Multilingualism and Diversity (MultiDiv) 2025

MultiDiv 2025

23^rdJune-11^thJuly 2025, Hybrid

MultiDiv is a specialised and highly intensive summer programme for students and academic/non-academic stakeholders interested in Multilingualism, Diversity and Social Justice pedagogy, policy and research from a Linguistics, Modern Languages and Translation Studies angle. MultiDiv is a unique hub which brings together senior academics as well as UG (undergraduate) /PG (postgraduate) research developed through the formal curriculum and relevant extracurricular activities. It takes the form of an intensive, three-week-long activity and involves workshops, data training and sessions on interpreting research for wider audiences, policy makers and the media most notably. In cross-university teams, students design and carry out an original research project on Multilingualism, typically from a Linguistic Landscape angle. Below, you can read about one of the projects our 2025 students completed, in the form of a blog post.

Aims

The linguistically diverse nature of contemporary societies is related to a range of complex phenomena in the areas of:

• language policy and practice
• language contact and change
• translation, interpreting and heritage learning
• public sector translation/interpretation
• translation and human rights

MultiDiv and MITN share a commitment to supporting student research and the development of early career researchers. MultiDiv includes all students, undergraduate and postgraduate, as equal participants and is keen to encourage and embed further undergraduate research in the curricula of the two institutions. It aims to become a global hub of excellence for the study of multilingualism and diversity.

Organisers

MultiDiv is led by the following academics as part of the EUTOPIA Alliance:

• Professor Jo AngouriLink opens in a new window (Warwick)
• Professor Ann PeetersLink opens in a new window (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium)
• Guest lecturers: Dr Helena WallLink opens in a new window, Dr Ayten AlibabaLink opens in a new window, Vincent Tse (Warwick)

Student Blog

Can you name the official languages of Belgium? While Dutch and French are widely known as the national languages, there is also a German-speaking minority tucked away in the East Cantons along the border with Germany. Their remarkable history and minority status raise questions about their role in the Belgian identity, which binds a patchwork of regional identities together. Our research explores how the linguistic landscapes of Belgian museums reflect the places of the official languages and their communities in the national identity. We compared the availability of languages on museum websites from all four language areas and zoomed in on the physical linguistic landscapes of two museums in the Belgian capital of Brussels.

What is the language situation in Belgium?

There are three regions and three linguistic/ political communities in Belgium, though the situation is not that clear-cut...

The regions have separate regional governments, responsible for their social and political affairs. One of such regions is Flanders, with Dutch as the official language and home to the Flemish Community.

Another is Wallonia, home to the French Community, with the official language of French. Also part of the Walloon region for regional affairs (Belgian House of Representatives, 2018) is the East Cantons. With German as the official language, the East Cantons is home to the German-speaking Community. It became part of Belgium in 1920, following the Treaty of Versailles, and was officially part of Wallonia until 1971. The Community chose to be called the German-speaking Community, not the German Community, to avoid associations with Germany after World War II. Meanwhile, Belgium was federalised in 1993 and established an official language border, granting cultural autonomy to the separate political entities (Dewulf, 2009). Though the Walloon region handles regional affairs, the German-speaking Community (like the French and Flemish) has freedom over their cultural and most educational matters.

The third is Brussels-Capital region. Brussels is bilingual, with the official languages of Dutch and French, and falls under the Flemish and French Communities. Cultural matters belong to either or both Communities, which is particularly relevant for our research on museums.

 

Figure 1: Map of Belgium with the linguistic regions

 

Why museums?

We decided to focus on museums because they construct national identity by selecting what to highlight or display (Zhang et al., 2018). From this perspective, they play a role in the cultural capital, which is the knowledge and skills needed to understand culture (Bourdieu, 1986). By determining what carries cultural significance, museums decide who cultivates culture and who has the cultural capital needed for cultural consumption (Newman & McLean, 2004).

It can also be said that federal museums specifically should foster associations with a national identity (Newman & McLean, 2004). Therefore, we examined the linguistic landscapes (the representations of language(s) in public spaces: Van Mensel et al., 2016) of Belgium’s museums because their inclusion of specific communities indicates the communities' status within the Belgian identity.

