Language policies and attitudes towards Frisian in the Netherlands

Abstract

This paper reports on an investigation into covertly and overtly held attitudes towards the minority language Frisian in the Netherlands. A large scale matched-guise investigation was held in five locations throughout the Netherlands, including the province of Fryslân, where Frisian enjoys an official status in education and government and top-down language policy encourages usage of the minority language. The project reported upon is the first language attitude investigation to be held in a broad population group since large scale language planning and policy changes have taken place in the province. The outcomes from the attitude investigation are viewed in light of these language planning and policy changes. Our analysis indicates that the top-down language planning concerned with Frisian over the last 20 years has not brought with it more positive attitudes towards the language. These findings have implications for language planners who hope to increase the status of minority languages in Fryslân and elsewhere.