Editing Language policy in France (section)

== Opposition to language policy ==
[[Image:Col de Teghime et D81.jpg|thumb|This roadsign in Corsica has had the non-Corsican placenames defaced by [[National Front for the Liberation of Corsica|FLNC]] supporters. ]]
According to French republican ideology (see also [[Laïcité]]), all ''citizens'' are ultimately ''Frenchmen'' and therefore no minority ''groups'' (i.e. ethnolinguistic groups) may exercise extra rights; this is an idea stemming from the [[French Revolution]], contrasting with the previous situation in which many distinguishable groups had special rights and privileges in their regions.

This policy of cultural homogeneity has been challenged from both the right wing and the left wing. In the 1970s, nationalist or regionalist movements emerged in regions such as Brittany, Corsica and Occitania. Even though they remain a minority, networks of schools teaching France's regional languages have arisen, such as the [[Diwan (school)|Diwan]] in [[Brittany]], the [[Ikastola]] in the [[French Basque Country|Basque Country]], the [[Calandreta]] in [[Occitania]], and the [[La Bressola]] schools in [[Northern Catalonia]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Brant |first=Colin |title=Communication and Culture: The Role of Language Policy on Regional Minority Languages in the Reduction of Political Conflict |journal=Honors Program Theses |date=2020 |url=https://scholarship.rollins.edu/honors/104 |type=Honors Degree Program Senior Honors Project |institution=Rollins College |mode=cs1}}</ref>

Despite popular demand for official recognition, regional language teaching is not supported by the state.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Meet the French, strong supporters of regional languages |url=http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3077&Itemid=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109222240/http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3077&Itemid=1 |archive-date=9 November 2014 |access-date=13 July 2008 |website=Eurolang}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=June 2022}} However, in certain areas, such as Brittany, regional councils maintain bilingual public schools as far as it is within the law. Other Breton education is provided by [[Roman Catholic|Catholic]] schools and private schools, Dihun and [[Diwan (school)|Diwan]], respectively. In 2011, only 14,000 pupils were enrolled in French-Breton bilingual schools, although this number reflected an increase of around 30% from the year 2006, when the number of pupils was just over 11,000. The Ofis Publik ar Brezhoneg also reported in 2011 that a further 16,000 students from early childhood to adulthood were learning Breton as a second language (at primary schools, collèges, lycées, university or evening courses), bringing the total number of Breton learners to at least 30,000.<ref>[http://www.ofis-bzh.org/fr/enseignement/index.php Ofis Publik ar Brezhoneg - L'enseignment]</ref>

A long campaign of defacing road signs led to the first bilingual road signs in the 1980s. These are now increasingly common in Brittany, because of the help given by the [[Ofis ar Brezhoneg]] in bilingualizing many road, town hall and other official signs.

As far as the media are concerned, there is still little Breton to be found on the airwaves, although since 1982 a few Breton-speaking radio stations have been created on an associative basis. The launching of the Breton [[TV Breizh]] in 2000 was intended to offer wider coverage of Breton. However, Breton-language programme schedules gradually decreased in favour of French-language broadcasting, until in 2010 they totally disappeared.

In Corsica, the 1991 "Joxe Statute", in setting up the Collectivité Territoriale de Corse, also provided for the [[Corsican Assembly]], and charged it with developing a plan for the optional teaching of Corsu. At the primary school level Corsu is taught up to a fixed number of hours per week (three in the year 2000) and is a voluntary subject at the secondary school level,<ref>(French) [http://www.ac-corse.fr/lcc_20/file/1890/ Dispositif académique d’enseignement de la langue corse dans le premier degré, année scolaire 2010-2011], Academy of Corsica</ref> but is required at the [[University of Corsica Pascal Paoli|University of Corsica]].

There is some opposition to the [[Loi Toubon]] mandating the use of French (or at least a translation into French) in commercial advertising and packaging, as well as in some other contexts.