{"id":3953,"date":"2026-07-13T16:06:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T14:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/?p=3953"},"modified":"2026-07-13T16:06:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T14:06:17","slug":"language-infrastructure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/language-infrastructure\/","title":{"rendered":"When language becomes infrastructure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>In Belgium, the linguistic border is everywhere in everyday life. Train announcements change, street signs follow regional rules, and schools work through separate language systems. Drawing on anthropological fieldwork in Flanders, Lingman Wan traces how this border is made and reproduced: not simply as a line on a map or a rule in law, but as everyday infrastructure that quietly shapes access to public services, educational trajectories, individual language practices and, ultimately, the boundaries of community.<\/strong> (Text: Lingman Wan)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A language border woven into daily life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Flanders, the linguistic border is built into the ordinary machinery of public life. Administrative procedures make Dutch the language of forms, registrations and official documents. Street signs, public notices and train announcements turn this rule into something visible and audible in the city. Local festivals, documentaries and city stories then give this environment historical depth, making Flanders feel like a shared cultural world. Step by step, the border moves from procedure to space, and from space to memory, gradually settling into common sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Schools carry the boundary forward<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Schools also help carry the linguistic border across generations. From early language screening to later language tests, students\u2019 language development is observed, supported and followed up. Students\u2019 own language worlds are often richer than this institutional framework. Yet in Lingman\u2019s materials, different languages appear in a relatively clear order. Dutch connects school life, family communication and future plans. English opens outward to the wider world, and French is more often placed in school learning and travel. Schools therefore help give different languages different functions and different public weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How people carry the border with them<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through language biographies across generations, Lingman shows how social changes shape individual language habits. Dutch remains the stable basis for work and public participation. English is increasingly used as an everyday tool, while French has gradually shifted toward a more external, aestheticized cultural reference. People therefore also carry the border forward through their choices about which languages to learn, use and invest in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For migrants, this border becomes more visible. In integration courses, job searches and administrative procedures, Dutch often functions as a practical threshold for entering Flemish public life. At the same time, learning Dutch can become a way to show effort, responsibility and willingness to participate. In this process, the linguistic border enters migrants\u2019 self-understanding and everyday practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why this matters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In everyday life, Belgium\u2019s linguistic border often operates as something taken for granted. Yet when we look across different settings, we see that this order is produced through the combined work of schools, administrative procedures, public services, cultural narratives, and individual language choices. Rather than treating these scenes as separate details, Lingman\u2019s research invites us to understand them as an interconnected infrastructure, one that allows the linguistic border to settle gradually into a stable social order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Want to know more? Come listen to the doctoral defence on 21 July 2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-outline is-style-outline--1\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-black-color has-luminous-vivid-amber-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color has-medium-font-size has-custom-font-size wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uantwerpen.be\/en\/about-uantwerp\/faculties\/faculty-of-arts\/research-and-valorisation\/doctoral-research\/phd-defences\/\">Doctoral defence<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Contact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lingman Wan | <a href=\"mailto:Lingman.Wan@student.uantwerpen.be\">Lingman.Wan@student.uantwerpen.be<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">University of Antwerp \/ Yunnan University<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lingman Wan examined Belgium\u2019s linguistic border as infrastructure in Flanders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":3955,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,48],"tags":[108,406,100],"coauthors":[58],"class_list":["post-3953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english","category-toegepaste-taalkunde","tag-doctoraatsonderzoek","tag-lingman-wan","tag-toegepaste-taalkunde"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>When language becomes infrastructure - bladspiegel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/language-infrastructure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"nl_BE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When language becomes infrastructure - bladspiegel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lingman Wan examined Belgium\u2019s linguistic border as infrastructure in Flanders.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/language-infrastructure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"bladspiegel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-13T14:06:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-13T14:06:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PXL_20260713_112851140-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1706\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tine Van den Poel De Clippeleire\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Geschreven door\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tine Van den Poel De Clippeleire\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Geschatte leestijd\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minuten\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label3\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data3\" content=\"Tine Van den Poel De Clippeleire\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/language-infrastructure\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/language-infrastructure\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tine Van den Poel De Clippeleire\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5640b27f5063c738bb158d182e7b0b0\"},\"headline\":\"When