Bilingualism, Immersion Programmes and Language Learning in the Basque Country1

David Lasagabaster University of the Basque Country, Facultad de Filología, Geografía e Historia, Dpto. Filología Inglesa y Alemana, Paseo de la Universidad, 5, Apt. Postal 2111, 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain

The aimof thispaper is to provide informationconcerning the educational system in theBasque Country, asthe literature currently available in foreignlanguages regardingthis subject is scant. The Basquelanguage coexists with Spanish in the BasqueAutonomous Community (BAC),the former being themajority language and thelatter the minority one. Thispaper gives a briefinsight into theBasque Country and theBasque language (number of speakersand actualuse of theminority language)and thereverse language shift efforts made to date,before focusing on itsmain theme, that of immersionprogrammes. The linguisticand non-linguisticresults obtained so far willbe analysed, as wellas comparedwith those of theSpanish educationalsystem. The conclusion reachedis that the effects of bilingualismand immersionprogrammes areclearly beneficial in theBasque context. However, it should beborne in mind that theseimmersion programmes are seenas a necessarystep towards multilingualism at school,a parentaldemand withwhich theBasque educational system intends to deal.

The Basque Country: Location There isnot a greatdeal of informationavailable in foreign languagesabout the Basqueeducational system, which iswhy thispaper startsby giving ageneral picture of the countryand the language, tofocus finally onthe educational systemitself. The BasqueCountry is a smallBasque speaking areawith about 2,500,000inhabitants. It covers an area bordering the Pyrenees andthe Bayof Biscay,that in the northof the Pyrenees being partof Franceand thatin the south belonging toSpain. The BasqueCountry refers therefore tothe areaoccupied by the Basquespeech community.The communityof Basquespeakers is split up intothree politicalunits: the BasqueAutonomous Community (BAC) and Navarrein Spain, andthe AtlanticPyrenees Departmentin France(Figure 1), alsoknown as continental Basque Country (Iparraldea in Basque).This paper will dealwith the BAC.It is worth remembering thatSpain isdivided into17 autonomous communities, the BAC being one of them. The BAC,establishedby the Statuteof Autonomyof 1979,encompasses three provinces:Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa. Since 1982,and as aresultof the Basic Lawon the Standardisationof Basque, this has become abilingual community where bothBasque (the minoritylanguage) andSpanish (the majoritylanguage) are official languages.

401 402 Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development

Figure 1 Map of the Basque Country The Basque Language (Euskera) The Basquelanguage isprobably one ofthe oldestlanguages in Europe and canbe seen asone ofthe mainsymbols representing the identity ofour community.It was the only pre-Indo-European language in the Spanish statethat managedto overcomethe pressure exerted byLatin.Most European languages stemfrom two language families:the Indo-European andthe Uralicfamilies. However,the originof the Basquelanguage isan unresolved question,since it hasno knownlinguistic relatives. Whereas most western European languages stemfrom the Indo-European, thisis notthe casewith Basque. Different theories havebeen proposedconcerning the originof Basque,three ofwhich stand out fromthe others(Intxausti, 1992): (1) The firstone suggestsa linguisticrelation- ship between Basqueand old Iberian, anon-Indo-European language thatdied outduring the Romanconquest; (2) asecondhypothesis advocates a kinship between Basqueand northern African languages; (3) whereasthe thirdtheory Language Learning in the Basque Country 403

supportsits relationship with the Caucasianlanguages. However, while allthese theories have their supporters, none of them has yet been vindicated. Asfar as written remainders are concerned, it is worth mentioning that althoughthe firsttext on paper comesfrom the 11thcentury (just afew wordson aLatinmanuscript), the firstbook, LinguaeVasconum Primitiae by Bernard Etxepare,was not published until 1545(for further informationon the Basque language see Hualde et al.,1995).In thisbook the author‘ expresseshis pride in being the firstBasque writer to appear in print,and encourages his fellow coun- trymento help in the taskof turning Basqueinto a language ofhigh culture’ (Zuazo, 1995: 12). MostBasques, being basicallyan illiterategroup, hadlittle contact with the writtenversion of the language. Basquewas not used in the administrationand itssociolinguistic situation was a very goodexample ofdiglossia. The 18th century turned outto be decisive in the decline ofBasque. In 1716the absolutist monarchy’s trendin favourof centralisation reached the linguisticsphere and Castilianwas introduced as the only officiallanguage ofthe monarchy.In France,after the French Revolution(1798), French wasalsoproposed as the only officiallanguage ofthe Republic. In bothcases the use ofother languages was forbidden. Moreover,later on one rootfactor in the decline ofthe Basquelanguage was industrialisation,which had two main side effects: ‘One wasin-migration, the arrivalof large numbers ofnon-Basque speaking workersin the new industrial towns.The secondwas the ever-growing urbanisationof Basquespeakers. Thus, increasingly,Basques who had not previously needed Spanish found itneces- saryto learnand use it,as they movedto the towns’(Gardner, 2000: 26). Like- wise,Zuazo (1995) points out that there arethree mainfactors that have determined andstill determine the evolutionof the Basquelanguage nowadays; the smallnumber ofBasque speakers, its limited territory,and the administrative division that it has suffered. The firstreal attempts to develop somelanguage planning toensure its survivaldid not take place until the beginning ofthiscentury. Thusin 1918a culturalsociety called EuskoIkaskuntza wasfounded, anda yearlater the Academyof the BasqueLanguage or Euskaltzaindia wascreated. However, all these effortswere savagelyinterrupted in 1937,when allthe Basqueterritory in Spain cameunder Franco´s control.One ofthe earliestmeasures taken by the dictatorwas to forbid the use ofthe Basquelanguage, notonly atschool,but also in every single socialsphere, andthose who violated this were persecuted. For example, thoseteachers who were members ofnationalist parties were forcedto give up their jobs,and those who sympathised with them were movedto other regions(Torrealday, 1998). This had an obvious and damaging impact on the number ofBasquespeakers (numbers fell dramatically),although during the last decade(1965– 1975) this linguistic repression was somewhat lessened, asthe regime wasbreaking downand was not as oppressive asbefore. However,the figures speak forthemselves: at the beginning ofthe 20thcentury 83%of the populationin the BACcouldspeak Basque,whereas after the importantmigra- torymovements towards this community and Franco´ s regime, thispercentage had plunged to 24% (Etxeberria, 1999). 404 Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development

