The Decline of French in Education Across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa

Abstract

In this study, the role French maintains in education is assessed across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Statistics on the numbers of L1 users, those who have French as an additional language, as well as other demographic data, are used to chart trends in acquisition patterns across these three regions. The decline in the learning of traditional additional languages is juxtaposed with Englishization. What languages are utilized in school as the language of instruction, as well as what foreign languages are promoted in educational systems, has a profound impact on patterns of second-language acquisition. Here, in all three regions, English is gaining ground at the expense of other languages in primary and secondary school, as well as in higher education, and one result of this historic shift in the acquisition of additional languages is that English is now significantly reducing the importance of French in Francophone Africa.

1. Introduction

It is commonplace that changes take place in the languages people speak as their mother tongue. For example, in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, and for many of the indigenous peoples of North America, English has come to replace languages that were once widespread in society. There are also shifts in the additional languages people speak (Ellis, 2015). While in the past this was most often a natural outcome of living in multilingual societies and of migration, in modern times it is the teaching and learning of languages in school which has a major impact on what languages people acquire. In the discussion presented here, it is argued that designating a language as the first language that learners are encouraged to study in school profoundly affects what linguistic repertoires are prevalent in multilingual societies. Because the L2 often maintains a more pronounced position in an individual’s linguistic profile compared to their L3 or L4, the order of acquisition can determine the patterns of proficiency found in the community as a whole. Moreover, as a language strengthens its position as the first additional language people learn in school, and at the same time operates as the primary lingua franca across society as a whole, this by default undermines those languages which were previously prominent in such capacities.

The result of designating English as the first language that learners study in school is oftentimes bilingualism as opposed to monolingualism or plurilingualism for many L1 users of majority languages. This is something which can be observed in the EU, where bilingualism in the mother tongue plus English is fast becoming commonplace in areas where monolingualism, as well as bilingualism in the mother tongue plus languages other than English, was previously prevalent (Modiano, 2023). What is of interest in this study is not the first additional language and the factors which determine a language’s standing in such respects, but rather how shifts in the first additional language impact on languages which were previously prevalent as an L2 in an individual’s repertoire and consequently in the speech community. Here, more than any other language, English is influencing what additional languages people speak. For example, there are now signs of English undermining the status of French in Africa and of both French and Arabic in the Middle East (Aljehani & Modiano, 2025; Hopkyns & Elyas, 2022).

Throughout the world, educational authorities have introduced English in the curriculum for children and adolescents attending school. In some cases, this has resulted in English being the medium of instruction (EMI). In schools where EMI is not deployed, English is often the first foreign language learners are encouraged to pursue. The deployment of EMI in higher education is also increasing. As a result of the upswing in the teaching and learning of English, a pattern has emerged which has no precedent, with one language maintaining the role of the favored medium for cross-cultural communication. In this capacity, English has come to dominate globalization movements, and this has taken place at the expense of many languages which formerly maintained notable positions as mediums of cross-cultural communication. For Europe, Englishization has influenced learning patterns for French more than any other major European language, something which first became apparent in the 1990s with the replacement of French by English as the dominant language of EU operations. The general trend to have English as the most influential European language across the Middle East has, on the other hand, been apparent for quite some time. As for Francophone Africa, it is currently uncertain whether or not English will come to replace French as the most common lingua franca of European origin, although current statistics indicate that such a shift is well underway. In this discussion, it is argued that the foundation for such a development is in the making, and that in the coming decades, we will see a decline in French as a universal language, not only in Africa, but also throughout the world.

2. Materials and Methods

A better understanding of these shifts in acquisition patterns can be gained through scrutiny of quantitative data. Analysis based on demographic information is relevant to the study of how the status of traditional additional languages has been destabilized in recent years by Englishization processes. Here, there are a number of things which are relevant: (1) the language or languages which are official languages in a nation state; (2) what language or languages operate as a lingua franca in a country or region; (3) the language of instruction in school; (4) the use of EMI and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL); (5) the first foreign language learners are encouraged to study; and (6) the extent of resistance to the cultures and languages of former colonial rulers (Kerras, 2023).

