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

Abstract

This study performs a comparative analysis of language attitudes in two multilingual neighboring territories in Spain, Catalonia and Aragon, with different language policies. Thus, Catalonia recognizes the co-officiality of Spanish and Catalan and has implemented a bilingual educational system, while in Aragon only Spanish has official status and education in Catalan is optional. In order to compare the language attitudes held by secondary education students in the two contexts, 154 students from a center in Lleida (Catalonia) and 195 students from a center in Fraga (Aragón) answered a series of questionnaires.The results showed that Aragonese students have more favorable attitudes towards Spanish, while Catalan youngsters equally liked Spanish and Catalan. Among the possible factors analysed, such as sociocultural level, socioprofessional level, family language condition, and assistance at optional Catalan classes in case of the Aragonese students, only the latter was found to improve attitudes towards Catalan