Lazy Sunday

16 Oct 2011

Since I didn't really do much today, I thought that I'd write about a topic I've been meaning to write about for weeks--regional languages.

Spain recognizes a number of languages as co-official languages. Among these languages are Valencian/Catalan (spoken in Valencia and Catalonia), Galician (spoken in Galicia), and Basque (spoken in Basque Country and Navarre). Along with having their own regional languages (and arguably because of these regional languages), these regions have always fought more for self-governance and independence from Spain. 

One ongoing issue has been that of languages taught in schools. By language, I mean regional languages that are spoken in schools in addition to Castillian (castellano) Spanish. I'd just like to share my observations about the power/politics of language in Spain.

As I wrote weeks ago, there are a number of options for language immersion schools in the Community of Valencia. I thought that it was great that there were so many options for language immersion. Parents can choose to do complete immersion, to start in Valencian and introduce Spanish (as well as the reverse), etc. As time has passed, I've gotten to hear from teachers at my school how problematic the Valencian language is. At my school, valenciano is only used to teach science classes.

For this reason, in my school, there are mixed feelings about the use of valenciano. More than one teacher has told me that they think that students could be taking science in another language--such as English or Chinese. The other problem is that valenciano is just not as widely used in Alicante as it is in the rest of the Community of Valencia. In fact, other than at school, I haven't heard anyone using the language, and at school, (I believe) many of the teachers are not fluent in valenciano--partially because not all of the teachers are from this Community.

This is just one perspective on Valencian in one school in Alicante. I'm sure that there are a number of other opinions. However, more polemic is Catalan in the region of Catalonia.


Catalán (a language that is a combination of French and Spanish) in the region of Catalonia has had a considerably different role than Valencian or Galician. While Franco ruled Spain, the use of regional languages--like valenciano, catalán, gallego, and euskara--was suppressed to the point that these languages were nearly lost. After Franco's death, there was a resurgence in the use of catalán, and in a sense (in my opinion), catalán became almost a vehicle or justification for Catalonia's desire for independence from Spain. 

When I was in Spain two years ago, catalán was a controversial subject because Catalonia had passed a law that enabled instruction to be in catalán for even more of the school day. Furthermore, in September, there were protests because a national tribunal had told Catalonia that school couldn't be exclusively be in catalán, and that they had two months to ensure that Spanish was a vehicular language (instructional language) in the classroom. One person responded with, "La máxima autoridad en nuestro país es el Parlament de Catalunya; no hay otras autoridades que puedan venir a decirnos como se tiene que enseñar." This translates to: The highest authority in our country is the Parliament of Catalonia; there are not other authorities that can come tell us how we have to teach."

I don't have any right to dictate how a region decides to teach its students. However, I do ask myself what's best for the children. I think it's important to preserve a language that has such cultural importance. In my home state, oppression of Native Americans has nearly decimated a number of tribal languages. In fact, there are only approximately 10 fluent speakers of Dakota left. While there are programs that are trying to revitalize the language and teach it to young people, it seems to be an uphill battle.

On the other hand, not all students will stay in the region of Catalonia for their whole lives. I wonder if the government should really impede students' access to the official language of Spain. Supporters of the current system argue that students ultimately speak both languages fluently and do just as well as other Spanish students on exams. However, I do have to wonder what they lose when Spanish is treated as a second class language in school. This may be a controversial statement to make, but... Are schools in a sense indoctrinating students against the Spanish language (and perhaps perpetuating Catalonia's never-ending quest for independence from Spain)?

As I said previously, I go back and forth on what I think about this issue. I hope that some sort of middle-ground can be found that places value with BOTH Catalan and Spanish.