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Author: Loes Boers (6473040)

Newspaper: The Multicultural Society
Topic: Multiple identities/belongings (of migrants)
Word Count: 868

Bilingual? I thought you only speak Dutch and Turkish?

CDA minister Verhagen stated in 2011 that “the multicultural society had failed”
because multi-ethnic inhabitants of the Netherlands needed to adopt more Dutch values and
should identify as being Dutch before any other ethnicity (Verhagen: Multiculturele, 2016).
“Integration has failed” and “the multicultural society has failed” are regularly uttered
statements when the success of the multicultural society, or the lack thereof, is discussed in
the Netherlands. One aspect of a culture is its language(s) (Bordewijk, 2019). In a
multicultural society it is likely that multiple languages are spoken, but in order to ‘be Dutch’
it is often deemed necessary to be able to speak Dutch, and to speak it well. Similarly to
Verhagen’s statement, the VVD argued in its campaign in Rotterdam in 2014: “In Rotterdam
we speak Dutch” (Campagneposter VVD, 2016). This idea has also been prominent in
secondary education in the Netherlands, as I will argue. Multiple aspects of the issue of
multilingualism in secondary education will be highlighted in this column by using my
experience as a tutor, because of which I have visited many secondary schools in the
Netherlands.
In 2020, I worked at a school in Amsterdam, an ethnically diverse city. Throughout
the school, there were posters stating: “At school we speak Dutch.” A reason why educators
may want students to speak Dutch is because they want all students to perform well in school.
Children of Moroccan descent, for instance, are in multiple researches said to have lower
educational performance due to their struggle with the Dutch language. Little attention is paid
to their experiences as an ethnic minority though, which is found to be of influence as well
(Turcatti, 2018). Furthermore, the use of a non-Dutch L1 at home or at school does not lead to
an educational disadvantage, as long as the school provides enough opportunities for students
to learn how to academically use the school language, in this case Dutch (Cummins, 2019).
The focus on Dutch is therefore not a way to avoid low academic performance. Moreover, if
students perform below-average at school, many factors can affect this; low-SES and being
part of a marginalised group being of large influence (Cummins, 2019).
One way to marginalise a group is by assigning them, and in this case also their
language, an inferior position in society. This can lead to code-switching. Some Moroccan-
Dutch children, for instance, feel like they have to find appreciation for the Moroccan part of
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their identity outside of school because they cannot find it at school. They try to highlight the
Dutch part of their identity at school, but they are still excluded from Dutch identity by fellow
students and teachers (Turcatti, 2018). This code-switching is unsuccessful, because they are
not considered Dutch, but their other ethnicities are not appreciated either, embodied through
the prohibition to speak Berber or Arabic. Code-switching is in a way always unsuccessful, if
people have to deny a part of their identity in order to try to be accepted.
Ironically, in all of these schools French, Dutch, German, English, Greek, Latin and
sometimes Spanish are taught. This also aligns with the European Commission’s ambition
that each citizen speaks two foreign languages in addition to their first language (Hubackova,
2016). Why is it then discouraged that students speak a non-Dutch language at school, but
also encouraged at the same time through foreign language courses? Or do we actually mean
that at school we don’t speak non-western languages, but we do speak western languages? If
that is the message we convey to students, how do we expect them to behave towards people
with different cultural backgrounds outside of school? They surely cannot all start living in
Rotterdam in order to avoid languages that are not Dutch.
“Integration has failed.” Perhaps it has. Integration is after all a celebration of the
coexistence of cultures; a truly open-minded meeting of people with differences and
similarities that are allowed to be there and are appreciated (Berry, 2005). Did you notice my
sloppiness in not providing a definition of integration at the beginning of this piece? No?
Then it comes as no surprise if you did not notice the westernisation of the term ‘integration’
in politics and, possibly as a result, in schools. To say that integration has failed because
immigrants do not speak Dutch well enough only highlights one aspect of integration, which
is actually assimilation (Berry, 2005). Perhaps integration has failed indeed, just not due to the
so often highlighted reason: the bad command of Dutch of migrants, newcomers or multi-
ethnic people who live in the Netherlands. It has failed because of the self-assigned
superiority of Dutch and other western languages. It has failed because of the denial of the
diversity found in Rotterdam and in the Netherlands in general. It has failed because of the
lack of interest in the bilingual or multilingual skills of many Turkish-Dutch, Moroccan-
Dutch and other multi-ethnic students.
In the Netherlands you may speak Dutch, but we speak Berber, Pashto, French,
Turkish, Dutch, Ukrainian and many other beautiful languages. And you better appreciate it.
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How do you think bilingualism and multilingualism can be celebrated in secondary schools?
Let us know on our website!

References:
Berry, J. W. (2005). Acculturation: Living successfully in two cultures. International Journal
of Intercultural Relations 29, 697-712. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2005.07.013
Bordewijk, P. (2019, March 7). Diversiteit staat haaks op de multiculturele samenleving. Vrij
Links. URL: https://www.vrij-links.nl/paul-bordewijk/diversiteit-staat-haaks-op-de-
multiculturele-samenleving/
Campagneposter VVD wekt grote afschuw op. (2016, March 4). AD. URL:
https://www.ad.nl/rotterdam/campagneposter-vvd-wekt-grote-afschuw-op~a0187d89/
Cummins, J. (2015). Inclusion and Language Learning: Pedagogical Principles for Integrating
Students from Marginalized Groups in the Mainstream Classroom. 95-116.
Hubackova, S. (2016). The importance of foreign language education. New Trends and Issues
Proceedings on Humanities and Social Sciences 2(5), 98-101. DOI:
10.18844/prosoc.v2i5.1108
Turcatti, D. (2018). The educational experiences of Moroccan Dutch youth in the
Netherlands: place-making against a backdrop of racism, discrimination and
inequality. Intercultural Education 29(4), 532-547. DOI:
10.1080/14675986.2018.1483796
Verhagen: Multiculturele samenleving is mislukt. (2016, February 2). AD. URL:
https://www.ad.nl/binnenland/verhagen-multiculturele-samenleving-
mislukt~a57cc8cc/