The relevant data for diachronic studies of language acquisition patterns can be found in publicly accessible databases such as the Central Statistics Office (of the Republic of Ireland), and for the European Union, Eurobarometer and Eurostat. There are, moreover, organizations such as the International Organization of La Francophonie which provide the general public with statistics on language acquisition in Africa. It is also important to take into consideration historical information on the nation states discussed in this study, as well as on the development of education in general and more specifically foreign language education, in an effort to come to a better understanding of how speech communities experience shifts in the languages which are promoted in education, in the success rates of such instruction, as well as in the order in which additional languages are acquired. Perusal of the data on such issues, as well as the published results of studies on language acquisition, is utilized in this discussion.

3. Results

3.1. Englishization

Nowhere has Englishization been more preeminent than in mainland Europe, where it is now the case that children attending school in the EU, with few exceptions, have English as the first foreign language they pursue in their studies (Modiano, 2023). For some, an L3 is also targeted, but despite efforts to promote plurilingualism, most adolescents who are L1 users of majority languages graduate from upper secondary school with bilingual competency. Thus, the trend for young people in Europe is bilingualism, fluency in the mother tongue plus English (with speakers of minority languages and many new arrivals often having command of three or more languages). This is substantiated in data recently published by the European Union:

English is spoken by about half of the Europeans (47%) as a foreign or second language, notably increasing 5 percentage points since 2012. 7 out of 10 young Europeans can have a conversation in English, which is 9 percentage points more than in [the] previous survey. After English, French (11%) German (10%) and Spanish (7%) are the most spoken foreign languages in the EU.

(Eurobarometer, 2025)

French, German, and Russian, which, prior to the upswing in English, were customarily the languages Europeans targeted in their studies, have declined as school subjects, with Russian soon no longer on offer to any substantial extent in any member state of the EU.1

In the Middle East, where the vast majority have Arabic as their L1, and where English is the most common foreign language, many countries have a long tradition of association with Britain. In the Gulf States in particular, English has a more prominent position in society and is the dominant foreign language in education (Elyas & Picard, 2018). Three countries—Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon—have French colonial influence, but this has waned considerably in Egypt and Syria, where the governments there have prioritized English. Syria, in particular, has a negative historical association with France, which has led to minimal use of French (Fildis, 2011). Lebanon is the exception. It is only in Lebanon, in the Christian community, where we find French used for religious purposes and utilized as the language of instruction in schools [with the result being approximately 2.2 million foreign language speakers of French (Banat, 2021; Esseili, 2017)]. Note that despite the importance of French in Lebanon, there is nevertheless a trend among people there who are French speakers to be increasingly interested in learning English (Saba, 2024; Khalife, 2023).

In those regions in Africa where English and French operate as a lingua franca, people generally speak autochthonous languages in the family and in the local community, with the use of the European language reserved for school, for work purposes, and for interaction with people with other linguistic profiles. In Northern Africa, in the Maghreb (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia), Arabic is the most common language of instruction in schools, with French now threatened by English in the competition to be the first foreign language children and adolescents target in their education. Elsewhere in Africa, where French has a long history as the language of instruction in schools, French is being replaced in many school systems by either indigenous African languages (van Pinxteren, 2022; Ndhlovu & Makalela, 2021) or English. In higher education, there is evidence of movement toward having English as the language of instruction across all of Africa and the Middle East. Because of the use of EMI in Erasmus+ programs at European universities, the reliance on English medium textbooks and other materials at institutions of higher learning, as well as the practice of scientific publishing in English, one can ascertain that English is the universal language of tertiary education in the EU. Consequently, when taking into consideration those factors which influence what languages are taught and learned in school in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, it is apparent that the languages teachers speak in the classroom, what foreign languages are prioritized for pupils and adolescents, and the languages required of students in higher education have a profound impact on the rate and extent of the Englishization processes.

