"E sin rumantsch?" On dealing with multilingualism, the promotion of Romansh and the dominance of German in multilingual school classes in the canton of Grisons

Abstract

The article focuses on how multilingualism is dealt with in two-way-immersive German-Romansh school classes in the canton of Grisons. It asks what linguistic resources teachers bring into the classroom, what linguistic demands they make on the pupils, and what position Romansh takes in relation to German. The study was carried out from an ethnographic research perspective, with participant observation of lessons in three intermediate school classes in spring 2019. Overall, a heterogeneous picture emerged of language practices on the part of the teachers and with regard to the linguistic demands on the pupils, but also a pronounced dominance of German in the classroom.