Discussion of Problems of Multilingualism in the Luxembourgish newspaper Luxemburger Wort

In this article, the author analyzes the discussion of the problems engendered by a multilingual society in Luxemburger Wort, the largest Luxembourg newspaper. The empirical basis of the research was publications on language topics in 2016-18. The author carried out their qualitative and quantitative content analysis. Currently, the official languages of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg are German, French and Luxembourgish. By law, all three languages are equal in rights, but in real life there is their informal division depending on the sphere of use: French is the only language of legislation and the preferred language of administration; German is the dominant language of print media; Luxembourgish is the language of everyday communication and national television and radio broadcasting. However, this division is relatively arbitrary and often all three languages are interchangeable. In addition, because of the large number of immigrants living in Luxembourg, more languages are gaining more weight, primarily Portuguese, which is by far ahead of French and German. Luxemburger Wort is a multilingual periodical with a predominance of articles in German. On average, two to four articles on language are published each month in Luxemburger Wort: about government measures in the field of language policy, innovations in the educational system, recent linguistic research, the appearance of new publications, television programs, etc. in Luxembourgish, and so on. The problems of multilingualism discussed in Luxemburger Wort in general can be divided into two groups: problems of the integration of the younger generation and of foreigners coming to Luxembourg into the multilingual society, and problems of a possible violation of the existing language balance or of the need to change it. In this case, it is primarily about the danger of displacing the Luxembourgish language by others. The tone of publications in Luxemburger Wort on the problems of language integration can be described as neutral. Articles abound with citations of experts, with statistics. Personal opinions of journalists give way to the fact: multilingualism has existed and will exist, and the question is not whether it is good or bad, but in how to study, live and work in its conditions. Experts give answers to the latter. The newspaper writes about the problem of the situation of the Luxembourgish language and the risk of its extinction more subjectively and even emotionally. The total number of materials reviewing the situation from the positive side prevails over the number of "negative" articles. In general, Luxemburger Wort publishes a variety of views on linguistic issues and fully reflects the complex, contradictory process of the functioning of a multilingual, multicultural society, as well as the controversial attitude of Luxembourgers towards this process.

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