The article is aimed at the analysis of the linguistic situation in Belgium mainly based on the examination of all criteria of two major parameters — quality and quantity. French and Dutch being the most spoken languages of the country, the primary emphasis is put on them. In the light of the ongoing linguistic conflict between the Flemish and Walloon regions, three scenarios are also presented. Finally, the article studies the link between language policy and education and closes with general conclusions.
Keywords: linguistic situation, linguistic policy, Belgium, quality parameters, quantity parameters, Flanders, Wallonia, education.
Данная статья посвящена анализу текущей языковой ситуации в Бельгии. Все критерии качественных и количественных признаков ЯС рассмотрены отдельно. Поскольку на территории Бельгии наиболее распространёнными являются французский и нидерландский языки, основное внимание уделено именно им. До сих пор языковой конфликт между валлонами и фламандцами не решён, и всё чаще встаёт вопрос о будущем Бельгии как единого государства. В статье излагаются возможные варианты развития событий. Помимо этого, в работе анализируется взаимоотношение между языковой политикой и сферой образования.
Ключевые слова : языковая ситуация, языковая политика, Бельгия, качественные параметры, количественные параметры, Фландрия, Валлония, образование.
Belgium as an independent state appeared on the map of Europe only in 1830. Today, in accordance with the Constitution of Belgium, the country consists of three Regions (“the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region and the Brussels Region” [1, p. 5]), of three Communities (“the Flemish Community, the French Community and the German-speaking Community” [1, p. 5]) and comprises four linguistic regions: “the Dutch-speaking region, the French-speaking region, the bilingual region of Brussels-Capital and the German-speaking region” [1, p. 5]. According to the latest statistics, around 60 % of Belgians speak Dutch, almost 40 % are francophones, and less than 1 percent are German speakers. In the early 19 th century, French predominated practically in all spheres of life: it was the only state language, it was the language of the bourgeoisie of Flanders and Wallonia, it was the language of education, judiciary, administration, etc. However, over the past two centuries, the linguistic situation in the country underwent drastic changes, and yet it is far from ideal and the issue of linguistic policy in Belgium still remains one of the most acute.
Current linguistic situation
In this article, we will shed the light on the current language situation in Belgium relying on the analysis of two interconnected groups of parameters, namely the quantity and quality ones. The quality parameters include 1) the linguistic nature of the language situation (one or several functioning idioms); 2) the degree of structural and genetic relationship between the idioms spoken in the territory under review; 3) functional equivalence/ nonequivalence of the most common idioms and their legal status; 4) the level of standardization of these idioms. The quantity parameters encompass: 1) the number of idioms functioning in Belgium; 2) the number of people using each widespread idiom (“demographic weight”); 3) the number of communication spheres where a particular idiom is used in relation to all spheres (“communicative power”); 4) the number of prevailing idioms.
Let us start by considering the quality parameters. In Belgium, three languages are official: French, Dutch, German. Yet, across the country, people also use other languages and dialects sometimes having tens or even hundreds of thousands of speakers, though some of these idioms are under the threat of extinction. Therefore, the language situation is multilingual. The most prevalent languages — French and Dutch — do not have a close kinship: French is a Romance language (the Indo-European family) and Dutch (it occupies a middle position between the High German dialects and the Anglo-Frisian languages) is Germanic as well as German. However, structurally all three languages are more similar: they are fusional — namely, analytic — according to the morphological typology. In terms of status, although Dutch, being the official language of Flanders and the second official language of Brussels, has gained a strong position in Belgium and is spoken by the majority of the population, it is still regarded as less prestigious. This is proved by the surveys, by the fact that in Wallonia the bulk of francophone parents choose English for their children to study at school and that in everyday communication in Brussels, Dutch is explicitly displaced by French. As for the linguistic norm, Belgian French does not differ significantly from Standard French: it is featured by the existence of certain archaic words and expressions and the use of borrowings from Dutch, Walloon, Picard. The Belgian Dutch literary norm will be touched upon later but it is to be noted that the language includes several dialects, among which East Flemish, West Flemish, Limburgish and Brabantian are the most popular. Belgian Dutch is distinct from Standard Dutch in relation to vocabulary and pronunciation.
As far as the quantity parameters are concerned, it is worthwhile to point out that the linguistic situation in Belgium is exoglossic: Dutch is spoken in all five provinces of Flanders (Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, East Flanders, Limburg, West Flanders) and in the capital, French is used in Wallonia (Hainaut, Liège, Luxembourg, Namur, Walloon Brabant) and Brussels, German is the official language of nine municipalities in Wallonia. The language situation is multicomponent, i.e. there exists a wide range of idioms: numerous dialects and other language variations. The demographic weight of both major languages is virtually the same: around 60 % of people speak Dutch and nearly 40 % — French; as for German, it is much less common: only 0.7 % of people use it (about 77 000 Belgians belong to the German-speaking Community). In all three regions, French and Dutch are characterized by almost equal communicative power, they are widely used in all spheres: administration, legal procedures, education, mass media, social services, etc. It is supported by law and corresponds to the principle of “linguistic federalism”. The German Community has noticeably fewer rights than the other two: German is spoken in all spheres but the Community cannot regulate the language use in social services, educational and administrative processes. At school, teaching is conducted in the Community language and the language of neighbours is compulsorily studied from the fourth grade. It is important to note that the Belgian linguistic policy does not focus on the promotion of bilingualism. Television and radio broadcasting are mainly in Dutch and French (it depends on the Community) but German and other idioms (English, Walloon, etc) are presented too.
