A city that has it all: Maastricht in times of super-diversity
A case-study on the interplay between authenticity, internationalization, and migration
Solange Coenegracht August 2018
ANR: 368794
Tilburg University School of Humanities Master Thesis Management of Cultural Diversity
Thesis Supervisor: Prof. dr. J.W.M. Kroon Second reader: Dr. M. Spotti Abstract
Globalization has increased considerably over the last decades in contemporary societies. This has led to a situation of super-diversity. There is a tremendous increase in the texture of societal diversity, and this is most visible in big cities. An example of such city in the Netherlands is Maastricht. Maastricht deals with the interplay between three elements of diversity, i.e. authenticity, internationalization, and migration. These elements pose significant challenges for policy-making, especially with regards to language. Hence, the current study investigated if and how the city of Maastricht deals with the interplay between these three elements of diversity. The focus was specifically on the field of education, since especially there all three diversity-elements meet and are visible, mostly through language policies. The study opted for an empirical interpretive approach and carried out a combination of a top-down and bottom-up analysis. When comparing the authenticity, internationalization, and migration policies with the bottom-up practices of actors in the domain of education, the results showed that the beliefs and practices on the ground did not always coincide with the plans and decisions made at the top. Policymaking in the broad field of diversity at the Municipality of Maastricht turned out to be a rather disorganized practice, especially from a language perspective. In order for the Municipality to create a joint and integrated policy in which all three elements of diversity are included, it should first get a consistent policy in each of the three domains. Furthermore, it should include those languages that at the moment are excluded from its policies, but are clearly seen as important by its citizens.
Keywords
Globalization, super-diversity, authenticity, internationalization, migration, diversity policies, language policies, education, policy versus practice, top-down bottom-up policies, Maastricht
2 Preface
My interest in cultural and linguistic diversity started during my exchanges abroad and got enhanced further during my Bachelor’s Degree in which I majored in Intercultural Communication. The Master Management of Cultural Diversity seemed to be the logical next step for me. I am very happy with my decision and enjoyed this Master tremendously. It allowed me to extend my already existing knowledge and learn more about the management and policy side of diversity.
With great pleasure I now present to you my MA thesis, which is the final product of my academic career. As a real “Maastricht” girl, as my supervisor used to call me, I decided to conduct my study in the city where I grew up. Even though conducting research and writing my Master’s thesis sometimes proved to be a challenging and long process, it was at the same time a fun and informative experience which has led me to conduct my research with great pleasure.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people who have guided and supported me through this process. First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor Prof. Dr. Sjaak Kroon. Without his guidance, motivation, and feedback I would probably not have managed to get the result I aimed to have. Furthermore, I want to thank all the interviewees who were willing to participate in my study. Both for their enthusiasm and interesting stories as well as for allowing me to study the topic of linguistic diversity in a real-life context. Lastly, I would like to thank my family and friends for their continuous support, even during my stressful outbursts.
I wish you a pleasant reading.
Solange Coenegracht
Utrecht, August 2018
3 Table of Contents
Chapter 1: An introduction to diversity in Maastricht ...... 6 Chapter 2: Language diversity policies in times of super-diversity ...... 9 2.1. Language diversity policies ...... 9 2.2. Authenticity and language diversity policies ...... 10 2.3. Internationalization and language diversity policies ...... 11 2.4. Migration and language diversity policies ...... 12 2.5. Three diversity issues coming together ...... 13 Chapter 3: Methodology ...... 14 3.1. Epistemology and approach ...... 14 3.2. Research design ...... 14 3.3. Sample strategy ...... 15 3.4. Data collection ...... 15 3.5. Data analysis ...... 17 3.6. Research quality indicators ...... 17 Chapter 4: Maastricht, then and now ...... 19 4.1. The history of Maastricht: From one conquer to another ...... 19 4.2. The Maastricht Treaty: The start of an integrated Europe ...... 19 4.3. Maastricht in present time ...... 20 Chapter 5: A top-down perspective on diversity policies in the Municipality of Maastricht 22 5.1. Authenticity ...... 22 5.2. Internationalization ...... 27 5.3. Migration ...... 30 5.4. Conclusion ...... 33 Chapter 6: A bottom-up perspective on diversity practices in Maastricht ...... 34 6.1. Authenticity ...... 34 6.1.1. The use of the local dialect at school ...... 35 6.1.2. Activities regarding the safeguarding and promotion of the local dialect at school ...... 36 6.1.3. View on the local dialect and the Municipality’s role in it ...... 38 6.1.4. The use of regional languages and English at school ...... 39 6.1.5. Conclusion in the domain of authenticity ...... 41 6.2. Internationalization ...... 41 6.2.1. Internationalization policy ...... 42 6.2.2. Diversity at school ...... 43 6.2.3. Language use at school ...... 45 6.2.4. The internationalization progress ...... 47 6.2.5. Internationalization within the city of Maastricht ...... 48 6.2.6. Conclusion ...... 49 6.3. Migration ...... 50 6.3.1. Diversity at ISK ...... 50 6.3.2. Routines and teaching methods ...... 51 6.3.3. Language use at ISK ...... 53 6.3.4. View on multilingualism ...... 54 6.3.5. National and municipal policies ...... 55 6.3.6. Conclusion ...... 56 6.4. Overall conclusion ...... 57 Chapter 7: From chaos to consistency ...... 59 7.1. Conclusion and discussion ...... 59 7.2. Recommendations ...... 61 7.3. Limitations and future research ...... 63
4 References ...... 64 Primary sources ...... 68 Appendix A – Background information of the participating schools ...... 70 Appendix B – Example questions from the top-down perspective interview guide ...... 71 Appendix C – Example questions from the bottom-up perspective interview guide ...... 72 Appendix D – Example of coding method ...... 73 Appendix E – Original quotes used in the top-down analysis ...... 74 Appendix F – Original quotes used in the bottom-up analysis ...... 76
5 Chapter 1
An introduction to diversity in Maastricht
Globalization is not a new phenomenon, but the intensity and scale of cultural and linguistic exchanges have increased tremendously in contemporary societies (Cornips, 2013). Central in globalization is mobility, especially mobility of people (Spotti & Kroon, 2017). Due to migration movements, countries do no longer consist solely of “native” citizens. Rather, we seem to be living in a time of super-diversity, a time in which we see a diversification of diversity (Vertovec, 2007). There is a tremendous increase in the texture of societal diversity (Blommaert, 2013). Super-diversity is most noticeable in big cities since these are the places that attract most people and play an increasingly important political role, also in an international context. An example of such city in the Netherlands is Maastricht, the capital of the province of Limburg.
“Maastricht is a city with an increasingly diverse societal composition. This is the result of the presence of an international university in the city, international companies and employees, its geographical location in the Euregion, the globalization of society and of the settlement of both migrant workers as well as refugees in the Netherlands and therefore also in Maastricht since the 1960s.” (Gerats, 2017a)1
Maastricht is a city that has a strong international character due to its adjacency to both Belgium and Germany and because it attracts many international companies, expats, and students (Maastricht University, 2016a). There are currently 12,000 highly skilled international migrants living and working in the province of Limburg, of which 80% are located in Maastricht and the Southern part of Limburg, and 7,500 international students are studying at Maastricht University. These international influences are reflected in the strategies of the Municipality of Maastricht for 2020 in which goals are being set to widen the internationalization of the Municipality even further (Municipality of Maastricht, 2013). The Municipality wants to establish ties with foreign countries and sees multilingualism (that is English, French, and German) as a crucial aspect of their internationalization strategy. It is clear that the Municipality of Maastricht wants to attain a strong international character, but it also wants to be a “multicultural and safe environment” (Municipality of Maastricht, n.d.a). It is referring to a different international influence here, i.e. to permanent migrants. Out of its 123,281 citizens, 37,783 residents have a migration background (https://maastricht.incijfers.nl). Furthermore, almost one in twelve citizens originally has a non-Western background (Commission Integration and Globalization Maastricht, n.d). The Municipality of Maastricht also accommodates 600 refugees since 2014 (Municipality of Maastricht, n.d.b). It states that every citizen of Maastricht, established or newcomer, should be included in society and be able to develop individually (Municipality of Maastricht, n.d.a). The Municipality’s starting point is that diversity is not a burden, but a joy. It sees diversity among other things as focusing on each individual starting from a perspective of society as a whole. In addition to these two elements of diversity, i.e. internationalization and migration, the city of Maastricht also has a strong authentic character. Unlike the other Dutch provinces that were established in 1815 as a continuation of the regions of the Republic of the “Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden” (Seven United Netherlands), the province of Limburg did not become part of the Netherlands until 1867 (Knotter, 2008). Through the lack of historical foundation and the arbitrary dynasticism within the
1 This quote was translated by me from Dutch into English.
6 Limburgian territories, a strong belief started to grow that what distinguished the inhabitants of this province from the rest of Dutch citizens would be their characteristic as Limburgers, of which the most noticeable one is the dialect (Knotter, 2008). This belief is very much alive in Maastricht. The dialect still has a high vitality as it is used both in formal and informal situations and in public spaces (Van de Wijngaard, 1999). Sometimes the dialect is even considered a “must” if one really wants to fit in with the local inhabitants. The latter is reflected by the fact that the dialect has a strong social-cultural position in the sense that people feel part of a community through using the language and have deep appreciation and feelings for it (Christensen, as cited in Cornips, 2013). Because of these three elements of diversity, that all play an important role in the city of Maastricht, the capital in the South provides an interesting case study. Hence, this research wants to investigate if and how the city of Maastricht deals with the interplay between these elements of being international, inclusive, and at the same time authentic. The focus will be specifically on education, since this is the field in which all three elements of diversity meet and are visible, mostly through language policies. In doing so, a combination of a top-down and bottom-up analysis will be applied to compare possible internationalization, migration, and authenticity policies with experiences and practices in the field of education. The top-down level will be covered through the analysis of different policy documents and by conducting interviews with the connected actors, i.e. policymakers and implementers. The bottom-up level will be covered by conducting interviews with different participants in the field of education, i.e. members of management teams, teachers, and policy officers, across different types of educational institutions. In this way, an insight can be obtained regarding the question if people’s practices and attitudes on the ground coincide with decisions and ambitions in policy documents. Furthermore, such insights could contribute to formulating a more integrated local policy that deals with regional, migrant, and international diversity characteristics of the city. Therefore, this study aims at answering the following research question:
How can the Municipality of Maastricht deal with diversity issues related to internationalization, migration, and authenticity, and combine them into one joint and integrated policy?
In order to answer this question, sub questions were formulated in two different areas.
Policy documents and policymakers 1. What kind of policies exist on local authenticity within the city of Maastricht and how are they understood by policymakers of the Municipality? 2. What kind of policies exist on internationalization within the city of Maastricht and how are they understood by policymakers of the Municipality? 3. What kind of policies exist on migration within the city of Maastricht and how are they understood by policymakers of the Municipality?
Policy implementation and policy implementers 4. What is the perception of policy implementers in the domain of education on authenticity policies and practices within the city of Maastricht? 5. What is the perception of policy implementers in the domain of education on internationalization policies and practices within the city of Maastricht? 6. What is the perception of policy implementers in the domain of education on migration policies and practices within the city of Maastricht?
To understand the three diversity-issues relevant to the city of Maastricht, in chapter two this study will first start with giving some theoretical background concerning language diversity policies related to
7 authenticity, internationalization, and migration. Next, chapter three will give a description of the study’s methodology. Chapter four will introduce a short context of the history of Maastricht, the Maastricht Treaty, and of its current demographics. Then, chapters five and six will present the main findings. Chapter five presents the top-down analysis and chapter six the bottom-up analysis. Finally, chapter seven will take these two perspectives together and present the main conclusions followed by a discussion and recommendations on policy-making for the Municipality of Maastricht.
8 Chapter 2
Language diversity policies in times of super-diversity
This chapter discusses a selection of theoretical concepts that are relevant to this study. First of all, the most important elements of language diversity policies are described. These include power and choices, the three components of language policy identified by Spolsky (2009), and the importance of looking at both policy and practice. After that, the topic of language diversity policies will be specified and related to the domains that are the main foci in this study, and that at the same time are relevant to the city of Maastricht, namely “authenticity”, “internationalization”, and “migration”.
2.1. Language diversity policies
The contact and exchanges between countries have increased tremendously, which creates a situation of super-diversity defined by Vertovec (2007) as the diversification of diversity. There has been an expansion in the number and kind of migration channels and immigration statuses. We do not just speak of super-diversity in terms of more ethnicities and countries of origin, but also with regards to a multiplication of significant variables that affect where, how, and with whom people live. For the city of Maastricht, this means an interplay between authenticity, internationalization and migration. Patterns of super-diversity pose significant challenges for policy-making (Vertovec, 2007). A policy can be described as “a systematic and purposive activity aiming at achieving well-defined goals using well- defined means in a well-defined time structure” (Hoogerwerf, as cited by Kroon, 2000, p. 2). It can be seen as an attempt to solve, diminish, or prevent a problem in a certain way (Kroon, 2000). A problem in this context can be described as a discrepancy between a norm and an impression of an actual or expected future situation (Hoogerwerf, as cited by Kroon, 2000). An important feature of super-diversity is language (Blommaert, 2013). Governments have to make choices regarding what language will serve which functions (Kroon, 2000). Language policy, therefore, is all about choices (Spolsky, 2009). Its fundamental goal is the production and consequent enforcement of a specific set of norms for language use in a certain institutionalized environment within a given state (Kroon & Spotti, 2011). Language policing dictates which language(s) can be used in a certain environment and relegates – either explicit or implicit – which languages should not be used because they are considered to be an obstacle to the institutionalized environment’s own functionality (Bourdieu, as cited in Kroon & Spotti, 2011). Therefore, language policy influences and shapes the linguistic environment. Even if there is only one official language you still have choices of dialects and styles (Spolsky, 2009). Schools and local authorities are among those institutions which have to meet the challenges of growing linguistic complexity (Vertovec, 2007). The development of language diversity policies in multilingual contexts cannot escape from taking a position in societal and political discussions (Kroon, 2000). Language policy therefore is a social phenomenon, depending on the beliefs and consensual behaviors of members of a speech community, i.e. a group of people who share a set of linguistic norms and expectations regarding language use, such as a city, a region, or a nation (Spolsky, 2009). This brings us to the three interrelated but independently describable components of language policy identified by Spolsky (2009): practice, beliefs, and management. The first component, language practices, refers to the observable and actual behaviors and choices of people, such as the variety of language used. Language beliefs, or sometimes called ideology, the second component, are about the values or statuses people assign to named languages, varieties, and features. The status or value of a variant derives from how many people use it, the importance of the users, and the social and economic benefits a speaker can expect through using it.
9 The third and final component, language management, is the effort by someone or some group that has the authority over the participants to modify their practices and beliefs, such as a governmental law that determines some aspect of official language use. Each of these three components compose forces which help account for language choice (Spolsky, 2009). It is Important to note that language policies, or policies in general, not only originate from a top-down perspective but instead can come into being across many different levels (Johnson, 2013, Chapter 1). From governmental language laws to the language practices of a family, they are all examples of language policy. Furthermore, policies can be official regulations enacted by an authoritative body as well as unofficial principles and cultural constructs that emerge within a community (Johnson, 2013). A certain community can, for example, experience a problem which is brought to the attention of a governmental institution and consequently leads to some kind of policy. This marks the importance of taking both a top-down as well as a bottom-up perspective when analyzing a given policy. Comparing policy with practice is necessary because without the full support or coproduction by the target group a policy is likely to be ineffective (Kroon, 2000). Therefore, the current study takes on both a top-down as well as a bottom-up perspective.
2.2. Authenticity and language diversity policies
European language policies aim to protect linguistic diversity and promote knowledge of languages for reasons of cultural identity and social integration. The understanding is that languages can build bridges between people (European Commission, n.d.), but it is also the belief that multilingual citizens are more able to take advantage of an integrated Europe (Extra & Yagmur, 2012). Linguistic diversity is seen as a key property of Europe’s identity which leads to active promotion of language learning and multilingualism by the European Commission and the Council of Europe (European Commission, n.d.). One of the ways in which this is done is through the creation of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages by the Council of Europe (1992). This Charter is designed to protect and promote regional or minority languages as a threatened aspect of Europe’s cultural heritage, and to enable speakers of these languages to use their language in private and public life. Regional or minority languages are described as “languages that are traditionally used within a given territory of a state by nationals of that state who form a group numerically smaller than the rest of the state’s population” (p. 21). The Charter is not meant to cover those languages connected with recent migratory movements or dialects of the official language. The Netherlands is one of the twenty-five countries that has signed and ratified the Charter (Council of Europe, n.d.). Even though the Charter clearly states that dialects of the official language are not meant to be covered by this document, the Dutch government chose to, among other languages, also include the Limburgish dialect and to acknowledge it as a regional language. Other languages that were included are: Frisian, Lower Saxon, Romani, and Yiddish (Council of Europe, 2018). A dialect is a variety of language that is spoken in a language area (often a singular place) where that language holds a dominant position (Hinskens, 2016). Varieties of a language are socially or politically rather than linguistically determined (Spolsky, 2009). A dialect becomes a language when it is recognized as such. It is the State that determines through its policy and policing what language is granted the status of official or national language (Hornberger, as cited in Kroon & Spotti, 2011). It is the State again that, when looking at a dialectal variety, determines if that language gets acknowledged and if it can or cannot be admitted within a certain institutionalized environment such as education (Kroon & Spotti, 2011). Dialects generally have a clear lack of prestige, are used almost exclusively orally, and are not taught in educational institutions (Hinskens, 2016). This is an interesting matter since to a large number of people who speak it, the dialect is their first language. It is related to the fact that the function of speaking a dialect differs, depending on the context in which it is used (Blommaert,
10 2005). Most often dialect speakers will adjust to the standard language, because a dialect has limited usages due to the fact that it is regionally bound (Kessels-van der Heijde, 2002). In Maastricht, or Limburg in general, speaking the local dialect may be an object of (covert) status and prestige but once lifted out of these margins and placed into the value attribution system of the Netherlands, these forms of language lose their function. Furthermore, there usually is a specific historical tie between the dialect and the particular language area (Hinskens, 2016). As stated in the introduction, the province of Limburg, unlike the other Dutch provinces, did not become part of the Netherlands until 1867 (Knotter, 2008). The formation of the province of Limburg as a governing unit of the Netherlands therefore did not build upon a common past. Limburg was composed of different government structures and areas, some of which were predominantly Belgian or German. This explains the wide variety of dialects that nowadays exist in this province (Knotter, 2008). The lack of historical foundation and the arbitrary dynasticism within the Limburgian territories led to a fundamental uncertainty among the residents of Limburg about their relationship to the Dutch state. Even after the unification of the Netherlands, a lot of Limburgers kept longing for a reunification with Belgium (De Limburger, 2017). This led to a strong authentic belief that what distinguished the inhabitants of this province from the rest of the Dutch citizens would be their characteristic as Limburgers, of which the most noticeable one is the dialect (Knotter, 2008). The identification with the province of Limburg as a territorial unity can in itself be seen as a result of its progressive integration into the Dutch state, which made the inhabitants aware of their divergent dialect, religion, culture, and interests. This belief is still very much alive in present time Maastricht as the city has a strong authentic character. The inclusion of Limburgish in the Charter means that local municipalities have a firm starting point for developing policies to promote and safeguard the local dialect, as the Charter provides for specific measures to support the use of the language among others in education and cultural activities (Extra & Yagmur, 2012). The EU institutions merely play a supporting role as they monitor the States with regard to their fulfillment of the commitments they have undertaken. In view of the fact that the dialect has such a high vitality and is strongly intertwined with the identity of its speakers (Cornips, 2013), especially in Maastricht, one would assume that the Municipality of Maastricht would see the implementation of parts of the Charter as an opportunity to further enhance and promote its authenticity. Moreover, as globalization is often seen as threatening to local cultural identity (Sanderson, 2011), this would as well lead to an assumption that in an increasingly diverse city such as Maastricht, the Municipality would want to implement parts of the Charter.
