THE FRENCH

L ANGUAGE
WORLDWIDE
Overview 2022

2022
Edition

Gallimard / International Organization of La Francophonie

TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE

TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE

can say “its center is everywhere and its circumference
nowhere”, paraphrasing the old medieval image.

Polymorphic and polycentric, La Francophonie is at one

Preface 3 PART 2 with the plural of the world. Its credo is that a plural
world is not only a fact but a value that must give it
Foreword 4 Language policies and
direction. La Francophonie is therefore the continuous
teaching (in) French worldwide promotion of linguistic pluralism and its virtues, in the
world and within it. Among these, first of all, the ability
PART 1 to think from language to language, which is also the
Presence and uses of French French as a language of schooling 20 ability to decentralize and open up.

Language Worldwide French as a foreign language 21

This is why this report insists on "the danger of
unilingualism" in general, within institutions and
international relations in particular. It is not a question of
Enumeration and geographic PART 3 daunting or imposing on oneself a language that would
distribution of Francophones 6 French language, culture and be more "universal" than the others, but then again of
The following report is not so much a description of understanding that in a multicultural world and idioms,
A polycentric view of French 10 digital world
the state of the French language as it is a presentation, a which are as many faces of humanity, it is at the end of
French language and multilingualism snapshot of the Francophone movement in the world. It the encounter of languages, of their dialogue which can
opens with this observation: "We are born less and less be difficult, of their setting in relation which certainly
in international organizations 13 The place of French on the Web 26
Francophone, but we become more and more so". does not go without misunderstandings, that is found
LFrancophonie cultural content the common, the universal that it is necessary to achieve
La Francophonie, as the report says, is future, variations, together. Which can only be, according the philosopher
online: stakes and challenges of
polycentrism. In a nutshell, it reflects a multifaceted Maurice Merleau-Ponty, "lateral" or "horizontal" and not
discoverability 28 aspect of the world. "of overhang".

Books and French-speaking authors3 1

La Francophonie represents the future, as it draws its Out of this necessarily multilingual (multi)lateralism, La
energy from the demographics of an African continent Francophonie is the herald and the manifestation.
that, like La Francophonie, is moving towards its
youth. The French language is therefore more than
ever the language of Africa, of its schools, of its literary
production, of its research, of its thoughts. It also knows
how to become the lingua franca of its streets, of its
markets, of its ever more rapidly growing cities.

The French-speaking world welcomes, again and again,

the variations and varieties that continuously occur in the Souleymane Bachir Diagne
abundance of cultures that it gathers around the language Columbia University
they share. It thus composes a living circle of which we

3
FRENCH LANGUAGE WORLDWIDE

FOREWORD PART 1
This 5th edition of The French Language Worldwide drops us are completed by a more comprehensive analysis of the levers
into the heart of the different francophonies that have been that favor plurilingualism in the educational systems. It is also
born and flourished as the French language has travelled for an opportunity to take stock of the various activities supported
several centuries. With 321 million speakers, the French by La Francophonie to help the more than 93 million

PRESENCE
language remains the 5th most spoken language in the world students who have French as one of their schooling languages.
(after English, Chinese, Hindi and Spanish).
As a foreign language, French is the second most learned lan-
Through a series of surveys and analyses based on academic guage in the world by more than 50 million people. Promot-
research, documentation and statistical analyses of demo- ing the advantages of French training for professional use
linguistic developments, interviews and testimonies, the book makes it possible to go beyond the traditional image of an

AND USES OF
gives an account of the presence and use of French in the great academic or elitist language towards a function favorable to
diversity of sociolinguistic contexts in which it evolves. employability, professional and student mobility. We shall
also notice that the demand for French is important and that
It is permeated by the fact that the majority of French speakers the number of its learners is growing significantly in certain
and children learning French for the first time reside on the parts of the world (Africa, America, Asia), even if the regres-
African continent. sion observed in Europe is weighing and leading to a global

THE FRENCH
stagnation.
To understand this, we are invited to explore the "francophone
galaxy" in the first part of the book, which reveals the number The third part begins with an update of figures for the pres-
and distribution of francophones in the world, but which ence of the French language on the Internet, which confirms
above all describes the reality of the uses and levels of its 4th position (after English, Spanish and Arabic), while
appropriation of this language that millions of speakers use, proposing an original approach highlighting the notion of

LANGUAGE
modify and enrich every day in contact with other realities "cyber globalization of languages" that shows the extent to
and other languages. The presentation of the results of a year- which English and French are detached from other languages.
long field survey in ten countries in sub-Saharan region and
the Indian Ocean allows us to address the issue of French Next comes an unprecedented review of the new question of
varieties in depth and without taboos. the "discoverability" of online cultural content, which
confirms – if needed – the importance of the issues related to
Among the many stakes related to the global nature of the the digital transition and the questions raised by the

IN THE WORLD
French language and the diversity of its contexts of use, we "platformization" of the cultural sectors, particularly the
were particularly interested in examining the question of audiovisual and music sectors. At the same time, by reporting
multilingualism in international organizations. In particular, on the 1st World Congress of French-speaking writers, held in
we have considered the impact of the "watch, alert and action 2021 and on the General Assembly of French-language books
mechanism" initiated in 2020 by the Secretary General of La in the world, we are reminding ourselves of the extent to
Francophonie, Mrs. Louise Mushikiwabo, who declared in which the French-speaking book and reading space reveals
an interview she gave us, that “Multilingualism, an essential both the richness of cultural universes and the imbalances
condition of multilateralism, is a common asset and a value to that still need to be corrected.
be defended”.

The second part of the book is a coalmine of accurate Alexandre Wolff

information on the situation of learning French in nearly 160 Head of the French Language Observatory
countries. Measuring global evolutions and presenting
progress and setbacks, monographs devoted to each territory

4
PRESENCE AND USES OF FRENCH LANGUAGE WORLDWIDE

The increase in the number of French speakers in Africa has have chosen to distinguish between La Francophonie of Distribution of daily French speakers (2022) Is growth slowing down?
been a constant for several years, and the distribution of everyday life (within the planet "Born and/or living in By country, it is important to note first of all that, whatever
French speakers has changed profoundly, as have the uses French") and La Francophonie that expresses itself in comments we will present below, the increase in the
14,6 % Maghreb-PO
of this language in the essentially multilingual contexts environments where French is exclusively a foreign language 31,2 % number of Francophones in Sub-Saharan region and in the
that characterize the African continent. The modes of (cf. graph "The Francophone galaxy in 2022"). The 36 Sub-Saharan Indian Ocean is always at least equal to that of the total
region
acquisition of the French language passing through countries4 concerned, in addition to the fact that they alone population over the same period.
essentially formal learning processes (but not exclusively), concentrate nearly 80% of the world's French speakers, 0,3 % Indian Ocean
the practice of French, more or less intense according to the constitute a decisive group for the future of the French 47,4 % Americas-Caribbean Nevertheless, if we take a global view, we can see that all
6,6 %
countries concerned, is added to that of one or several other language. Certainly, the importance of the dynamics linked Europe the continents of the planet "born and/or living in French"
languages in less formal contexts, for instance outside the to the learning of French as a foreign language is indisputable are marking time in the progression of the number of
school environment or official institutions. In addition, and its inflections say a lot about the capacity of the French French speakers. The growth is indeed still less strong than
these new speakers, for whom French was not their first language to remain attractive and useful in a world where the one recorded during our last estimate. The difference is
language, in most cases, do appropriate it on the basis of plurilingualism is progressing. Nevertheless, as the statistics 1 percentage point in Europe and Oceania, 2 points in the
other linguistic skills. This multiplies the opportunities for and studies we have been collecting for more than 10 years By gaining 2.5 percentage points compared to 2018, the Americas and in Sub-Saharan region-Indian Ocean, but 10
interaction between French and national languages, the show, the future of the French language is being played out African continent confirms both its central place in the daily points in the Maghreb-Middle East.
result of which takes various forms: creation of new words, on the African continent. Francophonie and the dynamics that distinguish it from
transposition into French of expressions or forms from other spaces. An indicator that is perhaps less sensitive to the vagaries of
other languages, emergence of languages different from If we refine our observation a little, we can see that this the calculations we make every four years - and undoubtedly
standard French... As Richard Marcoux, the director of the African dynamic is mainly due to Sub-Saharan countries more important when we want to take a step back and
The Francophonie "Galaxy" 2022
ODSEF1, says, “we are born less and less Francophone, but representing more than 80% of the Francophone growth in consider the question over a longer term - is to be found in
we become more and more so”. this space. In these countries, with a few exceptions, growth the changes that have occurred in the percentage of the
rates are indeed much higher than in the others. While the population considered to be French-speaking 6 in each of
ENUMERATION AND GEOGRAPHIC 21 %
Another planet number of daily French speakers grew by 8% between 2018 the countries of this planet "Born and/or living in French".
DISTRIBUTION OF FRANCOPHONES Born and/or live and 2022, it jumped by more than 15% in Sub-Saharan
in French region and Indian Ocean (SS-IO). Thus, no country in the African space has experienced a
With an estimated 321 million French speakers worldwide 2
significant change in the percentage of its French-speaking
in 2022, the French language remains in the group of the 5 79 % Regarding this positive development, two things should population in relation to its total population. Since 2010,
most spoken languages on a global scale (after English, nevertheless be noted: the increase is everywhere slightly we find the same countries in the same sections, mostly
Chinese, Hindi and Spanish3). In four years, 21 million more lower than that seen between 2014 and 2018 and it covers below 50%, with the exception of 5 or 6 countries that had
people speak French, an increase of 7% since 2018. The clear disparities between countries. already exceeded this threshold or were very close to it. This
growth that has been observed for several years now is could be seen as what futurists call a weak sign,
continuing at a good pace, even if a slight slowdown is to be foreshadowing a less optimistic scenario than the one used
noted. Indeed, on the same perimeter, the number of French In fact, not only is the growth in the number of Francophones in the excellent forecasts (see p. 10) made by our partner at
speakers had grown by nearly 10% between 2014 and 2018. on the planet "Born and/or living in French" slightly higher Daily speakers of French - Growth between 2018 and 2022 Laval University (the Demographic and Statistical
than that recorded for the world as a whole (+1 point5), but it Observatory of the Francophone Area, ODSEF).
Europe
As our readers have become accustomed, our reflections take also represents 95% of the observed increase. Thus, more
into account the various contexts in which the French than 19 million of the "new Francophones" live in this area, Oceania

