Catalan Language in Education (In Transit #27)

Catalan Language in Education
Catalan Language in Education issue #27 - May 2014
14/05/2014
The issue of the rule that Catalan langauge has to play in our Education
system is one of the most controversial in our society. Most of the focus
of Sapnish public opinion are on Catalan language, because of the fact
that it’s our main identity sign. And, very specially, public opinion,
all around the kingdom of Spain, is foccusing on the rule of Catalan
language in Education.
All around the territories where the Catalan language is spoken, there
are several ways of teaching Catalan (and in Catalan) in their Education
systems. In Catalonia, the educational reform mouvement, at the end
of Franco’s dictatorship and at the beginning of new democratic era,
stablished a main principle: if we have to live together, we have to be
educated together. That’s the principle of non segregation in schools by
language. In Catalonia, and so was done in the Balearic Islands, there
is only one education system, with no distinction from language, born
place, religion, or other particular circumstances. After having decided which one should be our model of
Education, it was decided about which languages should be taught, which one should be the vehicular one, and
so on and so forth.
To decide the main language in Education it was necessary to take into account our Statute of Autonomy. In
Catalonia, like in the Balearic Islands and in the old Valencian Kingdom, there were two official languages
(Catalan and Spanish). Nowadays, in Catalonia –the only country in Europe together with Luxembourg-, there
are three official languages: Catalan, Occitan –for our historic minority, Occitan speaking, in Aran Valley- and
Spanish. It is the purpose of our autonomy to make all the citizens capable to speak, read and write Catalan
and Spanish. Could it have been possible with strict bilingualism in Education? For sure, it wouldn’t have been
possible. Spanish was the fully dominant language and Catalan was in a subordinated position in our society.
The best way to achieve the goals of our autonomy was teaching in Catalan and adopting a good knowledge of
second and third languages (in our case, Spanish and mainly English) –in the case of Aran Valley you should
add allways Occitan aranese-.
In the Balearic Islands, the way was teaching at least 50% of lessons in Catalan and the lasting 50% distributed
among Catalan, Spanish and, eventually, also English. There were schools were Catalan was taught in, say,
70%, Spanish 20% and English 10%; others with Catalan 50%, Spanish 25%, English 25%, etc, according with
the wish of each school communtiy.
In the Valencian Country, there are two lines in their school system: on taught in Spanish and the other mainly
in Catalan (called officialy Valencian). Parents can choose one line or other, according with their wishes.
Unfortunatelly, there are many parents who want to chose Valencian, but they aren’t able to do it because of
the lack of offer in this language. But it doesn’t seem to be a great problem for the Spanish government or for
the Popular Party.
Where Catalan speakers ara a minority the situation of our language in Education is very fragile. In Aragon,
with two minority language (Catalan and Aragonese), there is no official recognition for these minorities,
and Catalan is taught only voluntarily, and outside school timetable, in schools and high schools. In spite of
this fact, about 70% of Catalan speaking pupils in Aragon are learning Catalan nowadays. So is happening in
Carxe, in Murcia region. In Northern Catalonia there is an official recognition of Catalan language attached
to municipalities. In Perpignan or in Prada, Catalan is an official language. And people is implementing an
Education network in Catalan (Bressola for primary school, and bilingual high schools), where not only Catalan
is taught, but it is also a language mean for Education. So it’s improving nowadays in Alghero, Sardinia, where
Catalan is the historic language.
During these last years, the preasure of Spanish PP on Catalan language in Education has increased. During
the whole process, some small associations have tried to avoid Catalan in several fields in Education, but
generally they didn’t succeed. But nowadays they can rely also in the government action by PP in Spain, and
also in the Valencian Country and in the Balearic Islands, where nowadays this political party is in office.
In Valencia there is just continuity. The defeating strategy is just leasing it flow as usual: two lines, no places
enough for those who want eduction in Catalan for their children...
In the Balearic Islands, PP’s Government has promoted legal changes: since last year the knowledge of Catalan
language is not necessary to became public servant in Balearic autonomous region; toponims are legal not
just in Catalan but also in Spanish; and, in the field of Education, they try to implant a system with three
languages: Catalan, Spanish and English. In fact, they don’t have a real plan to implement teaching throw
English generally: then, the impact of the new decisions is only a decrease in the use of Catalan language and
an increase in the use of the Spanish language, breaking the equilibrium among both official languages.
Bernat Joan, Professor of Catalan Philology and a Sociolinguist
seven communities, one language
eurocatalan newsletter
EDITORIAL

The pressure on Catalan language in Education is very high in the Valencian country, notably high, specially
till president Bauzá came in office, in the Balearic Islands. And, in this strategy, pressure is starting to take
place usually also in Catalonia. On one hand, the Spanish Constitutional Court promulgated a sentence in
2010 interfering the use of Catalan as vehicular language in Catalonia’s Education system. More recently the
High Court of Justice of Catalonia has stablished that, if only one student asks to be taught in Spanish, at least
25% of lessons are to be given in this language. On the other hands, there are parents that claim Education in
Spanish for their children, avoiding the normal process to learn also Catalan as well. It is strongly surprising
this vindication of the right of ignorance, but it’s a political tool against normalisation of use for the Catalan
language.
For the Government of Catalonia, the goal is to achieve a good knowledge of Catalan language, and as well,
good language competence in Spanish and in another language, mainly English. Learning Catalan (or learning
Occitan, in the Aran valley) is not contradictory with learning Spanish, English or/and other languages. It’s
just the contrary: when a person became bilingual it’s easier to learn a third language; and, then, it’s even
easier to learn the fourth. That’s a absolutly coherent goal with Europe 2020 Strategy in the field of langauge
planning in the European Union. We need citizens capable of speaking several languages (mother tongue
plus two, minimum), living in multilingual societies, capable to push towards the future all the languages of
Europe. Because plurality and diversity are our motto.
Photo: Bernat Joan

Catalan in education
With democracy the language was recuperated in education.
However, the introduction of Catalan in the classrooms was very
unequal with regards to the region. Thus, while in Catalonia and
the Balearics a linguistic model has been adopted, in accordance
with the policy that Catalan is the principal vehicular language,
the Valencian region has followed a radically different model
where parents can use, in theory, the language in which their
children are schooled.
Catalan was excluded from education between the seventeenth and twen-
tieth century, at the same pace as the various states in which the language is
spoken began to insist that obligatory education be taught in the language
of the respective states. However, the different social sectors of the region
have always been aware that schooling is a decisive area for the region’s
progress and the vitality of the language, in a sense that the demands to
introduce Catalan into teaching and the complaints about its banishments
were frequent throughout this period.
From the twentieth century onwards, especially in Catalonia, the situation started to change with the advance
of political Catalanism, first encouraged by the Mancomunitat and later by the republican Generalitat. Effecti-
vely, the Statute of Catalonia from 1932 introduced the learning of Catalan and teaching in Catalan to all levels
of education for the first time. Unfortunately, the autonomous period was very short, although its work set the
foundation which, decades later, would allow sectors of teaching professionals to maintain the Catalan langua-
ge, even in the midst of Franco’s regime, when the language was prohibited, and its use chased.
The recuperation of democracy and a certain degree of autonomy in the Catalanophile regions included in the
Spanish Kingdom allowed the language to be recuperated in teaching, and its example was a stimulus for the
rest of the linguistic domain. However, this recuperation has been very unequal all over the region and terri-
torial and administrative fragmentation means, that today, the position of Catalan in the educational world
varies enormously in accordance with the place to which we are referring.
In general terms, we can affirm that the introduction of Catalan as a subject was consummated, if nowhere
else, it was seen in Catalonia, the Valencian region and the Balearic Islands, during the democratic transition.
In fact, all of the statutes of autonomy and the first linguistic laws put special emphasis on the learning and
educational use of Catalan, because the principle was set that all of the people had to be competent in the two
official languages in order to avoid inequalities or social fractures for linguistic reasons. However, the school
linguistic models developed in each region greatly differ.
In Catalonia a unitary linguistic model, that has Catalan as its principal vehicular language, and is known as
the ‘model de conjunció’ [conjunction model], has been constituted. It parts from the base that ‘everybody
has the right to receive schooling in Catalan’, and that this language ‘has to be used normally as a vehicular
and learning language in university and non-university teaching’ (art. 35, Statute of Catalonia 2006). The
conjunction model aims to prevent school segregation for linguistic reasons, although it recognises the right
to receive initial schooling in Catalan and Spanish and the right of the student that joins the schooling system
late, to receive linguistic support if Catalan is not the language in which they express themselves. Logically, this
model demands that the teachers and professors can express themselves in either of the two official languages
in Catalonia. In order to guarantee this, in 1991 the law which regulated the access to the educational sector
was approved, which demanded the professionals of teaching have a level of Catalan and Spanish that allowed
them to develop their professional task in accordance with the current legislation.
The school linguistic model which is current in the Balearic Islands closely follows the model of Catalonia,
although the presence of Spanish is a little more important as a vehicular language. In contrast, in the Valen-
cian region, a radically different model has been followed, which is based upon linguistic lines. In accordance
with this model, parents can choose, at least in theory, that which has to be the language in which their chil-
dren are schooled, that is to say, Catalan or Spanish. However, this theory is quite removed from reality, since
administration often does not guarantee the existence of ‘lines in Valencian’, not even in places where there is
a strong demand.
The position of the Catalan language in the rest of the domain is equally complex. In Andorra, which is a sta-
te marked by the presence of high immigration and visitors, various educational systems coexist: the Escola
Andorrana pública [Public Andorran School], which sports Catalan as its main language and has a strong
presence of French as a second language; the congregational schools, which support Catalan as their vehicular
language; and the French system, with schools that work in this language. In the Franja [Aragon Strait], in
contrast, Catalan is little more than an optional subject in the context of a completely ‘Castilianised’ schooling
system. In Alguer and Northern Catalonia, there co-exists teaching in Catalan as an optional subject and some
initiatives of education in Catalan as total or partial immersion.
The school linguistic models of the Catalanophile regions have been shaken-up by the migratory waves of the
1990’s and 2000’s. These waves have modified the demographical composition of the students, to the point
that, in a decade, we have passed from less than 1% of foreign students to more than 12%. The specific needs of
Culturcat. Generalitat de Catalunya.
FURTHER READING

