Generic and/or Specific Advantages of Bilingualism in a Dynamic Plurilingual Situation: The Case of French as Official L3 in the School of Samedan (Switzerland)

Abstract

All speakers of Rumansch, the fourth Swiss national language, spoken only in the trilingual Grisons Canton (German, Rumansch, Italian), are at least bilingual. The schools which maintain Rumansch present the pattern of a transitional bilingual programme, as kindergarten starts in Rumansch, and German is gradually introduced from fourth grade on. In some villages Rumansch has become a minority language and parents no longer agree to send their children to an all-Rumansch school, especially because they want their children to have good competencies in German, which is the language of higher education and the economy. In Samedan, a pilot project launched in 1996 measures the impact of partly introducing German in kindergarten and reinforcing Rumansch at secondary level. French as L3 is introduced as compulsory subject in 7th grade (first year of secondary school). This study focuses on the attitudes and competencies in French in 8th grade. It is argued that the Samedan pupils, with their bi- or even plurilingual family, school and social background, with a Romance language as main school language and the geographical proximity of Italian have more positive attitudes toward French and better competencies than monolingual German-speaking peers from a German-speaking village located in the same canton.