The history of the GCS/ASOLC/SOCS

Abstract

In 1973 a small group of scholars fromthe Catalan Countries joined to formthe Catalan Group of Sociolinguistics (GCS). Theirmission was to promote the planning of the Catalan language and sociolinguistic studies in this area. Their first public appearance was at the 8th Congress of Sociology (Toronto, 1974), where, thanks to L.V. Aracil—one of the promoters of GCS—, a session on the Catalan language was organised, the material from which was published in 1977 in the first issue of the annual review Treballs de Sociolingüística Catalana. In 1981,
GCS had eighteen associates and by 2005, the group’s expansion led to its becoming the Association of Catalan Language Sociolinguists (ASOLC). Shortly after it became a subsidiary of the Institute of Catalan Studies (IEC) and in 2008 it adopted the name Catalan Society of Sociolinguistics (SOCS). Over the years this association has not only been dedicated to promoting and disseminating sociolinguistic research, but it has also been involved in numerous planning initiatives.

KEY WORDS: sociolinguistics, language standardisation, language planning, Catalan language, Catalan Countries.