these new students have motivated a great number of initiatives, like the ‘aules d’acollida’ [welcoming classes]
which are destined to ease the learning of Catalan and a rapid and personalised incorporation of the newly
arrived student into the centre. In 2007, in Catalonia, there were a total of 1.081 of this type of classes (636 in
primary education, 347 in secondary education and 91 in appointed centres).
The universities follow ‘grosso modo’ the same linguistic model of the region where they are located. Thus,
in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, there is little tendency to establish linguistic lines and the students as-
sist classes in Catalan or Spanish in accordance with the language chosen by the teaching staff. However, in
agreement with article 35 of the Statute of Catalonia, ‘the teachers and students of the university centres have
the right to express themselves, orally or in writing, in the official language of their choice’. The last official
data published by the Department of Universities of Catalonia explained that the percentage of groups of class
given in Catalan was distributed in an unequal way: University of Barcelona, 66,4%; Autonomous University
of Barcelona, 61,8%; Polytechnic University of Catalonia, 59,4%; Pompeu Fabra University, 66,3%; Gerona
University, 80%; Lleida University, 53,05%; Rovira i Virgili University, 64,9%; Open University of Catalonia,
71,4%; Ramon Llull University, 75,8%; Vic University, 84%; International University of Catalonia, 44%; and
Abbot Oliba-CEU University, 32%. These percentages are for guidance and the presence of Catalan often
changes depending on the type of teaching. Therefore, in grade courses, the presence of Catalan is higher than
in the post-grades and masters, where the greater presence of foreign students has motivated the offer of more
courses given in Spanish and an incipient offer of teaching given in English.
In order to foment the use of Catalan in the university world, in 1994, thirteen universities of Catalan-speaking
regions signed the act of constitution of the ‘Xarxa Vives’ [Vives Network] in the city of Morella in the Va-
lencian region. At present it comprises twenty universities. In total, this represents a collective of more than
440.000 people, amongst students, teachers and non-teaching staff. The aim of this network is to potentiate
the relationships between the various Catalan speaking regions at a cultural and linguistic level. Amongst the
various services which the network offers to the public, there are bursaries for inter-university mobility, a vir-
tual library and a portal of linguistic resources.
First published in Culturcat, Generalitat de Catalunya.
Photo: Culturcat

