Most European nations have built their identity around a common language (Balibar & Wallerstein, XXX); school and grammar teaching played a central role in this process (Balibar, 1988). What about a nation like Switzerland concerning identity construction through mother tongue teaching in the specific context of Switzerland. Indeed, given the multilingual dimension of this country, Swiss identity cannot be based on language (Walter, 2010). Nonetheless, mother tongue plays an essential part in cultural identity construction. According to Knecht (1982/1985), the cultural identity of the people in the French-speaking part of Switzerland is closely linked to a strong attachment to the norm of French language. Switzerland and its different linguistic parts are thus a most interesting case to study the more general problem of the role grammar plays in constructing a cultural and a national identity. The present paper tries to shed some light on this problem in analyzing the teaching of grammar in French speaking Switzerland from a historical point of view, namely from 1840 to 1990.

-        Which aims are assigned to the teaching of French as first language, especially to grammar teaching in the specific Swiss context?

-        What is the relationship of this teaching to the question of cultural, regional and national identity?

-        Does this relationship change over time from the moment of the founding of Switzerland as a Confederation in 1848 to 1990?

-        More specifically: what grammatical norms are emphasized? What is the impact on the selection of grammar contents, compared to grammar teaching in France (Chervel, 1977 ; 2006)?

The example of Switzerland is, in our view, particularly interesting since it allows to observe on a microlevel the role of language in identity building and the complex interrelations between cultural, regional and national levels of identity. In this sense, it can be taken as a prototype to conceptualize more general processes that are going on the much larger level of the construction of an European identity.

The case of Switzerland allows to look also to a more specific problem in identity building through language. Since the nation is not only multilingual and multicultural, but  also multi-religious and characterized by strong contrasts between urban and rural regions, it developed a way of cohesion based on a strong local autonomy. Each canton – quite small entities between 100’000 to 1 million persons – has its own ministry of public instruction and therefore its own curriculum and its own schoolbooks, at least until the sixties. This allows to observe the influence of religion and social context on the  teaching, and more specifically, in our case, of grammar teaching. The variations of the function and functioning of grammar in this most heterogeneous context is another prototype allowing to study the influence of different factors on school contents and teaching methods.

In our presentation, we will concentrate on the aims assigned to grammar teaching and on the very general structure of grammar teaching in function of these aims.

Our analyses is based on a already quite elaborated periodization of teaching of French as first language (or mother tongue): a first period before the second part of 19^th century, before nation building, during which language teaching has no precise role in identity building; a second period when teaching of French became a central part of identity building until First World War; a third period during which New Education began to influence methods and contexts; and a forth period during which linguistics changed grammar teaching in a more international movement. Probably the aims of grammar teaching will change in function of these periods.

Balibar, E. & Wallerstein, I. (1991). Race, class and nation. London: Verso. Balibar, R. (1988). L'institution du français. Essai sur le colinguisme des Carolingiens à la République. Paris : Presses universitaires de France. Bronckart, J.-P, Perrenoud, P. & Schoeni, G. (1988). La langue est-elle gouvernable ? Normes et activités langagières. Neufchâtel : Delachaux & Niestlé. Chervel, A. (1977). … et il fallut apprendre à lire à tous les petits Français. Histoire de la grammaire scolaire. Paris: Payot. Charvel, A. (2006). Histoire de l'enseignement du français du XVIIe au XXe siècle. Paris: Retz. Balibar, R. (1974). Les français fictifs. Le rapport des styles littéraires au français national. Paris : Hachette Littérature. Knecht, P. (1985). La Suisse Romande. In R. Schläpfer (Ed.), La Suisse aux quatre langues (P. Knecht & C. Rubattel, trad.) (pp. 125-170). Genève: Editions Zoé. Walter, F. (2010). Histoire de la Suisse. La création de la Suisse moderne (1830-1930) (vol.4). Neuchâtel : Editions Alphil-Presses universitaires suisses.