language flourishes. For reasons that are both methodological whose main component is African. America
and pragmatic, and that avoid losing touch with reality, we
Sub-Saharan
region and

4 Maghreb and
1 Algeria, Andorra, Belgium (including the Wallonia-Brussels federation), Benin, Middle East
Demographic and Statistical Observatory of the French-speaking world of Laval Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada (including Canada-New Brunswick,
University in Quebec. Canada-Ontario and Canada-Quebec), Comoros, Congo, DRC, Côte d'Ivoire,
2 0% 5% 10 % 15 % 20 %
For details of the calculations, see the research note Richard MARCOUX, Laurent Djibouti, France (and its overseas territories), Gabon, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea,
RICHARD and Alexandre WOLFF. Estimation of Francophone populations in the Haiti, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Monaco,
world in 2022. Sources and methodological approaches. Québec, 2022, Demographic Morocco, Niger, Central African Rep., Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland,
and Statistical Observatory of the French-speaking world of Laval University (ODSEF). Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Vanuatu
Voir QR Code. 5
This is actually a little higher, but the downward revision (compared to 2018) of the
3 6
Estimates of the number of speakers of other languages come from the total population of some territories where French speakers weigh more than 80% Here again, it would be risky to present percentage changes by country, between 2010
book Ethnologue, Languages of the World. 23rd edition, 2020 cited by (Wallonia-Brussels Federation, Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Polynesia and Wallis and 2022 for instance, without multiplying the warnings concerning the changes in the
Wikipedia. & Futuna) has mathematically slowed it down. sources used and the long technical explanations on the effects of demographic
structures. We therefore choose the overall view.

6 7
PRESENCE AND USES OF FRENCH LANGUAGE WORLDWIDE

FRANCOPHONE DENSITY
WORLDWIDE IN 2022
Canada
(total)

Estonie
Lettonie
Danemark Lituanie
Royaume-
Canada Uni
Territoires Irlande Pays-Bas Pologne
du Nord- Canada Allemagne
Ouest Nunavut Belgique
Canada Fédération Luxembourg Rép. tchèque Ukraine
Yukon Suède Wallonie- Slovaquie
Norvège Finlande Bruxelles Autriche Moldavie
Canada France Suisse Hongrie
Alberta Canada Russie Slovénie
Manitoba Canada—Terre- Roumanie
Canada Neuve-et-Labrador Italie Croatie Serbie
Saskatchewan Canada Bosnie-H. Percentage of
Canada Québec Kosovo Bulgarie
Ontario Monaco Monténégro francophones
Canada Andorre Macédoine du Nord
Colombie- Albanie per country
Britannique Espagne
St-Pierre-et-Miquelon Grèce
Portugal 0%
États-Unis Canada—Île-du-Prince-Édouard
Géorgie
Canada Canada
États-Unis Nouvelle-Écosse Arménie Malte 5%
Nouveau-
Louisiane Brunswick
Tunisie Chypre Liban
Maroc 18 %
Israël
Rép. Algérie Qatar
domini- Égypte 26 %
Mexique caine
Émirats
Saint-Martin (FR) Mauritanie arabes Laos
Saint-Barthélémy Cabo Verde Mali Niger Tchad unis 65 %
Porto Guadeloupe Sénégal Thaïlande
Haïti Vietnam
Rico Dominique Gambie Burkina Faso
Martinique Djibouti Cambodge 100 %
Guinée Bissau
Costa Sainte-Lucie Centrafrique
Rica Guyane Guinée Cameroun
Colombie Unavailable
française Côte d’Ivoire Bénin Rép. dém.
Ghana Togo du Congo data
Rwanda
Sao Tomé-et-Principe Congo Burundi Seychelles
Guinée Gabon
Équatoriale Comores Wallis-et-
Futuna
Mayotte Madagascar Vanuatu
Maurice
Mozambique Polynésie
Paraguay française
Réunion
Nouvelle-
Calédonie

Uruguay

8 9
PRESENCE AND USES OF FRENCH LANGUAGE WORLDWIDE

Number of Francophones in the world - ODSEF students, on average, have not reached a "sufficient" level in A very high level of French-speaking people throughout the region, particularly in Central Africa and
forecasts
language. Similarly, at the end of the school year, in the Maghreb countries*.
800 000

700 000
reading, more than half of the students (52.1%) are below
600 000 the "sufficient" level of competence. The PASEC2019 In all 15 countries, 77% of the population aged 15 and over is French-speaking,
500 000 report notes that the results are, on average, better than including 48% of whom speaks at a proficient level.
400 000
those observed during the previous evaluation in 2014,
300 000
even if some countries are stagnating or even regressing. 90 % 89 %
200 000 87 % 86 % 84 %
78 % 78 % 82 %
100 000
73 %
0 Sociolinguistic realities reveal some common features, but 64 % 67 % 65 %
2015 2030 2050 2070 62 %
they are also often different from one country to another. 58 % 57 % 68 %
Low assumption High assumption
This is particularly true for the use of French, which 61 % 60 % 57 %
varies significantly, depending on the place occupied by 48 % 49 %
39 % 43 % 39 % 38 % 38 %
a widely shared national language (see the graph "Level of 34 % 32 %
28 % 30 %
We know that small variations are not necessarily revealing, Francophonie" below), but also according to urban
but we can nevertheless venture to make a general dynamics.
proposition.

Burkina Faso

Côte d’Ivoire

Mali

Senegal

Togo

Cameroon

Central
African Rep.

