Although Croatian is by far the most predominant language in Croatia, linguistic homogeneity in the educational system cannot be assumed. This is not only due to foreign language learning from an early age and the presence of minority and immigrant languages, but also due to significant dialectal diversity. The Dominant Language Constellations (DLC) framework was used as a tool to capture Croatian pupils’ multilingual practices and identities and to raise awareness of their own multilingual practices and identities. Two DLC workshops were carried out with primary school pupils in Croatia. The focus was on the place of dialects and vernaculars in their DLCs. One workshop was conducted in the capital city, where, due to internal migrations, the linguistic and dialectal profiles of the pupils are rather heterogeneous, and another with pupils from a rural, dialectally homogenous community. By comparing typical DLCs from the two contexts, we were able to identify differences in the perceived status of dialects in the DLC of the two groups. The results of the study have practical implications for pupils, their teachers, and other stakeholders when it comes to identifying and supporting pupils’ functional language repertoires.

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Raising Awareness of Dialectal Diversity Through DLCs of YLs in Croatian Primary Schools

  • Nives Kovačić

摘要

Although Croatian is by far the most predominant language in Croatia, linguistic homogeneity in the educational system cannot be assumed. This is not only due to foreign language learning from an early age and the presence of minority and immigrant languages, but also due to significant dialectal diversity. The Dominant Language Constellations (DLC) framework was used as a tool to capture Croatian pupils’ multilingual practices and identities and to raise awareness of their own multilingual practices and identities. Two DLC workshops were carried out with primary school pupils in Croatia. The focus was on the place of dialects and vernaculars in their DLCs. One workshop was conducted in the capital city, where, due to internal migrations, the linguistic and dialectal profiles of the pupils are rather heterogeneous, and another with pupils from a rural, dialectally homogenous community. By comparing typical DLCs from the two contexts, we were able to identify differences in the perceived status of dialects in the DLC of the two groups. The results of the study have practical implications for pupils, their teachers, and other stakeholders when it comes to identifying and supporting pupils’ functional language repertoires.