Faraway, so close : trilingualism in the Basque autonomous community and Malta from a socio-educational perspective

Abstract

Malta and the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC) represent two very distant contexts with very different linguistic, historical and cultural characteristics. However, within both contexts there is a sociolinguistic situation wherein a ‘local’ language (Maltese in Malta and Basque in the BAC) is in contact with a language which is very widespread internationally, namely English and Spanish respectively. In Malta and in the BAC many individuals have an integrative attitude towards Maltese and Basque as these two languages enable speakers to feel part of a clear-cut linguistic community. Due to their international status, English and Spanish are mainly useful for wider communication purposes. Besides, within both contexts there are positive language attitudes towards multilingualism and, not surprisingly, Italian in Malta and English in the BAC are seen in a positive light and play a significant role within the respective societies. In this paper we reflect on how learning three languages features in the two educational systems, and we illustrate how Malta and the BAC share some remarkable analogies, despite the obvious differences between the two contexts.