euronetlang - Legautonomie

EURONETLANG
European Network of Language
minorities
A work by Valentina Guiducci and Paola Manca, Legautonomie
1
The project was funded by the “Europe for citizens” programme
With the participation of the following Municipalities: Pomaretto, Orosei,
San Marzano di San Giuseppe, Montecilfone, San Felice del Molise,
Acquaviva Collecroce, Montemitro, Prali, Abries, Perosa Argentina,
Chateauneuf du Faou, Shkodër, Grad Omis, BESA Union of Municipalities,
Associazione Molisana per l’accoglienza.
2
THE PROJECT
The EuroNetLang project, promoted and organised by
Legautonomie and Focus Europe, aims to set up and strengthen a
European network of Municipalities on the theme of linguistic
minorities, a cooperation between municipalities and twinned
municipalities through the exchange of experience, good practices,
project ideas and through the enhancement of minority languages.
It also aims to provide models which can be replicable in Europe.
The project, developed between 2012 and 2014, involved local
administrations, citizens and the local administrations of four
European Countries – Italy, France, Albania and Croatia – and it also
involved those municipalities where minority languages are spoken,
such as Occitan, Arbëresh, Croatian, Sardinian and Breton.
The goal of the EuroNetLang project is to set up an exchange
network among European countries in order to define common
methodologies aimed to preserve these linguistic minorities and, at
the same time, to foster their development from a cultural and
tourism point of view.
The linguistic minorities of the European Union are an extraordinary
historical and cultural wealth, a fundamental heritage that must be
preserved.
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The objectives of EuroNetLang in brief:
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To promote a forum of meeting and dialogue between
municipalities and twinned municipalities
To raise the participants’ awareness of the socio-cultural
value of linguistic minorities in the EU
To strengthen the cooperation within the European Union
To identify new methodologies to preserve and/or promote
linguistic minorities
To foster the exchange of experience and good practices
To foster active citizenship
THE STEPS OF THE PROJECT AND THE WEBSITE
The project was developed through four events which were held in
four different municipalities: Orosei (NU), Shkodër (Albania),
Pomaretto (TO) and Châteauneuf du Faou (France). In each step of
the event, participants had the chance to share local projects, good
practices and project ideas.
This joint work led to a “network” of municipalities, associations and
citizens committed to the protection and the enhancement of
minority languages, all of which has been also reported on the
website www.euronetlang.eu. The portal has been translated into
three languages: Italian, English and French, and it contains
materials and multimedia contributions systematically shared by the
various participants in the project.
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THE FIRST STEP OF EURONETLANG: THE MUNICIPALITY OF OROSEI
The first step of the EuroNetLang project took place in Sardinia in
the municipality of Orosei from 26 to 29 October 2012, with its main
theme being “Language and Culture”.
Two days of seminars, workshops, debates and cultural activities
with local administrators, language operators and experts, schools,
associations and citizens, with the aim of sharing good practices and
experience in the field of interculturality.
The topic of language as the cultural foundation of identity has been
broadened through music and singing workshops where particular
relevance was given to the cantu a tenore, typical of Sardinia.
Practical demonstrations and performances of many musicians,
choirs and local folk bands were much appreciated.
During the first session, held on 27 October 2012, the main theme
was “Language standardisation and socialisation”, with
interventions by: Joyce Mattu, researcher, language and cultural
operator, on “National and Regional European Laws compared.
Sociolinguistic issues and basic language policy”; Alessandro
Mongili, sociologist of the University of Padua, on “Length and
complexity of standardisation processes, the case of the Limba
Sarda Comuna”; Diegu Corraine, professor of humanities and
scholar of the Sardinian language, on “The Sardinian language
between Orosei and Cagliari”.
In the second session, the main theme was “Methods of
socialisation and learning of the language in language” with:
Gianfranca Piras, language operator, with a lecture entitled “In my
own way. Experiences of experimentation of the Sardinian language
at school”; Maria Maddalena Antonella Licheri, language operator,
on “The work of the ULS –Uffici lingua Sarda (Sardinian language
helpdesk) in Sardinia”; Marisa Margherita, operator of the Arbëresh
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language helpdesk of the Municipality of San Marzano San
Giuseppe; Mourglia Miriam, operator of the helpdesk in the
Municipality of Pomaretto; Bruno Valter Filippo, deputy major of
the Municipality of Perosa Argentina; Diano Massimo, major of
Santa Cristina Gela; Fernanda Michelina Pugliese, Linguistic
minorities in the Molise Region; Sara Firinu, language professor and
operator, who presented the game in Sardinian language “Si sez
atzudu ajò”; Manuela Mereu, language professor and translator
from and into Sardinian language, with an intervention on
“Didactics of the Sardinian language: instruments and means”.
The session, held on 28 October 2012, started with “Language at
school and in society”, with interventions by: Francesco Casula,
professor of humanities, writer and scholar of the Sardinian
language, on “Literature in Sardinian”; Giuseppe Gaia, teacher of
humanities at the Province of Nuoro’s Liceo Artistico, on “Sardinian
poetry in the didactics, CLIL method (Content and Language
Integrated Learning); Gianni Lodo, I.P.S.A. professor from Oristano
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on “Territories: mounts, plains and woods, CLIL method (Content
and Language Integrated Learning)”. The first session ended with
the showing of the documentary film “Murra sarda” by Andrea
Lotta (ISRE – Istituto Superiore Regionale Etnografico).
The afternoon plan included music workshops for “Intrare in Sonu”
with Clara Farina, actress, who performed “Ringratziamentos” by
Remundu Piras, accompanied by the tenor Osana; Bustianu Pilosu,
teacher at the School of Ethnomusicology of the Music
Conservatory of Cagliari, with an intervention entitled “The Tenor
and the language”. Works went on with “Music workshops in the
tradition: construction and modality of execution”, with Cesare
Carta, expert in “Launeddas e pitiolu”, Gian Giacomo Rosu, expert in
“triàngulu e tumbarinos”, Pier Paolo Piredda, expert in “trunfa”, and
Patrizio Mura.
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During the day the photographic documentary “Tramas” by E.
Lussu, which is focused on the traditional weaving in Armungia, was
screened.
A performance of tenors in the square of the municipality and one
of choir songs in the Orosei church ended the day.
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THE SECOND STEP OF EURONETLANG: THE SHKODËR
MUNICIPALITY
The city of Shkodër – Shkodra in Albanian – hosted, from 6 to 9 May
2013, the second of the four events planned for the project.
The event focused on “Policies and law at local, national and
European level for the protection and the promotion of minority
languages”, and local administrators, the heads of linguistic
helpdesks, language teachers and experts, exponents of local
associations and citizens took part in it.
In Albania there was the presentation of local projects, some of
which were realised and some others are currently being
implemented: those were managed through linguistic helpdesks,
unions of municipalities or mountain communities, single
municipalities.