2.3. Internationalization and language diversity policies
Even though the city of Maastricht has a strong authentic character, it cannot escape from the international influences in contemporary society. One appearance of internationalization is the response of institutions, educational sectors, and national education agendas to global forces (Knight, as cited in Sanderson, 2011). As stated previously, the contact and exchanges between countries have increased tremendously which results in an increased focus of companies on international markets and customers. The belief is that students should be prepared to function in such markets and that is why internationalization is most strongly noticeable in higher education. Schools are integrating an international, intercultural, and global dimension into their curriculum to provide students with the required international competencies (Knight, as cited in Sanderson, 2007). According to Schermer (2012), internationalization is often set in motion by a small group in an institution. Active support, consent, and cooperation of the entire workforce is, however, needed in order to give the institution an international appearance. This is in line with Kroon (2000) who states that without the full support or
11 coproduction of the target group a policy, in this case an internationalization policy, is likely to be ineffective. Internationalization in terms of language policies is most often established through the integration of English as a language of instruction into the existing curriculum (Schermer, 2012). In this way, an international classroom can be created through a mixed group of Dutch and international students (VSNU, 2017). The challenge is that it requires a lot of effort, mostly from teachers who are not necessarily fully proficient in academic English. Some teachers could resist teaching in English because they feel more comfortable and skilled in their native tongue. Educational institutions are also bound to policies on a national level. The latter recently became quite controversial as the organization Beter Onderwijs Nederland (Better Education Netherlands) was planning to sue universities in the Netherlands for implementing English as a working language without any valid reasoning for doing so and therefore not following the Higher Education Law (Ligtvoet, 2018). Maastricht University is one of the universities that was being confronted about its language policies. The Dutch Minister of Education, Culture, and Science, Ingrid van Engelshoven, released her vision regarding this subject and stated that she wants to give English more space through a revision of the Higher Education Law with respect to the language of instruction (Van Engelshoven, 2018). Van Engelshoven wants to monitor whether educational institutions transfer to English for sufficient reasons and if the teachers’ proficiency level of English is high enough. The quality of education is paramount. Keeping these remarks in mind, Van Engelshoven is in favor of including English as a language of instruction and she wants the internationalization process in Dutch higher education to continue (Van Engelshoven, 2018). The debate highlights the current discussion about internationalization and the influence and fear of the increasing use of English. In the Netherlands, more and more higher educational institutions are taking on an internationalization perspective. In Maastricht, this especially holds true for Zuyd University of Applied Sciences and Maastricht University. The Municipality of Maastricht is also very strongly focused on internationalization. It wants to connect the city of Maastricht to the Euregion Maas-Rijn, Europe, and the world, as well as to create a pleasant living environment in which internationals feel welcome and at home (Municipality of Maastricht, 2014). The Municipality takes the language policy even further in the field of education by wanting to create policies in which, given Maastricht’s position on the map of Europe, English, French, and German are integrated in the curriculum of future students (Municipality of Maastricht, 2013).
2.4. Migration and language diversity policies
At the European level, cultural, linguistic, and religious diversity are seen as an integral part of European identity and as an essential condition for achieving integration. The European Union expects not just migrants but also the receiving countries to change and create opportunities for new migrants (Joppke, 2007). This discourse is in clear contrast to the ideologies reflected by most European countries. Whereas at the European level diversity is celebrated, the individual European nation-states conceive such diversity often as an obstacle to integration (Extra & Spotti, 2009). European countries are implementing stricter immigrant and integration measures and are using language requirements and the use of formal language tests as central prerequisites for obtaining entry visas and citizenship (Pochon- Berger & Lenz, 2014). Language requirements are increasingly enforced across more stages of the immigration and integration process. These new requirements do not apply equally to all groups of migrants (Pochon-Berger & Lenz, 2014). Therefore, these immigration policies prove no trouble to highly skilled migrants but instead target low-skilled family migrants by demanding tough integration requirements (Joppke, 2007). They are also in contrast with many earlier policies which used to be
12 geared towards promoting immigration and integration through easy granting of residence permits (Pochon-Berger & Lenz, 2014). The Netherlands is no exception to this. An integral part of the integration and participation of new migrants in Dutch society is the Dutch language. Command of the Dutch language is mandatory and a prerequisite for people, particularly for migrants coming from non-Western countries, who want to become citizens of Dutch society (Rijksoverheid, n.d.). Even though the Dutch state claims to be liberal and to treat citizens in an equal way, we can see a clear assimilationist ideology reflected in the current political and public discourse on the integration of migrants, i.e. mostly towards non-Western migrants (Kroon & Vallen, 2006). Assimilation means that migrant minorities are expected to adapt to mainstream characteristics of the host society and to give up their own identity, language, and culture. The United Nations referred to this obligatory integration as a “false remedy for avoiding tensions between population groups in any multicultural society” (Extra & Spotti, 2009, p. 143). The Netherlands is a multicultural and multilingual society. Almost all societies are multilingual in the sense that many language varieties, genres, and styles occur, despite their self-perceptions of a monoglot ideology (Blommaert, 2006). Very often, however, multilingual societies, such as the Netherlands, claim to tolerate or promote heterogeneity but in fact undervalue or ignore the linguistic diversity of the population (Blackledge, 2000). Such liberal orientations hide the ideological drive towards homogeneity. Language diversity as a component of Europe’s identity is mostly visualized by reference to the national language (Extra & Yagmur, 2011). Regional languages and migrant minority languages are often not included in this picture. Linguistic diversity is seen as “dangerous” as it represents a potential threat to uniformity and cohesion of society (Kroon & Spotti, 2011). This results in monolingualizing tendencies (Heller, as cited in Blackledge, 2000) and has an influence on the orientations that live in society (Kroon & Vallen, 2006). Such tendencies and orientations may be evident in a range of institutional and everyday practices (Blackledge, 2000), for example, in migrant language education. We can see this reflected in Maastricht as migrant minority languages are not seen as part of the internationalization project, even though the Municipality of Maastricht claims to be inclusive (Municipality of Maastricht, n.d.a) and wants to create a pleasant living environment in which internationals feel welcome and at home (Municipality of Maastricht, 2014). In contrast to English, French and German, which are seen as an asset to one’s development, migrant minority languages are perceived as a problem of underachievement in education and society (Kroon & Vallen, 2006).
2.5. Three diversity issues coming together
As we can see from the above discussed theory, globalization creates a time of super-diversity which, for the city of Maastricht, creates an interplay between authenticity, internationalization, and migration. All three domains seem to operate separately but in fact are all intertwined with and influence one another. Renewed attention for authenticity can be a reaction to international influences, such as internationalization and migration, whereas a focus on authenticity can the other way around also lead to more internationalizing strategies and policies. The interplay between these three elements is most visible in language policies. In a city such as Maastricht, in which multiple languages are present, choices have to be made by the Municipality with regards to what language will serve which functions to meet the linguistic complexity. Language policy depends on the beliefs and consensual behaviors of a community of practice (Spolsky, 2009). So what are these beliefs and behaviors in the city of Maastricht? That will be the main question to be answered in the following.
13 Chapter 3
Methodology
Chapter three will present a description of the methodology used in this study. The first part will discuss the empirical-interpretive approach, which is the approach this study opted for. Next, the research design and sample strategy will be discussed. Furthermore, I will address the data collection and data analysis. Policy documents were collected and interviews with different actors at different levels were conducted in order to answer the research question. Lastly, some research quality indicators will be discussed.
3.1. Epistemology and approach
The epistemological approach of this research is to strive to understand and captivate reality by directly looking at and engaging with it. The research focus will be on events that exist in their unique form and on naturalistic data, leading to understanding the meaning that certain practices have in this specific context (Blommaert & Dong, 2010). To analyze language-related diversity issues in the city of Maastricht, this study therefore opted for an empirical-interpretive approach. The goal of this research is not to generalize the results, as is done in empirical-analytical research, but to understand and describe the policies and practices as they appear specifically in Maastricht. This does not entail that the results of this research cannot be applied to other cases. On the contrary, the results can provide meaningful insights for cities that deal with similar diversity-related issues. Also, an advantage of focusing on just one specific case is that the researcher can dive much deeper into the subject and thus search for the deeper meanings of the events under investigation. These arguments prove that the empirical- interpretive research strategy is most appropriate for the current study.
3.2. Research design
The research consists of a multiple case study that was carried out in the city of Maastricht, the capital of the province of Limburg. A case study fits best with the empirical interpretive research approach as it describes people in their natural environment and the aim of this research is to arrive at an understanding of language-related diversity and diversity policy issues specifically for the city of Maastricht. Both a top-down and a bottom-up perspective were integrated to compare policy with practice. This way, any discrepancies between the two can be detected and this can provide a necessary starting point for developing a joint and integrated language diversity policy for the Municipality of Maastricht. The study chose to focus on one specific field (education) for the bottom-up analysis because this could provide more or less homogenous data enabling reliable comparisons between the participants. The data for this research was collected from the beginning of March until the beginning of May 2018 and includes policy documents and interviews. The data has been gathered on site at the Municipality and in the three different domains of diversity (authenticity, internationalization, and migration) in three different educational institutions. The first step consisted of contacting already existing personal contact within each of these educational institutions, which led to consecutive steps in which other participants were approached and policy documents were gathered. Policy documents were gathered in order to understand the current strategies the Municipality has set out in the domain of authenticity, internationalization, and migration. Furthermore, interviews were chosen as a method of data collection because the research question needs subjective answers and this method allows the researcher to go below the surface and find a deeper understanding of certain aspects.
14 3.3. Sample strategy
Research participants were required at the Municipality and in educational institutions of the three different domains (authenticity, internationalization, and migration) in order to integrate both a top- down as well as a bottom-up perspective. These participants were selected by applying purposive sampling. Sampling was based on existing personal connections within each type of institution and this connection provided a way to reach the required and partaking participants. Regarding the top-down perspective, one already existing personal contact within the Municipality of Maastricht was instrumental in reaching the Municipal employees involved in the domain of authenticity, internationalization, and migration, and in gathering the policy documents in each of these domains. These participants had a range of different functions in their work environment. Regarding the bottom-up perspective, the exact educational institutions (elementary school, secondary school for asylum seekers, and higher education) were based on personal connections. These connections arranged the required participants that wanted to partake in the study. The partaking participants had different roles, i.e. members of the management, teachers, and policy officers. Higher education was chosen as the focus point of the domain of internationalization, since internationalization is often about preparing students for the international labor market (Schermer, 2012) and higher education is most involved in this. Educational institutions that were involved were the University of Maastricht and Zuyd University of Applied Sciences. Primary schools were chosen as the point of focus for the domain of authenticity, since folkloric and language elements regarding the dialect are most present here. Interviews for this part took place at St. Aloysius Elementary School. Lastly, schools for asylum seekers covered the migration aspect of this study. The school that was involved in this part was the ISK. Some background information about the schools can be found in Appendix A.
3.4. Data collection
Different data collection methods were used in order to contribute to the aim of this research. First of all, policy documents were gathered and interviews with policy officers of the Municipality were conducted in order to cover the top-down perspective. As stated before, the participants within each domain (authenticity, internationalization, and migration) were found and approached through a personal contact within the Municipality of Maastricht. Four interviews were conducted in total. Migration was the only domain that was covered by two interviews because my personal connection within the Municipality happened to also be involved in this subject. The interviews served as an extension to the understanding of the policy documents. The interviews were semi-structured and the questions asked about the opinions and experiences of the policymakers with respect to the development and actual status quo of policies regarding the three diversity domains in the city of Maastricht. The questions were adjusted to the specific position and expertise of the interviewee concerned, and therefore all four interview-scripts are different from one another. An overview of some example questions can be found in Appendix B. At the end of each interview I asked the interviewees if they had any relevant documents and, in this way, policy documents regarding these domains were obtained. This was seen as the best way to collect the needed data, since requiring delicate information through existing contacts often proves to be the most successful way of doing so. A few documents were found at the website of the Municipality itself. In total, twelve documents have been collected at a top level: six in the domain of authenticity, two within the domain of internationalization, and four within the domain of migration. The exact content of these documents will be discussed in chapter five. To cover the second part of the study, the bottom-up perspective, data was obtained through interviews with policy implementers within the three domains at the educational institutions mentioned in section 3.3 (St. Aloysius, Maastricht University, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, and the ISK).
15 Within each domain, the aim was to conduct six interviews with a variety of participants (policy implementers). Unfortunately, one participant at the ISK dropped out due to working circumstances and therefore in this educational institution only five interviews were conducted. These interviews were also semi-structured and adjusted to the domain and position of the interviewee, but the interview-scripts were more or less similar within each type of educational institution. The interviews consisted of questions regarding the interviewees’ opinions and experiences with the three diversity-domains in Maastricht, but depending on the domain of the educational institution (as explained under 3.3.) each location took a different main focus. An overview of some example questions can be found in Appendix C. I also asked these participants for any relevant policy documents. These documents, if any, were used to better understand the practices within each type of institution. In total, two documents have been collected in this way. These were solely documents related to the domain of internationalization. The interviews and the content of these documents will be discussed in chapter six. Table 1 presents an overview of the interview participants (top-down and bottom-up) as well as information on the interviews. Most interviews were conducted in Dutch, some in the local dialect as participants felt more at ease in this language. The interviews conducted in the local dialect have been translated and transcribed into Dutch. The transcripts of the interviews were sent to the participants in order for them to verify if the information was correct and/or indicate if they would like to add or leave any information (out).
Table 1: Interview participants and information Interviewee Gender Level Domain Institution Date Duration 1 M Top A Municipality 7/3/2018 0:24:12 2 M Top I Municipality 14/3/2018 0:46:49 3 F Top M Municipality 7/3/2018 0:44:49 4 F Top M Municipality 6/4/2018 0:22:55 5 F Bottom A St. Aloysius 4/4/2018 0:25:33 6 F Bottom A St. Aloysius 4/4/2018 0:16:50 7 F Bottom A St. Aloysius 4/4/2018 0:12:41 8 M Bottom A St. Aloysius 5/4/2018 0:21:37 9 F Bottom A St. Aloysius 5/4/2018 0:21:02 10 M Bottom A St. Aloysius 5/4/2018 0:33:10 11 M Bottom I HS Zuyd 5/3/2018 1:04:23 12 F Bottom I Maastricht 4/4/2018 0:21:43 University 13 F Bottom I Maastricht 11/4/2018 0:47:47 University 14 M Bottom I HS Zuyd 23/4/2018 0:36:40 15 M Bottom I HS Zuyd 24/4/2018 0:31:27 16 F Bottom I HS Zuyd 8/5/2018 0:38:01 17 M Bottom M ISK 22/3/2018 0:45:10 18 F Bottom M ISK 22/3/2018 0:18 19 M Bottom M ISK 23/3/2018 0:17 20 F Bottom M ISK 3/4/2018 0:33 21 F Bottom M ISK 13/4/2018 0:43:06 (A = authenticity; I = internationalization; M = migration)
16 3.5. Data analysis
The data of this study is of a qualitative nature and consists of two parts: policy documents and interview transcripts (at the top-down level with policy officers and at the bottom-up level with policy implementers). Each type of data will be analyzed using different data analysis techniques. Policy documents can be analyzed in terms of the policy-making cycle as proposed by Kroon (2000). This is an ideal-typical process through which policies come into existence. The cycle consists of eight consecutive steps: (1) ideology formation; (2) agenda setting; (3) policy preparation; (4) policy formation; (5) policy implementation; (6) policy evaluation; (7) feedback; and (8) policy continuation, change or termination. This cycle is a basic tool for analyzing existing policies and developing new ones, but it requires policies to follow these steps consistently. In actual practice, however, policymaking often turns out to be quite different and rather disorganized (Kroon, 2000). Whenever this is the case, one can instead analyze a policy in terms of the aims and means tree. A policy always has certain aims that have to be reached through applying certain means. The aims and means tree puts these two together by looking at: (1) the ideology that leads to wanting to achieve a central aim; (2) the central aim, i.e. what you want to achieve; (3) the intermediate aim, i.e. smaller aims you set in order to achieve your central aim; and (4) the means, i.e. the actions you undertake to reach your aims. This latter method of analysis can be applied to all types of policies. The current study will therefore use this method as the collected policy documents turned out to be quite different from one another and in different stages of the policy cycle. The focus will be on why (ideology) the Municipality wants to accomplish what in the specific domain (aims) and how they want to accomplish that (means). The transcripts of the interviews will be analyzed by means of open coding. In this method, all data is analyzed and divided into fragments, which then can be compared with one another (Boeije, 2014). There are three steps to be identified in this coding process. Firstly, all of the relevant statements of the interviews within each type of domain and level (for example migration, bottom) will be marked and all additional information will be left out. The relevance of the statements will be determined based on the topics the interview questions aimed to ask for and based on the topics the interviewees brought up themselves. The latter fits with the epistemological approach of this research as it focuses on naturalistic data, data which the interviewees create themselves. Second, a division in the marked statements will be made based on the topics and each topic will be coded in a different color in the transcripts. Third, a chart of each color/topic will be made which contains all the coded statements by the interviewees in the specific domain related to the topic. In this way, one can arrive at a clear overview of what is being said about the topics by the different interviewees. The statements of each of the interviewees can then be compared with one another in order to analyze the bottom-up practices. An example of the latter can be found in Appendix D.
3.6. Research quality indicators
Validity is the extent to which scientific research measures what it intends to measure. There are two main types of validity. The first one is internal validity. This is about ensuring that the research method and the conclusions you draw from it are legitimate (Tubbing, 2014). The interviews were semi- structured and more or less contained the same questions for each group of interviewees regarding a certain main domain of diversity: authenticity, internationalization, and migration. This ensured that the interview questions, generally speaking, asked about the same matters. Furthermore, the interview transcripts have been double checked by the respondents in order to ensure that all the information provided was correct. Also, the same number of interviews were conducted at each of type of educational institutions, except for the ISK, to ensure that there was an equal amount of input from each of the locations.
