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Language Policies of Galician
Is protected by the Galician Autonomy Statute (1982), which specifies that both Galician and Castilian are the official languages.
The Galician Linguistic Standardization Act (1983) promotes Galician in all domains of society.
The regional government of Galicia also encourages the teaching and use of Galician in other regions where the language is spoken as a vernacular.
After five centuries of repression of the Galician community, in 1978, the Magna Carta stipulated that the Spanish Kingdom -
Policies of Bilingualism in Galicia
As a consequence of this pressure on cultural and political sectors, the Consello da Xunta de Galicia and the Consejeria Education da Junta de Castilla y León, signed an agreement in May 2001 to promote Galician education (as an optional subject in primary schools) in Bierzo Occidental (provinces of León and Zamora).
In 1981, the Galician language and literature became compulsory subjects at all educational levels (except in higher education). -
Policies of Bilingualism in Galician
The Law of Linguistic Normalization was later expanded by a Decree entitled the Incorporation of the Galician language in Education.
Currently Galician is the official language of all educational institutions.
All children have the right to receive instructions in their mother tongue (Galician or Spanish) at pre-school and the first two years of primary school. -
Policies of Bilingualism in Galician
According to the law, each student at the age of 8 to 16 must have the Galician language as a subject and two to four subjects with Galician as the language of instruction.
Concerning the other subjects, nothing is regulated.
PRE-SCHOOLS
The Linguistic Normalization Law has established the following parameters for pre-schools and the first cycle of primary schools: “Teachers will use the language that prevails among the pupils in a class. -
Policies of Bilingualism in Galician
They will take into account the environmental language and will teach the other official language of Galicia orally and in writing, within the appropriate limits of the term or course.” (Decree 247/95) -
Valencian Community
The Statute of Autonomy of the Valencian Community (5/1982) specifies that the official languages of the region are Valencian, the name given by the Statute of Autonomy to the Catalan variety spoken in Valencia, and Castilian.
In 1983 the Act on Use and Teaching of Valencian (4/1983) was passed to encourage and spread the use of the language. -
Navarra
The Statute of the Navarre Autonomous Community (1982) states that Castilian is the official language and that Basque also has official status in the Basque-speaking as well as in mixed areas. -
Balearic Islands
The Statute of Autonomy of Balearic Islands (2/1983) states that Catalan and Castilian have equal status on the islands. -
Balearic Islands
The Linguistic Normalization Act (3/1986) passed by the Balearic Parliament in 1986 aims of making Catalan the normal working language of administration and the normal medium of instruction in schools. -
Navarra
A 1986 Language Act defines the limits of these zones, allowing Basque to be used for official purposes in the Basque speaking zones, and for some purposes in other areas. -
Asturian (The Educational System General Regulations Act of 1990)
The Principality of Asturias guarantees the voluntary teaching of Asturian at all levels of the educational system.
Although it is a voluntary subject, the teaching of Asturian will be a part of the curriculum (it will be taught within the teaching timetable and will form a part of a student's school record).
It is the Principality's responsibility to enact the Curriculum Decrees for the teaching of the Asturian language. -
Asturian (The Educational System General Regulations Act of 1990)
The Principality will establish the procedures for authorization of the textbooks. -
Language policies of their country throughout its history
In December 2000, the regional conservative government of Navarre approved a linguistic decree that brought linguistic controversy to the northern territory of Spain where Basque is widely spoken. -
Language policies of their country throughout its history
The main objective of the new regulation was to guarantee the status of Spanish as the official language, although the autonomic legal system in Spain establishes that those areas with a second language, such as Navarre, the Basque Country, Catalonia or the Balearic Islands must guarantee that all official institutions should be completely bilingual. -
THE ARAGON LANGUAGE
Give a co-official status to the Catalan, Spanish and Aragonese languages, which are spoken by a million of the population in that region (approximately 70,000 Catalan speakers and 40,000 Aragonese speakers).
Give those languages legal protection.
Guarantee the right to receive education in one's native language.
Adjust place names and personal names to the original language.
Create an institution to supervise the normalization of both languages. -
Asturian
The Council of the Asturian town Nava approved in June (2001) a series of municipal ordinances concerning the official status of the Asturian language.
The ordinances guarantee the use of the language in the rapports with the local administration, in public bilingual labels, the establishment of annual plans for development and teaching of the language and other provisions.
Nava's Council is the first among the Asturian speaking towns to recognize and regulate its citizen's linguistic rights. -
Language policies of their country throughout its history
These regulations were put into practice in February 2001 in the so called “Basque zone,” or the northern part of Navarre.
The result was a linguistic policy, which, among other things, reduced the number of public jobs that previously required an official degree in Basque.