A valid example is given by the project “Coltivare parole”
implemented by the Occitan linguistic helpdesks, which promotes
the language by retracing the steps that link the knowhow and the
construction of the identity (www.coltivareparole.com); it is also
worth mentioning the organization and promotion of various
cultural events by the BESA Union of Municipalities (composed of
the municipalities of Contessa Entellina, Mezzojuso, Piana degli
Albanesi, Palazzo Adriano and Santa Cristina di Gela), a true
thematic union, which is unique at a national level, and which was
created for the joint management of the protection, promotion and
development of the Arbëresh cultural heritage.
The Sardinian municipality of Orosei presented projects for the
production of educational material in schools, and the research
work on “Comente naschit una limba” in the occasion of an
educational course promoted by the University of Cagliari. The
Municipality of San Marzano di San Giuseppe, in order to give
continuity to the project, felt the need to put forward a new project
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proposal which, by broadening the network of the Euronetlang
project, puts together not only the linguistic heritage, but also the
whole intangible cultural heritage of these territories, in a tight
integration of environment, culture and tourism.
The exchange of experience between the territories involved,
starting with the linguistic heritage, made it possible to retrace the
steps of that common European history, that is also a history of
migration from Albania to Italy, and to rediscover the traits of an
identity based on language, culture and history, which acquires its
unitary dimension in Europe. The linguistic and cultural diversity is a
valuable asset for Europe, which has always recognized its wealth
and its political-cultural foundation in the slogan “Unity in
diversity”.
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THE THIRD STEP OF EURONETLANG: THE MUNICIPALITY OF
POMARETTO
The Occitan valleys of Valle Chisone and Germanasca hosted, from
24 to 27 October 2013, the third event of the EuroNetLang project,
focused on the topic “Minority languages and active ageing”.
The municipalities and the communities of Pomaretto, Prali and
Perosa Argentina together with the local associations welcomed the
European delegation and hosted the three-day seminars, workshops
and site visits on the territory.
In relation to the objectives of the 2012 European Year for Active
Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity, research projects and joint
initiatives between the young and older people were presented,
taking into account the important contribution that “old
generations” can offer in order to preserve and foster culture and
minority languages, as they are often the only influential and most
authentic bearers of historical memory. Of particular interest was
the presentation of the Toponymic Atlas of mountain Piedmont,
project managed by the University of Turin and aimed at the
protection of the orally transmitted toponymic heritage of the
mountain.
The important contribution of civil society in the promotion and the
protection of the local culture can be seen in the local cultural
associations (La Valaddo, Poggio Oddone, La Teto Aut, Amici della
Scuola Latina), which have always been committed to the
promotion of language and culture knowledge, and of the Provençal
culture through conferences, exhibitions and publications.
The event was also a chance to present projects of local
development that bring together culture, environment and tourism.
The visit to the Ecomuseum of Mines and Germanasca Valley
(Scopriminiera and Scopri Alpi financed by European funds for
interregional co-operation) and the visit to the exhibition “Antichi
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Mestieri” (“The old crafts”) are part of a wider project of material
culture aimed at the creation of a ecomuseum network, a project
focused on the identification of a community with its own territory
and the enhancement of local peculiarities. It is a good instance of
conversion and of reaction to the economic and employment crisis
that has hit at first the sector of talc extraction, then the textile
sector and lastly the satellite activities linked to Fiat. Today, the
Germanasca and Chisone valleys invest in culture, history and
environment, and in their greatest heritage: the beauty of their
mountains.
During the morning of 25 October 2013 the convention “Linguistic
minorities and active ageing: the contribution of older people on
the protection and the promotion of culture and minority
languages” was held, with the participation of: Aline Pons, from the
Occitan linguistic helpdesk; Professor Federica Cusan, of the
University of Turin; Vanda Petrone, Researcher, and the partner
delegates of the project. During the convention the “Toponymic
atlas of mountain Piedmont: a three-decade experience in our
valleys” was presented. This was followed by the workshop “EU
strategies in favour of active ageing”.
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The session of 26 October started with the Project planning
workshop: Projects of joint initiatives between the young and older
people for the promotion and the protection of local culture and
language, which saw the participation of Manuela Ressent, from the
popular traditions group “La Teto Aut”, Ugo Piton, honorary
president of the cultural association “La Valaddo”, Claudio Tron,
president of the cultural association “La Valaddo”, Guido Ronchail,
constructor of ghirondas, Luca Poetto, ghironda player and the
partner delegates of the project.
After the presentation of the project EuroNetLang website, in the
afternoon schedule there were visits to the exhibition “The old
crafts” at the Scuola Latina in Pomaretto and a visit to the Ramie
vineyards.
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THE FOURTH STEP OF EURONETLANG: THE MUNICIPALITY OF
CHÂTEAUNEUF DU FAOU
Brittany hosted, in the Municipality of Châteauneuf du Faou, the
fourth and last step of the project, focused on the topic “Best
practices, methods and instruments to promote and protect
minority languages in Europe”, from 15 to 18 March 2014.
The best practices of regional and European active citizenship were
the focal points of the Breton event, with the expression of all those
practices of a language policy that brings back regional languages to
a normal language status, just like French, Italian, English and all the
official languages. A minority that has become “dominant”, because
even since the first postwar period, its people decided to exercise
their influence through groups, associations, schools, institutions,
on the only key pawn that could restore the Breton language and
culture’s dignity and re-launch it, and that was the political class
which understood and welcomed this idea and its practice. Investing
in local resources and in the material and intangible heritage,
Brittany could achieve its goals of language, cultural, economic,
social and political affirmation, by enhancing, re-launching,
strengthening and exchanging its resources.
The major of Châteauneuf du Fau presented the traditional
costumes and musical instruments to the delegates, and talked
about the investments of the regional and municipal administration
in the fields of agriculture, fishing and culture.
In the testimony of the Breton writer Yann Moulin and that of
Christian Rivoalen, director of Kreiz Breihz radio, one could find the
history of the Breton language, from its censorship to its recovery
and dissemination thanks to the interventions of schools, medias,
radio and television at first, and also of publishing, toponymy,
cultural and mainly commercial activities.
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The meeting saw the participation of the Honourable Maryvonne
Blondin, Senator of the Finistère and vice president of Cultural
Affairs at the General Council, and member of the European
Commission, delegate for Cultural Affairs, who came from Paris in
order to meet the delegations and explain the methods, the
instruments, the practices and the funding.
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THE ARBËRESH LANGUAGE
THE MUNICIPALITY OF SAN MARZANO DI SAN GIUSEPPE1
PROJECTS
1) “The arbëresh multimedia toponymy, making it known and
enhancing it”
Description of the project
The project aims to develop various points: to take a census of
cultural structures in the historical centre, to enhance their activities
and to disseminate as best as possible all the cultural resources of
this historical centre to the entire community, and to take a census
of the local Arbëresh language.
