Toegepaste Taalwetenschap in Artikelen - Volume 6, Issue 1, 1979

Interest in the process of language change leads - among other things -to the study of the socio-cultural factors affecting this change and to the question whether this process can somehow be influenced by deliberate interventions. Affecting language evolution is possible at various levels - e.g. in connection with language as a communicative system and in connection with language as a social institution - and by various agencies. If it is done by the government and following some sort of explicitly formulated policy, one can speak of language planningA selective treatment of some important language planning processes elsewhere in the world is taken as starting point in order to illustrate concretely what the purpose and meaning of language planning may be. Next a survey is given of relevant factors and events in the linguistic history of the Netherlands. Our main conclusion in this respect is that one can scarcely speak of anything more than incentives to a policy of language planning. On the basis of these findings an attempt is made, finally, to advance some building blocks for an integrated language planning policy.

The present pilot-study was undertaken under the assumption that the acquisition of Dutch by migrant workers is governed by a complex set of social and individual factors including:- degree and kind of contact with Dutch people;- internalized norms governing the level of Dutch that migrants of different nationalities should reach;- individual integrative motivations.To determine which factors affect acquisition most, 20 Moroccans in Amsterdam, all of whom had been there for at least two years, were in-terviewed in depth.Topics discussed in the interview included facets of their life in the Netherlands, their work situation, contacts with other Moroccans and with Dutch people, motivation to learn Dutch, preceived threats to ethnic and religious identity, experience of discrimination, etc.A number of measures were calculated on the basis of the interview:- syntactic index (based on MLU, agreement, article use, copula deletion);- rating index (based on judgements of the Moroccans' taped speech by 48 subjects);- social index (based on age, education, civil state, contacts, occupation, living situation, etc.);- attitude index (including instrumental and integrative motivation, ethnic identity, sense of isolation);- self-rating index (based on the informants' rating of their own linguistic level in comparison with taped voices The following correlations were found between these measures: rating social attitude self-ratingsyntactic .82 .74 .64 .08social .59Further analysis of the informants' reactions to taped voices re-vealed: (a) a large gap between passive and active knowledge of Dutch; (b) stereotypes relating to a rather rigid stratification of ethnic groups in terms of their level in Dutch. Further research will have to reveal to what extent these stereotypes are normative for acquisition behavior.

Before 1968 foreign language teaching in non-vocational schools in the Netherlands presented a relatively simple and stable picture: French, German and English were compulsory subjects for all pupils and all pupils were examined in these subjects. Since then the situation has changed drastically. In 1968 a new law came into effect which made it possible for pupils to drop either one or two foreign languages - depending on the type of school they attend - well before their final exams. One of the most dramatic results was that more than half of the pupils decided not to take an exam in French. Also, the share of foreign languages in the curriculum dropped from ± 28% to 24.5%. Teachers and their associa-tions voiced their worries about the effects of the new law in their journals and in consultative committees. In response to this, the Ministry of Education requested the I.T.S (Instituut voor Toegepaste Sociologie = Institute of Applied Sociology) at Nijmegen to start a large-scale research project into foreign langufige needs in the Nether-lands .In this paper arguments for the teaching of modern foreign languages and the needs they are based on are examined. Three categories of needs are distinguished and it is argued that, in the Dutch situation, the cate-gory of needs for communicative foreign language skills carries most weight. Next it is argued that, although a foreign language teaching policy cannot be successful unless it is based on a consideration of foreign language needs, they are several other factors - language political, learning psychological, linguistic, educational - which should also be taken into account. Finally, some results of the I.T.S.-research project into foreign language needs are discussed in detail and it is concluded that these re-sults can be profitably used as a starting point for a fundamental discus-sion with regards to a well-balanced foreign language teaching policy for the future.