It also eliminated a number of bilingual signs and made them monolingual Spanish and allowed the printing of administrative documents exclusively in Spanish. -
Basque
The text establishes that both Spanish and Basque will have a co-official status and makes it clear that all citizens will have the right to use them.
This would modify the present situation where, according to Article 3 of the Spanish Constitution, all Basques may speak Basque but, as Spanish citizens, they are obliged to have knowledge of Spanish. -
BASQUE
In September 2003, the President of the Basque Government, Juan José Ibarretxe, will officially present a plan to the Basque Parliament.
This plan, also known as “Plan Ibarretxe,” is aimed at greater political autonomy and is legally based upon the right of self-determination and the historic rights of the Basque nation.
The President's proposal includes a series of guarantees to make sure that the Basque language will survive in the future. -
Bilinguals schools in Spain
The president of the Community of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre (September 2005), announced that next year a total of 80 state schools will offer their pupils a bilingual (Spanish-English) education.
Teaching staff in the schools which have chosen to become bilingual will start attending an intensive English course this month.
President Aguirre confirmed that the number of schools offering bilingual education in the Madrid Community will rise to 110 over the next two years. -
Bilinguals schools in Spain
For the past couple of decades Spaniards have increasingly recognized how important it is to have a good command of written and spoken English.
The relatively recent inclusion of English in the national curriculum at primary school level, as well as a substantial rise in the number private schools offering bilingual Spanish-English education and private academies offering children and adults intensive English courses are all an indication of the demand for good quality English tuition. -
CONTROVERSY OVER INCORPORATION OF BORDERING GALICIAN SPEAKING AREAS INTO GALICIA
The Spanish regions of Asturias and Castile, where Galician is the traditional language spoken, are to be incorporated into Galicia.
This new proposition has created a political controversy between politicians from these regions and the Galician nationalists, Bloque Nacionalista Galego (BNG), who govern Galicia in a coalition with socialists. -
CONTROVERSY OVER INCORPORATION OF BORDERING GALICIAN SPEAKING AREAS INTO GALICIA
At the beginning of December 2005, nationalists (BNG) presented their proposal for a new Autonomous Charter, which have to be discussed with the other Galician political parties.
They suggested that the bordering councils with similar historical, cultural, economical and geographical characteristics should be incorporated into Galicia. -
THE CATALAN LANGUAGE AND THE PROPOSED REVISION OF THE CATALAN STATUTE OF AUTONOMY OF 2005 (Article 6)
The public authorities of Catalonia shall establish the necessary measures to enable the exercise of these rights and the fulfillment of this duty. -
Article 35. Linguistic rights in the field of education
Each individual has the right to receive an education in Catalan, as established in this Statute. Catalan shall be used as the teaching and learning language for university and non-university education.
Pupils have the right to receive an education in Catalan at the non-university level. -
THE CATALAN LANGUAGE AND THE PROPOSED REVISION OF THE CATALAN STATUTE OF AUTONOMY OF 2005
Catalonia's own language is Catalan. As such, Catalan is the language of normal and preferential use in all Catalan public administration bodies and in the public media, and is also the language of normal use for teaching and learning in the education system.
Catalan is the official language of Catalonia, together with Castilian, the official language of the Spanish State. Each individual in Catalonia has the right to use and the right and duty to know the official languages. -
Article 35. Linguistic rights in the field of education
They also have the right and obligation to have a sufficient oral and written knowledge of Catalan and Castilian upon completing compulsory education, whatever their habitual language of use when starting their education. The Catalan and Castilian languages shall be sufficiently represented in the curricula.
Pupils have the right not to be separated into centers or different class groups based on their habitual language of use. -
Article 35. Linguistic rights in the field of education
Policies for the promotion of the Catalan language shall be spread to the whole of the State, the European Union and the rest of the world. -
Valencia Article 6
The specific language of the Valencian Community is Valencian.
The Valencian language is the official one in the Valencian Community, as is Castilian, which is the official language of the state. Everyone has the right to know and use them, and to be educated in the Valencian language and to learn it.
The Generalitat will guarantee the normal and official use of both languages, and will adopt the necessary measures in order to guarantee their knowledge.
No-one shall be discriminated due to hi -
BASQUE WILL NOT BE THE MAIN TEACHING LANGUAGE IN SCHOOLS
Basque has ceased to be the main teaching language in the schools of the Basque autonomous community after Patxi Lopez' government amended several decrees on education.
According to the amended decrees, which will come into force next academic year, Spanish and Basque languages will stand on equal footing.
As the administration will establish no priority regarding language, it seems that the choice will rest on the decisions of individual schools and institutes.
