Language attitudes of young Romanians in Catalonia (Spain): The role of heritage language maintenance programs

Abstract

This article presents a mixed method analysis of the language attitudes held by secondary education students of Romanian origin, which are members of the second largest immigrant population living currently in Catalonia. The relevance of this data is based on the cardinal role played by attitudes in the success of any educational or linguistic policy (Lewis, E. Glyn. 1981. Bilingualism and bilingual education. Oxford, UK: Pergamon.) – a topic of special relevance in contexts with considerable migratory influxes, such as Catalonia, which aims to achieve social cohesiveness in a framework of interculturalism and multilingualism. The various initiatives implemented for this purpose include the heritage language maintenance programs, such as the “Romanian Language, Culture, and Civilization” (RLCC) program. The results showed that the young Romanians had the most favourable attitudes towards Spanish, followed closely by Romanian, and lastly Catalan, which was the least valued language. Furthermore, these attitudinal patterns were not determined by RLCC attendance. The insights provided by the in-depth interviews indicated various components and meanings associated with the attitudes towards the three languages. Namely, attitudes towards Spanish were primed by its international status and ease of learning, while attitudes towards Catalan were build on its integrative value and social status. Although esteemed for its emotional and symbolic bonds, Romanian seemed to be on a path towards invisibilization. Finally, the educational and social implications of these findings are discussed, emphasising the importance of involving and working with both the autochthonous and the Romanian immigrant population.

Análisis comparativo de las actitudes lingüísticas del alumnado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria en la Franja de Aragón y Cataluña

“…Finalmente, los resultados y las conclusiones obtenidas deben ser tomadas con cautela por ser un estudio exploratorio con un tamaño de la muestra pequeño y un método de selección no aleatorio. En consecuencia, y ante los hallazgos observados, sería interesante realizar nuevos estudios con muestras más amplias y representativas, que incluyan además otras variables que se interrelacionan de manera importante con las actitudes lingüísticas y el éxito académico como son, por ejemplo, la competencia lingüística o las autoidentificaciones (Ianos, Caballé, Petreñas, y Huguet, 2019;Petreñas, Lapresta, y Huguet, 2016). l Conflicto de intereses.…”

“…En resumen, pretendemos evidenciar el papel que juega la opcionalidad de la lengua catalana en el currículum y, de esta manera, aproximarnos a la génesis y las manifestaciones actitudinales hacia la mima. Todo ello, nos permitirá concienciar sobre la importancia de visibilizar e incorporar en el currículum ordinario las lenguas tradicionalmente minoritarias del contexto y, consecuentemente, cómo todo lo anterior puede interferir en un mejor aprendizaje lingüístico y una efectiva inclusión socioeducativa (Ianos, Caballé, Petreñas, y Huguet, 2019;Petreñas, Lapresta, y Huguet, 2016).…”

A critical sociolinguistic study of diasporization among Hungarians in Catalonia

“…In an attitudinal study on young Romanians, less positive attitudes are shown towards Catalan than Castilian, but the participants agreed on Catalan's importance in the access to university studies (Ianos et al 2019). Another study on the descendants of migrants in Lleida, however, reports a balance between the two languages, and the authors argue that most of the informants were following a bilingual acculturation strategy (Lapresta-Rey et al 2021).…”

“…As Massaguer Comes (2022) puts it, the re-ethnicization and the re-politicization of the Catalan language can be observed among non-Spanish nationals. Some attitudinal studies conducted within particular ethnic groups also reported more negative attitudes towards Catalan compared to Castilian (see Fukuda 2017 in the Japanese and Ianos et al 2019 in the Romanian communities; see also Subsection 5.2). Nevertheless, Lanz and colleagues (2020) envision a "mirror effect" within particular diasporic communities.…”

ทัศนคติของผู้พูดสองภาษาไทย-อังกฤษต่อการสลับภาษาระหว่างภาษาไทยกับภาษาอังกฤษ

“…ตั วอย่ างที ่ ป็ อปแลค (Poplack, 1980: 583) (Campbell, 1963) 5) ทั ศนคติ เป็ นตั วน าให้ เกิ ดการกระท า กล่ าวคื อ ทั ศนคติ กั บพฤติ กรรมมี ความสั มพั นธ์ ซึ ่ งกั น และกั น นั กจิ ตวิ ทยาสั งคมบางกลุ ่ ม (Allport, 1935;Fishbein & Ajzen, 1974;Williams, 1974) เชื ่ อว่ าทั ศนคติ ฝั งอยู ่ ในพฤติ กรรมที ่ แสดงออกมา ในขณะที ่ กลุ ่ มอื ่ น เช่ น ฟาโซลด์ (Fasold, 1984) (Lambert et al, 1960 (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990) ทว่ าการวิ จั ยโดยการใช้ เรื ่ องเล่ าถึ งแม้ ว่ าเป็ นวิ ธี การเก็ บข้ อมู ลที ่ ใช้ อย่ างแพร่ หลายแต่ นิ ยามที ่ มี ความเป็ นสากลรวมถึ งรู ปแบบ ในการสร้ างเครื ่ องมื อในการเก็ บข้ อมู ลกลั บไม่ มี แบบแผนที ่ เป็ นฉั นทามติ (Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach, & Zilber, 1998) Ianos et al, 2019;Lawson & Sachdev, 2000;Liu, 2019)…”