Language Rich Europe: Bulgaria

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LANGUAGE RICH EUROPETREiIDS IN POLICIES AilD PRACTICESFOR MULTILINGUALISM IN EUROPE

EDITORS: Guus Extra and Kutlay Yagmur

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CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. ... . . .. 2

INTRODUCTION

KEY FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

Guus Extra and Kutlay YaQnur .. .. . . . . 8

PART 1: TOWARDS EUROPEAN INDICATORS OF LANGUAGEPOLICIES AND PRACTICES

Guus Extra and Kutlay YaQmur . . .. 13

1.1 European actors in promotingmultilingualism and plurilingualism . .. .. .

1.2 The trilingualformula and plurilingualism ... . ..

1.3 Language varieties explored in the project

LANGUAGE RICH EUROPE

PART 3: NATIONAL AND REGIONAL PROFILES

lntroduction Guus Extra, Martin Hope & Kutlay YaQmur . . .. 75

1. Austria Tanja Nagel, Anke Schad, Barbara Semmler and

1.4 Language domains addressed in the survey.

1,5 Data collection and the three-cities approach

1.6 Research methodology

PART 2: CROSS-NATIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE LANGUAGERICH EUROPE RESULTS

Kutlay YaQmur, Guus Extra and Marlies Swinkels . .

2.1 Languages in official documents and databases

2.2 Languages in pre-primary educatron

2.3 Languages in primary education .

2.4 Languages in secondary education.

2,5 Cross-sectional perspectives on (pre)primaryand secondary education

2.6 Languages in further and higher education .

2.7 Languages in audiovisual media and press .

2.8 Languages in public services and spaces. ...

2.9 Languages in business

2.10 Cross-secttonal perspectives on multilingualprofiles beyond education .

References in Parts I and 2

Glossary

MichaelWimner

Bosnia and Herzegovina Jasmin Diindo and Setna Zerie

Bulgaria Gueorgui Jetchev

Denmark Sabine Kirchmeier-Andersen

Estonia Kersfl Sostar .

France Louls-Jean Calvet.

Germany lngrid Gogolin, Joana Duartg, Patrick Grommes

Greece Sara Hannam and Evagelia Papathanasiou

Hungary Csilla Bartha

llaly Monica Barni .

Lithuanra lrena Smetoniene and Jultja Moskvina .. ... .. .. ..

Netherlands Saskia Benedictus-yan den Berg

i2.1 Netherlands at large

12.2 Friesland -

Poland Lllrana Szczu ka - Do rna

Portugal J, Lachlan Mackenzie

Romania Alexandru Cernat, Anca Nedelcu,Stefan Colibaba, Citlin Rus, Ruxandra Popovici

16.1 Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla Marta Genis . .

,J6{tl6lonia F. Xavier Vila i Moreno

i'6l6urqr. Country Man EartuaSwitzerland Raphael Berthele, Bernhard Lindt-Bangerter,Susanne Obermayer..... . ..... .......\...... 215

Ukraine Lyubov Naydonova... ..... . 225UnitedKingdom. .... . .. . 23219.1 England Teresa Tinsley and Philip Harding-Esch . . 23219.2 Wales Hywel Jones . . 24019,3 Scotland Teresa Tinsley and Philip Harding-Esch 241

19.4 Northern lreland Ieresa Tinsley andPhilip Hardrng-Esch . .. 254

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3 BULGARIAGueorgui Jetchev

Country contextThe Bulgarian medrevar states supported three important curturarcentres with a strong lrterary tradition: the preslav and Ohridliterary schools (during the First Bulgarian Kingdom, gth_l1thcenturies) and the Tarnovo literary school (Second BulgarianKingdom, 12th-l 4th centuries). Under the Ottoman Emprre,Bulgarians successfuily resisted the curturar infruences of rurkishspeaking authorities and the Greeks,

Bulgarians have held consistenfly firm views on the correct useof their language and literary traditions. A special public holidaycelebrates the missionary and literary work of Saints Cyril andMethodius, apostles to the Slavs and co-patron saints of Europeannually on 24 May. The day is also dedicated to the Cyrillicalphabet, the literature and the culture created in Bulgaria.