Congo

Gabon

DRC

Mauritania

Rwanda

Algeria

Morocco

Tunisia
In the first place, and whatever the methodological A POLYCENTRIC VISION
precautions taken, it does not seem possible to conclude OF FRENCH
that these countries have deepened their Francophone
roots. The French language maintains its presence, but it The latest Kantar Institute surveys, whose results were
does not seem to be widening its lead. If, in the long term, exploited by us, covering cities in 15 countries10, took place
the share of French speakers is undeniably growing, we during the second quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of *Results only concern main or secondary cities
Fully French speaking proficient Francophonie of the mentioned countries.
must note that it seems to have reached a sort of threshold, 2021. They reveal a significant but variable knowledge of
albeit rather quickly (in about twenty years). Starting from French in all the countries in the sample. The majority of
a very low base, because, it should be remembered, the the population declares itself to be French-speaking:
colonial period contributed very little to the spread of the between 57% (in Senegalese cities) and up to 90% (in Thus, residents of Gabonese and Moroccan cities show a clear numerous to master the French language than their elders.
French language among the population, the level of French- Congolese cities), but the real proficiency of French increase in the "proficient Francophonie" as well as in the With the exception of Mali, Rwanda and Togo, and to a
speaking people has increased spectacularly, thanks to the concerns a smaller number of people. According to an total number of Francophones. The "proficient Francophonie" lesser extent Congo and the DRC, the proportion of young
school. With the progress of schooling, it has continued to indicator established by Kantar defining a "proficient is also up sharply in the Ivorian cities, while the level of urban dwellers who master the French language is much
rise slowly yet. This confirms our repeated warnings since Francophonie", the range extends from 28% (Burkinabe general Francophonie does not change. Malian and Tunisian higher than that of other age groups. The average gap is 6
2010 concerning the conditions necessary for the future of cities) to 68% (Algerian cities). cities also show an increase in the number of people declaring points, but in some cases (4 countries) it is 10 or 20 points!
La Francophonie on the African continent. themselves to be French-speaking between 2010/2011 and This is of course a guarantee for the future of French, which
From the point of view of evolution, we can note a relative 2020/2021 (respectively +17 and +18 points). On the other we have already noted in other studies that showed a greater
As a conclusion, it appears that the challenges to be stability in the levels of Francophonie declared by the hand, while the overall proportion of francophones is stable use of French by the younger generations.
addressed in terms of quality education in French are more populations. Since the oldest surveys in our possession date in DRC cities, the proportion of speakers with the best
urgent than ever. In this regard, the latest results of the back to 2008, a certain amount of hindsight allows us to command of the French language falls by 7 points between In addition to their relative youth, the majority of urban
PASEC7 study on 14 countries8 member of the Conference make some observations. If a majority of the countries 2009 and 2020/2021. Senegalese cities show an opposite Francophones are people who have had a minimum of
of Ministers of Education of the States and Governments of concerned do not seem to have undergone any significant trend, with the number of confirmed Francophones education (at least primary, but especially secondary and
La Francophonie (CONFEMEN) are not very reassuring. change, either in the total number of declared Francophones remaining stable, but the total number of Francophones higher education) and are in the more affluent categories of
Indeed, at the beginning of the cycle9, more than 55% of or in the number of people considered as having a "proficient decreasing (-5 points between 2009 and 2020/2021). the population. This reflects the importance of schooling,
French language", we can note some particular cases. access to which is in part conditioned by income level,
7
PASEC2019. Quality of Education Systems in Francophone Sub-Saharan A profile dominated by young people which in turn is linked to the individual's social status, and
Africa. Performance and teaching-learning environment in primary educa-
tion. Voir QR code.
The majority of Francophones in sub-Saharan region and thus to his or her social interactions, cultural consumption,
8
Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, the Maghreb are in the 15-24 age group. This reveals a and professional environment, all of which are more or less
Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Madagascar, Niger, 10
Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania, Central African Republic, Togo,
Senegal, and Togo. Rwanda, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, DRC, Gabon, Mali, Burkina Faso, strong growth potential for La Francophonie. Indeed, conducive to the frequency and quality of use of French.
9
Assessments cover primary education only. Congo results show that these young people are relatively more

10 11
PRESENCE AND USES OF FRENCH LANGUAGE WORLDWIDE

A recognized place for the French language  All Francophones in these territories are considered to be the legitimate property of all its speakers, priority to so-called "standard" French in their classroom
These links between proficiency of the French language multilingual and their first language is rarely whether they live in Paris, Dakar or Kinshasa. On the basis practice, while occasionally resorting to different forms of
and the opportunities it allows to seize are perfectly French; of a documentary review, questionnaires, interviews and French (as well as to national languages) insofar as they
expressed in the answers concerning the importance of this  The acquisition of the French language direct classroom observations, researchers' work has made it promote interaction and the acquisition of the knowledge to
language in relation to various subjects. Thus, French is requires efforts and its knowledge, without possible to identify a few trends. be transmitted. At the same time, they have serious doubts
very often unanimously appreciated for its ability to: speaking about a complete proficiency, is about the validity, and especially the relevance, in terms of
shared only by a part of the populations; French language is perceived, by its non-native speakers, results, of the use of varieties of French for student success.
• Getting a job (between 67% and 97% of opinions)  The official status of French and its quality essentially as a functional tool, in a relationship marked by There is obviously a subject to be seized in order to support
• Studying (between 68% and 98%) as a schooling language do not in themselves pragmatism and utility. This is also the case for national teachers, where the need exists, by identifying "good
• Getting information (between 49% and 98%) guarantee a generalized dissemination, neither languages, whose uses and accompanying declarations only practices" that would no longer be "taboo", provided that
• Doing research on the Internet (between 53% and 97%) of its proficiency, nor of its use; marginally reveal a militant approach. It is also interesting they guarantee quality teaching...
• Accessing other cultures (between 55% and 96%).  This unique place (without comparison with to note that, although present in the minds of speakers,
other foreign languages or other transnational historical origin of the arrival of the French language on the FRENCH LANGUAGE AND
French, a second language or even national languages) occupied by this African continent and in the Indian Ocean (colonization), MULTILINGUALISM IN
Measurement of the use of French by context is done language within societies qualifies it as an gives rise to very few expressions of hostility towards it. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
through questions asked to classify the languages used at African language, owned by its speakers; and Even if its compulsory, even "imposed" character can be
home and at work by distinguishing the one whose use is  Certain markers of its lasting establishment noted, the reservations it could generate would be expressed The danger of monolingualism
the most frequent (main language) and the others, in order and its potential progression (youth of its against national policies, which, sixty years after Reports from both the international organizations
of importance. speakers, proven presence in homes and independence, seems quite logical. This does not mean, themselves and external observers all agree in deploring the
economic activities) deserve particular however, that citizens do not perceive the interest for the drift in language practices towards a lack of respect for
At work attention. French-speaking countries of the North, and particularly multilingualism. Significant imbalances are reported in
French is present in all cases. It is even in first place ("main for France, to maintain and increase the presence of the favor of English to the detriment of the other official or
language") in the cities of Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, French language at an international scale. However, they working languages in all the work of these organizations,
Congo, Gabon (where it is even the only language cited) Sociolinguistic variations of French insist above all on the leverage that mastery of this language and in particular, in the recruitment process, in external
and the DRC. In all other countries, with the exception of Another question, at the crossroads of modes of acquisition, represents. Finally, the very frequent recourse to French, communication and in calls for tenders or projects.
Burkina Faso (where Mooré and Dioula are more widely uses and knowledge of French and other languages, merits a which seems to be confirmed, does not diminish the
used) and Rwanda (after Kinyarwanda and English), more detailed approach. The reader will also be able to multilingual practices that are indisputably a characteristic United Nations’ Secretary General latest report on
French is the second most commonly used language at benefit from the results of a recent survey conducted in ten of the francophone sociolinguistic contexts of the South. multilingualism highlights the recurrent difficulties of
work in the cities. African countries11, highlighting the observations made some of these structures to implement multilingualism.
concerning the varied uses of French. The interview given to The challenge for the promoters of the French language, English remains the language of choice at the UN both for
At home us by Professor Bernard Cerquiglini, linguist and president including the institutional Francophonie, would therefore recruitment - 98.7% of job offers require knowledge of
The frequency of use of French in the home is still lower of the scientific committee of the Dictionary of French be linked to their capacity to support and value English, while French has seen a 1.2 point decrease since
than in the workplace - sometimes even disappearing, as in Speakers (DDF12), shows the extent to which this issue has plurilingualism while promoting the usefulness of French. 2017 (to 10.4%) - and in internal communication: 98% of
the cities of Senegal and Mauritania - but its position in the become a major concern. the content of the intranet sites of Secretariat entities is
language hierarchy remains relatively stable. French is even As for the varieties of French, they are not denied, but they available in English (a 23 point increase since 2018),
in first place in the urban areas of Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, The Observatory of the French language initiated this first do not seem to be claimed either. In the end, few speakers compared to 16% in French.
Congo and Gabon. In the cities of several countries, it is the exploratory study 13on the issue of the sociolinguistic acknowledge their use for themselves, whereas they readily
second most used language: Algeria, Mali, Central African variation of French, the perception of its speakers and the attest to their presence and use in general. In addition to The Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) of the UN system14 points
Republic, DRC and Togo. Finally, in Morocco, Tunisia and uses made of it, particularly in the educational sphere. difficulties, they encounter in defining the contours of this out in its latest report the lack of significant progress and
Rwanda, its place is marginal and it is, at best, only the Researchers were also invited to explore ways of a possible category of language - as well as the researchers who publish the need for governing bodies to take measures to ensure
second or third "other language" that can be used as a "concerted management" of the French language, which is on these issues - there is clearly a widespread reluctance to the right balance between the effective implementation of
medium of communication in families, but it is present. claim it. However, the statements concerning them, multilingualism and the allocation of necessary resources.
including their consideration in learning processes, reveal In the European Union, the situation is not much better for
11
Algeria, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Lebanon,
In summary, the results of the surveys show Morocco, Madagascar and DRC
the feeling of a need to understand the issue and to "make a
the following: 12
Voir QR code. place" for the varieties of French. This place is not non- 14
The report includes an in-depth review and quantitative and qualitative analysis of
13
"Pratiques et représentations socio-langagières des français en data from collected documentation, responses to questionnaires and interviews (more
Francophonie" (PRESLAF). The complete report and the results of the existent in schools, even if the majority of teachers give than 100 interviews with representatives of UN agencies based in Geneva, New York,
study can be consulted at the following address. Voir QR code. Paris, Rome and Vienna and in two field locations: Brussels and Nicosia).

