Tweede-Taalverwerving Door Turkse en Marokkaanse Kinderen

In second language acquisition two aspects may be distinguished, namely structure (or order and speed or success) of second language acquisition. The structure of second language acquisition is mainly determined by cognitive strategies and has a strong universal character. Speed, however, is for the greater part determined by the socio-economic background and socio-cultural orientation of the learners and the kind and intensity of contact with the second language.The two aspects distinguished here are object of a 4-year longitudinal research project called 'The speed and Structure of Second Language Acquisition of Turkish and Moroccan Children', which started in June 1981. After a description of the project, the first preliminary results are presented. It is stated that there are large differences between the children in the level of proficiency in Dutch and in the speed of language acquisition, and that, over all, their vocabulary is very weak.