BILINGUAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN SPAIN AND SWEDEN

Bilingual education programs in Spain must be considered in both national and international contexts. At a national level, bilingual education programs in Spain are a part of that country's policies addressing the needs and demands of ethnic population groups such as the Basques and the Catalans (Beardsmore, 1993, pp. 197-208). As a member state of the European Community, however, bilingual education programs in Spain represent a part of that country's efforts to comply with the directive of the European Commission requiring the development of linguistic competence at the secondary school level through the LINGUA program (Beardsmore, 1993, pp. 103-120).

One objective of the LINGUA program is the development of competency in three languages in students at the secondary school level (Beardsmore, 1993, pp. 103-120). Choice of languages is left to the discretion of the individual states. Thus, in Catalonia, the Spanish bilingual education policy promotes Catalan as the first language, Castilian as the language of inter-Spanish communication, and either French or English (student choice) as a language of wider communication. The ERAMUS program promoted by the European Commission promotes European integration by enabling university stud

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ilian; however, none of the regional languages may be taught outside of the home region of the language. Only Castilian may be taught (and must be taught) across Spain. Spain is, in the 1990s, experiencing significant levels of immigration from both Africa and Latin America. The language problems of these immigrant groups, however, are not addressed in the country's bilingual education policies. Minority language rights in Spain are recognized through the country's bilingual education policies only in those instances where links exist between cultural identity and territorial identity within Spain. The Castilian language, by contrast, is protected and promoted both in Castile and in each of the autonomous regions. Bilingual Education in Sweden Sweden's accession to membership in the European Community means that the country is now subject to the language and bilingual educational policies promulgated by the European Commission (Mar-Molinero, 1994, pp. 319-328). Bilingual education in Sweden, however, has a long history that predates the European Community programs (Dutcher, 1982, pp. 1-69). Sweden established a bilingual education program in 197 to ensure a parallel command of both Swedish and the first languages of ethni
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Approximate Word count = 2233
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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