The Evolution and Future of Bilingual Education: A Case Study of the Basque Country

Posted on Sep 7, 2024 in Social sciences

1.1. Languages in the World Today

1. Globalization and Languages

Globalization affects different areas like food, music, literature, economy, culture… and has a strong union with language. As globalization increases, the loss of human languages increases too. People find it easier to conduct business and communicate with those outside their own culture if they speak more widely used languages like Chinese, English, Spanish, etc. Children are not being educated in languages spoken by a limited number of people, so as fewer people use local languages, they gradually die out.

Nowadays, English has an important role in communication around the world. The English language has become the lingua franca, the language used for communication between people living in different countries. David Crystal, in his book English as a Global Language, states that English has become a global language because it has been in the right place at the right time. It is the most widely used “second” and “learning” language in the world, used for international communication in various fields like aviation, business, the internet, science, and technology, to name only some.

The majority of all resources on the internet are in English, influencing people to learn English to take full advantage of it. Above all, learning English is important for being able to exchange views and make friends with people all over the world. English has an official or special status in more than 70 countries, with a total population of over two billion.

2. Are New Technologies Good or Bad for Minority Languages?

We use languages that are more popular than minority languages, although, in my point of view, new technologies are both bad and good for minority languages.

On the one hand, we can say that new technologies are bad for minority languages because, nowadays, the internet uses the most widespread language, which is English. So, other languages (minority languages) are affected by this situation.

On the other hand, we are the ones who impose the majority languages on the web. As these languages are on the web, users are learning them and moving away from their minority languages.

For instance, in Estonia, they say that many people focused on English rather than their own language. The reason is that English is easier to speak among young people.

However, as Crystal said, “English is everywhere, but the internet can be used to show your language to the entire world” (Crystal, 2004). So, new technologies can be useful for spreading our language around the world. Moreover, the number of languages is increasing on the internet (Crystal, 2004), and we have the possibility to take information in our language or translate that information on the internet because the web offers a World Wide Welcome for global linguistic diversity.

3. Endangered Languages and Globalization

Globalization and cultural homogenization mean that many of the world’s languages are in danger of vanishing. Crystal says that more than half of the 6,000 languages spoken today will disappear by the end of the 21st century.

The first languages that are going to disappear will be those that are not written or documented. With the disappearance of unwritten and undocumented languages, humanity would lose not only cultural wealth but also important ancestral knowledge, in particular, indigenous languages. However, this process is neither inevitable nor irreversible.

Over a million people converse in 150–200 languages, and 46 languages have just a single speaker. So, we can say that these languages can disappear because more than one person is needed to sustain them.

As globalization increases, so does the loss of human languages. People find it easier to conduct business and communicate with those outside their own culture if they speak more widely used languages.

There are different levels of danger. For example, if a language is safe, it is spoken by all generations, and intergenerational transmission isn’t interrupted. Moreover, if a language is definitely endangered, children no longer learn the language as a mother tongue at home. And finally, if it is extinct, there are no speakers left. Basque appears in the lowest risk to disappear, but it is considered an endangered language.

4. Globalization and Functions of Language Worldwide

Crystal says that language has two functions: communication and showing people’s identity.

We think that communication is the most important function of language in the world. But in this globalized world, it takes on another role: it identifies people with a language. When we say communication, we speak about communicating ideas, emotional expression, social interaction, etc.

Moreover, all the news around the world is at the disposal of everyone thanks to media. So, people can read information about foreign countries as easily as they read about their local news and become aware of incidents very quickly.

In addition, intercultural communication between peoples is important for human society development. But if communication was the only function, all of us would have the same language, so it isn’t all about communication. All languages express the identity of the people who speak them: who they are, where they belong to… but for those who find themselves to be a small part of a large community, the role of language is especially important. They want to see their language treated with respect by the dominant culture; they want opportunities (which usually means funding) to use their language in public and see it valued.

5. Language Change and the Future of Basque

All languages are constantly changing. So, instead of preserving languages as they are, we have to accept the idea of them changing.

On the one hand, Basque speakers are different kinds of users. People use different varieties of Basque, and they don’t use the standard language. On the other hand, to focus on who changes the suitable form of a language, I am going to give an example. Euskaltzaindia, the Basque academy, doesn’t change the language use; however, speakers change it. This academy can say if something is correct or not, but we (the speakers) are the ones who change the language or not.

Language adapts to the generation, to knowledge, to young people, and so on. Therefore, language is steadily changing because the world is changing, and the function of language is to adapt to new citizens. Moreover, we are responsible for changing or arranging language because we are the ones who are going to use it. In summary, the people who speak a language are the ones who change the suitable form of that language.

6. Standard Variety vs. Other Varieties

First, we have to define the term diglossia. Diglossia is the use of two languages in a language community, which is the situation of languages in the Basque Country. Those languages or varieties are used for different functions: for formal functions (which is the case of Standard Basque or Euskara Batua): Civil Services, the education system, audio-visual media; and for informal functions (Basque varieties): family, friends…

In my opinion, the standard variety is not linguistically better than other varieties. However, Euskara Batua is more academic than other varieties. I think that having a standard variety makes communication easier. So, another function of language is that it is a medium of communication. For this reason, if people use different varieties of Basque, communication will be more difficult.

At the other end of the spectrum, there is a relationship between the standard variety and Euskara Batua because Euskara Batua was created by taking something from each variety. So, society created a new language to make communication easier.

7. Language Evolution and the Basque Language

Evolutionists say that some languages are better prepared to survive. The survival of languages doesn’t depend on the intrinsic linguistic characteristics of a language but on the language policy that is applied to a language. We have to foster a language to adapt to the new demands that we have to face in this globalized world where things are changing quickly.

Evolutionists who argue for an economic, cost-benefit approach to languages, with the domination of a few majority languages for international communication, hold a narrow view of the function of languages.

Languages aren’t purely for economic communication. They are also concerned with human culture, human heritage, identity, social relationships, and the value of a garden full of different languages rather than just one variety.

In the ecology of languages, Hornberger succinctly expresses the three themes of an ecology of language perspective:

• The first one is that languages, like living species, evolve, grow, change, live, and die.
• The second one is that languages interact with their environments.
• The third and final one is that some languages, like some species and environments, may be endangered and that the ecology movement is about not only studying and describing those potential losses.

About the evolution of the Basque language: According to the information spread by Patxi Baztarrika (deputy minister in a regional government of the Basque Country), the Basque language occupies the 44th position in the languages of navigation on the internet. On the internet, only 5% of the languages of the world are used, and Basque is among these languages.

Finally, in my point of view, nowadays, there are more people who know Euskara than years ago. One of the reasons is that learning Euskara at school is obligatory because it is an official language. Some years ago, with the industrial revolution, many people from different places in the world came here, and they didn’t know this language, so Euskara was affected by it.

8. The Role of Euskara Batua in Speaking Basque Accurately

In the late 1960s, the standardized variety of Basque, Euskara Batua, was created by ‘Euskaltzaindia’. The promoted Batua version was created on the basis of central dialects. Over the past years, Euskara Batua has been presented in the professional and academic world, whereas the dialects are mainly used within the family domain. At the same time, there is a new generation for whom Euskara Batua is the mother tongue and the only variety of Basque they know. Forty years after its creation, Batua still generates controversies among the Basque-speaking society.

Basque dialects are linguistic varieties of the Basque language that differ in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar from each other and from Standard Basque.

It is important to promote greater concern for all accents and dialects within a language. We have to accept the variety of forms of a language, which vary from one part of a country to another. But we should not go around, as many have done, condemning some (usually urban) dialects as ugly, rough, or slovenly.