Catalan, the language of instruction in Catalonia’s public schools
In Catalonia’s public schools, Catalan is the language
of instruction in order to guarantee that all pupils end
their studies knowing both official languages: Catalan
and Spanish. Spanish is taught as a subject. The model
works, and Catalan pupils not only know Catalan but
they also get the same results in Spanish language
exams, if not better, than in the rest of Spain. In
addition, the model has been praised as a good practice
by the European Commission and UNESCO.
However, the Spanish Supreme Court ruled that Spanish should
be language of instruction in Catalan schools based on an appeal
by 3 parents, who took the Catalan Government to court for
denying to school their children in Spanish within the public education system of Catalonia. Many legal experts
think that the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction to change the entire school model, already defined by several
laws. Furthermore, the Spanish Constitutional Court has validated twice the Catalan school model, in 1994
and in 2010. In addition, teacher unions and parents associations back the current model. This controversy
has been used by some Spanish politicians throughout Spain, most of them from the People’s Party (PP).
According to most of the Catalan political parties, it is a false controversy only created for electoral reasons to
feed Spanish nationalism.
First published in Catalan News Agency.
Photo: by Catalan News Agency
CNA - Catalan News Agency
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Catalan Education Minister believes the Spanish
Government’s school reform can still be stopped
Barcelona (ACN).- On Thursday, Irene Rigau, the Catalan
Minister for Education, announced that Catalonia will
participate in the working group created to analyse how
to better implement the Spanish Government’s Education
Reform. However, she also stated that the results of such a
working group will have to be assessed before implementing
the Education Reform. On Wednesday, after a meeting that
Rigau refused to attend, the Spanish Government said that
the Reform will be implemented “one way or the other” in
September 2014 throughout Spain, including Catalonia.
Rigau refused to attend because the meeting discussed how
Spanish will be made an instruction language in Catalan schools, an idea which is unacceptable
for the wide majority of Catalans. In addition, Rigau insisted on the need to analyse the results
of the working group, which might highlight difficulties to implement the Reform from the
next school year, particularly regarding the imposition of the Spanish language on the Catalan
school system. Such a working group was announced earlier this week by the Spanish Education
Minister, José Ignacio Wert, aiming to make “Catalonia feel comfortable” with the Reform,
despite all the Catalan education stakeholders totally opposing it. In fact, the new legislation
obliges the Catalan Government to offer Spanish as an instruction language or to pay for
privately-owned schools. Wert’s Reform entirely changes Catalonia’s current school model,
which has been in place for the last three decades and fosters bilingualism. Simultaneously, a
tedious judicial process is currently in place, trying to make Spanish an instruction language
in Catalonia. Regarding this process, on Thursday, it has been confirmed that after weeks of
uncertainty, finally the five schools that were forced to teach “at least” 25% of the compulsory
subjects in Spanish have been allowed to join the appeal against such a decision. Furthermore,
also on Thursday, the Catalan Ombudsmann, Rafel Ribó, urged the Catalan Government to keep
the current school model, since “Catalonia has an excellent situation of linguistic equilibrium”.
“It is a treasure that has to be preserved and fostered”, since, besides the cultural advantages,
it guarantees social cohesion and equal opportunities.
The current Catalan school system is based on the linguistic immersion principle and it guarantees that pupils
entirely master both Catalan and Spanish at the end of the schooling period. However, Spanish nationalists
have put the model under the spotlight, stating that they have “the right” to school their children in Spanish
in Catalonia, even though such measure would not guarantee a sufficient knowledge of Catalan, according
to experts. Such a right does not exist in the Constitution, which only recognises the “right and duty to know
Spanish”. As the Constitutional Court already acknowledged it, the Catalan school system respects such a right,
as Catalan students get similar or even better results (depending on the years) in their Spanish assessments
than the average of their peers in the rest of Spain. However, for the Spanish Government, which is run by
the People’s Party (PP), this is not enough and they would like to change the entire model, making Spanish an
instruction language.
In practical terms, this would mean that children from Spanish-speaking environments schooled in Spanish
would not be sufficiently exposed to Catalan and they might have problems mastering this language.
Consequently, bilingualism would not be fostered and it would be quite the contrary, since the knowledge of
Spanish would be guaranteed but not that of Catalan. In the long-term, this would affect equal opportunities
and would create two separate language communities. In fact, the Autonomous Communities governed by
the PP for many years have managed to change the school system and to marginalise the languages that are
not Spanish, schooling thousands of kids who are monolingual. Therefore, in the long term, this is a strategy
to homogenise Spain and to marginalise the Catalan language as it was summed up by Wert in October 2012.
Back then he said in front of the Spanish Parliament: “our objective is to Hispanicise Catalan pupils”.
In parallel with the political Education Reform, a judicial battle is going on, since a small group of families
is trying to grant their children the right to be schooled in Spanish in Catalonia’s public school system. The
Spanish Supreme Court, which neither has the power to change laws nor to act as a legislative or an executive
power, is trying to impose Spanish in the classrooms attended by the children of these families. This represents
changing the current Education Law of Catalonia, approved in 2006, and going against the text of the Statute
of Autonomy voted by the Catalan people through a binding referendum. However, in January, the court forced
five schools to teach “at least” 25% of the mandatory subjects in Spanish from the month of March. Now, the
five schools will be allowed to participate in an appeal prepared by the Catalan Education Ministry.
First published in: Catalan News Agency
Photo: The Catalan Education Minister, Irene Rigau (by P. Mateos)
Catalan News Agency.
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Judiciary insists on modifying Catalan school model to in-
crease presence of Spanish
Barcelona (ACN).- On Wednesday the Catalan High
Court confirmed its previous decision to oblige 5 schools
to teach “at least 25%” of their mandatory subjects
in Spanish if the family of a single pupil asks for it,
regardless of the opinion of the other children’s families.
The measure should be adopted “immediately”, but
the Catalan Government announced that it will lodge
another appeal. Two months ago, the affected schools
and the Catalan Government had already appealed the
decision, which interpreted a previous judgement from
the Spanish Supreme Court on the complaint presented
byadozenfamiliesfromCatalonia.Thesedozenfamilies,
which represent a tiny minority within a system schooling 1.2 million pupils, insisted they had
“the right” to have their kids schooled in Spanish in Catalonia. However, such a right does not
exist, as the Constitutional Court stated in a previous ruling. The Spanish Constitution only
recognises “the right and duty to know Spanish”, which is totally guaranteed by the Catalan
system.
The mess started when a politicised Constitutional Court issued a judgement in 2010 on the Catalan Statute
of Autonomy, which was approved by the Spanish Parliament and by the Catalan people through a binding
referendum in 2006. In 2010, the Constitutional Court recognised the current model based on the linguistic
immersion principle, saying that Catalan should be “the centre of gravity” of it, but that Spanish could not be
put aside. Spanish nationalist judges are now using this last part of the Constitutional Court’s sentence to act
as a legislative power and change the current law and system. The current model teaches almost all subjects in
Catalan, except Spanish language and literature, which are obviously taught in Spanish. However, the system is
very flexible and some schools teach further subjects in Spanish, using their curricular autonomy and depending
on their socio-linguistic environment. In addition, there are many flexibility measures, such as individualised
attention for newcomers. However the families appealing and the judicial authority consider this not to be
enough and are now demanding to have the entire class being schooled in Spanish if just a single kid asks for it,
even if the rest of kids in the class want to be schooled in Catalan.
Judiciary is acting as a legislative and executive power
If the Court decision is finally approved, the measure represents a threat to the knowledge of Catalan language
by all Catalan children, as well as a threat to true bilingualism, equal opportunities and social cohesion. The
current model follows these principles, since children totally master both languages, Spanish and Catalan, by
the end of their studies. In addition, the court decision is a threat against separation of powers and Catalonia’s
self-government, since it completely changes a law in force and approved by the Catalan Parliament, based on
the Statute of autonomy, which was approved by the Catalan citizens in a binding referendum. This means that
in a system where laws are only approved by the citizen representatives sitting in a parliament, the Spanish
judicial authority – which is significantly politicised and is totally centralised – is using its hierarchic structure
to make the Catalan High Court modify an existing law. The Catalan High Court replies that if executive and
legislative powers refuse to act and change the system, then the judicial authority is entitled to set new rules,
such as the exact share of Spanish language in the school curricula.
If the presence of Catalan is reduced, some children will not master the language
Spain’s centralised judicial power has decided to increase the presence of Spanish in school, thereby reducing
that of Catalan. The current model is based on the language immersion principle in order to ensure that all
pupils can master both Catalan and Spanish by the end of their studies. Experts state that if the number of hours
that students are exposed to Catalan language is reduced, some children from exclusively Spanish-speaking
environments will not be able to master it since they will not be sufficiently in contact with Catalan. However,
since Spanish has a preeminent role in communication media and is very present at street level or in the school
yard, the current model guarantees that children from Catalan speaking environments master Spanish, as
results show.
Students from Catalonia get similar results or even better – depending on the year – in Spanish language
compared to their peers throughout Spain. Furthermore, by fostering a true bilingualism, the Catalan school
model – in place for more than 30 years – ensures equal opportunities when children reach the job market
and master both official languages. On top of this, it fosters social cohesion, since there are not two separate
language communities, such as in other territories with two official languages. For these reasons, Catalonia’s
education model has been praised by UNESCO and by the European Commission. The model is also backed by
an extremlly wide consensus in Catalonia. But Spanish nationalists want their kids to be schooled in Spanish in
Catalonia and they do not seem to care if their knowledge of Catalan is not enough.
Spanish nationalists aim to break the Catalan society
In the current political climate, such a decision from the judicial authority fuels Catalan independence
demands, since many citizens feel self-government and Catalan language are threatened by Madrid’s centralist
and homogenising power. In fact, in October 2012, the Spanish Education Minister, José Ignacio Wert, who is
Catalan News Agency
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pushing for a reform aiming to make Spanish a language of instruction in Catalonia, stated before Parliament
that the aim of Spain’s Government is “to Hispanicise Catalan pupils”. Wert also linked the support for
independence to the Catalan education model, although opinion polls show that independence support has
grown in a similar way within all age groups, including people who were educated exclussively in Spanish
during Franco’s dictatorship times, when Catalan language was banned. Howevr, as former Spanish Prime
Minister José Maria Aznar said a few months ago, “before Spain is broken, Catalan society will break”, and this
seems to be the long-term strategy of Spanish nationalists to stop Catalan self-determination process: splitting
the Catalan society into two language communities.
First published in: Catalan News Agency
Photo: A high-school class in Catalonia (by M. Belmez)

