Italian Language in Education in Switzerland
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The Italian language in education in Switzerland European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning hosted by ITALIAN The Italian language in education in Switzerland c/o Fryske Akademy Doelestrjitte 8 P.O. Box 54 NL-8900 AB Ljouwert/Leeuwarden The Netherlands T 0031 (0) 58 - 234 3027 W www.mercator-research.eu E [email protected] | Regional dossiers series | tca r cum n n i- ual e : This document was published by the Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning with financial support from the Fryske Akademy and the Province of Fryslân. © Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning, 2020 ISSN: 1570 – 1239 1st Edition The contents of this dossier may be reproduced in print, except for commercial purposes, provided that the extract is proceeded by a complete reference to the Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning. This Regional dossier was compiled in 2019 in the research department of Didactics of integrated multilingualism at the University of Teacher Education of Grisons. Leadership of the project: Prof. Dr. Vincenzo Todisco. Research assistants: Dr. Maria Chiara Moskopf- Janner, Valeria Manna, Luigi Menghini, Sabrina Sala and Dr. Ennio Zala. The document was proofread by Esther Krättli, lecturer and research assistant, and Dr. Harald Schneider, lecturer in the English Department at the University of Teacher Education of Grisons. For this publication, the University of Teacher Education of Grisons has collected data from various educational institutions in Switzerland. Acknowledgements The authors wish to express their gratitude to all those who provided elements through their publications and to the Mercator European Research Centre for having suggested clarifications when needed. Contact information of the authors of Regional dossiers can be found in the Mercator Database of Experts (www.mercator-research.eu). Marlous Visser has been responsible for the publication of this Mercator Regional dossier. Contents Contents Glossary 2 Foreword 3 Glossary ..............................................................................2 1 Introduction 5 2 Pre-school education 14 Foreword ..............................................................................3 3 Primary education 16 4 Secondary education 19 1 Introduction ...........................................................5 5 Vocational education 25 6 Higher education 28 2 Pre-school education ..........................................14 7 Adult education 37 8 Educational research 38 3 Primary education ..............................................16 9 Prospects 40 Education system of Switzerland 42 4 Secondary education ..........................................19 References and further reading 43 Addresses 50 5 Vocational education ..........................................25 Other websites on minority languages 54 What can the Mercator Research Centre offer you? 56 6 Higher education ................................................28 Available in this series: 58 7 Adult education ...................................................37 8 Educational research ..........................................38 9 Prospects............................................................40 Education system of Switzerland ............................................42 References and further reading ..............................................43 Addresses ...............................................................................50 Other websites on minority languages ...................................54 What can the Mercator Research Centre offer you? ..............56 Available in this series ............................................................58 Education and lesser used languages Glossary EBA Eidgenössisches Berufsattest – Swiss Professional Certificate EDK Schweizerische Konferenz der kantonalen Erziehungsdirektoren – Swiss Conference of Cantonal Directors of Education EFZ Eidgenössisches Fähigkeitszeugnis – Swiss Certificate of Professional Competence EKUD Erziehungs-, Kultur- und Umweltschutzdepartement Kanton Graubünden – Grisons Department of Education, Culture and Environment HarmoS Harmonisierung der obligatorischen Schule – “Intercantonal Agreement on the Harmonization of the Compulsory School” (HarmoS Concordat) HFKG Koordination im schweizerischen Hochschulbereich – Coordination of the Swiss Tertiary System ikg Institut für Kulturforschung Graubünden – Grisons Institute for Cultural Research OLSI Osservatorio Linguistico della Svizzera Italiana – Linguistic 2 Observatory of Italian-speaking Switzerland PGI Pro Grigioni Italiano – Promotion of Italian in Grisons PHGR Pädagogische Hochschule Graubünden – University of Teacher Education of Grisons SBBK Schweizerische Berufsbildungsämter-Konferenz – Federal Conference of Vocational Training in Switzerland SDK Schweizerische Direktorinnen- und Direktorenkonferenz der Berufsfachschulen – Swiss Conference of Vocational Directors SUPSI Scuola Universitaria Professionale della Svizzera Italiana – University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland WBF Eidgenössisches Departement für Wirtschaft, Bildung und Forschung – Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research The Italian language in education in Switzerland Foreword background Regional and minority languages are languages that differ from the official state language. The Mercator Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning uses the definition for these languages defined by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML): “Regional and minority languages are languages traditionally used within a given territory of a state by nationals of that state who form a group numerically smaller than the rest of the state’s population; they are different from the official language(s) of that state, and they include neither dialects of the official language(s) of the state nor the languages of migrants”. The Mercator Research Centre aims at the acquisition, application and circulation of knowledge about these regional and minority languages in education. An important means to achieve this goal is the Regional dossiers series: documents that provide the most essential features of the education system of regions with a lesser used regional or minority language. 3 aim The aim of the Regional dossiers series is to provide a concise description of European minority languages in education. Aspects that are addressed include features of the education system, recent educational policies, main actors, legal arrangements and support structures, as well as quantitative aspects such as the number of schools, teachers, pupils, and financial investments. Because of this fixed structure the dossiers in the series are easy to compare. target group The dossiers serve several purposes and are relevant for policy- makers, researchers, teachers, students and journalists who wish to explore developments in minority language schooling in Europe. They can also serve as a first orientation towards further research, or function as a source of ideas for improving educa- tional provisions in their own region. link with The format of the Regional dossiers follows the format of Eury- Eurydice dice – the information network on education in Europe – in order Education and lesser used languages to link the regional descriptions with those of national education systems. Eurydice provides information on the administration and structure of national education systems in the member states of the European Union. contents Every Regional dossier begins with an introduction about the region concerned, followed by six sections that each deals with a specific level of the education system (e.g. primary education). Sections eight and nine cover the main lines of research into education of the concerned minority language, the prospects for the minority language in general and for education in particular. The tenth section gives a summary of statistics. Lists of regulations, publications and useful addresses concerning the minority language, are given at the end of the dossier. 4 The Italian language in education in Switzerland 1 Introduction language Italian is one of the four national languages in Switzerland, along with German, French and Romansh (since 1938). The Italian-speaking territories that form the Svizzera italiana are the canton of Ticino and the Grigionitaliano, that is, the traditionally Italian-speaking regions of Mesolcina, Calanca, Bregaglia and Poschiavo in the canton of Grisons. All Italian-speaking areas show geographical contiguity with Italy. Of the 26 member cantons of Switzerland, one – the canton of Ticino – has Italian as its only official language, whereas the canton of Grisons is officially trilingual (German, Romansh and Italian). Three other cantons are bilingual (German-French), 17 are German-speaking and four are French-speaking. Figure 1, on the next page, shows the traditional geographical diffusion of the four Swiss national languages. Swiss multilingualism is rooted in the history of Switzerland. Starting with the territories that gradually became aggregated 5 or were conquered from 1291, the Francophone territories and the Italian-speaking territories were acquired from a German- speaking nucleus, first as bailiwicks “baliaggi” (the canton of Ticino was a bailiwick of the central cantons). Both Ticino and Grisons joined the Swiss Confederation in 1803, with the creation of the Helvetic Republic after