Our Research

First, we examined the virtual linguistic landscapes of museum websites, specifically their homepages. We chose museum websites because they are often the first point of contact for potential visitors due to their accessibility. We looked at which languages were available on each museum’s homepage, with a specific focus on German.

You can find the museum websites we examined in each region in Figure 7 in the appendix.

We then chose two museums in Brussels to determine if their physical linguistic landscapes aligned with their virtual linguistic landscapes, focusing on their inclusion/exclusion of German. We chose the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences because its website included Dutch, French, German, and English and the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium because its website included Dutch, French, and English.

 

Figure 2: Locations of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium

Our data collection methods are available in Figure 8 in the appendix.

Our Findings

Our examination of websites found that Dutch and French are well-represented in all four language areas, along with English. German was the least represented, especially in Brussels.

Figure 3: The percentage of the museum websites examined in the language areas that included each language

 

The Institute of Natural Sciences’ physical space aligned with their website. Dutch, French, German, and English were available throughout most of the museum. Dutch and French are required per Brussels’ language policy. As a federal institution, the museum decided to include German. As an international institution, the museum is required to include English. Dutch and French always occupied the first and second positions due to their status as official languages in Brussels. German and English always occupied the third and fourth positions. Dutch and French changed positions throughout the different exhibitions. German and English also followed this trend. The museum’s policy is to change the positions of French and Dutch every year in its permanent and temporary exhibits.

 

Figure 4: signage at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences which were consistent with the general trend

[Top Left: Living Planet Exhibition; Top Right: Dinosaur Gallery; Bottom: entrance of Gallery of Humankind]

 

The Mineral Hall and museum shop did not follow this trend of language inclusivity. Only French and Dutch were available throughout the Mineral Hall. This was the only exhibition that had not been updated in the museum’s two-decade renovation project (completed in 2020). In the museum shop, German was only included on the schedule posted on the door. French and Dutch were displayed, but English was the most displayed language throughout the shop.

Figure 5: signage at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences which were inconsistent with the general trend

[Left: museum shop schedule; Top right: sign in museum shop; Bottom right: sign in Mineral Hall]

 

The Fine Arts Museums’ physical space aligned with their website. French, Dutch, and English were consistently available throughout the museum. The first language on the art labels – Dutch or French – often corresponded with the exhibit. For example, the Magritte exhibit displayed French first while the Dutch Masters exhibit displayed Dutch first. However, French was primarily first on the rest of the art labels because, as the museum staff clarified in our later correspondence, many of the visitors are French speakers. English was always third on the art labels. English was the most prominent language in the hallways and museum shops. The museum explained that 65% of their visitors are foreign, hence the prominence of English. German was found in rare instances, but it always appeared with Dutch, French, and English; it did not appear on the art labels. Its exclusion was explained as being due to budget limitations and limited display space on the walls.

  

Figure 6: signage at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium

[Top left: Magritte Exhibit; Bottom left: Dutch Masters Exhibit; Centre: cloakroom; Top right: outside of museum shop; Centre right: inside museum shop; Bottom right: museum entrance hall]

 

So, what is the role of German in Brussels’ museums?

Within the museums and on their websites, the German language was not consistently present. After further research, we found both museums that we went to are members of the Open Museum initiative. This comprises 125+ museums in Brussels, aiming to ensure the 'inclusion, accessibility and participation of under-represented groups'. The initiative’s website calls Brussels’ museums a 'tool for people learning the national languages'. However, these intentions of inclusivity are not always practiced for the German language.

How does this compare to the other Belgian regions?

In the other regions, German is usually present – the museum websites typically had all three official languages. Technically, these regions only need to include their regional language but choose to go further to reflect the whole national identity. Brussels’ museums do not follow this trend – they do not consistently go beyond what their language policy requires (French and Dutch) to include the other national language (German) too.

But why?