The Catalan language at the university
In the main part of this article we will review the official data on the use of the
Catalan language in Catalan universities. However, the existence of posters
like the one that illustrates this article, made by the Language Services of the
University of Barcelona, makes one think that one thing is theory and the
other is what happens in practice in the classroom (which, in fact, is also the
case in many schools, especially in secondary education and areas where the
Castilian-speaking population is the majority)… The poster here is asking
people to respect the language of the classes… Is it a poster for the students
or is it for the teachers? It’s hard to tell…
The 2012 Language Policy Report offers us data on the use of Catalan as
a language of instruction in undergraduate classes of the seven public
universities of Catalonia during the 2011-2012 school year. The average is
77.2% and oscillates between 54,9% at the Pompeu Fabra University and
92.2% at the Rovira i Virgili University.
Nonetheless, if we compare these data with those of the Secretary for
Universities and Research corresponding to the academic year 2012-2013, we’ll see that the use of Catalan has
decreased in the last year (with 75.4% as the average), also oscillating between 55.8% at the Pompeu Fabra
University (which, despite everything, has increased slightly) and 92.1% at the Rovira i Virgili University, which
has been accompanied by increasing education in third languages. Only at the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF)
and the University of Lleida (UdL) is the use of Catalan in education increasing, if only slightly. The average of
instruction in Castilian is 16.00% and in third languages, 8.6% (1.3% more than the previous academic year).
We can see this in detail in this graph:
In general, the use of Catalan decreases gradually in the masters and doctorate courses, and above all for
doctoral theses and research, where the use of Castilian and third languages, especially English, increases
significantly.
According to the 2012 Language Policy Report, the average of classes in Catalan in public universities for
Masters programs was 61.3% in the 2011-2012 academic year, lower than the previous year and, according to
the Secretary for Universities and Research, in the following academic year 2012-2013 it was at 56.9%, which
maintains the downward trend and illustrates how third languages have benefitted, mainly English (20.8% of
the classes were in Castilian, 22.2% in English and 0.1% in other languages).
Teaching in Catalan lies between 34.8% at the Pompeu Fabra University (where the use of third languages
makes up 39.3%) and 73.1% at the University of Girona. We can see the breakdown of this language use in the
following graph:
Regarding doctoral theses, we don’t have global data on the 2012-2013 academic year, but according to the
Secretary for Universities and Research during the 2011-12 academic year, the proportion of doctoral theses
on the basis of language was, out of a total of 2,062 theses, the following: 17.5% in Catalan; 40.0% in Castilian;
38.7% in English; 1.5% in other third languages, and 2.3% that were bilingual.
Pere Mayans. The language pulse in the Catalan Countries. Blog on language and society. (Vilaweb)
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In the 2012-2013 academic year, Catalan was the language of 17% of the theses presented at the Rovira i Virgili
University (3% more than the previous year), while 35.1% were in Castilian and 46.7% in English. 1.2% were
presented in other languages.
16.7% of the theses presented at the University of Lleida that same year were in Catalan (almost 4% fewer than
the previous year), 42.8% in Castilian and 39.3% in English (a significant increase). 1.2% were in Portuguese.
At the UPC (Polytechnic University of Catalonia), 8.2% were presented in Catalan, 32.7% in Castilian, and
58.5% in English.
First published in: The language pulse in the Catalan Countries. Blog on language and society. (Vilaweb)
Photo: By the language pulse in the Catalan Countries. Blog on language and society. (Vilaweb)

Catalan in the education system:
ambiguity, rulings, realities….
Yesterday it was announced that the Court of Justice of Catalonia had
dismissed all appeals for reconsideration (including in equal measure
those presented by the Catalan Government, the heads and the PTAs
of the schools in question) against the interlocutory that stated that
25% of classes would have to be taught in Castilian if the family of one
student requested it…
This is yet another step in this sort of legal “Dragon Khan” that the
languages in the Catalan education system are subject to (in Catalonia
as well as other Catalan-speaking territories within the Spanish state).
Now, clearly, it is time to file an appeal in cassation before the Supre-
me Court (the Spanish one, of course). Yet it is also clear that, in the
completely opposite direction, the entity Convivencia Cívica Catalana
(Catalan Civic Coexistence), which represents the families who asked
for schooling in Castilian, will do the same thing, because they believe
that this 25% is insufficient and that it should go up to 50%.
It is clear that the goal is to bring an end to the only area of socie-
ty in which Catalan is the primary language, because, in addition, we
should also keep in mind the recent push to include English in the curriculum (and in some places, although
only a few, French). And the pressure here is from society and from the media… In addition, we should keep
in mind all those teachers (especially in secondary school and certain areas) who, although they say they teach
their classes in Catalan, they go ahead and teach directly in Castilian, or simply change languages when there
is a foreign student in the class or when a student speaks in Castilian…. And then there are those schools that
had already decided (or their teachers had already decided) to incorporate classes in Castilian (459 schools
according to the Minister of Education, using data from inspections).
But what exactly do the judges say?
Literally, they tell us: “Based on the consideration of Catalan as the center of gravity of the education system,
with the corresponding repercussion on the school hours derived from this principle, one determines the mini-
mum presence of Castilian as a vehicular language in the course and in the class where the son or daughter of
the appellant is carrying out their studies, in 25% of class time, which involves teaching in this official language
the subject area or the class for the learning of this language and at the same time, as a minimum, another
subject area or class in the core curriculum or similar that is not a language class.”
If we read it, dispassionately, we can observe that, in essence, they are saying the same thing they said in 1983,
when, following a request of the State government, a modification was made to the wording of Article 9 of the
Decree 362/1983, on the implementation of Law 7/1983, of 18 of April, of Linguistic Normalization in Catalo-
nia, in the area of non-university education. From that point on it was necessary to guarantee that, “in addition
to the Castilian language [class], at least one other class or subject area would have to be taught in this langua-
ge.” It is about limiting Catalan, as Catalonia’s own language, to be the language of education as well.
And this can be seen more or less in what they say today. The difference: at that time the tide was in favor of the
Catalanization of the education system (associated with concepts such as democratization, education reform,
values of public service, co-education, etc.). That was what made it possible for that ruling to almost go unnoti-
ced and that during the 1990s the proposals of school linguistic projects that were made by the Department of
Education were ignored. These were the years of political pacts, of the interpretation of “normality” in Catalan,
as a synonym of “always,” when in essence it meant “usually” but not “exclusively.” In fact, this ruling of 1983
was not repealed until 2011, although the majority didn’t even know of its existence. In conclusion, we can say
that, legally speaking, it has never been clear that Catalan could be the (exclusive) vehicular language of the
education system. The reality, especially in secondary education and certain parts of Catalonia, also denies this
fact. This is going to be a problem.
First published in: “The language pulse in Catalan Countries”. Blog on language and society. (Vilaweb)
Photo: By “The language pulse in Catalan Countries”. Blog on language and society. (Vilaweb)
FURTHER READING

Castilian, a language that is also vehicular in non-university
formal education
In the middle of the legal and media debate about the presence of Castilian
as a vehicular language (as well) in our education system (let’s remember
that vehicular means that classes are taught in the language in addition to
the Castilian language course), a lot of people have been surprised to hear
that this language is already the vehicular one in some schools in Catalonia,
as has been heard in recent statements. These claims, the product, we think,
of an attempt to salvage-preserve it as much as possible from our language
planning in education, has surprised professors at universities that train future
generations of teachers in our country, and many teachers and professors who
have staunchly defended language projects in which Catalan was the vehicular
language and, of course, all those who have given support to Somescola.cat, the
organization that has supported Catalan in the education system…
Nonetheless, we have long warned that Catalan is not quite the vehicular
language of the education system and that not always, when classes are taught
in Castilian, it is to ensure that, upon completion of compulsory education, students have the same level of
Catalan and Castilian (if it were, no problem!) as we have seen in some truly outrageous cases.
Along these lines, about eight years ago, I asked Professor Pere Ribera i Pinós to write an article for the magazine
l’Escletxa, for the CAL, about the situation of education. I will reproduce it once again because I think that it
can give us some idea about what has been the true presence of our language in many of the education centers
of Catalonia, and especially for secondary education, and that everything he mentions is still the case today.
WHAT IS THE LANGUAGE OF SECONDARY EDUCATION IN CATALONIA?
This question is not easily answered. If we heed current regulations, whether it be the Language Policy Law or
the Instruccions de curs (published annually by the Department of Education) in recent years, the language of
instructioninalllevels andareasofthe schools hastobeCatalan.Thestatement isveryclearandunderstandable
for those who need to understand and apply it. It even comes with certain tools to monitor it in detail: the
timetable statements that all teachers in schools must complete, where teachers are asked each school year in
what language they will teach their classes.
The reality in the classrooms, hallways and offices of schools is extraordinarily complex and contradictory.
Since April 29th, 2005, the Department of Education admitted to the newspaper AVUI that 20% of primary
school classes and 40% of secondary school classes are taught in Castilian (probably to varying degrees). In fact,
in January 1997, the union USTEC published the results of a survey entitled “Catalan in secondary education,
still a lot of work to do…,” which stated that in secondary schools Catalan was the working language of 69.3%
of the classes.
Looking at the results of the surveys given to students from different schools during the 2004-2005 school
year, we will see that in a school in the city of Barcelona, 20% of the batxillerat high school subjects were taught
in Catalan, and in the same school, only a total of 57.04% of the subjects were taught in Catalan. In this same
school, 56.2% of students said they used the language the teacher used in class. Obviously this is an extreme
case of “de-Catalanization” in the classroom, but it’s a reality that can be found in a number of other schools.
If we only looked at the data reported by the teachers on their timetable, we would not get this data in any
school in Catalonia, but if we ask the students, then some truly worrisome data appear, such as those we have
mentioned already.
Even within academia, there have been some paradoxical cases such as some newcomers, children of the
most recent waves of immigration, who went through a process of adaptation in the “School adaptation
workshops”(APR), or welcome classrooms, find that when they reach the “regular” classroom, the teachers
of core subjects such as math or social sciences explain things to them in Castilian, and not only that, but it is
often the case that these teachers refuse to switch languages when the students explain their situation.
In terms of organizing the schools in Catalonia, it also seems that there is a lack of any linguistic criterion
beyond declarations of good intentions. In some schools teachers are appointed to leadership roles who never
use the Catalan language, whether it be to address the students or to address the teaching staff.
In the cases described so far, in all except a few schools with which I have had a professional relationship of some
kind, the deficiencies in the process of language normalization can be attributed to two professional groups:
teachers and education inspectors. Teachers as a group have not embraced the need to carry out positive
actions for the full normalization of Catalan in schools, and there are even sectors that have strong reservations
and have offered resistance, using constitutional law as an argument for using an official language in their
professional activity. But at the same time, education inspectors have not acted, except for a few exceptional
cases, and have not considered that issues related to language use were an important aspect of their work,
otherwise how can we comprehend certain job appointments or statements of teaching timetables with the
language section left blank.
FURTHER READING

