Minority Languages in the Netherlands: Relations between Sociopolitical Conflicts and Bilingual Education

Abstract

Children from linguistic minority groups often have serious educational problems which are in good measure caused by the language discrepancy between home and school. The minority language is typically not used at school, and school subjects are taught in a language in which the children are often insufficiently competent. Instruction in the mother tongue of minority children in bilingual education programs is thought to be an answer to the educational problems of these children (Skutnabb-Kangas & Toukomaa, 1976). The maintenance of the children’s first language is also considered an important effect of mother tongue teaching. According to Hernandez-Chavez (1978, p. 528), the goals of bilingual education in the United States are commonly seen “to be the attainment of scholastic skills in English and the use of the native language to advance conceptual development and academic achievement as well as for the enrichment of children’s personal lives.”