Trilingual Primary Education in Aosta Valley

This chapter provides a comprehensive analysis of the trilingual primary education model implemented in the Aosta Valley, a multilingual region in Northwest Italy. Following the framework established by the European Mercator research network, the study outlines the educational context, inputs, processes, and outputs that characterize the regional school system. The Aosta Valley operates under a specific legal framework that guarantees the parity of Italian and French languages in education, alongside the promotion of English as a third language in primary schools. The authors investigate how time is allocated between the languages of instruction, the pedagogical approaches utilized by teachers to foster plurilingual competence, the training and language proficiency demands placed on staff, and the final learning outcomes achieved by primary school students. The findings highlight both the achievements in building sustainable additive multilingualism and the ongoing challenges in bridging the gap between primary and secondary educational levels.