030_desa ollo_sos enible.pd (accessed on
9 Ma ch 2021)).
Sus ainabili y 2022,14, 6242 8 o 10
The e o e, he educa ional p ojec desc ibed abo e was designed and implemen ed
wi h he suppo o YouTube and has been ound o be o use o he de elopmen o he
Basque language among he membe s o he g oup ha had ca ied ou he ask o c ea ing
online ideos. I should be no ed ha his ool has a numbe o ea u es ha o e bene i s
o mino i y languages and o hose who a e lea ning a language, such as: i is a ac i e,
i is eal (i.e., he ideos a e samples o eal li e), i is a way o ee ad e ising, i is global,
i allows con en o be sha ed, and inally, i allows commen s and subsc ip ions o be
made [
24
]. As a esul , in addi ion o aising awa eness o he cul u es, iden i ies and
languages o ew speake s, i can help s uden s wo k on skills such as speaking, lis ening
and w i ing [
25
–
32
]. In addi ion, he Basque speake s o he ideos o e iden i y e e ences
o adolescen s as hey become ole models, especially among he younges , hanks o
hei abili y o imp o ise, change and su p ise hei audiences, as well as o he sense o
au hen ici y, accessibili y and in imacy hey sha e wi h hei ollowe s [
33
]. As lis ed by
Fedele [
34
] and A an e al. [
33
], hese ypes o media can ha e he ollowing social unc ions:
en e ainmen unc ions (e.g., hey p o ide un, humo , a way o pass ime, a way o a oid
bo edom and an escape om ou ine), consump ion si ua ion unc ions (e.g., se ing i ual,
s uc u al and ela ional unc ions), na a i e and socializa ion unc ions (e.g., se ing
an iden i y unc ion, a communi y unc ion, a way o lea ning abou eali y, a modeling
unc ion, a sha ing unc ion amongs pee g oups h ough con e sa ions, iden i ica ion and
admi a ion wi h and owa ds cha ac e s, (i.e., h ough o ming pa asocial ela ionships
wi h cha ac e s)). Th ough his p ojec , i was seen ha YouTube ul ils a socializa ion
unc ion linked o he iden i y aspec and o lea ning abou and in eali y.
In line wi h he abo e-men ioned s udies, he c ea ion o ansmedia na a i es should
be inco po a ed in o eache aining o wo easons: i s , om an in o mal poin o iew,
i appea s ha he choice o language o communica ion be ween colleagues can change, as
shown in G aph 3 o his pape ; and secondly, languages and hei iden i y cha ac e is ics
a e in oduced h ough eal ex s and audio isual con en . “Language, like o he iden i y
elemen s, is pa o a wide ne wo k o symbolic ep esen a ions h ough which g oups
de ine and ede ine hei iden i y posi ions. We unde s and ha he language/iden i y
dynamic is no es ablished by immanen o ces; on he con a y, i is cons uc ed in social
in e ac ion and unde speci ic his o ical, social and cul u al condi ions” [35].
5. Conclusions
Taking gende in o accoun , he main conclusion was ha , as shown in he esul s
sec ion, he e we e no signi ican gende di e ences in language use ei he be o e o
a e he p ojec , be his wi hin he di e en a eas o he campus (in he ca e e ia, in he
class oom, by he ish anks o on campus), ia Wha sApp, wi h he acul y, he lib a y
s a , he adminis a i e s a o he dean’s s a . We hough ha gende could signi ican ly
a ec he esul s because o he Clus e sociolinguis ic analysis, which showed ha women
used Basque mo e han men in e e y age g oup excep he elde ly [1].
G aph 3 shows he esul s o he c ea ion o a digi al esou ce in Basque, in luencing
language use among he membe s o he wo k g oup. Pa icio and Ma ínez [
36
] ca ied ou
a li e a u e e iew on he e i aliza ion o some mino i y languages and concluded ha
new echnologies play an impo an ole in his:
The expe imen s ha ha e been applied and s udied in mino i y languages all o e he
wo ld ha e gene ally ob ained esul s ha inspi e op imism. One need only e iew
he li e a u e on he e i alisa ion o languages such as Hawaiian, Mao i, Welsh, I ish,
Mohawk, Occi an, Sa dinian, Amha ic, e c. (W igh , 2004; Galla, 2009; Cunli e e al.,
2005; Eisenloh , 2004; Bi inge , 2006; Djo dje ic’, 2007; S ei e e al., 2006), o obse e
ha , in languages whose communi ies ha e access o new echnologies, hese play a e y
ele an ole in he e i alisa ion p og ammes ha a e being de eloped, ei he in a planned
way—as in he case o Hawaiian since 1994 (Galla, 2009)—o h ough he indi idual
ac ion o ac i is s o speake s, as in he case o Occi an (Djo dje ic’, 2007).
([36], p. 2)
Sus ainabili y 2022,14, 6242 9 o 10
The p esen p ojec has some limi a ions. Fo example, i is an expe ience ca ied ou
in a sho ime, wi h ela i ely ew people in a speci ic place ( he Facul y o Educa ion
in Bilbao). I would be necessa y o ex end he ime, he numbe o pa icipan s, o y
i ou in o he places in he Basque Coun y and also in o he places whe e he e a e
mino i y languages.
The e o e, in he u u e, we plan o ex end his ype o eaching p ac ice, obse e
by means o ques ionnai es ha ask abou language use, as we did in his p ojec , and
also o use o he ypes o ools such as alida ed ques ionnai es on coope a i e wo k o
s uden mo i a ion.
Au ho Con ibu ions:
In es iga ion, A.E., A.I., N.E. and L.U. All au ho s ha e ead and ag eed o
he published e sion o he manusc ip .
Funding: This esea ch ecei ed no ex e nal unding.
Ins i u ional Re iew Boa d S a emen : No applicable.
In o med Consen S a emen : No applicable.
Da a A ailabili y S a emen : No applicable.
Con lic s o In e es : The au ho s decla e no con lic o in e es .
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