At the same time, it is necessary to value all varieties and styles in a language. There has been a long concern in schools for children to master a standard language, in which the focus is on the sounds, grammar, and vocabulary that facilitate national (and, these days, international) intelligibility. In the past, this was all too often seen as a replacement for a local dialect. The new mindset sees the values of both.

9. Factors Influencing the Use of Standard Basque

It is important to value all varieties and styles in a language, whether spoken or written, formal or informal, regional or social, domestic or professional. It means being concerned over standards of excellence while recognizing that language reflects many needs and activities. So, it is necessary to take into account the generality of the audience and the level of formality of the situation.

The audience can be a particular person, or you can communicate something to general people. For example, if you are doing a TV program like “Teleberri”, the audience is completely general, and you tend to use a more standard variety, which is not formal but is related to formality. However, if you are talking to a particular person, you can use some non-standard variety. It is an informal language, a language of self-expression, the one we use in conversation and discussion. In this kind of relation, you can feel freer to use a language model because it is very personal and self-expressive.

Some environments are more formal than others. While personal communications are family, the most informal ones; academic environments, like classrooms, are the most formal contexts. Nevertheless, inside a classroom, there could be different levels of formality.

1.2. Languages in Our Society Today

10. Language Policy in the Basque Country

A language policy is a set of measures with a common goal, which is usually the protection, promotion, and survival of a particular language. Usually, to be able to enforce it, it must be present in the form of a law or a set of laws.

Depending on the geographical zone of Euskal Herria where we live, there will be a policy or not. In the case of Iparralde, there is no officiality, nor law, so we can say there is no policy. On the contrary, in the BAC, we have the Basque Language Law that was passed in the year 1982, and in the case of the FCN, they have the Foral Law of Basque Language since the year 1986.

Yes, we do need a policy in the Basque Country because the neighboring languages are too strong, and the minority language would disappear if positive action through language policy was not taken.

11. Language Normalization and Its Aspects

Language normalization is a social process in which a language is regulated, in its grammar and orthography, and this language starts to be used in all domains. To achieve this, for instance, in the BAC, we have Euskaltzaindia, which we could consider the Academy of the Basque language, where scholars work and nurture the language.

In another instance, there is the law, the Basque Language Law, that ensures the right of every citizen in the BAC to express themselves in Basque and to be able to relate with the local administration in this language. And finally, another step towards normalization is the presence of the language in the educational domain and in the public media. All these efforts have the same aim, and they will produce the aforementioned “language normalization.”

12. Language Policy Implementation in the Basque Country

Normally, a language policy is set by a body within the government. In the case of the Basque Country, in the BAC, there is a whole department devoted to the language.

In the BAC, Basque is official, and there is a law outlining what they want to achieve. In the FCN, there is also a law, but there are differences. The principal one is that in the FCN, they have zoned the territory depending on the level of usage of the language. And it can be said that their approach is less protective of the language than the one taken in the BCN. Only recently have they included modifications in their law that allow students from the south of Navarra (non-speaking Basque zone) to carry out their studies in Basque.

The Basque government linguistic policy conducted a survey (Fifth Sociolinguistic Survey, 2011) in which some 7,800 people above 16 years old from all over Euskal Herria took part. It is worth mentioning that people under 16 are currently a big part of the Basque speakers community due to the influence of the school system and are not part of the outcome of this survey.

13. Corpus and Status Planning in Basque Language Normalization

Both corpus and status planning are language policies, and their aims are the normalization and revitalization of a language. There are certain domains of use to get to the normalization of the Basque language: education, mass media, civil services, the working world, families… And, in order to achieve this, there are two main aspects of the normalization issue: corpus normalization (the language itself) and status normalization (the status and social use of the language, gaining prestige for the Basque language). That is to say, while corpus normalization refers to the linguistic features, status normalization would be the social features.

The creation of Euskara Batua was one of the goals of corpus normalization. The standard variety usually gives prestige to the language, increases the possibilities of developing cultural content (e.g., research at university), improves communication among speakers of the language, etc. The goal of Euskara Batua was to move from dialects to the arising of the standard variety (for everybody to use for whatever purpose). It was modernizing; resources of the language were expanded to meet functions, and it got terminology ready for many domains, like sports, politics, or new technologies. Creating a standard variety also helped to develop Basque prose to increase its communicative efficiency (the word-and phrase-order in logical-discursive prose).

14. Progress in Corpus and Status of the Basque Language

The change in the status of the Basque language is enormous. We have to bear in mind that during the dictatorship, it was banned, and nowadays, it has much better health if we look at the numbers of speakers and those who know it.

Regarding the status, it has a very high status. As an example, we cannot think of a candidate for the presidency of the BAC without knowing Basque. And the same goes for becoming mayor in a city, though there might be exceptions.

The creation of Euskara Batua has proven to be crucial for the strengthening and spreading of the language, setting a standard allowing people with different variations of the language to have a common vehicle for communication.

15. Domains of Use in Analyzing Language Status

The social status of a language depends on various factors ranging from the utility of the language to access the job market to merely being able to socialize. This status may change with time and along with other social-cultural changes.

There are some domains that seem to be more important than others when we think in terms of the status of a language. These domains are usually employment and education. Both can be considered interdependent because, normally, a good education grants good employment and a higher rank in the social status. In some other cases, people try to use the language in the way people with higher status do in an attempt to belong to or look like their desired group of reference.

For instance, many Latinos in the U.S. insist on their kids being educated in English, and when possible, they will use English at home. These children, new citizens, will be indistinguishable in their speaking from WASP kids (White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant).

16. Aspects of Language Planning

First of all, we must explain that language planning is the attempt to influence how a language is used. This is usually done to make it possible to use the language for more subjects. Goals, objectives, and strategies are made to change the way a language is used.

Language planning is needed for language maintenance, revitalization, and reversing language shift. This includes acquisition planning (home and education), status planning (key institutions), and corpus planning (e.g., standardization and modernization).

Status planning intends to raise the status of a language within society across as many institutions as possible. The goal of corpus planning is to modernize terminology and standardize grammar and spelling. Acquisition planning aims to create language spread by increasing the number of speakers and uses by, for example, interventions with parents, language learning in school, adult language classes, literacy, etc.

Then we have usage or opportunity language planning. According to Baker, this refers to top-down and bottom-up language planning interventions that directly seek to increase the integrative use of the Welsh language and its attendant culture in areas such as leisure, sport, and technology, to foster social networking through Welsh, and to increase the instrumental use of the Welsh language in the economy, for example, in the workplace, employment, and education.

Baker explains that the bedrock of language planning is acquisition planning. Acquisition planning has recently changed its emphasis from the acquisition of a language in school. It is now particularly concerned with language reproduction in the family as well as language production at school. Language acquisition planning is partly about encouraging parents to raise their children bilingually.

For Baker, status planning is political by nature, attempting to gain more recognition, functions, and capacity for a language by maintaining use in particular contexts and sometimes spreading into new language domains. A language may hopefully be secured and revitalized (e.g., official use of that language in courts of law, local or regional and central government, education, mass media, and as many public, private, and voluntary institutions as possible). Through laws, rights, and constitutions, but also by persuasion and precedent, status planning attempts to conserve, revitalize, or spread a language. Special attention is often given to modernization—to ensure that the language is used in modern, influential spheres (e.g., computers, the internet, television, radio, advertising, newspapers, and magazines).

17. The Evolution and Application of Euskara Batua

No, Euskara Batua is not finished and closed. A language is a living thing that keeps growing and adapting to changing circumstances. Dialects of Basque have been of great importance in the assembling of Batua. They provide for the standard, with the sounds and usages from the real world, far from, perhaps, the slightly more rigid way of speaking of scholars.

