U.S. English Foundation Research

FRANCE

Language Research

2. Background: Background notes

Although ultimately a victor in World War I and World War II, France lost many men, much wealth, its extensive empire and its rank as a dominant nation state. France has struggled since 1958 –arguably with some success – to construct a presidential democracy resistant to the severe instabilities inherent in the parliamentary democracy of early 20th century France. In recent years, its reconciliation and cooperation with Germany have proved central to the economic integration of Europe, including the advent of the Euro in January of 1999.

Top of page

Updated (March 2003)

BRETON

Breton, or Brezhoneg, is an indigenous Celtic language spoken mainly in the West of Brittany, but also in the cities of the Eastern part, called Upper Brittany. Linguistically, Breton belongs to the same (Brythonic) branch of the Celtic languages, as Welsh and Cornish. Even though the languages have been isolated for more than thousand years and have been influenced in the last centuries by French and English, Welsh and Breton are still very similar. It is commonly agreed, that the Breton language is made up of four dialects: Kerneveg, Leoneg, Tregerieg and Gwenedeg. A modern unified form without a particular geographic basis evolved in the last fifty years.

At the beginning of World War I, in the Breton speaking parts of Brittany, some 900,000 people spoke only Breton, some 400,000 were bilingual and 50,000 did not speak Breton at all.

Recently the number of speakers has significantly decreased. Several factors have contributed to this decrease: 

• Social and economic developments: as people speaking Breton were very often farmers and fisherman living mainly in the rural areas, Breton was affected by the economic changes such as migration to the cities during the last 30 years.  

• The Breton language has always suffered from oppressive measures. The attitude of the French authorities has been very clear about this. In 1925, for example, the French Minister of Education declared: "For the linguistic unity of France, the Breton language must disappear."

• In 1972, Mr Georges Pompidou, then President of France, stated that there was no place for regional languages in France. 

• The exclusion of Breton from the media, administration and education caused that Breton is a threatened language at present. Although the official attitude has already changed and it is no longer politically acceptable to belittle regional languages, state representatives declare that now it is too late to save them.

Source: Mercator Education, Regional Dossiers, the Breton language in education in France

Top of page

Updated (June 2003)

OCCITAN

Occitan, or the Oc language, is a Romance language. It is spoken in seven regions (Provence-Côte d'Azur, Aquitaine, Auvergne, Dauphiné, Limousin, Languedoc-Roussillon, and Midi-Pyrénées) in the South of France. This area is inhabited by 15 million people. Occitan is subdivided into four main dialects: Languedocien, Provençal, Gascon and Northern Occitan.

From the 11th until 14th Centuries the Occitan language was a language of culture used by troubadours (minstrels). In the 16th Century, Occitan was banned from official documents; however, it remained the main language of communication until the beginning of the 20th Century. An intellectual elite continued to write Occitan.

Nowadays, the language is less and less spoken, particularly among young people. According to the last two surveys in the regions of Montpellier and Pau, out of the total population in this area, 55 percent do not know the language; 40 to 50 percent understand it; 25 percent can speak it; about 10 percent speak it daily or often; and 6 percent claim to be able to write Occitan.

Source: Mercator Education, Regional Dossiers, The Occitan language in education in France, 1996, http://www1.fa.knaw.nl/mercator/regionale_dossiers/regional_dossier_occitan_in_france.htm

Top of page

Updated (September 2008)

STATUS OF LANGUAGES IN EDUCATION

The French political system is based on a single unified state: it is a centralist structure. There is a will for cultural and linguistic uniformity within the state. To this day, France still refuses to ratify the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages (ECRML) as it is not in line with the French Constitution. They fear of jeopardizing the unity of the state.

Regional languages have no official status and no official recognition. Nevertheless, France has made a step forward when in July the clause “Regional languages are part of France's heritage” was added to the French Constitution under Article 75.

From the point of history, the idea of unity dates back to the French Revolution. The obligation to use French and the spread of the French language have been central to the building of France. The French language, associated with the republican movement, symbolized the unity of the country and the equality of its citizens. The development of the French language has taken place to the detriment of other languages.

The State has applied methods contrary to the linguistic, traditional, and cultural realities of the population. The substitution of the languages by the French language took place between the end of the 19th and the middle of the 20th century.

French, the language of the Republic, is the only official language in France; the other languages in France are designated “regional languages”, and in the majority of cases, the teaching of these languages is based on the goodwill and dedication of parents and teachers.

The Law of Orientation and Programme for the Future of the School¹, also known as the Fillon Law, has brought a significant change to the place granted to regional languages in the French school system. This Law modifies and replaces the Orientation Law on Education². Three articles of the education code concerning the treatment of regional languages have been promulgated after the abrogation of the Deixonne law (1951), such as the Savary circular (1982).

The Fillon Law makes possible to learn a regional language in an optional framework only. It is not possible to learn a regional language as a modern language at primary or secondary school. Regional languages are outside of the core common skills and are only taught as an option, in addition to the specified curriculum.

Furthermore, responsibility for the promotion of regional languages is within the competence of the region rather than the National Education. This Law affects the entire framework for regional language teaching at public and catholic schools. Although the Fillon Law of orientation has considerably affected the teaching of regional languages as an optional subject, it has not affected the bilingual education model. For the moment, there is a transitional situation because although the Law has been passed, the decrees of application have not yet been promulgated. For this reason, it is not yet possible to evaluate the effects of the new Education and lesser-used languages law on the education system. However, this new law is a climb down in the recognition of regional languages in the educative system in respect to their diffusion and valorization.

Source: Mercator Education, Regional Dossiers, The Basque Language in Education in France, 2nd edition, 2007 http://www1.fa.knaw.nl/mercator/regionale_dossiers/PDFs/basque_in_france2nd.pdf

^{1d'Orientation et de programme pour l'avenir de l'école" – Loi n°2005-380 du 23/04/2005}

^{2Loi d'orientation sur l'éducation" – n°89-486 du 10/07/1989) called "Loi d'orientation Jospin}

Top of page