CATALAN IN EASTERN ARAGON (SPAIN)

http://www.uoc.es/euromosaic/web/document/catala/an/e19/e19.html
Institut de Sociolingüística Catalana

Catalan in Eastern Aragon (Spain)

INTRODUCTION:

This language use survey was undertaken in 1994 in that part of Catalan-speaking Aragon which borders on Catalonia proper. While the language in question is Catalan, it is not an official language in Aragon, and in this area it is the victim of a subjective reidentification, being referred to variously as chapurreau, fragatí, etc. which are references to local differences. As in other cases 300 interviews were completed, divided by age, gender and location. As a prerequisite, all were Catalan-speakers. As will become obvious, economically the area in perspective is primarily agricultural, with little growth in the other economic sectors. In this respect it is important to recognise that while the agricultural sector is one in which the local population controls the means of production, it is also a sector that is under threat from the restructuring within Europe. Thus the situation surveyed must be seen within this politico-economic context.

LANGUAGE ABILITY:

The language ability of the population surveyed is evident from the following table:

Table 1a: ABILITY OF VARIOUS FAMILY

MEMBERS IN CATALAN AND SPANISH

C A T A L A N S P A N I S H

	Very good	Quite good	Little	None	NA	Very good	Quite good	Little	None	NA
Maternal GPs	41%	34%	2%	22%		30%	57%	6%	7%
Paternal GPs	44%	36%	2%	17%		30%	56%	9%	6%
Father	50%	38%	4%	8%		44%	54%	2%
Mother	50%	36%	6%	8%		43%	54%	3%
Brother	36%	30%	1%		33%	33%	38%	1%		28%
Sister	26%	24%	1%		48%	26%	31%			43%
Partner	32%	31%	6%	3%	28%

The intergenerational trends are more clearly observable if the data refer only to those respondents that have brothers and sisters and partners (table 1a below). Among the respondents it is clear that the grandparents (“GPs”) of a certain proportion, about one fifth, know or knew no Catalan, probably signalling that they were from outside the area. A smaller, but similar effect can be detected as regards Spanish, about one in seven of whom are reported as knowing little or no Spanish. In this case they are or were presumably local people.

Table 1b: ABILITY OF VARIOUS FAMILY

MEMBERS IN CATALAN AND SPANISH (data corrected)

C A T A L A N S P A N I S H

	Very good	Quite good	Little	None	Very good	Quite good	Little	None
Maternal GPs	41%	34%	2%	22%	30%	57%	6%	7%
Paternal GPs	44%	36%	2%	17%	30%	56%	9%	6%
Father	50%	38%	4%	8%	44%	54%	2%	0%
Mother	50%	36%	6%	8%	43%	54%	3%	0%
Brother	54%	45%	1%	0%	46%	53%	1%	0%
Sister	50%	46%	2%	0%	46%	54%	0%	0%
Partner	44%	43%	8%	4%

The above tables clearly show the inter-generational tendency for integration into bilingualism and away from Catalan (and Spanish) monolingualism. On the other hand there is a strong tendency for the retention of Catalan. Indeed the informants had a subjective evaluation of their parents' ability in Catalan that was superior to their evaluation of the same ability for their grandparents. It is unclear whether this is an evaluation in terms of proximity to a standard, to degree of use, or to some 0other measure. However, we must evaluate the data for sibling ability by reference to the internal data available which indicates that almost all of their brothers and sisters knew the language to the same degree as that of their parents. The other factor associated with this inter-generational sketch is that the grandparents are attributed a significantly lower command of Spanish than does the parental generation.

Table 2: ABILITY LEVELS IN CATALAN AND CASTILIAN

	Understand Catalan	Speak Catalan	Read Catalan	Write Catalan	Understand Spanish	Speak Spanish	Read Spanish	Write Spanish
Very good	67%	66%	13%	8%	59%	59%	49%	46%
Quite good	32%	31%	14%	7%	40%	39%	42%	42%
Little	1%	2%	26%	11%	0%	0%	6%	8%
None	0%	2%	47%	74%	1%	2%	3%	4%

These observations have to be qualified by the above figures which clearly demonstrate that the main ability refers to oral competences, with figures for passive and active oral competence being almost identical in Catalan, and also in Spanish. This means that nearly all of those who understand the language can also speak it. On the other hand when we move to reading and writing ability, that is, to literacy, it is clear that the ability diminishes significantly by reference to Catalan, while it is retained by reference to Spanish. The reasons for this discrepancy will become clear in what follows. It is important in the sense that literacy has a profound impact upon the practicality of use. As we shall see, this also relates to the role of other agencies and institutions in the reproduction and production processes. Indeed it appears, even from this preliminary data, that the family is a fundamental agency of reproduction.