In Africa, which has Swahili as a lingua franca in central and eastern regions, there are three additional languages in competition for dominance: Arabic in Northern Africa, with a large percentage of the population there having the language as their L1; English, spoken as an additional language in Southern, Western, and Eastern Africa; and French, spoken as an additional language in the northwest and along the west coast. While Africa has the world’s largest community of people who have French as an additional language, a development which primarily took place after 1945, French in Africa has had declining numbers in the third millennium. This appears to be related to the fact that English has overtaken French in Europe, where French was previously the first foreign language targeted in school. The fact that English is the most common foreign language across the Middle East is also relevant. As people throughout Africa find English to have greater currency in their dealings with Europeans and Middle Easterners, this becomes one reason among others that is causing Africans to be more inclined to promote English as the first foreign language children and adolescents study in school. This change, from French to English as the first language school goers pursue in their studies, is taking place in Africa in Francophone communities, where schools in growing numbers are turning away from the French medium and instead embracing English.

In the EU, numerous reports on the marginalization of European languages as a result of Englishization can be found in the literature (Phillipson, 2004; Modiano, 2023). Little effort, however, has been made to protect the indigenous languages which are suffering as a result of the increase in the popularity of English. There is also awareness of the changes in acquisition patterns taking place in Africa. The British Council, UNESCO, and the Organization of Africa Unity, among others, have established forums for discussions on the protection of indigenous languages, and while an understanding that African languages should be utilized in the instruction in primary and secondary education is expressed in the many reports issued by such organizations, they have as yet only had a minor role to play in the decision-making processes which determine whether African languages, Arabic, English, or French are the language of instruction (with some schools, to a lesser extent, providing education in Afrikaans in Southern Africa or Portuguese in PALOP countries2).

While Europe has a large speech community of L1 users of French, the vast majority of those with proficiency in French in Africa have the language as an L2 or L3. This distinction is significant because without the presence of L1 users, a language can quickly fall from grace if and when another language is utilized in education, and this is evident in regions which are not multilingual as well as where languages other than French have substantial relevance as a lingua franca. Even where French is the foremost language for cross-cultural communication, without the teaching and learning of French in schools, the medium would be severely weakened. Globalization is also a major factor in this respect, with the emergence of English as the language of international communication crowding out other European languages, not only in the European context but also in Africa and the Middle East.

3.2. Multilingualism and Plurilingualism in the European Union

Upon its inception in 1957 as the European Economic Community, in an effort to preserve diversity, provision was made for each member to designate one language as an official language. This resulted in the majority language of every member state, with the exception of Luxembourgish, having official language status (Hallstein, 1964). These languages receive considerable support, seeing as impressive numbers of skilled professionals are needed to take on the challenges of translation and interpretation. However helpful these rights are for the protection of diversity in the union, there are nevertheless inconsistencies evident in this arrangement, with Catalan, for example, which has considerably more L1 users than many official languages (4 million L1 users and 5 million additional language users (Babbel, 2021a)), receiving limited EU support, while Irish, a minority language in the Republic of Ireland (spoken by approximately 74,000 people on a daily basis (Central Statistics Office, n.d.)), enjoys the full advantages that come with official language status.

The decision to promote three ‘working languages’ or ‘procedural languages’ (English, French, and German), another cornerstone of the EU language policy, is also intended to address the challenges of governing a multilingual society which has no clear majority language. Here, there is an understanding that the use of these three languages, which were the largest in the EU in terms of mother-tongue speakers when Britain was a member, can make it easier to hold meetings at multiple levels of operation because the option of allowing the use of all official languages would require considerable resources (see Graves et al., 2021). This arrangement has survived Brexit, with the result now being that, with very few L1 users of English in the union, English has nevertheless persisted in being not only an official language but also one of the three working languages. But because it dominates the EU apparatus and is in most cases the basis for the translation of documents, the supremacy of English negates the notion that provision is made to prioritize three languages. In fact, throughout the inner workings of the EU, with the exception of the Court of Justice, where French is the working language, English is the most frequently used language in all respects, despite the many agreements which have been made that propose to guarantee the rights of the employees of the EU to use any official language.

