U.S. English Foundation Research
NETHERLANDS
Language Research
3. Language issues: Where does one observe language to be a problem in the country?
Ethnic minorities appear to face a stubborn problem in unfair opportunity. Research shows that many among the five major ethnic groups in the Netherlands - the Turks, Moroccans, Surinamers, Antilleans and Cape Verdians - continue to suffer deprivation in education and work even through the second generation.
Attempts are being made to balance the differences against a number of factors, including language, which cause the ethnic population to differ from the native population. This process of “matching” has not been successful to date. Interviews with youngsters from minority ethnic groups indicate that they do want to find a place within Dutch society, but equally show that their socio-economic integration is as yet too poor to permit any significant opportunity. A lack of fluency in the host language, caused by educational deficiencies, is one of the roots of the deprivation spiral.
Another may be in the reunification of the families of those who have immigrated in advance, alone to the Netherlands. The newly arrived dependants, particularly in the Turkish and Moroccan communities are often especially isolated. They speak no Dutch, have few contacts outside the family circle, and cannot find employment. The children start life in the same restricted sphere.
This new generation, on the other hand, grows up much more in contact with the Dutch language and culture, primarily through school, than their parents. This can lead the second generation, and more often the third, born in the Netherlands, to have only a poor command of their parents' language and to tend to feel more at home in the Dutch culture than that of their parents'. This not only can give rise to internecine conflict, but also tends to create further resentment in their parents.
Some parts of the bigger cities in the Netherlands were - and still are - characterized by a high percentage of long-term unemployment and a relatively high level of crime, often drug-related. This trend is easily perceived to result from the presence of a large proportion of ethnic minorities, often with large families. The emergence of “black schools” is one expression of the problems that arise in these neighborhoods, and an unfortunate expression, for its long-term deprivation effect.
LOW-SAXON
Low Saxon speakers in the Netherlands have called on the Council of Europe to pressurize the Dutch government into granting further recognition to their language. This followed an on-the-spot mission by the Council of Europe's Committee of Experts on Minority Languages to the Netherlands in February 2000. Until now the Dutch government has refused to recognize Low Saxon in Chapter III of the Charter, because there are no legal arrangements for the use of Low Saxon in public administration or courts of justice. The government is opposed to such regulations, and therefore Low Saxon is “caught in a vicious circle”, according to Bloemhoff, the spokesman of the Federation of Low Saxon Language Organizations (SONT). “It appears to me that the government wants to restrict the recognition in Chapter III just to Frisian, because the Frisians give them enough trouble already”, Bloemhoff claimed. SONT also claims that staff levels at the department for Low Saxon studies at the University of Groningen have been reduced due to cuts of 50% in its already limited annual budget. Various applications for publications in Low Saxon at national cultural funds have been denied with the argument that Low Saxon is not recognized in Chapter III of the Charter. The exclusion of Low Saxon from Chapter III provisions has often been used to refuse applications for funding of publications in the language.
FRISIAN
The Dutch government has been warned to improve urgently the position of the Frisian language in education. The warning came from a member of the Council of Europe's Committee of Experts from the Charter for Minority or Regional Languages, which was visiting the Netherlands in February of 2000. Committee member and former MEP, Piet Dankert, told Eurolang that there are “important gaps” between the Charter provisions, which the Dutch government signed, and the actual situation, especially in the field of education. Although the Dutch government ratified the provision that ‘a substantial part of pre-primary education should be offered in Frisian’, there are no legal or financial arrangements to provide for this. Furthermore, vocational education of teachers for kindergarten or children's day-care centers does not pay attention to the minority language or to bilingualism, nor does the law regarding educational training oblige them to do so. In secondary education most schools limit the hours for Frisian to one hour in the first grade only and nearly three-quarters of Frisian teachers do not have the necessary qualifications. Few schools offer Frisian as a subject for the final examinations. The organization responsible for Frisian teaching material and educational advice, GCO-Fryslân, works with a limited budget of one million guilders (454,000 Euros), which was frozen ten years ago. In order to improve the situation, the provincial authorities of Friesland want to improve the legal and financial position of Frisian through a new language covenant with the Dutch government, to replace the existing agreement dating from 1993.
