Lallans IS a living language. However, like the other tongues of the British Isles, it is fighting for its very survival against English. (Like many others around the world.)
It is also beset with an additional hurdle (boon?) of being mutually intelligible with English. Thus, it is often discarded or "watered-down" when one is conversing with an English-speaker.
Claiming that Lallans is a dialect, phonetic rendering, or an accent is mistaken. It IS a separate language. It meets all of the "qualifications." It is the TRUE sister language to English.
Claiming it is a dialect would be like Irish speakers claiming that Scottish Gaelic and Manx are mere dialects! Imagine the uproar!
I applaud efforts to restore and reinvigorate the language, but I regard it as somewhat bittersweet. It still needs to be done, but ultimately, it is too little too late. I have watched firsthand the stagnant "revival" of the Irish language. It will remain a part of society, but will never regain status as the everyday language of the majority of people. English, like it or not, is the de facto business language of the world.