Language policy and identity: The case of Catalonia

Abstract

Language is a crucial feature of national and personal identity. Where Nationality is contested or controlled a particular language may be promoted or prohibited and the language of instruction is often informed by a ‘national’ political agenda. In Spain Franco attempted the suppression of Catalan identity prohibiting the public use of Catalan, schooling was conducted in Castilian. After Franco, in 1975 the new constitution promoted autonomy and self government for Catalonia. The regional government developed an educational policy, teaching Catalan to all children and using Catalan as the vehicular language in schools. The present population of Catalonia is approximately six million, over four million speak Catalan as their first language but there is significant population whose first language is Castilian. The article moves from a discussion of identity and nationalism, to an account of the dynamics of language in Catalonia and the development of Catalan education policy and its implications for questions of identity, nationality, education and language. © 1996, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.