OK, let' s agree on a contributing factor , I have no real problem with that.
But the English clearance given to the Shorts was : " line up and wait number 2, " .The subsequent take off clerance in French to the MD could have been understood to be from another intersection , as everyone was confused as to who was at which intersection.(dixit both captains and the controller in the report )
The controller got it badly wong , that is for sure , but if the MD TO clearance would have been in English I personally doubt it would have made much difference, but we can debate this at lenght...
Anyway the BEA recommendation after this was for English only at CDG, at to this date the DGAC failed to implement this more than one day on the pressure of the Air France Pilot Unions. (CDG ATC was rather in favour of the recommendation if my memory serves me well..)