The development of educational policy positioning on multilingualism in the Federal Republic of Germany - Contradictory approaches towards ‘foreign’ and ‘heritage’ languages

Languages are subjects in schools. Schools offer opportunities to learn and develop languages beyond the dominant language of instruction. In Germany, the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK) defines the least common denominator in this regard. The article portrays the development of educational policy positioning on teaching of languages as subjects in Germany, using resolutions of the KMK and sketching current implementation in selected states. It is shown that while acknowledging multilingualism as a relevant feature of the population and appreciating it symbolically, teaching of languages as subjects is still dominated by a monolingual ideology. So far, school laws distinguish sharply between obligatory foreign languages relevant for school leaving certificates and heritage languages that can be developed voluntarily outside regular schedules with no or limited relevance. This begs the questions as to whether this divide is still adequate in a multilingual society.