Resumen de Bilingual education in Yugoslavia: Some experiences in the field of education for national minorities/nationalities in Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia is a multinational, culturally pluralistic and multilingual society. The multilingualism is reflected not only in the use of the languages of the national minorities/nationalities but also in the diversity of languages of the nations of Yugoslavia. The equality of these languages is also reflected in the system of education, through which it is possible for the members of various nations and national minorities/ nationalities to be educated in their mother tongue. In individual republics and provinces, different forms of education have been developed in accordance with tradition and the specific needs of life, in which the function of the individual languages is variously defined. In the nationally mixed regions, depending on whether the minority language is mother tongue (L1) or second language (L2) in the curricula, the following typology is used: Type A, minority language (L2) is the language of instruction; Type B, bilingual education: Type C, minority language (L1) is the subject of instruction; and Type D, minority language (L2) is the subject of instruction. The aim of education in the nationally mixed regions of Yugoslavia is, among other things, to develop the motivation for equal use of the languages, so the language of national minority/nationality also becomes an appropriate instrument for communication in public and social life and is not restricted to usage in private life. The system of education represents only the first institutional level which leads to the development of bilingualism.