language becomes infrastructure\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-13T14:06:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-13T14:06:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/language-infrastructure\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":503,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/language-infrastructure\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/PXL_20260713_112851140-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Doctoraatsonderzoek\",\"Lingman Wan\",\"Toegepaste taalkunde\"],\"articleSection\":[\"English\",\"Toegepaste taalkunde\"],\"inLanguage\":\"nl-BE\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/language-infrastructure\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/language-infrastructure\\\/\",\"name\":\"When language becomes infrastructure - bladspiegel\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/language-infrastructure\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/language-infrastructure\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/PXL_20260713_112851140-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-13T14:06:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-13T14:06:17+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/language-infrastructure\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"nl-BE\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/language-infrastructure\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"nl-BE\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/language-infrastructure\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/PXL_20260713_112851140-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/PXL_20260713_112851140-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1706,\"caption\":\"Infopaneel in een Vlaams station\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/language-infrastructure\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"When language becomes infrastructure\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/\",\"name\":\"bladspiegel\",\"description\":\"bladspiegel\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"nl-BE\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"bladspiegel\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"nl-BE\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/cropped-lw-nl-white.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/cropped-lw-nl-white.png\",\"width\":995,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"bladspiegel\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5640b27f5063c738bb158d182e7b0b0\",\"name\":\"Tine Van den Poel De Clippeleire\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.uantwerpen.be\\\/bladspiegel\\\/author\\\/tine-vandenpoeldeclippeleire\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"When language becomes infrastructure - bladspiegel","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/language-infrastructure\/","og_locale":"nl_BE","og_type":"article","og_title":"When language becomes infrastructure - bladspiegel","og_description":"Lingman Wan examined Belgium\u2019s linguistic border as infrastructure in Flanders.","og_url":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/language-infrastructure\/","og_site_name":"bladspiegel","article_published_time":"2026-07-13T14:06:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-13T14:06:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1706,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PXL_20260713_112851140-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Tine Van den Poel De Clippeleire","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Geschreven door":"Tine Van den Poel De Clippeleire","Geschatte leestijd":"3 minuten","Written by":"Tine Van den Poel De Clippeleire"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/language-infrastructure\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/language-infrastructure\/"},"author":{"name":"Tine Van den Poel De Clippeleire","@id":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/#\/schema\/person\/f5640b27f5063c738bb158d182e7b0b0"},"headline":"When language becomes infrastructure","datePublished":"2026-07-13T14:06:16+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-13T14:06:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/language-infrastructure\/"},"wordCount":503,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/language-infrastructure\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PXL_20260713_112851140-scaled.jpg","keywords":["Doctoraatsonderzoek","Lingman Wan","Toegepaste taalkunde"],"articleSection":["English","Toegepaste taalkunde"],"inLanguage":"nl-BE"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/language-infrastructure\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/language-infrastructure\/","name":"When language becomes infrastructure - bladspiegel","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/language-infrastructure\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/language-infrastructure\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PXL_20260713_112851140-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-13T14:06:16+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-13T14:06:17+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/language-infrastructure\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"nl-BE","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/language-infrastructure\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"nl-BE","@id":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/language-infrastructure\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PXL_20260713_112851140-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PXL_20260713_112851140-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1706,"caption":"Infopaneel in een Vlaams station"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/language-infrastructure\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"When language becomes infrastructure"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/","name":"bladspiegel","description":"bladspiegel","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"nl-BE"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/#organization","name":"bladspiegel","url":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"nl-BE","@id":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cropped-lw-nl-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cropped-lw-nl-white.png","width":995,"height":250,"caption":"bladspiegel"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/#\/schema\/person\/f5640b27f5063c738bb158d182e7b0b0","name":"Tine Van den Poel De Clippeleire","url":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/author\/tine-vandenpoeldeclippeleire\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3953"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3956,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3953\/revisions\/3956"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3953"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/bladspiegel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=3953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}