The mostrecent attemptby the Basquespeech communityto reverse the decline ofitsmother tongue canbe divided intotwo phases(Gardner, 2000). The firstphase spansthe period fromthe 1950stothe end ofthe 1970s,and the second one fromthen tonow.The key forthis division is the period from1975 to 1980, thatis to say,the transitionfrom a dictatorshipto a constitutionalmonarchy. The firstphase ischaracterised by very harshconditions for all those involved in the defence andsurvival of the Basquelanguage, since they lackedofficial support, minimumresources, or any legal framework.The Ikastola orBasque school, where the authorof thisarticle started to learnthrough the medium ofBasquein Vitoria-Gasteiz,for example, hadto startfrom scratch. In fact,during itsearly yearsthe lessonstook place in secretin the house ofthe personwho, once the Ikastola became legal, wouldbe itsfirst director. During the late1950s and early 1960s,meetings ofsmallgroups in privateflats to receive arudimentaryeduca- tionin Basquewas commonpractice. These teachershad obviously no degree or qualificationto teachin Basque,as noteacher training existed for it. To put itin a nutshell, the situationwas extremely precariousdue tothe lackof trainedBasque speaking teachers,shortage of teaching materials and extremely limited economicresources. Despite allthese hindrances,several important steps were taken,such as the firstmajor decisions towards the achievement ofa unified writtenstandard in 1968and the establishmentof the firstBasque language certificates in 1974 by Euskaltzaindia . Since Basqueacquired co-official status with Spanish in 1978efforts to revive the language havebeen madeonthe partof bothpublic andprivate institutions (Cenoz& Perales,1997). Research carried out in the BACby the BasqueStatistics Institute (Eustat) divides language speakers according to three categories: (1) Basque speakers: this group is made up of fluent Basque speakers. (2) Quasi-Basquespeakers: those who can speak Basquewith difficulty and who can understand it well or reasonably well. (3) Spanish speakers:those people whocan neither speak norunderstand Basque. Acomparisonof the number ofspeakersin eachof these groupsin 1981and 1991 can be seen in Table 1. Table 1 Number of Basque, Quasi-Basque and Spanish speakers BAC 1981 1991 Speakers Percentage Speakers Percentage Basque speakers 447,776 21.56 542,387 26.22 Quasi-Basque 300,394 14.47 350,454 16.94 speakers Spanish mono- 1,328,278 63.97 1,176,086 56.84 linguals Population 2,076,448 2,068,927 older than 2 Source: Eustat, Isasi 1994. Language Learning in the Basque Country 405

Wecansee thatthe number ofSpanish monolingualshas decreased by more than7% from 1981 to 1991, which equates to the percentage increaseby the Basqueand quasi-Basque speakers (it isimportant to considerthat monolinguals in Basqueare only 1%ofthe population).Nevertheless, it is the use ofalanguage in societywhich really showsits vitality. A study(Altuna, 1998) was completed in the BACin 1997,in whichthe language used by morethan 260,000 people was scrutinisedby meansof direct observation. This study came up withthe following:that in ArabaBasque was used 2.93%of the time;in Bizkaia6.56% and in Gipuzkoa22.92%. Yet, these resultscan be comparedwith those of two similar studiescarried out eight andfour yearsbefore, in1989and 1993 (Iñ igo, 1994), a comparisonwhich proves that in sucha shortperiod oftimethe use ofBasque hasincreased by 31%in the BACasawhole.This is clearly displayed in Figure 2 and Figure 3.

Araba Bizka ia Gipuzkoa BAC

25.00% 22.92% 20.00% 19.66% 17.02% 15.00% 9.99% 8.97% 10.00% 7.62% 6.21% 5.39% 6.56% 5.00% 2.56% 2.04% 2.93% 0.00% 1989 1993 1997

Figure 2 Percentage use of Basque in the BAC Source: Altuna, 1998.

1989 1993 1997

16.00%

14.00% % 2 7 . %

12.00% 4 7 1 8 . 2 %

10.00% 1 4 % 2 7 . % % % 9 1 9 . 3 % 3 1 9 0 9 5 % % . 8.00% 7 . . 1 2 7 5 9 9 . 9 9 7 9 . % . % 8 % 6 8 0 2 6.00% 7 . 6 6 . % . 7 7 0 7 6 . 6

4.00% % 5 0 . 2.00% 5

0.00% ChildrenYoungstersAdults Elde rly Tota l

Figure 3 Percentage use of Basque depending on age group Source: Altuna, 1998. 406 Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development

Therefore, itcanbe statedthat there isa steady,albeit small,increase in the number ofpeople whocan and do speak Basquein their everyday life, especially amongchildren andyoung people; but despite this,Basque is still clearly a minoritylanguage. Itis also worth noting that nearly half ofthe Basquespeakers arefound in the province ofGipuzkoa(Zuazo, 1995). In the BACthe percentages accordingto mothertongue arethe following:Basque (20.5%), Spanish (75.8%) and both (3.7%) (Basque Government, 1996). Anotherimportant question to bear in mindhas to do with the scantpresence of Basquein the workingworld, and it is clear that few jobsin the privatesector have aformallanguage requirement. Gardner(2000: 36) points out that ‘ a1996survey of vacancyadvertisements for degree holderspublished in the localpress of the BAC suggeststhat Basque was required orpositively valued in justunder 10%of the vacancies.On the otherhand, English wasrequired orvalued for57% of the posts’. These figures shouldprove ofinterest to those who consider that Basque is given toomuch importanceand the effortsmade to date are more than enough. Due tothe enormoussociolinguistic diversity which exists in the BAC,the opportunitiesto use the Basquelanguage in everyday activitiesvaries greatly fromone place toanother. Some French andSpanish speakers(many in the past andafew stillin the present) haveusually regarded Basqueas arurallanguage, suitableperhaps fordomestic and rural purposes, but notfor the modernworld, university ortechnology.The mainproblem, however,is thatalthough measures havebeen takenin orderto promoteits use in the scientificand technological world(which affectsa smallnumber ofusers),language planners havenot taken measuresto fosterits social use, whichis what really hasa moredirect effect ona great number of Basque speakers. In this sense Zuazo (1995: 23) underlines that: the revitalizationof the Academyof the Language orEuskaltzaindia,and the opening, afterFranco´ s death,of Basquephilology departmentsat the Universitiesof the BasqueCountry, have made it possible forthe formation of a whole new generation of researchers in the country itself. Itis worthnoticing the negative attitudesof someSpanish-speaking sectors, whoafter having initially shown some tolerance, nowadays consider that there existsan unjustified discriminationin favourof Basquespeakers. Gardner (2000: 82) lists their main complaints: Maintenance,but notexpansion, of Basque. To this end somewould limit the area of the BAC where Basque is official. Lesspublic money forand less government speed in implementation, because other policies deserve greater priority. Spanish speaking teachers´and public servants´job securityand right to use Spanish only shouldbe given precedence overthose of Basque speakersto deal with the administrationand to receive schoolingin the language of their choice. The moreextremists defend thatBasque is drowning Spanish, although the results shownin Table 1clearlyrun counterto this statement. Besides, more than 92% of Spanish speaking adultsdo not learn the minoritylanguage, as a resultof which the reverse language shiftis fundamentally based on the school(Rodrí guez, 1999). Language Learning in the Basque Country 407

In Navarrethe picture ismoreblurred. Many factorsmake this happen: the language only enjoys co-officialstatus in partsof the territory,there aremany impediments forits normal development atuniversity, there isno teacher trainingin Basque, ikastola schoolshave to face manyproblems froma legal perspective, English hasa higher socialrecognition than Basque, and so onand so forth. Asfaras the continentalBasque community is concerned, it has to be saidthat Franceis the only member ofthe European Union,whose constitution watches overa privileged positionfor just one officiallanguage in allits territory, while at the sametime the historicallypresent linguistic minoritieshave no statusat all (Sanmarti,1996: 83); and there areseven linguistic minorities(Alsatian, Basque, Breton,Catalan, Corsican, Flemish andOccitan) within its borders. The Basque minorityis not an exception; the French statehas traditionally denied themany legal oreducational rank at official level. Moreover,the partof the Basque Countrysituated in Francehas suffered agreatdegree ofinwardmigration – up tothe pointthat in the districtof Lapurdi43% ofitspopulation were bornoutside the area.The number ofadultBasque speakers is greater than that of under-16s, whichmanifestly exhibits the existing breachin the intergenerationaltransmis- sionof the Basquelanguage in the northof the Pyrenees. Despite the lackof any legal supportfor Basque, the percentage ofBasquespeakers in thisarea is of 32%.