This projects includes the creation and the dissemination of a
coordinated image. “Welcome” road signs will be strategically
installed in points of access to the territory, road signs in Italian and
Albanian language made of ceramic from Grottaglie, a town in the
province of Taranto.
With this kind of road sign system we want to transmit, not only a
coordinate image (also from a visual point of view), but also a clear
message, able to make the comprehension of the main
characteristic of the territory immediate: a territory in which people
speak a language that is different both from Italian and from the
dialect of Salento, a language through which an Arbëresh culture
can find its expression.
1
By Marisa Margherita, linguistic helpdesk of San Marzano e San Giuseppe
(482/99)
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In fact, among the activities for language revitalisation, bilingual
toponymy (national language and minority language) is a
fundamental instrument in order to regain prestige and visibility: it
favours an increase in the populations’ language awareness and it
stimulates its daily use. In brief: bilingual toponymy provides
everyone with a chance to reflect on the history of the territory,
even just while passing by car, bike or foot. The entire project’s
development is going to be possible thanks to the synergic work of
the municipal administration and the linguistic helpdesk (482/99),
for the arrangement of the procedure and the positioning of the
road signs, and also to ensure that each road sign shows the
municipal toponymy in the local Arbëresh variety.
Expected outcomes
The implementation of the project will be instrumental for the
preservation of the language for new and old generations which
could, from the bilingual reading of the history related to an icon or
a reproduced street, receive elements to preserve historical and
linguistic memory of their own origins.
The time expected for the implementation is no more than a year
from the start of the project.
The language
The search for toponyms will be implemented through interviews to
the entire population, in order to try and recreate the historical
memory of the sites and to develop that sense of ethnic belonging
that today seems to have abandoned the new generations.
At the same time, during the phase of the interviews a multimedia
linguistic census will be taken.
This research project aims to implement a systematic lexical
collection within the Arbëresh (or Albanian-Italian) community of
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San Marzano di San Giuseppe. As this is an area that has not been
studied in depth on a linguistic point of view, the municipality of San
Marzano, together with the municipal Linguistic Helpdesk (482/99)
has developed a research project aimed at collecting and
systematically filing the lexicon of this community. The language
spoken in this territory is Arbëresh (or Albanian-Italian), a more or
less archaic dialectal variety of the southern Albanian. The arbëresh
dialects are characterized by a complex variety, as they are the
result of conservative linguistic traits that were brought by people
from their mother country, but also of innovative traits absorbed in
the new settlements in Italy. For linguistic and historical reasons, we
have decided to examine the current condition of the local arbëresh
dialect, taking into consideration the strong reduction of its use in
favor of standard Italian and regional dialect. This is a phenomenon
called in linguistics language shift, whose direct consequence could
be the language death, as it already happened to some Albanianspeaking communities in Southern Italy, such as Villa Badessa in
Abruzzo. The importance and the need for this operation is stressed
even more by the fact that Arbëresh was listed in the UNESCO Red
Book on Endangered Languages, as one of the many languages in
the world which at risk of extinction. This research project has
become operative thanks to the aid of the theoretical principles of
Atlas Linguarum Europae (ALE), a project created in 1965 and
implemented in 1970 under the aegis of UNESCO.
Procedure
This project will be implemented in two different steps: the first
step is a period of research in the field aimed at the collection of
lexical data and the second step is the filing of data.
The survey on dialects will be conducted through interviews and the
administering of questionnaires of the Atlas Linguarum Europae 1
and 2, to women and men born and raised in San Marzano of an age
band between 55 and 99. The second step will be aimed at the
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elaboration of collected data and their filing in a computer database
that will be then transferred on an audio DVD digital support. The
database will be accompanied by a printed glossary, in which the
terms in arbëresh collected through fieldwork will be reported,
together with their translation into Italian.
Educational and didactic objectives
This project wants to lead the future citizen to the recovery of the
Albanian language and the sense of ethnic and historical belonging
that, being only perfunctorily known in the San Marzano di San
Giuseppe territory, and just through oral transmission, doesn’t bring
the young closer to the arbëresh literature heritage.
More specifically our aims are:
1) To provide decoding and coding instruments for the
Albanian language through toponymy (an intervention that
was never funded by Law no. 482/99);
2) To deepen (the knowledge of) Albanian history, customs,
traditions and folklore;
3) To learn to appreciate the Albanian artistic-literal heritage;
4) To promote the importance of the knowledge of one’s own
origins in order to achieve a better knowledge of oneself;
5) To educate to the pride of one’s own ethnicity to be able to
start appropriate initiatives on the territory in order to
improve the quality of life;
6) To deepen morphological and lexical knowledge as far as
the language of San Marzano is concerned;
7) To juxtapose the local spoken language with the knowledge
of other spoken Arbëresh languages, first that of Apulia and
then those of the Albanian-speaking Italy, stressing the
phonetic, morphological and syntactical differences;
8) To deepen the knowledge of Albanian literature by the
reading, translation and analysis of extracts from the most
important arbëresh authors’ works;
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9) To deepen the knowledge of the history of the Albanian
people in Italy, through a study focused on prominent
characters and on historical Arbëresh events.
The merit of the database is that of providing the user with the
possibility to compare the terms and to listen to the pronunciation
of every single word listed. The final product of the work is: a
bilingual road sign system in the streets of the historical centre and
a DVD that comes with a printed pamphlet which will be handed out
for free to families, schools and cultural associations of the entire
community that is subject to this study.
If this project could make this happen, it would be the first time this
community can count on a digital language documentation and also
on a bilingual toponymy. This will represent a true turning point in
terms of what the local Arbëresh linguistic literature has
represented until now. It will be possible to transmit the voice of
the past to the future generations, and if, in the near future, the
language will disappear as it already happened in many other
communities, this kind of work will serve as a tangible testimony of
our historical linguistic tradition.
The project has already obtained, with our great enthusiasm, free
patronage from the University of Salento.
2)“Web TV arbëresh: making it known and enhancing it”
Introduction
In continuity with the project authorized last year and under current
development, we confirm the will to proceed in the literacy work of
the local arbëresh language, making full use of the opportunity
offered by the Internet to enter, through the modern multimedia, in
the young’s everyday life but above all in that of those who are
interested in exploring a migration story which has characterised a
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territory known as “Arberia tarantina”, by drawing an ethniclinguistic map in order to disseminate and enhance the signs and
the sounds of a language that is at risk of extinction.
The school is aware of the impossibility to organize the teaching of a
language at risk of extinction, unless it is done by starting with the
literacy of said language. For this reason, with the support of the
activities implemented in the past for the recovery and the
enhancement of the territory’s oral linguistic heritage, and through
the various projects for the Arbëresh language, it wants to pursue
the aim of the current project to bring the minority language closer
to young users, who will become the future bearers of a specificity
that must be preserved and safeguarded.
