Canton of Graubünden: Evaluating Rumantsch Grischun at school (2008-2011)
Direction: Raphael Berthele
Research associate: Bernhard Lindt-Bangerter
Duration: 2008 - 2011
Final report (German)
This mandate from the cantonal government in Graubünden concerns the follow-up of introducing the newly consolidated written language Rumantsch Grischun to the so-called pioneer communes in the Canton of Graubünden. The communes in question are those with Rhaeto-Romanic schools already teaching Rumantsch Grischun. The long-term plan is to introduce the new language to all Rhaeto-Romanic schools. We are evaluating various dimensions resulting from this major change. How, for example, do teachers deal with the new language and with new teaching materials? How do learners cope with the changes? How do parents and education administrators view and assess the new situation? What elements can or must be improved upon? Exactly what place will the new language take and to what extent does it threaten the local Rhaeto-Romanic idiom?
In the first phase, data from questionnaires and interviews was used to chart the atmosphere and offer a detailed insight into the introductory phase. These findings are to help define conceptual questions concerning Rumantsch Grischun and will be used to secure the tradition of the Rhaeto-Romanic language. The second phase of the project was concerned with creating tests to gauge and compare language skills in classes using Rumantsch Grischun as the classroom language and in classes where the local idiom was spoken. These data have been compiled and interpreted; the resulting report has been submitted to the cantonal office for culture in Graubünden, but is not publicly accessible, in keeping with standard regulations in Graubünden. Instruments to evaluate oral language competence in the Rhaeto-Romanic idiom have also been developed. These instruments have gone through an initial testing phase, and the data is currently being collected in various regions of the canton. Work is also currently being done on recommendations for measures to protect or foster the local idiom that can – or must – be taken when the new, standardised language is introduced.