Theories about mother-tongue teaching and second language teaching (L1 and L2 teaching) converge on a number of aspects, viz. 1) com-municative orientation, 2) functional orientation, and 3) preference for authentic materials. Both LI and L2 theorists agree that the main teaching objective must be to give the pupils a certain level of com-municative capacity in L1 and L2 respectively (although opinions vary a great deal as to how to define the desired proficiency-level). The aim of the teaching is thus a functional, society-oriented one. L1 and L2 theorists are similarly agreed that methods and techniques employed in the teaching programme must also be functional vith respect to the main teaching objective. This goes also for the materials used, the dominant feeling being that these should be as much as possible authentic. Authenticity is more easily realized, it would seem, within LI teaching, as the pupils already possess a high degree of proficiency in their ovn language. One way of going about it would be to integrate LI teaching to a large extent in the teaching of other school-subjects. In L2 teaching this is obviously rather difficult, since the pupils in fact start from scratch. This latter fact means that In spite of the parallels that can be found, L3 and L2 teaching have completely different starting points, Since the whole acquisition process must take place within the L2 teaching situation, no L2 teaching programme can afford to overlook the grammatical aspects of the language taught. In the opinion, of certain L1 teaching theorists, on the other hand, mother-tongue teaching can very well do without grammar. The result is that in some approaches all the emphasis in LI teaching Is on the social aspects of language6 and attention to the language as a linguistic system is virtually nil. In such an approach L1 teaching becomes an emaneipatory, liberating process, From the point of view of L2 teaching this has some drawbacks, because in the teaching of grammatical aspects of L2 (be it explicitly or implicitly) awareness of a kind of structural and functional aspects of the grammatical system of the mother tongue can no longer be taken for granted. It is suggested that this is an undesirable situation and that steps should be taken by the appointed bodies to work out sorae kind of minimum grammar programme.

Since the introduction of the "Mammoth", the law that has reorganized our secondary school system, every elementary school pupil gets some forro of higher education. On the one hand this has in a certain sense decreased the importance of the elementary school, which used to be all the formal education the majority of Dutchman received, but on the other hand the elementary school has gained in importance as nowadays it has to prepare students for an educational system, which before long will require pupils to spend nine to ten years at school.In spite of differences of openion as to what consequences this change might have, thereis aggerment on a certain number of points, among which the position thai one has to determine for each of the different school subjects, what subject or parts of subjects belong in the elementary school programme and which ones in secondary education.Among the new subjects that for different reasons stand a good chance of being introduced in the "new style" elementary school is the teaching of a first foreign language. The reason for this is that it is felt that in the near future every Dutchman will need communicative knowledge of at least one foreign language. As attaining this goal requires time, it has been proposed to distribute the time needed for learning a foreign language over elementary and secondary schools.The bill that will be introduced to Parlement later this year will contain a paragraph on English in the elementary school. This paper gives some arguments for and against the introduction of English in the elementary school.

First a short overview aims at a more realistic understanding of the contemporary Frisian-Dutch bilingual situation in the province of Friesland. Some historical lines are drawn and some figures are given on proficiency in Frisian of the population (97% can understand it, 83% can speak it, 69% can read it and 31% can write it to some extent). Yet Dutch has been the dominant language for over four centuries in public life and administration.Social norms regulate the use of Frisian in different domains. The administrative sector and education are discussed in more detail. The provincial government nowadays fully recognizes the existence of a bilingual situation and intends to develop an even more active policy. The national Dutch government, although it provided some minimal legal measures, has in fact not done much more than to "officially acknowledge" Frisian as a language.Almost all education is in Dutch. Some primary schools have had bilingual programs for the last 25 years. In 1980 a law comes into effect which makes it mandadory for all primary schools to teach Frisian as a subject in at least one grade for one hour per week.Language politics per se is evaluated in ternis of categories influencing the formulation of policies toward Frisian. Two research projects are mentioned (a general language survey and an evaluation of bilingual education where scientific influence on policy is clear. Lobbies like the Council of the Frisian Movement, have exerted great influence. They aim at more regio-nal autonomy, not only in language matters. In the national political arena there is no lasting concern, notwithstanding all protestations of "good will". On the provincial level a report last year meant a setting of goals toward equal rights for both languages.In conclusion it is said that Frisian society seems to be gradually moving into a situation where Dutch and Frisian have equal rights and are equally valued. But it will be a slow process of social change, especially since many Frisian speakers still consider their language to be inferior to Dutch and think that using it is also an inferior activity,