Immersion Programmes in the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC) Asisthe casein mostWestern countries with a minoritylanguage, education hasbeen the mainforce when attemptingto help the Basquelanguage tosurvive. Asa result,the Basqueeducational system has undergone anenormouschange in the lasttwo decades. In the followingsection this evolution will be briefly analysed.

A historical review Aspreviously explained, before allparents could legally choosethe language ofeducationof their children, there were somewho were alreadyexercising their rightto doso. Thisis the caseof the ikastola schoolswhich sprang up in the 1960s togive children the chanceto use the language oftheir ancestorsand tofosterits culture. The ikastola schoolscontinue toplay avitallyimportant part in the survival and recovery of the Basque language. By1976there were three different types ofschoolin the BAC:apublic sector;a privatesector (overwhelmingly ownedby religious ordersof the RomanCath- olicChurch); andthe ikastola sector.In 1982,with the passingof theBasic Law on theStandardisation of theBasque Language ,every student´s rightto be taughtin Basqueand Spanish wasrecognised, as aresultof which three linguistic models (modelsA, BandD) were establishedin the followingyear. During the firstfew yearsafter the end ofthe dictatorshipthere wasafairly clear-cutpicture: Model B (apartial immersion programme) was predominantin the public sector,model D (atotal immersion programme for those students with Spanish astheir L1anda maintenanceprogramme for those with Basque as L1) was established in the ikastolaschools ,andmodel A (aregular programmewith Basque only asasubject) 408 Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development reigned supreme in the privateschools. From their originthe ikastolaschools were legally privateas aresultof their attemptto secure studentstheir schooling using the medium ofBasque. Nevertheless, from the late1970s the public sector startedto deal with this parental demand for teaching of andin Basque.Hence politiciansdecided in 1993to put anend tothe separate ikastola network by makingthem choose between the public orprivatesectors; the resultwas that about65% ofthemopted for the privatesector. Those ikastola schoolsin aweaker positionfinancially were the onesthat joined the public sector.As Gardner (2000: 58)puts it ‘ ikastolaschools no longer legally constitutea separateschool network,though the name,and in manycases, a ratherBasque-er atmosphere thanin the general run ofstateand private schools still survives’ . Since 1993half ofthe totalschool population is enrolled in the public sectorand the otherhalf in the private sector.

Teachers and teacher training The shortageof qualified teacherscould be consideredas the firstand biggest hurdle thatBasque medium educationhas had to overcome. Consider the followingstatement: in 1977only 5%of stateprimary teachers could speak Basque(Basque Government,1990), and they were notgenerally proficient in its use in writingor foracademic purposes. Basque was not even heardin teacher trainingcolleges, so there waslittle chance of trainingteachers able toteachin and through Basque. Thisis the reasonwhy the trainingquestion was immediatelyhandled by the BasqueGovernment. The so-calledIRALE, an in-service retrainingprogramme, wasestablished in orderto provide practisingteachers with opportunities to acquirethe required level ofBasque.With this in mind,two linguistic profiles (PL) were established:(1) PL1:elementary knowledge ofBasque: (2) PL2:qualifi- cation to teach in Basque. Time constraintsplaced onteachersto obtainthe necessarylanguage profile arerather loose, and for those aged over45 itis not compulsory. These conditions,in conjunctionwith the factthat there aresometeachers with no profile in positionswhere P1or P2are required, orwith a homologationof profiles that were provisionalin origin,have come in fora greatdeal of criticismfrom some educationalsectors (Rodrí guez, 1999).Whereas the ‘Basquisation’process is fairly advancedin primaryeducation (25% of the public teachingsector and 35% inthe privatehave no profile atall),in secondaryeducation the situationis worse (37%in the public sectorand 55% in privateeducation). The latterconfirms the existence ofan imbalance between Basqueteaching needs andresources. In orderto meet the challenges ofBasqueeducation, all new teachingstaff should be bilingual. Asfar as the linguisticprofile isconcerned, the percentage of pre-university teachingstaff is as follows: 31% haveno profile atall,9% PL1and 60% PL2 (Zalbide, 1998). Thoseteachers who are interested in takingpart in one ofthe IRALEcourses need todemonstrateinterest and willingness by achieving aminimum level of competence in Basquebeforehand; thatis to say,participation is not allowed for thosewho have to learn Basque from scratch. Teachers are offered partor full-time release fromteachingduties on full salaryfor a period up tothree school years(1500 took advantage of these facilitiesduring the 1999–2000 school year). Language Learning in the Basque Country 409

The governmentpays for both the learner´s tuitionand the corresponding supply teacher.Although the opportunityto take part is offered irrespective of the mothertongue ofthe teacher,the release period fornative speakers of Basque hasalways turned outto be shorterthan that for non-natives (Gardner, 2000). As the teachershortage has gradually decreased, the level ofcompetence demanded toachieve the necessarylinguistic profile hasincreased. In the pastit was considered thatif the workingenvironment was sufficiently supportive,the linguistic improvementwould continue witheveryday practice.Nowadays, however, it is more difficult to pass these Basque language exams than it was 15 years ago. Itis also worth mentioning the importantrole played by the ikastolaschools regarding innovationin aspectssuch as the language abilityof the teachingstaff, methodology,and the productionof textbooks (Arzamendi & Genesee, 1997; Gardner,2000). Similarly, it is important to remember thatthe Schoolsof Magisterio (orTeacher Training Schools) have accomplished a very importantjob in Basquisatingmany of the teachersthat have received their teachingcertifica- tionfrom the 1980sonwards; the TeacherTraining School in Donostia,for example, hashad a greatimpact on the teachingpractices done in manyschools in Gipuzkoa. In ordernot to infringe upon the linguisticrights of the community,the Departmentof Education is in chargeof linguistic planning; even so,conflict sometimes occurs. Asteachers tend tohave considerable influence in schoolcommunity decisions,there isno guarantee that in suchcircumstances parents´ interests wouldbe fully protected,particularly where the interestof teachers are notably at variance with those of parents. (Gardner, 2000: 57) Nowadaysit is estimated that about 60% of practising teachers have already been qualified toteach in Basque,which, depending onthe source,is interpreted ashighly satisfactoryor unsatisfactory(these arethe inherent risksto statistics). Unluckily, Basquedepends toomuch stillon governmentalsupport, rather than on the flow of natural life (Fishman, 1991).