This positioning for English has also negatively impacted efforts to promote plurilingualism. The EU wants its citizens to have knowledge of three languages, their mother tongue plus two additional languages, which is supported by the Erasmus+ exchange programs. Erasmus+ provides opportunities for tertiary-level students as well as teachers and researchers to move freely throughout the union to pursue their studies and to hone their professional skills. The EU believes this will lead to an increase in the number of people who have knowledge of three languages. However, because of the use of English as the medium of instruction by host country institutions, this mobility scheme does not support efforts to learn a third language but instead acts to give greater backing to English and to bilingualism. The incentive to learn the majority language of the host country is, as a result, reduced. As a response, the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (1992) was created to protect those languages in Europe which are struggling to maintain their vigor. Yet, despite efforts to defend the indigenous languages of Europe, one tongue, English, has nevertheless emerged as the dominant medium, with approximately 185 million proficient users, which is the largest community of additional language users of English worldwide. One consequence of this increase in L2 English proficiency among mainland Europeans is that it is now the case that the majority of those working for the EU conduct their business in English, and this propensity to use English for daily operations is also on the upswing in companies, organizations, and institutions of higher learning across all of the EU member states (Ammon, 1996; Modiano, 2024; Lasagabaster, 2022).

It is apparent that the language policy of the EU needs revision. The conventions, laws, and regulations which have a bearing on the forms, functions, and rights of languages within the EU apparatus are not supporting the establishment of a multilingual working environment, nor are efforts to promote plurilingualism leading to an increase in the acquisition of languages other than English among the general population (with only minor increases in Spanish taking place as a result of children and adolescents choosing Spanish over French and German as their L3 in their studies (Eurostat, n.d.)). Thus, because of a lack of decisive decision making and effective implementation of existing provisions, English, backed by educational authorities responsible for curriculum development, has been able to make considerable gains. The increasing use of EMI and English medium CLIL in schools, and EMI at European universities, contributes to the systematic marginalization of virtually all other European languages, languages which, in the past, were utilized at all levels of instruction. The fact that European researchers now almost exclusively publish their findings in English furthers this prioritization of English and as such makes other languages less valued, not only in the scientific community but also in society in general. The mistake which is being made with the management of Englishization in the EU is the lack of adequate support for indigenous languages, something which is potentially also a problem for Arabic in the Gulf. For Africa, the emergence of English as the dominant European language has more profound implications, seeing as the African continent has two prevalent European languages, both of which have over a hundred million users (Babbel, 2021b).

3.3. The Marginalization of French

French, more so than any other major European language, has seen its position reduced in rank by the upswing in the use of English in the EU. This is a natural course of events, seeing as French maintained a pivotal position in Europe prior to the rise of English that began in the post-war period. Increases across multiple domains on the part of one language cannot take place without a decline in the use of other mediums. English, because it is apparently destined to continue being the primary European lingua franca, is securing for French what can at best be a secondary position. What we must now address, at this point in time, are the consequences of this historical shift. It is apparent that this is not an isolated phenomenon but is more an indication of how European languages other than English will become less prominent over the coming decades. For Europe, unless measures are taken to protect indigenous languages, we will continue to see a whole array of European languages suffer from domain loss. What will most likely take place in Africa is an upswing in the status of Arabic in Northern Africa, and across the entire continent, a reduction in the number of people who can speak French, with English increasing its standing as the most common foreign language in the coming decades (of European origin). It is apparent as well that while English will continue to consolidate its position as the main lingua franca in the Middle East, it is uncertain what this will mean for the vitality of Arabic in the Gulf States.

In a comparison of Europe and Africa, the situation for French in Africa is essentially different because French in Africa was introduced through colonialization. Nowhere in Africa is French an indigenous language. Consequently, without the support of schools French will decline in Africa as the importance of English in education becomes more apparent. When learners target English as the first language of European origin they attempt to master, French either becomes an L3 or is dropped. The vast majority of children in Africa living in regions where French is the language of instruction in schools have Arabic or other African languages as their first language. As such, many children in Africa begin school without knowledge of the language of instruction. Only a tiny minority can speak French when they start school. Consequently, children in Africa who are not bilingual in their L1 and French before they start school, when having English as the medium of instruction in their education, or an indigenous language as the medium of instruction and English as the first foreign language they study, will not have French in their linguistic repertoire. In this respect, where English is prioritized in education and French is only available as an L3, few in the African context, those belonging to the elite classes, will invest in their children becoming proficient in both English and French.