Beyond the passivity, neglect or resistance of these two groups, we should also note the remarkable passivity
of the educational administration that results in two equally suicidal attitudes: the affirmation of linguistic
normalcy that came from the administration of [the political party] CiU, or the passivity of the previous
administration. An example of this passivity is quite clear in two events that erupted in the Department of
Education during the month of January 2006. Coinciding with the publication in El Mundo of an article by
a well-known member of the Asociación por la tolerancia (Association for tolerance) and current leader of
the Ciutadans political party, in which he denounced (as they usually do from these platforms) the language
policy of the Department of Education and the language surveys addressed to the students, the Department of
Education itself called for an end to these surveys and a freeze on the language projects in the schools, which
is a tool that regulates how languages are treated at each school.
Also at this time, within the framework documents “Plan for the language and for social cohesion, ” the
document “The situation of the Catalan language in schools: measures to strengthen and promote it,” contained
in Appendix 4 of this plan and aimed at managing the areas of language and social cohesion of the Department
of Education, was mysteriously removed. One should also wonder what happened to the decree implementing
the law on language policy in the field of non-university education that was announced in 2005.
Viewed in this way, we can say that the statements that are made about the Catalan language being the language
of education, especially in secondary schools, are mere rhetoric in a number of schools, but it seems that none
of the education administrations that we have had up until now have considered an appropriate framework for
action. It seems as if it were about pretending things were going just fine, even though we don’t really know how
things are going, but by repeating over and over that everything is fine, there are a lot of people who have ended
up believing it. Meanwhile, as in the other areas of society, language belongs to everybody, and much less to
the administration and the entities responsible for managing language policy in this country. At the same time,
the reports of the IEC (Institute of Catalan Studies), the Language Observatory and all the other authorities
that carry out studies on the use of the language, continue to see an increasing decline in the use of Catalan in
society, especially among young people. In education, when we compare the rhetoric to the perception of users
[(students)] and professionals, there are no exceptions, but the same general rule, or not, because we cannot
confirm it. Thus, there is no single answer to the initial question, we can only confirm that what the laws and
the instruccions de curs say is not true.

Some reflections on what it means to teach second
languages: sociolinguistic implications
In this article you will find a reflection on some sociolinguistic
aspects (and general social and emotional ones) that should be
taken into account when teaching second languages; In parti-
cular, we will focus on the teaching and learning of reading.
It should be pointed out, however, that we will not provide ideas
on how to work on the reading process in the case of students
who don’t have Catalan as their language in the home and who
have been in our education system from the early stages, either starting in nursery school or at the beginning
of their primary education, since it is understood that they are taught and learn the first language in the school
(second, third or fourth language for many students), in the case of students who don’t have it as their first lan-
guage, applying the strategies of linguistic immersion. Instead, we will be speaking about the learning process
for readers in Catalan for students who incorporated themselves much later into the education system, and
what can be learned from this same process in the case of languages that are considered “foreign.”
In the picture: the importance of reading for learning second languages, in this case in higher education.
In this text you will find reflections to keep in mind when working with reading both in a foreign language (or
languages), as well as the Catalan language in the case of students who incorporate themselves late into our
education system (beginning in the second cycle of primary school up to the 4th year of ESO). In the same way,
these guidelines are also useful for reading in Castilian for those students who have arrived late to the educa-
tion system and don’t use Castilian, or some of the other variants of Castilian, as their language in the home.
In all these cases, we must first consider the language students were taught to read and write in. Students who
have started school in Catalonia (or in any of the other territories where Catalan is a vehicular language) this
process has normally been in Catalan. In the case of students who arrive late to our education system, the
casuistry can be extremely varied and, on many occasions, the language they were schooled in is not the lan-
guage they speak at home, nor even the language of the territory where the family lived: Morocco’s Amazigh
were taught in standard Arabic; the Wu Chinese or Cantonese in Mandarin Chinese; the Punjabis in Urdu;
the people of the Amerindian language in Spanish… It’s also important to take into account that, at times, the
home language and the schooling language (which, as we have seen, don’t always coincide), can be the same,
or a variant, of the foreign language that is taught at school (English or French).
For students who are late arrivals to the education system, there are, in addition, other elements to take into
account:
• The knowledge of the languages of origin (family or schooling) that the students bring with them, to which
must be added the languages of our school environment, when means that they will be students with an
extensive linguistic repertoire.
• Whether they have learned a language in a school context (level of prior education).
• The level of awareness of the Latin alphabet.
• The sociolinguistic context of the school and the school environment.
• Proximity or not to the cultural and social reference points of the school and the host society.
• Experience of the immigration process and the emotional aspects and those related to building an identity
that are connected to this.
• Academic expectations of the families, of the student, of the school…
• Their level of motivation to learn a new language (Catalan, but also Castilian) will depend a great degree
on the sociolinguistic context of their surroundings, the management of languages in the school, of a peer
language, of the strategies for teaching and learning at the school…
• In the case of students who do not speak the Castilian at home that is heard in the news in Spain, it is impor-
tant to take into account the internal diversity of this language and not stigmatize the speakers of variants
that are very different from the Spanish standard.
As for learning to read in a second language, it is important to consider:
• The fact that there are students who have followed a formal learning of a foreign language (or, even, a se-
cond foreign language) since they were little.
• Outside the school environment, many students have entered in contact with English through extracurri-
cular activities, play activities or simply through contact with people who speak the foreign language in
question.
• In the previous cases, normally, students have an easier time with language comprehension than with spea-
king or writing.
• For many students who arrive late to the education system, learning a foreign language is an additional
challenge to learning Catalan and Castilian.
• For other students, however, the foreign language they learn at school might be their own (or one of their
own) languages they speak at home, or one they may have started to learn in their country of origin (due to
it being official there or because it is also taught as a foreign language in the education system there).
• The motivation and the attitudes towards the foreign language will vary with each student.
FURTHER READING

• All of the above reasons can cause the levels in a foreign language class to vary immensely.