FAMILY USE:

This high degree of inter-generational retention is reflected in the levels of intra-familial use:

Table 3: LANGUAGE USED WITH VARIOUS RELATIVES

(when the respondent was a child)

	Catalan	Catalan & Spanish	Spanish	Other	N/A
Mat GPs	74% (80%)	17% (18%)	1% (2%)		8%
Pat GPs	79% (83%)	15% (16%)	1% (1%)		5%
Father	83%	13%	3%	0%	1%
Mother	83%	14%	3%	0%	1%
Brother	60% (84%)	8% (11%)	3% (5%)		29%
Sister	47% (81%)	8% (14%)	3% (5%)		42%

(In brackets, percentages recalculated once non-appropriate cases are discounted)

Evidently the vast majority of respondents used Catalan with their parents and, given the number of non-responses, with their siblings. It is striking that with reference to inter-generational use there has been little change over three generations. However we must recognise that we are simply talking about respondents who were interviewed as Catalan-speakers and that there will be non-speakers for whom the situation and history will have been quite different.

Unsurprisingly the experience of the partner as reported by the respondents is little different:

Table 4: LANGUAGE USE OF PARTNER

	Catalan	Catalan & Spanish	Spanish	Other	N/A
Father	60% (87%)	0%	9% (13%)	0%	31%
Mother	59% (85%)	1% (1%)	10% (14%)	0%	31%
Brother	55% (86%)	4% (6%)	5% (8%)	0%	36%
Sister	52% (87%)	7% (10%)	9% (13%)	0%	33%

(In brackets, percentages recalculated once non-appropriate cases are discounted)

Most used Catalan with their parents, other relatives and with their children.

Table 5: LANGUAGE OF CHILDREN TOGETHER

Always Catalan	31%
Catalan > Spanish	16%
Cast=Catalan	2%
Spanish > Catalan	3%
Always Spanish	3%
NA	45%

Similarly the children in the family retain the tendency to use Catalan together, with over five-sixths of them using only or mainly Catalan together. So it is not surprising that Catalan is claimed to be the main language used in most of the households both at specific times such as at meals as well as between the different household members:

Table 6: LANGUAGE OF HOUSEHOLD (currently)

	Catalan	Catalan & Spanish	Spanish	N/A
At meals	79%	10%	10%	1%
With mother	82%	1%	15%	2%
With father	80%	2%	15%	3%
With partner	59% (82%)	7% (9%)	7% (9%)	27%
With children	54% (83%)	7% (11%)	4% (6%)	35%
With other relatives	55% (82%)	2% (3%)	10% (15%)	33%

(In brackets, percentages recalculated once non-appropriate cases are discounted)

COMMUNITY USE:

The situation changes somewhat by reference to community use:

Table 7: FREQUENCY EVALUATION OF USE OF CATALAN IN THE COMMUNITY

	Streets, as child	Streets, now	Shops, as child	Shops, now	Church, as child	Church, now	Clubs, as child	Clubs, now
Often	90%	98%	91%	98%	7%	4%	55%	66%
Sometimes	3%	2%	2%	1%	9%	15%	8%	10%
Rarely	0%	0%	0%	0%	28%	27%	10%	5%
Never	7%	1%	7%	1%	55%	55%	27%	19%

It would appear that in most cases there has been an increase in the community use of Catalan. It is important to stress that this is a subjective evaluation which, in all likelihood, relates to the changing economic climate and the increased status of Catalan in the post-Franco period. It is the Church that stands out as the negative factor, showing little use of Catalan by this measure.

Let us now turn to a consideration of the various facets of language use within the community by beginning with a consideration of the role of language in the activities that pertain to child socialisation.

