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Speaking the language of unity

Khaled Diab

Elio Di Rupo, the flamboyant chief of the Walloon Parti Socialiste, has called for a network of bilingual schools in Brussels and areas at the so-called ‘language frontiers’. Despite the dismissal of some Flemish politicians, his proposal makes both pedagogical and political sense. In fact, it should be applied across the country.

 

March 2007

 

Di Rupo believes that bilingual primary and secondary schools are important because: “If Flemings and Walloons want to remain one country, they have to understand each other.” And language is an important step towards promoting understanding.

 

Owing to the nature of the long and bitter language struggle in Belgium, schools in the country are taught primarily in the medium of one or the other of the country’s three official languages. Other languages are taught as second or foreign languages. However, the bilingual ‘immersion’ method requires both the two languages – here, Dutch and French – to be used as actual languages of instruction in order for pupils to develop a natural grasp of the languages.

 

Perhaps fearing a return to the old monolingual French education system, many Flemish politicians reacted negatively to the proposal. The VLD Open liberal party found the idea “unthinkable”, according to one of its politicians.

 

Some politicians couched their opposition in pedagogical concerns. “In our view, multilingualism stems from a good command of Dutch,” opined Khatleen Helsen of the Christian democratic CD&V. “Immerse linguistically weak children in multiple languages and you risk that they become zero-lingual,” according to Flemish Education Minster Frank Vandenbroucke of the socialist SP.A.

 

However, despite problems, bilingual education has scored major successes in countries like Switzerland and Canada. In addition, an experimental programme run by the Walloon community has produced positive results among the community which is traditionally the weakest at languages in Belgium.

 

If Flanders does not take on this idea and lets Wallonia pursue it alone, it risks not only national unity among the coming generations, but also the competitive edge its multilingual population currently enjoys.

 

Further reading

The language placebo

January 2005 – To hear some politicians speak, one would think that language and culture were the panacea for all Belgium’s social and economic woes vis-à-vis its immigrant community. Read on

 

A state of pragmatism

March 2004 – As one of the original six founders of the European Union, Belgium has been a powerful driving force behind the continent’s unification. However, after nearly 174 years of pragmatic nationhood, the marriage between its two main communities has become increasingly shaky. What are the prospects for enduring national unity and how much does it matter in a borderless Europe? Read on

 

Words without frontiers

January 2003 – Many parents are calling for immersion language learning to be made widespread in Belgium but a debate over pedagogy and politics stands in the way. Read on

 

 

ã2007 K. Diab. Unless otherwise stated, all the content on this website is the copyright of Khaled Diab.