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The impact of divergent language policies on teachers’ language attitudes and proficiency in two multilingual education settings

  • Ada Bier ORCID logo EMAIL logo and David Lasagabaster ORCID logo
Published/Copyright: December 16, 2024
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Abstract

This paper reports on a study on in-service and pre-service teachers’ language attitudes and perceived proficiency in two multilingual education contexts: the Basque Autonomous Community (Spain) and Friuli Venezia Giulia (Italy). The total sample was made up of 1,094 participants (553 pre-service teachers, 541 in-service teachers). Data were collected by means of the same questionnaire used in a study published in 2007, which this research replicates. The cross-country comparison highlights the impact of diverse language policies; the Basque Autonomous Community shows robust support for the minority language, Basque, in contrast to Friuli Venezia Giulia’s less supportive approach to Friulian. Similarities include teachers’ high perceived proficiency in the State language (Spanish and Italian respectively) and positive views on multilingualism (including the minority, the majority and English as a foreign language). Notably, in-service teachers express more favorable attitudes than their pre-service counterparts towards the minority language, but less favorable towards the State language. With this study, we aim to contribute to the ongoing discourse on multilingualism within an educational system that embraces multiple languages, aiming to provide potentially valuable insights for policy and teacher training practice.


Corresponding author: Ada Bier, Faculty of Arts, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Paseo de la Universidad, 5, 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz (Álava/Araba), Spain, E-mail:

Award Identifier / Grant number: 101022752

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank all the participants in the survey, whose collaboration has been invaluable. The authors would also wish to thank the Societât Filologjiche Furlane/Società Filologica Friulana for their help in reaching participants in FVG, as well as the anonymous reviewers for their insightful and constructive comments on this work.

  1. Research funding: This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement N. 101022752. This work has also been supported by the Basque Government under grant number IT1426-22.

  2. Disclaimer: The contents of the present contribution reflect only the authors’ views; the EU Research Executive Agency (REA) is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

  3. Disclosure statement: No potential conflict of interest is reported by the authors.

Appendix A

Chi-square tests for independence (only significant results are reported):

Perceived general proficiency in Basque/Friulian, Spanish/Italian and English in the BAC and in FVG (2 categories: None+A little, Good+Very good)
Basque/Friulian χ 2 (1, = 541) = 58.92, p < 0.000, = 0.33 (medium)
English χ 2 (1, = 541) = 4.30, p < 0.05, = 0.09 (small)
Perceived written proficiency in Basque/Friulian (2 categories: None+A little, Good+Very good)
Basque/Friulian χ 2 (1, = 541) = 186.36, p < 0.000, = 0.59 (very large)
Importance attached to Basque/Friulian in the BAC and in FVG (2 categories: Not important+A little important, Important+Very important)
1. To make friends χ 2 (1, = 541) = 29.37, p < 0.000, = 0.23 (small-to-medium)
2. To read χ 2 (1, = 541) = 141.25, p < 0.000, = 0.51 (large)
3. To write χ 2 (1, = 541) = 172.44, p < 0.000, = 0.56 (large)
4. To watch TV χ 2 (1, = 541) = 161.49, p < 0.000, = 0.55 (large)
5. To get a job χ 2 (1, = 541) = 284.48, p < 0.000, = 0.73 (very large)
6. To be liked χ 2 (1, = 541) = 27.67, p < 0.000, = 0.23 (small-to-medium)
7. To live in the BAC/FVG χ 2 (1, = 541) = 37.49, p < 0.000, = 0.26 (small-to-medium)
8. To educate children χ 2 (1, = 541) = 103.93, p < 0.000, = 0.44 (medium-to-large)
9. To go shopping χ 2 (1, = 541) = 43.13, p < 0.000, = 0.28 (medium)
10. To make phone calls χ 2 (1, = 541) = 71.98, p < 0.000, = 0.36 (medium)
11. To pass exams to become civil servant χ 2 (1, = 541) = 427.35, p < 0.000, = 0.89 (extremely large)
13. To speak with students at school χ 2 (1, = 541) = 217.18, p < 0.000, = 0.63 (very large)
14. To speak with colleagues at school χ 2 (1, = 541) = 234.88, p < 0.000, = 0.66 (very large)
15. To speak with friends (out of school) χ 2 (1, = 541) = 42.07, p < 0.000, = 0.28 (medium)
16. To speak with people (out of school) χ 2 (1, = 541) = 16.78, p < 0.000, = 0.18 (small)
Attitudes towards trilingualism in Basque/Friulian-Spanish/Italian-English in the BAC and in FVG (2 categories: Disagree+Strongly disagree, Agree+Strongly agree)
1. It is important to be able to speak [the three languages] χ 2 (1, = 487) = 5.09, p < 0.05, = 0.10 (small)
4. Children get confused when learning [the three languages] (recoded) χ 2 (1, = 470) = 6.78, p < 0.01, = 0.12 (small)
5. Knowing [the three languages] helps to get a job χ 2 (1, = 469) = 9.97, p < 0.01, = 0.15 (small)
9. People know more if they know [the three languages] χ 2 (1, = 407) = 19.34, p < 0.000, = 0.22 (small-to-medium)
11. Speaking [the three languages] is more for younger than older people (recoded) χ 2 (1, = 398) = 5.23, p < 0.05, = 0.11 (small)
12. Young children can learn to speak [the three languages] at the same time with ease χ 2 (1, = 471) = 4.62, p < 0.05, = 0.10 (small)
14. People can earn more money if they speak [the three languages] χ 2 (1, = 309) = 17.42, p < 0.000, = 0.24 (small-to-medium)
15. I would like to be a speaker of [the three languages] χ 2 (1, = 503) = 11.35, p < 0.001, V = 0.15 (small)
17. I would like my children to speak [the three languages] χ 2 (1, = 509) = 4.47, p < 0.05, = 0.09 (small)
18. [The three languages] can live together in the BAC/FVG χ 2 (1, = 472) = 29.69, p < 0.000, = 0.25 (small-to-medium)
19. Given the new European context (UE, euro, free movement of people/goods, etc.), it is important to speak [the three languages] χ 2 (1, = 462) = 8.07, p < 0.01, = 0.13 (small)
20. In schools in the BAC/FVG more languages should be taught, in addition to [the three languages] χ 2 (1, = 401) = 5.90, p < 0.05, = 0.12 (small)
21. Speaking [the three languages] helps people to make progress at work χ 2 (1, = 439) = 15.81, p < 0.000, = 0.19 (small-to-medium)
22. I would regret it if English dominated over the other languages χ 2 (1, = 458) = 22.74, p < 0.000, = 0.22 (small-to-medium)
23. I would regret it if Spanish/Italian dominated over the other languages χ 2 (1, = 420) = 72.27, p < 0.000, = 0.41 (medium-to-large)
24. I would regret it if Basque/Friulian dominated over the other languages χ 2 (1, = 390) = 14.79, p < 0.001, = 0.19 (small-to-medium)
Appendix B