17 The second type of validity is external validity (Tubbing, 2014). This is the extent to which the findings are generalizable to a larger population. Even though the current research does not require external validity, because it focuses on one single place, this does not entail that the findings could not be useful to other, similar places. On the contrary, by providing a better understanding of the situation in Maastricht, this research can serve as an interpretive mirror to other cities who deal with similar language related diversity issues. Another important quality criterion of research is reliability. Reliability is ensuring that the measurement procedure applied is accurate and precise (Tubbing, 2014). The reliability of this research could be threatened, e.g. by respondents only giving socially desirable answers. This was probably of greater risk at the Municipality since policy officers at the Municipality have a representative position to uphold. Since I interviewed a number of different participants and asked them more or less the same questions, I was able to detect such socially desirable answers if they would appear. Furthermore, the data triangulation i.e. the use of multiple methods to gather data, also serves as an extra control function. Moreover, I ensured my participants before the interview that it was about their experiences and that their anonymity is guaranteed. The latter was realized by using numbers to refer to the different participants, i.e. interviewees. Finally, it should be noted here that the researcher herself is from Maastricht and speaks the local dialect. Therefore, some interviews were conducted in the local dialect. This can be seen as an asset as I was able to establish a good rapport with the participants, causing them to open up and answer more freely. As indicated before, the dialect is sometimes really considered a must if one wants to fit in with the locals (Van de Wijngaard, 1999). Therefore, especially regarding the domain of authenticity, it proved to be very useful when talking in dialect to the participants. Lastly, it was also very useful in doing the fieldwork in general as I know the city very well and therefore had a good overview of the different involved institutions where I could gather my data.
18 Chapter 4
Maastricht, then and now
Chapter four presents the context of the city of Maastricht. First, the city’s four main phases of history are briefly discussed (Roman settlement, medieval religious center, garrison city, and early industrial development), including the influence of this rich and diverse history on language usage. Furthermore, the Maastricht Treaty, which is the treaty that created the European Union is briefly discussed. Lastly, this chapter provides the current demographics and some additional statistical information.
4.1. The history of Maastricht: From one conquer to another
The city of Maastricht’s history is rich and diverse and can be divided into four phases: (1) a Roman settlement; (2) a medieval religious center; (3) a garrison city; and (4) an early industrial city (Thuis in Maastricht, n.d.). Maastricht’s beginnings are, because of its geographical location, a Roman settlement around the start of the common era (Zicht op Maastricht, n.d.). At this time, several public buildings appeared which really developed the city’s urban landscape (Thuis in Maastricht, n.d.). Ever since the Roman era, Maastricht has been inhabited continuously (Zicht op Maastricht, n.d.). In the Middle Ages, the second phase, the city become an important religious center, with Bishop Saint Servatius’ grave emerging as a major pilgrimage site (Thuis in Maastricht, n.d.). The city’s economy and society were mainly focused on religion (Zicht op Maastricht, n.d.). The third phase marks Maastricht’s role as a garrison city. Because of its strategic location, until 1867 Maastricht was a fortified city and garrison with a quarter of its population comprised of Spanish, Dutch-state, and French soldiers (Thuis in Maastricht, n.d.). In the 19th century, after becoming part of the Netherlands in 1867, Maastricht developed into the first Dutch industrial city and the city center housed several industrial factories. This development greatly improved infrastructure and the urban landscape (Thuis in Maastricht, n.d.). Nowadays, many historic buildings have been bought by Maastricht University. During these four phases, three languages were present in Maastricht (French, Dutch, and Maastrichts). This exerted a great influence on its inhabitants and their language usage (Kessels-van der Heijde, 2002). Even though in the 19th century local dialects generally became associated with lower classes, “Maastrichts” proved to be an exception to this. Inhabitants were very proud of their dialect. The Maastricht dialect was greatly influenced by the French language. As French was associated with class and excellence, dialect-speaking people started using it more often. An example of the French influence is the dialect-word “bougie”, meaning candle, which is the same word as in French. Dutch on the contrary, was seen as foreign, a language only to be used on occasion. The arbitrary dynasticism within the city of Maastricht resulted in its inhabitants’ aversion being part of one national regime with one national language; the Dutch language. This resulted in a strong authentic belief (Knotter, 2008), which was amplified by the fact that most people from Maastricht were Catholic, whereas the North was mainly Protestant (Kessels-van der Heijde, 2002). Later, people started to respect the Dutch language more as both Dutch and Maastrichts arose from the same “root” language. This led to the current climate, in which Dutch is used in written and spoken language but in which the dialect holds a very strong position as well.
4.2. The Maastricht Treaty: The start of an integrated Europe
An important event for Maastricht was the signing of the Treaty on the European Union, also known as the Maastricht Treaty. The Maastricht Treaty was signed on 7 February 1992 and marked the first step
19 towards the establishment of “creating an ever-closer union among the peoples of Europe” (Treaty on European Union, 1992, p. 7). It was the result of several years of discussion between governments on developing an integrated Europe (European Central Bank, 2017). The Maastricht Treaty laid the foundation for more extensive cooperation between European countries and made the European Union [EU] what it is today (European Central Bank, 2017). The purpose of the Treaty was to increase economic integration, cooperation on issues such as immigration and crime, and to promote common citizenship (National Geographic, n.d.). This was done through the establishment of: (1) a single currency, the euro; (2) European citizenship, which allows citizens to reside in and travel more freely between Member States; (3) a common foreign and security policy; (4) and a closer cooperation between police and the governing bodies in criminal matters (European Central Bank, 2017). The original Treaty was signed in Maastricht by representatives from 12 countries – Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. Since then, multiple countries have joined. The European Community currently exists of 28 Member States, a coalition. More than 510 million citizens from the partaking Member States enjoy the benefits of European cooperation (European Central Bank, 2017).
4.3. Maastricht in present time
Maastricht is the capital city of the province of Limburg and is located in the Southernmost part of the Netherlands (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: A map of the Netherlands. The black arrow points at the city of Maastricht
In the whole province of Limburg, a local dialect is spoken. Even though people often talk about Limburgish as if there is just one variety, this is a very simplified picture. Limburgish consists of six different varieties: Ripuarisch, Ripuarisch transition dialects, East-Limburgish, Central-Limburgish, Mich-kwartier, and Kleverlands (Limburgse Dialecten, n.d.). The Maastricht dialect is part of the Central-Limburgish dialect, spoken in the left part of the province. The webpage limburgsedialecten.nl offers an interactive map of Limburg in which you can hear the different dialects from each of the six regions. Of the roughly one million Limburgish inhabitants, 750,000 people speak dialect on a regular basis (Limburge dialecten, n.d.b).
20 The Maastricht region borders six kilometers to the Netherlands and 220 kilometers to Belgium and Germany (www.zuidlimburg.nl/facts-figures.html). Its current mayor is Annemarie Penn-te Strake. Maastricht has 122,371 inhabitants with an average age of 42.5 years old (Maastricht in cijfers, n.d.). Furthermore, 37,783 of these inhabitants have a migration background as of 2017, compared to 26,205 in 2007. Among these inhabitans, the region of origin is most often Europe (56.5%), followed by Asia (23.1%), Africa (10.1%), America (9.5%), and Oceania (0.8%). Also, in 2017 there were 18,136 inhabitants with a non-Dutch nationality compared to 7,159 in 2007. Of these non-Dutch inhabitants, approximately 9,600 are highly skilled migrants, 7,500 are international students, and the remainder consists of border workers (J. Martin-Ahrendt, personal communication, March 14, 2018). The diversity of its citizens leads to linguistic diversity. Besides Dutch and the local dialect, the neighboring national languages, English, and a number of non-Western migrant minority languages are most present.
21 Chapter 5
A top-down perspective on diversity policies in the Municipality of Maastricht
Maastricht’s history and contemporary context make it an authentic, multicultural, and international environment. The previous chapters have made that abundantly clear. Such diversity, however, is not always a celebrated characteristic as it can also be difficult to manage, especially for an institution like the Municipality. Policymakers have to create and facilitate the implementation of policies that deal with this diversity, which is not an easy task to fulfill. In an ideal situation, a policy should prevent or solve a problem and follow the eight stages of the policy cycle as identified by Kroon (2000). In reality, however, this often is not the case. Policies, as a matter of fact, are quite frequently a reaction to a problem instead of an attempt to prevent it and hardly ever follow all eight steps of the ideal policy cycle. This also happened to be the case for the Municipality of Maastricht. When conducting interviews and gathering the relevant policy documents for each of the three domains under investigation (authenticity, internationalization, and migration), it became clear that there is a lot of disagreement and lack of knowledge among those involved. Municipal employees pointed towards one another while not knowing who exactly was involved in the specific field. Furthermore, they were often unaware of the existence of policies regarding each of the three domains. Next, all three domains were clearly seen as separate as each domain is approached independently and by different actors in their policymaking. Also, official policy documents were often not available. In most cases only so-called “policy notes” and separate documents were available. Given the diverse nature of the collected policy documents and the rather disorganized practice of policymaking at the Municipality of Maastricht, I opted for an analysis of the collected documents in terms of the aims and means tree instead of using the policy as an instrument for analysis. This type of analysis can be applied to all types of policies and therefore fits better with the top-down data of the current study. As stated in the methodology chapter, a policy always has certain aims that have to be reached through certain means (Kroon, 2000). In the analysis, I will investigate why (ideology) the Municipality wants to accomplish what in a specific domain (aim) and how they want to accomplish that (means). The four aspects of the aims and means tree will be taken into consideration in the analysis. These are: (1) the underlying ideology that leads to the central aim; (2) the central aim; (3) the intermediate aims, i.e. smaller aims, set in order to achieve the central aim; and (4) the means, i.e. the actions undertaken to reach the aims. In this analysis, the main focus will be on language aspects. More concretely, on local dialect in the domain of authenticity, on English and neighboring national languages in the domain of internationalization, and on migrant minority languages in the domain of migration. The interviews with policy makers and officers conducted will serve as extra information for the analysis of the collected documents. The current chapter outlines the top-down perspective for each of the three domains, starting with authenticity, followed by internationalization and migration. Each part of this chapter starts by giving some information about the documents that were analyzed and the interviews that were conducted before going into the analysis. Finally, a conclusion follows that connects all elements of the three domains.
5.1. Authenticity
The first domain discussed is authenticity. More concretely, policies regarding the local dialect. The domain of authenticity proved to be the most difficult to investigate as there was apparently no policy
22 officer at the Municipality that was engaged with this subject, nor were there any official municipal policy documents regarding this domain. Nevertheless, I have managed to collect the following policy (related) documents: ▪ The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages [further referred to as Charter] (Council of Europe, 1992); ▪ Fifth periodic report in respect of measures taken by the Netherlands in relation to the implementation of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages [further referred to as Fifth periodical report] (Council of Europe, 2015); ▪ Report on the application of the Charter in the Netherlands (Council of Europe, 2016); ▪ Policy note “An important role for Culture” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2015a); ▪ Advice letter about the policy regarding the use of dialect in street signs (Van de Boogard, Van Tol & Minis, 2016); ▪ Facebook posts by the Municipality in the local dialect (Municipality of Maastricht, February 21, 2018).2
Moreover, I have conducted one interview with a policy officer in the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Maastricht (Interviewee 1).
At the supranational European policy level authenticity is clearly marked as important (Council of Europe, 1992). The Charter is based on an ideology in which the historical regional and minority languages of Europe are seen as a contribution to Europe’s cultural richness and traditions.
“The protection and promotion of regional or minority languages in the different countries and regions of Europe represent an important contribution to the building of Europe.” (Council of Europe, 1992, p. 2)
The Charter is meant to enable speakers of these languages to use the language in private and public life. With the Charter, the participating countries can start multiple activities to facilitate and enhance regional and minority languages, for example by including these languages in education and cultural activities (Council of Europe, 1992). The Charter hereby stipulates that when setting up policies regarding these languages, the policy makers should take into account the needs and wishes of the groups who use the language. The aim of the Charter, therefore, is that participating countries protect their regional and minority languages through implementing the general provisions outlined in the Charter. This will consequently contribute to the cultural richness and tradition that the Council of Europe stresses as important. The actual implementation of the Charter is the responsibility of the state (Council of Europe, 1992). In the Netherlands, the responsibility for the protection and promotion of regional languages is decentralized and is with the provincial authorities because it was precisely these authorities who demanded the inclusion of their regional languages in the Charter (Council of Europe, 2015). According to the Council of Europe,
“This has the advantage of a tailor-made approach being applied as a policy principle, taking local circumstances into account.” (Council of Europe, 2015, p. 15)
2 I am aware that a Facebook post is no policy document. I, however, decided to include it in view of the general lack of real policy documents in this domain.
23 The report on the application of the Charter in the Netherlands (Council of Europe, 2016), however, states that the Dutch national authorities should still be responsible for the implementation of the Charter. This report evaluates the existing legal acts, regulations, and real practice applied in the Netherlands for its regional and minority languages. The report furthermore notes that there is little knowledge in the Netherlands about regional or minority languages and their contribution to the cultural wealth of the country. In short, the ideology at the supranational level, in which regional and minority languages are seen as a contribution to the cultural richness and traditions of Europe, is not reflected in the mindset of the Dutch government. Given that the responsibility of the application of the Charter is placed with the local authorities, one would assume that the Municipality of Maastricht sees the inclusion of Limburgish in the Charter as a firm starting point for enhancing and promoting its local dialect. On the contrary, safeguarding and enhancing the Maastricht dialect as an important aspect of its heritage does not seem to be a central aim of the Municipality; there is no official policy regarding the domain of authenticity, specifically the local dialect, nor is there a policy officer appointed to this task. The policy note “An important role for Culture” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2015), the document that sets a vision for culture within Maastricht, has no mention of the dialect whatsoever. It does start by delineating the diversity within Maastricht, emphasizing locality.
“Old against young, locality against international … Sjeng against Hollander, periphery against the Randstad.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2015a, p. 7)3, 4
But the policy note only states aims regarding the participation of its citizens. The Municipality wants to “modernize” cultural participation. It states that it wants to include all different groups of society as the current situation often just reflects one group. Also, it wants to create connections between professional cultural institutions and the “old” but deeply rooted identity of the city (Municipality of Maastricht, 2015). What exactly is understood by this old and deeply rooted identity is not further clarified.
“Maastricht is not just one of the most important Dutch cultural heritage cities, the city also has – due to its particular location – a rich and colorful history.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2015a, p. 5)
The policy note does mention the (im)material “heritage stock”, the full potential of which is not put to use, but again, there is no mention of the local dialect as a part of this heritage. The interviewee even referred to the local dialect as “something that has never been there”.
“The “original” inhabitants who attach value to something that has actually never been there, but which they think is very important to their identity, and they brace themselves a bit against all sorts of new developments such as students, foreigners.” (Interviewee 1, March 7, 2018)
This could indicate that the interviewee does not see the local dialect as an important asset to the cultural identity of the city of Maastricht. He does know about the Charter for Regional or Minority Languages but said that nothing is being done to directly safeguard and promote the local dialect in Municipal
3 Sjeng is a man’s given name, traditionally used to refer to the local inhabitants of Maastricht; the Randstad refers to the urbanized region in the West of the Netherlands, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. 4 All quotes from Municipality-related documents and interviews have been translated by me from Dutch into English. An overview of the original quotes can be found in Appendix E.
24 policies. This again confirms the view or ideology of the Municipality and more specifically the Culture Department, in which enhancing the local dialect is not seen as one of its priorities and therefore no aims are being set regarding the local dialect. This is reflected in the report of the Committee of Experts (Council of Europe, 2016), which among other things, states that for Limburgish there is neither a structured policy to promote and protect it, nor a dialogue on the Charter with its speakers. The latter was stressed as important in the implementation of the Charter in each of the Member States (Council of Europe, 1992). When setting up the policy regarding regional or minority languages, countries should take into account the needs and wishes of the groups who use the languages (Council of Europe, 1992). There is no mention of this by the interviewee nor in the collected documents. The Report on the application of the Charter in the Netherlands states,
“The Committee of Experts urges the Dutch authorities to adopt a structured approach and encourage the use of Limburgish in public life, especially in the media, economic field and in social life (e.g. health and elderly care)” (Council of Europe, 2016, p. 11)
According to the report, local authorities do not undertake much action in promoting the language, which is in line with the situation at the Municipality. No action is undertaken to promote the local dialect. The organization Veldeke is mentioned as an institution that promotes the dialect, but this organization is an independent body and not part of the Municipality.
“The organization Veldeke Limburg promotes Limburgish in public, by displaying texts in the language in the public space.” (Council of Europe, 2016, p. 11)
As stated before, the report also noted that there is little knowledge in the Netherlands about regional or minority languages and their contribution to the cultural wealth of the country (Council of Europe, 2016). The following quote of the interviewee demonstrates this view,
“And the dialect exists in every city, it is not unique to Maastricht. It also exists in Venlo, it exists in Nijmegen, it actually exists everywhere.” (Interviewee 1, March 7, 2018)
In a way, these statements downgrade the importance of the Maastricht local dialect by deeming it something that exists everywhere. The interviewee indicated that no Municipal employee is appointed to nourish the use of Limburgish in the field of education. Again, this is in line with the report (Council of Europe, 2016).
“Both Limburgish and Low Saxon are included in education via school projects and activities. These depend on the initiative of the schools, support of the provinces or involvement of the speakers’ organizations and do not amount to the level of teaching Limburgish and Low Saxon as regular school subjects. These activities focus mainly on the primary level and are almost non-existent at pre-school level.” (Council of Europe, 2016, p. 8)
Dutch is used mostly as the language of education, because schools, staff, and teachers do not seem to be aware of the advantages of multilingualism (Council of Europe, 2016). During the on-the-spot visit by the Committee of Experts in March 2016, representatives of the dialect speakers have voiced particular concerns about pre-school education, where only Dutch is used. The latter reflects the fact that Dutch policies do not take into account the needs and wishes of the groups who use the languages.
25 The policy documents discussed so far show that the Council of Europe’s ideology does not correspond with the Municipality of Maastricht’s ideology. Whereas the Council of Europe wants the Netherlands to create a more structured policy to encourage its regional languages, including Limburgish, in order to add to Europe’s richness, the opposite seems to be true for the Municipality. The dialect does not seem to be understood as an important asset for policy-making. Indirectly however, there are some activities carried out or set in motion by the Municipality that do seem to fit in an ideology in which the local dialect is important. First of all, on February 21, all Facebook-posts by the Municipality were written in the local dialect (Municipality of Maastricht, 2018). The local dialect was used in these posts on this specific day because it was International Mother Language Day. The Municipality even wrote that they are “gruuts” (Dutch “trots”, meaning proud) of the Maastricht dialect.
“Today we will translate our social media-posts into Maastrichts, because we are proud of our Mother Tongue, Maastrichts.” (Municipality of Maastricht, February 21, 2018)
Figure 2: Four Facebook posts that were published on February 21, 2018, in the local dialect under the banner of International Mother Language Day.