We believe that it is important to know Batua in education, though at the same time, we believe that in places that already have their dialect, education should be provided in their local variation. This, of course, is open to discussion, as there will be people for and against this premise.

18. Analyzing Language Patterns in Euskara Batua

Basque dialects are linguistic varieties of the Basque language that differ in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar from each other and from Standard Basque. As we can see, the language patterns that are good to be used at school as an expression of Euskara Batua are:

In the first example, we can use both of the expressions. It depends on the context. When we say “ogia jan ahal duzu” in Euskara Batua, we are asking if we can eat bread, and when we say “ogia jaten ahal duzu” it means if we usually eat bread. But taking into account the grammatical part, the first one might be the better one because the second one is only used in Iparralde.

In the second example, the correct form would be “bi egunetik behin.” It means every two days.

In the third example, when we speak in Euskara Batua, we would say “sua egiterakoan erre naiz.” It would mean I burned when I was catching fire. And in the fourth and last example, we would say “zuk esandako tokian nago,” which means I am in the place you told me.

Each Euskalki is different, but sometimes similarities can appear. Euskara Batua is the meeting point of all Basque-language speakers.

1.3. Current Challenges: Education Through Competences

19. From Delors’ Four Pillars to Key Competences

First of all, we must know what the four pillars of education are so as to answer the question and connect the four pillars with the eight key competences stated by the Council of Europe.

One of the four pillars is learning to know, which means a combination of a sufficiently broad general education with in-depth work in some subjects. Another interesting pillar is learning to do, and it requires making an effort to move from skill to competence. The penultimate pillar we have is learning to live together (with others), and this involves the fact that we have to discover others’ “nature” and also work towards common objectives. The last, but not least, is learning to be, which makes reference to our own personality, like values, attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, how to solve different conflicts in different contexts, etc.

But to put into practice the previous pillars and to cope with this complex society, all people need to be trained educationally, beforehand organizing the educational system. That is when the eight key competences are needed. The eight competences are all interdependent, and each of them strengthens different thinking, creativity, initiative, problem-solving, risk assessment, decision-taking, and constructive management of feelings.

Globalization and modernization are creating an increasingly diverse and interconnected world, so it is more and more important to develop the key competences to the full. In a global perspective, we make sense of and properly implement the four pillars.

20. Competences vs. Key Competences

No, they aren’t the same thing. Competences could be defined as a combination of knowledge, the ability to integrate it, skills, and attitudes in a practical way to solve problems and react appropriately to the context. Key competences are those that all individuals need for personal fulfillment and development, active citizenship, social inclusion, and employment.

Nowadays, education is based on a combination of knowledge, skills, and attitudes appropriate to the context. This combination is called competence for lifelong learning. Key competences should be acquired by young people at the end of their education and training stage, preparing them for adult life, and adults throughout their lives.

The obtainment of these competences fits together with the ideals of equality and access for all. This reference framework is also applied to those who need help with their personal training or education, such as early school leavers, migrants, people with low basic skills, etc.

The reference framework describes eight competences, which are called key competences. These are those key competences: communication in the mother tongue, communication in a foreign language, mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology, digital competence, learning to learn, social and civic competences, a sense of initiative and entrepreneurship, cultural awareness, and expression.

21. Measuring Linguistic Communicative Competence

According to the European Common Framework of Reference for Languages, by the Council of Europe (2001), there are three minor competences we can take into account to analyze the linguistic communication of an individual. These three minor competences are linguistic competence, sociolinguistic competence, and pragmatic competence.

Linguistic competence, paying attention to the Council of Europe, would be communication in the mother tongue, which is the ability to express and interpret concepts, thoughts, feelings, facts, and opinions in both oral and written form (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and to interact linguistically appropriately and creatively in a full range of societal and cultural contexts. Also, it could be communication in foreign languages, which involves, in addition to the main skill dimensions of communication in the mother tongue, mediation and intercultural understanding. The level of proficiency depends on several factors and the capacity for listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

Sociolinguistic competence is the ability to interpret the social meaning of the choice of linguistic varieties and to use language with the appropriate social meaning for the communication situation.

The last minor competence, pragmatic competence, is a part of communicative competence that involves being able to use language in interpersonal relationships, taking into account such complexities as social distance and indirectness.

On a secondary level, the European Common Framework of Reference states some general competences that the speaker must achieve. So, bearing in mind these general competences, we are able to judge the person’s level in linguistic communicative competence. The general competences we are talking about are declarative knowledge, skills and know-how, “existential” competence, and the ability to learn.

22. Sense of Initiative and Entrepreneurship in Education

Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship refers to an individual’s ability to turn ideas into action. It includes creativity, innovation, and risk-taking, as well as the ability to plan and manage projects to achieve objectives. This supports individuals, not only in their everyday lives at home and in society but also in the workplace, in being aware of the context of their work and being able to seize opportunities, and is a foundation for more specific skills and knowledge needed by those establishing or contributing to social or commercial activity. This should include awareness of ethical values and promote good governance.

Necessary knowledge includes the ability to identify available opportunities for personal, professional, and/or business activities, including ‘bigger picture’ issues that provide the context in which people live and work, such as a broad understanding of the workings of the economy and the opportunities and challenges facing an employer or organization. Individuals should also be aware of the ethical position of enterprises and how they can be a force for good, for example, through fair trade or social enterprise.

Skills relate to proactive project management (involving, for example, the ability to plan, organize, manage, lead and delegate, analyze, communicate, de-brief, evaluate, and record), effective representation and negotiation, and the ability to work both as an individual and collaboratively in teams. The ability to judge and identify one’s strengths and weaknesses and to assess and take risks as and when warranted is essential.

An entrepreneurial attitude is characterized by initiative, pro-activity, independence, and innovation in personal and social life, as much as at work. It also includes motivation and determination to meet objectives, whether personal goals or aims held in common with others, including at work.

23. Constituents of Linguistic Communicative Competence

According to the European Common Framework of Reference for Languages, there are three constituents of linguistic communicative competence, which are linguistic competences, sociolinguistic competences, and pragmatic competences. In some of them, we can find different subgroups that form the main competence, which is essential to forming the whole communicative language competence.

For example, linguistic competence is different from the other competences because it has some compartments inside it, and as we have said, they are necessary to set up the overall linguistic competence. These small “linguistic competences” are lexical competence (fixed expressions, single-word forms), grammatical competence (includes morphology, morphophonology, and syntax of the words), semantic competence (control of the meaning), phonological competence (phonemes and sounds), orthographic competence (rules to write words), and orthoepic competence (speakers need to be able to produce a correct pronunciation from the written form).

So, as we can see, linguistic competence is different from the other competences because of this variety that supports it.

Secondly, sociolinguistic competence is also one of the main competences of linguistic communicative competence. It is concerned with the knowledge and skills required to deal with the social dimension of language use. The matters treated here are those specifically relating to language use and not dealt with elsewhere: linguistic markers of social relations, politeness conventions, expressions of folk-wisdom, register differences, and dialect and accent. In short, sociolinguistic competence teaches us how we have to behave in a given society.

Last but not least, there is pragmatic competence. Pragmatic competences are concerned with the user/learner’s knowledge of the principles according to which messages are organized, structured, and arranged (discourse competence), used to perform communicative functions (functional competence), sequenced according to interactional and transactional schemata (design competence). Discourse competence stands for the ability of a user/learner to arrange sentences in sequence so as to produce coherent stretches of language. It also means the ability to structure and manage a discourse. It is essential to observe the following maxims: quality, quantity, relevance, manner… The second part of pragmatic competence is functional competence, and it means the use of spoken discourse and written texts in communication for particular functional purposes. Inside it are microfunctions, macrofunctions, and interaction schemata.