In this paper I deal with the attitude toward dialect and standard language in primary education. I criticize the negative attitude toward dialect, and refer to the internationnally recognized right to use one's own language. I propose to base the discussion about language and education, which basically is a political discussion, on the notion 'mother tongue'. I contrast two definitions of mother tongue: on the one side mother tongue as the language of primary socialization, on the other side as the language of a nation. The shift from the one definition to the other determines language attitude in education. I glance at the ideological background of the idea of the superiority of the standard language (standard Dutch generally called 'General Civilized Dutch'). Finally I offer some suggestions on how to teach children the standard language, while avoiding to stimulate a negative attitude toward one's own mother tongue and that of others.

In the multilingual community of Surinam the official language is Dutch. This language has occupied the official status during almost three centuries of colonial government, the intermediate stage of self-government (as part of the kingdom of the Netherlands from 1954 through 1975) and after complete independence in 1975. Though the status of official language did not change, a different language policy had to be adopted with respect to different role components in each of four historical periods. The language policy adopted in each of these periods can be considered the result of social changes which took place, and of attitudinal changes with respect to the functioning of other languages in the community. The changing role of the Dutch language in the four periods is discussed in terms of its changing socio-linguistic profile. The first change was that from an ethnic group specific position (the European population only) to an obligatory position which concerned the whole population. In each of these two periods Dutch was used in relation to all main functions (communication* education., religion and literature). During the period in which Dutch played the ethnic specific role the language Sranan was used as a promoted language to perform the same functions for the slave population of the 17th, 18th and 19th century. This language was also used as language of communication between the Europeans and the slaves. The social change from a slavery society to a society of citizens only had forced the governement to discourage the use of Sranan and to consider Dutch the only language in the country. This obligatory position was eventually disregarded in favor of a partial role of the Dutch language in a multicultural society. The recognition by the government of a multitude of cultural ambitions has led it to accept the possibility of the sharing of functions among languages. Especially with respect to intergroupcoinmunication and literature, the recognition-of the role of Sranan as national language became the main feature of this period. However, the emergency of Surinam-Dutch, as a variety (xized language) of the Dutch language used by the majority of the Dutch speaking community in Surinam, has given the governement of the new republic of Surinam an opportunity to promote cultural integration by means of this language variety. Though this too will have to share functions with Sranan (inter-group communication, literature, etc.), it is suggested that a stan-dardized version might not only change its promoted language status into that of national official language but also give a better criterion to judge and to stimulate performances in education and literature.

The Dutch government has never developed an active long-range policy concerning the more than 400.000 speakers of other languages currently living in the Netherlands, mainly because it was assumed that their stay in the Netherlands would be temporary only.This paper discusses the facilities provided so far for speakers of other languages in this country, specifically in the field of language-teaching. Next the results of research into Dutch as a second language are discussed and it is suggested how a consistent policy may be developed.

The author's discourse is based on four propositions:1. Language is an organized way of thinking, just like mathematics. Knowledge of words is not enough; grammar and syntax are essential for a consistent, effective and correctly structured way of thinking, just like propositions in mathematics.2. The section of the population that has attended a secondary school is decisive for the professions that shape the cultural, technical and scientific aspects of a nation. Their education is therefore of vital importance for the cultural future of a nation.3. The abolishment in the Netherlands of the obligation to acquire at secondary school a working knowledge of the languages of the three great, surrounding nations at reading-, listening- and "faltering" level is a historical blunder of the first magnitude.4. The partial loss of knowledge of the foreign languages, especially of the indispensable grammatical grasp, weakens the mastery of the native language as well. It significantly increases the danger of faulty interpretation of difficult sentences in scientific literature, both in native and in foreign languages, but also in business contracts'.Research has shown that the large majority of academic staff and students at technical universities in the Netherlands can use English and German with reasonable facility, whereas the skills listening and reading (not to mention speaking) in French have nearly disappeared during the last few years. Both categories admit the importance of a minimal grasp of French, and the Russian and Spanish languages are considered to be useful (or even very useful) by many. The results of these enquiries are discussed briefly.In the coming period of government induced impoverishment of university studies in the Netherlands an increase in time allotted to language courses within the technical curricula seems improbable. The student who wishes to improve his mastery of languages will therefore have to study these as optional subjects. This makes it all the more important for language courses offered by the universities to be highly attractive.Extension of the secondary school curricula with an extra language would be a more effective measure, though, because of the better possibility of paying attention to grammatical aspects. Language courses at univer-sities must, due to the limited amount of time available, be restricted to reading and speaking lessons and exercises.There is an unforunate tendency to forget that knowledge of languages like Spanish or French improves the cultural and aesthetic development of the student. The importance of this has been mentioned under 2.

