Normalizing bilingualism:The effects of the Catalonian linguistic normalization policy one generation after¹

This study examines the evolution of language attitudes of linguistically diverse adolescents in urban Catalonia a generation after the instauration of Linguistic Normalization, official language policies favoring Catalan. Woolard (1984, 1989) and Woolard and Gahng's (1990) classic Catalan/Spanish matched guise studies are used as a baseline. Current data come from a modified and expanded replication of those original studies. Findings show: (1) differences in attitudes between youths of Spanish and Catalan background have softened; (2) disparities in Status and Solidarity have evened out; (3) language choice can be highly gendered; and (4) bilingual proficiency is now valued by and for both communities. The support for bilingualism and the easing of divisions are understood as signs of increased ‘linguistic cosmopolitanism,’ a stance that looks beyond parochial own-group communities and favors bridging linguistic boundaries. The significance is that minority languages can be valued when they take on such symbolic roles.