One potential reason that Brussels includes German less surrounds the emphasis on English. Brussels has a large international population (Corijn et al. 2009), being popular among tourists and very globally connected (Derudder & Taylor, 2003). English is the lingua franca (the common language used by speakers of different languages) and the most widely used language for international tourism (Maci et al., 2018). Brussels’ museums may emphasise English, so tourists spend money and contribute to Belgium's economy. We saw this on signs in the museum shops, where English was prominently featured. With few German speakers in Brussels (Valasek, 1990) and a clear focus on English, museums may pay less attention to including German. As other regions receive less tourism (Statbel Datalab, 2024), their museums do not need to specifically emphasise English in the same way. Therefore, more attention is available for ensuring all national languages are present.

In Brussels, it may also be more important to consider how Dutch and French are presented. There has been much historical tension between these communities (Mettewie & Janssens, 2007). Until 1898, Belgium’s elite chose French as the only official language (Reuchamps, 2017), while most of the population spoke West-Germanic dialects similar to Dutch. When France lost its prestige in the late 1800s, the Flemish Movement aimed to establish Dutch as the only official language in Flanders. However, they lost national support when a group of activists sided with Germany to declare Flemish independence during World War I (Dewulf, 2009). With such a turbulent past, it is vital the two languages/ communities appear equal to avoid future conflict. This is especially true in Brussels: unlike the other, monolingual regions, Brussels must attend to how it’s two regional languages are balanced. We saw this as both museums intentionally alternated their order on the signs, to avoid one seeming dominant. In preventing conflict within its bilingual community, Brussels’ museums may fail to consider the third national language.

How does this reflect Belgium’s national identity?

The attention to French and Dutch’s presentation reflects Belgium’s historical struggles of power and autonomy (Dewulf, 2009) and issues with social cohesion (Husson et al., 2017). The museums are dedicated to portraying both communities as equal contributors to the national identity. However, German is not consistently considered. Unlike the other official linguistic communities, the cultural knowledge in these institutions cannot be accessed by the German-speaking population in their home language. They are underrepresented and presented as less central to the cultural capital and national identity.

What do we recommend?

• For research: Future research could be done to see how Belgian citizens perceive this linguistic underrepresentation, and the ideas of culture and national identity. The perspectives of the German-speaking and other Belgian communities could be gathered, to see whether these findings are seen as a problem of exclusion or necessary to ensure the communities’ individuality.
• For Brussels’ museums: We feel it is very important for the institutions to match their publicised intention to what they practice, presenting the inclusivity they commit to in the physical space. Improving the representation of the German language could help to foster a sense of equality and ensure all linguistic communities are portrayed as central to the national culture and identity.

 

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References

Belgian House of Representatives. (2018). The Belgian Constitution [English Translation]. https://www.dekamer.be/kvvcr/pdf_sections/publications/constitution/GrondwetUK.pdf

Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education (pp. 241–258). New York: Greenwood.

Corijn, E., Vandermotten, C., Decroly, J. M., & Swyngedouw, E. (2009). Brussels as an international city. Brussels Studies, 13. https://doi.org/10.4000/brussels.995

Derudder, B., & Taylor, P. J. (2003). The global capacity of Belgium’s major cities: Antwerp and Brussels compared. Belgeo. Revue belge de géographie, (4), 459-476. https://doi.org/10.4000/belgeo.16864

Dewulf, J. (2009). “O liebes Land”, “o Belgiens Erde”: The Development of the German-Speaking Community in Belgium Reflected in the Light of the Flemish Struggle for Autonomy. German Studies Review, 32(1), 65–81. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27668656

Husson, J., F., Mahieu, C., Sägesser, C. (2017). Federalism and Decentralisation in Belgium. In J. Ruano & M. Profiroiu (Eds.). The Palgrave Handbook of Decentralisation in Europe. (pp. 44–75) Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32437-1_3

