French in Saarland

In 2014, the German federal state of Saarland introduced its ‘France Strategy’, which comprises the objective to make French a second vehicular language next to German. This article investigates linguistic practices in Saarland’s population and attitudes towards French and the region’s language policy. An online survey carried out in spring 2017 with roughly 1,200 participants reveals a generally positive stance towards the objectives of the strategy and the French language, especially in the education system. The quantitative findings of the survey, including opinions about specific measures of the ‘France Strategy’, are complemented by qualitative data from comments given at the end of the survey, which reveal the reasoning behind the arguments made both for and against the aims of the strategy. Saarland’s society turns out to be surprisingly multilingual already and therefore offers a promising setting to further enhance the region’s multilingualism.