Governmental support Apartfrom the teachertraining programme ( IRALE)previously dealtwith, there isalso a vigorousadult language learning movement,run chiefly by the government,through HABE (the organisationin chargeof promotingBasque learning foradults) and by the independent bodiesAEK andIKA (which teach Basqueto adults). The presence ofBasque is similarly reinforced by meansof extra-curricularactivities which are subsidised by the government,such as: LinguisticNormalisation Projects aimed at the whole community(administration,parents, etc.), theatre schools, choirs, stays in Basquespeaking areas, summeractivities in Basque,the twinning ofschoolsin different areas,Basque writers visiting the schools, cinema films in Basque, amongst others. The elaborationof materialsin Basqueis also a matterof paramountimportance.In the 1970sthe materialswere very scant(22 educational books according toTorrealday, 1981) andaimedonly atprimary education, since itwas not until the 1980sthat materials for secondary education were created.Furthermore, the Basquemarket was very limited,and so publishers were notvery interestedin 410 Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development developing the necessarymaterials. This situation led the BasqueGovernment to implement the EIMA programmein 1982,with the objective ofsupporting economicallythe creationof materials.The EIMA programmecomprises not only the publicationof textbooks,but alsoaudio-visual resources, software and the formationof workinggroups dedicated to the design ofnew materials.In summary,the BasqueGovernment´ s supportis indispensable, essentialand fundamental.

Three linguistic models Since the passingin 1983of the lawestablishing the use ofthe Basque language atpre-university levels in the BAC,anddue tothe existence ofdifferent socialattitudes towards bilingualism, there arethree linguistic modelsin which children can complete their studies: Model A: thisis a regular programmein whichSpanish isthe vehicle language andBasqueis taught only asasubject (four tofive hoursper week). The L1ofthe studentsis Spanish. Although itwas originally designed toinclude some subjects in Basquein the lastyears of compulsory education, which would make itcomparable with the Canadianlate partial immersion (Genesee, 1983),this original resolution has been discarded. The Basque language objectives in this model are: to understand Basque well; to be able to give basic explanations in Basque on everyday matters; to prepare the student for participation in Basque environments; to strengthen positive attitudes towards Basque. Even so,these studentsexhibit morenegative attitudestowards the minority language than their bilingual counterparts (Madariaga, 1992, 1994). Model B: thisis an early partial immersion programme in which bothBasque andSpanish areused asmeans of instruction.These students´L1 is usually Spanish, althoughthere maybe somerare exceptions with Basque as their L1.In thismodel the firstthree schoolingyears (kindergarten) aregenerally taught throughBasque. At the age ofsix,that is to say,the firstyear of primaryeducation,they startto learn the reading–writing process and mathematics in Spanish. Some schoolsevolved towardsa more intensive modelB, in whichthe reading–writing process and part or the whole subject ofMathsis performed in Basque(this question will be dealtwith in moredepth in the followingsection). Withoutany doubt this is the mostheterogeneous modeland, depending on different factors– suchas the sociolinguisticsetting in whichthe schoolis located orthe availabilityof Basque teaching staff – the timeallotted to each of the languages varies considerably. The Basque language objectives in this model are: toacquiresuitable competence toperform in Basqueas well assecuring a high level of comprehension; to prepare students to carry out further studies in Basque. Model D: atotalimmersion programme for those students whose L1 isSpanish anda maintenanceprogramme for those with Basque as L1 (unlike Finland or Canada,where totalimmersion programmes are only used withstudents who Language Learning in the Basque Country 411

haveno knowledge ofthe vehicle language). Spanish istaught as asubject for only four to five hours per week. Although someschools tend tokeep nativeand non-native speakers of Basque separate,in thismodel qualitative research is needed withrespect to the presence ofstudentswith a different L1in the sameclassroom. This is a very interesting question to look at and to which little attention has been paid so far. The Basque language objectives in this model are: tostrengthen competence in Basque,enriching language skillsand convertingBasque into an instrumentof communication for conversation and teaching; tostrengthen the communityof Basque-speaking studentsto standup to the pressuresof the Spanish-speaking environmentand to make it a driving force in the Basquisation of the inhabitants of the BAC. Reference hastobe madeto modelX, amarginalprogramme in which Basque isnot taught at all (not even asasubject) andwhich was the regular programme during Franco´s regime. Nowadaysthe studentsincluded in thisprogramme are exempt fromBasque lessons for various reasons, such as the factthat they are studying temporarilyin the BAC(they represent lessthan 1% ofthe schooling population). The evolution of these linguistic models is depicted in Table 2.

Table 2 Percentage distribution of students aged 3–14, from 1983–84 to 1998–99 1983–84 1986–87 1990–91 1996–97 1998–99 Model A 72.87% 64.11% 50.64% 31.54% 26% Model B 10.54% 15.92% 24.91% 27.73 % 28% Model D 16.59% 19.97% 24.45% 40.71% 45% Source: Basque Government, 1997; Gardner, 2000.

There hasbeen achange froma monolingualeducational system to a bilingual one,in which modelX haspractically disappeared. Enrolment figures in model Agosteadilydown, whereas models B andD gosteadily up (182,851students were enrolled inimmersionprogrammes at pre-university levels in the 1996–97 schoolyear). Nonetheless, this trend slows down in secondaryeducation, which could be attributed to the following factors: Model B is less widespread at this level, particularly in technical colleges. Some studentswho started their schoolingprocess in modelB moveinto modelA in secondaryeducation, because they areafraid of dealing witha greatercognitive effort in Basque;they considertheir commandof the minoritylanguage tobe insufficient tosucceed academicallyat a higher level. There isa shortageof qualified teachersin Basqueto teachat thislevel (this refers to teachers with tenure and not to supply teachers). The enrolmentfigures for3-year-olds in the 1999/2000schoolyear in the BAC meritconsideration, since they indicatethe waytrends are moving: model A (11%),model B (32%)and model D (57%).Even in Araba,the province where there isa lowerpercentage ofBasquespeakers, models B andD aremuch more 412 Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development

11%

Model A Model B 57% 32% Model D

Figure 4 Percentage distribution of students aged 3, 1999–2000 popular thanmodel A atkindergarten. Thatthis new generationof parentsare in favour of the immersion programmes is beyond doubt. Itis important to notethat the BasqueAutonomous Community´ s birthrate is one ofthe lowestin the world,and there hasbeen avastdecline inthe number of students.This has led schoolsto tryto persuade parentsto enrol their children in their linguisticmodels (whether A,BorD), statingthat a particularmodel (the one offered in the schoolsconcerned) obtainsbetter academicresults than the othermodels in anattemptto increase their enrolmentfigures. Asthe number of studentsis smaller, some schools try to sell their modelas the bestoption, in an ever-diminishing andmore demanding market.Since empiricalsupport (as we will see later)clearly shows that model B andD studentsbecome much more competentin Basque,in manyareas the enrolmentfigures ofmodelA schoolsare falling sharply.In fact,the competitionbetween schoolsis such that ‘ there seems littledoubt that, in their enthusiasmto secure asatisfactorynumber ofnew entrants,some schools have occasionally provided plainly biasedinformation on the modelsto parents’ (Gardner, 2000: 54). Thus, some model A schoolshave argued the casethat native Spanish speakersshould be instructedin their mother tongue, onthe groundsthat Basque instruction could limit the student´s cognitive development. Whenever andwherever there aretwo languages in contact,there isa strong likelihood oflinguistic conflict,and the BasqueAutonomous Community is not anexception.Thus, whereas some social sectors have proposed the abolitionof modelA (especially in Gipuzkoa,the province withthe highest presence of Basque) due toitsproven inefficacy concerning the learning ofBasque,others considerthat model X (the one withno Basque at all) shouldbe reintroduced (especially in Araba,the province withthe lowestpercentage ofBasque speakers).With the currentlanguage lawsin mind,the governmenthas turned downboth proposals. As a resultof the poorresults obtained in Basque,a third proposalconsists in introducingBasque as vehicle language in one ortwo subjects in modelA, aswasoriginally recorded in the Lawon the Standardisation ofBasque(1982) in pre-university education,but thishas also been abandoned without any other satisfactory alternative. Language Learning in the Basque Country 413

