Language planners are increasingly aware of the importance of new speakers (individuals acquiring a language outside the home, typically later-on in life) for the revitalisation of minority languages. Yet, little is known about new speakers’ activation (the process by which they become active and habitual minority language users). This article presents a questionnaire-based investigation of new speakers’ (n = 264) use of West Frisian in Fryslân, Netherlands—and the role traditional speakers play in new speakers’ activation. Qualitative and quantitative data show that participants use West Frisian only rarely; and when they do use it, it is mainly in the classroom. Minority language interactions outside the classroom, with traditional speakers, consist mostly of a few tokenistic words or phrases. The findings show to what extent different behaviours by traditional speakers discourage and/or encourage new speakers’ minority language use, highlighting how the complex dynamics between the speaker groups are hindering revitalisation efforts. The article discusses the implications of these findings for language planning to promote the activation of new speakers, and thereby the revitalisation of West Frisian.

中文翻译：

---

促进少数民族语言的使用以促进复兴：西弗里斯兰语新使用者的见解

语言规划者越来越意识到新的使用者（在家庭之外学习语言的人，通常是在晚年）对于振兴少数民族语言的重要性。然而，人们对新说话者的激活（他们成为活跃和习惯的少数族裔语言使用者的过程）知之甚少。本文对荷兰弗里斯兰的新说话者 (n = 264) 使用西弗里斯兰语的情况进行了问卷调查，以及传统说话者在激活新说话者中所扮演的角色。定性和定量数据表明，参与者很少使用西弗里斯兰语；当他们确实使用它时，主要是在教室里。课堂外的少数民族语言与传统说话者的互动主要由一些象征性的单词或短语组成。研究结果表明，传统说话者的不同行为在多大程度上阻碍和/或鼓励新说话者使用少数民族语言，突显了说话者群体之间复杂的动态如何阻碍振兴努力。本文讨论了这些发现对语言规划的影响，以促进新使用者的激活，从而振兴西弗里斯兰语。