The 1991 Constitution does not use the terms ,national,or'ethnic minorities'. However, it guarantees the main rights ofpersons belonging to ethnic, linguistlc, and religious groups.Article 36 grants members of ethnic groups the rightlo studyand use their own language. Article 54 entitles them to Oeveioptheir own culture rn accordance with their ethnic serf-identification,which is recognised and guaranteed by law. All of this hascreated a legal and political framework guaranteeing the equalrrghts of minorities in Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian ethnic model aims at balancing the principles ofintegration, common national and European values, and respectfor ethnic and religious identrty.

According to the 201,l population census, Bulgarian is mothertongue to 85.2% of the population, Turkish to 9.1o/oand Romanito 4.2o/o of the population. According to the Nationalstatisticallnstrtute, census data shows a strong correlation between ethnicand linguistic self-determination.

Languages tn officialdocuments and databases

The national language, foreign languages, R/Mlanguages and immigrant languages aie dealt with inlanguage legislation and/or language policy documents.The learning and teaching of the national lJnguageabroad for children and/or adults originating fromBulgaria is (co)funded in around 30 Countries in Europeand abroad. lhe European Charter for Regional or\inority Languages has not been signed ind ratified byBulgaria. At the national level, however,4 R/M languaglsare officially provided in nation- or regionwide education:Armenian, Hebrew, Romani, and Turkiih.

Official nationwide data collection mechanisms onlanguage diversity in Bulgaria exist in terms ofperiodically updated census data. ln these datacollection mechanisms, national, R/M and immigrantlanguage varieties are addressed, based on a mothertongue question.

Officlal curricula in Bulgarian for Bulgarian citrzens abroad canbe found on the Ministry of Education, youth and Science(MoEYS) website. They are part of the National Language andCulture Abroad governmental programme.

The Education, Science, Children, youth and Sports Committeeand the Culture, Civil Society and Media Committee at theNational Assembly are responsible for all issues concerning thenational language, and draft resorutions or recommendations.Scientists and experts are allowed to participate in theCommrttees' meetings. The /nstitute for Bulgiarian Language (BL)at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences ls a ientral co_ordinatrngbody responsible for the Bulgarian national language policy(www.ibl.bas.bg/enlindex.htm). tBL co-operateiwrth Bulgaiianlanguage and literature university depariments.

The 1991 Constitution declares Bulgarian the country,s soleoffrcial language (Article 3), but it alio guarantees (Article 36)the right for 'citizens whose mother tongue is not Bulgarian,tostudy and use their mother language.

Bulgaria has been a state party to the Framework convention forthe Protection of National Minorities since 7 May 1999. TheNational Council for Cooperation on Ethnic andintegrationlssues (www.nccedi.government.bg/), whose secretariat is partof the government administration (the Council of Mrnisters),monitors the implementation of the Convention at national level.

Turkish, Roma and other minorities are now entttled to mothertongue tuition. The Educational Standards, Basic GeneralEducation and Curriculum Law of July

,l999, amended in 2002,

stipulates that the 'mother tongue,suUlect is a compulsory

97


elective sub1ect in the primary and secondary education curricula(Article 15-3). The Public Education Law of 1991 lmplementation

Rules, amended in 1998, provide a definition of the term 'mother

tongue': the language in which the child communicates in his/her

family (Article 8-2). The Centre of Educational lntegration of

Children and Young people from the Minorities (http://coiduem.

mon.bg) was established in 2005. lt is the only governmental

institution whose name contains the term 'from the minorities'

instead of 'citizens whose mother tongue is not Bulgarian''

The Radio and Television Law of 1998 contains an article on

programmes in minority languages:

NL=National Language(s)

FL=Foreign Languages

R/Ml=Regional or Minority Languages

lL=lmmigrant Languages

Article 49: (1) The Bulgarian National Radio and the

Bulgarian NationalTelevision shall produce national and

regional programmes; broadcasls for abroad, including

for Bulgarians living abroad: broadcasts intended forBulgarian nationals whose mother tongue is not Bulgarian,

including in thei own language.