A path that cannot work without a strong relationship with the
families, as they will be required to participate, collaborate and
share information according to their knowledge, as well as attitudes
and mindsets related to the contents of this project in order to help
them rediscover the pride of a “diversity” that must be perceived as
a wealth to be protected and enhanced.
Beneficiaries’ needs
The project stems from the need to establish interactive
relationships between the adults of the community and children to
promote the transmission of the linguistic heritage to the young
generations through the active participation in various expressions
of the Arbëresh culture, also counting on the aid of the folkloristic
singing tradition, and to favor, at the same time, the historicalcultural knowledge of a territory which expands its boundaries and
involves other neighbouring towns in the province.
Objectives
The main objective of the project is to continue favoring the use of
minority languages within the family and in interpersonal
relationship to give the proper dignity to a language that,
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reinterpreted from a modern point of view, must be necessarily
conveyed through modern medias such as the Internet and
television.
The product we intend to create wants to protect the historical
linguistic minority of San Marzano and meet the expectations of the
population that strenuously wants to preserve its mother tongue
and the still alive culture linked to it, also without neglecting the
promotion and the enhancement of these areas and of its local
resources.
The project wants to reproduce a format to be disseminated
through the Internet, implemented in schools, with the double
function of information and cultural instruction, targeting the
populations concerned, but open also to the Apulians so that they
can realize the richness of the languistic, historical, cultural,
traditional and religious heritage of the Arbëresh linguistic minority,
which has been able to integrate itself in the political and social life
of the region, but keeping intact at the same time its “diversity”.
This will be achieved through a historical-folkloristic journey that on
the one hand wants to trace the borders of Arberia Tarantina, in an
explorative path to the sites affected by the Albanian people arrival
between ‘400 and ‘500, some of which have now disappeared, and
on the other hand, wants to recover the singing linguistic heritage
of the local folkloristic tradition with the production of a music CD.
The material, collected also in collaboration with families, will be
used for the set-up of an ethnographic museum accessible to the
pupils of the institutes on the territory, as a documentation of the
carried out research.
Methodology
In each step the use of the minority language will be favored,
making pupils active protagonists of the project, and aware of the
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products to be created and of the objective that, through it, we
want to fulfill.
The arbëresh language will be used on the Internet and on
television in order to get the people’s ears accustomed to listening
to the native language and to continue favoring this language within
the family and in interpersonal relationships, especially regarding
younger people. The use of the language on Internet and on
television constitutes an essential element to give the right dignity
to a modern language that must be necessarily conveyed through
current means such as the Internet and television.
The format will have a non-standardised index. The contents will be
developed in historical paths of research and reconstruction of the
signs left by the first Albanians when they passed through the towns
of the area affected by the migration flux, which are tangible
testimonies of their presence. There will be also time for moments
of entertainment dedicated to younger people and sections created
in collaboration with cultural associations and local folkloristic
bands for the research, in the local music heritage, of songs and
dances of the arbëresh tradition.
To this end, the school will commit to the formation of a long-term
folk band made of pupils from the primary and junior secondary
school of the institute.
The format will be produced via the Internet and its duration shall
not be of less than 20 minutes nor more than 30. A maximum of 12
episodes will be created, with monthly replays.
The website of the show will be continuingly updated and perfectly
interactive and multimedia in order to give space to the users and
to all those who wants to give their contribution to improve the
website.
Work techniques: - interactive and recreational, communicative
approach.
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1) Research project for the lexical collection in the Albanian
community of San Marzano di San Giuseppe (TA)
Introduction
This research project aims to implement a systematic lexical
collection within the arbëresh (or Albanian-Italian) community of
San Marzano di San Giuseppe. As this is an area that has not been
studied in depth on a linguistic point of view, the municipality of San
Marzano, together with the municipal Linguistic Helpdesk (482/99)
has developed a research project aimed at collecting and
systematically filing the lexicon of this community. The language
spoken in this territory is Arbëresh (or Albanian-Italian), a more or
less archaic dialectal variety of the southern Albanian. The arbëresh
dialects are characterized by a complex variety, as they are the
result of conservative linguistic traits that were brought by people
from their mother country, but also of innovative traits absorbed in
the new settlements in Italy. For linguistic and historical reasons, we
decided to examine the current condition of the local arbëresh
dialect, taking into consideration the strong reduction of its use in
favor of standard Italian and regional dialect. This is a phenomenon
called in linguistics language shift, whose direct consequence could
be the language death, as it already happened to some Albanianspeaking communities in Southern Italy, such as Villa Badessa in
Abruzzo. The importance and the need for this operation is stressed
even more by the fact that Arbëresh was listed in the UNESCO Red
Book on Endangered Languages, as one of the many languages in
the world that are at risk of extinction. This research project has
become operative thanks to the aid of the theoretical principles of
the Atlas Linguarum Europae (ALE), a project created in 1965 and
implemented in 1970 under the aegis of UNESCO.
24
Procedures
This project will be implemented in two different steps: the first
step is a period of research in the field aimed at the collection of
lexical data and the second step is the filing of data.
The survey on dialects will be conducted through interviews and the
administering of questionnaires of the Atlas Linguarum Europae 1
and 2, to women and men born and raised in San Marzano of an age
band between 55 and 99, resident in the municipality and with a
low education level. The research was carried out in its entirety
according to the ALE 1 and ALE 2 questionnaires.
The second step, that is currently under implementation, will be
aimed at the elaboration of collected data and their filing in a
computer database that will be then transferred on an audio DVD
digital support. The database will be accompanied by a printed
glossary, in which the terms in arbëresh collected through fieldwork
will be reported, together with their translation into Italian.
Educational and didactic objectives
This project wants to lead the future citizen to the recovery of the
Albanian language that, being only perfunctorily known in the San
Marzano di San Giuseppe territory, and just through oral
transmission, doesn’t bring the young closer to the arbëresh
literature heritage.
More specifically our aims are:
1) To provide decoding and coding instruments for the
Albanian language;
2) To deepen the knowledge of Albanian history, customs,
traditions and folklore;
3) To learn to appreciate the Albanian artistic-literal heritage;
4) To promote the importance of the knowledge of one’s own
origins in order to achieve a better knowledge of oneself;
25
5) To educate to the pride of one’s own ethnicity to be able to
start appropriate initiatives on the territory in order to
improve the quality of life;
6) To deepen morphological and lexical knowledge as far as
the language of San Marzano is concerned;
7) To juxtapose the local spoken language with the knowledge
of other spoken Arbëresh languages, first that of Apulia and
then those of the Albanian-speaking Italy, stressing the
phonetic, logical and syntactical differences;
8) To deepen the knowledge of Albanian literature by the
reading, translation and analysis of extracts from the most
important arbëresh authors’ works;
9) To deepen the knowledge of the history of the Albanian
people in Italy, through a study focused on prominent
characters and on historical Arbëresh events.