Google Maps. (n.d.). [Locations of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium]. Retrieved July 16, 2025, fromhttps://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.8440895,4.3636285,15.01z?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDgwNi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Luminet, O., Licata, L., Klein, O., & Rosoux, V. (2011). Map of Belgium with the linguistic regions [online image]. Sage Journals. Retrieved July 16, 2025, from https://doi.org/10.1177/1750698011424027

Maci, S. M., Sala, M., & Vičič, Š. G. (2018). The language of tourism: an introduction to the topical issue. Scripta Manent, 12(1), 1-5 https://aisberg.unibg.it/retrieve/e40f7b87-e168-afca-e053-6605fe0aeaf2/ScriptaManent_Volume12_No_1%282018%29_The%20Language%20Of%20Tourism.pdf

Mettewie, L. & Janssens, R. (2006). Language Use and Language Attitudes in Brussels. In D. Lasagabaster & Á. Huguet Canalís (Eds.), Multilingualism in European Bilingual Contexts: Language Use and Attitudes (pp. 117-143). Bristol, Blue Ridge Summit: Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853599316-007

Newman, A., & McLean, F. (2004). Capital and the evaluation of the museum experience. Cultural Trends, 13(4), 9–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/0954896042000267161

Statbel Datalab (2024). Platform data in residential tourism. https://statbel.fgov.be/en/themes/datalab/platform-data-residential-tourism#:~:text=Brussels%2DCapital%20is%20the%20most,in%202023%20(%2D10%25).

Valasek, M. (1990). The" other language": Language planning in Belgium. Penn WPEL, 6(1), 85 - 107 https://repository.upenn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/a8f98b19-371d-4174-b7bd-87c4d00c5ff9/content

Van Mensel, L., Vandenbrouke, L. & Blackwood, R. (2016). Linguistic Landscapes in O. García, N. Flores, and M. Spotti (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Language and Society (pp. 423–450). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190212896.013.5

Zhang, C. X., Xiao, H., Morgan, N., & Ly, T. P. (2018). Politics of memories: Identity construction in museums. Annals of Tourism Research, 73, 116–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2018.09.011

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Appendix

Figure 7: the museum websites examined from each region

Brussels		Flanders		Wallonia		East Cantons
No German	German included	No German	German included	No German	German included	Museum Vieille Montagne, Schieferstollen & Blausteinmuseum, Ardenner Culture Boulevard, Museum für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Stadtmuseum Eupen, Töpfereimuseum, Malmundarium, Zwischen Venn und Schneifel, Reinhardstein, Reuland-Ouren
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Musical Instruments Museum, Horta Museum, Autoworld, Comic Figurines Museum, Sewer Museum, Brussels City Museum, Bozar Centre for Fine Arts, Military Museum, Halle Gate Museum, Banksy Museum, GardeRobe Manneken Pis, Art and History Museum	Royal Belgian Institute of National Science, Comic Art Museum, Atomium, Choco-story Brussels, Train world, Coudenberg Palace Museum, BELvue museum	Illusion Antwerpen, Historium Brugge	Gravensteen, Museum Plantin-Moretus, Atlantikwall Raversyde, Chocolate Nation, Museum aan de Stroom, Choco-Story Bruges, In Flanders Fields, Rubenshuis	Musée Hergé, Memorial Waterloo 1815, Maison Leffe, Le bois du Cazier	Bastogne War Museum, Fort Eben Emael, La Boverie, Aquarium-Muséum Liège, Grand Curtius, Wellington Museum

 

Figure 8: Data Collection

Method	Data	Action
Statistics	20 official museum websites in Brussels 10 official museum websites in Flanders 10 official museum websites in Wallonia 10 official museum websites in the East Cantons   *Number of websites adjusted from 20 to 10 after finding only 10 official museum websites in the East Cantons	Counted the number of languages on each website   Examined which languages were included
Observations	2-2.5 hours of data collection at each museum Photographed signs at museums: ·Museum exteriors ·Exhibitions ·Hallways ·Museum shops ·Restrooms	Examined the placement of languages on signs ·Number of languages available ·Order of languages
Correspondence	E-mails sent to museums post visit	Documented institutional language policies   Clarification of our observations in the museums