Euskararen egoeraz Iparraldean : ohar batzuk sarrera gisa

Abstract : The object of this article is to make some reflections about the situation of the Basque language in the Basque Country of France (Iparraldea). According to sociolinguistic investigations, the speakers, all bilingual, represented 24.7 % of the population in 2001 against 33.1 % in 1991. The family transmission of the language is weak, and, even if the Basque language is regarded as one of the principal characteristics of the Basque identity, few of the people in the study wished to learn it. The legislation does not recognize the Basque language as an official language, it merely authorizes its teaching on a volunteer basis. The linguistic policy that the authorities set up puts considerable emphasis on teaching, but the older the pupils are, the less likely they are to learn it. This policy, based on motivation, will run up against the fact that to know Basque is not essential to life in Iparralde ; few jobs are proposed and the fields where the Basque language is only language are far from numerous (immersive teaching, some radios, some families). One of the keys will be to be able to create other unilingual social spaces.