French is essentially found in Africa in the north in those countries which are west of Egypt, in many countries which are located along the west coast, which are north of Angola, and in central Africa. Its widespread use is essentially a recent development. With increasing numbers of children attending school, and with French as the language of instruction, the percentage of people who can speak French increased substantially in the second half of the 20th century. We must keep in mind, however, that the actual number of foreign language users of French in Africa is difficult to ascertain. Much of the reporting is based on dubious census protocols. Essentially, there are three problems with many of the assessments circulating in the press as to the number of people in Africa who are proficient speakers of French. One is that many people in Africa who have studied French in school do not actually learn to speak the language. Instead, at best, many have only rudimentary knowledge of the tongue. Nevertheless, we often see in the literature the entire population of nation-states attributed a French-speaking status because French is an official language and is the language of instruction in schools.

A second problem is that there is little provision for the possibility that French is declining. What we are seeing, as we investigate each individual nation-state, is a movement toward introducing English in schools and the holding of lectures at the university level in English. This is apparently overlooked by those who want to claim that French is growing in stature. A third problem is that there is no provision for the sentiment across Africa to reject various manifestations of neocolonialism. Language promotion programs funded by the French government, through the Francophonie and the Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE), exemplify efforts to continue to benefit from involvement in the affairs of former colonies. Examples of aversion to this effort to promote cooperation with France can be found in Arabic-speaking regions, where some want to bring forth Arabic at the expense of French for reasons of national pride and identity, and in this respect, it is possible that English is seen as an acceptable alternative to French for school goers who study foreign languages. In other contexts where Arabic is not a majority language, there is a growing sense that English has greater utility, and for this reason, French may suffer over time as increasing numbers of learners vie for having English as the first foreign language they attempt to learn, as opposed to having French in that position.

French is spoken as an L1 in Europe by formidable numbers in Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Monaco, and Switzerland; in North America in Quebec; in South America in French Guiana; and in islands in the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, and the South Pacific such as St Martin, Réunion, and French Polynesia. It is primarily a foreign language in Lebanon and in many countries in Africa. Elsewhere, the language has only minor L1 representation and relatively few who become proficient speakers of the tongue. In Southeast Asia, Vietnam is often noted, where there are reports that there are approximately 700,000 foreign language speakers of French, with an additional 460,000 in Cambodia, but these numbers are dwindling as more and more people target English as their first choice, which is the trend across all of Asia (Ton & Pham, 2010; Babbel, 2023). Worldwide, there are approximately 80 million L1 users of French, and those with French as a second or foreign language number approximately 240 million.3 Because there is no reason to assume that the figures for L1 users will increase in any substantial manner, the possibility for French to grow in size and stature is dependent on young people attempting to acquire French in their studies of foreign languages. Yet, while nowhere in the world can we find any evidence of increases in the number of people who can speak French, there is a marked propensity on the part of Francophone language experts to periodically publish tracts which promote the idea that French is thriving and making advances.

3.4. The Marketing of French

In the media, as well as in books and articles, there is much discussion of how French is growing in stature on the African continent (as an example, see Gobry, 2014; Brown, 2019; Chutel, 2019). Unfortunately, when the data is scrutinized, it becomes apparent that the opposite is true. This negative shift in the status of French is taking place in three respects. One is the decline in the actual number of people who have French as a foreign language. What we have instead is that in populations where French was formally the first foreign language targeted in school, increasing numbers now have English after their mother tongue. Consequently, French becomes either an L3 or even an L4, or it is no longer pursued. For Europe, this can be observed in Italy, for example, where many people had French as the first language they studied in school. What is more common now, in Italy, is that people speak Italian and English and do not have knowledge of French (Pulcini, 2024). A similar pattern has been observed in the Netherlands (Gerritsen, 2024; van Oostendorp, 2012). The second respect is the extent to which French is utilized in education. This is relevant to the African context, where having French as the language of instruction in schools is vital to the survival of the language. The third area of decline is in the frequency of the use of French when French speakers in the public and private spheres interact with people who have other linguistic profiles. While in the past interaction often took place in French, many speakers of French now find their conversations with others becoming more and more dominated by English. This is evident for those who work in the EU agencies which are spread across Europe, where L1 users of French are now speaking English in the workplace.

