The status of the French language in Flanders, Belgium

Abstract

This article aims to clarify the status of the French language in the northern Flemish-speaking region of Belgium—Flanders—from a microsociolinguistic perspective over the past five years (2020–2025). It focuses on the situation of the minority French-speaking community, which faces discrimination within the Flemish region. Francophones strive to preserve their cultural identity and the right to communicate in their native language in everyday life, and their efforts are supported by educational organizations. The article analyzes the causes and manifestations of language conflict using regulatory documents, statistics, official websites of organizations, media, and epilinguistic discourse. The theoretical basis for the study is the work of Russian and international specialists in the fields of sociolinguistics, language variety studies, conflict studies, and areal linguistics. The article concludes that the language conflict remains acute. The authors note the decline in the spread of French in the Flanders region, the lack of clear strategies for resolving existing linguistic contradictions, and emphasize the importance of further studying the conflict that may be inevitable in a multilingual environment.

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