Switzerland

Key findings overall

In compulsory education, the strong economic relevance of English has led to competition with the official languages not spoken in a given region. The situation weakens the position of smaller official languages, especially Italian. Indeed Rhaeto-Romanic and Italian are barely represented in school settings or in public life outside their own territory.

The progress of integration and valorisation of original languages spoken by immigrants is unsatisfactory, both at school and in society.

Promising initiatives and pilots

The “Schweizer Institut für Kinder- und Jugendmedien” promotes family literacy. Their project "Schenk mir eine Geschichte" (loosely translated as "tell me a story") specifically addresses immigrant families and encourages them to cultivate their own languages. 

(http://www.sikjm.ch/d/?/d/lesefoerderung/projekte/family_literacy.html)

"ch Foundation" is an important contact point for language exchange programmes in Switzerland and abroad for school students, trainees and university students. It is for the most part financed by the Confederation and the cantons. (http://www.chstiftung.ch/)

The canton Basel-Stadt initiated an overarching language concept for schools, which acknowledges the roles of the various languages: German as the main language, the taught foreign languages and the original languages of children with an immigration background. (http://sdu.edubs.ch/faecher/fremdsprachen/herkunftssprachen)

The “Forum du bilinguisme” in the bilingual city of Biel/Bienne supports projects that promote multilingualism. For example, the organisation awards a "label of bilingualism" to companies that practice a culture of bilingualism. (http://www.bilinguisme.ch/)

Several academic institutions perform applied research in the area of multilingualism. These include the “Osservatorio linguistico della Svizzera italiana” and the “Fachstelle für Mehrsprachigkeit” at the University of Teacher Education Graubünden. Both institutions observe the current situation regarding language policy in Italian- and Rhaeto-Romanic-speaking Switzerland and formulate calls for action. The Research Centre on Multilingualism in Fribourg/Freiburg, which receives funds from the Confederation, coordinates research done at academic institutions on the topic of institutional and individual multilingualism. 

(www4.ti.ch; www.phgr.ch; www.institute-multilingualism.ch/en)