Table of contents FOREWORD ....................................................................................................................... 2 ABOUT THE CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES ................................................................................. 3 PART A. GENERAL INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 4 1. Language diversity ..................................................................................................... 4 1.1. Why is it important to promote language diversity? ....................................................... 5 1.2. What can be done in the education system?................................................................... 6 2. The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages ....................................... 6 2.1. What is the Charter? ........................................................................................................ 6 2.2. What are minority languages according to the Charter? ................................................. 7 2.3. Why do we need the Charter? ......................................................................................... 8 2.4. How does the Charter work? ........................................................................................... 8 PART B. CASE STUDIES: SWITZERLAND, SPAIN AND POLAND ........................................... 10 3. Switzerland .............................................................................................................. 10 3.1. Background information ................................................................................................ 10 3.2. Switzerland and the Charter .......................................................................................... 13 3.3. Future challenges ........................................................................................................... 14 4. Spain ........................................................................................................................ 15 4.1. Background information ................................................................................................ 15 4.2. Spain and the Charter .................................................................................................... 24 4.3. Future challenges ........................................................................................................... 24 5. Poland ..................................................................................................................... 25 5.1. Background information ................................................................................................ 25 5.2. Poland and the Charter .................................................................................................. 27 5.3. Future challenges ........................................................................................................... 28 PART C. TEACHING ACTIVITIES ......................................................................................... 30 GLOSSARY ........................................................................................................................ 44 Further reading................................................................................................................ 46 1 FOREWORD As Chair of the Council of Europe Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, I have great pleasure in presenting this publication, which has been prepared to mark the 20th anniversary of entry into force of the Char- ter in 1998. The Charter is the only legally binding international convention exclusively dedicated to the protection and promotion of regional and minority languages. So far about 80 languages of more than 200 language communities are covered by the Char- ter. This document comes as a result of a thoughtful reflection on the importance of en- hancing the visibility of the Charter in particular through the school system. Its main purpose is to provide the educational community with a useful tool to disseminate in- formation about the Charter and minority languages, and in this way raise awareness about language diversity. I would like to thank Fernando Ramallo (Universidade de Vigo), Claudine Brohy (Univer- sité de Fribourg/Universität Freiburg), Vicent Climent-Ferrando (European Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity, NPLD) and Aleksandra Oszmiańska-Pagett (Wyzsza Szkola Jezyków Obcych, Poznań), members of the working group who have been entrusted by the Committee of Experts to prepare this inspiring publication. I hope that this publication will assist in better understanding the strengths and difficul- ties surrounding the situation of minority languages and the need to further promote them as a common cultural heritage. Vesna Crnić-Grotić Chair of the Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages 2 ABOUT THE CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES This publication is composed of three parts. Part A is a general presentation of language diversity and a description of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages as a legal instrument. Part B includes three prototypical examples of country profiles of states that ratified the Charter, i.e. Poland, Spain and Switzerland, with different admin- istrative structures. Part C contains ten teaching activities on minority language issues. Bearing in mind that the educational systems across Europe are diverse and also in a continuous process of change, the activities contained here have been designed to al- low adaptation to the particular country contexts. A glossary defining the main terms used in the document and a bibliography are included at the end. This publication is intended as a starting point for a Council of Europe web-based pro- ject which will include additional country profiles and teaching activities. As the project develops, it will reflect a better picture of language diversity and will contribute to rais- ing awareness about minority language issues in our societies. We encourage all stakeholders to consider translating this publication into as many lan- guages as possible with the aim of providing broad access to the information contained herein. 3 PART A. GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1. Language diversity Language is a faculty common and specific to humans that sets us aside from the rest of nature. This universal capacity is projected in the diversity of languages all over the world as a consequence of an evolutionary and continuous process of adaptation to the different physical, cultural and social contexts that determine the day to day lives of every human group. Each language is the manifestation of this human faculty. Language diversity is testimony to the plurality and wealth of humankind and it is the plural ex- pression of this human capacity which enables everyone to contribute to humanity. Languages have made it possible to adapt to different natural and cultural environ- ments as they allow us to code, categorise and register the realities around us. We use languages for different purposes: communicating is one of the main functions of lan- guages but it is not the only one. Languages allow people to form bonds with each oth- er. They are used to symbolise reality, to express emotions, for creativity and for recrea- tional purposes. Languages are one of the traits that define a community, expressing and reinforcing their cultural identity. As vehicles of communication and complicity, they allow for contact and exchanges with other tongues and communities. They strengthen cohesion within a community as well as contacts with other languages. All languages reflect and reveal a society’s evolution, its structure, its way of life, its out- look on the world, its cultural expressions. The different perspectives of the world of- fered by each language are an invaluable source of wealth. The advantage of languages is that they can be taught and learned and thus facilitate communication between communities. Although the exact number of languages in the world is not known, they are estimated to be around 7000. Their distribution is very uneven in the different continents and does not follow a pattern related to demography. In fact, a territory like Oceania, with only 42 million people, has more than 1300 languages. This means that 18.5% of the total number of languages in the world are located in a territory that only represents 0.6% of the total world population. Although all languages serve the same purpose, regardless of their structure or the number of speakers, not all of them are used in the same domains. For political, military and economic reasons, a few languages have expanded over large parts of the world, becoming international languages, which means that they are widely spoken and learned as lingua francas all over the world. Other languages are less widely spoken but are supported by the state as official languages. These languages are used in all spheres of life, both in public and in the private domain. The vast majority of languages, howev- er, are spoken by communities within a region or a territory of a country. They are often referred to as “minority languages”, as opposed to “majority languages”, which are of- ten state languages that co-exist with the minority and immigrant languages. 4 This distinction between majority and minority languages is not always based on the number of speakers, but rather, in some cases, on the degree of political