12 13
PRESENCE AND USES OF FRENCH LANGUAGE WORLDWIDE

multilingualism: only between 3.7% (in the European international organizations, the IOF is involved in advocacy Provide tools and resources development of a French-language training course for
Commission) and 12% (in the European Parliament) of the at various levels, as well as through numerous activities, In 2020, IOF continued to support TV5MONDE in the gender equality advisors in PKOs.
documents produced are in French as a source language, a including the coordination of the Francophone production of 42 news programs ("7 jours sur la planète"), Another notable success was the launch in 2021 of a
continuous decline over the last twenty years, when this Ambassadors' Groups (GAF) and networks of international 1,080 self-study exercises and 262 educational sheets. For platform for the Réseau d'expertise et de formation
proportion was 34% (in 1999). civil servants. For her part, the Secretary General constantly independent learning, certain collections have met with francophone pour les opérations de paix (REFFOP), now
It would be all the more important to put an end to these advocates at the highest level with heads of state and great success, such as "Le français des relations integrated into the Boutros-Ghali Peacekeeping
drifts since, according to surveys, only 25% of European government, heads of international organizations and even internationales", intended for people preparing for the Observatory website. This network aims to enhance the
citizens are able to understand a newspaper article or the United Nations Security Council. French diploma in international relations (DFP-RI) of the Francophone expertise and potential of peacekeeping
audiovisual information in English15 and since the United Paris-Île-de-France Chamber of Commerce and Industry, training schools and centers in Africa, North America,
Kingdom's exit from the EU, less than 1% of the population Thanks to the support of the IOF's External Representations, or "Objectif diplomatie", for an introduction to the French Europe and Southeast Asia. French peacekeeping training
of the member countries has English as its mother tongue... several meetings and initiatives have made it possible to of international relations in formal or informal contexts. In resources18 are available online.
strengthen the role of the GAFs and their actions in favor March 2020, TV5MONDE launched the "Learn French
Observations made for the UN and the European Union of multilingualism. The IOF has also provided them with a with TV5MONDE" application, which contains the 3,000 French, official language of the Olympic
are more or less the same for other regional or international digital application to integrate them into a global network exercises on apprendre.tv5monde.com. and Paralympic Games
organizations, as shown in the latest follow-up document by the beginning of 2022. Since 2017, IOF has also partnered with Hachette FLE to For each edition, the IOF provides the Organizing Committee
to the IOF's vade mecum of La Francophonie, which also publish Objectif diplomatie level 1 new edition, a book of the Olympic Games with French-speaking personnel
deals with the African Union, the European Parliament The support of the IOF dedicated to learning French for diplomats. In December specialized in translation assigned to the linguistic services
and the Council of Europe. Cooperate with international and regional 2019, the offer was enriched with a digital course of 150 self- and to the media, who contribute to the translation and the
organizations (IROs) correcting exercises and, at the end of 2021, Objectif elaboration of the contents in French. Since 2004, a person
Towards an operational system with three IOF's close cooperation with IROs to support diplomatie.lab level 1, an open digital tool made available to has been designated by the Secretary General of the
components: monitoring, alert and action multilingualism has resulted in concrete initiatives such as: teachers, was put online. Francophonie to ensure compliance with Article 23 of the
Determined to "reverse the decline of the French language", the launch in May 2021 of a technical training cycle in Olympic Charter19. The mission of Grand Témoin de la
the Secretary General of La Francophonie, Mrs. Louise French for African Union officials; the development in A specific "peace and security" component Francophonie for the 2020 edition has been entrusted to
Mushikiwabo, has initiated a large reflection with the 2021 of a module in professional communication and legal To strengthen the presence of francophones in UN PKOs Thierry Marx, world-renowned gourmet chef.
representatives of States and governments within a working French for the International Criminal Court; the (estimated at 27% in January 2021, while the majority of
group on “French language” she has set up and regularly publication of two calls for expressions of interest in 2021 missions are deployed in the francophone space), the IOF is Towards more multilingualism ?
chairs. aimed at strengthening the French language skills of civil carrying out actions, several of which have produced Progress at the UN
servants and linguistic mediation (9 projects selected; 8 tangible results. Among these initiatives is the IOF-UN- In 2020, the UN Office of Human Resources completed
A "monitoring, alert and action mechanism in favor of the IRO beneficiaries). France pilot project to strengthen the French language the UN Framework for Languages, which aims to
French language and multilingualism in international training system for MINUSMA17 military personnel (May strengthen the coherence of learning and assessment of
organizations", supported by the French-speaking States Training and capacity building 2021-ongoing). language skills in the six official languages20. Its
and governments, has been activated in order to make In order to strengthen the capacities of States or national implementation has allowed for the redefinition of language
operational the exchange of information, the coordination training institutions in the definition and implementation As part of a partnership developed by IOF with the UN course curricula for the different levels and contexts of use.
of the initiatives deployed and the mobilization of French- of training plans in French for (future) civil servants and Police Division, two regional seminars have been jointly Ultimately, it is expected that the Framework will improve
speaking networks. A network of national focal points has diplomats, the IOF is deploying programs that aim to organized since 2018 in Paris and Bamako, with the the determination of language requirements for
been established to participate in monitoring and alerting increase the number of managers and experts in the support of the Francopol police training network to recruitment.
activities concerning proven violations of the language targeted administrations who have a sufficient level of improve the quality of applications submitted by The UN Secretariat has announced other initiatives to
regime of international organizations. French to express themselves in French in their professional Francophones. An increase in the number of French- support multilingualism in 2022, such as the development
context. Within this framework, nineteen national speaking police officers has been noted: from 28% in 2012 of a strategic and coherent policy framework for
Political Advocacy and Mobilization governments or institutions have signed Cooperation to 80% of the workforce in 2021. mainstreaming multilingualism in the work of the United
of States and Governments Agreements (National Francophone Initiatives and Other examples of Francophone training include: the first
Since its Headquarters in Paris and through its external Francophone Establishment Initiatives - IFN and IFE) Francophone training course for mission leadership, which
18
Voir QR code.
representations16, particularly those working with with the IOF for the period 2019-2022. More than 1,200 until now has been conducted only in English; the first 19
Article 23 of the Olympic Charter: 1. The official languages of the IOC
agents - at least 70% of whom are women - are trained each Francophone course for female military officers; and the are French and English. 2. At all Sessions, simultaneous interpretation shall
be provided in French, English, German, Spanish, Russian and Arabic.
15
year. 3. In the event of any discrepancy between the French and English texts of
Special Eurobarometer 386, 2012 the Olympic Charter and any other IOC document, the French text shall
16
Addis Ababa, Brussels, Geneva, and New York, as well as Antananarivo, Bucharest, prevail unless expressly provided otherwise in writing.
17 20
Dakar,
1
Hanoi, Libreville, Lomé, Port-au-Prince, Quebec, Tunis, and soon Beirut. 2
United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali Voir QR code.
PASEC 2014 - Performances des systèmes éducatifs en Afrique subsaharienne TRANSLANGA et DUFRAM, commanditées par l’AUF et l’OIF
francophone : Compétences et facteurs de réussite au primaire

14 15
PRESENCE AND USES OF FRENCH LANGUAGE WORLDWIDE

Nations. IOF is supporting the development of this

framework through the provision of a contribution aimed
at bringing in high-level expertise.
PART 2
An ongoing debate in the European Union
Since the Brexit, the dominance of English in the
institutions is felt to be all the more unjustified. Many
voices have been raised 21 to denounce the majority use of a

LANGUAGE
language that is now official, alongside the national
languages, in only two member countries: Ireland and
Malta. The debate on multilingualism in the EU has also
been rekindled by the health crisis, which led the European
institutions to make unprecedented use of video-
conferencing tools to organize, for the first few weeks,

POLICIES AND
virtual meetings in English only at all levels, including
Council meetings. As of May 2020, the European
Commission has set up the Interaction platform, which
allows the use of up to 32 languages. Finally, the French
presidency of the European Union in the first half of 2022
should be an opportunity to debate new proposals for a

TEACHING
rebalancing in the use of official languages.

(IN) FRENCH
WORLDWIDE
21
One example is the initiative of a group of French-speaking European civil servants,
dubbed "Carré bleu", who sent an open letter to the President of the Commission in
September 2019 demanding the right to work in French.

