Bilingual Education and Language Maintenance in French Basque Country

1. Bilingual Education and Language Maintenance in French Basque Country Sunny Schomaker, University of Wisconsin-Madison Enrollment Patterns by Section Enrollment Patterns by Student What is the Hope for Bilingual Programs? Number of Sections offered by Language, Collège In collège (roughly equivalent to middle school or junior high), bilingual sections are offered for some “European” languages (English is the most popular nationwide, followed by German, then Spanish). Currently, not all schools offer bilingual sections, and not all languages are available. Roughly 8% of all collège students in the Pyrénées-Atlantiquessubregion are enrolled in a bilingual program; 74% of those students are in a Basque program. The National Ministry of Education has established a benchmark of 20% participation in bilingual education programs; however, the priority is participation in so-called “European” secti., although ons, followed by “Oriental” sections (including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese—in many cases, the students in Oriental Sections are heritage language learners). According to data for 2005, the Ministry of Education states that 99% of students in these programs study one of four languages—English, German, Spanish or Italian. The Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (GIDS), illustrates how the retreat of a language from societal domains creates its endangered status (Fishman, 1991). The Office Public de la Langue Basque, along with other organizations in the French Basque community, see these bilingual programs as essential to increasing the number of Basque speakers, not only through education but through intergenerational transmission. The Sociolinguistic Survey of 1996, conducted by the Basque Autonomous Community, indicates that Basque as the language of the home increases dramatically when both parents feel they are fully competent in the language (Azurmendi, Bachoc & Zabaleta, 2001). Number of Sections offered by Language, Lycée For private collèges, the trend is more strongly in favor of bilingual programs, and Basque in particular. In private schools under contract, 14.55% are enrolled in a bilingual program, with 2.84% in a European language program and 11.71% in the Basque program. This has historical reasons, as most of this schools are affiliated with local Catholic parishes, and the Church had been a proponent of education in Basque well into the 20th century (Bidart, 2001). However, this trend disappears at the lycée level; the majority of private lycées in the Pyrénées-Atlantiquessubregion offer vocational education; bilingual programs in vocational tracks, although encouraged by the Ministry of Education, have been slow to take root (Académie de Bordeaux, 2011; Ministère de l’EducationNationale, 2009). Basque as L1 = 11% When comparing enrollment by language, Basque holds up surprisingly well at the collège level, but drops considerably at the lycée level. Some of this is due to the increasing enrollment in Basque programs, but a small minority of lycées offer the bilingual Basque program. However, the majority of students studying Basque are enrolled in the public schools, although such programs are offered in private schools. In addition, the community organization Seaska runs immersion schools. This schools are entirely community-funded. This enrollment patter appears robust, except when viewed globally, including all students, not just those enrolled in bilingual programs. French as L1 = 17% Basque and French as co-L1 = 10% Basque and French as co-L1 = 11% French as L1 = 79% Basque as L1 = 72% Number of Bilingual Sections by Language and Level, Public Schools References Académie de Bordeaux.(2010). Retrieved 9 April 2011, from http://www.ac-bordeaux.fr/ Azurmendi, M., Bachoc, E., & Zabaleta, F. (2001). Reversing language shift: The case for basque. In J. A. Fishman (Ed.), Can threatened languages be saved? reversing language shift, revisited: A 21st century perspective (pp. 234-259). Clevedon England ; Buffalo: Multilingual Matters. Bidart, P. (2001). La singularité basque : Généalogie et usages (1re ed.). Paris: Presses universitaires de France. Bortayrou, J., Etcheverry-Ainchart, P., Garat, M., Leralu, C., & Lichau, I. (2002). Le mouvement culturel basque, 1951-2001. Donostia: Elkar. When the Basque community developed their school-based language maintenance programs, they made the decision to focus their efforts at the primary school level. Over 50 years later, the effects of this policy still reverberate, even as more and more students enroll in Basque language programs, and the programs themselves have moved into the public schools (Académie de Bordeaux, 2009). The enrollment pattern reverses at the lycée level—bilingual European language programs become more popular, and Basque becomes less so. One explanation is that enrollment in the Basque program has increased in recent years, and the upward trend will follow these new students; however, only seven lycées under contract to the Ministry of Education offer bilingual programs, and without community pressure, this is unlikely to change. Also noteworthy is the lack of bilingual programs in vocational high schools. Fishman, J. A. (1991). Reversing language shift : Theoretical and empirical foundations of assistance to threatened languages. Clevedon ; Philadelphia: Multilingual Matters. Ministère de l’Education National. (2009).Eduscol. Retrieved 9 April 2011 from http://eduscol.education.fr/