The following table makes it clear that the number of respondents who produced relevant information are few but that Catalan does appear to be widely used in the activities undertaken by children:

Table 8: LANGUAGE USE OF CHILDREN IN VARIOUS ACTIVITIES

	Catalan	Spanish	Catalan & Spanish	NA
Football	17%	0%	2%	81%
Gymnastics	2%	0%	1%	97%
Swimming	2%	0%	0%	98%
Theatre	0%	0%	0%	100%
“Esplai” (playgroups)	6%	0%	1%	93%

Turning to the adults we find the following expression of the subjective evaluation of context and language ability:

Table 9: PERCENTAGE ABILITY OF CONTACTS BY CONTEXT

Ability	Friends	Shops	Sports	Cultural	Neighbours
90%+	73%	82%	43%	43%	45%
80-90%	15%	10%	29%	29%	28%
70-80%	8%	7%	17%	19%	17%
60-70%	4%	0%	9%	7%	8%
50-60%	0%	0%	2%	2%	2%
<50%	0%	0%	1%	1%	0%
NA	13	14	192	139	16

Percentages calculated on valid answers.

Again it is evident that when it comes to social networks and contact with the retail sector the vast majority of the interlocutors are able to speak Catalan. While the other three contexts show less of a tendency, the overall impression is one of a strongly Catalan-speaking environment. It is particularly interesting to note the difference between the data for 'friends' and 'neighbours', the higher ability for the former indicates the extent to which language structures social networks.

The actual language used in relation to these categories is demonstrated in the following table:

Table 10: LANGUAGE USED IN THESE CONTEXTS

Language	Friends	Shops	Sports	Cultural	Neighbours
Catalan	134	195	19	26	87
Catalan>Spanish	142	85	62	96	167
Catalan=Spanish	16	7	25	32	36
Spanish>Catalan	3	2	6	9	7
Spanish	2	1	1	5	1
NA	3	10	187	132	2

Language	Friends	Shops	Sports	Cultural	Neighbours
Catalan	45%	67%	17%	15%	29%
Catalan>Spanish	48%	29%	55%	57%	56%
Catalan=Spanish	5%	2%	22%	19%	12%
Spanish>Catalan	1%	1%	5%	5%	2%
Spanish	1%	0%	1%	3%	0%
NA	3	10	187	132	2

Percentages calculated on valid answers.

Again Catalan dominates even though some degree of Castilian enters into all activities. What was said above about the role of language in structuring social relationships is even more evident in the above table. Had we sought to undertake a properly constructed and contextualised network analysis we feel that this element would have been even more evident. Evidently those who use more Castilian than Catalan in their local life are limited in number but that there is a somewhat greater tendency for Castilian to enter sports and cultural activities than social relationships and shopping. The following affords more information along these lines. It refers to language use in 11 of 13 specific situations (only items with more than 20 respondents have been retained).

Table 11: LANGUAGE USED IN DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES/CONTEXTS

	Catalan> Spanish	Catalan= Spanish	Spanish> Catalan	N/A
Unorganised sport	100%	0%	0%	272
Bars/cafe	90%	9%	1%	96
Buy theatre tickets	89%	7%	4%	272
Visit friends	88%	11%	1%	72
Young farmers assoc.	82%	14%	4%	227
Organised sport	81%	15%	4%	233
Other	79%	11%	9%	247
Voluntary associations	70%	19%	11%	273
Eating out	69%	28%	3%	90
Parents’ association	17%	61%	22%	277
Church	8%	2%	90%	199

The clear exception in the above table is religious activities and we shall return to this factor shortly. Perhaps, unsurprisingly, the parent teacher's association of the local schools also shows a tendency to favour Castilian. Considering informal social activities such as visiting bars and cafes, or visiting friends, it is clear that those who offer much of a role for Castilian in such activities amount to no more than about 10%. Voluntary activities including sport also reflect the same tendency, especially where these activities are unorganised.

