 Regional or minority languages are languages that are: Traditionally used within a given territory of a State by nationals of that State who form a group numerically smaller than the rest of the State's population; Different from the official language(s) of that State.

During the dictatorship ( ), regional languages were completely banned. The new constitution (1978) and re- instalment of democracy allowed regional languages again. “Endangered” status of languages leads the regional governments to adopt language policies that ensure their conservation.

Introduction to Education systems in Catalunya, the Basque Country and Galicia The teaching of Catalan, Basque and Galician is compulsory in the respective autonomous communities (with the exception of international or language schools). Language education policies vary depending on a) Region b) Institution

General Language Education Policies All subjects taught in Spanish, with a regional language as a compulsory, core subject. Bilingual programmes All subjects taught in regional language, with the exception of Spanish and foreign languages (English being the most common).

Sistema educativo en Cataluña Lenguas oficiales -Estatut de Catalunya (2006): “El català és la llengua oficial de Catalunya. També ho és el castellà, que és la llengua oficial de l'Estat espanyol” -El aranés es una variante del occitano hablado en el Valle de Arán

Sistema educativo en Cataluña Lengua y educación -La Generalitat ha de garantizar la enseñanza del catalán y el castellano a toda la población. -El catalán es la lengua vehicular y de aprendizaje en todos los niveles y modalidades educativas -El castellano se imparte en las clases de Lengua y Literatura castellana y en clases individualizadas en el primer curso de enseñanza

Sistema educativo en Cataluña Lengua y educación -Los alumnos con desconocimiento de una de las dos lenguas oficiales tienen derecho a recibir una ayuda lingüística específica, como también el alumnado incorporado tarde al sistema escolar -Los maestros y los profesores han de tener la titulación requerida y han de acreditar el dominio de las dos lenguas oficiales. Normalmente han de emplear el catalán

Sistema educativo en Cataluña Organización -Educación infantil Carácter voluntario Carácter voluntario Primer ciclo: 0-3 años Primer ciclo: 0-3 años Segundo ciclo: 3-6 años Segundo ciclo: 3-6 años Lengua vehicular y de aprendizaje: catalán Lengua vehicular y de aprendizaje: catalán

Sistema educativo en Cataluña Organización -Educación obligatoria Educación primaria: 6-12 años Educación primaria: 6-12 años Educación secundaria: 12-16(18) años Educación secundaria: 12-16(18) años Se exige al alumnado unos conocimientos determinados del catalán y el castellano, así como de una tercera lengua extranjera Se exige al alumnado unos conocimientos determinados del catalán y el castellano, así como de una tercera lengua extranjera Lengua vehicular y de aprendizaje: catalán Lengua vehicular y de aprendizaje: catalán

Sistema educativo en Cataluña Organización -Estudios universitarios “El professorat i l'alumnat dels centres universitaris tenen dret a expressar-se, oralment i per escrit, en la llengua oficial que elegeixin” (Estatut de Catalunya) “El professorat i l'alumnat dels centres universitaris tenen dret a expressar-se, oralment i per escrit, en la llengua oficial que elegeixin” (Estatut de Catalunya) El catalán es la lengua propia de las universidades de Cataluña y, por tanto, es la lengua de uso normal de sus actividades. El catalán es la lengua propia de las universidades de Cataluña y, por tanto, es la lengua de uso normal de sus actividades.

Sistema educativo en Cataluña Otras enseñanzas -Enseñanzas de idiomas Lengua vehicular y de aprendizaje: lengua objeto de estudio. Lengua de referencia: catalán Lengua vehicular y de aprendizaje: lengua objeto de estudio. Lengua de referencia: catalán -Otros estudios -Otros estudios Perfeccionamiento de ambas lenguas oficiales. Lengua vehicular y de aprendizaje: catalán Perfeccionamiento de ambas lenguas oficiales. Lengua vehicular y de aprendizaje: catalán

 Deixonne Law of 1951  Establishment of La Bressola in 1976 – opening of first Catalan primary school  Establishment of CEDACC (Centre de Documentació i Animació de la Cultura Catalana) in 1978  The Ministerial Memorandum of 1982

 Bilingual education was established as an official option in Perpignan in Arrels association offer complete bilingual French/Catalan classes from nursery to secondary school  Opening of first Catalan secondary school in El Soler  importance of location  first class of 17 students. Strategy = small group first as it makes it easier to adopt Catalan as the main language in class  demand is on the rise  highly trained teaching staff  Catalan language and culture taught 3 hours per week