Minister Margallo, Ukraine is not Catalonia
15/05/2014
The political and social crisis in the Ukraine continues. For
months now the tensions between the citizens that feel Ukrainian
and the Russian-speaking minorities in their territories have
been rising to a crescendo. The referendums that have been held
have not helped lower these tensions. Quite the contrary! This
is because none of the referendums held in Crimea, Donetsk
and Lugansk (to decide whether they would be annexed to the
Russian Federation) have had any of the desirable characteristics
that would show that they had been carried out as required by a
democracy of the 21st century. They were improvised enough to
lead us to think that they didn’t have the necessary guaranteed
transparency or the assurance that no irregularities occurred. In
addition, amidst the alleged electoral processes there have been numerous incidents of violence —including
military pressure, civilian clashes, the creation of militia and the kidnapping of some observers of the OSCE—,
the occupying of government buildings and the violation of rights of all sorts. In conclusion, the processes
carried out in the territories of eastern Ukraine have not guaranteed either freedom or democracy. Because of
this, it is clear that these processes have nothing to do with —alas, yes, nothing to do with— the democratic,
peaceful, transparent and dialogue-based process that the Catalan people and government are promoting.
Rather, they are at two very opposite poles. And it is because it is fairly obvious that the process led by President
Artur Mas is based on respect for legal frameworks and the request for dialogue with the Spanish government
and European institutions, and that the processes that are taking place in the eastern Ukraine are unworthy of
a modern and democratic Europe.
Nonetheless, while this difference is obvious to many of the states of the EU and to many media, in Spain
there are Ministers that are sufficiently blind (and blinded) to continue to deny it. This is why the Minister of
Foreign Affairs, José Manuel García-Margallo, continues to insist that Catalonia, Donetsk and Lugansk are
the same thing. That is, according to the same Spanish head of international relations, although some are in
the east and others are in the south of Europe, they are the same thing because both go against the internal
Constitutions of their own states. Consequently, and according to Margallo, they cannot be recognized by
international law. Doesn’t the Minister see that he is setting himself up for ridicule with these statements?
Does he not understand that the world has understood that the Catalans base their claims only on radical
democracy? Can’t he acknowledge that the Spanish state is wrong when it tries to compare two situations that
are poles apart? And, what’s more: will Spain someday be able to have a similar attitude to that of the British
government, which would mean scrupulously respecting democracy and the right of its citizens to decide?
In conclusion, comparing the Ukraine and Catalonia is wrong and, at the same time, it is a significant and
ridiculous manipulation of reality. Margallo – and Spain’s diplomatic machinery – must think that the world is
not able to differentiate between the territories that favor democracy, peace and dialogue, and those territories
that are violent and that have significant deficits of individual and collective freedom. This is not the case,
Minister Margallo, not at all! Catalonia is calling for its right to vote democratically and it wants to do so with
the guarantee of freedom for all opinions!
First published in CatDem Foundation.
CatDem Foundation
OPINION

Penalties for Mr. Putin
It is important at this stage of the confrontation in Ukraine to clarify
that the issue is not simply “who owns Crimea.” There is a difficult
question there, and as secession-minded people in Quebec, Scotland
or Catalonia have shown, there are legitimate ways to raise it.
The real issue is the way President Vladimir Putin of Russia has
thrown down the gauntlet: sending Russian forces to seize control
of Crimea; concocting nonexistent “fascist” threats to the Russian
population; refusing to recognize the interim government in Kiev;
calling for a phony referendum in Crimea on Sunday and a vote in
Russia on March 21 whose outcomes are foreordained.
Whether Mr. Putin ends up actually annexing Crimea to Russia or
creating some other form of dependency is moot; his transparently
phony preparations are based on presumptions of special Russian
privileges in its former empire. The occupation of Crimea is illegal
under international law, and it is time for Europe to join the United States in threatening the sort of costly sanctions that will leave
Mr. Putin no doubt that they will not tolerate violations of Ukrainian territorial integrity.
Like many Russians, Mr. Putin earnestly believes that Russia has a special bond with Ukraine. What he and those in his
administration cannot fathom is that Ukraine can forge economic and social ties with the West and still retain the indisputable
historic and cultural kinship to Russia; to them, it is a zero-sum game, and Mr. Putin is prepared to be tough. [...]
You can read the full article, here: http://ves.cat/llkX
First published in The New York Times.
Photo: Vladimir Putin
The New York Times. By the Editorial Board
OPINION

Samuel Charap: The Ukraine crisis and the search for a
new normal
As Ukraine’s winter of domestic political discord transformed
into a spring of territorial partition and instability, European
and American officials seemed to be speaking from an agreed
set of talking points in their public remarks on the crisis. While
hopeful transatlanticists sought to construe this remarkable
consistency as a demonstration of a new seriousness of purpose
intheWest,thelitanyofwarnings,threatsandprescriptionsfor
resolution (inevitably characterised as either an ‘off-ramp’ or
‘de-escalation’) spoke more to the desperation of those uttering
them to quickly find a new, stable equilibrium for Ukraine,
Russia and the international system. Yet the talking points and
buzzwords, no matter how many times they are repeated, do
not in fact describe either a sustainable equilibrium or an end
point to the crisis. Instead, the disequilibrium and instability triggered by the Ukraine crisis seems likely to
endure for some time: the search for a ‘new normal’ promises to be long, costly and highly disruptive of both
individuals’ lives and the international order.
Not just Crimea, then
Until mid-April, when pro-Russia groups in Ukraine’s south and east seized several administrative buildings,
the search for a new equilibrium had been focused on drawing a line at Russia’s annexation of Crimea. As British
Prime Minister David Cameron said on 25 March, ‘there’s a view that the status quo [Russian occupation of
Crimea] is unacceptable, but there’s then another very, very strong view that any further steps into Eastern
Ukraine would be even more serious and would result in much greater sanctions.’ Russia would keep Crimea,
even if most of the world found Russia’s actions objectionable, and the West would support the new Ukrainian
government to become prosperous and democratic. Eventually, Russia would recognise the new Ukrainian
government, and ratchet down the economic and military pressure. As a White House statement issued on 6
March put it, ‘de-escalation’ would take the following form:
The governments of Ukraine and Russia would hold direct talks, facilitated by the international community;
international monitors could ensure that the rights of all Ukrainians are protected, including ethnic Russians;
Russian forces would return to their bases; and the international community would work together to support
the Ukrainian people as they prepare for elections in May.
In theory, this proposed outcome to the crisis – let’s call it ‘just Crimea’ – seemed quite reasonable.
However, ‘just Crimea’ proved more wishful thinking than sustainable end point. Above all, it could not be
maintained because winning Crimea and losing the rest of Ukraine was not an acceptable outcome for Russia.
Put differently, Russia did not invade Crimea in order to annex Crimea; it did so in a desperate attempt to
secure Russian interests in Ukraine, which extend far beyond the Crimean peninsula. Indeed, the timeline
of Moscow’s statements and decisions suggests that the annexation (or what is called ‘the reunification’ in
Russia) of Crimea did not necessarily reflect a coherent strategy. In the final days of February, when Russian
President Vladimir Putin took the decision to insert special forces, paratroopers and other servicemen into
Crimea, he was seeking to prevent a strategic setback in Kiev from becoming a strategic catastrophe: Russia’s
nightmare scenario of being completely pushed out of Ukraine by the West. That decision – meant to secure
the most important Russian physical assets on the peninsula, and to coerce the new Ukrainian authorities
into accommodating Moscow’s broader interests in Ukraine – had almost immediate knock-on effects on the
ground. It released latent separatist sentiment among the majority of the Crimean population, and hardened
the position of the new government in Kiev. In other words, despite Putin’s statements reaffirming Ukraine’s
territorial integrity as late as 4 March, the invasion foreclosed options other than annexation.
The swiftness of the annexation seemed to contribute to the false impression that Russia had achieved its
objectives. Many in the West apparently wanted to believe that the story would end there, since this belief has
persisted despite a complete lack of evidence to support such a conclusion.
On 15 March, the day before a so-called ‘referendum’ on the status of Crimea was held in that territory,
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov handed US Secretary of State John Kerry a draft text of a ‘Friends of Ukraine’
international action plan. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs published the proposal online two days
later. The document contains five actionable points. Firstly, it calls for the fulfillment of the pledges contained
in the agreement reached by the Ukrainian opposition and then-President Victor Yanukovich on 21 February
to disband armed groups and de-occupy buildings in Ukraine. (That settlement, which had been brokered by
Russia and the European Union, lasted mere hours before falling apart.) Secondly, it outlines a new federal
constitutional order for Ukraine, providing for, inter alia, neutrality; the direct election of regional governments,
which would be granted a wide range of powers currently held by Kiev; and the elevation of Russian as an official
state language along with Ukrainian. Thirdly, after this constitution is approved by popular referendum, the
Russian plan proposes that new elections, at both the regional and national levels, take place. Fourthly, the
document stipulates that the right to self-determination of the people of Crimea, as expressed in the 16 March
‘referendum’, should be respected. Finally, the EU, the US and Russia are called upon to serve as guarantors of
the above, which will be codified in a United Nations Security Council Resolution.
IISS (www.iiss.org)
OPINION

The contents of this document reveal that it was naive at best to believe that Putin could be sated by Crimea
alone. As clearly articulated in the ‘Friends of Ukraine’ plan, Russia has interests in that country that go far
beyond the territory it has claimed. [...]
You can read the full article, here: http://ves.cat/lllZ
First published in IISS (www.iiss.org)
Photo: Samuel Charap

