The Role of Early Childhood Education in Revitalizing a Minoritized Language in an Unsupportive Policy Context: The Galician Case

In the Northwestern region of Spain, Galician is recognized as a co-official language, alongside Spanish. The Galician Linguistic Normalization Law (Xunta de Galicia, Lei 3/1983, do 15 Xuno, de Normalizacion Linguistica, 1983) was designed to reverse a process of linguistic substitution in favor of Spanish that has threatened Galician, along with other minoritized languages in Spain, for generations. Nevertheless, the revitalization goal of Galician language legislation has not been adequately supported by school policy. In this chapter we first report the results of a survey of 3rd and 4th-year ECE majors at a Galician university (approximately 200 students), focusing on their self-perceptions of Galician competence and expectations for using the Galician language as an instructional medium in their future teaching. Then we will analyze examples of ECE Centers that are committed to using and promoting the Galician language, taking into account the particular challenges involved in promoting bilingualism in minoritized language contexts. These go beyond simple linguistic competencies to involve metalinguistic goals such as raising the social status of the language, reducing stereotypes, and creating new positive associations. We will analyze a variety of initiatives aimed at promoting and supporting the use of Galician in ECE contexts, including examples from a range of specific school settings (public and private, urban, peri-urban, and rural, etc.). In a minoritized language context where intergenerational transmission of Galician continues to diminish, these initiatives attempt to revitalize the language among the youngest generation though a range of practices, from the partial introduction of Galician as a medium of instruction to the incorporation of literature, performing arts, and other engaging activities that aim to present the minoritized language as both a modern living language and a common cultural heritage. Despite the disheartening trends concerning language competence and use, the work of these educators and other professionals demonstrate the transformative potential of effective school-based language planning, even in relatively unsupportive policy contexts.