 University of Perpignan has offered a Catalan language degree since 1982, a Masters since 1984 and a postgrad diploma since  940 university students of Catalan in France – Catalan department had 230 students and six full time lecturers in  Media, commerce, public administration and teaching  A number of French universities outside the area offer Catalan courses

 Adult education after University  Teacher training - Universitat Catalana d'Estiu – organises supplementary teaching courses  SEDEC of the Generalitat de Catalunya – offers its experience in the area of language standardisation in teaching.   Schooling in minority languages in France shows as a continuous increase

 Lack of teachers, infrastructure and financial means  Number of students studying Catalan is still small  40% of families in French part of Catalonia want their children to learn Catalan. 2% of these families have an effective access to it.  Around 470 students in 7 Catalan immersion schools  60 could not be taken due to lack of space  Restrictions of hours during first 2 years of training and nursery and primary levels (35 hours).  Annual refresher courses for secondary teachers are attended by half of the 50 teachers who give Catalan classes, while only 7% of primary teachers attend these courses.

 83% of the population are in favour of giving all children an opportunity to learn Catalan at school and that 57% would like their children to learn Catalan.  Although teaching and popularity of Catalan in France is at an increase, the lack of sufficient funding and recognition means that its survival in France cannot be guaranteed.

In 1978 fewer than 20% of the population said they could speak Basque. (Minahan: 2000: 102) During the 1960s, movement established to teach Basque. Teaching adults Basque in evening classes – gaueskolas using Basque as the language of instruction in schools - ikastolas. This movement influenced current Basque education system.

The right of all students to be taught either in Basque or Spanish at the different educational levels is recognised. To this effect the parliament and the government will adopt these measures necessary, which will tend to the progressive generalisation of bilingualism in the educational system of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country.

 Model A - Spanish as main language of instruction, Basque taught as a second language.  Model B - Basque and Spanish used as language of instruction.  Model D - Basque is language of instruction, with Spanish taught separately.

Teaching in Spanish and Basque in all 3 models. This is reflected in Article 17 in the Statute of Autonomy: The government will adopt those measures that will lead to a guarantee of a real possibility, in equality of conditions, of possessing sufficient practical knowledge of Basque at the end of their compulsory schooling and that will ensure the official use of Basque, making the same a vehicle of normal expression, both in internal and external activities, and in administrative acts and documents. Parents opt which model they want their child to be enrolled in.

The proportion of people who are proficient in Basque has increased in recent years in the three BAC provinces due to the educational system. (Cenoz: 2008: 2) This is reflected in statistics (1999/2000) in BAC, for the enrolment figures of 3 year olds and their pathways: Model A (11%), Model B (32%) and Model D (57%) Teaching classes in Basque has increased from 23.1% in 1982 to 41% in (Cenoz: 2008: 6) This growth is higher in Gipuzkoa. Araba has experienced the smallest change.

Model A results in obtaining lower competency in Basque. Model B attain higher level of Basque than Model A students, but lower than that of Model D Spanish speaking-students. However depends on how intensive each model is – the closer it is to Model D the higher the results (Etzeberria, 1986, 1999.) Model D students achieve the highest results in Basque, hence bilingual or high level in both languages.

Some students who began education in Model B switch to Model A in secondary education because they consider their command of Basque insufficient in succeeding academically at higher level. In 1998, the General Plan for Promoting Basque Language Use was established and government subsidised extra-curricular activities through Linguistic Normalization Projects to extend use of Basque beyond the classroom and in the wider community.

Policies more centred on multilingualism, as opposed to bilingualism – also teaching French and English. Bilingual students perform better at learning 3 rd language, than monolingual.

 According to a recent sociolinguistic survey by the Basque Government, (Aizpurua Tellería & Aizpurua Espín, 2005; Basque Government 2003) 29.4% of the population in the Basque Country is bilingual, (Basque-Spanish) 11.4% is passive bilingual and 59.2% are Spanish monolingual. Among those who speak it, some rarely do or their level is poor.  With multilingual programs, there is focus on learning English as new language, as opposed to advancing Basque.  Immigrants who bring their own languages to the region presents a linguistic challenge in the long-term.

 Main increase occurred in the age group, from 25% of Basque speakers in 1991 to 48% in (Cenoz: 2008: 6) Therefore number of speakers has steadily increased.  Widespread support for Basque in the region.  More published work appearing.  More frequent in higher education. Still need for effective language-planning methods to increase presence of Basque in day-to-day life.

