Identitat i llengua, anàlisi d'una experiència

Resum

The use of the Catalan language as a principal variable in the study of the integration process of immigrants who arrived in Catalonia during the Franco era appears to be a methodological error. The exposure that these immigrants had with the indigenous culture was very small and the role of language was negligible. Nowadays, the use of Catalan within Catalonia has widened so that it is used at all levels of everyday life. In this way a new linguistic situation has been created in Catalonia. These considerations form the analytical framework within which the Council for Culture of the Generalitat of Catalonia conducted a study directed specifically at linguistic integration. The research constituted an indepth study of control groups who in july 1987 agreed to work together in the signposting of mountain roads, on the condition that they only spoke Catalan. The different geographical origins and linguistic habits of the subjects made for an appropriate base upon which to carry out the experiment. The study analyses the changes in attitude of the Castilian-speaking pupils who attend Catalan courses with respect to Catalan culture, its language and institutions. The study sets out to confirm whether or not linguistic change implies modifications both in mentality and forms of social integration.