The two different models of bilingual/multilingual education that have been developed in Slovenia since the 1950s in the regions of Prekmurje (minority language Hungarian) and Slovene Istria ...(Italian) are the result of international agreements, education and language policies, social and demographic factors. The basic aim in both cases is to help ensure the equal rights of the minority community, their language and their culture. In this paper, we shall present the historical and social background to the development of these two models, and describe the way in which language and education policies are applied in these two mixed areas. Drawing upon empirical research, we shall also consider how successful the models have been in achieving their stated goals. Finally, we shall present the results of research into attitudes and perceptions among parents and children toward multilingual and multicultural education in these two Slovene regions, using the collected data to compare the relative success of the two different models in the eyes of the local communities.
The paper focuses on bilingualism among the Slovene majority in Slovene Istria approximately 50 years after the Italian community living there were granted official minority status. This empirical ...research shows a high level of Slovene-Italian bilingualism in the observed population. It reveals that a high level of communicative competence in one language entails a high level of communicative competence in the other language. Another significant finding is that the younger age groups of the observed population are characterised by a higher level of communicative competence in both Slovene and Italian in comparison to the older age groups. The key factors of influence are the opportunities for bilingual education in the school system and the fact that the younger generations are more influenced by Italian media. Age, however, does not influence language use; the younger age groups use Italian very rarely and no more often than the other age groups. Therefore, it can be concluded that language use is not so much affected by the level of communicative competence, but rather primarily by the number of opportunities to use a language.
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