The merit of the database is that of providing the user with the
possibility to compare terms and to listen to the pronunciation of
every single word listed. The final product of the work is: a dvd that
comes with a printed pamphlet which will be handed out for free to
families, schools and cultural associations of the whole community
that is subject to this study.
If this project could make this happen, it would be the first time this
community can count on a digital language documentation. This will
represent a true turning point in terms of what the local arbëresh
linguistic literature has represented until now. It will be possible to
transmit the voice of the past to the future generations, and if, in
the near future, the language will disappear as it already happened
in many other communities, this kind of work (which is already
under development) will serve as a tangible testimony of our
historical linguistic tradition.
The project has already obtained, to our great enthusiasm, free
patronage from the University of Salento.
26
Effects on the territory


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
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
To educate people to appreciate the language as part of a
cultural and anthropological heritage.
To foster the knowledge of values of culture such as the
peasant and artisan cultures through the language which
exerts significant influence over economy and today’s social
relationships
To foster the integration of foreign students in the reality of
the territory
To listen, analyse and understand texts in the minority
language
To be able to collect linguistic information, analyse, classify
and code them
To foster the intercultural exchange with the Albanianspeaking community on the territory
To use multimedia tools to select and organize data
Producing CDs-DVDs, written texts, graphic and video
representations to be distributed at schools, visitors and
tourists.
Expected results
Recovery and enhancement of the language of one’s native
community in a multicultural historical framework.
27
THE SHKODËR MUNICIPALITY 2
The town/city
Shkodër (in Albanian language Shkodra or Shkodër, and its
inhabitants are called scutarini or shkodran) is a city of 109.632
inhabitants situated in North-western Albania, capital of the District
of Shkodër which overlooks on the banks of the lake by the same
name, near the rivers Drin, Buna and Kir, at the center of a zone
near which, in a 45 km range, one can find from the shores of the
Adriatic to the mountains of the Albanian Alps, many types of
attractions. It is considered as “the most important Albanian culture
centre” or “the Balkans’ Florence”. The lower part of the course of
the river constitutes a natural border with Montenegro.
2
By Adisa Bala, Master of Public Administration, Municipality of Shkodër
28
The reality of minorities
Albania, in the course of his history as an independent State, was
and still is comprised of an Albanese majority and many different
minority populations, which prevalently come from near countries:
Greece, Macedonia and Montenegro. If we refer to state
institutions, with the 2004 Law there was the creation of the State
Committee for Minorities in reply to the ratification of the “Council
of Europe Framework Convention for the protection of national
minorities”.
The mission of this Committee is:
 To propose to the government that it takes into
consideration issues of outmost importance for minorities,
especially regarding the fulfilling of constitutional
obligations and of those obligations set by other special
laws, which regulate rights and freedoms of people
belonging to these minorities;
 To propose to the authorities the adoption of central and
local measures to improve the situation of people belonging
to minorities;
 To deliver opinions and to propose educational, economic,
social and cultural measures, promoting the broadcast of
shows in the public medias for minorities;
 To Request the participation of the local or central
government representatives in those issues which are of the
State Committee for Minorities’ competence.
In January 2010 the State Committee for minorities, under the aegis
of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports, and of the
Ministry of Education and Science, promoted for the first time a
cultural event dedicated to minorities: the “Minority Culture Day”.
The cultural event, which involved the minorities of Albania, was a
chance to present the cultural specificities of each minority also
through their customs and traditional songs and dances. However,
29
the event was not reorganised and it remained one of the few
initiatives for the protection and the promotion of minorities.
In fact, currently the situation of the support and protection of
minorities is not clear, nor stable. Shkodër, as a border city, has a
minority population spread in the city and in the near areas: there
are Montenegrins, Romanis, and Egyptians. The first problem was
given by data and their official registering. Even after the 2011
Census the debate over statistic data is still open and there are
many complaints.
It is important to mention that in Shkodër there is also an
association, “Alba-Montenegro” which represents the Montenegrin
minority. This was officially created in 2001 with the sole objective
of preserving the language, history and culture of Montenegro.
“I’m happy to participate also as an associate of this organization –
Adisa Bala, Master of Public Administration, from the Municipality
of Shkodër explained – because I feel the spirit of the importance
that your origin can give you. The Municipality of Shkodër has an
active and positive attitude toward minorities, we are trying to
support them and to collaborate with them, but we’re not able to
finance or implement specific strategies yet. In our municipality two
social specialists work on activities or projects concerning this
objective.
To be part of the EuroNetLang project is not just an asset for our
institutions, or an ulterior motivation for our work, but it is also a
strong support which helps us promote our language and cultural
30
co-existence and tourism. We are going to contribute to the
implementation of this project through the active participation in
the creation of the new project website, through the participation in
networks, regional round tables, so that we can carry forward
proposals for minorities, as we have a long path ahead of us”.
31
THE OCCITAN LANGUAGE
THE MUNICIPALITY OF POMARETTO 3
LINGUISTIC HELPDESKS
Making full use of the opportunities provided by Law no. 482 of
15/12/1999 for the protection of historical linguistic minorities,
starting from March 2004 a Linguistic Helpdesk was activated at the
Scuola Latina (Latin School) in Pomaretto, as a decentralisation of
the Helpdesk of the then Mountain Community of Valli Chisone and
Germanasca.
The Helpdesk, in addition to giving support upon request to public
authorities (Municipalities, Parks, and other institutions) for
translations, teaching and language consulting, also implements
promotion and enhancement activities for linguistic minorities,
which, for the Chisone e Germanasca valleys are Occitan (in its
variation of Alpine Provençal) and French.
Among the most relevant activities implemented at the Scuola
Latina, there are:

Classroom courses, concerning both Occitan and French
language and culture, recently organised in a strict
collaboration with the Linguistic helpdesk of Val Pellice and
the Waldesian Cultural Centre of Torre Pelice (TO), which is
in charge of training projects; a course of introduction to
articulatory phonetics was activated, intended for the heads
of the various linguistic helpdesks subordinated to the
Comunità Montana del Pinerolese: a basic knowledge of
articulatory phonetics can help people master the
mechanisms underlying the construction of the various
3
-By Miriam Mourglia, French helpdesk; Aline Pons Occitan helpdesk; Carlo Baret, member of
the association “Amici della Scuola Latina” (“Friends of the Scuola Latina”); Ebe Balma,
member of the association “Amici della Scuola Latina” (“Friends of the Scuola Latina”)
32
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graphic conventions. For 2014, an Occitan course was
activated, with the aim of establishing a suitable framework
of the different varieties of Cisalpine Occitan, and
presenting the students with different levels of language
analysis, using Occitan itself as a vehicular language during
the lessons.