After 1970 the need for (or lack of) knowledge of foreign languages in industry-business has been investigated occasionally.Without entering directly into the value and the results of these investigations, it can cautiously be established that they contribute as such to the realisation of linguistic aspects of problems surrounding communication in the world of industry.In a linguistic community like the Netherlands, there is a greater need than in larger linguistic communities for special attention paid to international communication for which a knowledge of foreign languages constitutes an elementary tool.Attention is paid to some backgrounds of the current ap-proach to the problem of foreign languages in industries, whereby, simultaneously, causes of emergency situations are being searched for which can result in demands for training:a. the shortage of organised attention in a company or institution for the function of communication;b. demands of foreign language ability as a marginal phenomenonm in a package of function/job requirements;c insufficient insight on the part of many employees into what knowledge/ability in a foreign language represents, frequently coupled with an underdevelopment of personal learning strategies.

The final studies on foreign language needs in the Netherlands, carried out by the Institute of Applied Sociology (ITS), were published in May 1978, and reported the results of a survey among pupils, former pupils and management in secondary education as well as university staff-members and foreign language users in business and government.Concerning the actual use of foreign languages the order is (1) English, (2) German, (3) French (at some distance), and (at great distance) (4) Spanish and (5) Russian. Concerning the deficiencies in the use of foreign languages the order is reversed, though Russian (a) and Spanish (2) were not paid as much attention in these studies as French (3), German (4) and Fnglish (5). Moreover, in the latter case the distance between French on the one hand and German and English on the other is much greater. This is understandable: English and German are easier for Dutchman than French, Spanish and Russian. If one takes into consideration rather important data such as (a) position and distribution of the relevant languages in the world, (b) the export figures, which are of vital impor-tance for our economy, (c) the specialist literature published in each language, and (d) tourism and recreation, the order mentioned above is to some extent different. With (a) French takes precedence over German. With (c) Russian is in second position after English for the sciences, while there is little difference between French and German. With (b) and (d) the order is German, French, English, whereas Spanish is more important than English in the field of tourism.This last kind of data indicates a more potential need; these data are in addition less susceptible to language use and language deficiencies in the case of phenomena such as unknown , unloved and the line of least resistance? which cause Dutchman to use English and German rather than French, Spanish or Russian.There is a great dicrepancy between FL teaching at secondary schools and the needs of society as outlined above. This holds especially for vocational education, but also for other kinds of secondary education where the three formerly obligatory languages French, German and English have been reduced to two languages or even one, at least in the higher forms. Especially French has suffered by this reduction, while Spanish and Russian receive only scant attention.It is suggested to bring vocational FL teaching in line with society's needs, both in the number of languages and in the number of periods per language. Secondary education will benefit by a return to the teaching of three languages for the A stream, and two for the ? stream, in the latter case only one language being a Germanic one in order to counteract the Pline of least resistance". Spanish and Russian should be options, too, but only in the higher forms. Therefore an increase in the number of periods per week and the number of exam-subjects is necessary to half the number required before the introduction of the "Mammoet" law.These suggestions for a FL educational policy to bridge the gap between society1s needs and what is at present being offered in FL teaching are submitted for discussion.The complete text of this paper will appear in a series of articles in the 1979 issues of Levende Talen under the title "Van behoeftenonderzoek naar onderwijsbeleid - enige kanttekeningen bij de recente ITS-studies."