16 17
LANGUAGE POLICIES AND TEACHING (IN) FRENCH WORLDWIDE

FRENCH AS A SCHOOLING
LANGUAGE

Unique or main language

since entering school

Canada With one or several other

languages, fully or partially
according to different grades

Canada Canada
Québec Belgique Students enrolled in French
Ontario Féd. Wallonie-Bruxelles
schools by geographic area (2021)
EUROPE Luxembourg

AMÉRIQUES 16,1 M 17,3 % France Suisse romande

ET CARAÏBES Monaco 2,4 M Number of students (in million)
Andorre
2,4 M 2,5 % Canada
Nouveau-
Brunswick Tunisie Liban 2,5 % Share of each geographical area
Maroc
AFRIQUE DU NORD
ET MOYEN-ORIENT Algérie Égypte Total: 93.2 million students in 36 countries
3,3 M 3,6 % Mauritanie
Mali Niger Tchad
Sénégal
Haïti Burkina Faso
Djibouti ASIE ET OCÉANIE
Centrafrique
Guinée Cameroun
Côte d’Ivoire Bénin Rép. dém. 0,07 M 0,08 %
Togo du Congo
Congo Burundi
Gabon
Comores
Madagascar Vanuatu

Nouvelle-Calédonie (Fr)

AFRIQUE SUBSAHARIENNE
ET OCÉAN INDIEN
71,3 M 76,5 %

18 19
LANGUAGE POLICIES AND TEACHING (IN) FRENCH WORLDWIDE

Distribution of French Learners - 2022

FRENCH AS A LANGUAGE consensus to protect all languages and actions are taken to Learning French as a marker of multilingual
OF SCHOOLING meet the challenges of "eco-linguistic protection". However, Americas & Caribbean educational policies
2,5%
French is the language of schooling in the educational systems the reality on the ground shows that only minimal language Sub-Saharan region - Educational and linguistic policies play a major role in
of 36 states and governments around the world (24 of which policies are applied, and that they most often only deal with 17,3 % Indian Ocean
learning foreign languages, not only by the obligations set by
North Africa - Middle East
are in the Africa-Indian Ocean and Middle East zones), either the status of languages (whose implications often remain 3,6 % school curricula, but also by the means that are devoted to
alone or alongside other languages; 80% of students enrolled implicit, and whose effects are often little or poorly measured). Europe them. Revaluation of the teaching profession, renewal and
in French schools are concentrated on the African continent, Moreover, when texts are produced and programs are 76,5 % training of young teachers, decentralization outside of large
Asia-Oceania as a whole
where French is generally used as a language of instruction, financed by States and partners in the field, they are almost does not appear because cities and democratization of multilingual training offers are
it only represents 0.08%
but also as a means of communication between populations exclusively concerned with the introduction of certain of the total. among the challenges that will allow educational systems to
(whose first language is one or more other languages, languages into the educational system and with literacy, respond to the demands of populations in favor of plurilingual
sometimes transnational, in territories that are characterized mainly in the primary cycle. Moreover, language policy societies.
by great linguistic and cultural diversity). issues are generally dealt with by the States at the national Finally, it is Lebanon that dominates the French school
level, without taking into account territorial specificities, and landscape in the North Africa-Middle East zone, even if the Similarly, national policy choices, in line with plurilingual
Language policy choices and State-led actionsLes dispersed among bodies under the responsibility of ministries place of this language as a medium of schooling is far from perspectives in favor of national and transnational languages
States and governments of the French-speaking countries of that differ from a country to another. negligible - although not precisely quantified - in the Maghreb at the country level, have an influence on the degree of
the South - especially in Sub-Saharan region and the Indian countries. openness of educational systems, towards international
Ocean - need public policies that take into account their It is in this context that La Francophonie supports member As for the Asian part, the low volume of learners in New mobility for example.
sociolinguistic realities, and must therefore make language states and governments through programs and initiatives Caledonia and Vanuatu makes it difficult to see in relation to
planning choices responding to various issues: linguistic dedicated to language and educational policies, capacity the total mass. It is in this context that some countries make reform choices
democracy and respect for the rights of minority languages; building of teachers, evaluations and learning for the benefit and establish multilateral or bilateral Cooperation Agreements
bi-multilingual quality education and training; employability of bi-multilingual education (in particular through its FRENCH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE in favor of the renewal and mobility of teachers, the
and development; social cohesion and intergenerational program School and National Languages in Africa - ELAN). strengthening of their linguistic and didactic skills, the
transmission; access for all to information and rights in their The evolution of the number of students learning FLE differs implementation of language assistant programs, student
mother tongue, etc. Current situation by region and country according to the region or country, and is largely due to the mobility, etc.
Mr. Jean-Marie Klinkenberg, professor emeritus at the Approximately 93 million pupils and students are being will of national authorities to make the teaching of a second
University of Liège (Belgium), indicates that "language taught in French around the world: figures that are slightly foreign language (or even more) mandatory in their Bilateral and multilateral cooperation in favor
policies are a factor of personal development as much as of increasing and that confirm, first of all, that French has not educational systems. Outside of English-speaking countries, of learning the French language
collective development" when they aim to "harmonize the lost its status as a language of schooling anywhere, and that it is often observed that public policies only leave room for Agreements signed with France are often decisive in
language market and the job market, to increase competence the educational systems of countries where the number of English as the only linguistic and cultural otherness in the strengthening the teaching of French. As part of its bilateral
in the use of expression tools (...); to be linked to the training children attending school is increasing (in the South) are construction of young citizens. policy, France conducts and supports cooperation actions with
policy, to the policy of protection and promotion of the taking in a growing number of them (even if not all of them The attractiveness of the French language to young people, local authorities through national or regional funding such as
worker (by acting on the language of contracts, work, are enrolled). their parents and schools is also due to the perspectives it can the FSPI (Solidarity Fund for innovative projects, civil societies,
equipment), to the policy of consumer protection offer in terms of employability, opportunities to study abroad, La Francophonie and human development), an instrument that
(instructions manual, safety), to the policy of contacts Naturally, countries where French is the only official language to access jobs related to tourism, international organizations makes it possible to finance initiatives, particularly in the fields
between the citizen and the public authorities (simplification that carry the greatest weight in the world as a whole and, or to evolve within a company or an administration. of culture, French, higher education and research.
of the administrative and legal language, etc. ), equal among them, the overwhelming majority of French learners
opportunities policy (feminization of job names), research reside on the African continent, including countries where it is Political action is a determining factor in the construction of French cooperation includes the LabelFrancÉducation and
and development policy, particularly in the digital field, and not an official language (for instance Maghreb region). educational systems and multilingual societies that can the program for language assistants in France and abroad.
policy on citizen access to contemporary information and promote the employability of young people, training and France also mobilizes the expertise of its local teaching teams
communication technologies. Europe comes in second place, thanks to France (91% of professional development throughout life. It is also the one and its operators - notably France Education International
European students are taught in French), but also to the who must deal with the difficulties faced by many educational (FEI) - to strengthen the French language in public or private
Many resolutions and texts in favor of linguistic diversity Wallonia-Brussels Federation, French-speaking Switzerland, systems, sometimes under pressure because of overcrowding, schools in the national educational systems and in French
already include elements of language policy at the national Luxembourg and Monaco. and teachers of and in French who are increasingly in short schools approved in the countries.
level in several African countries (e.g., South Africa) or recall If North America owes its third place to Quebec and Canada supply: teachers retiring (which is sometimes enough to
the need to integrate a bi- or multilingual approach in in general, we must not forget the role played by Haiti, even eliminate the offer of French in the school), crisis of vocations In 2020, the French Language Fund also supported 29
educational systems in order to improve early learning (e.g., if the latest available statistics concerning this country are to teach languages (including French), which are moreover projects led by the Alliances françaises and Instituts français,
Mali, Burundi). There is indeed a high-level international outdated (2015-2016). often optional as a second foreign language. including the Franco-Brazilian French Meetings on Tourism, a