Supporters of Frisian-language playgroups and kindergartens have expressed concern at the lack of a language policy for that level of education. This follows the publication of a report by the Frisian Academy (Fryske Akademy), which shows that Frisian is far less used than Dutch in-group activities like reading, conversation and singing. Frisian is widely spoken in over 200 playgroups and kindergartens around the province especially in those areas where most staff members and children speak the language. On average some 80% of staff members speak and read Frisian with ease. But on the other hand most playgroups, kindergartens and the county councils who pay for these facilities, do not have a language policy. A major cause of concern for supporters of this level of education is that the new curriculum, which started last September under the supervision of the Dutch Ministry of Education, overlooks Frisian and bilingualism. The Frisian Educational Centers hope to resolve this situation by introducing modules on both Frisian and bilingualism as soon as possible in centers run by Stifting Pjutteboartersplak (Foundation for Kindergartens).
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Updated (November 2001)
LOW SAXON
The federation of Low Saxon organization “SONT” demands further recognition of the Low Saxon language (Nedersaksisch) which is spoken in the north-eastern provinces of the Netherlands and in the north of Germany. Representatives of SONST want to see their language recognized in the third chapter of the Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. “Now, this language is recognized under the second chapter of the charter and the access to many funds for further developing of the language is very difficult or even impossible”, claims Albert –Jan Maat, Christ democrat MEP.
Unlike the Frisian language, there is a very little Low Saxon in media and at school. In the recent report on the Netherlands, the Council of Europe urges the Dutch government to formulate a language policy for Low Saxon. Jan Kristen, the Deputy for Culture of Overijssel Province, wants to create a consultative body on the implementation of the Charter for Low Saxon, as a joint effort with the other Low Saxon provinces, comparable to the body that the Dutch government installed for Frisian a few years ago. “If the government thinks that Low Saxon can do without it, we will pay for it and start such a committee ourselves.”
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Updated (February 2002)
Frisian organizations have responded furiously to the advice of the Dutch Advisory Council for Education (Onderwijsraad) to leave decision up to the schools if and how much time they will devote to the Frisian language. The Minister of Education, Loek Hermans - who also lives in Friesland - wants to deregulate the Dutch educational system and give the schools more autonomy. Following his new policy, the Onderwijsraad has suggested that Frisian, which has been an obligatory subject in primary education since 1980, should be made an optional subject instead.
“Making Frisian optional means that we lose what we have achieved after 100 years of language battle,” comments the situation Jan van der Baan, leader of the Frisian National Party.
Both the Frisian Nationalist Party and the Frisian Movement have pointed out that the new proposal is completely contradictory to the Dutch ratification of the Council of Europe's Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, which states that “an important part of primary education is offered in the minority language”.
Frisian has been an obligatory subject in all Frisian primary schools since 1980. Last year however, the school inspection warned in an official report that only 25% of the schools teach Frisian at an acceptable level. Then, Minister Hermans already warned that he might change the position of Frisian.
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Updated (August 2006)
MPs APPROVE MODIFIED INTEGRATION LAW
It seems likely that the controversial integration law drawn up by Immigration and Integration Minister Rita Verdonk will come into effect on 1 January 2007 as originally planned. MPs in the Dutch parliament approved a modified version of the legislation and the government ratified it.
The law states that newcomers and certain groups of 'old comers' must pass an integration exam on the Dutch language and culture. Candidates can face sanctions if they do not pass the test within a certain period of time. Many people will have to pay for the cost of the course and exam themselves.
Opposition parties, Labor (PvdA), Socialist Party (SP), green-left GroenLinks, D66 and Christian group “ChristenUnie” would have preferred to delay the vote until after the summer to await advice from the Council of State. The Council has been asked whether forcing naturalized residents to take an integration course is discriminatory.
However, a compromise was agreed under which the most controversial article on integration for established and naturalized immigrants was removed from the legislation to await the Council of State's ruling. It can be amended afterwards.
Contrary to the originally envisaged law, the target group covered is much reduced. It is now estimated that roughly 250,000 people who have already settled in the Netherlands will have to take an integration course, as must new arrivals. When Verdonk started work on the law three years ago, she had a figure of 800,000 in mind.
Other changes give local councils more say on the content and allow more people to benefit from cheaper courses. The concessions were sufficient for the PvdA, SP, GroenLinks and ChristenUnie to support the integration law. The government Christian Democrat (CDA) and Liberal (VVD) parties also had reservations but the changes persuaded them to vote for it, as did the populist LPF, Christian SGP and independents Hilbrand Nawijn and Geert Wilders.
