And here's what teh italian Ministry of Education had to say, 1993:
1.3. Conclusions
There are, then, good reasons to call attention to the international language: good reasons ignored up until
now, or even hidden by deliberate misinformation.
This state of things has provoked the great, and probably serious, delay in understanding the cultural,
social, and political opportunity of putting "into play" a non-ethnic and authentically international language
alongside the others in our schools.
The international language is at the base of a more appropriate conception of plurilingualism in the
European Union and allows the elaboration of a new, more realistic language policy. It in fact:
a) educates to the construction of peace, making concrete the conception of belonging to a single human
family and a "world environment," rather than one geo-nationally determined and circumscribed. In a moment
of resurgent nationalism, sometimes in aggravated forms, spreading a means of international comprehension
which finds in the equal dignity of peoples and their linguistic expression one of its strong points, aims at
overcoming narrow national viewpoints which remain tied to the concept of nation even when there is aperture
to other countries' languages;
b) contributes, in fact, to safeguard European and global linguistic and cultural diversity;
c) allows transnational cultural and commercial relations in a common language, without discrimination,
which can be fully acquired within the time spent in mandatory education;
d) facilitates, taught as Linguistic Orientation, the study and learning of national foreign languages;
e) avoids the predominance of one or two "major" languages in the teaching of possible foreign languages;
f) enriches metalinguistic reflection even in the native language;
g) allows notable savings of time and money, both in teacher training and in student work, with additional
advantages for other subjects such as learning ethnic foreign languages (A useful study would be one which
examined the necessary cost, in time and money, for teaching and learning an ethnic foreign language
compared to the international language).
2. Proposals
There are, then, two goals which the introduction of the International Language in Italian schools aims to
satisfy: Esperanto as an "end," that is, as an authentically international language of communication, and the
International Language as a "means," that is, as a language-teaching instrument.
Page 17
Beyond making such themes immediately known in the schools through a ministerial memo (with this
document enclosed), sent to the General Direction, Inspectors, Superintendents, Directors, Heads of
Institutes, to the IRRSAE, the CEDE, and the Library of Educational Documentation, that which seems
appropriate in light of the conclusions cited above is to add the International Language to the four languages
presently taught in the elementary schools.
2.1
Without legislative modifications or further expense, based on the law reforming the elementary school it is
possibly, immediately, to add, by ministerial decree, the International Language (Esperanto) to the foreign
languages currently taught at elementary schools, establishing appropriate forms of promotion and realisation
such as, for example:
- the realisation of an informational pamphlet and training material on the International Language, with the
collaboration of the associations and organisations listed above, directed at the components of Public
Instruction mentioned above;
- the creation of training courses in Esperanto for elementary school teachers, on the model of those
already created for foreign language teachers, with the assistance of the responsible associations and
organisations.
2.2
It is more than obvious that in the context of the multiplicity of scholastic levels and grades, innumerable
further information, study, experimentation, promotion, training, etc., initiatives are possible. For example, the
Ministry could:
A) launch linguistic experimentation and promote it in the context of the European Union during the next
semester of Italian Presidency of the Union:
- the Ministry of Public Instruction could distribute this report at the European level, starting with parallel
ministries.
- initiatives of parallel experimentation could be proposed, in Union countries, keeping the varying
scholastic structure in mind;
B) sponsor study and retraining seminars relative to 1st and 2nd level secondary schools
C) conduct, through the General Direction for Cultural Exchanges, and with the help of the responsible
Esperantist associations and organisations, liaison work for international exchanges;
D) acquire, through the General Direction for Elementary Instruction, information on the Paderborn Method,
and then organise two retraining and study seminars for, respectively, Inspectors and L2 teachers in
elementary schools, possibly organised in collaboration with the Institute of Pedagogic Cybernetics of the
University of Paderborn and the presence of Prof. H. Frank.
E) launch monitoring aimed at ascertaining how quickly and with what results elementary school teachers
can be provided with knowledge of the International Language and the capacity to teach it as a propedeutic
subject;
Page 18
F) in light of the noteworthy intercultural value of the International Language, promote its use within certain
ministerial projects such as, for example, the Youth Project and the Child Project 2000, or involve Esperantist
representatives in these projects.
It seems opportune, in closing, that the Ministry send its observers to the most important places and
occasions where the International Language is used or is object of discussion: Esperantist centers,
congresses, conferences and various presentations, national and international.
