Attitudes to bilingual education in Slovenia

Abstract

The two different models of bilingual/multilingual education that have been developed in Slovenia since the 1950s in the regions of Prekmurje (minority language Hungarian) and Slovene Istria (Italian) are the result of international agreements, education and language policies, social and demographic factors. The basic aim in both cases is to help ensure the equal rights of the minority community, their language and their culture. In this paper, we shall present the historical and social background to the development of these two models, and describe the way in which language and education policies are applied in these two mixed areas. Drawing upon empirical research, we shall also consider how successful the models have been in achieving their stated goals. Finally, we shall present the results of research into attitudes and perceptions among parents and children toward multilingual and multicultural education in these two Slovene regions, using the collected data to compare the relative success of the two different models in the eyes of the local communities.

Keywords:

• bilingual education
• Slovenia
• Slovene language policy
• Italian national minority
• Hungarian national minority
• Slovene Istria
• Prekmurje

Notes on contributors

Sonja Novak Lukanovič is a researcher at the Institute for Ethnic Studies and associate professor in the Department of Comparative and General Linguistics at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts. Her research work is focused on minority language and education in pluralistic societies as well as on language accommodation and economic aspects of language.

David Limon is associate professor at the Department of Translation, University of Ljubljana. His research interests include intercultural transfer, multiculturalism, language and identity, bilingual education, sociological aspects of translation and genre analysis. He regularly translates literary and other texts from Slovene into English.

Notes

1. See: http://www.mss.gov.si/fileadmin/mss.gov.si/pageuploads/podrocje/razvoj_solstva/Jeziki/Prerez_politike_izobrazevanja.doc.

2. http://www.us-rs.si/o-sodiscu/pravna-podlaga/ustava/i-splosne-dolocbe/?lang=1.

3. http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Cadre1_en.asp.

4. Izvedbena navodila za izvajanje programa 9-letne dvojezične sole [Guidelines for implementing the 9-year bilingual school programme. Institute of Education]. Zavod za šolstvo, Ljubljana 2005.

5. The Comenius 2.1 project Promotion of Minority Languages in Multilingual Areas with an Emphasis on Teacher Education (2003–2006) and the Comenius 2.1 project INFO – Defining a Model for Training Teachers in Multilingual Environments (2005–2007), both led by Nives Zudič Antonič of Primorska University.

6. Both documents available at http://ec.europa.eu/languages/eu-language-policy/multilingualism_en.htm.