Available also on the Internet, is an on-line Occitan course,
which refers to the Alpine Provençal spoken in the Valle
Germanasca; the spelling used is based on the spelling of
the Escolo dou Po;
The Language Minorities Day, which takes place on the last
Saturday of September, with the organization of
conventions, meetings and concerts;
Writing and drama contests, related to the production of
unpublished literary works and drama, which were held in
2008;
Documentaries on traditional works in Valle Germanasca,
created from recordings and interviews made by the
Wiesen Institute on a project by the Comunità Montana del
Pinerolese;
Community map of Pomaretto, as a result of a project
carried out between 2010 and 2011. A “narration of one’s
own territory” created with the active involvement and
participation of the population;
33
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Coltivare parole website, in collaboration with La Valaddo,
“learning to do by learning to say”: a rich collection of
testimonies, told in the local patouà and accessible to a
wide audience. Many materials, accompanied by audio
recordings and videos, were aimed at the rediscovery of
how to grow a vegetable garden, a vineyard, which herbs
are edible and much more… A space thought to “collect,
cure and disseminate the actions and the words that talk
about an opaque knowledge, which, if rediscovered, can
possibly improve the quality of our lives even today”.
Among the strengths of the project, we can mention the
involvement of about ten people in the video editing work,
each of whom make the project richer as they all bring
different competences: from ethnobotany to photography,
to translation and video editing. Also, during two years of
activities, more than forty people were interviewed, and in
this way they were able to contribute to the protection of
their own traditional knowledge.
Interactive workshops at primary and junior secondary
schools. In the year 2013 a pilot project called “Crescere in
lingua” was implemented, which, in collaboration with the
string quintet “Archi Torti”, involved about 100 children of
primary schools on the territory in a project ideated with
the aim of bringing the young closer to minority languages
through the learning of popular songs. Thanks to a wide
research work, the songs were contextualized and made
accessible to an audience of young listeners. The themes
faced were racial integration, emigration, love for one’s
dear ones; these topics make it possible to create a strong
link between the past and present life, by proving that
yesterday’s problems, and also their solutions, are the same
of today’s.
Again in collaboration with primary and junior secondary
schools, in the course of the years many workshops
regarding novels and the reading of tales and traditional
34
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
legends were implemented exclusively in the minority
language, in order to offer children the opportunity of
approaching the reality of a linguistic treasure that
surrounds them, starting from a very early age.
A textbook for primary schools produced in collaboration
with teachers Rita Previati, Grazia Calliero and the C.
Gouthier Comprehensive Institute of Perosa Argentina. This
textbook, made of two volumes, was thought for pupils of
primary schools and for local teachers. This work is a
written trace for the learning and the teaching of the
Occitan minority language to the young;
Collaborations with RBE, Radio Beckwith Evangelica. These
collaborations, which have been active for some years, have
had the result of producing, for instance, interactive games
which focus on each of the municipalities of Waldensian
Valleys
through
riddles,
acrostics,
crosswords,
questionnaires.
35
OCCITAN CENTRE OF DOCUMENTATION
In the catalogue there are books, pamphlets, notebooks, manuals
and graduation theses, audiovisual materials (music CDs, DVDs)
which contain studies and research, dictionaries and grammars,
songs and music, films and documentaries, linked to the Alpine
Provençal language, and more in general, to the Occitan culture, but
also to the material culture. The “core” of the Library consists of the
complete collection of works by the two local scholars, Arturo
Genre and Teofilo G. Pons.
Material and linguistic culture are both present also in the
exhibition “Gli antichi mestieri” (“The old crafts”) and in the
documentary works on traditional works on the mountain (for
instance the documentaries “To grow buckwheat” and “To grow
grapevine”).
36
Finally, the presence of texts and documents in French proves the
attention that the Library pays also to the second minority language
of the valleys.
The access to the patrimony of the Library is granted to scholars,
researchers, and interested and keen people, schools and
population for initiatives of protection and enhancement of
linguistic minorities.
37
CROATIAN LANGUAGE4
The municipality of Acquaviva Collecroce, together with San Felice
del Molise and Montemitro, represent Molise’s Slavic community. It
is the community with the smallest number of speakers among the
historical linguistic minorities in Italy.
In spite of its small number of speakers, the Slavic in the Molise
Region has survived for more than 500 years, orally transmitted
from generation to generation. Certainly a reason for its long
survival is to be found in the isolation in which the three towns that
still preserve the language, found themselves for a long time.
Another reason that contributed to the survival of Molise’s Slavic
language is the strong attachment of the community to its cultural
and linguistic roots.
Currently, Molise’s Slavic language is used for communications
within the family and with friends, and people preserve and
transmit the language privately. In this context, the contribute that
older people could offer to preserve and promote Molise’s Slavic
culture and language, is essential, as they are the sole bearers of
historical memory, considering the lack of written documents.
In order to maintain and transmit culture, traditions and language
between older people and the young, it is necessary to implement
initiatives that appeal to the older people’s attachment to their
roots, and to the young’s thirst for knowledge. These initiatives
cannot be carried out privately anymore. In order for them to be
useful, we need the aid of the community and institutions.
On this matter, I would like to briefly highlight some concrete
initiatives implemented by these three towns to endorse the
transmission of language knowledge and to use it as a local
development factor.
4
By Michele Neri, deputy major of the municipality of Acquaviva Collecroce
38
The projects are:
 The financing for the printing of three novels edited in
double language, Molise’s Slavic and Italian
 Istitution of the DE.CO. (municipal denomination of origin)
in which, to the commitment to action for the territory’s
development, we added the commitment to the
preservation and transmission of old traditional recipes in a
specific municipal Register. Of course, the original recipes
are preserved and described both in Italian and in Molise’s
Slavic
 Promotion of a strategic project for local development of
the territory, which consists of the experimentation of the
immigration policies and of the integrated management of
literary cafés
 Participation in various international cooperation projects,
such as:
° Creative workshops of the Adriatic
° Ad. MO. CRO.
The projects “Polo dei Caffè Letterari” and “Immigration Policies”
are educational projects aimed at the transmission of the
accumulated local culture to the new generations.
1. In the old jobs (artisans’ workshops for wood, iron, weaving
etc);
2. In the production and preservation of food (typical
sausages, hams, etc);
3. In the musical, singing production and popular dances;
4. In the services of proximity;
5. In the culture of the sites.
With a ESF financing, theoretical-practical educational courses will
be organized in the literary cafès, all of which aimed at the
acquisition of techniques linked to these traditions.
39
Teachers (older teachers living in these three municipalities) will
transfer to the new generations (young residents between the age
of 23 and 35) specific knowledge and competences, including
manual skills, linked to these activities with the aim of training
young artisans able to reinterpret roles and functions inherent to
those activities, reintroducing them on the local and international
market.
