Playing with language in a mediapromoted standardisation context: public broadcasting and adolescent linguistic practices in Flanders

Abstract

It is illustrated how the Flemish Belgian public broadcasting corporation intensifies an already marked project of linguistic standardisation, explicitly identifying substandard language use as sloppy. This standardising ambition can be said to backfire, however, when one observes the language games of a group of adolescents at school. For the latter, the traditional focus on Standard Dutch has made this variety available for play and masquerade. The broadcasting corporation’s renewed standardisation attempts therefore only seem to harm its own mission, marking substandard varieties as available for relief, enjoyment, and less status freighted interaction.