Acculturation orientations of immigrant students and their adaptation to a context of bilingualism in the Basque school

This study analyses the acculturation orientation of immigrant students and their adaptation to the Basque education system. For this, a three-dimensional perspective is adopted that takes into account the group of origin and the two linguistic-cultural groups of the host society. The results indicate that the main acculturation orientation is integration; however, two modalities appear, one oriented to monolingualism and the other to bilingualism. Both types of integration are related to good academic adaptation; however, the subjects with integration oriented to bilingualism show higher levels of social adaptation and greater linguistic identity with both languages and with both identities, the Spanish and the Basque. The results of this research support the idea that the study of acculturation in bilingual contexts such as Basque requires a three-dimensional approach, in which the group of origin and the linguistic groups of the host society, whether majority or minority, are considered. On the other hand, it is considered important to promote bilingual education among all students, including immigrants, to facilitate their adaptation and foster positive intergroup relations.