LANGUAGES AND LANGUAGE LEARNING IN QUADRILINGUAL SWITZERLAND Jürg STRÄSSLER University of Berne, Berne UDK: 371.3:243>(494) Pregledni rad Primljeno: 9. 2. 2000.
Foreign language learning in quadrilingual Switzerland is largely dependent on the linguist situation in the four different regions. Therefore the linguistic landscape of Switzerland is presented in the first section, especially with reference to the German and the Romansh-speaking parts. Section 2 gives an outline of foreign language learning in the compulsory educational system as it now presents itself after the implementation of the 1975 reform. In section 3 we find some reasons why the results of the improved structural and didactic-methodological approaches are far from promising, which led the Board of Educational Ministers to have an overall language concept developed, which is outlined in the final section. It is hoped that this new approach will turn Switzer- land into a multilingual country of multilingual speakers.