Catalan in the twenty-first century

• Published in: International journal of bilingual education and bilingualism 2013-03, Vol.16 (2), p.177-181
• Main Author: Urla, Jacqueline
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Catalonia, Spain; Classification; Cross Cultural Studies; Ethnography; Europe; Focus Groups; Foreign Countries; Group Research; Ideology; Immersion Programs; Interviews; Language Attitudes; Language Maintenance; Language Minorities; Language Planning; Language Policy; Languages; Native Speakers; Prestige; Romance Languages; Second Language Learning; Social Change; Social Class; Sociolinguistics; Spain (Basque Provinces); Spain (Catalonia); Twenty First Century; Value (Economics); Values; Work Groups
• ISSN: 1367-0050; 1747-7522
• DOI: 10.1080/13670050.2012.720667

This special issue devoted to Catalonia--one of the most successful and longstanding language movements in Europe--gives a unique opportunity to understand some of the complex social dynamics engendered as language revival unfolds and to appreciate the value of in-depth interviewing, focus groups, and ethnographic work in making sometimes subtle change-in-progress visible. With 30 plus years of proactive language planning behind it, Catalonia is a living laboratory for exploring the social dynamics and ideological transformations set in motion by language normalization projects. For the nearby Basque language advocates with whom the author works, the strong institutional support language revival has enjoyed along with the extensive immersion schooling program (now under some attack), has been a source of envy not easily reproducible in their own context. Nevertheless there are many parallels between the dynamics described for Catalonia and the Basque Autonomous Community. In her commentary to the papers by Pujolar and Gonzalez, Soler, and Frekko in this issue, the author will note some of the parallels but focus more generally on the lessons these studies hold for scholarship on minority language revitalization projects in general. Lessons that have to do with the value of ethnographic work on language ideology; the importance of class as a factor in language revitalization; the challenges of cross national comparison; and the necessity for refining ways of categorizing speakers.