Bilingualism versus multilingualism in the Netherlands

Abstract

What are the consequences of the rise of English for the languages spoken in the Netherlands, a medium-sized EU Country in which most of the inhabitants speak a medium-sized language? There are several indications that the Dutch are moving from being a traditionally multilingual population, priding themselves on their knowledge of many foreign languages, to being bilingual, priding themselves on their knowledge of English. The rise of English as an international lingua franca does not seem to harm the position of Dutch in the Netherlands, but it may harm the position of other languages.Keywords: bilingualism, multilingualism, government bodies, international organizations, monolingualism, language attitudes, higher education, English language Many travelers to the Netherlands have observed that the Dutch are to a large extent bilingual. "Just about everyone you meet in Amsterdam will be able to speak near-perfect English, " the Rough Guide website claims, 1 and it is not very difficult to substantiate this informal observation with numbers. For instance, in a 2006 special Eurobarometer report, researchers for the European Commission note that 87% of Dutch citizens speak English as a second language The number is slightly higher in Sweden (89%) and Malta (88%), but everywhere else it is lower. The average in the European Union was 38% in 2006. 2 These numbers are in particularly strong contrast with those of the United Kingdom and Ireland, in which only 38% and 34% of the population, respectively, knows any language other than their native tongue -which is, of course, usually English. Within the Netherlands this number is 91%; in Europe as a whole it is 56%; the only country which comes as low as the UK and Ireland is the candidate EU member Turkey (at 33%), although Italy (41%) and Portugal (42%) come close. © 2012. John Benjamins Publishing Company All rights reserved Bilingualism versus multilingualism 253It is intuitively clear that the low level of language knowledge in the UK and Ireland is attributable to the fact that these are English-speaking countries, where most people feel that they do not need other languages for their international communication. 3 In this article, I examine what this bilingualism means both for Dutch and other languages spoken in the Netherlands, and how formal language policy, both at the state level and at the level of the provinces, has influenced bilingualism and been influenced by it. A key hypothesis is that the country is slowly moving in the direction of becoming bi-rather than multi-lingual. The rise of English does not seem to harm Dutch, but it does affect knowledge of other languages. To some extent the same effect is to be seen as in the traditional English-speaking countries: knowledge of English makes the knowledge of other languages obsolete. In spite of this, the debate about language policy making is shifting to an exclusive focus on the protection of Dutch.It is not my intention to demonstrate that the Netherlands is special in this respect. My findings are ...

ICE Age 3: The Expanding Circle

“…This figure was around four in 10 among people aged 40 and over; they were more likely to use at least one other language in addition to Dutch and English. These data support assertions that the predominance of English in the Netherlands may threaten young people's knowledge of other foreign languages (Van Oostendorp ). In terms of occupation (Table ), most contributors (n = 168, 81.2%) were classed as ‘experts’: people whose jobs require them to have a university education (such as lawyers, journalists, IT specialists) (in line with Leppänen et al.…”

A reconsideration of the status of English in the Netherlands within the Kachruvian Three Circles model

“…Before the bill was proposed, the status of Dutch was not an issue for politicians. To date, the bill has not been passed into law (Van Oostendorp ).…”

“…In the domain of government, Dutch is the most important language. Parliament sessions are conducted in Dutch and all legislation is formulated in Dutch (Van Oostendorp ). English is not used for communication between government and citizens who speak Dutch, but only for communication with people who have not mastered Dutch, that is, expatriates and immigrants.…”

“…), and is without doubt the most important foreign language. In 2011, 12 per cent of BA programs and 59 per cent of MA programs featured in the Keuzegids Onderwijs —a guide that informs prospective students about the options they have—were completely taught in English (Van Oostendorp ). Some universities, for example, Delft University of Technology and Wageningen University, taught all their MA programs in English (Oosterhof n.d.).…”

A cluster analysis of attitudes to English in Germany and the Netherlands

“…Protectionist organisations such as the Stichting Nederlands propose alternatives for Anglicisms, while the rather vitriolic Stichting Taalverdediging Nederlands labels public figures who appear all too pro‐English as ‘language traitors’ and compares the promotion of English to the Nazi occupation during World War II (Stichting Taalverdediging, , p. 6). Although the members of such organisations have been described as ‘militants’ and in a ‘very small minority’ (Van Oostendorp, , p. 260), they tap into a frequently cited public narrative that the Dutch take little pride in their own language and are all too willing to give it up (De Bot & Weltens, ; Groeneboer, ; Smakman, ; Van Oostendorp, ). De Bot and Weltens (), however, found no empirical support for this apparent lack of regard for Dutch.…”