So, paying attention to what each of them means, we can distinguish each one from the other.

24. Discursive Skills and Their Relationship to Other Components

The European Common Framework of Reference for Languages states some discursive skills that all people must achieve to develop communicative competence. These skills are related to linguistic competences, sociolinguistic competences, and pragmatic competences. It has to be said that there are different approaches throughout history by professionals like Canale & Swain in 1981 or Canale himself in 1983. All in all, in all the schemes, the competences are permanent.

In our opinion, this question, when it asks about the discursive skills, refers to general competences inside the European Common Framework of Reference. It classifies two groups, one of them is general, and the other contains some specific terms, but all the concepts are summarized in the first group, that is, so-called general competences.

The discursive skills are “declarative knowledge,” “skills and know-how,” “existential” competence, and the ability to learn. Now, we are going to make a comment, so as to identify the discursive skills and also make reference to the other components, that is, linguistics, sociolinguistics, and pragmatics competences.

“English is one of the most popular languages in the world, according to 90% of surveys.” It’s correct lexically, grammatically, semantically, and it hasn’t got any orthographic mistakes. We can’t judge its phonological and orthoepic competences, but it is written linguistically well. Neither can we comment on its sociolinguistic competences because, being a written sentence, we can’t give an opinion about dialect and accent, register differences, etc. However, its discourse competence is well enough, and its functional competence is to inform. It has good quality, quantity, relevance, it is brief and orderly, and well-built up.

25. Comparing Sociolinguistic Competence in English, Spanish, and Basque

As we know, sociolinguistic competence is concerned with the knowledge and skills required to deal with the social dimension of language use. Knowing this, we can say that, in general, our sociolinguistic competence in English is lower than the one we have in Spanish or Basque. We can say this because, within this sociolinguistic competence, there are many matters we have to know about, and this knowledge is not as high as in Spanish or Basque, and now, we’ll explain why.

One of those reasons is the use and knowledge of expressions of folk-wisdom, such as proverbs. We are able to use them in Spanish and Basque, but our knowledge of proverbs in English is not as deep as in our two mother tongues.

Another reason is that, just by listening to a person talking, we are not able to say what dialect or where their accent is from. Talking about Spanish, just by listening to people from Seville, we know that they are from Andalucia; maybe we are not going to be able to say expressly that they are Sevillian, but we will know their region.

Another matter we have to argue to show that our English sociolinguistic level is lower than Spanish and Basque is that we don’t know politeness conventions. We are not able to make differences in our English depending on the context of the conversation.

There are other reasons, such as linguistic markers and register differences, but the previous reasoning is enough to see that the sociolinguistic level we have in Spanish or Basque is higher than the one we have in English.

2.1. Bilingualism and Bilinguals

26. Dimensions of Bilingualism

There are two types of bilingualism: social and individual.

Societal bilingualism occurs in societies where people speak two languages. Then, we can say that social bilingualism occurs in all the societies, but we have to keep in mind that there are different types and grades of bilingualism.

In the first situation, we can see that there are two groups and each group is monolingual.

In the second situation all are bilingual. In third type of social bilingualism, one group is monolingual and the other bilingual.  Monolingual is a psychological state of an individual who has access to two language codes to serve communication purposes. In the majority of these cases, this last group (bilingual) is minority from a sociological perspective; it is not a dominant group.  

Individual bilingual is a person who knows and practices two languages at sensibly the same level, and with the same spontaneity. Thevy hyre are different kinds of bilingual people: coordinated and compound bilingual, balanced/unbalanced, early-bilingual, school-bilingual; bilingual in adulthood, first and second language.

27. Is it easy to give a definition of a bilingual person? Comment briefly different views: Bloomfield (1933); Diebold (1964); Valdés (2004).

On the one hand, Leonard Bloomfield, in his book Language, defined bilingualism as “a native-like control of two languages”.

“In the extreme cases of foreign-language learning the speaker becomes so proficient as to be indistinguishable from the native speaker round him … In the cases where this perfect foreign-language learning is not accompanied by loss    of the native language, it results in bilingualism, native-like control of two languages. After early childhood few people have enough muscular and nervous freedom or enough opportunity and leisure to reach perfection in a foreign language; yet bilingualism of this kind is commoner than one might suppose, both in cases like those of our immigrants and as a result of travel, foreign study, or similar association. Of course one cannot define a degree of perfection at which a good foreign speaker becomes a bilingual: the distinction is relative” (Bloomfield, 1935, p.55).

In this quotation there is a clear contradiction between what is said in the first sentence with reference to native-like control of two languages and the final sentence which mentions relative degree of ability.

On the other hand the definition of the term has also been a subject of much debate. The dimension of this debate is clearly shown by two definitions which could best be considered as being polarised: while Bloomfield defines bilingualism as “a native – like control of two languages”, Diebold gives a minimal definition when he uses the term “incipient bilingualism” to mean “the initial stages of contact between two languages”. These two definitions imply that we are forced, in studying bilingualislm, to consider it as something entirely relative because the point at which the leaner of a second language becomes bilingual is either arbitrary or difficult to determine.

Valdés and Figueroa (1994):

Researchers and practitioners focus on different aspects of bilingualism when differentiating between this group as a whole. When discussing the age of acquisition of the second language, a bilingual person may be considered an early bilingual if they achieve a state of bilingualism early on, or a late bilingual if their acquisition of the second language takes place in adolescence or adulthood.  A person may also be considered a sequential or simultaneous bilingual.  Generally a sequential bilingual learns one language first, and then learns a second language, while a simultaneous bilingual learns both languages at the same time.

As mentioned previously the abilities of a person may differ in their two languages.  Incipient bilinguals are just learning the second language.  Receptive bilinguals understand the second language, but do not have the oral or literacy skills needed to communicate.  Finally the productive bilingual has oral and literate skills in the second language. While all are considered bilingual they fall on different levels of the continuum described by Valdés and Figueroa (1994).

28. Balanced and unbalanced bilinguals. Explain these concepts. Why is it so difficult to be a completely balanced bilingual?

This classification is made according to the skills a speaker has, according to the level of profiency. This is rather a continuum way of speaking them. According to this, this is the more common classification.

·   Balanced bilinguals are those who are more or less equally proficient in both languages, but will not necessary pass for a native speaker in both languages.

·    Unbalanced bilinguals: are those who are not equally proficient in both languages. In order to the level they have, there are different types of unbalanced speakers.

–     Passive bilinguals are people who is native speaker in one language and is capable of understanding but not speaking another language.

–      Dominant bilinguals are people who is more proficient in one language that in the other.

–   Equilingual speakers are those who are considered native in both of the languages spoken. This is the rarest one, an lot of scientists doubt if it really exists.

The four categories can be attributed by the four stages of language skills. This are the different stages:

1.Listening comprehension: This is the minimal competence a bilingual will have in both languages. A passive bilingual is one who can only cope with this skill in the second language, whereas in his or her first language he normally manages the four of them

2.Speaking: That is the capability you can generally expect a dominant and a balanced bilingual, as well as in an equilingual, to posses.

3.Reading comprehension: This is the threshold, where a dominant bilingual often drops out for his second language, but not inevitably.

4.       Writing: That’s the capability which can be expected from the balanced bilingual (maybe with a reduced proficiency) and the equilingual.

29.The first language of a bilingual person (L1). What are the parameters on which a language is deemed as a speaker’s first language? Can an individual first language change?   