When we consider the various institutions and actors which members of any society come into contact with in their daily life we get a clearer picture of language use:

Table 12: LANGUAGE ABILITY AND USE BY CONTEXT

	I can't and don't use Catalan	I can and do use Catalan	I can but don’t use Catalan	N/A
Family doctor	89%	6%	4%	1%
Dentist	60%	4%	1%	35%
Petrol	2%	52%	3%	42%
Newspaper	1%	68%	5%	25%
Bar	2%	79%	3%	15%
Theatre ticket	5%	30%	3%	62%
Car repair	2%	53%	3%	43%
Hairdresser	4%	87%	5%	5%
Sport	1%	23%	2%	74%
Library	5%	22%	3%	70%
Teacher	10%	10%	4%	77%
Restaurant	3%	60%	4%	32%
Town council	4%	66%	7%	24%
Shop	2%	78%	4%	17%
Driving Instructor	10%	10%	1%	79%
Lawyer	22%	12%	2%	65%
Bank manager	41%	21%	9%	29%
Washing-machine	11%	44%	2%	44%
Water board	8%	48%	2%	42%
Social security	63%	5%	1%	31%
Hi-Fi shop	8%	40%	1%	51%
Travel office	14%	18%	3%	65%
Optician	29%	22%	4%	44%
Social worker	30%	5%	4%	61%
Parish priest	15%	25%	25%	34%
Housing	60%	6%	3%	31%
Electrician	38%	16%	10%	36%
Ask a stranger the time	16%	19%	36%	29%
Telephone company	55%	7%	2%	36%
Gas board	21%	52%	2%	25%
Post office	63%	20%	3%	14%
Taxi	8%	32%	5%	54%

[Graph 1]

Evidently the number who choose not to use Catalan when it is possible is small. It is also clear that there are some contexts in which it is not possible to use the language. Thus the more professional contexts involving the doctor and dentist and the official contexts involving state officials are weak in this respect. On the other hand the language is widely used in local contexts, especially in the retail sector. Two situations in which Catalan is claimed to be useable but, by many, not actually used, are asking a stranger the time and speaking to the parish priest.

This brings us to a consideration of the relationship of the Church to the Catalan language:

Table 13: LANGUAGE OF RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES

	Spanish	Span> Cat	Span+ Cat	Catal> Span	Catalan	Other	N/A
Mass	218	6	2	1	2		71
Communion	224	2	1	0	1		72
Wedding	224	2	2				72
Christening	224	2	1				73
Catechism	220	3	1	1	1	3	66
	Spanish	Span> Cat	Span+ Cat	Catal> Span	Catalan	Other	N/A
Mass	95%	3%	1%	0%	1%	0%	71
Communion	98%	1%	0%	0%	0%	0%	72
Wedding	98%	1%	1%	0%	0%	0%	72
Christening	99%	1%	0%	0%	0%	0%	73
Catechism	96%	1%	0%	0%	0%	1%	66

In some of the 18 language groups in which we have undertaken a language use survey it has been evident that religion has played a central role in redressing the inequality involved in language use. This is not the case by reference to Catalan in Aragon. On the contrary, it is evident that Catalan plays virtually no role in religious activities. When we recognise the importance of the family in reproducing the language it is surprising, and telling, that even the ceremony that consecrates that institution is not available in Catalan.

EDUCATION:

It is evident from the following table that there is virtually no educational provision in the Catalan language in the region. The table speaks for itself in demonstrating the domination of Spanish in the local educational context at all educational levels:

Table 14: LANGUAGE OF SIBLING'S EDUCATION (by age-groups)

	Infant	8-13	14-18	19+
Spanish	331	305	122	23
Catalan + Spanish	6	5	10	12
Catalan	1	1	1	2
NA	560	560	766	861
	Infant	8-13	14-18	19+
Spanish	98%	98%	92%	62%
Catalan + Spanish	2%	2%	8%	32%
Catalan	0%	0%	1%	5%
NA	560	560	766	861

This is confirmed when we look at the language of the various features of education. We even encounter the absurdity of the teaching of a language through the medium of another language, even when that language is the mother tongue. This is not to deny that a minimum concession is made by reference to the teaching of Catalan but it would be expected, given everything that academics have said about the value of language teaching methods, that the tendency to teach one language through the medium of another would have been abandoned.

Table 15: LANGUAGE OF CHILDREN'S EDUCATION BY SUBJECT

	Catalan	Spanish	N/A	Catalan	Spanish
Catalan	55	24	220	70%	30%
History	5	150	145	3%	97%
Geography	4	155	141	3%	97%
Gymnastics	3	149	148	2%	98%
Biology	3	156	141	2%	98%
Religion	3	156	141	2%	98%
Art	2	145	153	1%	99%
Modern languages	2