Belgians’ position on the linguistic situation
In 2010, Belgian politician Didier Reynders decided to get the Dutch speakers’ opinion concerning the current linguistic situation in the country and the relationships with the French Community. One of the goals of the survey was to determine whether Flemings wish to live in a unified country or stand for its division. This idea was born from the political dispute dealing with bilingual area Brussels-Halle-Vilvoordeu including the capital and its 19 bilingual municipalities and 35 neighbouring Flemish municipalities. The problem, directly connected with the right of the locals to independently choose the election district they should belong to and consequently to vote for the Flemish or French party, has persisted since 1980. This longstanding conflict, originally on language grounds and now having a political nature, may lead to several consequences: 1) Belgium may be transformed into a confederation following the example of Switzerland or will remain a federation as nowadays, but without the language division; 2) Wallonia and Brussels may voluntary join France; 3) Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels may become three separate states (it is the most radical and improbable option). The scenario when Belgium remains a unified country is not rejected at all, too.
Linguistic situation and education
Education is of paramount importance for language propagation, thereby linguistic policies largely focus on this field, with university education having the topmost priority; yet, secondary and primary levels are also important. The sphere of education is, in a sense, an ideal arena for the realization of a particular language policy and it undoubtedly plays a crucial role in this process. That is why linguistic situation and education are tightly interconnected. From the very creation of Belgium as an autonomous state, the only language of education was French, which is rather obvious. For the first time, the Flemish called for teaching in Dutch in the 1850s — in the course of the Flemish Movement ( Vlaamse Beweging ) but their attempt to change the current state of affairs was too weak and yet half-hearted to be fruitful. However, in 1882 emerged the law under which Belgian Dutch was officially recognized as the language of secondary education in Flanders, with the only exception for theological education. The inferior status of Flemish was also directly linked to the economic backwardness of the Flemish region: whereas Wallonia was gradually developing its industry and was flourishing, Flanders was lagging behind the neighbour and Flemings did not even possess the knowledge and skills needed to advance their economy. The only possible explanation of such an unbalanced situation was the language factor. Thus, the Flemish Movement leaders concentrated on the Netherlandization of education which was not only aimed at boosting the Flemish economy and strengthening the Flemish status but also permitted to bring up the Dutch-speaking political elite and managerial personnel of Flanders, which in its turn could stimulate the Netherlandization of the whole region. At first, the emphasis was laid on the only state university of Flanders — Ghent University ( Universiteit Gent ), which was officially declared a Dutch-speaking university after World War I, in 1930. Two years later, Flemings finally received the opportunity to be taught in their language at the level of secondary education.
The industrial, economic and political development of Flanders started in the second half of the 20 th century, has borne fruit and slightly changed the opinion of the francophones in favour of studying Dutch. Yet, acquiring this language has been and is still more a necessity than a voluntary action based on cultural interest. Today, Flanders is a thriving economic region that offers more work and opportunities not only for Flemings but also for Walloons having to learn Dutch in order to obtain a well-paid job and to move up the career ladder.
At present, the positions of French and Dutch in Flanders and Wallonia respectively are not equal as far as secondary education is concerned. While Flemish students are obliged to study French as the first foreign language, the Walloon population has two options — Dutch and English — and for obvious reasons, people generally choose English. Furthermore, in Flanders, only English can be taught as the second foreign language whereas, in Wallonia, children are offered to study Dutch, English, Spanish and Italian. In fact, the law says that Dutch should be the first foreign language to be learned in Wallonia and the francophone schools of Brussels while French — in Flanders, in the Dutch-speaking schools of the capital, and in the German-speaking Community. However, the French Community has managed to interpret the law in such a way that English is also allowed to be the first foreign language, alongside Dutch. Recent surveys show that Belgian francophones still believe that Dutch is not a beautiful language and pupils and their parents are reluctant to choose it as the first foreign language, giving preference to English. The most common reason to study Dutch for French-speaking Belgians is its growing socioeconomic status across the whole country. According to statistics, 69 % of Flemings under the age of 40 have command of both major languages while only 21 % of Walloons are bilingual.
To sum, the Netherlandization of education has significantly contributed to the standardization and popularization of Dutch but unfortunately did not succeed to make it highly prestigious. The lack of interest in acquiring this language and its apparent inferior status in relation to French, despite the demographic and economic dominance of Flanders, clearly demonstrates that “the transformation of economic and political power relationships is not being accompanied by a transformation of the symbolic power relationship” [2, p. 33].
Summary
To bring the paper to a conclusion, it is noteworthy to point out that the linguistic situation in Belgium is not unique: there is a number of countries where several languages are spoken by the population such as Canada, Ireland, India, Switzerland, etc. And yet, the case of Belgium stands out from the rest not only because only one of two major languages — French — dominated in all the spheres for quite a long period of time and remains more prestigious than Dutch but also because the Belgian government implements quite a radical and severe linguistic policy backed up by heavy penalties. The linguistic situation in the country has considerably improved over time, especially owing to the Flemish Movement, the changes in the educational sphere, and the economic development of Flanders. But still, language is the apple of discord between Belgians: the language division hinders the nation to be unified, to be a single whole. It is difficult to foresee the future of Belgium now, but one thing is certain: the future of the country is in the hands of its people and particularly in the hands of those who lead the state and define its linguistic policy.
References:
- Belgian Constitution. 2007. 60 p.
- Philippe Hambye. Multilingualism and Minorization in Belgium: Odd Relationships with “Foreign” Languages. 2009. P. 29–46.
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- Пузевич Т. В. (2012). Языковая ситуация в Бельгии: к вопросу о социолингвистической типологии языков. 2012. С. 40–43.