Also, the advice letter on street name signs (Van de Boogard, Van Tol & Minis, 2016) gives some insight into the Municipal policy regarding the use of dialect. This letter was written by different Municipal employees and gives advice with regard to the policy about street signs with the use of dialect. Associations can request to change the names of street signs from standard Dutch into dialect, but in order for the request to be accepted by the Municipality, the associations need to have some cultural support in the concerning neighborhood. Furthermore, the signs have to be financed by the associations themselves. The Municipality will only take care of the placement of the signs. This could indicate that
26 the Municipality finds the visibility of the dialect throughout the city important. The initiative however does not come from the Municipality itself but its actions are merely a response to a request. The above clarifies that there is no clear-cut cultural policy regarding the local dialect. The indirect actions, or means, seem to indicate that the Municipality of Maastricht does find it important to give attention to the local dialect, but this vision is not translated into its official policies. In the cultural policy note no direct aims are mentioned regarding the protection and promotion of the Maastricht dialect (Municipality of Maastricht, 2015). Even though the Charter (Council of Europe, 1992), the Fifth periodical report (Council of Europe, 2015), and the Report on the application of the Charter in the Netherlands (Council of Europe, 2016) urge the Netherlands to encourage the promotion of Limburgish more, the actual implementation of it is left to the local authorities who, in Maastricht, do not seem to be very bothered with this subject. The Charter seems to have more of a symbolic function, as the Municipality does not use it or even mention it in their current cultural policy. The cultural strategies are focused on diversity and inclusion and on wanting to take the different groups that are present within Maastricht into consideration, but the local language is apparently not part of this.
5.2. Internationalization
To cover the second domain, two internationalization policies, more precisely policies regarding the English language and neighboring national languages, have been collected:
▪ Policy note “Internationalization Municipality of Maastricht: Maastricht international star among the cities” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2013); ▪ Leaflet “Student and city: Program” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2015b).
Furthermore, an interview with a policy officer within the department of Economy and Culture of the Municipality of Maastricht was conducted (Interviewee 2).
In comparison to the domain of authenticity, the policy in the domain of internationalization is more straightforward. The policy is based on an ideology in which internationalization is understood as important because it is seen as inevitable and necessary to the future of the city of Maastricht (Municipality of Maastricht, 2013). Internationalization is understood by the Municipality of Maastricht as follows,
“Internationalization in its general meaning is making connections with foreign countries. It is this direction that this policy note is heading to: making connections (in the broadest sense of the word) with citizens, governments or institutions abroad. Internationalization is a means to realize the policy goals as formulated in the municipal vision documents.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2013, p. 7)
The central aim of internationalization is to connect with foreign countries, their citizens, governments, and organizations, but also with internationals located in Maastricht (Municipality of Maastricht, 2013). The focus is especially on creating bridges with the Euregion (Belgium and Germany). The internationalization program will be carried out through existing budgetary programs in the separate Municipal programs, which indicates again that even within one domain the Municipality operates without much cohesion. Interviewee 2 stated that in the past internationalization was often addressed as a nuisance problem but in present time the Municipality takes on a more positive stance by involving
27 the internationals in their plans. Important to note is that with “internationals” the Municipality refers only to skilled migrants, knowledge workers, and international students.
“The group of international knowledge workers feels at home in a city that offers a more international perspective than other cities because of the many facilities, openness, and border location.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2013, p. 10)
So, the internationalization aim of the Municipality is only focused on this specific target group. There is no mention of the international influx of refugees in the policy note. This is remarkable since this group also contains highly educated migrants. Interviewee 2 confirmed this by stating that the Municipality only focuses on skilled migrants in its internationalization strategies. Economic and social migration policies operate parallel at the moment, although he said they should start combining them more due to the many shortages that are currently showing on the labor market.
“Purely from, purely from the shortages that are present at the Dutch labor market. So with whatever political vision you look at it, the problem is there. And you will need to do something about that.” (Interviewee 2, March 14, 2018)
In order to fulfill the aim to become more international, the Municipality wants to accomplish several intermediate aims. The Municipality wants to, among others, improve its multilingualism.
“Multilingualism is a recurring and essential theme in this policy note. Providing services and information in multiple languages is indispensable for the Municipality. The range must be broadly oriented, from the registration for exchange students to, for example, a license application for entrepreneurs.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2013, p. 16)
Multilingualism is not only to be promoted within the Municipality itself but is also seen as important to the citizens and entrepreneurs of Maastricht. The Municipality wants nobody in its city to be disadvantaged.
“The Municipality must ensure that nobody in the city is in a disadvantaged position. Maastricht is there for all residents and guests of the city with an open and international outlook by nature.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2013, p. 25)
Even though the Municipality in this quote claims to be there for “all” citizens, the fact that it is mentioned in their internationalization policy yet again indicates that it is mostly referring to highly skilled migrants and international students; its main target group within the domain of internationalization. Furthermore, language also plays a role in collaborations between neighboring countries. Apparently, there still is a language barrier:
“It is necessary to tackle the still existing border barriers – that not only exist physically, but also mentally… Maastricht can present itself as the city of multilingualism: native speakers are always close and meet the need for multilingualism in a growing number of companies. Multilingualism of the population however, remains important.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2013, p. 11)
28 The Municipality want to improve this multilingualism through stimulating, besides English, the use of French and German, the neighboring national languages, in primary and secondary education. Interviewee 2 stated,
“Neighboring language education is also considered a governmental matter. You can see that it is very important. We are very English-oriented whereas we do not speak the language of our neighbors.” (Interviewee 2, March 14, 2018)
The policy note does not only refer to primary and secondary education. Higher education is mentioned as well. The University of Maastricht is brought up most when referring to this. Interviewee 2 said that considerable cooperation is going on between the Municipality, the University of Maastricht [UM], and Zuyd University of Applied Sciences [Zuyd]. An example of such is illustrated in the “Student and city” leaflet. This leaflet gives some extra insights regarding the Municipality’s approach towards international students, of which language is an important aspect. It among other things talks about the MyMaastricht portal (https://mymaastricht.nl) that was launched by a cooperation of these three institutions (Municipality of Maastricht, 2015b). A portal that offers information in English about transportation, health, financial matters, housing, leisure, and social media.
“In order to make information more accessible to international students the Municipality started from October first, 2013 onwards with additional walk-in consultation hours for this group. Furthermore, more than 30 of the most requested Municipal products/services are now also available in English.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2015b)
It is interesting to see that the service is only available in English and targeted at students, whereas if they would also offer it in French and German, the languages they aim to include more, it would be helpful to many other internationals in Maastricht. This reflects the English-focused mindset Interviewee 2 was talking about (March 14, 2018). Furthermore, the “Student and city” leaflet also states that the Municipality wants to enhance the image of Maastricht as an international student town. Both the UM and Zuyd are already internationally oriented, but international secondary vocational education is missing. Integrating the international aspect in an educational institution is apparently not such an easy task,
“At the time when Zuyd University of Applied Sciences started transitioning to English, I have heard some people say that this is a big challenge.” (Interviewee 2, March 14, 2018)
What exactly that challenge is, is not further explained nor mentioned in the policy note. Interviewee 2 did indeed admit that the Municipality is not yet where it intends to be regarding the internationalization strategies. The above clarifies that that the Municipality is striving to acquire a more international character by integrating an internationalization strategy as a means to reach its goals. It is based on an ideology in which internationalization is seen as inevitable and necessary to the future of Maastricht. But the focus is exclusively on the international influx of highly-skilled migrants and international students. Even though this policy seems to be more straightforward in comparison to the Municipal policy in the domain of authenticity, the opposite is true as the exact means that are going to be put into action to reach the central aim of becoming more international are very vague. No concrete steps are written down in the policy note (Municipality of Maastricht, 2013) nor in the leaflet (Municipality of Maastricht, 2015b). They were also not mentioned by Interviewee 2. What does become clear is that
29 multilingualism, that is English, French, and German, is seen as an integral part of its internationalization strategies, but so far the Municipality is still mostly English-oriented.
5.3. Migration
The third and final domain that will be discussed from a top-down perspective is migration, more concretely policies regarding migrant minority languages. I have managed to collect the following documents:
▪ Implementation task “Refugee Reception” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2016); ▪ Municipal letter regarding the current situation on the sheltering of refugees (Penn-te Strake, 2016); ▪ Municipal letter regarding “Diversity” (Gerats, 2017a); ▪ Municipal letter regarding the integration of status holders (Gerats, 2017b).
Furthermore, I have conducted interviews with two policy officers of the Municipality that were involved in the (re)integration of refugees and status holders (Interviewee 3 and Interviewee 4).
When discussing the internationalization domain, it became clear that the Municipality was referring to a specific kind of migrant in its internationalization strategy, i.e. highly-skilled migrants only. Regarding the domain of migration, however, the Municipality is referring to a different kind of migrant, i.e. economic migrants. Whereas highly-skilled migrants are seen as an international influx that is desired and needed for the city of Maastricht (Municipality of Maastricht, 2013), the opposite seems to be true for economic migration as policies dealing with these people are mostly based on an ideology in which this form of migration is seen as some sort of obstacle to the cohesion of society. Therefore, the main policy aim puts the process of integration in Dutch society by this group of migrants in central position. This especially holds true for the new group of migrants, i.e. refugees. Except for the 37,783 current residents with a migration background (https://maastricht.incijfers.nl), the Municipality of Maastricht took in about 900 status holders from 2013 to 2016 (Gerats, 2017b). Status holders are refugees who have obtained a residence permit. They came to Maastricht from a diverse range of countries but mostly from Syria and Eritrea (Interviewee 4, April 6, 2018).
“The Municipality of Maastricht is an international knowledge city, known for its hospitable character. The reception of refugees and status holders is based on this. Refugees are welcome in Maastricht. At the same time, it is expected of them that they acquire knowledge of the Dutch norms and values and make a positive contribution to the society of Maastricht.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2016, p. 5)
“Regarding status holders who have been appointed to Maastricht, we want them to start directly with the integration and participation.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2016, p. 30)
The Municipality of Maastricht states that everybody is welcome in its city. Yet at the same time refugees and status holders are expected to adjust to Dutch society. Again, this particular international migration influx is related to the process of integration. The responsibility for the civic integration of these new citizens is in current politics placed with the status holders themselves. The Municipality merely plays a stimulating role in this as it no longer facilitates the civic integration trajectory but instead has handed this task over to a few independent institutions (Gerats, 2017b). Both interviewees indicated that the Municipality is not pleased with how
30 these arrangements are made at the national policy level and would prefer to have the civic integration program be controlled by the local municipalities5.
“The municipalities used to do the civic integration program. But we are no longer allowed to do that. We are lobbying for it, because we would like very much to be in charge of it again.” (Interviewee 3, March 7, 2018)
“As municipalities, we are not satisfied with how they [the national government; SC] arranged it.” (Interviewee 4, April 6, 2018)
Even though the Municipality is not in control of the civic integration of newly arrived migrants, it still sets out policies that contribute to the central aim of integration. There is no official migration policy, but it is integrated into different Municipal themes (Gerats, 2017b). The domain of migration does, however, operate very separately policy-wise from internationalization as was confirmed by the interviewees. This could be the consequence of these policies being based on two different ideologies in which highly-skilled migration is desired and economic migration is not. The opinions of the interviewees on whether this division was a positive note were divided. Whereas Interviewee 3 stated that she clearly saw them as two separate aspects and that she was convinced they should remain that way, Interviewee 4 said that migration and internationalization could and should be combined more.
“Generally speaking it is very weird, also with regards to the labor market. We have shortages but they are going to send people away who are highly educated ... While we can actually use these people very well. So yeah, that is weird.” (Interviewee 4, April 6, 2018)
What exactly is understood by integration the Municipality describes as follows:
“Integration in particular is a process in which people connect with one another and come together in a way that goes beyond social and cultural lines, with mutual respect for each other’s individuality. This is by definition a process that has to start at the bottom, you cannot oblige or force people. The Municipality can however contribute to it in a condition-creating sense.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2016, p. 46)
Acquiring the Dutch language is seen as an integral part of integration by both interviewees. The importance of acquiring the Dutch language can be seen as an intermediate aim to the central aim of the integration of economic migrants.
“I think that it [language; SC] is a very important step in order to integrate.” (Interviewee 3, March 7, 2018)
Migrant minority languages are not part of this integration process. They are not mentioned in any of the documents, only in relation to the use of interpreters for public services (Municipality of Maastricht, 2016). This reflects an ideology in which this form of migration is seen as some sort of obstacle to the cohesion of society and therefore these languages are excluded. Even the English language, which is increasingly visible in Maastricht due to its internationalization strategies, is excluded from these
5 Minister Koolmees of Social Affairs and Employment has just released his legislative proposal regarding the civic integration program. He wants municipalities to be in control again and monitor and evaluate the process of the civic integration. He also wants to set greater linguistic requirements. https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/actueel/nieuws/2018/07/02/inburgering-op-de-schop-nieuwkomers-zo-snel-mogelijk- aan-het-werk-leenstelsel-afgeschaft
31 documents that deal with economic migration. The latter was mostly related to the fact that in order to pass the civic integration test in the Netherlands, one has to be proficient in Dutch at a certain level (Interviewee 4, April 6, 2018). Therefore, institutions strictly only use Dutch. This does, however, lead to some frustration among refugees who are proficient in English but not in Dutch.
“But for the civic integration, you have to be able to speak Dutch at a certain level, so you cannot just say that you are not going to do it. And this can lead to tension, because highly educated refugees are thinking like “I speak perfectly good English, so why do I need to learn Dutch?” But yet they still have to pass it.” (Interviewee 4, April 6, 2018)
This again indicates the differences between the international influx in the domain of internationalization and in the domain of migration. Highly-skilled migrants are not required to learn the Dutch language, whereas for economic migrants it is their entry ticket into Dutch society. It again shows that the latter is a less desired form of migration. Not only at the local level but also at the national level. Even though the Municipality is not in charge of the civic integration program anymore and of the language requirements of refugees, it still is obliged to provide education to children below eighteen and, with that, does contribute to the aim of integration through language.
“Being an international region, Maastricht-Heuvelland [Name of the region Maastricht; SC] has a long history of taking in non-Dutch speaking pupils. Sometimes these are status holders, but also children of expats or children from other international nomads. Supporting these children brings up a dilemma: on the one hand it is important that they acquire Dutch as quickly as possible, on the other hand it is desirable that they integrate as quickly as possible in their own (school) environment.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2016, p. 37)
To enhance and speed-up the process of acquiring the Dutch language, a few schools are offering extra languages classes to children in primary education who are not yet proficient in Dutch (Municipality of Maastricht, 2016). The Municipality furthermore supports the ISK, the school that provides secondary education to non-Dutch speaking children, of which the aim is to teach new migrants the Dutch language as quickly as possible (Municipality of Maastricht, 2016). Furthermore, the Municipality contributes to the integration of economic migrants through means of facilitating and supporting initiatives that focus on the activation, participation, and integration of these new inhabitants (Gerats, 2017b).
“We find it very important that everybody can participate in society. And we give special grants to volunteer organizations ... So with that you see that we find it very important that everybody, young-old, poor-rich, native-Dutch or people with a migration background, can participate in society.” (Interviewee 3, March 7, 2018)
This refers, besides language, to another important intermediate aim of integration, which is connecting economic migrants to the citizens of Maastricht. The Municipality itself also contributed to this by means of organizing so-called “open days” in refugee centers. This was, however, a reaction to the protests made against these centers by local residents (Municipality of Maastricht, 2016).
“A lot of protest has been going on and also demonstrations. Also in the refugee center. Once a threat was made or a house destroyed.” (Interviewee 3, March 7, 2018)
32 The fact that a certain form of tolerance is lacking is also reflected by the Municipal letter about diversity (Gerats, 2017a) as it refers to the existence of an increasing gap between people with different ethnic backgrounds. The letter was published as a response to the Labor Party (Partij van de Arbeid) in which they asked the Municipality to set out a plan to enhance tolerance and mutual understanding between different cultural and ethnic groups. The Municipality gave substance to this through giving out grants to volunteer organizations who are committed to the themes of “diversity and inclusion” (Gerats, 2017a). Again, this is a means put into motion as a reaction to existing problems. The above makes clear that the international influx of economic migrants is approached in a totally different way than the international influx of highly-skilled migrants. The policy decisions in the domain of migration are based on an ideology in which this form of migration is unwanted and therefore integration into Dutch society is required and seen as crucial. Whereas internationalization policies are approached in terms of strategies, policies in the domain of migration often seem to be considered more as a “task”. They are quite frequently a reaction to existing problems. Similar to the domain of authenticity there was not one official policy document. The Municipality does set out aims and means in order to facilitate the integration of these new migrants but only on its own terms. Language is a crucial aspect of this but only with regards to the Dutch language. Migrant minority languages and even English are excluded from it.
5.4. Conclusion
The conclusion of the above analysis has to be that there is a lack of policy in the domain of authenticity, internationalization, and migration, especially from the perspective of language. First, we saw that within the domain of authenticity there is no clear-cut cultural policy regarding the local dialect. Local authorities do not seem to be very bothered with promoting and safeguarding it and at the moment only support the dialect in an indirect manner. This results in the local dialect not being mentioned by any of the Municipality’s official policies. Second, even the domain of internationalization, that seemed to come closest to well-structured policy making, turned out to be quite disorganized. Even the fact that internationalization is seen as necessary and inevitable by the Municipality of Maastricht does not result in a well-structured policy as the exact aims and means remain very vague and unclear. Multilingualism is seen as an integral part of the Municipality’s aim to become more international but so far it is mostly English-oriented. Lastly, the domain of migration is again approached in a total different manner. Despite the fact that this domain also deals with international migrants, it is not connected to the domain of internationalization whatsoever. The domain of migration is mostly conceptualized from a problem- based approach in which the main focus is on integration into Dutch society. Migrant minority languages are fully excluded from any policy. Even the English language is excluded, the language that is seen as useful to deal with the other group of international migrants, i.e. highly-skilled migrants. Chapter five has shown that policymaking at the Municipality is a rather disorganized practice. Multiple documents all contained bits of information. Furthermore, since there are no connections between policies in these three domains it turns out that policy-making at the Municipality of Maastricht is also very much an independent process. Even in the two domains that deal with similar issues, i.e. internationalization and migration, the Municipality still opts for operating separately. The existence of such complexity could give bottom-up practices a lot of freedom to act as they choose to, as there are no guiding policies in the three domains. The next chapter will dive deeper into this question and outline the bottom-up practices by analyzing interviews conducted with participants in the domain of authenticity, internationalization, and migration. Such analysis can indicate if the chaos and complexity at the top-down level is translated into the practices within the city of Maastricht.