20 21
LANGUAGE POLICIES AND TEACHING (IN) FRENCH WORLDWIDE

regional forum Génération LabelFrancÉducation in Bulgaria, candidates, especially for young people, with 214,121 candidates Other programs and tools such as the Professional French TV5MONDE's offer has also been enriched with educational
and the "Les petits penseurs" project in the United States, (including 108,376 in the context of the DELF scolaire and Diplomas (DFP) designed and developed by the French material covering different professional sectors (business,
aimed at school audiences. therefore official language assessments within national Business Center of the Paris Chamber of Commerce and tourism, hotel and restaurant, fashion and design, international
educational systems) in 2021, out of a total of 381,597 Industry, hereinafter referred to as "FDA-CCIP" - specializing relations and diplomacy), and educational sheets for vocational
In addition to its 98 locations in 95 countries, the French candidates for the DELF-DALF. The number of candidates has in the training of trainers, developing training programs and French courses (hotel business, sales, tourism) produced by
Institute runs the IFprofs platform, which brought together been steadily increasing, and will reach its peak in 2019 with certifications in FOS/Professional French - make it possible to TV5 Québec Canada with the financial support of the Office
42,000 professionals from 105 countries (20,000 shared 318,474 young candidates (including 163,121 enrolled in a enhance the proficiency of French, more particularly in the québécois de la langue française. A project is underway to
resources) in 2021. The resources of its Culturethèque platform DELF scolaire) out of a total of 519,611 DELF-DALF business, international relations, and tourism/hotel business/ develop educational resources on the building trades and
(digital library) benefited more than 500,000 users in 2021 (i.e. candidates, confirming the interest of students in certifying restaurant sectors through training in French that has been heritage restoration, in partnership with the future Cité
a doubling compared to 2019). their competencies in French with an official diploma, mainly deployed internationally. internationale de la langue française in Villers-Cotterêts
in secondary schools. (France).
It should be noted that the attendance of FLE courses within The DELF scolaire is particularly attractive in Italy (22% of all According to FDA-CCIP, request for training in vocational
the network of 832 Alliances françaises present in 131 registrants in 2019) and especially in Germany (28% of French has not diminished despite the health crisis that has The vitality of FOS or vocational French training abroad, or at
countries, with 490,000 FLE learners worldwide in 2019 registrants). affected language centers as the establishment of a distance least its potential, is therefore beyond doubt, given the dynamics
(including 111,000 learners in FLE courses in companies or learning offer has also made it possible to deploy training of the training and certification systems observed by FDA-
institutions) has evolved by +3.4% since 2018. Madagascar, Development and deployment of tools for learning adapted to new needs. CCIP, the opportunity for diversification of the public that this
India, the United States, Mexico and France being the top five FOS/Vocational French Among the signs of a growing interest in professional French represents for language and training centers, and above all the
countries where French is learned in the Alliances françaises, In the field of bilateral cooperation for French, the place diplomas (DFP), we can note the evolution of requests for emergence of new publics "driven by a real need to work in
followed by China, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Zimbabwe. occupied by training courses leading to a diploma with a approval of language centers to organize sessions of the French" - to quote Mrs. Florence Mourlhon-Dallies, who also
While French courses for the general public remained stable in professional aim deserves special consideration. This category of professional French diploma (increasing from 30 in 2018 to 70 specifies: "We have (...) fewer high-level learners, but much
2019, courses for businesses and institutions increased learners of French "for specific purposes" (FOS) is in fact in 2020) and the interest in organizing trainers' training in more request for intermediate qualifications and manual
significantly over the year (+16%). indicative of a dynamic that underlines the very concrete evaluation and preparation for certification in vocational trades. "
The Latin American region is in first place with 130,000 usefulness of knowledge of French, as many of these courses are French.
learners enrolled in a network of 172 Alliances, and Europe, the provided in higher education through so-called Out of more than 23,000 candidates who took one of the DFPs Status and trends by region and country
leading continent for the establishment of Alliances françaises "professionalizing" masters programs. between 2016 and the first half of 2021, 72% were taking the As in 2018, the number of French learners worldwide slightly
in the world with its 236 Alliances. Business DFP; 13% were taking the Secretarial DFP; 6% were exceeds 51 million individuals for students in public and private
In all countries of the world, they concern the following fields: taking the Tourism, Hotel business, and Restaurant DFP; and schools, colleges, high schools, and higher education institutions, as
For its part, the IOF has three regional centers for the applied foreign languages, culture and language of European 5.5% were taking the International Relations DFP. Eighty well as enrollment in foreign language institutes or centers outside
teaching of French (CREF): centers of excellence that offer organizations, conference interpretation, translation and percent of the candidates came from Switzerland, France, Italy, the school system. The predominance of the North Africa-Middle
high-level training engineering facilities providing training and specialized terminologies, intercultural communication the United States, Egypt, Algeria, Spain, Lebanon, Austria, East region continues with 44% of FLE learners in educational
seminars for all professional categories of French language strategies (literary and linguistic), modern languages and Russia and Belgium. systems, followed by Sub-Saharan region-Indian Ocean (25%),
teaching in educational systems. This initiative, which was first international communication, teaching French, language Europe (19%), Americas-Caribbean (9%), and Asia-Oceania (3%).
tested in 1993 in Asia-Pacific (CREFAP), was extended in 2005 technologies and automatic translation, etc. The main trends observed reveal that the European continent
to Central and Eastern Europe (CREFECO) and, starting in The French language is also often found as one of the necessary remains far ahead in the requests for training and certification Overall, the number of FLE learners has very slightly decreased
2021, to Africa and the Middle East (CREFA). components of training related to public administration, in vocational French. Interest is also observed in Kenya, India by 0.1% since 2018, mainly reflecting a sharp decline in French
The program targets more than 50,000 teachers and more than international relations, diplomacy, or defense and security and Mexico. The request remains stable in North America, and learning observed in Europe (-10%). The other regions of the
4 million learners of French. issues (mainly in Africa). very low on the Asian continent where the link between world, on the other hand, are experiencing an average increase in
proficiency of French and professional competence seems to be the number of French learners.
Official certification of French language skills In Europe, North Africa and, to a lesser extent, Asia, disciplines in need of repair.
Among FEI's assessment tools for teachers, the APPRENDRE concerned go well beyond the sectors directly related to The weight of the Maghreb alone is considerable, since Algeria,
Ev@lang test - supported by FEI and AUF - was launched in languages: architecture, agriculture and agribusiness, Among the measures for teaching FOS that have also been Morocco and Tunisia alone account for more than 17 million FLE
2021 in its training version, to assess the level of French journalism, medicine and health, management, industrial developed, we can note the launch of the Clés du français pro learners. A significant proportion of the students counted are in
language skills of teachers in the educational systems of 26 systems engineering, tourism, marketing and sales, finance and in March 2021 by the FDA-CCIP and the French Institute, to fact being taught in a way that is largely similar to that described
French-speaking countries. control, international law (public and private), economics and support the network of French language centers by in other educational systems as "bilingual", or even "in French"
management, mathematics and computer science, chemical accompanying the development of a course offer in Vocational for certain subjects and at certain levels of study, but the qualifier
Even within the context of the pandemic, the official French and biochemical engineering, international logistics and French. "foreign language" applied to French in these countries is thus
language certifications have gathered a large number of transport, political science, etc. respected.

22 23
LANGUAGE POLICIES AND TEACHING (IN) FRENCH WORLDWIDE

"Non-French-speaking" Africa still represents 25% of the total

enrollment, with countries playing the Francophonie card to a
certain extent (whether or not they are members of the IOF) in
Change in FLE enrollment between 2018 and 2022
(constant scope)
35 %
PART 3
30,7 %
a perspective of interregional cooperation. Cameroon (for its 30 % Americas &
25 %
Caribbean
English-speaking part), Mozambique and Ghana are among
20 % Sub-Saharan
them, along with Uganda, Angola, South Africa and Kenya. In 16,8 % Region and Indian
Ocean
15 % 12,7 %
sub-Saharan region, growth over the period studied seems to have 10 %
Asia and Oceania
been driven by Angola, Ethiopia (before the crisis), Sao Tome and

FRENCH
5%
0,6 % Europe
Principe and the Seychelles. 0%

-5 % North Africa
& Middle East
Europe remains a bastion of French language learning with Italy -10 %
-9,8 %
-15 %
and Romania in first place (by volume), along with Germany,
Spain, the non-French speaking parts of Belgium and Switzerland,
the Netherlands, Greece and Portugal. The English-speaking

LANGUAGE,
countries (United Kingdom and Ireland) with French as their first China, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vanuatu have boosted
foreign language also gather more than 0.5 million FLE learners. overall growth and offset some of the declines in Japan and
Kazakhstan, for example.
Outside the English-speaking countries, when only one foreign
language is mandatory, English wins (when it is not directly
designated as mandatory by the educational authorities, which

CULTURE
is often the case), and the possibility of abandoning one's foreign
language early in one's schooling, as in the United Kingdom, has
contributed to a decline in the number of FLE students.

In the highly competitive linguistic landscape of European

countries, cultural affinities, geographical proximity, the greater or

AND DIGITAL
lesser difficulty attributed to the different languages present "on the
market" and the credit given to them - as much as the more or less
voluntarist policies of the educational authorities - orient the choice
of pupils, their parents and students. When a second (or third)
foreign language is not mandatory, the competition is sharpened
between, mainly, French, Spanish, Russian, German and Italian...
and French does not always win.

The American continent and the Caribbean occupy third place

in terms of FLE, with Canada (excluding Quebec) and the
United States of America, followed by Costa Rica, Brazil, Mexico
and Argentina, among others. The total number of learners has
increased by 31.7% in the region, which has benefited from a
WORLD
significant increase in French language learning in Costa Rica and
Chile.