Independent samples t -tests (only significant results are reported):

BAC FVG
Attitudes towards Basque Attitudes towards Friulian

  1. Pre-service teachers (= 76.74, SD = 14.98)

  2. In-service teachers (= 84.10, SD = 10.93); t (615.73) = −7.06, p < 0.001 two-tailed, Cohen’s d = 0.55 (medium effect size)

  1. Pre-service teachers (= 54.35, SD = 20.58)

  2. In-service teachers (= 62.30; SD = 18.30); t(395.31) = −4.35, p < 0.001 two-tailed, Cohen’s d = 0.41 (small-to-medium effect size)


Attitudes towards Spanish Attitudes towards Italian

  1. Pre-service teachers (= 70.04, SD = 15.42)

  2. In-service teachers (= 65.59, SD = 15.44); t (616) = 3.55, p < 0.001 two-tailed, Cohen’s d = 0.29 (small effect size)

  1. Pre-service teachers (= 78.83, SD = 10.23)

  2. In-service teachers (FVG: = 76.21, SD = 9.99); t (474) = 2.80, p < 0.01 two-tailed, Cohen’s d = 0.26 (small effect size)


Attitudes towards English Attitudes towards English

n.s.
  1. Pre-service teachers (= 78.38, SD = 10.43)

  2. In-service teachers (= 72.52, SD = 11.80); t (474) = 5.61; p < 0.001 two-tailed, Cohen’s d = 0.52 (medium effect size)


Attitudes towards multilingualism in the three languages Attitudes towards multilingualism in the three languages (*)

  1. Pre-service teachers (= 69.92; SD = 10.72)

  2. In-service teachers (= 73.80; SD = 11.38); t (616) = −4.33; p < 0.001 two-tailed, Cohen’s d = 0.35 (small-to-medium effect size)

n.s.

  1. All the above results were confirmed by the corresponding nonparametric Mann–Whitney U tests. The only finding that was not confirmed was the one about attitudes towards multilingualism in the three languages in FVG (*). While the independent sample t-test did not find any significant difference between in-service and pre-service teachers, the nonparametric Mann–Whitney U test found a significant small difference (with p < 0.05).

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Received: 2024-03-19
Accepted: 2024-12-03
Published Online: 2024-12-16
Published in Print: 2025-07-28

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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