How to address the language question in a new European
state: the Catalan case
A historic event
On 11th September 2012, an event bringing together one and a
half million people took place on the streets of Barcelona in
what was probably the largest public gathering ever seen in
Catalonia. On the occasion of the National Day of Catalonia, for
the first time since the beginning of the Transi- tion, the people
took the opportunity to boldly, unequivocally call for a second
transition, one making the exer- cise of the right to decide a reality
in Catalonia. The demand of those taking part was unanimous,
and was repeat- edly chanted by the protesters without exception:
Independence.
I recall saying that afternoon to my companions during the
multitudinous event, ‘If [President] Mas calls an election in the near future, it’ll mean the government has
taken notice of public opinion’. Artur Mas’ decision proved to be swift. Elections were called shortly after.
Catalonia, a new European state
When President Mas called an election for November 25th 2012 it signalled both the beginning and the end
of a chapter. It signalled the end of the ‘building an autonomous region’ chapter of Catalanism that began with
Prat de la Riba (the creation of the country’s infrastructures), Macià and Compa- nys (the interrupted dream),
Pujol (the consolidation of structures) and Mara- gall (a new dream interrupted). It was also the beginning of
the chapter of ef- fectively exercising the ‘right to decide’. Catalonia could have been viable as an autonomous
community within a Spain of one or two autonomous regions if the remainder were a unitary state (as long as it
respected identity), or within an Iberian confederation (with asymmetric confederalism, taking into account
the actual existing nations), but Spain has systematically closed all the doors that might have made such an
arrangement viable. Therefore, a new chapter is beginning. If all goes well it will end with the establishment of
the Catalan state within the European Union. Catalonia’s commitment to Eu- rope is beyond doubt.
How will the language question be addressed in a Catalonia with newly- acquired statehood? An independent
Catalonia will be able to have a much more open and flexible language policy than a bold autonomous Catalonia
within the Kingdom of Spain.
Asymmetric official status
The Catalan state should be a shining example of the recovery of a national language, multilingualism and
harmo- nious coexistence between the speakers of different languages. Catalonia has the potential to become
a country with a richer linguistic heritage, both for its citizens (seen individually) and their corresponding
collectives. The Catalan state will have to develop the language skills of its citizens. The autonomous Catalonia
has already done so, but it will need to go further. Catalonia, the new European state, will have to do every-
thing possible to meet the objectives of the EU’s Europe 2020 Strategy, which aims to ensure its citizens are
proficient in at least three EU languages. It will have to take advantage of the existence in our country of people
who dominate (as a first language) such widely spoken languages as Chinese, Arabic, Urdu and Hindi. Not to
mention Spanish, which plays and will continue to play a structural role in our nation, in which it is so well
established.
Given the above, may I suggest the following:
1. Catalan is the national language of Catalonia. As such, it should be the official language of the Catalan
Republic. As with any other member state of the European Union, it is understood that the Catalan language,
as the country’s own language, should be the language of social cohesion.
2. Since Occitan is the language of our historical national minority, it must retain its status as a fully official
language in Catalonia. The principle of preserving the linguistic rights of minorities is fundamental for all
Catalans.
3. Spanish and English should be the co-official languages of the Catalan Republic. Both being languages for
communication with the outside world should allow for easier, more fluid relations with the rest of Eu- rope
and the world at large. In addition, Spanish is the mother tongue of a large number of Catalan citizens.
Meanwhile English is the common language of communication within the EU and on a global scale.
It is clear that Catalan cannot be given the same status as the other languages that have some kind of official
recognition within the Republic. Cata- lan is our national language, and therefore it should be included as
such in the future Catalan constitution.
Special mention should also be given to Occitan as the language of our historical national minority, in the Val
d’Aran. Indeed, the new Statute established the official status of Occitan (or ‘Aranese’ in the Val d’Aran),
which was subsequently enshrined in the Oc- citan Law, which establishes the rights and responsibilities
resulting from Occitan’s official status. Occitan’s official status in Catalonia has had an undeniable impact on
different parts of Occitan within the French state and even the Occitan Valleys of Piedmont (Italy). The impact
Bernat Joan - Catalan International View
IN DEPTH

of the official status of the language of our historical national minority has been viewed very favourably by the
European Union, which sees it as of undeniable value in the respect for minorities and as entirely positive with
regard to plurality and diversity.
Castilian or Spanish should retain its official status, but (and here comes the asymmetry) as a co-official lan-
guage of the state. Castilian or Span- ish is nowadays the language of a very significant part of our society, and
as such it cannot be neglected or side- lined. The construction of a new Eu- ropean state will largely be carried
out by hundreds of thousands individuals who have Spanish as their first language and who have decided to
make Catalonia their country and who fully identify themselves with it. Catalo- nia must therefore also fully
identify itself with the Spanish language, and this can only be done, if it is not to be merely lip-service, by giving
Span- ish official language status, with all the rights this entails.
Finally, I think it would be a good idea to make English another official language, since it is Europe’s de facto
second language. It would be way of highlighting our Europeanness, sending a signal to the EU and accentuat-
ing multilingualism by having official recognition in Catalonia. It is worth re- membering that a country like
Singa- pore (population 4 million, all residing in a large Asian city) has four official languages: Malay, Tamil,
Chinese and English. The first language is Malay, Tamil belongs to a historical minority, Chinese belongs to the
largest group of immigrants and English is used for in- terfacing with the world.
Objectives of asymmetric official status
The asymmetric official status of languages in Catalonia will achieve objectives that I believe are fundamental
to the language policies that need to be applied once the nation can decide its own future:
1. It will ensure the predominance of Catalan, as a fundamental sign of the country’s identity, as a medium of
intercommunica- tion between speakers of different languages and as a key to social cohesion within Catalan
society. Catalan, therefore, should have the role of the common public language of all Catalans.
2. It will guarantee the future of Oc- citan, of the Aranese of Val d’Aran and undoubtedly of a large part of
Catalonia’s linguistic, cultural and historical heritage. It will also continue to have more positive effects on
‘wider’ Occitan.
3. It will respect the language rights of half the population, those who have Spanish as their first language,
and it will promote a solid foundation in language skills for all Catalans, regardless of their first language.
Meanwhile, it will also guarantee access to the Hispanic world via an understanding of the language it uses as
a medium of communication.
4. It will ensure the expansion of knowledge of the language of ex- change at a global level, with all this implies
in terms of opportunities for exchanges with the outside world. In addition, giving English official status would
be a pioneering move, by formerly acknowledging an issue that is a de facto reality, both within the European
Union itself, as well as in large parts of the planet.
The objectives of any state in relation to language should be the following: pri- marily, to ensure their
language is well established within the state’s jurisdiction. Indeed, all European Union member states act in
accordance with this principle. Secondly, the state must ensure its society does not become isolated from the
rest of Europe, by guarantee- ing high-quality access to the languages most commonly used within the Euro-
pean Union: English, French and Ger- man in particular. The state also needs to ensure that its citizens are
able to carry out their activities and communicate in different languages. The objective would be ‘one’ (each
individual’s first language) ‘plus two’ (two languages they have learnt). In the case of Catalonia, this ideal could
easily be more ambitious.
Catalonia, as a new European state, should constitute both a model of ef- ficient management of multilingualism
and of the full recovery of its own national language, after centuries of linguistic and cultural siege and a lack
of national and linguistic freedom.
BERNAT JOAN: (Eivissa, 1960). Professor of Catalan Philology and a sociolinguist. He has written essays,
plays and novels and coordinated various studies on sociolinguistics. He has been a member of the European
Parliament (2004-2007) and Secretary of Language Policy of the Catalan Government since 2007. He is part
of the European Free Alliance (EFA) and member of the Centre Maurits Coppieters foundation scientific
committee. He has contributed to the Languages and Speakers for a Diverse Europe think tank, linked to the
Network to Promote Language Diversity.
First published in Catalan International View
Photo: Catalan International View

