ABSTRACT
This chapter assesses Catalan language education policy for foreign adult migrants in the autonomous region of Catalonia, with an eye on the language ideology that underpins it. In surveys about Catalan, a triple distinction is made between initial language, language of identification and language of habitual use. The latest available survey shows that Catalan is not the majority language in any of these categories. Right at the outset, the uniqueness of the Catalan case must be stressed. Catalonia is an autonomous region in Spain that has developed an immigration policy of its own despite the political impediments that derive from the division of powers between national authorities and regional ones. The main public provider of Catalan language courses for adult migrants in Catalonia is the Consortium for Language Normalisation: 130,000 students in 2009, compared to 10,000 in the Centres of Adult Training.
