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

Although Belgium is officially trilingual (Dutch, French, and German), its legislation does not allow for bilingual education (BE). Recently, concerns about the position of Dutch in the face of French and immigrant languages have politicized the issue in the bilingual capital of Brussels and the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders. Considering Belgium's linguistic and educational policies, the authors analyze the media coverage of BE in Flanders by looking at the region's major newspapers for the pivotal period 1999-2006. Their content-analytical approach reveals a fairly positive bias toward BE. Yet, Flemish newspapers also reflect a tendency described by Brisk (2005): the tension between the promotion of BE for the majority (i.e., native speakers of Dutch and French) and its rejection for minorities (i.e., immigrants). Nevertheless, the fear of "frenchification" remains prominent in articles on majority-language BE. The study therefore sheds light on the complexities of the BE public debate in Flanders and on current political developments in the field.