Dimensions of Remote Learning during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Minority Language Schools (The Case of Austrian Carinthia)

Abstract

Based on a survey conducted among teachers in three schools in Austrian Carinthia where the language of instruction is (also) Slovene, the article examines the impact of remote learning between March and June – i.e. during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic – on a possible deterioration of students’ language skills. The results also bring new data and insight into teachers’ language accommodation. The results confirm the predominance of reading and writing communication with a minimum use of audiovideo technology. The lower input of verbal communication mainly affected students with (strongly) unbalanced linguistic competence in both languages of instruction. Education is an important factor in reducing inequalities in society; thus, as long as remote learning increases inequality, this form of education should be pursued with some reservations.

Cross-Border Education: Students from Slovenia in Austrian Minority Schools

“…There has been considerable research on the impact of the pandemic on school children and young people, revealing many of the adverse consequences of school closures. In the schools in question, a survey was carried out among teachers during the pandemic and they confirmed that the negative effects of the pandemic would be felt most acutely in bilingual schools by monolingual students, especially by students from Slovenia whose German language input was lacking (Zorčič 2020b).…”

Students’ Perceptions of Remote Teaching and Learning: The Slovene Minority in Italy during the Pandemic Period of Covid-19

“…The Covid-19 pandemic has had a strong impact on education (Sahu 2020;Dietrich et al 2020;Aristovnik et al 2020;Chakraborty et al 2020), especially among minority students (Eurac Research 2020;Riman 2020;Zorčič 2020;Sorgo & Lukanovič 2020). Studies concerning the Slovene minority in Italy (Brezigar 2020;Bogatec et al 2021) have highlighted fundamental issues, such as communication problems related to the delivery of the class materials in the Slovene language (cf.…”

“…During this time, when emergency plans were adopted by the government, elementary, middle and high schools, as well as universities, had to close. Students and teachers had to adapt to remote lessons (Quattrone et al 2020), which are characterised by temporal and/or spatial separation that is normally compensated for with media and technology (Hodges et al 2020;Zorčič 2020). Italian teachers used various learning and teaching methods, including not only online lectures, audio-visual material, and conferences, but also books and notes (Tejedor et al 2020).…”

Intermarriage-born Millennials in the Whirlwind of the 1990s Yugoslav Wars

“…The school is named after Hungarian poet Jožef Atila (in Hungarian: József Attila), who lived in the early 20 th century.9 The same tendencies can be observed also elsewhere, see for exampleNaceva (2021),Riman & Novak Lukanović (2021) andZorčič (2020).…”