The first language of a bilingual person is commonly sinonim of native language or mother tonge. In a bilingual community the first language is the best known and most used. A bilingual person uses his first language to think and for mental repreentations. Is the language in wich a person feel more confortable with.

As we said the first language is the most used and it depends on the person´s enviroment so one´s first language can change. The enviromen influences bilingual people and they use a language more or less, so that their bilingualism can change.

30. BICS and CALP in a bilingual educational environment: conversational and academic skills. What do these ideas suggest to you? Make a comment briefly.

These terms are commonly used in discussion of bilingual education and arise from the early work of Cummins (1984) in which he demonstrated his ideas about the two principal concepts of second language development.

·         BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills) describes the development of conversational fluency in the second language. This is said to occur when there are contextual supports and props for language delivery. Face-to-face `context embedded´ situations provide, for example, non-verbal support to secure understanding. Actions with eyes and hands, instant feedback, cues and clues support verbal language. Reffering to academic terms, an example of this could be doing an experiment in a subject.

·         CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) describes the use of language in descontextualized academic situations  is said to occur in ‘context reduced’ academic situations. Where higher order thinking skills (e.g. analysis, synthesis, evaluation) are required in the curriculum, language is `disembedded´ from a meaningful, supportive context. Some examples of this could be Text books, novels ..

31.School-tasks and lenguage competences: cognitive demands and contextual help, both are to be taken into acount. Make a short refection related to the statement.

In the context, the situation and some paralinguistic keys help to have an effective communication.  The comunication inside the context it is easier because the context gives help, so it asks very little cognitively effort. But in the school, the context gives very little help, so it asks a big cognitively effort.

Thanks to a vertical continuum they want to explain some comunication competences, keeping in mind the number of cognitive comptences that we need to do the exercise.

B: cognitively demanding+context embedded: we are going to give facilities, but we are going to ask them to think.

C: Cognitively undemanding + context reduced: the exercise is easy, they don´t have to think a lot.

D: cognitively demanding+context reduced:  they have to read  a topic alone and then, they have to do the exercise. This is the upper-level.

32.Additive bilingualism (or language learning) and subtractive bilingualism. Explain what is meant by these terms. What happens to the speakers’ linguistic repertoire in each case?

The concept of addictive bilingualism was created by Lambert in 1974. Addictive bilingualism occurs when the student studies a second language adds to his mother tongue. Meanwhile, his language repertoire is developing.

Substractive bilingualism occurs when the new language (the dominant language) damages the first language and then, the first language is going to be replace or weakened  by the language which is more important in the society.

33. Representing the mind of a bilingual person: Common Underlying Proficiency vs Separate Underlying proficiency (CUP vs SUP). For communicative competence to be developed in a language, is it completely necessary to work on that language at school? Explain the relationship between the two languages and the increase of the bilingual’s competence using the simile of the balloon(s) representing linguistic competence(s) of a bilingual person

The Separate Underlying Profiency (SUP)

One erroneous idea of how two languages are represented within the mind of a bilingual is to consider the languages balanced on weighing scales. As one language increases on one slide, the other language decrease proportionately on the other side. A second language increases at the expense of the first language. This is part of what is termed the Separate Underlying Profiency (SUP) model f bilingualism (Cummins,1984)

A simple illustration of the SUP model is to conceive fs language as existing in two balloons inside the head. This idea is also incorrect, but it´s the kind of picture that many people assume to be true of bilinguals. He pictures opposite portrays the monolingual as having one well filled language balloon, with plenty of room inside the thinking quarters for that language to exist. A well-filled balloon, full of vocabulary, grammatical rules, associations between words, ideas and concepts may superficially appear as the most efficient language environment.

The worse-off bilingual is pictured as having two language balloons inside the head. Given the thinking room available, the bilingual is assumed to have two half-filled balloons. Two half-filled (or less full) balloons compared with the monolingual´s larger language balloon implies less room to store vocabulary, grammatical structures, associations and ideas in either language. SUP model assumes that there isn´t enough room to fill the language balloons as full as the monolingual´s. As the second language balloon increases, so the first language balloon is assumed to decrease proportionately.

The assumption is also that two balloons exist without inter-connection and that there is no transfer between the two balloons. The languages operate independently. This is one of those cases when common sense is common, but not sense. There is no research evidence to support this model.

The absurdity of this idea is revealed in the curious predicament a bilingual would meet when “talking internally”. If a bilingual had to switch languages, he or she might have difficulty in explaining in the second language what that had heard or said in the first language. Everything learnt in one language would have to be relearn in another language. Clearly that is not the case. A different model is therefore required, called that Common Underlying Profiency model f bilingualism (Cummins, 1984)

Common Underlying Profiency (CUP) model

The brain has only a limited amount of room for two languages. Firstly, evidence suggests that there are enough cerebral living quarters not only for two languages, but for other languages as well. Secondly, there is easy ando considerable transfer between the two language ballons.

This idea of a common underlying proficiency model is illustrated in the analogy of an iceberg. This suggests that above the surface, two icebergs are visible. In outward conversation, the two languages are often kept separate. Below the surface level, the internal processing and storage of a person´s two languages occurs. Beneath the surface are storage, associations between concepts, and representations that belong specifically and separately to the two languages. There is a central, unified processing system called Common Underlying Proficiency that both languages can contribute to, access and use.

• When children are taugh subtraction in one language, they do not have relearn subtraction in the second language. Once the concept is understood, it can be applied in either language. Spanish-medium lessons do not feed Spanish part of the brain, and English-medium lessons the English part of the brain. Ideas, concepts, attitudes, knowledge and skills transfer into either language.

• Children who have learned to use a dictionary, or are learning to use computer, will be able to explain their understandings to other children in either language. A child does not have to be retaught in the second language. Given that anguage skills are sufficiently well developed to understand ideas and knowledge in the second language, what is learnt in the first language easily transfer.

34. Present and explain the interdependence principle (Cummins). Use this concept to explain why transfer is more likely to happen from minority language to majority language than the other way round.

Academic language proficiency, considered to be a determinant of scholastic success, is a manifestation of underlying proficiency common to both first (L1) and second (L2) languages.

This claim is related to Cummins’ ‘language interdependence principle’ (1984; 1986), which says that academic aspects of language proficiency are common and transferable from L1 to L2 provided there is adequate exposure (either in school or environment) and motivation to learn the L2. Transfer is more likely to occur from minority to majority language because of the greater exposure to literacy in the majority language outside of school and the strong social pressure to learn it.

35. The relationship between language proficiency and cognitive development of bilinguals: explain the threshold theory (Cummins).

This theory maintains that there may be levels of linguistic proficiency which bilingual children must attain in order to avoid cognitive deficits and to allow the cognitive benefits. On the whole, the results were consistent with the theory, in that an overall bilingual superiority was found only for those children who had attained a high degree of bilingualism. An overall bilingual superiority was not found for those children who had attained lower degrees of bilingualism. These results are discussed further in relation to Bialystok’s model.

This theory also maintains that bilinguals need to achieve high levels of linguistic proficiency in both of their languages before bilingualism can promote cognitive development. In addition, the theory maintains that, if children attain a high level of proficiency in only one language and they attain a lower facility with the other language, then their bilingualism will have neither a positive nor a negative effect on their cognitive development. Last, the theory maintains that bilingualism will have a negative effect on cognitive development if children fail to attain a high level of proficiency in both of their languages.

2.2. Bilingual education (The trilinguals)

36. What is “bilingual education”? Have you yourself experienced a bilingual education programme? What features must match an educational issue to deserve being called “bilingual education”?

