Compulsory Language Educational Policies and Identity Formation

Education can be at the root of the process of identity formation. Using survey data from Catalonia and the Basque Country, where in 1983 the education system became bilingual, we study how parental choices and schooling interact with each other and contribute to the development of individual identity. The difference between the reforms implemented in the two Spanish regions is that whereas in Catalonia the reform was compulsory, in the Basque Country parents could choose the language used to educate their children. Results show a significant effect of the compulsory language policy implemented in Catalonia on identity, whereas the non-compulsory language policy implemented in the Basque Country does not have any effect. (c) 2008 by the European Economic Association.