Thus, it is a project which uses the intergenerational dialogue as a
resource for compatible development. It also aims to give new
dignity to the local culture and traditions, considered as the living
memory of a community, to be used as a credible and applicable
solution to transform the idea into a challenge.
Moreover, to put this experience into a cross-border cooperation
logic (particularly with Croatia) means to open a new and ulterior
prospective based on the development of the Adriatic area as an
opportunity of internationalization of paramount importance.
The presentation of the projects:
1. Creative workshops of the Adriatic
2. AD.MO.CRO.
Are all dedicated to this objective. The exchange between younger
people from the Molise Region and Croatia, who will be involved in
workshop activities organized under the informal method of active
participation, is an occasion to create twinning arrangements and to
create a common project planning.
40
SARDINIAN LANGUAGE5
The work carried out by me and other operators who have been
working on this project since 2006, is strictly linked not much to the
present legislation, but to the legislation applied by the Region of
Sardinia, local authorities and schools. In other words, Art.5 of the
Sardinian Statute of Autonomy provides that the Region can adapt
the laws issued by the Republic of Italy to its particular needs,
issuing integration and implementing rules, on the following
matters: a) education of all types and levels, education systems. The
Statute of Autonomy establishes that Sardinia adopt its own norms
and laws in order to develop programmes that are not monolingual,
but bilingual or multilingual, and that the programmes of history,
culture, science and all the curricular subjects are integrated with
the ministerial programmes, adapting them to the particular needs
of the Sardinian territories. Clearly this must be done according to
Articles 3 and 6 of the Italian Constitution, and to the principles of
the European Charter.
In fact, in Sardinia what was provided by Law 482/99 in application
of Art. 6 of the Constitution, which doesn’t safeguard all the
Sardinian linguistic minorities but only the Algherese and the
Sardinian language, was implemented. Previously, in 1997, a
regional Law was issued, that is the Regional Law 26/97 “Promotion
and development of the culture and language of Sardinia”. This Law
did not make a distinction between language and culture and has
often been the foundation of projects that did not necessarily
protect the Sardinian language and the other languages of the
region safeguarded by said law: Algherese, Tabarchin, Gallurese and
Sassarese. Finally, from 2006 the experimental standard was
adopted and it involved regional, provincial, municipal
administrations and schools. From 2009 another law for the
curricular teaching of Sardinian with the CLIL method was issued,
5
A work by Joyce Mattu, Sardinian language operator, province of Nuoro
41
but the projects cover 24 hours per year and do not involve all
schools.
The activity focused on 7 fundamental sectors: 1. Sardinian
language and culture teaching; 2. Translation of literary, informative
texts and websites; 3. Language helpdesk; 4. Training of municipal
employees and teachers; 5. Research on Sardinia’s history, culture,
language and literature, sociolinguistics; 6. Curricular teaching of
Sardinian language; 7. Training for museum operators; 8.
Permanent training from 2003 to 2013; 9. Toponymy; respectively
financed by Laws 482/99 and Regional Law 26/97 which not only
financed teaching projects, but also financed the research on
toponymy, literature, language, history and anthropology of
Sardinia, and the publishing.
This activity started in the school year 2000/2001, with a project
based on Law 26 in a primary school in Nuoro. The project, financed
by Law 26/97, dealt with the teaching of popular traditions and
Sardinian dance. In this project children, in addition to learning
dances of their own town, carried out a research in Sardinian
language through the interviews to grandparents and older people
of Nuoro, integrally recovering the history of the rituals and
traditions, the ancient dance which had disappeared; this work,
through the direct teaching of older people, brought to the
rediscovery of the typical musical instruments, and also the canto a
tenore. The children took part in workshops with the singers and
recovered cultural practices, lexicon and idiomatic expressions. The
project ended with a recital at the Ethnographic Museum of Nuoro,
in which children danced accompanied by the Tenore Nugoresu and
the accordion. Thus, this work involved children and extended
families, Nuoro’s old neighbouring towns like Seuna and Santu
Predu, older people, teachers, and the majority of the Nuoro
community.
The following activities are the ones carried out through the
abovementioned projects:
42
Permanent training financed by Law 26/97 involved:
2003-2004 Master (second level) in Inter-disciplinary approaches in
the didactic of Sardinian languages with a thesis in sociolinguistics,
Thesis in Sociolinguistics, University of Cagliari, Educational Science
2011-2012 FILS (Teacher Training in Sardinian Language) at the
University of Cagliari – Department of Philology and Modern
Literatures, with a thesis in Sardinian language, 2013 FOLS
(Operators training in Sardinian Language) RAS.
The Research financed by Law. 26/97 involved:
2011-2012, Research on Sardinian Language and Literature,
University of Amsterdam-RAS, which resulted in the text: didactic
guide to the Sardinian language for the first biennial of primary
school “pro unu bilinguismu de cabbale”;
2006-2007, Ethno-anthropologic research, Municipalities of Soddì,
Sorradile, Bidonì, Aidomaggiore, with the publishing of: “Maistros, I
saperi, la società, i valori tra passato e presente nelle piccole
comunità dell’interno”;
2004-2006 Socio-linguistic research, lexicon and morphology: study
of a case in central Sardinia, possibility of development of the
administrative language, University of Cagliari-RAS, Book: Limba e
limbàgios. Ricerca Sociolinguistica: il caso Ovodda;
2002-2004 Research in History of Sardinia, University of Cagliari-RAS
The Research and teaching financed by Law 482/99 are the
following:
2007-2008 Sociolinguistic research, lexicon and toponyms, in the
Municipality of Olzai (NU) with the creation of texts and signs, set in
the square of the town, of toponyms, historical districts, services
and tourism and cultural sites.
43
2007-2008 Position/Responsibility, Sociolinguistic research and
toponyms in the Municipality of Orosei.
2006-2007 Sociolinguistic research, in the Municipality of Norbello.
2011 Teaching and training of Sardinian and Mediterranean
Language and Culture, at the Museo Archeologico Comprensoriale
in Teti.
2010 Teaching and training of employees in Sardinian language and
culture, Municipality of Lodine “su sardu de oe e de cras”, popular
culture and tradition.
2009-2010 Training of teachers in Sardinian language and culture
“su sardu in domo, in iscola, in totue”, Istituto Comprensivo Ozieri.
2009-2010 Training of employees and external entities in Sardinian
Language, Municipality of Olzai “su sardu e oe e de cras”.
2008-2009 Training of teachers in Sardinian language and culture,
Istituto comprensivo di Tonara “su sardu in domo, in iscola, in
totue”.
Teaching of Sardinian Language, Primary School Ovodda (Ist. C. di
Tonara) 2008-2009.