When we try to define the bilingual education it is not easy to give an exact definition because it is a phenomenon happening all over the world. However, one of the most used definition is the one that Cummins explained.

According to Cummins bilingual education refers to the use of two or more languages of instruction (one of them it is usually the student’s first language) at some point in a student’s school career. Both language are used as a medium of instruction to teach  subject matter content rather than just the language itself.

As we live in the Basque Country, many students have experienced a bilingual education programme because we have the opportunity to study the subjects both in Basque and Spanish language.

37. The prestige of languages and occurrence of additive and subtractive bilingualism in a bilingual setting. Make your comment about the relationship between those ideas.

Relevant factor: the position and prestige of each language within society.

Additive bilingualism: when students get another language with no delay or damage for their first language; attitudes towards languages and their users are positive and languages help each other to develop. This happens when the most prestigious language speakers learn the minority language at school.

Subtractive bilingualism: a strong culture and language is imposed to a  less prestigious ethno-linguistic group, whose socio-cultural values are undervalued.

In this case, the second language is learned with damage to the first language, that fact carrying lack of security and confidence to its speakers, and subsequent obstacles for learning: subtractive bilingualism.

Attitude is relevant: how speakers see second language learning either as a threat or as a way to enrich their repertoire.

With a basis on that idea, Lambert 1981:  if we want a bilingual society, we must give priority to the language less likely to develop easily within society.

38. Explain briefly two different types of bilingual experience according to the aim of the project.

According to the aim of the program we can find four different types of bilingual education: transitional, maintenance, enrichment and heritage.

• Enrichment: in most cases, majority language students get instruction through minority language (immersion programmes in French in Canada; English speaking students in Gaelic language in Wales; many model D classrooms in the Basque Country); linked to the reinforcement of cultural diversity; aim at strengthening minority languages; additive bilingualism context; immersion programmes get into this category

• Maintenance: aim at preserving cultural and linguistic features, strengthening their culture and identity, and reinforcing ethno-linguistic rights; additive language learning environment; at least 50 % through minority language; aim at getting literacy-skills in L1; both languages are used for  some years

• Partial bilingualism: both languages are used to work on curriculum contents; students get literacy-skills in both languages;  L1 is used for school-contents related to the cultural heritage of the minority group

• Total bilingualism: both languages are used to work on curriculum contents, students get literacy-skills in both languages (bi-literacy), there is no any given curriculum area specifically assigned to each language

39. Immersion and submersion programs: compare their features according to different parameters.

• Immersion refers to a situation in which children from the same linguistic and cultural background who have had no prior contact with the school language are put together in a classroom setting in which the second language is used as the medium of instruction. There are two different immersion programs. On one hand immersion programs for dominant language, Parents of linguistic majority children with a high-status mother tongue (e.g. Anglophones in Ontario, Canada) choose voluntarily to enrol their children in a programme

in which instruction is conducted through the medium of a foreign/minority language. On the other hand, immersion programmes for minorities, children who have partially or completely lost their ancestral language choose voluntarily to be instructed through the medium of the minority language.

• Submersion, on the other hand, refers to the situation encountered by some children where in they must make a home-school language switch, while others can already function in the school language. Within the same classroom, then, one might find children who have no knowledge of the school language, varying degrees of facility in the school language through contact with the wider community, and native speakers of the school language.

2.3. Bilingual education in the Basque Country

40. Make a comparison between the possibilities in the BAC and the Foral Community of Navarre to learn Basque or through Basque at the public education framework.

There are two possibilities all over the Basque Country to learn Basque: teaching and learning Basque, or teaching and learning through Basque. In the Basque Autonomous Community there are three linguistic models including the two official languages: A, B and D. In model A, all subjects (except Basque) are basically taught in Spanish. Basque is treated as an ordinary subject. In model B both Spanish and Basque are used to teach the other subjects: Spanish for maths and languages; and Basque for the rest. Model D stipulates that all subjects (except Spanish language) will basically be taught in Basque.

On the one hand, referring to teaching and learning Basque in NFC, we find the same linguistic models as in BAC; but in fact, depending on the area chosen (bascophone area, mixed area and non-bascophone area) even of the law recognises the right to study through a Basque-medium education, this one is markedly reduced and just offered by a few ikastolas around the area. Anyway, 2015 February´s new change put into force schooling through Basque in all the areas in the same way, so we will have to see how it evolves.  

41. The educational models currently in force at the BAC: their main linguistic features.

In the Basque Autonomous Community, the Basque government established three linguistic models including the two official languages: A, B and D. In addition, students who are justifiably exempted from having to study Basque constitute the so-called model X.

In model A, all subjects (except Basque) are basically taught in Spanish. Basque is treated as an ordinary subject, with around four hours a week dedicated to its study. In model B, both Spanish and Basque are used to teach the other subjects. In the original formulation, the idea was for Spanish to be used for the main subjects such as reading, writing and mathematics, while Basque would be used for the others. The legal formulation of model D stipulates that all subjects (except Spanish language) will basically be taught in Basque. Here, Spanish is assigned around four hours a week.

42. What tendency can be observed about enrolments in different linguistic patterns all over the last 10 years (compare the BAC, NFC and Iparralde).

In the CAPV-EAE, all over the last 10 years, the demand for model D has increased. We have to mention the continuous growth of this model in the last 10 years, which accounts for over half of all students (60%) if we take all non-university levels as a whole. However, the demand for model A has decreased 20% more or less since 10 years ago; nowadays 15,8% of non university students in EAE are enrolled in model A. Model B remains constant with slightly more than 20 percent of total enrollment. Model X accounts for less than 1 percent of enrollment, the same than 10 years ago.

In the Northern Basque Country, looking for the spreading process of different educational models, we can say that the most spreaded one is the school-time half-and-half between the two languages, with 3725 children enrolled between 2001-2002. Meanwhile, raising awareness, “Sentzibilizazioa”,  wasn’t popular and there were 1385 students taking part on the immersion programme. In 2004-2005 period there were 1400 students who took part on the reasing awareness; but they were very few comparing to the 4620 students in the bilingual model. Anyway, there was a small distance with the amount of children enrolled in the immersion programme: 1460.

Later, between 2007 and 2008, the raising awareness didn’t achieve success and Bilingual model raised to 5752 students enrolled. The immersion programme was taking more importance too, with 1625 children.

Finally, looking to 2010-2011, the raising awareness has achieved 995 students while bilingual model has 6608 and immersion programme 1940. Speaking about schools, is important to know that nowadays bilingual schools are more popular (57%), even if in 2005 the non bilingual ones were more.

In the Foral Community of Navarre, according to the results collected between 2000 and 2011 it is possible to say that Spanish-medium teaching models (model A and G) enrollment has decreased minimally along the years and fortunately, this brings strength to more bilingual models. In fact, navarres B and D models enrollment numbers have increased little by little in the last years. So we can consider it positively.

43. How does Basque Government get information in order to assess the outcomes of the different linguistic models. What are the so-called “diagnostic assessments”? Then, what could you tell about the results obtained in models A and D in Spanish and Basque?

The Basque Government get information about the outcomes using what is called diagnostic assessment. That one, is carried out every year to check the competence that school people get in BAC and know how the system works. Anyway, it is not used for evaluation. We can consider an institutional evaluation to check the level of the competence acquired at school.

According to the data  obtained in 2009 and 2010, children who study through a Basque-medium (model D) get a higher number of intermediate level in Basque communicative competence. However, the number of those who get and advanced level in this language decreases a lot. Likewise, the same happens with Castilian competence levels.