33 Chapter 6
A bottom-up perspective on diversity practices in Maastricht
Chapter five pointed out that top-down activities regarding policy-making in the field of diversity in Maastricht Municipality can be characterized as a rather inconsistent, incomplete and complex endeavor. There is no connection between the three domains in policy-documents. Even within each domain, there is a clear lack of policy, especially from the perspective of language. The existence of this complexity gives bottom-up practices a lot of freedom to act as they choose to. One could assume that this is reflected in the practices of the domain of authenticity, internationalization, and migration in Maastricht. To find out if this is the case, the current chapter will analyze these practices within each domain to get a clear view of the bottom-up perspective. Interviews conducted with different participants employed in educational institutions within the domains of authenticity, internationalization, and migration, will be discussed. As stated in the methodology chapter, these interviews were analyzed by means of open coding. In this method, all data is divided into fragments or topics, which then can be compared with one another (Boeije, 2014). The current chapter will discuss the interview-data based on the different topics that came up during the interviews and compare the relevant fragments of the interviewees for each topic. The people I have spoken to offer a good sight of the bottom-up perspective as they each show a little piece of the actual practices within the domain of authenticity, internationalization, and migration. Furthermore, policy documents of the educational institutions, if any, were collected and used to better understand the practices within this domain. In the analysis, the main focus will be on language aspects. More concretely on local dialect in the domain of authenticity, on English and neighboring national languages in the domain of internationalization, and on migrant minority languages in the domain of migration. The chapter outlines the bottom-up perspective starting with the domain of authenticity, followed by the domain of internationalization and migration. Each part of this chapter starts by giving some information about the interviews that were conducted and, if any, documents that were received before going into the analysis. At the end of each subchapter, a conclusion follows. Finally, an overall conclusion is presented at the end of this chapter that connects all elements of the three domains.
6.1. Authenticity
The first domain discussed is authenticity and, more concretely, the way in which the local dialect plays a role in educational diversity practices. For the domain of authenticity, six interviews were conducted at St. Aloysius Elementary School (Interviewee 5 – 10). The participants have a range of different functions. Most of them are teachers at the school. All interviewees speak the local dialect. No official policy documents were available regarding the local dialect or any other languages. As stated before, the data from these interviews have been analyzed by means of open coding. This has resulted in the following topics:
1. The use of the local dialect at school 2. Activities regarding the safeguarding and promotion of the local dialect at school 3. View on the local dialect and the Municipality’s role in it 4. The use of regional languages and English at school
34 6.1.1. The use of the local dialect at school
The first topic that was brought up by the interviewees were the usages and functions of the local dialect at St. Aloysius Elementary School. All interviewees stated that when standing in front of a class, all teachers should speak Dutch. Even though there is no officially school policy that states that teachers are not allowed to use the dialect, most interviewees referred to it as an “unspoken rule”.
“No there are no official rules. Yeah of course, everybody speaks Dutch while teaching, but that is an unspoken rule that goes without saying. I mean, you teach in Dutch.” (Interviewee 5, April 4, 2018)6
“Yeah the rule actually is that you just speak Dutch with your pupils during class. Unless there is an exception, like what I said about clarifying a word. In that case it [the dialect; SC] has a clear function. But in class Dutch is spoken. This rule is not written down anywhere I believe, but that is just the way it is.” (Interviewee 7, April 4, 2018)
“It is the overall tendency in class to speak Dutch, because you are in class and all books are in Dutch and your explanation is in Dutch. Yeah and in this way you are also able to reach the entire class when you speak Dutch. I think that most children who speak Dutch can understand the dialect, but you are never entirely sure.” (Interviewee 9, April 5, 2018)
But the fact that Dutch is used as a language of instruction does not mean that the dialect is entirely banished from class. A few interviewees indicated that they often use the dialect when talking individually to their pupils or when making a joke in class.
“I try to do my instructions in Dutch. I do sometimes notice myself that when I just want to say something quickly, I say it in dialect. While you actually need to stick to the Dutch language in class. And if I am just speaking with the pupils and I know they speak the dialect, I often switch to the dialect as well.” (Interviewee 8, April 5, 2018)
Especially Interviewee 10 was very fond of using the dialect in class.
“Regardless of whether it is allowed or not. If I am talking about educational settings, I am obligated to speak Dutch. That is a fact. So I obey that rule. But when I am standing in front of the class and I say something like “good job” or “well done”, I often do that in Maastrichts7 .” (Interviewee 10, April 5, 2018)
“They are children from Maastricht right? Come one, our own language. We just speak in our own language.” (Interviewee 10, April 5, 2018)
Interviewee 10 stated that he often used the dialect and said it would be very weird if he was not allowed to use it when speaking to his pupils. His reasoning behind this was that the local dialect is spoken by a lot of people in Maastricht. Furthermore, the interviewees also brought up an apparent function of the dialect, which is that of establishing a bond through the use of this language. The use of dialect can mark the distance a teacher
6 All quotes in this chapter have been translated by me from Dutch or the local dialect into English. An overview of the original quotes can be found in Appendix F. 7 “Maastrichts” refers to the local dialect of the city of Maastricht.
35 wants to have between him- or herself and the pupils. Despite the fact that the previously discussed information indicated that Dutch is the language to be spoken while teaching, Interviewee 5, 6, 7 and 8 stated that the dialect is often used with younger children as a means to create a bond and make them feel comfortable at school.
“With toddlers you often see that once you start speaking in dialect, they one of a sudden talk back to you. Whereas if you speak Dutch, they will not talk.” (Interviewee 6, April 4, 2018)
The dialect is a way of creating less of a distance between teacher and pupil.
“I sometimes do that [using the dialect; SC] on purpose. To make the distance a bit less.” (Interviewee 7, April 4, 2018)
“Because these children are so small, you use the dialect more often just to create a stronger bond and to make these children feel at ease. So I think it depends on the age but also on the person. I have colleagues that often speak Maastrichts to the children, also in higher grades. But I do not do that.” (Interviewee 5, April 4, 2018)
Whereas the dialect is used with younger pupils to create a bond, the opposite is true for the older ones as the interviewees indicated that with the latter they strongly want to keep their distance.
“If I would notice that a teacher has a hard time controlling the class than that [speaking the dialect; SC] would be one of the things I would observe. If it does not become too amicable in class. And that is related to speaking in Maastrichts. Often when you speak Dutch in those kinds of situations, you keep a lot more distance.” (Interviewee 5, April 4, 2018)
“I mainly speak Dutch. I do that on purpose to keep that teacher-pupil bond and to not make it too amicable,” (Interviewee 8, April 5, 2018)
The dialect is furthermore used between colleagues and also when speaking with the parents of the pupils.
“When we were doing parent-teacher conferences of eight grade, we decided to do it in Maastrichts, because the teachers and students were there and the principal herself also speaks Maastrichts. Nice and casual. We kept the formal conversation informal and accessible.” (Interviewee 8, April 5, 2018).
This statement again confirms that speaking the dialect is a means to create a lesser distance in both formal and informal situations. In this particular example, between parents, pupils, and teachers.
6.1.2. Activities regarding the safeguarding and promotion of the local dialect at school
When asked about activities intended to enhance the Maastricht dialect, most interviewees initially answered they were not aware of such activities. Interviewee 5 stated that she did not find this to be the school’s responsibility.
36 “I do not really find that this [enhancing the dialect; SC] is a task of the school. So in that way, it is nice when you can contribute to it, but it is not integrated in the curriculum or something like that.” (Interviewee 5, April 4, 2018)
Later on, however, all interviewees mentioned multiple activities that do indicate the school does pay particular attention to putting a spotlight on the dialect. One of these activities in which the dialect is fully present is Carnival.
“During Carnival, everything is being done and presented in Maastrichts. Also, the prince and princess should be preferably Maastrichts or at least celebrate Carnival.” (Interviewee 8, April 5, 2018)
“Around Carnival I write everything on our Facebook Page and website in Maastrichts. I mean, Carnival is something you celebrate in Maastricht and so you have to do it in Maastrichts. That is just part of it. If a Dutchman cannot read it, so be it. Then he should learn the language.” (Interviewee 10, April 5, 2018)
Figure 2 illustrates the dialect-use during Carnival activities. The sign is located at the playground of the school and shows different dialect-words related to the theme of Carnival. The fact that the sign was still up there in April when I conducted my interviews again indicates that the school does find such activities regarding the local dialect important to maintain.
Figure 3: Pictures with the corresponding term in the local dialect related to the theme of Carnival at St. Aloysius Elementary School.
Next, Interviewee 8 and 10 talked about the yearly school play of the school leaving eight graders in which there is always a part reserved in which a pupil only speaks in the local dialect.
“In the past our Christmas plays and musicals were all in dialect … And what I do in the current plays is that I always let a child from Maastricht speak in the local dialect.” (Interviewee 10, April 5, 2018)
37 “I am personally very fond of keeping that [a dialect role; SC] in the play, because you notice that most people have been here for a long time and they can, at least in my experience, understand the dialect very well. So that is why we chose to have such a role.” (Interviewee 8, April 5, 2018).
Furthermore, during Christmas and Sinterklaas (Saint Nicolas, the Dutch holiday on the 5th of December), poems are being written in the dialect and songs are being sung in Maastrichts. In the past, the school even used an educational method created by the Maastricht branch of Veldeke to teach in Maastrichts.
“We have done classes in Maastrichts in conjuction with Veldeke Krink.” (Interviewee 5, April 4, 2018)
This teaching method, however, is not used anymore. Regarding this, Interviewee 10 stated that it just does not fit the timeframe anymore.
“Lessons in Maastrichts, nobody is asking for that anymore.” (Interviewee 10, April 5, 2018)
The discussion above shows the school does pay particular attention, maybe unconsciously, towards the enhancement and promotion of the local dialect. Some teachers are more active in this than others but it is integrated into the activities of the school. The educational institution is a local school and wants to be known in such way. The dialect is a great part of this. The following quote by Interviewee 8 illustrates the local character the school tries to enhance,
“So in that matter, we are a Maastricht school and we want to send out such message, but of course everybody is welcome here.” (Interviewee 8, April 5, 2018)
6.1.3. View on the local dialect and the Municipality’s role in it
The third topic in the analysis was about the interviewees’ view regarding the local dialect and the Municipality’s role in safeguarding and enhancing it. The fact that the school is in favor of including the dialect in its activities and that teachers do use it at school quite frequently, is in line with the interviewees’ view of the local dialect. All of them, all being dialect-speakers, had a very positive stance towards the dialect.
“It belongs to Maastricht. I would find it a waste if it [Maastricht dialect; SC] would disappear. I would really find that a waste … It is your culture that you want to safeguard. A bit of uniqueness. I would hate to lose it.” (Interviewee 7, April 4, 2018)
Absolutely, it is something that should continue to exist. I am a bit chauvinistic in that matter. People from outside of Maastricht would say arrogant, but I do not agree with that. I am very proud of it and I would like to keep it that way.” (Interviewee 8, April 5, 2018)
“I find it extremely important. And not the writing part because that is nonsense. But learning to speak it in a decent matter, yes. Let us please do that, because it is declining already anyway.” (Interviewee 10, April 5, 2018)
38 Interviewee 5 told me that she saw a pattern in language use at home in which a lot of dialect-speaking parents purposely speak Dutch to their children because they think speaking the local dialect has negative consequences for their children’s language development. She said that this is a waste and that it downgrades the advantage of speaking multiple languages has to offer.
“I find it particular that some people deliberately chose to speak Dutch. They choose to do this from a supposedly well thought through decision in which it is seen as a hindrance. But then I think again and look at the researches, because they state that it is actually good for a child.” (Interviewee 5, April 4, 2018)
The interviewees are proud of their mother tongue and want to be able to keep using it in contemporary society. It is part of their culture and that is why they believe it should be safeguarded.
Regarding the role of the Municipality in safeguarding the dialect, none of the interviewees had any idea about any policies regarding the local dialect.
“Yeah I really do not have such clear view on that. So to that extent, it probably is a bit disappointing otherwise I would have known more about it. I cannot really recall what the Municipality would contribute to that.” (Interviewee 5, April 4, 2018)
“I have no idea. I really do not know. There are associations that are involved with that, but the Municipality itself?” (Interviewee 10, April 5, 2018)
Some were even doubting if it should be a task of the Municipality.
“I mean I would welcome it, but to say that it is the responsibility of the Municipality.” (Interviewee 9, April 5, 2018)
“To be honest, I have no idea. I would not even know how they should do that.” (Interviewee 8, April 5, 2018)
“No, because than you would get some Dutch Municipal officer at the City Hall who once of a sudden has to promote Maastrichts. No.” (Interviewee 10, April 5, 2018)
The interviewees were very unaware of what the Municipality’s role in safeguarding and enhancing the local dialect could be.
6.1.4. The use of regional languages and English at school
The last topic that was brought to the floor, was the use of regional foreign languages (French and German) and English. St. Aloysius Elementary School is a Euregion school which means that children either get French or German from first grade onwards. What language actually is chosen depends on the location of the school in the city. The St. Aloyisus is closer to the Belgium border than to the German one, and therefore the school integrated the French language into its curriculum. The school teaches the basics of French for about half an hour each week (see Figures 4 and 5).
“We are talking about getting to know the French language. So we sing French songs with them, we name colors, body parts and animals and in eight grade we teach them how to ask for
39 directions. Those kinds of things take place in class. And that is about half an hour a week.” (Interviewee 5, April 4, 2018)
Even though this is officially integrated into the curriculum, some interviewees indicated that not all teachers really spend half an hour a week on the French language due to the high workload.
“Yeah we are doing it as a Euregion school, but in actual practice we do not do it that much. Also because it takes a lot of time to prepare.” (Interviewee 8, April 5, 2018)
“French is being taught here. Sporadically I believe. Not German.” (Interviewee 9, April 5, 2018)
Figure 4 and 5: Posters in French, put up in class at St. Aloysius Elementary School.
The interviewees are fond of integrating other languages into their curriculum. On whether that should be the French language, as has been decided in the curriculum, however, the opinions were divided.
“English I do find important. Because English is used a lot and they [the pupils; SC] hear it often. But French. It is very beautiful, but then I would say no, because other things are more important. We have enough things to do that I find more important.” (Interviewee 7, April 4, 2018)
“You really do not need to know it by heart, but you have to get a bit into contact with the neighboring language here. But English, yeah I find that you eventually need to be proficient in that.” (Interviewee 10, April 5, 2018)
“I find that a good thing. Yeah I myself am focused on languages, so I find that a very good thing.” (Interviewee 5, April 4, 2018)
Some interviewees were more positive on including the French language than others. Again, the high workload of teachers was indicated as a problem here. All interviewees agreed, however, that English
40 is most important. Reasons for that were that pupils get into contact with this language more easily and because this language is required more often in contemporary society.
“I find English much more important.” (Interviewee 8, April 5, 2018)
6.1.5. Conclusion in the domain of authenticity
The topics and interview quotes discussed illustrate that the dialect plays an important role in the practices of the domain of authenticity. Even though the local dialect is not officially integrated into the curriculum of St. Aloysius Elementary School, i.e. as a subject or language of instruction, the interviewees do state that they use the dialect quite often. They were very positive towards the dialect and all thought it is important and should be maintained. They were however not aware of Municipal policies regarding the dialect and some were even wondering if this should be a task of the Municipality of Maastricht. Furthermore, multiple activities were being organized which involve the local dialect, like the Maastricht dialect speaking role in the school play and the activities during carnival. There is a clear bottom-up practice in which there is a positive stance towards the local dialect. Furthermore, we can see a clear connection to the domain of internationalization. The school integrates a neighboring national language, i.e. French, and English into the curriculum. Even though the interviewees are positive towards multilingualism, there seems to be an English-oriented tendency. In reality, most teachers do not teach the French language that much and all agreed that English is most important to these students. This was also related to time and budget issues.
6.2. Internationalization
The second domain discussed is internationalization, and more concretely, the way in which English and neighboring national languages play a role in educational diversity practices. Two interviews were conducted at Maastricht University (Interviewee 12 and 13) and four at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences (Interviewee 11, 14, 15, and 16). The participants have a range of different functions; some being teachers, and some being in the management team. Furthermore, two official policy documents have been collected:
• Leaflet “Internationalization at Zuyd: Get Inspired” (Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, 2017) • Diversity and Inclusivity policy “Diversity at the CORE” (Maastricht University, 2016b)
The first document (Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, 2017), gives information about the different activities and events that have been organized by Zuyd in the pursuit of internationalization. The second document (Maastricht University, 2016b) gives an insight into Maastricht University’s new Diversity and Inclusivity policy. The analysis of the interviews and the two documents have resulted in the following topics:
1. Internationalization policy 2. Diversity at school 3. Language use at school 4. The internationalization progress 5. Internationalization within the city of Maastricht
41 6.2.1. Internationalization policy
The first topic that came up during the interviews was the internationalization policy of both Maastricht University and Zuyd University of Applied Sciences. The interviewees talked about the different strategies and targets these educational institutions set out in order to become more international. Especially at Zuyd, internationalization is often related to the recruitment of international students.
“They want to recruit more international students. So you have two tracks, Dutch and English, and they have said years ago that their policy is focused on getting more international students. In the long-term they want to have 40% foreign students and 60% Dutch students.” (Interviewee 14, April 23, 2018)
“Since 2013 we have, if I am correct, an international bachelor. So this creates the possibility to receive internationals and let them participate in the education we have to offer.” (Interviewee 16, May 8, 2018)
These educational institutions are recruiting international students to create, what they call, an “international classroom”. A mixture of students of different nationalities.
“We are recruiting internationally because we want to create an international classroom. And then you should ask yourself: why do you want to create such a classroom? The answer to that is that you want to teach students intercultural competencies from a young age on, because we cannot really ignore the fact that in about 10-15 years, because we are already doing so much business internationally, so we have to prepare students for that. Societal as well as professional. So that is basically the rationale behind it.” (Interviewee 16, May 8, 2018)
An international classroom acquires students with international competencies that are necessary for their future careers.
“Our new profile is: ‘Zuyd no borders’. This is also related to geographical borders. This is visionary in our diverse range of internationalization projects. In addition, we want to make internationalization visible within Zuyd, in all faculties and services. With the aim of enhancing the international competencies of all our students.” (Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, 2017, p. 8)
Except for the internationalization policy being focused on the student population, there are also a number of strategies set out in order to enhance the competencies of the staff of these educational institutions. One activity in which both Maastricht University and Zuyd University of Applied Sciences are active in is that of offering English language courses to their employees.
“Yeah we are at the moment very much involved in offering English classes to our support staff. And international staff can get, if they want, Dutch language classes. I do not know if this is obligatory.” (Interviewee 13, April 11, 2018)
“The school wants everybody, every teacher here, to get at the C1 level. Everybody got either English language courses or an examination training. And also as of 2020 every teacher needs to be certified at C1 Cambridge level.” (Interviewee 15, April 24, 2018)
42 Both educational institutions want their employees to have a proficient level of English as this corresponds to their aim of becoming more international. Furthermore, internationalization was also related by one of the interviewees to exchanges of students to foreign countries.