Due tothe parentaldemand of modelsB andD, moreand more schools are introducingthese modelsin anattemptto surviveand gain a bigger shareof the market. The reading-writing process Special heed will be paidto this question due toits important role when parentshave to choosethe linguisticmodel for their children. Whereasmodels A andD areclearly defined in thisrespect (they use Spanish andBasque respec- tively in thisprocess), the heterogeneous modelB deservesthe reader´s attention.The reasonwhy manyparents decide toenrol their kidsin modelB isclosely linked tothe factthat in thismodel the learning ofthe reading–writing process is carriedout in Spanish; parentsbelieve that,if itwere completed in Basque,this couldconfuse their children, despite the ample evidence contraryto this idea both in the BAC and elsewhere (Genesee et al., 1989). There isa particularstudy (Olaziregi, 1994) aimed at analysingthis question. The startingpoint was that there isanunderlying reading abilitywhich allows transferfrom one language intothe other.Thus, this study was designed withthe followinghypothesis in mind.Since researchhad shown that there were no differences in proficiency in Spanish amongthe different linguisticmodels, it wasexpected thatmodel B Spanish speaking studentsstarting the reading–writing process in Basquewould attain the samereading comprehen- sionlevel asthose who set it out in Spanish. The resultsdemonstrated that there were nodifferences in the Spanish reading comprehensionscores of thosewho began the reading–writing process in Basquewhen comparedwith their counterparts,whereas the formersignificantly outscored the latterin the Basque reading comprehensiontest. The authorfinally concludesthat there isno reason to start the reading–writing process in Spanish, since no advantage is found. Moreover,we shouldalso consider that both Spanish speaking totalimmer- sionstudents and Basque speaking maintenancestudents (model D)obtainthe sameresults in Spanish astheir counterpartsin regular programmes(model A). Asa resultof allthis evidence, wecouldask ourselves:‘ Whatare the advantages of early partial immersion programmes (model B)?’ (Sierra, 1993: 35).

Multilingualism at school In allthese programmes,the teachingof the foreign language (English having apredominantposition), after an experimental period in severalschools, is to be startedat the age of4fromthe 2000/2001schoolyear onwards; till this year itwas firsttaught in Grade3 (8–9 yearsold). There areusually three tofour sessionsof about30 minutes. In primaryeducation the timeallotted to the English lessonsis ofaboutthree hoursper week. Björklund´ s andSuni´ s commentcan be applied to English in the BAC: The graduallowering ofthe studentage forthe introductionof L2,L3and L4in kindergarten andschool is another important and somewhatcontro- versialissue. Nowadays there areno specific guidelines orclear recom- mendationson how early to start, how many languages to introduceand whatlanguage didacticsto implement in language programmes,despite a greatinterest in andneed forbringing onmulticulturaland multilingual 414 Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development

students.That is, the end productis clearly defined, but howto achieve it remainsto be workedout, evaluated and discussed. (Bjö rklund &Suni, 2000: 211–212) Asfar as the English language isconcerned, as a resultof the considerable supportand confirmation that the European Union hasbeen receiving in the last decade(the MonetaryUnion being avery goodcase in point),and due toits role asalingua francaand to the ever-increasing migratorymovements, English is withoutany doubt the mostwidespread foreign language in ourcommunity. Furthermore,the European Union proposedin 1995the introductionof asecond foreign language in SecondaryEducation, which leads to a four-language-in-contactcurriculum in thoseareas which are bilingual. Itseems obviousthat everybody (societyat large,but politiciansand parents above all) agreeson the need fora multilingual Europe, which isthe reasonwhy there are ever moreeducational systems wherein three languagesare taught. It is worth remembering that35 languages coexist just within the European Union,and about 75 in the European continent. The presence ofseverallanguages in the schoolcurriculum isbecoming more andmorewidespread (see Lasagabaster,1998a) and is something that cannot be ignored.The resultof thissituation is that, because ofthe coexistenceof several languages,the attitudesof parentstowards school multilingualism can be divided intothree maingroups. The firstgroup consistsof thoseparents who believe thatthe learning ofthree (ormore) languages at schoolwill fostertheir children´s cognitivedevelopment, insteadof holding itback. They considerthat allthe languageswill be masteredwithout affecting eachother´ s development negatively. The secondgroup ismade up ofthoseparents who maintain that the presence anduse ofthe minoritylanguage canbecome astumbling block in the acquisitionof the majoritylanguage oran additional one. Swain et al. (1990: 65–66), for example, observedthat many immigrant parents in Canadabelieved that: Byspeaking orreading totheir children in their ownlanguage, they will seriouslyslow down their child´s acquisitionof English; thatinitial educationin achild´s firstlanguage (be itTagalog, Urdu, Arabic, Italian, etc.) is seen astaking time away from the importanttask of learning asecond language –thatof schooland society; that it is common practice for teachers torecommendto immigrantparents of children whoare having trouble in school to use more English with their children. Onthe otherhand, some other parents, those of the thirdgroup, areof the opinion thatthe earlyintroduction of the foreign language asL3in abilingual contextlike the BasqueCountry could ‘ only serve tofurther confuse’(Cenoz & Lindsay,1994: 203), and therefore hinder the survivalof a minoritylanguage suchas Basque,the learning anduse ofwhichhave been stronglyencouraged in recent years.Thus the presence oftwointernational languages could become too much ofaburden. Bild andSwain (1989)describe asimilarsituation in Canada (andSanders & Meijers, 1995,in The Netherlands),where someparents and educatorsof students with a minoritylanguage asL1 believe thatthe teachingof French asL3will disorientatethem and take too much timefrom English (their Language Learning in the Basque Country 415

L2).Bild andSwain underline thatthe people in thistype ofsituationneed access toevidence andresearch studies on whichto base their opinionswhen itcomesto making a decision. The vastmajority of parents in the BACarein anycase in favourof giving morepresence toEnglish in the curriculum,which isthe reasonwhy during this schoolyear a trilingualexperimental programmewill be implemented in astate schoollocated in Bilbo.Some privateschools have put intopractice this trilingual programmein the lastfew years,the general feeling being ofbroadsatisfaction with the results (see Cenoz, 1998 for further details). Thisinterest in multilingual educationand multilingualism is reflected in the InternationalConference onPlurilingual Educationheld biannually since 1992 in Vitoria-Gasteiz,a scientificforum attended by experts fromall over the world and very popular among the teaching staff of our community.