On the other hand, children who study through a Spanish-medium (model A) just get an initial communicative competence level in Basque. So those who do it in higher levels are few.

44. If some parents or tutors ask you about the possibilities they have for their children to learn Basque or through Basque all over the Basque Country, how would you summarize the possibilities at hand? Tell what possibilities are available and where.

If some parents or tutors asked me about the possibilities they have for their children to learn Basque, I would say that there are two possibilities all over the Basque Country: teaching and learning Basque, or teaching and learning through Basque.

Firstly, we have to mention that in Iparralde, educational models are different from NFC and BAC. While in Iparralde we have the sensibilisation, the half-and-half (Parité horaire) and the immersion model;  in NFC and BAC exist model A, B and D.

On the one hand, referring to teaching and learning Basque, in NFC and BAC they have the possibility to learn in model A.  In Iparralde, they have the sensibilisation that gives to students the possibility to be taught Basque 1-3 hours a week.

On the other hand, speaking about teaching and learning through Basque, we have two  different options: instruction through two languages and Basque medium instruction. In the first one, in NFC and BAC they have the possibility to learn in model B, and in the second one in D. However, in Iparralde, in the first option they have the half and half (Parité horaire: school-time half-and-half between French and Basque) and in the second one the immersion model (All the subjects in Basque, except French).

2.4. From bilingualism to Pluri/Multiingualism

45. When we say that we are in transition from a monolingual system towards a multi-plurilingual educational system, what are we refering to?

The main idea when we talk about a transition from a monolingual system onto a multi-plutilingual one, is that the society is changing, is becoming much more globalized, and lingua francas are getting more and more necesary in our daily live, in things such as comunicating or even working.

This is why the educational system has to develop in order to try the children to learn as many languages as possible while thiy are in their childhood, which is the time in which it is easier for them to learn new languages, so the educational system, has to due with this, and try to offer the option of learning all those languages in order to improve the cuality of the education given, which is at the end, the objective of the educational system in a developed country.

46. Guasch  (2007) states that the linguistic environment of the school has changed  and he calls one of the factors the “sociolinguistic factor”. What new setting is refered to by this term? Explain the main features of this “sociolinguistic factor”.

Features of the present/current society, thinks are changing. According to Guasch, we can find three different factors.

1.Sociolinguistic factor:

• New expectations: is people’s language awareness having a change? Nowadays `people thoughts are changing. Now people want to learn languages because they think it is important.
• In current society are coming more and more immigrants and languages are increasing.
• The strengthening of our own language. Basque has suffer a lot during history so now Basque government is trying to strength the euskera.

2.Technological factor:

• The use of the computer has changed the writing process
• Some written messages are context-related, close(r) to the oral uses (SMS,…)
• Is there developing a new way to learn? Reality sequentially explained vs globally explained?

3.Psycholinguistic factor

Two believes:

a) The goal is to teach and learn how to use the languages; languages are learned by using them, through real linguistic interaction

b) The special features of the multilingual speaker

48. Differences between multilingualism and plurilingualism according to the European Common Frame of Reference for Languages. What do these concepts refer to?

“Plurilingual and pluricultural competence refers to the ability to use languages for the purposes of communication and to take part in intercultural interaction, where a person, viewed as a social agent, has proficiency, of varying degrees, in several languages and experience of several cultures” (Council of Europe, 2001: 168).

Plurilingualism differs from multilingualism, which is the knowledge of a number of languages, or the co-existence of different languages in a given society. Multilingualism may be attained by simply diversifying the languages on offer in a particular school or educational system, or by encouraging pupils to learn more than one foreign language, or reducing the dominant position of English in international communication.

Beyond this, the plurilingual approach emphasises the fact that as an individual person’s experience of language in its cultural contexts expands, from the language of the home to that of society at large and then to the languages of other peoples (whether learnt at school or college, or by direct experience), he or she does not keep these languages and cultures in strictly separated mental compartments, but rather builds up a communicative competence to which all knowledge and experience of language contributes and in which languages interrelate and interact. (Plurilingual and Pluricultural Awareness in Language Teacher Education: A Training Kit, Volume 253)

–         What does our society want to achieve through multilingual education?

In regions where the language of the learner is not the official or national language of the country, multilingual education can make mother tongue instruction possible while providing at the same time the acquisition of languages used in larger areas of the country and the world. This is different from the so called subtractive bilingualism which aims to move children on to a second language as a language of instruction. That’s Basque Country’s case, where we have the possibility to learn in Euskara and at the same time we work on Spanish and a foreign language, which normally is English.

47. What positions can be seen among educational agents about the multilingual approach at the educational system? Is there any significant controversy between official initiatives and position of other educational stakeholders? What is the aim of the multilingual approach? Has any significant concern been expressed?

About the multilingual approach at the educational system, educational agents of the Basque Country are in favor of multilingual education. On the one hand, are some public initiatives such as the curriculum decree and the Trilingual Framework, whose aim is to work in three different languages (Basque, Spanish and English). On the other hand, we have some private initiatives, such as the Ikastolen hizkuntz proiektua of Ikastolen Elkartea, whose aim is to work in four different languages: Basque, Spanish, French and English.

The aim of multilingual approach has different goals. Nowadays there is a high diversity in schools and classrooms, and multilingual education wants to find an answer to that diversity.  So using more different languages for communication, getting a high mastery of communicative competence and learning attitudes and values is the aim of multilingual approach.

However, some concerns are expressed, such as, the need to improve communicative competence vs knowledge about language(s) at school, the emphasis on communicative and active methodologies vs grammar-based approaches, CLIL/AICLE/HEBI vs taking languages as just academic knowledge, and integrated treatment of the languages vs working on each language separately.

49. What is the so-called Hizkuntza Marko Hirueleduna (Trilingual Educational Framework) by the  ministry of education of the Basque Autonomous Community Government? Its most relevant features and first significant outcomes.

Over the years, Eusko Jaurlaritza has been doing educational experimentations so that they can adapt to the society.  The information of the last experimentation process of the trilingual education is gathered together in a document called “Trilingual Education Framework”. We have to know and realise that education is changing fast so they need to prove if their theories or plans will work well in the society. In this experimentation they have implanted a plan in 20 schools.

But we have to take into account that although the experimentation process is important, it is more important the decision that is taken by Eusko Jaurlaritza. It means, the outcomes. They base on the experimentation, and the results, to take the decision.

With these experimentations, it has been proved that the communication and language skills have improved and that’s more, they have improved many other skills like relationships or artistic expression. Generally speaking, we may take the conclusion that it would be better for the future of children to be trilingual.

HIZKUNTZA MARKO HIRUELEDUNA (Trilingual Educational Framework)

a)BASIC DETAILS OF THE EXPERIMENTATION: Experimental character, voluntary, adaptable to each centre…

b)CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK: Some theories, methodologies (CLIL, MET…) environment…

c)MONITORING AND ADVISING PLAN OF THE EXPERIMENTATION PROJECT: What they will need to carry on the experimentation.

d)EVALUATION PLAN OF THE TRILINGUAL EDUCATION FRAMEWORK: Make an evaluation, taking into account some guides and different evaluation processes.

3.1. Languages in the school curriculum

50. How many and which languages are to be taken into account (even if at different levels) in the classrooms of the BAC, according to the basic statements collected within the curriculum decree? Explain briefly the reasons for the attention asked for those languages.

To know and have a good command of languages is an essential requirement to achieve good adaptation, school success and social integration. Since a certain age, three languages are taught in the Basque schools (sometimes up to four): Basque, Spanish and at least a foreign language.

