Media consumption as a type of language use in a context of minoritized languages: an analysis based on the Basque case

Language use is a key element for assessing a language’s vitality, which is especially crucial for minoritized languages. When measuring actual use among speakers, we found that, in many cases, productive use in interpersonal interactions serves as the primary indicator of language use. However, in the information age, language extends past interpersonal relationships; even more, in addition to productive use, there is also receptive use, such as media consumption. Using data collected on the Basque language and employing advanced statistical matching techniques, this study demonstrates that the factors influencing use in interpersonal relationships and use in media consumption are different. Consequently, people who intensively use the Basque language in their interpersonal relationships and in areas where Basque is widely spoken, and people who consume media content in Basque, are not fully overlapping. Understanding this distinction has implications not only for researching the vitality of minoritized languages, but also for developing more effective language policies.