Turkish literacy and its acquisition in the Netherlands

This article goes into mother-tongue literacy and its acquisition by Turkish immigrants who have settled in the Netherlands during the past decades. The first generation of immigrants are predominantly Turkish-speaking with only limited competence in the second language. The large majority can be called literate in their native language. The children of these immigrants participate in a linguistic network that is quite complex. At an early age their language input is Turkish, but soon the Dutch language enters into their lives. The question is to what extent the second and subsequent generations of Turks will give up the native language for oral and written communication within the ethnic group. Given the confrontation with a strongly dominant second language (Dutch) a shift in language choice patterns can be expected. In the present article attention is given to the literacy levels in the country oforigin, the migration history, the characteristics of the Immigrant group and their educational opportunities in the host country, and the pattern of language and literacy development in Turkish immigrants of the first and second generation

Linguistics · Literacy · Pedagogy · Sociology · Turkish · Education in Diverse Contexts · Linguistics, Language Diversity, and Identity · Multilingual Education and Policy · Philosophy