Education and bilingualism on the French‐Dutch language boundary in Belgium

Abstract

This paper surveys the complex linguistic and social situation along the French‐Dutch language boundary in Belgium outside the Greater Brussels area. It is based on a series of interviews and a detailed questionnaire used with a selected group of senior secondary school students in seven towns on or very near the language boundary. The statistical analysis shows the limited extent of the bilingualism in this area and reveals the tenseness of the social attitudes both held and perceived by the students in the survey. A brief comparison is also made with the results of a similar survey by the author in Switzerland in 1979.