Teachers’ view on the elements that enhance and hamper Basque and Occitan teaching in southern France: an exploratory approach

ABSTRACT

This study focuses on Basque and Occitan teaching in southern France, where both are minority languages. More precisely, it aims to analyze teachers’ view on the elements that enhance and hamper Basque and Occitan teaching. It considers the concept of phronesis or teacher effect to refer to the diverse strategies used by teachers to constantly adapt to students’ needs and context. This study presents an exploratory collaborative participatory approach based on a sequential explanatory design used with Basque and Occitan secondary school teachers. The results indicate that teachers tend to highlight the role that their implication plays in learning the target language. Teachers also mention that contextual elements hamper target language learning. The study concludes that teacher implication to promote student motivation is much based on the emotional bond created with the teacher. It also relates the concept of phronesis to that of teacher implication to promote student motivation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ On April 8, 2021, the French National Assembly approved a draft law on the protection and promotion of heritage and regional languages, which is expected to have a positive impact on teaching methods and allow for their development (French Senate, 2021).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elizabeth Pérez-Izaguirre

Elizabeth Pérez-Izaguirre is a member of the Department of Didactics and School Organization (DOE), at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). She is a member of the Ethics in Communities of Practices research group (ETICOP-IT). Her research interests are focused on education in general, including the processes of teaching and learning in formal and informal environments. More precisely, she has conducted research on teaching practices, the constitution of identity and teacher-to-student interaction, and the role of language in Basque multi-ethnic education using qualitative and ethnographic methods. Some of her other areas of interest include ethnographic research in art and art learning.

Marie-Anne Châteaureynaud

Marie-Anne Châteaureynaud is a senior lecturer in applied linguistics at the Institut National Supérieur de l’Education at the University of Bordeaux. Her research work focuses on Occitan, minority languages, sociolinguistics, socio-didactics of languages and plurilingualism.

José F. Amiama

José F. Amiama is a professor in the Department of Didactics and School Organization (DOE) at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). He is a coordinator in the Master’s Degree in Secondary School Training. He is a member of the Inkluni Research Group and focuses on school inclusion. He is also a teacher trainer and facilitator in educational centers.