Actas da - Xunta de Galicia

Hugo Baetens Beardsmore
proficiency attained in the three languages by the end of compulsory schooling.
In technical education the time devoted to languages takes account of pupil
capacities and the needs according to the nature of the job being trained for.
Languages take up one third of the curriculum in the first three years. In the
fourth and fifth years language contact varies according to orientation. Pupils
training for industrial jobs get between 12% and 18% of the programme
devoted to language lessons, whereas those aiming for commercial and
administrative jobs get between 27% and 35% of the curriculum devoted to
language.
In non-technical secondary education the first three years devote between a
third and half of the curriculum to languages. From then on the weight of
languages varies according to specialisation; in the last year, for example, for
sciences only 6/28 lessons are devoted to language learning, whereas in the
humanities this may be 10/28. On top of the above distribution of lessons
focussed on language as a subject, German or French are used as a medium for
non-language subjects.
Table 3. Number of contact hours per language for the entire curriculum (Nontechnical
Education)
Subject Primary Secondary Total
Luxemburgish subject 125 - 125
Luxemburgish medium ? ? ?
German subject 1224 720-990 1944-2214
German medium ? 1331-2159 ?
French subject 1080 954-1350 2034-2430
French medium - 2106-3744 2106-3744
N.B.? Indicates it has not been possible to calculate the amount of time German
and Luxemburgish has been used as a medium of instruction (For details cf.
Lebrun / Baetens Beardsmore 1993).
This complex system results in a working knowledge of three languages for
the entire population. Proficiency in French depends on the length of time
pupils stay on in school, those progressing into the higher classes having a
better knowledge of French than those who leave younger.
For the heterogeneous population of immigrants, nursery-school teachers find
themselves teaching Luxemburgish to aid integration into the primary school
network, with mitigated results. Special reception classes have been created for
foreign children of school age who cannot follow the normal school programme
because of lack of knowledge of Luxemburgish.
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