Indicator 32: Home and School Language

Home and school language differences

In both the United States and Western Europe, the number of students whose home language is different from the language spoken at school is rapidly increasing. The number of children in the United States whose parents are immigrants is expected to grow from 5.1 million to 7.4 million between 1990 and 2000 and to 9.1 million in 2010./1 In Western Europe, the number of students who are not citizens of the countrygenerally referred to in Europe as "foreigners"increased 26 percent in Germany, 17 percent in the Netherlands, and 11 percent in Switzerland between the mid-1980s and early 1990s./2 During the same period, the number of students in Norway speaking a language other than Norwegian increased 136 percent and the number in Sweden speaking a language other than Swedish increased 30 percent./3 These increases are largely the result of increased immigration. Thus, the image of European countries with relatively homogeneous populations is increasingly outdated.

In addition to immigrants, there are students both in the United States and in other countries who belong to groups who either are indigenous to the area or have lived in the country for several generations and whose home language is not the school language. Examples in the United States include Native Americans and some of the Mexican-Americans in the Southwest. Similarly, most European countries include at least one permanent group speaking a language different from the majority language. In France, for example, there are groups who speak Basque, Breton, Catalan, Corsican, Flemish, and a dialect of German./4

In many Western European countries, as well as in the United States, schools are under increasing pressure to find strategies to address the special needs of students whose home language is not the language used in school. These strategies have been influenced by the national and local sentiment regarding culture and language, attitudes toward immigration, and the available education resources.

In the United States, existing state and local policies have been shaped by the Lau vs. Nichols Supreme Court decision of 1974, which required that students who do not speak and understand English are entitled to education programs

that teach them English and allow them to participate in the overall educational program of their schools./5 The National Bilingual Education Act of 1968 first authorized federal funds to support special programs for such students. English-as-a-second-language is now regarded as a standard part of the curriculum for students with limited English proficiency. Further, many bilingual programs provide instruction in regular academic subjects in students' home language in order for students to maintain grade-level standards while developing English proficiency. However, although there are instances in which bilingual education incorporates maintenance and enhancement of home language skills, the dominant approach has been for bilingual programs to be primarily transitional in nature, intended to serve students only until they acquire English proficiency.

The approach has been quite different in Europe, where preserving the cultural identity of the students who belong to groups speaking a language at home different from the language of the school has been a longstanding educational goal. Twenty years ago, immigration was generally viewed as a temporary phenomenon and education of immigrants' children was largely organized by their country of origin and financed privately. When it became clear that large numbers of immigrants would remain in the host country, the responsibility for providing education shifted to the public domain. In 1977, a European Community directive called on host countries to "take specific measures for immigrants' children and, in cooperation with the countries of origin, to promote the teaching of the mother tongue and the culture of the country of origin."/6

For example, municipal authorities in Sweden are required to organize home-language instruction for all pupils using a language other than Swedish for everyday communication with at least one parent. In addition to developing their home language, this instruction aims to help students preserve links with their families and their own language group. Depending on the situation, the home language may also be used for instruction in other subjects. Swedish as a second language is compulsory for all pupils who need it./7

More recently, a viewpoint has arisen in Europepartly in response to low achievement of foreignersthat for students whose home language is different from the school, greater emphasis should be placed on promoting "a

Footnotes

1/ M. Fix and J. Passel, Immigration and Immigrants: Setting the Record Straight (Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute, 1994).

2/ OECD, Trends in International Migration, 1993 (Paris: SOPEMI, 1994), 126-139.
Base year is school year 1991-92 for Germany and Norway and 1990-91 for the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland.

3/ OECD, Trends in International Migration, 54.

4/ T. Husén, A. Tuijnman, and W.D. Halls, Schooling in Modern European Society (Oxford: Pergammon Press, 1992).

5/ Up until the late 1800s, it was not unusual for schools in the United States to provide instruction in English and a second language. By the mid-1800s, public and parochial schools providing instruction in German and English operated in such cities as Baltimore, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and St. Louis. In some cases, laws stipulated that at the request of parents, instruction should be provided in languages other than English. (J. Crawford, Bilingual Education: History, Politics, Theory, and Practice [NJ: Crane Publishing Company, 1989].)

6/ D. Blot, Issues Concerning the Education of Immigrants' Children (Paris: OECD, 1994).

7/ In 1990/91, 12 percent of the students in compulsory education in Sweden had a mother tongue other than Swedish. (Swedish Ministry of Education and Science, The Swedish Way Towards a Learning Society [Stockholm: 1992].) uniform scientific and technical education, presented as being culturally neutral."/8 According to this reasoning, schools should focus on giving students the skills they will need in the workplace, rather than on preserving the culture and language of their country of origin. Furthermore, questions have been raised in the United States and other countries about whether public education systems are the best institutions for maintaining these cultural links. However, in contrast to the United States in the 20th century, the prevailing assumption in Europe is that it is not inappropriate for public schools to contribute to the maintenance of the students' home language and culture.

8/ D. Blot, Issues Concerning the Education of Immigrants' Children.

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