“That [internationalization policy; SC] has mainly to do with student mobility and teacher exchanges. An example is the Erasmus and the Socrates program, and those kinds of things.” (Interviewee 11, March 5, 2018)
6.2.2. Diversity at school
The interviewees made it abundantly clear that the internationalization strategies lead to a lot of diversity among both students and staff at Zuyd and the UM.
“There are a lot of foreign students. There a number of different nationalities. English is being spoken. I also have a lot of colleagues who have another nationality.” (Interviewee 14, April 23, 2018)
Maastricht University is most diverse in terms of its nationalities as one third of their staff is international and the staff has 78 different nationalities (Interviewee 12, April 4, 2018). This number only seems to be growing.
“You can see a constant growth. So what we have seen from the past four to five years, we can see a constant growth between ten and twenty percent.” (Interviewee 12, April 4, 2018)
But some were also critical towards this supposed diversity as it is mostly related to people coming from the Euregion or other Western countries.
“I think that the largest group of students we have are of course Dutch and regarding the international students they are mostly from Belgium and Germany. A few from Italy, a few people from Spain, and a few people from Asia, but these are all small numbers.” (Interviewee 15, April 24, 2018)
“We are the most international university in the Netherlands, but if you look past that you see that there are many German students. And especially within our student population, there is not many socio-economic diversity. So we have many, many students who come from highly- educated families.” (Interviewee 13, April 11, 2018)
When asked about students with a migration background, most interviewees said that the educational institutions are relatively “white” and that there is not so much active recruiting going on regarding this target group.
“Yeah maybe they have a bit of information about it and is it could be HR, but in my opinion not so much attention is paid or given to that.” (Interviewee 14, April 23, 2018)
“Of course, everybody is welcome, everybody is equal. Just like any other school would do that, we of course do too, but it is not like we are actively seeking for minority groups no.” (Interviewee 15, April 24, 2018)
43 “Yeah that is right, we do not have so many. We do notice and we do think about it … But for us it is not an interesting target group to focus on. See, if they have been in the Netherlands for a long time already it is of course very mixed, your cultural background and things, so we do have a few at school, but it still is a relatively white school.” (Interviewee 16, May 8, 2018)
In order to “enhance” its diversity, Maastricht University appointed a diversity manager. Her task is to create more awareness regarding diversity and set out a new policy, the Diversity and Inclusivity Policy (Maastricht University, 2016b).
“Maastricht University is known as an international university with a multidisciplinary approach and also the diversity-policy should reflect UM’s identity. This implies that the policy will not just address women’s representations and minority groups, but the whole community. Creating a community requires fostering inclusivity. Fostering inclusivity means creating an academic environment where people feel part of the UM-community and where individual talents, values, and differences can be used to their advantage and to the advantage of the University.” (Maastricht University, 2016b, p. 4)
The diversity policy is focused on multiple minority groups in which individuality is central. The diversity position is, however, very new so the newly appointed diversity manager is still figuring out how to manage it.
“We are also aware that diversity is the first step, but then you also need to be able to mobilize that diversity. You need to get something out of it. This asks for skills, time, a real investment. So they figured out quite fast that they need somebody who can implement this. So that we do not just present ourselves as diverse.” (Interviewee 13, April 11, 2018)
Maastricht University wants to send out the message that it sees diversity as an integral part of its organization. In its diversity policy, the UM also focuses on refugees. One of the ways this is realized is through the Refugee Project. This is a project in which the university looks for ways to smoothen the process from high school to higher education for this particular group and to integrate them into the academic community.
“They are really looking for ways to get refugees, also refugees who are in high school at the moment. So it is really about the integration of refugees in our community. And they offer language courses, extra-courses, those kinds of things.” (Interviewee 13, April 11, 2018).
Even though Zuyd University does not have a diversity policy, it also stipulates strategies in its internationalization policy regarding refugees.
“As being one of the biggest regional educational institution and employer, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences feels the responsibility to help refugees in a structured way and to offer them chances.” (Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, 2017, p. 30)
Zuyd sets out different targets regarding refugees in which it among other things is in the process of developing a program that pays attention to language (Dutch and English) and educational competencies. It furthermore offers work-related voluntary work within Zuyd (Zuyd Universtiy of Applied Sciences, 2017, p. 30). Some of the interviewees from Zuyd referred to some of the activities as well.
44 “Yeah there have been projects, because the refugee center is close to the school. So these people have been involved in projects.” (Interviewee 14, April 23, 2018)
These insights indicate that Zuyd University of Applied Sciences does integrate the current societal climate in its internationalization strategies and is active with regards to the refugee situation.
6.2.3. Language use at school
Another topic that was brought up by the interviewees was that of language use at school. The internationalization policies and current diversity have led to an increasing use of English. Figure 6 (taken at Zuyd) and 7 (taken at UM) illustrate this.
Figures 6 and 7: No-smoking sign at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences and bilingual garbage can at University of Maastricht
Many more of such signs can be found at Maastricht University and Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, either bilingual or only in English. The interviewees at both educational institutions spoke of this increasing Anglicization and said that all official communication is bilingual.
“You can see that everything is bilingual at the university. So you notice this when writing texts and messages. We deliver everything in two languages, so Dutch and English.” (Interviewee 12, April 4, 2018)
“It is English and Dutch. All official communication carried out internally is bilingual.” (Interviewee 15, April 24, 2018)
The information on the websites is bilingual and the staff has to write both in Dutch and English. Also, the curriculum of students has changed as more educational programs are offered in English.
45 The interviewees seemed to be in favor of integrating the English language as they saw it as a global language. Integrating another foreign language just did not seem to make sense.
“No a French track would really be a step too far. See, English is related to a global language.” (Interviewee 14, April 23, 2018)
“Yeah we should stop with being politically correct. I think that English is the language to go to.” (Interviewee 11, March 5, 2018)
“Regarding languages? No, it really is English, yes.” (Interviewee 15, April 24, 2018)
The fact that the English language holds a dominant position over other foreign languages is furthermore tied to time and budget. Interviewees spoke of the already high workload of staff which makes it already hard for them to focus on the English language. Furthermore, Interviewee 16 mentioned that it costs a lot of money to translate texts into other languages as this requires the expensive services of translators.
“Well, it is a decision or position on the one hand. For us, we really say it is English. But on the other hand, we neither have the budget nor the time, because if you do that [translate texts into other languages besides English; SC] you want to do it correctly. And then you need translators and yeah, that costs a lot of money.” (Interviewee 16, May 8, 2018)
Interviewee 13 furthermore stated that Maastricht University used to “allow” the German language in some programs as German students make up the highest number of international students, but no longer does so. This was related to the fact that English is the new language of instruction and again to time and budget issues.
“I know of my faculty, so the Culture Department, that certain programs were indeed like that. I believe also at psychology. There you could write papers in German. But to offer a structured program in German, no.” (Interviewee 13, April 11, 2018)
English seems to be the go-to language at both institutions, but the amount this language is used does differ when comparing Maastricht University to Zuyd University of Applied Sciences. English seems to have the upper hand at Maastricht University as only two programs are still offered in Dutch. An interviewee of Zuyd talked about the Anglicization of Maastricht University.
“The university in Maastricht surely is very international. So yeah, in my view they do not speak Dutch there anymore.” (Interviewee 14, April 23, 2018)
The university itself claims to be bilingual, but this statement suggests otherwise and leads more to a monolingual practice in which English is dominant. This differs at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences as they receive less international students and therefore Dutch still has the upper hand.
“Well, in principle when you have an international group, the working language is English ... But the problem is, and we have talked about this with the university, that if you have a certain majority in this international group, this consequently leads to that language being dominant. The university has that with German, and we have that of course with Dutch.” (Interviewee 15, April 24, 2018)
46 It seems like English is used often at Zuyd, but not yet in the way the institution intends it to be.
6.2.4. The internationalization progress
Internationalization does not come without its difficulties. The interviewees made that very clear to me. They had a lot to say about the progress of these educational institutions becoming more international. First of all, the amount of internationalization at both educational institutions seemed to be very faculty- bound in which one faculty is more international than the other. There does not seem to be a really structured policy.
“Zuyd does sort of have an internationalization policy, but the completion of it is very dependent on the faculty ... See, a policy should actually be leading, but it is not.” (Interviewee 11, March 5, 2018)
“I am here at the mountain [refers to the building she is in; SC] and English has not yet arrived here.” (Interviewee 13, April 11, 2018)
Furthermore, Zuyd and the UM do not seem to cooperate that much in this domain.
“No we do not really cooperate. There is a lot of contact however.” (Interviewee 12, April 4, 2018)
Interviewee 15 talked about an event in which the Minister of Education, Ingrid van Engelshoven, visited Maastricht and brought the two institutions together. This conversation made it clear that they do not cooperate that much whereas they are dealing with the same issues regarding internationalization. Next, the increasing use of English causes a lot of difficulties. Even though the interviewees seem to be in favor of the use of English, the progress of integrating this language into the curriculum and institutions does have its downsides. First of all, not all staff has acquired the required level of English yet. Both the UM as well as Zuyd offer English classes to their staff but this demands a lot of time that is not facilitated by these institutions.
“People work fulltime. They have to speak good English. Those are sort of the conditions … But yeah, to have to go to class two hours a week, after work, and then also do homework.” (Interviewee 16, May 8, 2018)
“There are teachers who have said I cannot do it or I will not do it. This not only has to do with one’s will to do so, but also the ability to do so. Some are very insecure and say they can do it in Dutch, but not in English.” (Interviewee 14, April 23, 2018)
“You especially see that with regards to the employee who has been here for a long time already, who always taught in Dutch, who feels at home in this language and is proficient and adequate in this language. And one of a sudden they are being told ‘so now you are going to do it in English’.” (Interviewee 15, April 24, 2018)
Interviewees felt like they are not being supported enough in acquiring the desired level of English. Especially regarding the support staff at the UM, English really is a problem. Maastricht University still has a lot of staff that is not yet proficient in English. This sometimes leads to complaints by students.
47 For example, in the Student Monitor native speakers said about the UM that their level of English could improve (Interviewee 13, April 11, 2018). The increasing amount of English also causes fear among staff; fear of something new and fear of losing one’s identity.
“The commentary you get is about fear. It is not about the program per se, but about the fear of losing your own language.” (Interviewee 13, April 11, 2018)
“It is also tied to Dutch, to the culture in which you live. If you start internationalizing, a piece of your own identity gets lost in education.” (Interviewee 14, April 23, 2018)
People are afraid to lose a piece of their identity. At Maastricht University, this is most visible with regard to the use of the local dialect. Support staff quite often uses the local dialect, which causes situations in which people who do not speak the dialect feel excluded.
“When you are in a meeting in which people simply speak the dialect, you immediately feel excluded because you are not able to speak it. So we are also working on that … So the idea of keeping the dialect, the authentically Maastrichts, is very important to people from Maastricht. So how do you deal with that as an international organization?” (Interviewee 13, April 11, 2018)
The latter is tied to another important issue of internationalization. i.e. the extent to which you internationalize. Interviewee 15 stated that Zuyd often struggles with issues about to what extent they should become more international or hold on to the Dutch educational system. It again stresses one of the difficulties of the internationalization progress. The final issue that was brought up with regards to the process of internationalization was that of intercultural competencies. The above makes it clear that both educational institutions attach a lot of value to the English language and are, even though it causes difficulties, offering English language classes to their staff. Interviewee 15, however, did make an important remark regarding this. He said that Zuyd is currently copying its Dutch program into English, but in doing so totally disregards a cultural adjustment of the content. This was also mentioned by Interviewee 13 of Maastricht University,
“We are very diverse and we are becoming more diverse within our student population, but this also requires skills to handle that.” (Interviewee 13, April 11, 2018)
This marks the fact that internationalization is more than just integrating another language, even though both institutions seem to be focused on this most.
6.2.5. Internationalization within the city of Maastricht
The last topic that was brought up was that of internationalization within the city of Maastricht. All interviewees found the presence of multiple nationalities in the city a nice and unique touch of Maastricht.
“I find it nice to hear English, Spanish, and other languages around you when you are walking through the city. It gives the city that extra touch. Than just the Maastricht dialect, and I do not mean this in the wrong way.” (Interviewee 11, March 5, 2018)
48 Interviewee 16 brought up the cooperation with the Municipality to enhance internationalization. This was regarding the creation of the MyMaastricht portal. An initiative by both the UM, the Municipality of Maastricht, and Zuyd University of Applied Sciences. This indicates that the educational institutions do sometimes work together within the domain of internationalization. The increasing amount of internationalization, however, also leads to struggles and clashes between the increasing student population, of which international students make up a great part, and the native citizens of Maastricht.
“You can see that the city struggling tremendously with the students. You see how it clashed: the traditional Maastricht and the new.” (Interviewee 11, March 5, 2018)
“I often see it and I know that there are a lot of clashes between students in the neighborhoods and the citizens.” (Interviewee 13, April 11, 2018)
Interviewee 13 furthermore stated that she understands both sides and stated that there is no easy solution to solve this problem. Maastricht, however, needs internationalization as it makes the city bloom. Some interviewees stated that people, especially within the Municipality, should be a bit more aware of this and take a more positive stance towards internationalization.
“If people would see this a bit more. I find that it should remain a people business, than they would spend more time on it, make more policy on it.” (Interviewee 16, May 8, 2018)
Interviewee 15 agreed with this under the condition that the city always gives space to the authentic identity of the city.
“A city like Maastricht is dependent on that [internationalization; SC] I think. It is really good for the economy. As long as the city can hold on to the traditions and the culture that lives in Maastricht and makes Maastricht the city that it is. I find that very important. Maastricht has a rich and colorful history and a lot of other things going on, and as long as there remains space for this, then I do not think that internationalization is a bad thing.” (Interviewee 15, April 24, 2018)
Again, this is about the issues and struggles regarding the extent of internationalization an institution, or, in this case a city, should allow.
6.2.6. Conclusion
The topics and interview quotes discussed indicate that internationalization is a hot topic at both the University of Maastricht as well as at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences. These educational institutions are increasingly made up out of different nationalities which leads to a lot of diversity. The UM, however, seems to be one step ahead of Zuyd and they are at the moment mostly working independently of each other whereas they are not each other’s rivals. Even though the diversity at these institutions is mostly related to people coming from Western countries, both Zuyd and the UM do take on activities to integrate refugees, which creates a connection to the domain of migration. There is not so much diversity in terms of language use. Regarding foreign languages, English seems to have the upper hand. Maastricht University illustrates this most, as a very small portion of their educational programs is offered in English. This seems to be leaning more towards a monolingual strategy. At Zuyd, the use of English has increased but is still very much in the process of integration. Furthermore,
49 regarding the process of internationalization, the increasing use of English causes most difficulties. Staff has difficulties with the required level of English and are afraid to lose part of their identity. Also, getting the staff more international is almost exclusively focused on English-proficiency, which disregards the importance of other aspects of internationalization, such as intercultural competencies. Lastly, the interviewees talked about the struggles they still see in the city of Maastricht regarding internationalization. Not everybody seems to be aware of the advantages it has to offer. These bottom- up practices illustrate that internationalization is very much alive and wanted at the UM and Zuyd. The English language plays is a crucial role here, but at the same time, this causes most difficulties.
6.3. Migration
The third and final domain discussed is the domain of migration, more concretely, the way in which migrant minority languages play a role in educational diversity practices interviews conducted with participants regarding migrant minority languages. Five interviews have been conducted at the ISK (Interviewee 17-21). The participants have a range of different functions. Some of the participants are teachers, some are in the management, and some are in the care team. No official policy documents were available regarding migrant minority languages or any other languages. The analysis of the interviews and the two documents have resulted in the following topics:
1. Diversity at ISK 2. Routines and teaching methods 3. Language use at ISK 4. View on multilingualism 5. National and municipal policies
6.3.1. Diversity at ISK
The ISK (Internationale Schakelklas) is an international linking school that teaches students Dutch while continuing their education in a variety of other subjects such as math, science, and music. All the classes offered work to enhance students’ Dutch language comprehension and literacy. The ultimate goal is for students to step into the Dutch school system and culture. The ISK therefore receives many students from different nationalities and countries. A lot of the interviewees talked about this diversity. They said it is very much dependent on global issues, such as war and poverty.
“It is always like that for the ISK. You are dependent on what happens somewhere in the world that makes people come here.” (Interviewee 17, March 22, 2018)
The students mostly come from non-Western countries. At the moment, most of their students are refugees from Syria and Eritrea. They rarely receive students from countries such as the USA or Canada.
“The student that comes in has a baggage. There are students that have fled here due to war or students coming from Germany due to a marriage of the parents or work-related issues. So there is a considerable difference in background.” (Interviewee 21, April 13, 2018)
Students have very diverse backgrounds, at the moment mostly troubled, and come from a variety of family situations. The ISK is very diverse in terms of its student population, but this diversity is very much lacking in its personnel. There is only one employee with a different cultural background than Dutch.
50 Interviewee 21 related this to the societal population in the South of Limburg in which there is, according to her, not much diversity.
“It is a reflection of society. In Limburg there is just no, here in the South of Limburg, it is unfortunately not seen. No we do not have any teachers with a different background.” (Interviewee 21, April 13, 2018)
Interesting to note is that she relates the lack of diversity of the personnel to the fact that there is a lack of diversity in South-Limburg in general, whereas we have seen in chapter four that a quarter of Maastricht’s population has a migration background. This would suggest that the situation at the ISK is in fact not a reflection of society, more specifically of Maastricht. Furthermore, when asked about any diversity policies that states how staff has to deal with the diversity among their students, the interviewees all stated there was none.
“There is no diversity policy internally at the Municipality or government that is known to us. We actually cannot take diversity into account.” (Interviewee 21, April 13, 2018)
Interviewee 21 is mostly referring to diversity in terms of the different needs and wishes of the students, but it still is a remarkable statement as diversity is precisely an inherent quality of the ISK. Lastly, even though the ISK is not diverse in terms of its personnel and does not have a diversity policy that stipulates how staff can deal with, among other things, the many different cultural backgrounds, the interviewees did see diversity as a positive characteristic of the school.
“I find that very special that you have so many nationalities, so many different ages. That it still is very good and fun. That it is really a fun experience.” (Interviewee 20, April 3, 2018).
6.3.2. Routines and teaching methods
The second topic that is going to be discussed are the routines and teaching methods used at the ISK. The interviewees talked a lot about the drills and practices and their way of handling things at school. Besides teaching the Dutch language, the school also pays attention to integration into Dutch society as they teach the students about Dutch norms and values. Interviewee 17 said that this sometimes created an area of tension between staff members. They are divided on the matter to what extent you should allow for other cultures to be involved in the routines and teaching methods.
“Well that discussion, that area of tension, often plays a role here at school. When you talk to teachers you will notice that these are people who are very much involved. They are so involved it almost hurts. These are the kind of people you need here, who really put in an effort. But on the other side, is it realistic? Because I am not helping anyone with it. If I keep treating him in a special way and allow for him to be gone for four days.” (Interviewee 17, March 22, 2018)
Interviewee 17 said that they should only focus on the Dutch culture and the Dutch norms and values system as he did not believe including other cultures would be helpful to these students. He stated that the law and government are based on a Jewish-Christian society and that it should remain that way. “The Netherlands is where the line is. With the Dutch norm.” (Interviewee 17, March 22, 2018)
Others seemed to be a bit less “strict” in this sense as some interviewees indicated that they would take the student’s situation into consideration.
