AILA Review - Volume 21, Issue 1, 2008

This paper focuses on the use of Basque as the language of instruction. In the first part of the article the situation of Basque in the Basque Country is briefly described and the different possibilities regarding the language(s) of instruction are explained: model A with Spanish as the language of instruction and Basque as a subject; model B with both Basque and Spanish as languages of instruction and model D with Basque as the language of instruction and Spanish as a subject. Then, the results of research studies comparing these three models regarding achievement in Basque, Spanish and other areas of the curriculum are analysed. Finally the article considers the new challenges the Basque educational system is facing. One of these challenges is the need to go from bilingual education to multilingual education by teaching in a more effective way languages of wider communication. Another recent challenge is multiculturalism as a response to the increasing immigrant population which is a new phenomenon in the Basque educational system. The need for a more holistic approach towards multilingualism both in teaching and research is proposed so as to face these new challenges.

The territories where Catalan is traditionally spoken as a native language constitute an attractive sociolinguistic laboratory which appears especially interesting from the point of view of language-in-education policies. The educational system has spearheaded the recovery of Catalan during the last 20 years. Schools are being attributed most of the responsibility for the (failure of integration) of past and current immigrant waves. There is a historical, demolinguistic and political fragmentation of the linguistic area of Catalan because at least 8 different national and sub-national authorities have a say in the definition of language policies in education. This circumstance has led to the establishment of a number of school models which deal differently with each of the challenges described before. In this contribution, an overview is produced of the main school models which are currently running in the Catalan language areas from a comparative perspective, highlighting their points in common and their differences. The article also provides a summary of available research results in connection with language learning, language practices, the impact on social integration and cohesion, and on academic achievement. It does review some of the challenges that will have to be faced by each system in the near future.

Although the vast majority of people in Ireland have at least some knowledge of Irish, only a small minority speak it as a community language (in Gaeltacht areas in the west) or in the more widely dispersed Irish-speaking households in the large English speaking area. Primary schools have had a central role in language revitalisation since the late 19th century, by transmitting a knowledge of the language to each new generation. This paper examines how well primary schools have performed in recent decades. Results of a national comparative study over a 17 year period show that there has been a long-term decline in pupil success in learning Irish (speaking and listening) in ‘ordinary’ schools. Proficiency in Irish in all-Irish immersion schools in English-speaking areas have held up well despite rapid expansion. Reasons for the decline in ordinary schools include time pressures in the curriculum, a reduction in Irish-medium teaching, changing teacher attitudes and a lack of engagement by parents. The changing role of the Department of Education and Science in relation to Irish and the rapid evolution of new educational structures, have also have had negative effects. Implications for the revitalisation of Irish are discussed.

In Wales, bilingual education in Welsh and English has an increasingly high profile and Wales shares international leadership of bilingual education policies and practices alongside other countries where bilingual education flourishes. Ever since the first designated Welsh-medium primary school was opened in 1939, Welsh-medium and bilingual education has spread across Wales. This poses both an opportunity and a challenge to educators, since classes may well contain a wide linguistic variety of native speakers and learners of Welsh. This also gives rise to variations in teaching methodologies and in the allocation of languages across the curriculum, with growing experimentation in the concurrent use of both languages within the same lesson period. New research seeks to develop a profile of language allocation in bilingual schools in Wales, and to construct a typology of bilingual education that is empirical as well as conceptual. It also seeks to critique current typologies of bilingual education. This paper will commence with a brief overview of the development of the Welsh language and its role within the bilingual education system in Wales (including current statistics), before going on to discuss the research work in progress and present some early emerging issues and challenges.

This paper focuses on the position and development of the Frisian language in the educational system in Friesland. It discusses the achievements and the research results of special projects in bilingual and trilingual schools. It gives an overview of the language proficiency, attitudes and the new challenges of the education system. The Frisian language has obtained a presence on all levels of education, although marginal in most cases. Language policy by the government has emphasised the teaching of Frisian in primary schools. The developments over the last decades have not been as remarkable as in other regions. The overall attitudes seem moderately positive, more among the public at large and parents than among teachers and school directors. Research has shown repeatedly that school achievement in Dutch is not affected by bilingual programs and the outcomes for Frisian are more positive. The experiment with trilingual education was received positively, although the outcomes for Frisian and English were not as persuasive as expected. It is concluded that the position of Frisian is rather weak compared to the other cases in this volume, although the point of departure is relatively favourable in terms of the proportion of speakers in society.