The Union of the Deaf in Bulgaria created the National Centre on

Sign Language in 2004. The Bulgarian National Televiston offersdaily translation into sign language of the 4 p.m. news.

Languages in pre-prrmary education (No provision of R/M languages and immigrant languages)

Languages offered in pre-primary education

English, French, German, ltalian, Russian, Spanish

The national programme for the development of school tnstruction and pre-school education(2006-2015) mentions the necessity to provide children whose mother tongue is not Bulgarian

with programmes in the Bulgarian language adapted to their special needs during the year

of pre-school education which has been obligatory since 2003. The National Education Law,

amended in 2002, introduced a specialised curriculum in the Bulgarian language for

these children.

Languages in primary education (No provision of immigrant languages)

Organisation


Teaching

Languages offered in primary education

Official curricula for four languages offered as a 'mother tongue' subject (Turkish, Armenian,Hebrew, Romani) for primary and secondary education can be found on the MoEyS website.Mother tongue tuition is not compulsory; it is only a 'compulsory elective subject'which means itcan be chosen from a list of alternative subjects including English, German, French or Russian.This is why few Turkish-speaking children take these courses, and their number has beendecreasing in recent years.

Languages in secondary educatron (No provision of immigrant languages)Organisation

Teaching

99


There is a dense network of schools that are 'foreign-languages oriented' (in all or part of their

classes) all over the country. These schools use the first foreign language as a medium of

instruction for a variety of subjects including mathematics, physrcs, chemistry, biology'

geography, history, and philosophy. These sublects are taught using Content and Language

intedraiea tearntng (CLtL) methods from the beginning of upper secondary education (ninth and

tenth yeao. These schools offer an intensive language course (at least 1B hours per week) for one

year (the final year of lower secondary education - the eighth yeaO'

At the level of upper secondary education, it is difficult to find a class which is not part of the

network. The'foreign-languages oriented'schoolmodelwas established in 1952 at a schoolin

Lovech, a town in North Bulgaria, where English, French and German were the three languages of

instruction. ln .1960,

new schools were established in other towns, including the capttal, with each

of these three languages taught separately and with Russian. ln 1970 Spanish was added to the

network. Since 1990, all of the above-mentioned languages, as well as other languages, are

offered all over the country in (partly or fully) 'foreign-languages oriented' schools.

Languages offered in secondary education

Croatian, Czech, English, French, German, ltalian,

Japanese, Korean, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbian,

S/ova& Spanish: I or 2 of these are compulsory, a 2nd

or 3rd is optional

Languages in further and higher educatlon

Further education (in three VET institutions) (No provision of R/M languages andimmigrant languages)

coherent and expllctt

coherent and explicit

Higher education (in three universities)

national orinstitution-based

L

l"

A two year course of Bulgarian as a foreign language is offered to Erasmus students, as well as to

foreign students attending university. The courses in Turkish language and literature at Sofia,

plovdiv and Shumen universities are in great need of highly qualifred experts, as are the Higher

lslamic lnstitute in Sofia and the newly established Turkish theatres in Kurdzhali and Razgrad,

which rely on the universities for this provision.


Radio Bulgaria offers web-based programmes in ten languages: English, German, Russian, French,Spanish, Serbian, Greek, Albanian, Turkish and Arabic.Although on a rather limited scale, the Turkish language has also been introduced in mass media.The Bulgarian National Radio has had half-hour morning and evening broadcasts for the Turkishpopulation in Bulgaria since 1993. The news and Turkish and Bulgarian folk songs are included inthe broadcasts. ln the spring of 2001, the Bulgarian National lelevision began bioadcasting ten-minute programmes in Turkish.

During the transition period attempts were also made to establish a Turkish press. At present,there are three weekly Turkish newspapers in Sofia $abah, zaman and M\stimantar),a children,snewspaper Filiz and a children s magazine called Balon.

