Language acquisition and academic performance with immigrant student

Director: Felix Etxeberria

Through this research line we want to study the linguistic competences of immigrant students and their influences in the academic results and performance. For that several dimensions of the problem will be taken into account. On the one hand, the results of the learning of the two official languages in the BAC, Basque and Spanish, will be analyzed. On the other hand, the treatment given to the family language or language of origin will be examined, as the reference of a good integration of these students. Finally, the situation of the academic results of immigrant students will be studied, obtained from the PISA report, 2003 and 2006.

These analyses will allow better plans for the acquisition of language by immigrant students and they will improve their academic performance.

This research line focuses on immigrant students and on how a multilingual education like the one in the Basque Country is received by children coming from another country. We have to consider that the linguistic environment is very complex; on the one hand, we have two co-official languages, Basque and Spanish, in a situation of unbalanced bilingualism, with a smaller development of the Basque language compared to Spanish. All this in spite of the efforts and strong support to Basque from society as a whole. On the other hand, the early acquisition of a foreign language, especially English, adds a wider linguistic diversity to our educational system (Cenoz, 2008).