In her article “The Future of French in the EU and Beyond” in Language Magazine, Kathy Stein-Smith writes that “by 2050, French will become the most widely spoken language in the world,” concluding that “more people are speaking and learning French today than ever before” (Stein-Smith, 2025). She speaks of “[p]riority areas [which] include Africa and the Middle East, [and] Europe” as regions where French is gaining ground (Stein-Smith, 2025). These observations are not supported by the data. French as an L2 or L3 is declining. We see clearly in the statistics that past traditions of learning French are being replaced by a propensity to target English. All of the Gulf States, for example, now have English as the medium of instruction in higher education, and this has spread to countries such as Algeria and Morocco, formerly bastions of French. When English is introduced as the medium of instruction in higher education, this has a profound effect on language learning in that there is then an awareness that children need to begin to prepare for this, with parents taking measures to guarantee that their children have the proficiency which is required. This initially takes place through the private tutoring of children, and in time, with the implementation of instruction in English in the public-school curriculum. Such a movement, in many countries in Africa which have French as an official language, will inevitably result in a decline in the use of French. This contradicts Stein-Smith’s claim that “[t]he same forces that have caused the rise of English in the world may do so for French,” if she means using English in higher education (Stein-Smith, 2025). English has other assets as well, in technology, business, and culture, which quantitatively far outshadow what is on offer from the French sphere of influence. It is not that French needs to have similar assets to English to maintain its position; it is the need to prevail in competition with English that is required.

In Africa, French is primarily found in Northern Africa (with over 100 million people living in countries which have French as an official language) and Central Africa (more than 380 million people in Francophone countries). How reliable are the statistics? Let us take Cameroon as an example. There, slightly more than half of the population speak French, but this is changing (Atindogbé & Koumassol, 2023). According to Samuel Atechi, “English is now en vogue in Cameroon—as every Cameroonian dreams of mastering it and using it, be they French-speaking or English-speaking” (Atechi, 2015, p. 86). This “movement towards English [which] has been observed in the last fifteen years” can be found throughout the region (Atechi, 2015, p. 75). Thus, categorizing 29 million people as French-speaking constitutes an exaggeration, yet, in reports on the future of French, it is commonly the case that the entire population of countries such as Cameroon are counted, when in reality far fewer there have knowledge of French; when this is the case, they are not mother tongue speakers but rather people who have acquired the language as a second language. For Burkina Faso, with a population of 23 million, at best one quarter of the population can speak French, and only a tiny percentage are L1 users (Diao-Klaeger, 2024). In Guinea, with a population of nearly 15 million, less than one-third speak French (Jansen, 2024). Consequently, out of the more than 380 million people in sub-Saharan Africa who live in countries where French is an official language, the actual number of people there who speak French is much less, with only a fraction of these people having the language as their mother tongue.

If we look at the Maghreb countries in Northern Africa, where Arabic is the majority mother tongue and where French is an official language—Algeria (46 million4), Libya (7 million), Mauritania (5 million), Morocco (38 million), and Tunisia (12 million)—we find similar results (Aitsiselmi & Marley, 2008). In total, in these countries, less than half can speak French, with statistics higher for Tunisia and lower for Libya. In Mauritania, for example, as reported by Taine-Cheikh, “Mauritania had … 604,000 [French speakers] in 2018 (Taine-Cheikh, 2023, p. 1), which is a much lower percentage in comparison to other countries in the region. Consequently, currently, between one third and half of the population are proficient in French in the Maghreb, as reported in TRTAfrika: https://trtafrika.com/africa/why-does-algeria-de-emphasise-french-adopt-english-15180439 (accessed on 4 February 2026).

More than a year after Algeria launched a pilot program to teach English in elementary schools, the country is hailing it as a success and expanding it, in a move that reflects a widening linguistic shift underway in former French colonies throughout Africa (TRTAfrika, 2023).

