International Journal of Bilingual
Education and Bilingualism
Editor: Colin Baker, University of Wales, Bangor
Review Editor: Aneta Pavlenko, Temple University, Philadelpia
|
Volume: 4 Number: 4 Page: 267–282
|
|
|
|
|
Language Attitudes of School Children in two Catalan/Spanish Bilingual Communities
|
|
Àngel Huguet and Enric Llurda
|
|
Catalonia and Aragon are two autonomous communities of Spain with different linguistic situations. Whereas Catalonia is officially bilingual and most people can speak both Catalan and Spanish, Aragon is
officially monolingual, and only two well-defined geographic areas can be considered bilingual. One of these areas is a relatively narrow strip of land that runs along the border between Aragon and Catalonia,
where Catalan is spoken in addition to Spanish. This area is home to about 5% of the population of Aragon and, therefore, the local language does not enjoy the same recognition and official support
as in Catalonia. A questionnaire on the attitudes of school children on both sides of the border was conducted to detect (1) any attitudinal differences towards Catalan and Spanish between the two communities;
and (2) any attitudinal effect of attending optional Catalan classes on the Aragonese side. Responses are classified into three possible categories: unfavourable, neutral and favourable. Results show that
unfavourable attitudes to any language are almost non-existent on both sides but differences appear when neutral and favourable attitudes are considered.
© Multilingual Matters 2001
Full text PDF
|