51 “I mean I take it [the refugee situation; SC] into consideration and this may cause a learning disability. I mean, that makes perfect sense. But I try not to be like, oh you have gone through this so this and that.” (Interviewee 19, March 23, 2018)
Interviewee 20 seemed almost opposite from the view of Interviewee 17 as she would include the students’ cultures in her teaching methods. Her class has a giant map of the world in it and every time a new student comes in they take a look at the map and talk a bit about that specific country. Figure 8 shows this map.
“Every time somebody comes in from a new country, one that we have not had before, we scratch on the scratch map.” (Interviewee 20, April 3, 2018)
Figure 8: A scratch map indicating the students’ origins in one of the ISK classrooms.
Furthermore, even though teachers differ in their opinion on how much they allow for other cultures to be included, multiple activities are being organized to teach about the Dutch culture. Interviewee 20 said that she would sometimes go to the local supermarket to teach the students grocery shopping words. Next, the school also had special waste-project.
“We are now in the middle of a waste project … I think that especially these kids need to be taught that we in the Netherlands find that we cannot just throw our trash in the street, but that we go to special places for that at certain times.” (Interviewee 17, March 22, 2018)
Also, the ISK teaches students about homosexuality and the position of males and females in Dutch society, because especially regarding the latter, they sometimes notice that not everybody accepts female teachers (see Figure 9).
“Some students have a hard time accepting the authority of a female teacher.” (Interviewee 21, April 13, 2018)
So, the above tells us that the school does pay a lot of attention to the integration aspect into Dutch society. Even though their opinions are sometimes divided, all teachers want to put up an effort for these children to become functioning members of society.
52 “I really like that with this school, that no matter how different everybody is, we are all headed into the same direction. Even though it is hard sometimes, everybody puts in an effort for these children.” (Interviewee 20, April 3, 2018)
Figure 9: A sticker in the ISK against homophobia
6.3.3. Language use at ISK
The third topic that was brought up by the interviewees was the use of languages at the ISK. At school, the focus really is on Dutch. Languages of the students themselves do not get included in the teaching methods. Some interviewees indicated that they did allow the students to speak their native language with other students.
“When they are working in teams or on an assignment I often see that they fall back into Arabic or Tigrinya, but I have to say that it does not bother me. As long as they can answer me in Dutch.” (Interviewee 19, March 23, 2018)
“See when children are from the same country, they will look for one another. Sometimes it really comes in hand if you have children that barely speak Dutch. Then you can get the help of somebody else from class who speaks the language and can help translate it.” (Interviewee 20, April 3, 2018)
The latter quote indicates that allowing other languages, besides Dutch, to be spoken actually has benefits as teachers can get their message across more clearly through the help of students who speak the same language. One interviewee also talked about the use of other languages, as she spoke multiple Middle- Eastern languages. She said that speaking these languages really is of added value as she can get into contact way more easily with the students and parents.
“Contact with me is way easier due to the language.” (Interviewee 21, April 13, 2018)
53 This statement indicates that the ISK does benefit from including migrant minority languages. Not per se in their teaching methods, but in their daily routines and communications towards the students and parents. The ISK, however, does not seem to agree with this as they try to limit the use of migrant minority languages as much as possible.
“You have to limit that [speaking native language; SC], because you have to realize that most children only speak Dutch at school. The moment they go home, they speak Arabic or something else. So you have to limit it as much as possible. Dutch should predominate.” (Interviewee 17, March 22, 2018)
“The higher they get, the less they are allowed to [speak their native language; SC].” (Interviewee 18, March 22, 2018)
Furthermore, the students do get taught foreign languages (English, French, and German) but only in the highest grades when their level of Dutch is proficient enough. Interviewee 19 said regarding this,
“They do get English language classes, so that they can both use Dutch and English in society. So that is taken into consideration.” (Interviewee 19, March 23, 2018)
This statement would seem to indicate that the ISK does take the current climate of Dutch society into consideration in which English is a functioning language. The other interviewees seemed to indicate, however, that English is mostly integrated because it is part of the national curriculum instead of the ISK really seeing it as beneficial to these students.
6.3.4. View on multilingualism
The fact that the ISK at the moment tries to limit the use of migrant minority languages as much as possible and does not pay that much attention to foreign languages, is in line with the view the interviewees take on regarding multilingualism. Interviewee 17 said that he found it ridiculous that even the English language is so present in current society.
“Why are we accepting the fact that people who have been living in the Netherlands for forty years already, but still do not speak Dutch? Why do we accept this and why do we think that is normal?” (Interviewee 17, March 22, 2018)
He furthermore stated that he finds it ridiculous that some parties during the Municipal elections were in favor of integrating English into the Municipal notifications. He said that it should be Dutch only. Interviewee 21 agreed with this as she stated that Dutch was the language to be spoken.
“I think that Dutch should be spoken, if not, no. I think it should be just Dutch.” (Interviewee 21, April 13, 2018)
Other interviewees had a more positive stance towards multilingualism but said that in current society you really need the Dutch language in order to become a functioning and participating member.
“I notice that English is becoming more important, but the working language used in business life still is Dutch and everything here still is Dutch. I think that it is going to stay that way for a
54 bit longer. So if they really want to be understood and blend in with the Dutch population, than I really think you should speak the language.” (Interviewee 19, March 23, 2018)
“For these students, no. I think at other schools you have English and that is good for Dutch students, but for these students, no. They already have to focus so much on a completely different language than their own. They would not manage it.” (Interviewee 18, March 22, 2018)
These quotes seem to downgrade the importance of English among these students, whereas they all, expect for Interviewee 17, indicated that English does play an important role in current society. Interviewee 20 was in favor of multilingualism at the ISK but said that due to time and money it just was not possible to integrate multiple languages and that it is, therefore, more important to focus on Dutch first.
“Yeah it is difficult. You know, it is a bit like, I already have the feeling that my time to teach them Dutch is very limited. And that is what they need most I believe.” (Interviewee 20, April 3, 2018)
She further stated:
“Yeah what do they need the most? Because that is a constant consideration regarding what they need the most and what you offer them.” (Interviewee 20, April 3, 2018)
The view on multilingualism seems to be a debatable topic at the ISK, in which some are in favor of including other languages and others are not. Most seem to very strongly believe that the focus should be on Dutch and Dutch only.
6.3.5. National and municipal policies
The final topic that came up during the interviews were national and Municipal policies regarding this particular group of students with a migration background. First of all, some interviewees indicated that they are not satisfied with how the Municipality arranged the organization of language classes offered to new migrants. Interviewee 17 said the following,
“It is procured. It is so weird, the Municipality is procuring language classes to the city of Heerlen and in this way somebody who is already lacking motivation has to take the train from Maastricht to Heerlen to go to his language classes.” (Interviewee 17, March 22, 2018)
The quote refers to the fact that the Municipality no longer offers language classes itself but instead has handed this task over to certain organizations in Maastricht and the surrounding area. Therefore, the Municipality is not in total control of the integration program anymore. Interviewee 17 said that this may cause people who are already demotivated to take these classes, to not be so eager to go to their language classes. Interviewee 21 agreed and stated that the Municipality should arrange this differently.
“The Municipality makes language agencies offer Dutch language classes. The Municipality or the social security institutions, they have the contact but not in a way that they have an overview of the hours or attendance. They can do better than that. It should be better organized in my opinion.” (Interviewee 21, April 13, 2018)
55 Furthermore, a few interviewees mentioned the enormous problem they are now experiencing with refugees who have turned eighteen. From the national level, the policy is that once refugees turn eighteen, the aid for them stops and they have to take care of everything themselves. Interviewee 20 said that this leads to many problems as these children have lived for a short period of time in a new country of which they do not fully speak the language yet.
“One of a sudden you are expected to do everything yourself. Well that seems very wonderful, but even I have to help my own children sometimes with arranging certain things. So that makes me wonder, it is not really realistic. But the one who made that decision probably never had to deal with that himself.” (Interviewee 20, April 3, 2018)
This quote reflects the gap that sometimes exists between top-down policies and bottom-up practices as Interviewee 20 indicates that the one who created the policy never really thought it through. Interviewee 21 also had something to say about this matter,
“The child of eighteen years old is left up to chance and he has to function as any Dutch eighteen-year-old. He has to look for a studio, has to arrange for financial aid.” (Interviewee 21, April 13, 2018)
It shows the trouble refugees or any other economic migrant can experience in Dutch society. Interviewee 21 stated that multiple organizations, among which the Municipality, have become more aware of this, but that it is just a start. Lastly, Interviewee 21 indicated that no activities are being offered directly for this target group, or at least not of which they are aware. This is especially related to cultural activities or sports activities.
“If these students want to make use of cultural activities or sports activities, they just have to participate in what already exists. Nothing special is being arranged for them … Nothing specifically from the Municipality. Maybe there is some money reserved, but not that we are aware of or that we know like oh we need to go to this person.” (Interviewee 21, April 13, 2018)
Interviewee 21 indicates with this quote that it is unclear to her and her colleagues what exactly is being done for this group as she does not know which person at the Municipality is involved in this subject and therefore which person they should contact. The other interviewees did not seem to be aware of any Municipal policies either.
6.3.6. Conclusion
The ISK consists of a lot of diversity but only amongst its students, not amongst its employees. There is no diversity policy and therefore teachers have to decide themselves how to deal with different cultures and languages. This creates some contrast as the topics and interview quotes discussed above show that even employees in a very specific organization such as the ISK can have different opinions. Whereas some interviewees thought that the Dutch language and norms and values system should be the only focus of attention, others were more positive and inclusive towards the different cultures and languages that exist at the ISK. Migrant minority languages are, however, not included as the interviewees believed that speaking the native language too much hinders the acquisition of Dutch. Examples discussed illustrated, however, that speaking a migrant minority language can actually be very helpful and prove to be beneficial as teachers can understand the needs and wishes of their students more clearly. English, French, and German do not get included in the curriculum that much either. Only
56 after the students prove to be proficient in Dutch. It seems to be more of a formality than an actual opportunity for these students to learn a foreign language that can be useful in current society. Finally, the interviewees talked about certain national and Municipal policies but this was mostly related to the arrangement of offering Dutch language classes to new refugees and the situation regarding refugees who turn eighteen years old. The participants did not seem to be aware of any specific Municipal policies regarding this target group, especially regarding cultural and sports activities. These bottom-up practices illustrate that the domain of migration consists of both contrast and agreement. The views on multilingualism are divided, but in the end, Dutch is seen as the most important language in order to integrate in society and therefore migrant minority languages get excluded as much as possible.
6.4. Overall conclusion
The above makes clear that language plays an important role in each of the three diversity domains. However, it depends per domain which language is seen as valuable. The domain of authenticity showed a clear bottom-up practice in which there is a positive stance towards multilingualism, specifically the local dialect. The interviewees were very fond of it and saw multilingualism, i.e. speaking the local dialect, as an asset to one’s development and as an important aspect to the culture of Maastricht. Furthermore, in the domain of internationalization, multilingualism is also seen as important by the interviewees as the English language plays a central role. At Maastricht University, it is already such an inherent part of the institution and the curriculum that it sometimes leads to monolingual strategies. Zuyd is still a bit behind in integrating the English language. English however, is the language to-go, but this causes difficulties. Part of the staff is resistant against the new language and therefore holds on to their identity, and language, more strongly. Next, we saw that interviewees in the domain of migration looked very differently at multilingualism. Speaking multiple languages is not seen as beneficial to the students of the ISK as they believe, this hampers their proficiency in Dutch. Even though interviewees had contrasting opinions regarding the role of the Dutch language and norms and values in their teaching methods, they did, in the end, all see Dutch as the most important language in order to integrate in society. Therefore, migrant minority languages are excluded, despite the fact that examples showed that integrating these languages can actually be very helpful. The latter indicates that it depends on the language variety at stake whether multilingualism is seen as something positive or not. Whereas in the domain of authenticity and internationalization, speaking multiple languages is seen as an asset to one’s development, the domain of migration illustrates the opposite as multilingualism is mostly seen as a hindrance to one’s development. Furthermore, the bottom-up practices also illustrated that the domains both operate next to as well as with each other. In the domain of authenticity, we could see a connection to the domain of internationalization as both a neighboring foreign language, i.e. French, and English are included in the curriculum of the students. Just like in the domain of internationalization, English has the upper hand which leads to an English-oriented tendency. Furthermore, the domain of internationalization showed that authenticity also played a role as some staff hold on to speaking the local dialect as they are afraid to lose part of their identity in the internationalization process. The latter indicates that it is important to keep languages, specifically local languages, in mind when starting the internationalization progress. Lastly, the domain of internationalization also made a connection to the domain of migration as both the UM and Zuyd give importance to the current situation of refugees as they are offering and creating programs that try to involve this specific group into their community. Chapter six has shown that even though the interviewees sometimes had contrasting opinions, they seemed to be more or less on the same line regarding the language perspective and regarding the fact that there are connections between the domains. The next and final chapter will compare these
57 bottom-up practices with top-down policymaking as discussed in chapter 5 to see how they reflect and connect to one another and to be able to come up with recommendations for the actors involved.
58 Chapter 7
From chaos to consistency
In this final chapter the findings of the two perspectives, top-down and bottom-up, will be brought together. It will present a number of conclusions regarding the policies and practices and discuss these against the theoretical background presented in chapter two. These conclusions lead to a number of recommendations for the Municipality of Maastricht as well as for the policy implementers in the involved educational institutions. Finally, some limitations of this study and suggestions for future research will be discussed.
7.1. Conclusion and discussion
The current study analyzed diversity-issues related to language in the domain of authenticity, internationalization, and migration within the city of Maastricht. It hereby aimed to answer the following question:
How can the Municipality of Maastricht deal with diversity issues related to internationalization, migration, and authenticity, and combine them into one joint and integrated policy?
In order to answer this question sub questions were formulated for the top-down as well as the bottom- up perspective.
Policy documents and policymakers
7. What kind of policies exist on local authenticity within the city of Maastricht and how are they understood by policymakers of the Municipality? 8. What kind of policies exist on internationalization within the city of Maastricht and how are they understood by policymakers of the Municipality? 9. What kind of policies exist on migration within the city of Maastricht and how are they understood by policymakers of the Municipality?
Policy implementation and policy implementers 10. What is the perception of policy implementers in the domain of education on authenticity policies and practices within the city of Maastricht? 11. What is the perception of policy implementers in the domain of education on internationalization policies and practices within the city of Maastricht? 12. What is the perception of policy implementers in the domain of education on migration policies and practices within the city of Maastricht?
When comparing the top-down policy-perspective with the perspective of bottom-up practices, the results of the analysis showed both similarities as well as, and mostly, differences between the two perspectives.
First, the top-down perspective in the domain of authenticity indicated that there is no clear-cut cultural policy regarding the local dialect. Local authorities did not seem to be profoundly bothered with promoting and safeguarding the local dialect, regardless of the fact that Limburgish is included in the
59 Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (Council of Europe, 1992). This was confirmed by the interviewee, the policymaker in the Department of Culture, as he indicated that the dialect is not a feature special to the city of Maastricht. This vision, in which the local dialect is not seen as an important element of policy-making, is not translated into educational practices on the ground. On the contrary, interviewees at St. Aloysius Elementary School illustrated that the dialect plays a very important role in the practices in the domain of authenticity. Even though the dialect is not officially integrated into the curriculum, the interviewees did indicate that they use the dialect quite often at school and that it is also present and used during multiple activities. All of the interviewees were very positive about the local dialect and expressed that they feel it is important that this form of multilingualism is maintained. The approach the school takes on fits with the Charter for Regional or Minority languages, but it is not in accordance with the policy approach the Municipality of Maastricht takes on. While the Municipality does not undertake any official actions to protect and promote the Maastricht language, the school does. There is a clear bottom-up practice in which there is a positive stance towards the local dialect. Furthermore, the interviewees on the ground indicated a clear connection to the domain of internationalization as the French language is integrated into the curriculum as well. The French language was however overruled by the English language. The interviewees indicated that they mostly see the importance of English. This was furthermore tied to time and budget. The use of English at St. Aloysius is in line with the Municipality’s current strategy in which they do want to include regional neighboring languages, but, at the moment are mostly English-oriented.
Second, the analysis of the domain of internationalization clarified that both from a top-down as well as a bottom-up perspective, internationalization is understood as inevitable and necessary for the future of Maastricht. Even though there is a lack of policy, the importance of internationalization is translated into the practices of higher education as both Maastricht University as well as Zuyd University of Applied Sciences are at the moment very much involved in the internationalization process. Multilingualism (English, French, and German) is seen as an integral part of internationalization by the Municipality of Maastricht despite the fact that the Municipality itself is mostly English-oriented. We can see this English-oriented tendency reflected in the practices as both Zuyd and the UM are currently mainly focused on integrating the English language. Attempts to integrate French and German, the languages the Municipality strives to include more, are not visible in practice and are not seen of as important by the interviewees on the ground. This is in accordance with Schermer (2012) who states that internationalization in terms of language policies is most often established through the integration of English as a language of instruction in the existing curriculum. The increasing Anglicization does lead to difficulties as employees have difficulties with acquiring the demanded level of English and as they are afraid to lose part of their identity, in this case their native language Dutch. This leads some employees to hold on to their language more strongly. The educational institutions do try to keep this in mind in order for their internationalization strategies to succeed as we learned that without the full support or coproduction of the target group, a policy is likely to be ineffective (Kroon, 2000). Furthermore, whereas at the top internationalization only refers to highly-skilled migrants and international students, and therefore the international influx in the domain of migration is excluded, the bottom-up practices do make such connection as both the UM and Zuyd are setting up programs to include refugees. The UM even appointed a diversity manager. This shows that in practice, the two domains can be integrated.
Third, in the domain of migration we saw that, from a policy-perspective, this domain is approached in a totally different way than the domain of internationalization. Whereas internationalization, focused on the international influx of highly-skilled migrants and international students, is seen as inevitable, the domain of migration is based on an ideology in which this type of migration is undesired. The focus at
60 the Municipality, therefore, is very much on integration into Dutch society, of which acquiring the Dutch language is an integral part. Language diversity is seen as an obstacle to integration and as dangerous as it presents a threat to uniformity and cohesion of society (Kroon & Spotti, 2011). Even the English language is seen as dangerous, the language that is on the other hand seen as useful to migrants in the domain of internationalization. This ideology has an influence on the orientations that live in society (Kroon & Vallen, 2006). Despite the fact that the interviewees at the ISK had some contrasting opinions, we can, generally speaking, see the perspective in which heterogeneity is unwanted emanating in the practices on the ground, as all of the interviewees, in the end, believed that Dutch is the most important language for this specific group, i.e. students with a migration background. This is in accordance with the current national integration regime (Rijksoverheid, n.d.; Pochon-Berger & Lenz, 2004; Joppke, 2007). Migrant minority languages are excluded at the top and therefore also at the bottom. The interviewees believed that migrant minority languages should be excluded as much as possible because they believed that this was a hindrance to students’ acquisition of Dutch and their integration into Dutch society. They seem to take this position, irrespective of the fact that actual examples of practices at the ISK they mentioned themselves illustrate that including migrant minority languages can, in fact, be very useful.