The authors go on to state the following:

[A]s France’s economic and political influence wanes throughout Africa, Algeria is among a longer list of countries gradually de-emphasising French as their main foreign language. This year, neighbouring Mali changed its constitution to remove French from its list of official languages and Morocco made English classes compulsory in high schools.

(TRTAfrika, 2023)

As a result of these declines in French, a good estimate of the number of people in Africa who are proficient in French is less than 200 million. The number of speakers of French in Europe is around 110 million, and in Canada, it is somewhat less than 10 million. In the rest of the world, the numbers are quite low. As such, it is not unreasonable to claim that worldwide, there are approximately 320 million people who speak French, with considerably more than half having French as a foreign or second language. English has more than 350 million L1 users, and there are well over a billion people who have English as an additional language.

We must also keep in mind that the number of L1 users of French worldwide is relatively stable. The only relevant way one can argue that French is growing in stature is if there are increases in the number of people who have French as an L2. Here, being the first foreign language one acquires is more significant in comparison to having competence in French as an L3 or an L4. This is because it is common for proficiency to be considerably better in the first additional language compared to when the language is an L3 or L4. Simply having rudimentary knowledge of French does little to elevate the status of French in relation to other languages, so one must be careful when assessing how many people can speak a language and only include those who are capable of communicating in the language without an excessive amount of misunderstanding taking place. It is evident that when looking at statistics on the number of people who can speak French, there is a tendency to include those who have studied French in school, without taking into consideration the fact that many people who study languages do not actually learn them to the extent that they are capable of having a conversation in that particular language.

In an overview of the development of French from the International Organization of La Francophonie (2022), reporting on the 14 African countries which make up the Conference of Ministers of Education of the States and Governments of La Francophonie (CONFEMEN), it is noted that the statistics “are not very reassuring.” Continuing, the authors note that, for the region, “more than 55% of students, on average, have not reached a “sufficient” level in language. Similarly, … in reading, more than half of the students (52.1%) are below the “sufficient” level of competence” (2022: 10). Here, we clearly see that in those nations in Africa which have had a tradition of using French in their educational systems, the success rates for school goers do not support the claim that French is growing in stature. The situation is even more dramatic in Morocco, where Vikram Kolli states the following:

In 2023, the Moroccan government began to incorporate English into public primary and secondary schools—English was previously only available in private schools—to improve students’ professional opportunities. The plan aims to offer English in all public primary and secondary schools by 2026. Although the Ministry of Education stated that the introduction of English “was never a break with the French language,” English is predicted to replace French as the most important second language in Morocco.

(Kolli, 2024)

With the implementation of English in education in countries such as Morocco, the probability that French will continue to thrive in Africa is now in question. What we will most likely see going forward is a movement toward either the use of English as the language of instruction in schools or the study of English as the first foreign language in primary and secondary education, and the use of English in higher education.

4. Discussion

Evidence of French dominance can be traced as far back as the 17th century, when it was not only commonly spoken by the aristocracy but was also the language of diplomacy. It was, moreover, a prominent spoken language among Europe’s elite while Latin was the preferred written medium in academia. Other major European languages, such as English, Italian, and Spanish, struggled to compete with French, while German emerged in the 19th century to challenge French as the most prestigious European language. This, however, abruptly came to an end in 1945 when Germany fell from grace as a result of the war. What then transpired was a dramatic upswing in the status of English. Over the course of some 500 years, French went from being the primary European language to now maintaining parity with German, behind English, as one of the three most important languages in Europe.

