Tweede Taal en Moedertaal bij Laagopgeleiden

On the basis of the results in spontaneous second language acquisition research it is argued that, in second language teaching, the learner's first language is used to a lesser extent than is useful for the adult learner who has no other language learning experience than learning his mother tongue. Examples are given of learners, who after having been exposed to Dutch for three years, still construct their L2 expressions on the basis of the grammatical structure of their L1. The problem is that (1) teachers do not recognize these L2 expressions as such, (ii) the course material is made from the perspective of the L2 and does not take into account the specific problems of a language group, and (iii) the instruction in the classroom is in a language that is insufficiently understood.