Study on the Devolvement of Legislative Power & Provisions Developments in the curriculum of language teaching and learning, at primary school level and in secondary education Friday 18 September, 2009 Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning

Request Provinsje Fryslân Netherlands’ government intention: Devolvement on Frisian language and cultural affairs Study on legal possibilities and structural implications Request of provincial authorities on: Legal position of Frisian compared to those other bilingual / trilingual regions in Europe where devolvement of national government to the relevant regions has been carried out over the last twenty years

Selection of bilingual / trilingual regions Member state is partner in the European Charter Selected regions have undergone the process of devolvement and a renewal of their own internal processes for the long run. Selected member states and relevant regions have created a new balance between national government and regional authorities. Selected regions may serve as good examples in Europe

Selection of 8 EU regions with RMLs Swedish in Finland Gaelic in Scotland (UK) Welsh in Wales (UK) Catalan in Catalonia (Spain) Occitan in Val d’Aran / Catalonia (Spain) Ladin valleys in South Tyrol (Italy) Franco Provencal in Vallée d’Aosta (Italy) Frisian in Fryslân (the Netherlands)

Numbers and % Mother-tongue speakers Swedish in Finland ( ,1%) Gaelic in Scotland ( ,2%) Welsh in Wales( %) Catalan in Catalonia (3,5 million 50%) Occitan in Val d’Aran (Spain) ( %) Ladin Valleys in South Tyrol ( ,5%) Franco Provencal in Vallée d’Aosta ( %) Frisian in Fryslân (the Netherlands) ( %)

Swedish in Finland

Strengths: Swedish in the Constitution (1917 / 2000) Language Act 2004: Municipalities are responsible for implementation of national language policy Weaknesses: Scaling up of municipality structure Growing interest of English

Swedish in Finland Strenghts of Education: Swedish compulsory for all students Inspectorate for Swedish in education in the National Board on Education Weakness of Education: Lack of qualified Swedish-speaking day care personnel

Gaelic in Scotland

Strengths: Scottish Parliament (1999) Gaelic Language Act (2005) Bord na Gaeiligh: Language Plan (5 year) + budget Weakness: 1,2 % of the population of Scotland

Gaelic in Scotland Strenghts of Education: National priority: Gaelic Medium Education “Use it, don’t lose it!” Inspectorate in Scottish Government Education Department (SGED) Weaknesses of Education: No minimum teaching hours No minimum teacher’s qualifications

Welsh in Wales

Strengths: Welsh Language Act (1993) & Welsh Language Board: Language Plan (5 year) Growth of Welsh among young people

Welsh in Wales Weakness: Ongoing debate on the arms length of the Welsh Assembly c.q. the UK government

Welsh in Wales Strengths of Education: Welsh Medium Education (33 %) Estyn: inspectorate for education Weakness of Education: Ongoing debate within the Local Education Authorities on the need, structure and content of Welsh (medium) education

Catalan in Catalonia

Strengths: Autonomous Region (1978) Strong economic power Law on Linguistic Normalisation (1983)

Catalan in Catalonia Strenghts in Education: 2015: All schools to develop to trilingual education: Catalan – Spanish – English Inspectorate incorporated in ministry of Education - special tasks for language Weakness in Education: Up coming and on goging discussion with Spanish speaking new comers on the need and structure of Catalan and bilingual education

Ladin in South-Tyrol

Strengths: Statute of Autonomy South -Tirol (1948) Revised Statute – Ladinian (1972) Weaknesses: Ladin area split in three administrations Italy has not yet ratified the Charter

Ladin in South-Tyrol Strengths of Education: Balanced trilingualism Italian-German- Ladin (Ladin as a subject only) Ladin provincial schools office: –Central appointment of teaching staff –Inspectorate and supervision by Intendënt –Istitut Pedagogich Ladin

Franco-Provencal in Vallée d’Aosta

Strenghts: Constitution of 2001 Statut special (1948 / 2001) Executive power on bilingual education: Balanced trilingualism Italian – French – German Inspectorate in Comité Consultatif Francesco Palermo (FCNM): “New dynamism with Rome”

Franco-Provencal in Vallée d’Aosta Strenghts of Education: The regional authority has the policital power to put in place and administer the education system at pre-primary, primary and secondary level. A regional Structure for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (SREV).

Frisian in Fryslân Strenghts: Language area = province 54% Frisian as mother tongue Frisian strong as a second language: 94% of population can understand Frisian 75% of population can speak Frisian Frisian strong oral cultural language

Frisian in Fryslân Weaknesses: No article in Constitution No language Act Patchwork of legal measures Language awareness & language transmission are weak

Frisian in Education Strenghts: Frisian as a subject for all pupils Language distance favours receptive bilingualism Weaknesses: Attitude of school boards, teachers, parents & pupils: much more in favour of English and Dutch than for Frisian

Trilingual education in Fryslân (1) Model used: - Group 1-6: 50 % Frisian, 50 % Dutch - Group 7-8: 40 % Frisian, 40 % Dutch, 20% English Systematic use of Frisian, Dutch and English as a medium of instruction. Interactive language education

Trilingual education in Fryslân (2) Results: - Good quality of Frisian - Results of Dutch at the same level at the end of grade 8 as all other pupils in the Netherlands - Results for English slightly better, but not significantly - Self consciousness in English better, but not significantly

Trilingual education in Fryslân (3) Developments: 50 schools in 2012 (=10% of all schools) Introduction tri-lingual schooling in secondary education Creating tri-lingual stream in Teacher Training

Future perspectives of Frisian in Education Frisian medium Pre-school: 1989: 92009: : 100 Trilingual primary Education 1998: 72009: : 50 (= 10% of all primary schools) : pilot trilingual secondary education : pilot trilingual teacher training

Devolvement of power and legislation regarding Frisian language Province Fryslân has limited say regarding Frisian Language and Culture Divergent interests and tensions between central government and province Wish: increase of authority re Frisian in education, media & culture Education: inspectorate, teacher training, teaching time, core goals

Discussion Which steps should be taken by the relevant authorities for the implementation of trilingual education? What is needed for the improvement of the quality of immersion and multilingual education? How can we provide a tailor made approach concerning the RML? What kind of research do we need?

Tankewol! Dr. Alex Riemersma Sieta de Vries Bed Friday 18 September 2009