In the Basque Country, more than one language are used. This is due to the fact that it has diaglossic situations. Because of that, Basque schools offer three different language-teaching models:

[Source: Bilbao, X. (1997)]

Apart from those languages, children learn at least one foreign language (for example, English).

51. What methodological approach is held at the curriculum decree for learning and teaching languages? Is the approach adopted specially based on a declarative grammatical knowledge or is it rather founded on something related to the intensive use of the language(s)?

When the time comes to teaching languages, we cannot just focus on the grammatical and functional views, but also on the communicative and meaning aspects. Actually, languages should be taught as a communicative tool that is useful for the whole life.

Since a certain age, three languages are taught in Basque schools (sometimes up to four). Taking that into account, the need of developing an integrated point of view in their pedagogy has emerged. It is necessary to create a language-project integrated in the educational project of each school.

It is very effective to use active and participative methodologies based on projects (making radio programs, creating magazines…). In fact, students usually get motivated in this way. These methodologies are used specially in the teaching of Basque.

52. Discourse and text are mentioned within the curriculum decree as basic references for language teaching and learning. What do those concepts mean in that environment?

On the one hand, discourse is the social acting. It is not the same to speak at a political rally, to give classes in university, to give them in primary school or to give a “bertso-saio”. Because of that, there are several genres of discourse, that is to say, the typical usages of the language in given social settings or activities. Some of the features of the genres of discourse are: the tone of voice, the level of aggressiveness, the kind of words used (usual words, unusual words, specialized words…) and the level of syntactic structures.

The discourse analysis examined also the context, not only what is meant by words. In fact, to completely understand what is said, it is necessary to bear in mind the information given by the context.

On the other hand, text is the linguistic result of the social acting. A text is a unity of communication and purpose, complete in itself, made up by some verbal components combined with each other. Texts can be classified according to their nature (narrative texts, descriptive texts, explanatory texts, argumentative texts and conversation texts) or according to their domain of use (language in literature, language in mass media, language in interpersonal relationships, language for learning).

53. “Discourse is something you always do orally in front of a lot of people; text, however, is always a written production of language, it can’t be oral”. Do you agree with that statement if it is performed in a teacher training environment? What would you say?

That statement is not correct. First of all, a discourse doesn’t have to be a speech made in front of an audience. A discourse is to act in society using the communicative competence, in order to reach some particular goals. It can be a writer’s conference, a teacher’s talk… but it can also be an article of opinion in written press or a letter to the director.

Secondly, according to Bronckart (2004) “a text is every unit of verbal production, intended to carry a linguistically organized message, having a tendency to make an effect of coherence on the part of the receiver”. So texts can be both oral or written if they meets those criterias (e.g. a conversation on the phone with a friend, a novel…).

54. Appropriacy, coherence, cohesion and accuracy are some text properties. Show briefly that you understand their meaning.

Appropiacy is the semantic-pragmatic feature of a  text; related to diversity in a language. A language usually has different varieties: geographical (dialects), social, historical varieties…But there are some special uses depending on the communicative setting itself:

• Depending on the intention
• As a consequence of the communication channel (in public, at work…)
• As a consequence of the relationships among the partners (age,sex,social status…)

When we talk about coherence, we refer to the semantic-pragmatic level of a text. Looking inside the text, all parts have to be closely tied for meaning to be carried successfully. The elements (words, verbs…) must be chosen carefully… in sum, a text should give a sense of unity. Finally, organization of ideas and quantity and quality of the information are also  relevant factors for receivers to consider messages coherent or incoherent.

Cohesion, however, is the syntactic-semantic level of the text. It involves a correct syntax, related to a given meaning. To give cohesion to the text there are some connection mechanisms; such as, logical connections (first of all, if…), space and time connections (below, before…) …

Finally, accuracy  Accuracy refers to the correct use of the grammar. It involves morphosyntax (the quality and the variety of the sentences’ structures), vocabulary (the appropriateness of the semantic field used and the wideness of the vocabulary variety) and pronunciation and phonology (the pronunciation and the orthography).

55. What do we mean by the language repertoire of a speaker? Is your language repertoire something you can grow?

When we talk about the language repertoire of a speaker we have to take into account that each person has his/her own experience in society, and because of that, he/she develops a personal linguistic repertoire. The personal language repertoire of each person is different in each case, everybody has his/her own personal language repertoire.

Taking this into account, our language repertoire is something we can improve and grow during our life. In addition, the goal of the school-work is to add some components to this repertoire.

56. You have heard those two Basque sentences below. What text property do they remind you of? Imagine both situations and make a comment.

-Krixton bronkie ixen soan atzo parlamentuen

-Sekulako eztabaida izan zen atzo Legebiltzarrean

These sentences remind us to Appropriacy and suitability text properties. Because in the first sentence we can see that there is a dialectal variety of the language, using an informal way of communication. Whereas, the second sentence is written in an appropriate and suitable way.

In addition, aside the fact that the language dialect is different, there might also be a difference in the discourse situation because of the fact that the language used in different social setting or activities varies. The goal of the discourse might be different in each sentence as well as the situation. Therefore, the language used in each situation is different because you can’t use a basque dialect in a formal setting and neither informal linguistic structure.

57. Which text property is influenced or determined by quantity, quality and organization of the information? Make up a short comment.

The text property influenced by quantity, quality and organization of the information is coherence (that is to say, the semantic-pragmatic level of a text).

Organization of ideas and quantity and quality of the information are relevant factors for receivers to consider messages coherent or incoherent. We can say that a text has coherence when the organization and the inner cohesion of the text, the amount and quality of information carried through it and the adequation to the parameters of the communication act appear in it.

Taking all that factors into account, a text should give a sense of unity.

3.2 Languages at the school: the linguistic project

58. What is the linguistic project of a school-center and what is it for?

The School’s Linguistic Project : is the tool that enables schools to manage and organize, in accordance with current regulations, but in an independent way, certain aspects regarding the status and use of languages in the school and the curricular treatment of the different languages which are present in the school. This project was approved in the school-year.

It is established by law that there must be a Linguist Project in every school, but because of some external facts there are some schools which has not got it. The information about this topic, appears in the 18^th article inside school curriculum.

In the Anglo-Saxon context, The Linguistic Project appeared at the end of 1960 related to educational innovation movements.  In Spain, The Linguistic Project  was proposed in 1990. The objective of this project is the implementation of school projects promoting the linguistic communication.

3.3. New trends in methodological issues for learning and teaching languages

59. Explain briefly what the current approaches called CLIL (Content and Language Integrated -Learning) and ILT (Integrated Language Treatment) are. Why are they receiving increasing attention in educational settings?

One of the new methodologists that have been created to learn a second language is the methodology called Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). The concept CLIL was created by David Marsh in 1994 to describe the learning of a second language through different subjects. Since then, the European Commission and the Council of Europe have supported CLIL because it responds to a need in Europe for enhancing second-language education and bilingualism.

In some cases, CLIL is defined as a whole program of instruction and, in other cases, as isolated lessons conducted in an additional language. “Additional language”,

according to Marsh (2002: 17), is any language other than the first language that could be foreign language, L2 or minority language.

60. What is referred to as the “Integrated Language Treatment”? Make comment on its most important features.

Integrated Language Treatment is the learning of a second language through a subject focused only on learning the linguistic system (grammar, vocabulary…) for example, English, Basque, Spanish… subjects.

• In this case motivation is considered as a way of instruction instead of a way of integration with native speakers; that is what happens with Basque and Catalan languages in Spain.
• Some authors said that it is elitist.
• It is used an additional language as a foreign language subject.
• It is more focused on the language rather than on the content.
• Immersion teachers use materials developed by native speakers in order to teach a language.