Representacions lingüístiques a l'ensenyament secundari obligatori públic de Barcelona

Resumen

The thesis aims to clarify linguistic representations occurring in compulsory public secondary education in Barcelona by means of three data-gathering methods. These are: face-to-face interviews with language teachers in public secondary schools in Barcelona; a survey of teachers in these same schools concerning their degree of agreement with certain statements on language questions; and an analysis of several lines in text books. One of the main objectives of the study was to ascertain whether, in a multi-lingual environment like the city of Barcelona, linguistic ideologies that are alternative to homogenisation and favour the maintenance of linguistic diversity are being developed. The main conclusions are that there really is a discourse supporting diversity, but that this discourse turns out to be fairly superficial and in contradiction with certain more specific linguistic representations and with determined practices. It was found that teachers in closer contact with effective diversity value this positively and consider it a source of pedagogic resources. However, a marked inertia in taking on board an intrinsically correct linguistic model and in perpetuating the hierarchisation of both languages and variants, both territorially and socially, and especially in text books, was found. However, there were also signs of a critical and innovative discourse in teachers linguistic representations, in the direction of linguistic egalitarianism and the conservation of diversity."