Intercomprehension of Romance languages, plurilingualism and language policy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60054/PEU.2024.11.143-154Keywords:
language policy, foreign language teaching, European Union, Romance languages, intercomprehensionAbstract
One of the defining characteristics of the European Union (EU) is multilingualism. In his comprehensive work La ricerca della lingua perfetta nella cultura europea, Umberto Eco (2018) explores the search for a common perfect language for Europeans. The aim of our study is to find out what the EU language policy is in line with Romance languages. The paper describes the state of Romance language teaching at secondary level in Europe and compares it with Slovak schools at the same level. We use a survey carried out by the Eurydice Information Network, which is the European Commission’s instrument for collecting information on the education systems in the Member States of the European Union, to determine the state of foreign language teaching in Europe. Furthermore, we provide a comparative analysis of the results with statistical data regarding foreign language teaching at secondary level in Slovakia obtained from the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic. After assessing the status and prospects of Romance language teaching, we suggest possible solutions to the situation of Romance languages in Slovakia, while intercomprehension can be considered as such. Finally, we offer possible approaches to the teaching of intercomprehension at the university level in the non-philological field.
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