Review of the legislative framework for attention to the linguistic diversity of foreign students in the Spanish educational system

Abstract

Migration is a social phenomenon that, as such, is organic, ever evolving, and complex. Due to its complexity, it can be approached in an interdisciplinary way to try to grasp its scope and effect. This study is centered on migrant minors and the linguistic aspect of their social and educational inclusion in the destination country (Spain). For that purpose, we offer an updated review of the Spanish legislative framework in educational matters from a qualitative approach and complemented with a review of the Web of Science database. Following the PRISMA model the obtained data show the importance of the minors’ rights to schooling and attention to their linguistic diversity as well as the responsibility of each autonomous community or city to fulfill their needs. On the other hand, a review on the Web of Science database showed the low density of works that review and analyzes the legislation on the Spanish educative framework. Finally, the works on regularizations and concrete actions in the context of specific autonomous communities or cities are more abundant.