Today, in the European context, French competes not only with English but also with German. What distinguishes German is the fact that it has the most L1 users in Europe (approximately 95 million (Special Eurobarometer 540, 2023)), that it is widely spoken as an L1 across multiple European countries, and that Germany is an economic powerhouse, being the fourth largest economy in the world after the US, China, and Japan. When languages have such attributes, one would assume that this encourages learners to invest in them, seeing as such languages give them advantages which many other languages lack. But given that, German, like French, has been declining as the first foreign language Europeans acquire for quite some time. Why is this the case? Perhaps it is because German has little utility outside of Europe, which could also be the reason so few children and adolescents in Europe study Italian. Young people in the EU are pursuing languages which are not only relevant to the European experience but are also useful as mediums of communication internationally. One might have thought that French would be seen as having more usefulness for these very reasons, but this is not indicated by the choices Europeans are making. Thus, for French, we witness dwindling numbers of learners in virtually all contexts where it was until recently a prominent foreign language. German, on the other hand, was never a contender for global lingua franca status. Indeed, one can argue that French, as well, is not a language of wider communication (as many as 19 languages have more L1 users). If we look at the placement of French, taking into consideration L1 users as well as proficient users of French as an additional language, it is ranked sixth in the world behind English, Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, and Arabic. This is naturally impressive, but because of the increases made by English since the war, French, rather than advancing, has fallen behind.

It is also prudent to take into consideration the utility of a language within large corporations, international organizations, governments, international radio and television broadcasting concerns, the Internet, and for events such as the Olympic Games and the European Song Contest (Barbeau, 2022). The adoption or strengthening of French as the working language of such concerns could give French additional status, as would the use of French in academia, but at present, there is no indication that French is moving forward in any of these respects. We must also take into consideration the fact that French is often listed as an official language for international organizations. But while it was not uncommon for French to be the primary working language in the past, it no longer maintains this position in many organizations and instead is now used alongside other languages. This is what has taken place in the EU and the UN, and can also be observed, for example, in the International Monetary Fund, the International Olympic Committee, the International Red Cross, and the World Bank. Interestingly, Médecins Sans Frontières, a medical relief agency operating worldwide with its base in France, and with some 70,000 employees, has English as its working language (Wright, 2006). When looking closer at multinational concerns, we see that regardless of what languages are officially decreed in the statutes, English, at the expense of French, is being used more and more for daily operations.

5. Conclusions

While a chorus of Francophone voices continues to disseminate the understanding that French is gaining ground, the data points in another direction. There are a number of reasons why French is declining in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Obviously, the success of English is the major cause of this shift in the linguistic ecology of these regions. But as has been demonstrated in this discussion, the two most important factors, besides the success of other tongues, are the language of instruction in school and the first foreign language learners are encouraged to acquire. One result of the implementation of English in schools and in higher education across Francophone Africa will be a reduction in the vitality of French. This is less of a concern for Europe, which has a thriving community of L1 users across several countries. For Africa, however, the situation is quite different. Because there are relatively few L1 users in countries in Africa where French is spoken, the use of English in school and in tertiary education will without doubt mark the beginning of a more drastic decline in the language. This will be fueled by postcolonial ideologies which inspire Africans to celebrate their own cultural heritage and, in so doing, reduce the influence of the former European colonial power. As for the Middle East, where French had some success in the past, it is now clearly the case that English is the first additional language among those who have knowledge of European languages, and English is increasing in stature as the Englishization of higher education becomes even more evident in the region. What is transpiring in Lebanon, as the exception in this part of the world, will not have any bearing on these developments.

Because knowledge of European languages opens up opportunities for development, investment, and trade, Africans and the peoples of the Middle East are keenly aware of the fact that acquiring proficiency in European languages is of great value. In the tug of war between English and French, it appears to be the case that there is greater support for English. Apparently, the role English is playing in globalization is what is tipping the scales. If nothing unexpected occurs, it now seems to be inevitable that French will be replaced by English to a considerable extent across Francophone Africa, and that the peoples of the Middle East who have access to education, with the exception of the Christian population in Lebanon, will have English as the first foreign language they pursue in their studies, making English a vital medium in the daily lives of people in the Middle East and especially in the Gulf (Hopkyns & Elyas, 2022). As for Europe, English has secured its position as the most important lingua franca, and there is little evidence of this changing any time soon. Africa, on the other hand, is more in the balance, seeing as there are such large speech communities there that have impressive numbers of competent L2 speakers of French. Further study is now needed to see how this competition from English will play out. What is at stake, ultimately, is not only the role France is to have in African affairs but also how English will come to influence the lives of hundreds of millions of people living on the African continent.