Lé co crie ‘Cocolîncheux’

Abstract This study considers the way in which the arts can play an important role in language planning. It focuses on Jèrriais, the critically endangered variety of Norman spoken in Jersey, one of the British Channel Islands. The discussion considers initiatives from across the performing, creative and visual arts and illustrates how these can serve as an effective complement to more conventional (school-based) language planning strategies by creating a dynamic cultural ecology for the language. The study further considers how, in Jersey, the arts are used to foster identity planning, encouraging even those islanders who have never spoken Jèrriais to connect and identify with the language and its future.