Multilingualism in Brussels: ‘I'd Rather Speak English’

Abstract

Language is both a divisive and a unifying force in Brussels. Historically predominantly Dutch-speaking, surrounded by the officially Dutch-speaking federal state of Flanders, located in a majority Dutch-speaking nation-state, and with the majority of its Belgian citizens Francophone, Brussels has officially been bilingual Dutch Á French since 1962. This paper reports the results of a survey undertaken to uncover the actual language usage and preferences in the Belgian capital. It shows that in a society where old divisions and sensitivities between French and Dutch speakers persist, English has emerged as the 'neutral third party'.

Language Maintenance and Shift in Highly Multilingual Ecologies

“…English, although not a (co-)official language, has also acquired relatively strong importance in Brussels, both as a global language and as a dominant lingua franca in international communication, particularly with NATO or the EU institutions housed in the city (Verlot and Delrue 2004). The long-standing competition between French and Dutch has been overshadowed by the rise of English as a supposedly "neutral" third language to bridge the communication gap between French and Dutch speakers (O'Donnell and Toebosch 2008), although in practice, English has already replaced Dutch as the second most spoken language in Brussels (Janssens 2018: 22). It is common for both French and Dutch speakers to have higher proficiency in English than in the other co-official language (Van Parijs 2007).…”

Bilingual Education in Flanders: Policy and Press Debate (1999–2006)

“…Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning here that English is sometimes considered a solution rather than a threat. O’Donnell and Toebosch (2008), for instance, noted that speakers of Dutch and French in Brussels seek salvation in English as the “neutral third party” (p. 154).…”

Language and globalization in Belgian corporate contexts : institutional, individual, and interactional perspectives

“…French and Dutch in light of the country's historical language struggle (Vandenbroucke, 2015, p. 175). Beyond the linguistic landscape, speakers of Dutch and of French have been found to prefer speaking English to the other official language, with an overwhelming 90% of Dutch-speakers who prefer to speak English rather than French (O'Donnell & Toebosch, 2008). In light of such findings, has argued that "the hegemony of monolingual territoriality does not apply to the presence of English" (p. 251), as the language ideological debate in Belgium is primarily focused on the historical language struggle between French and Dutch.…”