Critical Review of Language Education Policies in Compulsory Primary and Secondary Education in Serbia

Abstract

In this paper a comparative analysis of the status of four types of languages present in the Serbian compulsory education system is presented: (1) Serbian as L1; (2) Serbian as L2 (for ethnic minorities); (3) minority languages; as well as (4) traditionally designated ‘foreign languages’, such as English, French, Russian and German, through the perspective of language policy and planning theory. It is argued that the concept of plurilingualism in education and communication still remains an idealistic construct in Serbia, as long as issues related to the political and socio-economic power of languages are not recognised and seriously taken into account. The present analysis identifies certain socio-political, educational and sociolinguistic trends which, if identified and understood properly, may help outline a theoretical model of language education policy that would favour plurilingualism and interculturalism in countries in transition such as Serbia.

Keywords:

• language policy and planning theory
• language education policy and planning
• compulsory education (primary and secondary)
• Serbian as L1 and L2
• minority languages
• foreign languages