Linguistic results Although faraway from the over1000 research studies on Canadianimmer- sionbilingual education(Baker, 1996), several research studies (about 50) have been conductedin the BAC,with more than 30,000 students involved. Although the firststudy was undertaken in 1973(Aierbe et al.,1974),it was not until the 1980sthat there wasmuch overtinterest in thisissue (Etxeberria, 1999). As is usually the normin the immersionworld (Arnau et al.,1992;Bjö rklund, 1998), most studies focus on first and second language development. Researchstudies have repeatedly demonstratedthat model A students´ competence in Basqueis extremely poor(Gabiñ a et al.,1986;Lasagabaster, 2000a; Lasagabaster& Cenoz,1998; Sierra &Olaziregi,1989). Basque language objec- tivesare very farfrom being fulfilled in thismodel. The studentsenrolled in modelB attaina higher level ofcompetence in Basquethan model A students,but lowerthan that of modelD Spanish speaking students(Gabiñ a et al., 1986; Lasagabaster,2000a; Sierra &Olaziregi,1991) and far lower than that of native speakers.However, their resultsare dependent onhow intensive they are;the closerthey areto model D, the higher the resultsare (Etxeberria, 1986, 1999). Model Dstudentsare the oneswho achieve the highest scoresin Basqueand hence the oneswho are closerto balancedbilingualism, thatis tosay,bilinguals witha high level of competence in bothlanguages. However, Basque native speakersusually outperformtheir Spanish speaking counterparts.This is the only modelthat guarantees the possibilityof completing superiorstudies in Basque successfully. RegardingSpanish, in noresearchhas any significant difference between the three modelsbeen observed,results brought aboutby the socialimportance of Spanish insocietywhere itis a majoritylanguage (Lasagabaster& Cenoz,1998; Sierra &Olaziregi,1990; Sierra &Olaziregi,1991). Therefore modelD isnot a bilingual programme per se,but itslinguistic outcomeis the only actuallybilin- gual, since students´ proficiency in both languages is balanced. Onasimilarnote, Erriondo et al. (1993)carried out an interesting pilotstudy, in which the university studentparticipants, the vastmajority of thembeing nativeBasque speakers, had completed bothprimary and secondary education in Basque.Despite thislinguistic background, in the lexicaltest they hadto perform the productionof Spanish lexicalitems (62.16%) was almost double that 416 Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development ofBasque(37.84%). This clearly showed that even Basquespeakers of these char- acteristics had a clear linguistic imbalance in favour of Spanish. These resultsled Balluerka et al.(1994)(see alsoErriondo et al.,1993)to focus onthe development ofbilinguality ofnative Basque speakers from the Urola Valley, one ofthe mostBasque speaking areasof the BACwhere 85%of itspopu- lationcan speak Basque.All ofthemwere schooledin modelD. The bilinguality indices (Hamers& Blanc,1989) reflected thatthe participantsattained a low competence inSpanish in Grade4 (9–10 yearsold); in Grade6 (11–12 yearsold) there wasa similarcompetence in bothlanguages, but surprisingly, in Grade8 (13–14 yearsold) there wasa better commandof Spanish. Thisproves that even under the mostfavourablesociolinguistic conditions (native speakers who study intheir L1in aBasquespeaking area),the Basquelanguage isstill a minority language subordinatedto the majorityone. There isno doubt that the socialuse ofBasque makes progress, but there isalso an urgent need toconform sociolinguisticspaces for its generalised use asanindispensable andimperative step towardsthe consolidationand normalisation of the minoritylanguage (Rodríguez, 1994). Focusingon the foreign language, ithas to be saidthat till the late1970s French wasthe moststudied language atschool,but nowadaysEnglish isthe language studiedby 97%of pre-university studentsas the firstforeign language. As happens in manyother contexts, English receives overwhelming socialsupport, asit is regarded as being the mostinternational language (Björklund &Suni, 2000). In the BAC,the number ofevaluationscarried out on the learning ofEnglish as anL3is not very largeand all of themhave been completed in the lastdecade. The firstof these studiesis that of Cenoz (1991): 321 students from pre-university grade (Cursode Orientación Universitaria )enrolled in modelsA andD were exam- ined concerning their level ofproficiency inEnglish.Bilingual students(model D)outperformed monolingualstudents (model A). After analysingthe results obtainedby the studentsin the different tests,this author concluded thatthe level ofcompetence in the foreign language attainedat school by the students wasinsufficient, anopinion sharedby the studentsthemselves and their parents. In fact many of these students attended private classes outside school. The secondstudy (Cenoz et al.,1994)is thatof the Federationof Ikastola schools (Basque schools),whose main aim was to observe the influence ofthe early teachingof English,at the age offour,on the L1andL2 ofthe students.There were nodifferences between the controland the experimental groupsas regards Spanish, but asignificantdifference wasobservedin favourof the experimental group in Basque,particularly in the oralproduction test which consisted in telling astory,a very frequent activityin the English lessons.Accordingly, the authorsconcluded that the earlyteaching of English didnot hold back the learning of Basque and Spanish at all. In the thirdstudy (Lasagabaster, 1998b) the participantswere 252students fromGrade 5 (10–11 yearsold) andGrade 8 (13–14 yearsold), 42 ofthemfrom eachof the three linguisticmodels in eachgrade. Competence in English was measuredvia a vocabularyand a grammartest and by testscorresponding to the four language skills,except thatgrade 5 didnot do a writingtest, because this wasthoughtto be toodifficult forchildren whowere unaccustomedto writingin Language Learning in the Basque Country 417