Universities and institutions
The University of Barcelona, the University of Lleida and the University
of Valencia are the university institutions with the longest history in
the country. The battle for autonomy and its opposition to the Franco
dictatorship are some of their common traits; they are today knowledge
centres interwoven in the economic and social fabric of Catalonia.
The University of Barcelona is the public university with most students
and the widest educational offer in Catalonia. The history of the UB has
always been linked to that of Barcelona. In medieval times, it was founded
in 1450 by Alphonse the Magnanimous, together with the Consell de Cent
[Barcelona’s Council of One Hundred], the local government at that time.
In 1714, with the Catalan defeat in the War of Succession, Philip V moved
all Catalan university studies to Cervera, and it was not until 1842 that they came back to Barcelona. The statute
of university autonomy was granted from 1918, but it did not arrive until 1933, one year after being given the
Statute of Catalonia by the republican government. But this did not last: it became bogged down by the war
and did not get back on its feet until 1985. Despite its difficulties, the UB kept its academic life during the war.
For the medicine students, the conflict was an opportunity for first-hand learning. In January 1939, the Franco
troops entered the city and most Barcelona and UB intellectuals, e.g. Pere Bosch i Gimpera, Pompeu Fabra,
August Pi Sunyer, Joaquim Xirau went on exile.
With the dictatorship, the University was shrouded in its darkest periods: its autonomy was cancelled out; its
teaching staff was purged, etc. Its academic level dropped and it became a public institution opening its doors
only to the ruling elite.
In the mid-50’s a new feeling came in with the rise of underground clandestine groups, a trend that increased.
So did the university, which increasingly registered more students and reached wider social bases.
The university was one of the anti-Franco resistance fronts, together with the workers and the Church. In the
early 60’s, the university was, in Franco’s view a problem, just as the ‘Catalan problem’. Students like Ernest
Lluch, Jaume Sobrequés and Manuel Vázquez Montalbán actively participated in the anti-Franco battle from
the UB. The ‘Caputxinada’, in March 1966, was a reference point in the Catalan opposition to Francoism. The
rector Francisco García Valdecasas, as usual, responded with strong repressive measures but the students’
protests continued.
Until 1968 the University of Barcelona (UB) was the only recognised official institution of higher studies in
the so-called ‘university district’, which comprised Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. From the second half
of the 60’s and the early 70’s, the students’ figures rose by 400%: the university was overcrowded. It is in this
context that the Autonomous University of Barcelona was created in 1968. By virtue of the reformation of the
educational system, a new university model was established: freer and more autonomous. Its first secretary-
general was Antoni Serra Ramoneda. Other contributors to its foundation were the scientist Josep Egozcue
and Ernest Lluch, who had been expelled from the UB.
Parallel to this, the University of Barcelona implanted new territorial headquarters in Palma, Tarragona and
Lleida. At governmental level, the election of Antoni M. Badia i Margarit in 1978 opened up a modernization
and democratization period. In 1983, the Spanish Congress passed the Law of University Reformation, and
in 1985 the UB recovered its autonomy. The rectorships of Josep M. Bricall (1986-1994) and Antoni Caparrós
(1994-2001) consolidated its transformation. In 1989 the new faculties started being constructed in the Raval
neighbourhood and were inaugurated in 2006. In 1997 the Scientific Park was set in motion. In the 21st century,
the challenge of the UB and the Catalan universities is to become integrated in the European Space for Higher
Education (ESHE).
The history of the University of Lleida (UdL), despite being officially created by virtue of a law passed by the
Parliament of Catalonia in 1991, dates back to the year 1300, when king James II the Just granted the city of
Lleida the foundation of the first ‘Estudi General’ of the Crown of Aragon. The city was chosen because of its
geographical situation and its important economic activity at the time. During its four centuries of existence,
the Estudi gained a certain prestige, especially in the field of medicine. Jaume Agramunt wrote at the UdL, in
1348, the ‘Regiment de pestilència’, written in Catalan, one of the first treatise on the Black Death in Europe.
The activity of the Estudi General was interrupted with the Catalan defeat in the War of Succession and the city
stopped its university studies until the late 60’s. The Estudi General studies were attached, until 1991, to the
UB, the UAB and the Polytechnic University of Barcelona.
The UdL has a remarkable influence on the Lleida society and its region of Terres de Ponent. In the strategic
plan of 2006 its objectives were clearly defined: to become a food and agriculture university and cater for
the economic and business needs of the region and its surroundings. As regards research, the UdL has at its
disposal the Scientific and Food and Agriculture Technological Park, the Institute of Biomedical Research and
the Research Centre of Applied Energies.
The history of the University of Valencia (UV) set out in 1499. It was founded by the municipal powers, as
traditionallydoneinMediterraneanregions.Inthe16thcentury,itwasimportantforitshumanisticandmedical
studies, and this relevance is still maintained. The UV assumed a historical responsibility in disseminating
Culturcat - Generalitat de Catalunya
OUR CULTURE OUR HISTORY

Charles Darwin’s thinking and was the only university in the country to vindicate it for a long time.
The UV grew in space and studies during the Franco dictatorship. During those years two new campuses
were created, one in Burjassot and the other in Tarongers. The late 50’s and early 60’s saw the first signs
of opposition to the Franco regime, which coincided with a growth in students’ numbers. In the 60’s, the
students’ opposition increased, promoted by the UB movements. However, this opposition was just ‘a question
of minorities’ and ‘incapable of having a stable articulation’, according to the historian Benito Sanz Díaz.
The passing in 1994 of the financing plan of the Valencian universities led to an improvement in their
infrastructures. Currently, the UV is doing first-class research. It is worth highlighting the Scientific Park,
where research groups and spin-off companies live next to each other.
Peter III the Ceremonious, count-king of Catalonia and Aragon, founded in 1350 the General Study of
Perpignan to compete against the Estudi General of Montpelier, a city seized by the French to the Catalan-
Aragonese Crown the year before. In the late 14th century, Perpignan had one of the 25 universities in the
world, most of its students coming from Catalan regions. In the early 19th century, by virtue of a decree issued
by Napoleon, Perpignan stopped having a university and did not recover it until 1979, although in the 50’s it
had reopened some studies dependent of Montpelier. Nowadays, it has six university locations: Perpignan,
Narbonne, Carcassone, Font Romeu, Mende and Talteüll.
The Summer Catalan University was the result of the Catalan anti-Francoist movement and May 68. It was born
in the 1968 conferences held in Prada de Conflent by the Cultural Group of Catalan Youth and the Roussillonian
Group of Catalan Studies. In summer 1969 the first Summer Catalan University (UCE) was held, and from then
onwards it became a space for freedom and discussion with the participation of the main Catalan figures in the
intellectual, political and artistic life in Catalonia. Some of them were Jordi Pujol, Lluís Llach, Raimon, Maria
Aurèlia Capmany, Tísner, Miquel Martí i Pol, Joan Oró, among many others.
After Franco’s death, the UCE was relegated to a lower limit and started having financial problems. To avoid
its disappearance, the Patronat [Board of patrons] was created, made up of the main bodies and rectors of the
Catalan universities.
In the 21st century, it has opened up new headquarters, the house where Pau Casals lived during his French
exile. It not only keeps its spirit of protest but also plays an important scientific role.
Most Catalan universities are part of the Xarxa Vives [Vives’ network], an association set up in 1994, which
encourages relationship between university institutions in Catalonia, the Valencian Country, the Balearic
Islands, French Catalonia and Andorra. This network is made up of twenty-one universities from four different
states; the last one, the University of Sàsser, in Alguer, has been added in 2010.
Being language the common feature between them, the Xarxa Vives is conceived as a university space that
allows coordination in teaching, research and cultural activities, as well as promotion to use Catalan. Its
presidency rotates every six months and the presiding university represents the institution officially during its
term of office. However, the permanent headquarters of the Xarxa Vives is Castelló de la Plana, with a support
centre in Barcelona.
TheXarxaVivesprojectwasbrewedduringameetinginJuly1994attheUniversityoftheBalearicIslands(UIB),
organised by its then rector, Nadal Batle (1945-1997), an important figure in the Catalan university sphere.
On 28 October 1994 its Certificate of constitution was signed in Morella (els Ports) by thirteen universities:
Alicante, Barcelona, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Balearic Islands, Jaume I, Lleida, Open University
of Catalonia, Polytechnic of Catalonia, Pompeu Fabra, Ramon Llull, Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona) and Valencia.
First published in Culturcat
Photo by Culturcat
ISSN: 2014-9093 | Legal deposit: B. 2198-2013

Catalan Language in Education (In Transit #27)

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