Schools have long been contested spaces for the regional languages of France. They are, as described by Blanchet (Reference Blanchet2022, p. 15), “le lieu principal […] où est cultivée, imposée, « justifiée » […] l’hégémonie d’une langue unique et d’une certaine norme de cette langue”. Paradoxically, schools are a historical tool of language suppression, yet a contemporary site of language transmission and object of language activism (Cole & Harguindéguy, Reference Cole and Harguindéguy2013). It is this “lieu stratégique des langues” which L’école et les langues dans les espaces en situation de partage linguistique investigates, presenting a historical overview of the shifting use of languages in education, predominantly in France (p. 9). The 23-chapter volume, edited by Jean-Luc Le Cam and Erwan Le Pipec, provides a historically contextualized approach to education in multilingual contexts. It is structured in five parts examining key themes: the shift from Latin to vernacular languages; the spread of French to new domains and locations; education policy and regional languages in France; language pedagogies; and the experiences of language speakers and policy actors. Given the space constraints of this review, selected chapters – predominantly those with a French or Francophone context – will be addressed in greater depth, and not all chapter titles and authors’ names will be listed.
The volume’s first section, “Du latin aux langues vernaculaires”, examines the slowly diminishing role of Latin from the time of Charlemagne until the abolition of Latin in sixième (the first year of French middle school) in 1968. Chapter 1 (by Coumert) explores the use of Latin and attempts at language planning in the école de Charlemagne. Coumert highlights the role of religion in the tension between vernacular and classical languages in this context, which is a prominent theme in the volume. Other chapters in this section examine the use of languages in education further afield – in Italy (chapter 2), Germany (chapter 3) and Czechia (chapter 4) – as well as a history of the teaching of Latin in French secondary schools (chapter 5).
Section two, “Frontières sociales et culturelles”, investigates the spread of French to new contexts, both close to l’Hexagone and further afield. For example, Chapter 7 (by Rjéoutski) provides an overview of the use of French by the Russian nobility in the 18th century – not an uncommon situation in other European countries at the time, but a relatively new phenomenon in Russia. Rjéoutski recounts how among the Russian nobility (a traditionally multilingual group whose language practices were distinct from other social classes), French rapidly surpassed German as the language of choice, before the growth of Russian took hold as part of a “prise de la conscience nationale” (p. 151). Other chapters in this section explore how French was maintained or spread through education, looking at border regions of France (chapters 8 and 9) and the role of international organizations in the spread of French (chapter 10), as well as investigating language teaching under the late Ancien Régime (chapter 6).
“Politiques scolaires et langues minoritaires en France”, the volume’s third section, addresses education policies and regional languages in France, with some historical and contemporary cases. For example, chapter 12 (by Duinat) examines the interactions between l’école républicaine and Basque speakers under the Third Republic. Duinat reveals the flexible attitudes of education officials – such as their tolerance of the use of Basque as a tool to aid French acquisition – while persevering with the enduring objective of making French the language of all French people (p. 217). In chapter 14 (by Coyos), an overview of Basque language education is provided, charting a brief history and exploring its role in language revitalization. Coyos argues that current public policy overvalues the role of the school and formal education, and that the future of any language – Basque or other – cannot be assured through formal education on its own (p. 234). Other chapters in this section explore how Breton missed out on becoming a language of education (chapter 11), and popular discourse around the loi Deixonne (the 1951 law which authorised a limited teaching of regional languages – chapter 13). Addressing diverse situations, these four chapters draw out findings – such as about the role of schools in language revitalisation, or common arguments against linguistic pluralism – which are in fact applicable to many of the world’s over 7,000 threatened languages, as recorded by UNESCO (2021).
Section four addresses “Méthodes d’enseignement des langues en contexte de partage”. Competing pedagogies under the Third Republic are explored in chapter 17 (by Alcibar), some of which attempted to support regional languages but did not ultimately win out against the dominant language policies of the state. Alcibar describes the fate of Félix Pécaut, an inspecteur in the Basque Country who experimented with support for regional languages, as “une victime collatérale de la politique linguistique de l’État” (p. 276). The chapter also traces the origins of the symbole, a method of punishment for children speaking a regional language which is further explored in chapter 18. Other chapters in the section investigate early Occitan teaching methods (chapter 19) and some examples of vernacular language teaching in Italy (chapters 15 and 16).
The volume’s final section is entitled “Au-delà des théories et des politiques : enquêtes sur les pratiques et les représentations” and makes extensive use of the testimonies of policy actors and language speakers. Through an analysis of public education reports from 1856, chapter 20 (by Bodé) provides an overview of the ways national education policy was interpreted and implemented at a local level. Documenting the different terms used to refer to local languages, Bodé concludes that the reports (written by local officials) show hints of a pragmatic approach to language management, avoiding the rhetoric of the revolutionary era (p. 317). Other chapters in this section examine the testimonies of Breton speakers during key periods of language shift (chapters 22 and 23), and language attitudes of high school students in Algeria (chapter 21). Drawing on the testimony of policy actors and language speakers, this final section enables a deeper understanding of language shift in France, and the ways in which policies may have differed from official rhetoric.
In her own book on language policy in France, Judge (Reference Judge2007, p. 9) describes the rise of French – victorious over Latin and the regional languages – as something which “did not happen in a haphazard way, but through a careful process of legislative and educational policies spread over five centuries”. It is these educational policies which this volume seeks to examine, presenting a contextualized, historical approach to languages in education in multilingual contexts. Over five logically-structured thematic sections, it investigates the displacement of Latin by French and other vernacular languages, the spread of French outside of France, the teaching of regional languages and pedagogical methods – among other topics. A key contribution of the work is firmly situating the book’s themes of languages and education in a historical context, examining the influence of events such as the Protestant Reformation and the Franco-Prussian War. Additionally, the volume demonstrates how language policies in France have often been implemented in diverse and asymmetrical ways in different locations. It highlights the stories of local education officials who attempted to challenge, even in small ways, dominant views on language. The chapters are diverse yet cohesive: they provide important and essential information for anyone interested in the historical evolution of the use of Latin, French and regional languages in education in France, while also addressing other contexts further afield (such as Germany, Russia and Algeria), which a prospective reader may be less familiar with but would nevertheless find fascinating – a key strength of the work.