English. The overallEnglish scorewas the sumof the resultsfrom the five tests (see Lasagabaster,2000a for further details).The resultsshowed that model D studentswere the oneswho obtained the bestscores in bothgrades, outper- forming modelA in grade5 andboth model A andB in grade8, whereas no significantdifference whatsoeverwas observed between modelA andmodel B. Asa conclusion,it could be statedthat only thosestudents who achieved ahigh level ofcompetence in bothlanguages (Cummins, 1976), that is to saybalanced bilinguals, couldtake advantage of their bilingualism concerning the learning of English asanL3.In sucha Spanish speaking contextas Vitoria-Gasteiz,where thisstudy was undertaken, itseemsclear that only thosestudents enrolled in the totalimmersion or maintenance programme (model D)canreach this high competence in both languages, which benefits their learning of English. Hence, anddespite the limitednumber ofstudies completed in ourcommunity,it canbe affirmed thatthe resultsobtained in the BACcoincidewith those of researchstudies from many other different contexts,since the Spanish–Basque bilingual studentsperform significantlybetter thantheir monolingualpeers as regardsthe learning of anadditional language. In anycase more studies are needed. The number ofresearchstudies on trilingualism (or even morelanguages in contact)will undoubtedly increasein the future, since the educationof thosewho aremultilingual isgoing tobecome anunavoidable objective in aEurope without borderswhere contactsbetween the different countriesare increasing very rapidly.Despite the factthat most studies completed outside the BAC(Bild & Swain,1989; Klein, 1995;Thomas, 1988) have shown that bilingual subjects outperformmonolinguals in the learning ofanL3(the L2for the monolinguals), there aresomestudies (Genesee &Lambert,1983; Lebrun &BaetensBeardsmore, 1993)in which nodifferences havebeen observed,while very few haveshown a monolingualsuperiority (Mä giste, 1979, 1984). The few studiesin whichthe bilingual subjects achieved poorerresults than the monolingualones at school showdeficiencies concerning their design orinadequate control of the partici- patingvariables in the L3acquisition process, for which the resultsshould be lookedat withcaution (Bild &Swain,1989). The analysisof these studieson the learning ofanL3 indicatethat every contextis different andthat the sameresults are not always obtained. The linguistic creativitydeveloped in eachof the three modelsin the Basque educationalsystem has also been under study.Linguistic creativity was measuredby meansof Torrance´s (1990) ThinkingCreatively with Words. Verbal Booklet A.The verbalform was chosen, instead of the figural one,on the grounds thatthe study´s hypothesis(Lasagabaster, 2000b) would be relatedto the effect of different bilingual educationmodels on linguistic creativity, which led usto conclude thatthe verbalform was the mostappropriate one. In thisstudy both fluency, flexibility andoriginality were measured,obtaining an averagescore by calculatingthe meanscore of the marksobtained in them,because thisaverage score‘ isperhaps the bestoverall indicator of creative strength’ (Torrance, 1990: 45).In thisrespect the conclusionto be reachedis that the positiveeffects ofbilin- gualismon linguisticcreativity seem toappear at alaterstage of education,as no difference wasobserved depending onthe bilingual educationmodel in grade5, but itdid have an effect in the caseof the grade8 sample.The factthat there was 418 Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development nodifference between modelB andD bilinguals in either gradeled ustohypoth- esise thatthe learning ofanL2may fosterthe development ofcreativityirrespec- tiveof the level ofcompetence attainedin the L2:at leastonce a minimumlevel is attained,since the teachingof the L2only asasubject, asisthe casein modelA, did not bring about any positive cognitive effect concerning creativity. Asregards metalinguistic awareness, that is to say,‘ the abilityto think about andreflect upon the natureand functions of language’(Baker, 1996: 122), bilingual subjects (modelsB andD) havealso significantly outscored monolingual (model A)subjects,whereas balanced bilinguals (model D)doso withrespect to their non-balanced(model B)peers (Lasagabaster,2000c). These conclusions havebeen drawnby using the MAT-2 (Pinto et al.,1999),a standardisedtest for the measurementof metalinguisticability conceived for ages 9 to14 andmadeup offour tests(comprehension, synonymy, acceptability and phonemic segmenta- tion). Moststudies undertaken allover the worldagree withthe ideathat the rela- tionshipbetween creativity/metalinguisticawareness and bilingualism nearly alwayshas positive effects, andnot only in elite orprivileged language learning situations,but alsoin disadvantagedcontexts (Braccini & Cianchi,1993; Francis, 1999; Pinto et al., 1999; Yellandet al ., 1993). Researchersfall backon the explanationthat the bilingual person– being able tocounton twodistinctsystems – ismore able toworkout the arbitrarynature of the linguisticsign andof the systemas awhole (Cummins,1976; Landry, 1973; Peal &Lambert,1962; orSiguá n, 1983), which makes the bilingual wonderabout the functioning andcharacteristicsof bothsystems and be morecreative than the monolingualsubject, wholacks the opportunityof comparingtwo systems.The bilingual subject conceptualisesaccording to the general properties of the linguisticsign insteadof depending onthe linguisticsign itself,which fosters his cognitive development. The fosteringof the development ofmetalinguistic awareness is considered to be akey issue(Lasagabaster, 1998c) in multilingual settingswith respect to L3, L4 orLX language learning, since asCummins (1993: 65) puts it, ‘ considerable evidence showsthat the development ofcompetence in twolanguagescan result ingreaterlevels ofmetalinguistic awareness and the facilitationof additional language learning’.

Non-linguistic results Exceptin the caseof astudycarried out in 1998(Urrutia et al.,1998),research agreeson the factthat there areno differences between modelsas regardsother subjects (Lukas,1990). Learning throughBasque does not hinder progressin the restof the subjects.In fact,the percentage ofacademicsuccess in primaryeduca- tionis higher in modelsD (89.8%)and B (81.3%)than in modelA (74.7%);the sametrendis observablein secondaryeducation (Etxeberria, 1999). Likewise, in Table 3the percentage ofstudentsfrom models A andD accordingto the markin the UniversityEntrance Exam ( Selectividad )canbe observed,which leads us to conclude thatthere arenoimportant differences between the linguistic models. Language Learning in the Basque Country 419

Table 3 Results in Selectividad depending on linguistic model Score Model A Model D A 0.5% 0.3% B 15% 19% C/D 76% 74% Fail 7% 6% Source: Basque Government, 1997.

Comparison with the Spanish educational system Acomprehensive studywas completed in the Spanish stateby the National Instituteof Qualityand Evaluation (INCE, 1996,1998) with the intentionof comparingthe academicresults obtained in the different 17autonomous communities.The resultswere very satisfactory,since the BACstudents obtainedthe highest scoresin mathematics,social sciences and Spanish in primaryeducation. In secondaryeducation the resultswere very much inthe samevein, since the BACstudentswere amongstthe bestin reading comprehension,linguistic rules, literature (all ofthemin Spanish) andmathematics. These resultsrun counterto all those pessimistic comments, fears and attitudes towardsthe littlepresence ofthe majoritylanguage in the immersionmodels, on the groundsthat students’ command of the majoritylanguage isbecoming defi- cient and impoverished.

The University of the Basque Country The Universityof the BasqueCountry (UPV-EHU) obviouslyhas a roleof paramountimportance in the normalisationof Basque, since itshould face the Basquisationof its different degrees witha view toproviding societywith Basquespeaking graduatesready to use the language in allsocial spheres. As usually happens, the mainstumbling block tocarrying this off hasto do with economiclimitations. The number ofuniversity teachercivil servants with no qualificationto teachin Basqueis still pretty high (67%).In the 1999/2000school year55.5% of the compulsorysubjects couldbe takenin Basque,and 20% of university studentscompleted their degrees in Basque.A secondimportant questionis related to the publicationof materials; just 65 books have been published in Basque to date, a very meagre number (Etxeberria, 1999). Tosummarise,teacher training and the creationof materialsin Basqueare the twocrucial difficulties the university hasto cope with.According to the univer- sitylinguistic planning, itis expected that50% of tertiary education students will complete their degrees in Basquein the year2005. Despite the meaningful improvementin the figures ofBasque speaking lecturers,there isstill a long way to go.

