Promoting bilingual education and the Slovene language and culture in the Slavia Friulana

Educational and awareness-raising activity

Project promotion: the P. Petričič bilingual Slovene-Italian unified school district in San Pietro al Natisone, the Institute for the Slovene Culture, the Ivan Trinko Cultural Association and the Slovene Research Institute (SLORI)
Project management at SLORI: Dr Devan Jagodic
Collaborators: Dr Matejka Grgič, Dr Maja Mezgec, Dr Susanna Pertot, Dr Zaira Vidau
Project implementation period: 2018 – ongoing

In the Slavia Friulana region considerable efforts have been made to actively promote the Slovene language and culture which, according to experts, are both in great danger. In order to help preserve the Slovene language and culture, in 2018 the P. Petričič bilingual Slovene-Italian unified school district in San Pietro al Natisone, the Institute for the Slovene Culture, the Ivan Trinko Cultural Association and the Slovene Research Institute (SLORI) established a permanent partnership. In its first execution phase, the partnership focused primarily on informing the families of pupils who attend the bilingual school in San Pietro al Natisone about the benefits and challenges of bilingual education, as well as those of learning Slovene as a second language. In fact, it has been observed that when enrolling their children in the bilingual school district, some parents are not sufficiently aware of the school’s specific role, mission and goals. Furthermore, they often do not realise that it is crucial for these schoolchildren to be able to consistently use the Slovene language. Thus, the use of Slovene is to be promoted not only in class, but also in several other school-related situations as well as extracurricular activities. Project partners agree that the bilingual school in San Pietro al Natisone plays an important role in keeping the Slovene language alive in the Slavia Friuliana region. Nevertheless, it is clear that the school cannot be the only means of preserving the language. This is why the partners have been fostering a close cooperation among the school, experts, civil society, families and other individuals. Between September and December 2018, experts working at SLORI organised three informative events. At the start of the school year, linguist Dr Matejka Grgič and psychologist Dr Susanna Pertot held a meeting with parents in which they presented the many benefits of bilingual education. Parents were also given advice on how to help schoolchildren living in a bilingual environment and told what they can expect from them. In October 2018, Dr Zaira Vidau gave a talk on the Slovene-language community living in Italy, presenting it from a social, political and cultural viewpoint. She also provided detailed information on the activities carried out by various local Slovene associations and organisations. The last event of the series the was held in December, during the school’s open day. As part of the introductory presentation, Dr Matejka Grgič illustrated the benefits and the possible difficulties faced by schoolchildren growing up in a multilingual environment.

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