Learning Upper Sorbian. The problems with minority language education for non-native pupils in the Upper Sorbian Grammar School in Bautzen/Budyšin

ABSTRACT

This study examines the attitudes of German-speaking pupils towards Sorbian-language education and the problems these pupils indicate as an obstacle to becoming bilingual through educational settings. Based on the research carried out in the Upper Sorbian Grammar School in Bautzen/Budyšin (Germany) combining a statistical survey, in-depth interviews with pupils and participant observation of pupils language practices, this paper discusses the case study of a school with a three-type education programme of Upper Sorbian language: immersion, bilingual, and teaching it as a foreign language. The paper contributes to the discussion on the effectiveness of bilingual and foreign minority language learning in a situation of unequal bilingualism in a territory inhabited by a small minority language community. The text presents these problems from the German-speaking pupils’ viewpoint and concerns: the teaching methods and their effectiveness; possible language contacts as a factor of acquiring a minority language; attitudes of native pupils and teachers to learners; the ideology of language ownership and speakers legitimisation. These aspects are presented in the context of different types of minority language speakers: ‘learners’, ‘new speakers’ and ‘native speakers’ and is presented against the background of the discussion on minority language education in the process of Upper Sorbian language revitalisation.

KEYWORDS:

• Upper Sorbian
• minority speech community
• language learners
• new speakers
• language ownership
• legitimised speakers

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my colleague, Dr. Cordula Ratajczak for recording the interviews and her collaboration in the research; Dr. Anna Jorroch, Institute of German Studies, University of Warsaw for contributing to the creation of the questionnaire and distribution; and Dr. Michał Kotnarowski, Institute of Political Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences for the statistical calculations. Special thanks should be given to Mr. René Wjacławk, head of the Upper Sorbian Grammar School, for allowing me to carry out my research at the school, to the pupils who agreed to take part in it and to the teachers and staff of the school.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Indexing method: N [pupils from bilingual class], M [native speakers], W [‘learners’]; gender: [F]emale / [M]ale; number – unique symbol given to interviewee; G[erman] / S[orbian] – language of interview.

Additional information

Funding

This article presents research which has been funded by a grant from the National Science Center, Poland entitled Language contact and culture conflict. Acquiring linguistic competence and cultural identity creation - the case of pupils in the Sorbian Grammar School in Bautzen (Upper Lusatia) (UMO-2016/21/B/HS2/00001).

Notes on contributors

Nicole Dołowy-Rybińska

Nicole Dolowy-Rybinska, anthropologist and sociolinguist, assistant professor in the Institute of Slavic Studies at the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw. She is interested in the issues of the European minority languages, their transmission, media, education and methods of protection and revitalisation. Her research has been supported by UNESCO (2006), Foundation for the Polish Science (2010), National Science Center (2011–2014; 2017–2020), Ministry of Science and Higher Education (2012–2015), and Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (2018–2019). Currently, she researches Upper Sorbian bilingual education and Sorbian languages revitalisation efforts.