Asia-Oceania region has the fewest number of FLE learners,

although some countries in the region, such as Australia, India,
China, Laos, Cambodia, Azerbaijan and Vietnam, have significant
numbers of learners (around 50,000), although these numbers are
modest in relation to the total number of learners. Cambodia,

24
FRENCH LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND DIGITAL WORLD

THE DEFINITIONS OF THE MACRO-INDICATORS PRODUCED BY THE MODEL

THE PLACE OF FRENCH REMAIN THE SAME AND, IN PARTICULAR, WE RETAIN THE "POWER"
INDICATOR WHICH CORRESPONDS TO THE AVERAGE OF SIX INDICATORS:
use of a language as a second language, for which French is the
ON THE WEB fifth language in the world; and
LANGUAGE DML DML% DCL DCL%

INTERNET USERS TRAFFIC USES 2. The number of countries where there are speakers of a English 2,51 12,68 % 1,61 14,24 %
Summary of developments =
global percentage global
=
of connected speakers of
=
(e.g. percentage
given language, for which French is second only to English24. French 1,69 8,52 % 1,09 9,66 %
The model used in the previous edition has been improved in percentage of presence traffic to the language sites by country with data
German 0,48 2,45 % 0,42 3,75 %
in the (obtained by reporting the distribution
some aspects (better source of demo-linguistic data, weighting the Web of subscribers to the This makes it possible to fill in a new indicator: the degree of
(obtained from platforms various demolinguistic) Russian 0,40 2,01 % 0,31 2,76 %
cancellation of one of the main biases of the study thanks to the and applications of traffic per country)
globalization of a language (DML). It is defined as follows:
access to data of second language speakers by country, better connectivity data from social networks) DML = (L1+L2)/L1 x percentage of countries where the Spanish 0,37 1,90 % 0,27 2,40 %
applications that
taking into account of the multilingualism of individuals22 and INDEX CONTENT INTERFACES language is spoken. Arabic 0,30 1,51 % 0,18 1,56 %
continuation of the systematic analysis of the biases, inevitable = = = This new indicator makes it possible to classify countries by Malay 0,33 1,69 % 0,17 1,51 %
transformation of global wide variety of indicators (e.g. quality of
in this kind of work, and the search for ways to overcome them) percentage measurement of to applications or online translation. combining the two criteria that mark the geographical and
its presence rankings of of the information society e-government) in Italian 0,22 1,13 % 0,17 1,50 %
and the dataset has been updated in May 2021. countries in one of web pages as a language of percentages per demographic area of the language: this combination produces
Although French remains in fourth place23 on the Web: as interface language language
a value whose translation into percentage expresses a hierarchy Chinese 0,25 1,27 % 0,16 1,46 %

• It is now accompanied, and perhaps already surpassed, by and underlines the differences. The DML, by construction, is
Hindi, which is showing a spectacular rise; and independent of the presence of the language in cyberspace. The place of other languages
• Its lead over the following languages (currently: Portuguese, This indicator integrates all the parameters that mark the The languages whose ratio (L1+L2)/L1 is greater than 2.5 are, The most connected languages to Internet are the following
Russian, Arabic, German, Japanese and Malay) has been presence of the language on the Web. in order, Dioula, Swahili, English, Bamanakan, French, Urdu, (practically unbiased data), compared to the percentage for
considerably reduced, as a consequence of the combination of The set of parameters (corrected for existing biases in the Malay, Northern Sotho and Thai. And the languages that are French which is 65.5%:
the following two facts: sources) obtained at the output of the model gives the following spoken in more than 35 countries are English, French, Spanish
1. The Internet connection rates of French speakers in general ranking: and Arabic. Languages Percentage of
industrialized countries are close to saturation (an average of connected speakers
85%), leaving little room for growth; and RANK LANGUAGE PRESENCE Multiplying the value of a language's degree of globalization Norwegian 97,87 %
2. The digital divide in francophone African countries is much 1 English 25,00 %
(DML) by the percentage of connected speakers yields the Danish 97,83 %
slower to close than the average growth in connectivity language's degree of cyber-globalization (DCL) (DCL =
2 Chinese 15,00 % Swedish 93,49 %
worldwide. DML x % Conn.), an indicator that synthesizes the
3 Spanish 7,00 % Japanese 92,62 %
globalization strengths of languages in the digital world. By
It appears that this relative decline in French, which had 4 French 3,50 % adding the dimension of average connectivity to the Internet, Dutch 92,02 %
already been observed in partial measurements carried out in 4 Hindi 3,50 % the DCL corrects the value of the DML by taking into account Luxembourgish 91,90 %
2019 and 2020, is the result of an excessively large differential 6 Portuguese 3,00 % the presence in the Internet of each language. Swiss German 91,56 %
between the average global growth in connectivity rates per Russian
6 3,00 % Catalan 90,50 %
country and that of several French-speaking African countries. The vision in percentage distribution allows us to measure the
8 Arabic 2,50 % West Flemish 90,43 %
This gap is also extremely wide with Asian countries and, to a differences and to see that English and French have a clear lead
large extent, Arab countries, which show connectivity rates 8 German 2,50 % over the rest of the languages, according to this criterion which
that tend to approach Western rates. 8 Japanese 2,50 % indicates how well the language is inserted in the current The case of English
In the long term, the demographic growth forecast for Africa 11 Malay 1,80 % globalization movement (DML) and in the march towards As far as English is concerned, its relative place continues to
will indirectly favor the presence of French on the Web. 12 Italian 1,40 %
multilingualism which is carried by Internet (DCL). The shrink and goes from 30% in 2017 to 25% in 2021, even if
However, if the digital divide continues to be so pronounced in values indicated in percentages show the distribution of the the media, relying on highly biased results, for lack of serious
13 Turkish 1,20 %
Francophone Africa, the presence of French on the Web could two indicators among all the languages considered: thus, consideration of multilingualism, continue to announce
14 Korean 1,20 %
be affected in the short term. English and French together cover nearly 25% of this figures beyond 50%. Indeed, the Internet has changed
15 Bengali 1,20 % distribution, with a significant margin of distance ahead of considerably in the last ten years with a massive entry of Asian
REST 25,70 % German, Russian and Spanish, followed by Arabic, Malay, languages and Arabic! As for the global percentage of
Italian and Chinese. connected English speakers (L1+L2), it was estimated by the
The advantages of the French language in the Observatory of Linguistic and Cultural Diversity on the
digital world Internet in 2007 at 32%, and it has now dropped to 15%.
22
In 2018, a 25% range of multilingualism level model was assumed, and the results
for first plus second language (L1+L2) were therefore based on a percentage of 125% to The two most significant indicators of the French language in
account for multilingualism. In this new 2022 edition, thanks to the Ethnologue data,
the multilingualism factor increases to 43%.
this context are: 24
Calculated for the 329 languages with more than 1 million L1 speakers, with
September 2021 connectivity data, based on 215 countries (or territories) selected in
23
Out of 329 languages with over 1 million speakers 1. The (L1+L2)/L1 ratio, a marker of the relative frequency of the model.

26 27
FRENCH LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND DIGITAL WORLD

FRANCOPHONE CULTURAL WHAT IS DISCOVERABILITY? Share of the world's population CCIs, a major sector of the global
with access to the Internet economy
CONTENT ONLINE:
STAKES AND CHALLENGES This relatively new concept, created and 2,250 billion dollars
OF DISCOVERABILITY developed since 2016 from Canada/
annual contribution of the creative
industries to the world GDP, i.e. 2,6 %.
Quebec, describes a process of encounter 53,6 % of the world's
In spite of their great diversity, the cultural and artistic contents population accesses the
between content and audience in the digital
Internet in 2017.
30 million jobs
and expressions of the French-speaking space are little present environdigital environment. It includes: : worldwide, including
in the informal sector.
and accessible on the Web25. The platformization of the the intrinsic characteristic of any content
53,6 % 47 % in developing
diffusion and distribution of culture has disrupted traditional available online easily located or found by countries developing 20% of young people
patterns in the relationship between supply and demand, any user who search engine queries; countries. 20% of employees in the CCI sector
are between 15 and 29 years old.
particularly for the benefit of GAFAM26. This small circle of the fortuitous dimension of discovering
global players is taking advantage of technological advances to content that one did not expect and/or did 19,1 % in the least
developed countries. 45% are women
control and concentrate cultural supply, threatening the not know existed; la recommandation d’un 45% of CCI employees are women.
guaranteed discoverability of French-language cultural contenu culturel sans requête de l’utilisateur.
content. the recommendation of a cultural content Source : The World's Cultural and Creative Industries in the digital age, Source : The World's Cultural and Creative Industries
Post Advisors study, June 2021 in the Digital Age, Post Advisors study, June 2021
without any request from the user.
Main trends in the cultural and creative
industries27 Discoverability therefore encompasses, Video and music streaming figures
Today, CCIs make a significant contribution to employment concerning cultural content, needs :
and the global economy. Their digital transformation affects all discoverability (referencing and indexing) ;
countries and goes hand in hand with technological changes
and the evolution of the uses of populations that are increasingly
availability (development and provision of
an adequate offer) ;
345 500
equipped and connected. Despite significant differences recommendation (enhancement and million hours
between regions, a large part of the world's population now promotion of visibility).
accesses CCIs through digital channels. 62 % 61 %
The cinema, music and audiovisual industries have been
turning to digital technology for several years. Major Technical processes of systemic discoverability 62 % of global 345 million monthly 500 hours of video Video streaming
international players have positioned themselves. They The advent of Web 3.0 has facilitated the emergence of digital consumption of active users on Spotify uploaded every minute represents 61% of
dominate the market and capture a large part of the audience. structured, standardized and computer-readable data. Today, original series on Netflix in 2021 (Les Échos) (Statistica) global Internet traffic.
(IOF, 2020) (Statistica)
machines link, structure, exploit and share information that is
On La Francophonie side, initiatives in favor of diversity are more visible and better reusable. Two mechanisms promote the
emerging (TV5MONDEplus launched in September 2020, La discovery of online content: Data, the nerve of the war and for Source : The World's Cultural and Creative Industries in the Digital Age, Post Advisors study, June 2021