 Amorrortu, Estibaliz. Basque Language, Society, Sociolinguistic and Culture (USA: the Center for Basque Studies, 2003.)  Cenoz, Jason. Teaching Through Basque: Achievements and Challenges (UK: Cromwell Press LTD., 2008.)  Cenoz, Jason. Towards Multilingual Education: Basque Educational Research from the an International Perspective (UK: MPG Group Books, 2009)  McNair, John. Education for a Changing Spain (UK: Manchester University Press, 1984)  Minahan, James. One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups (USA: Greenwood Press, 2000)

 The Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning  Regional dossiers series.  Law of orientation and programme for the future of the school called the Fillon Law  Basque language and culture taught for 1 – 3 hours a week in schools for public education.  Extra teaching hours are offered outside the curriculum.

 It is not possible to learn a regional language as a modern language at primary or secondary school.  Regional languages will be outside of the core common skills.  It is the Region’s responsibility to promote regional languages, not that of the National Education.  At the moment it isn’t possible to evaluate the effects of the new law on the education system, due to the fact that it hasn’t yet been properly promulgated, although it had been passed.

 The French education system is largely state-controlled  Ikastolas schools - concerned with the full development of the pupils’ bilingual skills.  The number of ikastolas is still growing.  The Seaska association - set up in Iparralde as an initiative of parents and teachers. It exerts itself to encourage language development in a Basque surrounding.  Seaska association only received funding from the state, when an agreement with the Education Nationale was concluded in  Ministry of Education takes responsibility for paying teachers’ salaries and for providing their training according to this agreement. The agreement has to be renewed annually.

 Parents have to contribute financially even though the schools are linked to the public education system through a contract with the government.  The academic inspection and several advisory bodies in the field of education together form the support structure for Basque education.  On July 9th, 2004 the public office of the Basque language [OPLB] was established. This is the first public office in France responsible for promoting a regional language and culture.  The Ikas-bi brings together parents of children in public education who receive bilingual education.

 Euskal Haziak, which works along the same lines as the Ikas-bi.  The Ikas unites the teachers of Basque and aims at creating good conditions for the teaching of Basque by organizing monthly meetings in a teacher training college in Eskoriatze (in the Basque Autonomous Community).  Ikastola pre-primary schools have appeared using the method of linguistic immersion since  Currently, 64.5% of the pre-primary sections in Iparralde are conducted exclusively in French compared to 80% ten years ago, indicating an increase in the use of Basque.  Instruction material in Basque is prepared mainly by the teachers, but some associations or private organizations produce and distribute such materials.  It is in primary schools that the majority of pupils learns Basque, based on different linguistic models.

 At the ikastolas special attention is given to the geography and history of the Basque Country.  In public bilingual streams Basque is used for 12 hours per week, which amounts to almost half of the teaching time: Basque is used for mathematics (6 hours/week), geography (1), sciences (2), physical education (1), the Basque language itself (1), and partly for arts (1).  Basque teaching time is generally at least three hours in collège and 2.5 hours in lycée.  In the public school sector, there are 17 collèges offering Basque lessons. 6% of the pupils have bilingual lessons and 8% optional lessons.

Galician language - compulsory for all All children have a right to learn Compulsory and free until 16 in public schools Private schools partially subsidised Only free if agreed with the Local Ministry of Education and University Planning.

The Organic Law of Education 2/2006 of May 3rd 2006 Compulsory from yrs Bacharelato, vocational training, special programs (languages, art, sports), adult education or university education Public Private Partially subsidised

IF: They do not speak Castilian or Galician 2 or more years behind the grade Difficulty settling in

School lunch program School transport service School library Free textbooks Extracurricular activities Grants and aids

Galicia’s Association for the Coordination of Language Standardization and Improvement Teams Teachers with a common language goal: social standardisation of Galician Non-profit organisation of non-paid volunteers Created in 1991 to promote Galician

General Plan for the GPSGL "endangers not only the survival of the language, but also the acquisition of a basic competence in Galician by the younger generations". Decree 124/ ensured Galician education for children whose mother- tongue was Galician At least 50% class time in Galician

Not in line with the law Breaks the language balance Not conceived to promote Galician in schools English taught in place of Galician Galician for the less important Cuts, exemptions and shortages

Lack of linguistic competence Law for Standardisation have not been met A reduction in the number of speakers