Teaching of Sardinian Language, Primary School Olzai, lexical and
grammatical research, texts, signs, theatre, Ist. Comprensivo Ottana,
2007-2009.
Teaching and training of employees in Sardinian language and
culture, Municipality of Orosei “su sardu in domu e in sa domo
Comunale Oroseino LSC”, 2007-2008.
Teaching and training employees in Sardinian language and culture,
Municipality of Norbello (“su sardu in domo e in sa domo Comunale
Norbelle- LSC”), 2006-2007.
44
The teaching in schools financed by Law 26/97 regarded

Teaching of Sardinian language and culture (Rituals,
Customs, Gastronomy, Jobs, Poetry), Orosei, Irgoli, Orune,
Nuoro (3 buildings), Siniscola, Ottana, Olzai, Macomer,
Cagliari (2 classes) – (Primary schools and Junior and Upper
Secondary Schools), for a total of 896 hours, 2005-2008. In
this triennial project I cured the teaching of language and
popular traditions and also the translation of the website,
entirely bilingual, which can be visited at the following url:
http://www.itcsatta.nu.it/andalasdeimparu

Teaching of Sardinian language and culture in images
through the works of Grazia Deledda, for a total of 23 hours,
Liceo Linguistico Nuoro, 2003-2004;

Teaching of popular traditions and dance, school San
Giuseppe Nuoro 2000-2001
The curricular teaching financed by Law n. 7 and the following
modification in Law n. 3 of 7/8/2009
Teaching of Local History- European History at ITC S. Satta, Nuoro,
2012, Teaching Local History-European History (CLIL method) at ITC
S. Satta in Nuoro, 2011, Teaching of Sardinian Culture (Agriculture)
Istituto Comprensivo F.lli Costa Azara, Agriculture and SardinianItalian, 2009; Teaching of Italian and History, Istituto Comprensivo
Azara Sorgono 2008-2009, Teaching of linguistic education Istituto
Comprensivo di Macomer 2014, Teaching of linguistic education
Istituto Comprensivo 2014
The study/promotion/enhancement of language and culture
regarded:
The presentation of books and conferences, and press articles,
activities of linguistic desks in the last eight years in municipalities
45
and Province of Nuoro, Functionary of Sardinian language in the
Province of Nuoro, 2014, workshops in Sardinian language at Isola
delle Storie, Gavoi 2011, workshop in Sardinian language in the
festival Tuttestorie Oliena 2011, workshop in Sardinian language at
the book fair in Sardinia Macomer 2011, workshop in Sardinian
language Thinisolimba Siniscola 2011, workshop in Sardinian
language in the primary school of Sarule 2011, workshop in
Sardinian language at the recreation centre of Meana 2011,
workshop in Sardinian language at the recreation centre of Olzai
2011, workshop in Sardinian language mastros in Nùgoro, Nuoro
2011, Direction and Coordination of the Sardinian Language and
Culture Desk, Municipality of Lodine
2010, Direction and
Coordination of the Language Desk, Municipality of Ovodda 20072008, Direction and Coordination of the Sardinian Language and
Culture Office, Municipality of Olzai, 2007-2010), Direction and
Coordination of the Sardinian Language and Culture Office,
Municipality of Orosei, 2007-2008 (1 year), Direction and
Coordination of the Sardinian Language and Culture Office,
Municipality of Norbello, 2006-2007 (1 year).
It is worth specifying that at first, starting from 2006, we had to
invent our own work, since we didn’t have a manual as a reference.
Still, many operators and I succeeded in working proficiently and we
obtained many results in the matter of linguistic policy, toponymy,
teaching, press, publishing, the activities of the Desks, the creation
of videogames, CD-ROMs, and didactic material. From 2006 to
today, with the adoption of the standard, we have reached a
systematic and more organic linguistic policy.
All the works can be found in the following websites, in publications
and on the website www.euronetlang.eu
Blogs and websites of Sardinian language and culture:
http://www.limbasarda.nuoro.it/
46
http://www.dischente.or.it/doceboCms/index.php?special=changel
ang&newLang=sardo
http://novasdaesumandamentuiii.blogspot.it/
http://ufitziulimbasarda-planargiamontiferru.blogspot.it/
http://www.tenores.org/
http://www.sardegnacultura.it/linguasarda/
http://www.sardegnadigitallibrary.it/index.html
47
THE BRETON LANGUAGE
In the last years, the teaching of the Breton language has increased
steadily in the French territory, counting more than 15 thousand
bilingual students. 5.2% of state schools has a bilingual course, and
this rate becomes 6% in catholic private schools. Almost 7% of
primary schools has a bilingual programme. In the Finistère and the
Morbihan departments the rate exceeds 10%.6
The delegate of the Breton Language Office, who took part in the
conference “Identification of new and innovative means to promote
and safeguard minority languages as European cultural heritage”,
which was held during the Châteauneuf du Faou meeting, explained
the work carried out by the Office and the language policy carried
out in collaboration with the Regional Council.
From the training of new teachers for schools and universities, to
the toponymy, medias, commercial activities, there isn’t any sector
in which the Breton language isn’t on par with French, thanks to the
work of the Office, which is not a volunteer work: it is institutional
and institutionalised, thanks to the annual funding of sporadic and
temporary projects which are separated from the rest of society and
institutions. Moreover, it is also the result of a deliberate political
choice of the Regional Council, which, as Senator Mariyvonne
Blondin, Senator of the Finistère, Vice president of Cultural affairs at
the General Council explained, has always elaborated through the
Department of Languages – separated from the Department of
Culture – a linguistic and cultural policy which is consistent,
structured not only through the Council’s budget but also through
the RDP and Community funding.
6
In Alsace, there is a bilingual flow in 20% of schools. This rate reaches 60% in the Northern
Basque Countries. When comparing Brittany and Alsace in terms of bilingual students, in 1999
the ratio between the two countries was of 2.8 (which means that the rate of Alsatian
students is 2.8 times bigger than the rate of Breton students), while in 2012 it reached a 4.7:1
ratio.
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In Brittany three types of state and private schools were
established: French school, bilingual school (French and Breton) and
Diwan (Breton schools that follow the “full immersion” method) in
which the languages mentioned are taught, from nursery school to
high school.
The Breton Language Office continually trains new teachers, who
receive the training cheque and once their training is over, they
start working in state schools as permanent members of the
teaching staff: for three years they teach Breton and then they
choose whether to teach Breton or French. The Office also works on
permanent training for adults.
In Châteauneuf du Faou other projects linked to the safeguard and
enhancing of Breton language - like the toponymy of the town, for
instance, that is both in French and in Breton - were presented,
together with local enterprises and cooperatives like the publishing
house Breizh Coop, which was visited by the participants in the
Breton meeting, and which works on the dissemination of the
Breton culture.
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