SuS 2024 brochure public (1) - Flipbook - Page 31
The transmission of minority languages in school classroom settings
James Hawkey
Friday 30 Aug | 11:30-13:00
The 8traditional9 education system is often a focus of language policy initiatives. These could
concentrate on hegemonic national languages and the maintenance of the status quo, on
regional and/or minority languages, or even on revitalisation efforts in situations of
obsolescence. Classic metrics of endangerment (e.g. Fishman9s Expanded Graded
Intergenerational Disruption Scale) use the presence of languages in schooling as a
diagnostic tool to determine just how dire the situation is for a language faced with
extinction. But what actually happens in minority language classrooms? Can we even call a
language 8minoritised9 if it is taught as a school subject, or still further, used as a medium of
instruction? In this session, we will look at a range of minority language education
programmes, before focusing on Catalan and Welsh, as they are used in classrooms in
Catalonia, France, Andorra and Wales. Our discussions will push us to think more deeply
about what we actually mean by 8minority language education9.
Recommended preparatory readings:
Prina, F., Dunbar, R. & Gurbo, M. (2020). Good practices of multilingual and
minority language medium education. Council of Europe Publishing.
https://rm.coe.int/bilingual-education-2020-eng-web/1680a13ac1. Section:
Minority language medium education: an overview (pp.11-17).
Vila, F. X., Ubalde, J., Bretxa, V., & Comajoan-Colomé, L. (2020). Changes in
language use with peers during adolescence: A longitudinal study in Catalonia.
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 23(9), 1158–1173.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2018.1436517
Williams, C. (2013). Chapter 1. Ysgolion Cymraeg: An Act of Faith in the Future of
Welsh. In H. Thomas & C. Williams (Eds.) Parents, personalities and power:
Welsh-medium schools in South-East Wales (pp.1-24). University of Wales Press.
Adult new speakers of minority languages: Bridging the gap between
language learning and language use
Ruth Kircher & Mirjam Vellinga
Friday 30 Aug | 14:00-15:30
In many contexts around the world, new speakers – i.e. individuals acquiring a minority
language outside the home, typically later in life – have emerged as a salient linguistic
group. Yet, it remains rare that their potentially pivotal role in minority language
maintenance and (re-)vitalisation is fully recognised in official policies. Moreover, the focus
of policy and planning measures is typically on the promotion of minority language
learning, with little attention being paid to actual language use. But does knowledge of a
minority language automatically translate into its use? How is the latter connected with new
speakers9 language attitudes and motivations for language learning? And what role do
traditional minority language speakers play in all of this?
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