Languages in public services and spaces

lnstitutionalised language strategies at city levet

Languages in audiovisual media and press

always in Sofia

regularly in Plovdiv

sometimes rn Shumen

Communication facilities

Tourism

Legal

Health

Emergency

= Transport

= lmmigration and integration

Tourism

Transport

Emergency

Health

lmmigration and integration

There is still a lot to be done to strengthen multilingualism in this domain. ln the three citiesresearched, Sofia, Plovdiv and Shumen all provide limited services in foreign languages, with afocus on emergency, immigration and tourism services, although .or*oniy interpreters are used.Aside from Bulgarian, English is the language most often available in public services and spaceswith some services also being available in Turkish, German, French and Russian. The websites ofall cities are available in English, but in Shumen Russian is also available. All city administrations -recruit employees who speak foreign languages, with English being the main priority, and Englishlanguage teaching is also provided for them during their employmlnt.

101


Languages in business (out of 24 companies)

NL widelypractised

0 0 0 ..{

ab*P 21 18 22 23 18 23

BusinessEnglish

widelypractised

U 1 0 '15 7 8 4 9 12

Additlonallanguages

widelypractised

0 0 0 0 U 0 0 0

As with the Public Services and Spaces domain, there is much to be done to strengthenmultilingualism in business. ln the surveyed companies, almost half have some form of language

strategy. Business English is used by twothirds of companies in addition to Bulgarian forpromotional purposes and on the web. Other languages are rarely used and training in languages

is not provided other than occasionally in business English. A few companies have partnerships

with the education sector to support language training, and a very small number make use ofinternational networks to support language skills of employees.


Key findings overallOur LRE research revealed many strong points in multilingualismin the domains of education at all levels, both for the nationallanguage and for foreign languages. Some important steps havebeen made towards a greater involvement of regional/minoritylanguages in education and in the media.

Domains that need further development are public services andspaces and business.

Promising initiatives and pilotsLilyana Kovatcheva, Director ofthe Centre of Educationallntegration of Children and young people from the Minorities(affiliated to MoEyS), was one of the six national consultants forthe Curriculum Framework for Romani, created by the LanguagePolicy Division of the Council of Europe in 200g (www.coe.int,/t/dg4lIngurstrc/Romani_doc_EN.asp).

The European Day of Languages in Bulgaria is a successfulevent organised by EUNIC - the network of European UnionNational lnstitutes for Culture. ln its last edition the followingmember institutions participated: Austrian Embassy, the BritishCouncil, Czech Centre, Polish lnstitute, French lnstitute,Goethe lnstitut, Hellenic Foundation of Culture, HungarianCultural lnstitute, lnstituto Cervantes, Embassy of Spain,Italian Cultural lnstitute, as well as partners from the RussianCultural Centre, Embassy of Switzerland, Directorate General forTranslation to the European Commission, Bulgarian Culturallnstitute, and Human Resource Development Centre. TheEuropean Day of Languages 20'l 1 was supported by the SofiaMunicipality, MoEYS, and with the media partnership of theBulgarian National Radio.

ReferencesNational Statisticat tnstitute, Republic of Butgaria: 201i populationcensus in the Republic of Bulgaria (final data).

Advisory committee on the framework convention for theprotection of national minorities: Opinion on Bulgaria. (adoptedon27 May 2004).

Stoycheva, Maria, Chavdarova, Albena and Veselinov. Dimitar(2011), Language Poticies Butgaria-Europe Gzikovi politiki.Bulgaria-Evropa). Sofia, Universitetsko izdatelstvo,sv. KlimentOhridski'.

Pachev, Angel(2006): Ezikovite ob5tnosti, Sofia, Sema RS.

Videnov, Mihail (2005): Digtosr.lata, Sofia, Akademidno izdatetstvoMarin Drinov.

Jetchev, Gueorgui (2006): <El6ments de politique tinguistiquede l'Etat bulgare>, Lengas, revue de sociolinguistique, n" 60,pp.191-203.

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