DEPARTAMENTO DE EDUCACION, UNIVERSIDADES E INVESTIGACION HEZKUNTZA, UNIBERTSITATE ETA IKERKETA SAILA BASQUE IN EDUCATION IN THE BASQUE AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITY by Nicholas Gardner Department of Culture Basque Government Spain
[email protected] Summary Basque has been marginally present in education for well over a century but the Spanish constitution of 1978 and subsequent legislation have provided the opportunity for a remarkable expansion in the use of Basque in education, especially under the regional government of the Basque Autonomous Community (Spain). This expansion has aroused the interest of academics and minority language loyalists worldwide. As a result, since its inception at the beginning of the nineteen eighties, the Department of Education, Universities and Research of the Basque Government has received numerous requests for information on the implantation of Basque alongside Spanish in the local education system. This book gathers together the answers to the most common questions, at the same time setting them in the broader context of the ongoing language planning initiative for Basque, which can be traced as far back as the fifties. This 70 page text is a partially updated version of the book of the same name published by the Basque Government in 2000. If you want a free copy of the original, send a request together with your name and postal address to
[email protected] A critical review of the book by Jasone Cenoz is available in the International Journal of Bilingual Education & Bilingualism, 2001, vol. 4, 6, 420-422 The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily held by the Basque Government. © Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoko Administrazioa Hezkuntza, Unibertsitate eta Ikerketa Saila Last revised: 12-08-2002 Donostia, 1 – 01010 VITORIA-GASTEIZ CONTENTS 0. FOREWORD 1. A FEW BASIC CONCEPTS 2. LIFE AND DECLINE OF THE BASQUE LANGUAGE 3. REVERSING LANGUAGE SHIFT 4. EDUCATION (I): THE EARLY DAYS 5. EDUCATION (II): EVOLUTION TO THE PRESENT 6. EDUCATION (III): OTHER ASPECTS 7. FUTURE PROSPECTS APPENDIXES 1. ENGLISH LANGUAGE BIBLIOGRAPHY 2. LEARNING BASQUE 3. USEFUL ADDRESSES 4. ENGLISH LANGUAGE PUBLICATIONS List of figures Figure 1: Map of the Basque Country Figure 2: Distribution of Basque speakers Figure 3: Live births in the BAC Figure 4: Total rolls Figure 5: Percentage shares of primary and secondary pupils by school network Figure 6: Distribution of students in education system in figures Figure 7: Percentage distribution of students in education system, 1982-83 Figure 8: Percentage distribution of students in education system, 1998-99 Figure 9: Distribution of students aged 3-14 in figures Figure 10: Percentage distribution of students in primary education, 1982-83 Figure 11: Percentage distribution of students aged 3-14, 1998-99 List of tables Table 1: Summary of territorial organisation and names Table 2: Basque speakers compared to total population Table 3: Official Languages in the Basque Country Table 4: Definitions of Bilingual Teaching Models Table 5: EIMA subsidies - 1998 Table 6: Pupils per class ratios in state preprimary education Table 7: Pupils by model in Navarre in the school year 1998-99 Table 8: Pupils by model in primary education in the French Basque Country in the school year 1997-98 Table 9: Production and Reproduction of the Basque language Table 10: Economic coordinates of Basque language situation 0. FOREWORD Explanations of the situation of the Basque language in the education system of the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC) or of the sociolinguistic situation of the Basque language as a whole in En