Language Attitudes in San Sebastian

The Basque Vernacular as Challenge to Spanish Language Hegemony

Datos Bibliográficos

ID11183133
AutoresBegoña Echeverria (0000-0002-5589-3825, University of California, Riverside, autor de correspondencia)
Año2005
Volumen26
Número3
Páginas249-264
Fecha de publicación2005-05-15
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0143-4632 • E-ISSN: 1747-7557
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01434630508668407
OpenAlexW2088145710
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas12
Referencias citadas24

This paper examines the effects of Basque- versus Spanish-language schooling on the language attitudes of secondary school students in San Sebastian, in the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC) of Spain. By mandating the teaching of Basque (‘euskera’) in schools, and by requiring Basque proficiency of civil servants, the Basque government is attempting to increase the utility and use of Basque. By teaching people Basque, the Basque Government is also trying to create a link between Basque language and identity. I will show that schooling has no independent effect on language attitudes; rather, positive attitudes towards Basque are correlated with exposure to Basque in both the home and school domains. Further, whether they attend Basque- or Spanish-medium schools, students who speak only Spanish at home exhibit identical language attitudes. Finally, regardless of the language(s) they use at home and school, all students favour vernacular Basque, which is not used for instruction. This suggests that, in developing their policies and educational programmes, language planners should take into greater account how vernacular forms are used in domains outside the school, and the values students ascribe them, and how these compare with the language varieties promoted in schools

Government (linguistics · Linguistics · Medium of instruction · Neuroscience of multilingualism · Pedagogy · Political science · Sociology · Vernacular · Basque language and culture studies · Gender Studies in Language · Multilingual Education and Policy