The study of linguistic immersion in an endangered language spoken in the southern part of France, Occitan, sheds light on the perceptions of this practice by learners and outsiders. The view of the importance of immersion is linked to the situation of the community and reflects the evolution of ideologies in the area.
In this paper I look at why and to what effect new urban speakers of Galician (in north western Spain) invest in delineated minoritized languages rather than in poly- or translingualism and adopt monolingual ideologies despite their multilingual repertoires. I draw on ethnographic fieldwork carried out in Galicia between 2012 and 2018 which examines the dynamics of grassroots Galician-language immersion programmes in contemporary urban contexts. These immersion schools were initiated by small groups of Galician language activists and parents, concerned with the perceived lack of Galician input through Galicia’s public education system. This led them to favour alternative models in which Galician would play an exclusive or predominant role in their proposed educational model. In establishing these schools, promotors of immersion programmes have sought to create what can be termed “safe spaces” (Creese and Martin 2006: 2) or “breathing spaces” (Fishman 1991) for Galician in predominantly Spanish-speaking urban space. In delving into the ideologies and practices of parents, teachers and language activists involved in these programmes, I explore tensions that sometimes emerge when the monolingual space which they attempt to create is threatened (at least in their eyes) by language mixing and translingual practices. For teachers and parents in these schools, the question of whether translanguaging has potential in a Galician immersion classroom concerns not only its contribution to learning but also the risk it might represent for the revitalization of Galician. I will question whether or not we need to rethink new multilingual paradigms in minoritized language contexts such as Galician. I will examine the ideological nature of both monolingual andmultilingualism in Galician immersion programmes, following Jaspers and Malai Madsen (2016), who argue that by ignoring the ideological dimension of multilingual practices we risk obscuring the everyday relevance for many languagers of investing in pure and separate languages.