Francophonie TV5MONDEplus Fund, launched in March which each category has its specifications; algorithms, at the
2021), or have existed for many years (the Image Fund of La heart of the recommendation system.
Francophonie). The challenges of discoverability in a few figures
Quality and interoperable metadata (that can be transmitted
and exchanged between different systems) are a fundamental REPEATABILITY AVAILABILITY RECOMMENDATION
issue for the online discoverability of cultural content. 40% of book sales 26 % 26% of content 60% of content viewed on
40 % on Amazon are available on Netflix is the result of the
made from its video-on-demand platform's recommendations.
search engine (IOF, services in the 60 % (IOF, 2020)
2020) EU in 2018
is European.
25
State of the art of discoverability and access to francophone cultural (IOF 2020).
content on the Internet, 2020. Voir QR code.
26
Acronym often used built from the initials of large groups: Google,
Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, etc., to which we can add Spotify,
Deezer, etc.
27
Cultural and creative industries in the world in the digital age, Study Source : The world's cultural and creative industries in the age of the digital, Study, post Advisors, June 2021
carried out for the IOF by Post-Advisors, June 2021. Voir QR code.

28 29
FRENCH LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND DIGITAL WORLD

Discoverability, a question of state sovereignty and DISCOVERABILITY : A LEVER FOR THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION FRENCH-LANGUAGE international de l'édition française (BIEF) and a prospective
BOOKS AND AUTHORS
OF NATIONAL CULTURAL ECOSYSTEMS
multi-actor management study by the firm BearingPoint, entitled "The French-language
The risks of standardization of cultural consumption and the book in 2030 and 205032".
loss of economic benefits essential to the development of each Literature is, undoubtedly, one of the best places for
society are now significant. francophone cultural diversity to flourish. At the heart of the The findings of these studies have given reason to the
Discoverability encompasses various issues related to the SOVEREIGNTY
Evolution of
ECONOMICS
CONSEQUENCES
issues of creation, inventiveness and vitality of the French participants of the General Meeting who insisted on several
sovereignty of States: preservation of cultural identities; legislative
frameworks to
via new inclusive
monetization schemes
language, the book, in all its forms, including digital, is also the points: securing the legal framework, facilitating the circulation
PROTECTION
promotion and access to international markets for local and ensure fair and
practices and
& PROMOTION product of what is known as a cultural industry. Under these of raw materials and books themselves, the need to improve
of local, national, FAIR
national digital cultural productions; capacity of State actors to practices and
better capture
regional
COMPENSATION two aspects, cultural and economic, observations have been mutual knowledge and communication opportunities between
of the players in the
intervene through the implementation of adequate political of the wealth
generated in the value chain made for a long time and they reveal a landscape agitated by professionals. On this last point, the establishment of a digital
VALORIZATION
strategies (regulations). The Strategy of the Digital Francophonie by creation:
regulation of data
of the national cultural
heritage on the Web
contradictions, sometimes tensions, although very rich and full network of actors of the book in French language33 by the IOF
INVESTMENTS
2022-2026 adopted by La Francophonie in December 202128 and transparency
of algorithms, upport for creativity, of promises. constitutes a progress. The opportunity to also recall the
awareness, strengthening
takes into account the multidimensional challenge it poses. quotas, taxation of
platforms, etc.
MORE DIVERSITY
cultural and linguistic
of skills, development programs developed by the IOF which intervenes at several
infrastructure development,
Member states and governments of La Francophonie, collaborative systems, General Meeting of French Language Book levels of the "book chain": creation, production, distribution
A MORE DYNAMIC ECONOMY virtual spaces, creation
industrialists, operators and private actors, civil society actors + JOBS
+ INNOVATION
of a virtual space to youth worldwide and promotion. It also highlights its support for public reading
for access to culture
and organizations, and international organizations are all + CULTURAL TOURISM
+ CREATIVITY
The General Meeting of French language book worldwide was policies in countries through the networks of reading and
concerned by the issue of discoverability. + INCLUSION
held on 23–24 September 2021 in Tunis. They brought cultural activity centers (CLACs) present in some twenty
Source : For a Francophone initiative for online discoverability of Francophone content, IOF together (on site or remotely) more than four hundred countries in the South, as well as the Prix des cinq continents
participants - authors, actors in the book chain, political or de la Francophonie, which each year rewards a French-speaking
THE KEY MECHANISMS OF DISCOVERABILITY institutional leaders - from all over the Francophone world. author and allows him or her to shine internationally through
Cultural artifacts Users Co-organized by France and six states or governments (Côte real "literary tours" throughout the world.
d'Ivoire, the Republic of Guinea, Quebec, the Swiss
Confederation, Tunisia, and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation), The Congress of French Language Writers
METADATA USAGE DATA
as well as the International Organization of La Francophonie, Initiated in 2019 by Leïla Slimani and the late Michel Le
Définition Stakes Definition Stakes
Set of data related They facilitate A set of data resulting They allow us to they involved nearly 1,000 book stakeholders in 45 different Bris, the World Congress of French-speaking writers also
to contents the indexing of from user's interaction. understand
providing a resource in the habits of users. countries and resulted in the identification of ten priority took place in Tunis on 25 - 26 September 2021 with the
information about search engines
them. and databases, its Examples
proposals to be implemented (out of the 50 previously support, among others, of the IOF. At the invitation of the
understanding and CONSUMPTION AUDIENCE identified29). Literary Committee composed of Leila Slimani, Fawzia
management. number of views, CHARACTERISTICS
listens, hours and days socio-demographic Echoing these recommendations, and already taking up some Zouari, Laurent Gaudé, Yanick Lahens, Felwine Sarr and
Examples of access, etc. data, preferences
or tastes, number
of them, nine30 ministers in charge of culture and books, – until January 2021 – Michel Le Bris, about thirty authors
RECOMMENDATIONS
DESCRIPTION LEGAL DATA
name, size, author traceability,
of friends on social
networks, etc.
representing their state or government, adopted a joint from five continents participated, on site or via video
name, country of revenue distribution,
production, etc. etc. declaration at the end of the work, which notably mentioned conference, in the form of literary cafes, meetings, major
EXPOSURE CONTEXT PERFORMANCE
search terms that led compared to other the promotion of access to books and reading, support for interviews and round tables.
CLASSIFICATION INFORMATION to the content, editorial content, offered on
subject, type, date, recognition, playlists in which the the platform, of the creation by ensuring fair remuneration for creators, French-
etc. authentication, etc. content was included, etc. same type, etc.
language translation, improving the circulation of works and
authors, and strengthening the missions of libraries.
BIG DATA
Definition Stake
Ability to link They make it possible to As a prelude to the General Meeting, several studies were
several large perform advanced analyses
databases. and identify information and conducted to better understand the characteristics of the
correlation patterns that
would otherwise remain
French-language publishing market and to anticipate future
invisible. developments: seven regional overviews31 of the French-
ALGORITHM: language publishing market conducted by the Bureau
Definition Stake
An automated system, It is the "invisible" intermediary
designed according to a between the user and an 29
For a new dynamic of the French language book in the world: Book of
computer programming almost unlimited catalog proposals and 10 priority recommendations, 2021. Voir QR code.
language with a set of of contents, which replaces 30 32
instructions and rules to solve traditional actors such as
Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, France, Madagascar, Quebec, Switzerland, Le livre en langue française en 2030 et 2050, Prospective economic study,
28
Voir Tunisia, Vietnam and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation Bearing Point. Voir QR code.
problems. record shops or bookshops.
31 33
QR code. Voir QR code. Voir QR code.

30 31
 IOF REPORT
French language worldwide 2022

Board: Nivine Khaled, Director of French

Language and Diversity of French speaking
Cultures (DLC).

Main coordination and drafting: Alexandre

Wolff, Head of the French Language
Observatory.

Coordination and editing: Francine Quéméner,

Program Specialist for the Observatoire de la
langue française (teaching of / in French) and
language policies.

Drafting (DLC): Véronique Girard, Program

Specialist (discoverability of cultural content);
Aurélia Grosu, Advisor (French language and
multilingualism in IOs).

Collaboration: Mirana Andrianasy (intern);

Pauline Hardouin (program assistant for the
Observatoire de la langue française).

Direct contributors: Bernard Cerquiglini,

Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Jean-Marie
Klinkenberg, Richard Marcoux, Florence
Mourlhon Dallies, Daniel Pimienta, Laurent
Richard, Destiny Tchehouali, Rada Tirvassen.

Translated by
Patricia Martinache

This document is an overview of the book

French language worldwide 2022
Edited by Gallimard - March 2022

© Éditions Gallimard, 2022.