Although the Flemish media have in recent years often been claimed to promote the useof a Flemish, substandard variety of Dutch rather than Standard Dutch, there are as yetlittle empirical data to confirm or disprove this claim. This paper therefore presents acomparative empirical analysis of language use in one genre, namely fiction, broadcastby the Flemish public broadcasting corporation (VRT) in the early 1980s and the late2000s. It reveals considerable substandard language use in both periods, as well as anincrease of substandard language use over time. These results are interpreted within thebroader frame of the VRT’s language policy and production practices in the two periodsunder investigation.