Source: Expatica News, July 10, 2006 http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?channel_id=1&story_id=31426
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Updated (August 2006)
MPs APPROVE MODIFIED INTEGRATION LAW
It seems likely that the controversial integration law drawn up by Immigration and Integration Minister Rita Verdonk will come into effect on 1 January 2007 as originally planned. MPs in the Dutch parliament approved a modified version of the legislation and the government ratified it.
The law states that newcomers and certain groups of 'old comers' must pass an integration exam on the Dutch language and culture. Candidates can face sanctions if they do not pass the test within a certain period of time. Many people will have to pay for the cost of the course and exam themselves.
Opposition parties, Labor (PvdA), Socialist Party (SP), green-left GroenLinks, D66 and Christian group "ChristenUnie" would have preferred to delay the vote until after the summer to await advice from the Council of State. The Council has been asked whether forcing naturalized residents to take an integration course is discriminatory.
However, a compromise was agreed under which the most controversial article on integration for established and naturalized immigrants was removed from the legislation to await the Council of State's ruling. It can be amended afterwards.
Contrary to the originally envisaged law, the target group covered is much reduced. It is now estimated that roughly 250,000 people who have already settled in the Netherlands will have to take an integration course, as must new arrivals. When Verdonk started work on the law three years ago, she had a figure of 800,000 in mind.
Other changes give local councils more say on the content and allow more people to benefit from cheaper courses. The concessions were sufficient for the PvdA, SP, GroenLinks and ChristenUnie to support the integration law. The government Christian Democrat (CDA) and Liberal (VVD) parties also had reservations but the changes persuaded them to vote for it, as did the populist LPF, Christian SGP and independents Hilbrand Nawijn and Geert Wilders.
Source: Expatica News, July 10, 2006 http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?channel_id=1&story_id=31426
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Updated (October 2008)
NO LANGUAGES CURRENTLY MENTIONED IN THE DUTCH CONSTITUTION – WILL THIS CHANGE?
The Dutch Interior Minister, Guusje Ter Horst, announced that she would take under careful consideration the possibility that the Frisian language might be granted recognition in the Dutch Constitution. The announcement was released two weeks after Frisian political parties launched a campaign in response to her proposal to add a reference to the Dutch language, and only to the Dutch language, in the Constitution. Other languages were not mentioned. “Dutch is the only common language for all citizens of the Netherlands. Frisian is just important for Frisian speakers”, said Ter Horst.
The Frisian parties had created the “Action Group for Frisian in the Constitution (Aksjekomitee Frysk yn 'e grûnwet)” and begun talks with political parties to dissuade them from backing any constitutional amendment lacking a reference to Frisian.
Two weeks of intensive Frisian lobbying paid off. According to Eurolang, the Frisian parties were backed by all of the opposition parties in the Dutch Parliament. As a result, the governing coalition has little chance of securing the two-thirds majority required for the motion to be passed. Speaking on behalf of the Frisian parties, Geart Benedictus said that he was pleased that “Frisian is on the political agenda now” and emphasized the need for “Frisian to have the same rights as Dutch”.
Jan Schinkelshoek of the Christian Democrat Party (CDA), the largest party in the Dutch Parliament, spoke about “possible complications”, which might occur if Frisian gets an article in the Dutch constitution. “What about Papiamentu and English, the working languages of the Dutch Antilles?” His party has “no final position” yet about the mentioning of other languages than Dutch in the Constitution. “We want the Minister to carefully study all the arguments in favor and all those against and prepare a new proposal, preferably in dialogue with the Frisian authorities.”
Geart Benedictus, the President of the “Action Group for Frisian (Aksjekomitee Frysk yn de Grûnwet)”, was satisfied with the lobbying effort. “Our aim was to open a few doors on behalf of our language. I think we achieved even more than that. Frysk is on the political agenda now. If we had not done anything that would not have been the case.”
At present, there is no reference to any language in the Dutch constitution. This gives speakers of other languages a great deal of leeway. The difficulty to find a solid two-thirds majority both in Parliament and Senate might mean that the Dutch Constitution will not get an article about any language. “If that is the case, we agree,” Benedictus says. “For us it is important that Frisian has the same rights as Dutch. An article about Dutch without even mentioning Frisian would be unacceptable.”
Source: Eurolang News, October 3, 2008 by Onno P. Falkena http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3102&Itemid=1&lang=en and Nationalia Ciemen, News, October 3, 2008 http://www.nationalia.info/en/news/277
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