Final Considerations The sociolinguisticsituation of Basque is better thanever before; ithas alegal status,the number ofspeakersis steadily increasing, it has widespread social support,more printed booksare published thanin the previousfour centuries combined,and it is being used in new areas(university, technology,etc.). It 420 Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development seemsthat its survival is ensured, but wemustbe careful.We shouldremember thatamong those who can speak it,some rarely do so ortheir commandis considerably weak.Furthermore, we shouldnot forget the roleplayed by international languages,particularly English, regarded by manypeople asessentialfor work. And then wehaveto think ofthe immigrantswho add their ownlanguage (L4) and who represent a linguistic challenge for the future (Siguán, 1992). Itshould therefore be concluded that,despite the reverse language shift efforts,the Basquelanguage hasstill a long waytogo, the mostimportant being thatof securing intergenerationaltransmission and public use (Fishman,1991; Madariaga,1992). It is afactthat the educationalsystem has given the Basque language atimely injection, asisshown in the number ofyoung people whocan speak it(see Figure 3).The roleof the schoolis vital, but the productionof compe- tentsecond language speakersis not enough regarding the survivalof Basque;it cannotimprove the situationon itsown. Institutional action alone, without the supportof social movements, is incapable ofcarrying out this task successfully (Alvárez, 1990). In thisrespect it hasto be underlined thatthe BasqueGovern- menthas made a firststep aimedat stimulatingthe socialuse ofBasquewith the publicationin 1999of itsgeneral plan forthe promotionof the use ofBasque. As Gardner(2000: 89) puts it: ‘ Some wouldprobably like toturn the clockback, but the Countryas awhole isclearly in nomood to doso’. The statement:‘ Basque language measuresare hotly debated andare seen asinsufficient by somesectors ofthe population,too demanding by others’(Cenoz & Perales,1997) isa constant in the BAC. Anotherimportant question to remember isrelated to politics. During the last electionsthe Basquenationalist parties have lost political weight andthis could alsolead to the fading awayof thispro-Basque language climate.After morethan 20years,Vitoria-Gasteiz, the capitalof the BasqueCountry, has a non-nationalist mayor.His first two proposals concerning bilingualism havebeen: (1) tooffer whathe callsa unique bilingual model(without any further specification)for everybody in the nurseries run by the citycouncil, in whichthe presence of Basquewould obviously not be thatof model D; and(2) tochange allpublic signs fromtheir currentbilingual presentationinto a monolingualone (he hasnot specified in whichlanguage thatwould be, but itcan be inferred thatit is not going tobe Basque).Therefore, andas faras the survivalof Basqueis concerned, all is not as well as it may seem. The Basquisationof the public educationalsystem seems to be in the ascen- dantand consolidated (Rodrí guez, 1999).Yet, the Basqueeducational system is a very complexreality. The linguisticcompetence in modelD in aSpanish speaking areaand in aBasquespeaking areais also a very goodcase in point. Although modelD isundoubtedly the one where better resultsare obtained in Basqueproficiency, itis still possible tofind studentsin Spanish speaking areas who,once they havefinished their schooling,are unable toachieve asatisfactory commandof the Basquelanguage. Therefore there isa need formore social func- tionsand a greaterpresence ofBasquein mostparts of the BAC.On the other hand,some parents in Basquespeaking areasare worried about their children´s weakcommand of Spanish, somuch sothat they demandextra Spanish lessons because they considerthat Spanish will be necessaryin their children´s foresee- able future. Studies completed in these areasseem toconclude thatthis percep- Language Learning in the Basque Country 421

tionis misguided, since even in these Basquespeaking areasbilinguality is unbalanced in favourof the majoritylanguage (Balluerka et al.,1994;Erriondo et al., 1993). In the BACthe socialdemand for bilingual modelsis increasing in the public sectorand in the privatesector only in the caseof the ikastola schools.The situa- tionin the privatesector (the aforementionedprivate ikastola schoolsbeing the exception) isnotso positive,since modelA (Basque only asa subject) presents considerablyhigh numbers andthe presence ofmodelD´ s isscant. From the age of16onwards, the picture isyet morediscouraging. Technical colleges arebasi- callymonolingual and, from a sociolinguisticperspective, much hasto be done at university level and in the working world. Nowadaysthere isno doubtthat, under certainconditions, the effects ofbilin- gualismand immersion programmes can be beneficial. In factthe greatmajority ofstudiesmade in additivebilingualism settings,situations where the number of balancedbilingual studentsis greater, have definitively shownthe positive effects ofa bilingual education.Lauré n (1999),Siguá n (1984)and Titone (1976) mentionthat while the negative effects ofbilingualism onthe intelligence, on personalityor on psychichygiene havebeen talkedabout, these effects areneither necessarynor universal, but arebetter presented asthe exception orasthe effect of other factors connected with bilingualism solely in a contingent manner. The analysisof the datawe haveavailable in the BACleadsus to the conclu- sionthat the bilingual subjects enjoy certaincognitive advantages compared to their monolingualcounterparts. The different researchstudies coincide in one conclusion:model D isthe only one which isclose to balanced bilingualism, since itsstudents are approximately equally fluent in the twoofficiallanguages in the BACandtheir competence in bothlanguages is well developed. Likewise, Model Aneeds revision,otherwise, the socialfracture between Basqueand Spanish speakers(with different attitudesand values) will be exacerbated.These studentsshould be providedwith the linguistictools that will allowthem to take partin afruitful learning ofthe minoritylanguage andto socialisein amoreinte- grated way in the community (Etxeberria, 1999). Ithas been clearlydemonstrated that the ample attentiongiven tothe L1when itis a minoritylanguage (asin the caseof Basque),does not impede inanyway the normalacquisition of anL2orL3, results which coincidewith those of other contexts(Appel &Muysken, 1987;Thomas, 1988; Byram & Leman,1990; Swain et al.,1990).In the sameway, the acquisitionof an L2oranL3 does not imply any negative effect upon the normaldevelopment ofthe L1when thisis a majority language (Genesee &Lambert,1983; Genesee, 1998).Research shows that if a high degree ofcompetence isachieved in L1andL2, the L3can be seen asbenefi- cial,as this promotes and helps development ofgreatermetalinguistic awareness.This results in greatercompetence notonly in the L3,but alsoin allthe languages in the curriculum. Multilingualism atschoolis becoming the normrather than the exception.We need lookno further thanthe European continentfor examples: six communities in Spain (Balearicislands, Cataluñ a, Galicia,Navarre, the BACandValencia), Brittanyin France,Friesland in The Netherlands,Bolzano and the AostaValley in Italy,Vaasa, Turku andHelsinki in Finland,the Germanminority in Denmark, Luxembourg, the Foyer modelin Brussels,the European Schoollocated in 422 Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development severaldifferent European countries,or the linguisticallyunknown former socialistcountries in the eastof Europe, toname but afew. AsLauré n (1998:33) putsit: ‘ Europe isa multilingual continent,and wants to remainone.’ Neverthe- less,it cannotbe saidthat there isany one trilingualor multilingual modelthat canbe consideredsuitable for every schoolsystem throughout the world,which iswhy we shouldlook at the resultsobtained in othercontexts, but always bearing in mind the peculiarities of our own. Lastbut notleast, it has to be saidthat where widespreadagreement existsis in the factthat research into the cognitivedevelopment ofbilingual/multilingual subjects in bilingual/multilingual educationalsetting is afascinatingfield, and thatthere isstill much tobe covered.In the caseof the BAC,the authorof this articlebelieves thatthe resultsof thisresearch should be madeknown to society asa whole in amuch greaterway than has been done up until now,so that parentschoose the type ofeducationthat they considermost adequate for their children.

Correspondence Any correspondenceshould be directedto Dr DavidLasagabaster, University of the BasqueCountry, Facultad de Filología, Geografí a eHistoria,Dpto. Filología Inglesa yAlemana,Paseo de laUniversidad,5, Apt.Postal 2111, 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain ([email protected]).

Note 1.This article is based on apresentation made ata conference held atthe Centre for Immersion and Multilingualism at the University of Vaasa, Finland.

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