The above clarifies that the presence of super-diversity, the interplay between authenticity, internationalization, and migration, leads to challenges for policy-making at the Municipality of Maastricht. In chapter two we discussed how language policies in multilingual contexts cannot escape from taking a position in societal and political discussions (Kroon, 2000). The Municipality takes such position and with that dictates what languages can or cannot be used within a certain environment, i.e. the language management component as identified by Spolsky (2009). This, however, is done in a very inconsistent and chaotic way and does not always correspond to the practices and beliefs on the ground, the other two components of language policy according to Spolsky (2009). This becomes clear from the finding that the top-down and bottom-up perspectives in the domain of authenticity show contradicting results. The practices and beliefs are positive towards the local dialect, whereas from a Municipal point of view, the language management component, no attention is given to this language. Furthermore, the domain of internationalization illustrated that it is very important to keep the needs and wishes regarding language usage in mind, especially in a domain in which one’s language is slowly replaced by another one, e.g. by introducing English as a language of instruction in academia. Lastly, the domain of migration showed that despite that fact the interviewees believed that Dutch is the most important language in order to integrate in society, their examples of practices show that using migrant minority languages can actually be very useful. The analysis in other words indicates that it is extremely important for the Municipality of Maastricht to integrate both a top-down as well as bottom-up perspective when developing a language policy for its multilingual context and to integrate a perspective in which these three forms of diversity are connected and intertwined.
7.2. Recommendations
First, in order for the Municipality to deal with diversity issues related to internationalization, migration, and authenticity and combine them into one joint and integrated policy, it should get its current policies organized. It is first and foremost important for the Municipality to get its policy-making in order per domain before integrating them into one joint policy. This does not mean, however, that these policies cannot already now make a connection to one another. The involved policy-officers should combine the multiple separate documents and elements into one consistent and structured policy and get their ideology, aims and means straightened out. This creates both more clarity within the Municipality itself as well as towards the policy implementers who are involved in the specific domain as the interviewees
61 on the ground now often had no idea of any existing policies of the Municipality. The Municipality should get its message straight and express it with clarity to the outside world.
Second, for the domain of authenticity the Municipality should use the specific measures provided by the Charter and include the local dialect in its cultural policies. Maybe it could even appoint a policy officer that is specifically involved in this domain. In this way, the Municipality gives voice to a language that is already recognized by the State as a regional language and clearly seen of as important by the interviewees. This is extremely important for Maastricht, a city that puts great value in internationalization, as we saw in chapter two that people often see the increasing globalization as threatening to their local cultural identity (Sanderson, 2011). The Municipality could for example support schools that want to promote the local dialect in their activities. It should integrate a vision in which the local dialect is seen as an important piece of cultural heritage and part of the Municipal policy as this shows to its citizens that the Maastricht language is important and is included. In this way, the Municipality would also fulfill the wishes of the Council of Europe.
Third, if the Municipality, in the domain of internationalization, would really want to include French and German, it should create more budget and start having conversations with teachers at different schools to see how they feel about including these languages. It is one thing to create a policy, but if it turns out that it is just not possible for policy implementers due to time and budget, the Municipality should take this into consideration and either focus solely on English or create ways in which policy implementers able to include these neighboring national languages. Interviewees mostly saw the importance of English, so the Municipality should first consider if it is really a must to also integrate neighboring national languages in education. Regarding higher education, the Municipality should cooperate more strongly with higher education institutions in Maastricht. In this way, it can both make sure that its vision of internationalization is translated into the practices of these institutions, and that internationalization is accomplished throughout the city of Maastricht. It is furthermore important that, in case the focus will be mainly on English, both at the Municipality itself and in higher education, support is given to staff in improving their English proficiency. Also, regarding internationalization, it is important that the Municipality, as well as the higher educational institutions, do make the connection to the domain of authenticity and illustrate that they keep the authentic character of the city in mind.
Fourth, the domain of migration should not be excluded from the Municipality’s internationalization strategies. Instead of seeing it as a hindrance, the Municipality should focus on what kind of benefits integrating these two domains have to offer. Two Municipal policymakers already indicated this themselves. In its internationalization strategies, the Municipality should not only focus on international students and highly-skilled migrants, but also on refugees and people with a migration background. Since English is seen as important in the communication towards migrants in the domain of internationalization, it can also be useful towards newcomers in the domain of migration. The examples mentioned by the interviewees in the domain of migration indicated that including migrant minority languages can be useful. Even though the Municipality is not (yet)8 in control of the civic integration program and of determining what language is granted the status of official or national language, it could allow for migrant minority languages to be used more often. The interviewees both at both the top and on the ground indicated that Dutch is paramount in education, but the Municipality could, for example, hire employees that speak migrant minority languages and encourage educational institutions that deal with this group to do the same as this improves the communication with the target group. I would, therefore, recommend the ISK to be more inclusive towards migrant minority languages. If the
8 At the time of writing I was not aware of the new legislative proposal by Minister Koolmees mentioned in chapter five.
62 Municipality and education institutions like the ISK maintain their sole focus on Dutch, they would in fact undervalue or ignore the linguistic diversity of its population (Blackledge, 2000.
Only when the Municipality has the above-mentioned modifications implemented, it can start developing one joint and integrated policy. These modifications can help the Municipality of Maastricht in dealing with super-diversity related to authenticity, internationalization, and migration and enable the Municipality to illustrate the open and inclusive character that it claims to have.
7.3. Limitations and future research
A few limitations of the current study can be listed. First of all, the study only focused on the domains of authenticity, internationalization, and migration in education with a special focus on language. This leads to limited insights into results in other fields. Furthermore, only three educational institutions were involved. Interviews in other educational institutions could lead to different results. Next, the study was also limited by the fact that the participating interviewees were chosen based on existing personal connections of the researcher. In such a way, one is very much dependent on the contacts persons’ selection of “good” participants. Also, few participants have been interviewed as only 21 interviews in total have been conducted. Moreover, the analysis itself could be seen as a possible limitation as other researchers might interpret the data in different ways and come up with other topics they would find important. Future research could conduct a similar study in which it includes more educational institutions. For example, different primary or secondary schools. In this way, contradicting or similar opinions and experiences could be illustrated in a more reliable way. This would give a better overview of the perceptions of actors in the field of education as more participants are involved. Next, future research could also extend this research and include other fields such as the field of healthcare. This would give a better overview of the domain of authenticity, internationalization, and migration across different fields and themes and would allow for comparison between these different fields. In addition, future research could spread an online survey across citizens of Maastricht to involve the citizens-perspective as well and to get a better overview of the practices and beliefs of the citizens of Maastricht.
63 References
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69 Appendix A – Background information of the participating schools
This appendix lists some background information of each of the schools that were involved in the bottom-up part of this study.
Domain of authenticity: St. Aloysius Elementary School
The St. Aloysius was founded in 1854 and used to be an old monastery. It is an elementary school that teaches children from grade 1 to 8. Most pupils enrolled at the school come from the daycare facility “De Lewiekes”, which is located in the same building. The school also offers after-school care. The St. Aloysius is known as a very “local” school in the sense that it is really seen as representing Maastricht and its culture.
Domain of internationalization: Maastricht University and Zuyd University of Applied Science
Maastricht University is the youngest and most international university in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1976. The university consists of six faculties and offers 18 Bachelor’s and 50 Master’s programs. The university is bilingual, but currently most education is solely provided in English. They have two programs that are still in Dutch. Maastricht University sees itself first and foremost as an open and inclusive academic community, striving for a good mix between Dutch, European, and other international students, and addressing European and global issues in their education and research programs.
Zuyd University of Applied Sciences was founded in 2001 from a merger between several higher vocational education institutions in South Limburg. The school consists of nine faculties and offers 33 Bachelor’s degrees and 13 Master’s degrees. Most of them are taught in Dutch. Of all faculties, internationalization is most present at the faculties located in Maastricht. Zuyd’s mission statement is short and, as they say themselves, to the point: “professionals develop themselves with Zuyd”.
Domain of migration: ISK-EOA
The ISK-EOA [ISK] was established in the late 1970’s. It is an international linking school that teaches students Dutch while continuing their education in a variety of other subjects such as math, science, and music. All the classes offered work to enhance students’ Dutch language comprehension and literacy. The ultimate goal is for students to step into the Dutch school system and culture. This could be either a regular secondary school or secondary vocational education. Most students stay on average for about two years at the school before transitioning further. The ISK-EOA is part of Sint-Maartenscollege. The majority of students who are enrolled at the school have fled from their own countries due to war and poverty. A few are children of expats that have settled in Maastricht.
70 Appendix B – Example questions from the top-down perspective interview guide
This appendix gives an overview of examples of questions that were asked during the interviews with policy makers and officers in the domain of authenticity, internationalization, and migration
Domain of authenticity
1. Could you tell me something about the Cultural Policy of the Municipality of Maastricht? What are the objectives of this policy?
2. Is the dialect integrated into the curriculum at educational institutions in Maastricht? If so, in which manner? If not, is it being integrated in education in other ways?
3. The Charter also concerns public space. How is this being implemented in Maastricht?
4. Is there a greater investment in the promotion of dialect during Carnival? If so, how and in what way?
5. To what extent should the dialect play a role in a diversity policy according to you?
Domain of internationalization
1. What exactly is understood by internationalization? And who is identified as an international (does this include refugees)?
2. Is the internationalization policy connected to other policies that are related to international diversity, like the refugee policy?
3. What is being done, besides education, to attract more international students or other internationals?
4. What is being done linguistically regarding internationalization? Which languages are included and what is the target group?
5. How do you connect internationals to the “original” inhabitants of Maastricht?
Domain of migration
1. How is the process of integration of refugees in Maastricht succeeding? Positive and negative sides?
2. What is being done in practice to enhance the societal participation of refugees? And is this written down in a policy as well?
3. What role does language play in the integration policy?
4. Should there be, according to you, more space for migrant minority languages in education/public space/etc.? If so, could you tell me why? If not, could you explain?
5. Would you describe Maastricht as a diverse city? If so, in what manner?
71 Appendix C – Example questions from the bottom-up perspective interview guide
This appendix gives an overview of examples of questions that were asked during the interviews with policy makers and officers in the domain of authenticity, internationalization, and migration
Domain of authenticity
1. Are there any children in your class who speak a different language beside Dutch? And how about the dialect? If so, in which situations do they use these languages?
2. Do you ever use the dialect (or any other languages) in class? For example, to give instructions or communicate with students/teachers/parents/colleagues? If so, why?
3. Are there any rules from the school board with regard to the use of dialect? If so, what are these rules?
4. What is your opinion on the dialect? Do you find it important or not?
5. What do you think about including languages like French, German, and English? Do you find that important or not?
Domain of internationalization
1. What exactly is understood by UM/Zuyd on internationalization?
2. Does the UM/Zuyd have a diversity policy? If so, why and when was this created and how is it being implemented?
3. Are there at the moment a lot of services/information at UM/Zuyd being offered in multiple languages? If so, could you tell me more about it? And what do you think about it?
4. How do Dutch employees respond to the increasing diversity?
5. Do you find that the internationalization policy of the Municipality corresponds to the school’s internationalization policy? Why or why not?
Domain of migration
1. Could you tell me something about the ethnic/cultural composition of both students and staff?
2. What is your position on the use of other languages besides Dutch at the ISK?
3. Are the languages of the students of the ISK being used at school? For example, as a language of instruction or for communication?
4. Besides Dutch, you also teach the students about aspects of Dutch culture and values. Could you tell me a bit more about this?
5. Do you believe there should be more space for other languages in Dutch secondary education? And what about elementary school or higher education?
72 Appendix D – Example of coding method
This appendix gives an example of the coding method used for the analysis of the interviews. The specific example is for the topic “view on the local dialect”, which was introduced by interviewees at the bottom-up perspective in the domain of authenticity. This topic was marked yellow.
Table 2: All quotes by interviewees 5-10 of the bottom-up perspective for the domain of authenticity on the topic “view on the local dialect” View on the local dialect Interviewee 1 Je merkt ook wel, want van die 7 daar zitten ook wel meer kinderen bij waarvan toch wel een van de twee 5 ouders wel vaker Maastrichts spreekt, maar dat de kinderen het gewoon niet spreken. Dat hoor ik sowieso wel vaker van ouders terug, want niet perse alleen in de werkende wereld he, maar ook een privé-situatie, dat ik wel vaker vraag aan vriendinnen ofzo die spreken dan allebei Maastrichts en toch voeden ze de kinderen in het Nederlands op. 2 Of ja ik vind dat maar dat blijkt ook wel uit onderzoeken, maar dat het juist goed is eigenlijk om een dialect 5 mee te krijgen. Maar je ziet wel een trend waarin het minder wordt. 3 Ja, god het is natuurlijk ook heel kleinschalig waar ik dat op baseer he. He dat is niet landelijk he, geen idee. 5 Maar wat ik om me heen merk, zijn ik juist wel dat de mensen het wat minder doen 4 Maar zeker als mama zijnde vind ik het ook heel belangrijk. Dat ik denk van, sowieso het schakelen in talen 5 he, tussen Maastrichts en Nederlands is gewoon heel goed voor haar taalontwikkeling. 5 Alleen ja, in mijn praktijk in ieder geval is 99% leert dat uiteindelijk toch wel. Maar ik denk wel dat dat 5 misschien voor ouders de belemmering is 6 dat sommige mensen nu weloverwogen de keuze gaan maken om he Nederlands te spreken, dan vind ik dat 5 ook wel bijzonder. Dan denk ik van eigenlijk wordt daar voor gekozen uit zogenaamd “ik heb er heel goed over nagedacht, want het kan het kind belemmeren blablabla”. Maar dan denk ik, zoek nog maar eens iets verder in de onderzoeken, want het is juist goed voor een kind. Maar vaak blijft het hangen op “nee het is te ingewikkeld en dan gooien ze het door elkaar en dat hoor je dan zo aan het Nederlands”. 7 Ja. Ik denk ook dat het een beetje een thuishaven, een veilig iets, voor de kinderen is. Voor de kinderen die 6 het spreken dan. Ik vind wel dat dat in stand gehouden moet blijven, want de kinderen ja communiceren daardoor ook wat makkelijker he 8 Dus het is, ja ik vind het wel heel belangrijk dat het, dat dat blijft. 6 9 Ja dat vind ik wel. Ik bedoel dat is toch een stukje eigen. Als je hier geboren bent, dan vind ik toch, ja wat 7 eigens om dat te behouden. 10 Ja ik vind het wel belangrijk dat de kinderen dat wel he, ja dat het bewaard blijft. Buiten dat het Nederlands 7 ook heel belangrijk is, maar ja. Ik vind het toch een stukje eigenheid. Ja. 11 Ja. Ik vind toch, het hoort gewoon bij Maastricht en ja. Ik zou het zonde vinden als het zou verdwijnen. Dat 7 zou ik echt zonde vinden. Buiten dat ik het Nederlands ook heel belangrijk vind, he dat ik niet zo fanatiek ben met alleen maar het Maastrichts, maar ik zou het wel zonde vinden als het zou verdwijnen. Dat zou ik jammer vinden. Het is toch een beetje ja cultuur wat je wilt behouden. Beetje eigenheid. Dat zou ik wel jammer vinden als het echt zou verdwijnen ja. 12 Bij mijn voorgaande ervaringen is dat relatief hetzelfde toch wel gebleven. Ja. Ik merk wel bij sommige 8 ouders, wat ik heel erg zonde vind, is dat ze bewust Nederlands spreken tegen hun kinderen terwijl ze onderling Maastrichts spreken. Omdat ze ervan overtuigd zijn dat het beter werkt, terwijl het wel bewezen is, dacht ik, dat dat juist niet zo is. 13 Ja, absoluut. Het is iets wat moet blijven voortbestaan. Wat dat betreft ben ik wel chauvinistisch. Mensen van 8 buiten Maastricht zeggen arrogant, nou daar ben ik het niet mee eens. Ik ben daar wat dat betreft trots op en dat wil ik ook gewoon zo houden. 14 Ja. Omdat wij een stadsschool zijn. Echt in de binnenstad liggen vind ik dat wel dat we dat mogen uitstralen. 8 Dat neemt niet weg dat iedereen welkom is en he we gaan niet verlangen van de Italiaanse kinderen en Marokkaanse kinderen dat ze het ook allemaal leren, maar ze moeten er wel mee in aanraking zijn gekomen. 15 Ja ik vind dat wel belangrijk, 9 16 Ik denk dat dat ook wel bij de ouders ligt om dat, als die dat belangrijk vinden om dat te promoten. 9 17 Ja dat vind ik wel. Ik vind het erg prima als kinderen ook, mijn eigen kinderen bijvoorbeeld, als die dialect 9 spreken. 18 Ja ik vind het superbelangrijk. En dan niet over schrijven, want dat is flauwekul voor mij hoor. Maar het 10 fatsoenlijk leren spreken en blijven praten, jazeker. Laten we asjeblieft, het gaat toch al steeds verder achteruit.
73 Appendix E – Original quotes used in the top-down analysis
This appendix gives an overview of the translated quotes used in the top-down analysis of chapter five. These quotes have been translated from Dutch into English. The original quotes will be listed in order of their appearance in the analysis chapter.
Authenticity
“Oud tegenover jong, lokaal tegenover internationaal … Sjeng tegenover Hollander, de periferie tegenover de Randstad.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2015a, p. 7)
“Maastricht is niet alleen een van de belangrijkste Nederlandse culturele erfgoedsteden. De stad heeft ook nog eens - door haar typische ligging - een rijke en gekleurde geschiedenis.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2015a, p. 5)
De "oorspronkelijke" inwoners die hechten aan iets wat er eigenlijk nooit geweest is, maar waarvan zij vinden dat het eigenlijk heel belangrijk is voor hun identiteit, en die zich een beetje schrap zetten tegen allerlei nieuwe ontwikkelingen zoals studenten, buitenlanders.” (Interviewee 1, March 7, 2018)
“En het dialect bestaat ook in alle steden, dat is niet uniek voor Maastricht. Dat bestaat ook in Venlo, dat bestaat ook in Nijmegen, dat bestaat eigenlijk overal.” (Interviewee 1, March 7, 2018)
“Omdat wij gruuts zijn op onze Moojertoal, het Maastrichts, vertalen we vandaag onze social media-berichten in het Maastrichts.” (Municipality of Maastricht, February 21, 2018)
Internationalization
“Internationalisering is in haar algemene betekenis „het leggen van verbindingen met het buitenland. Dat is waar deze nota richting aan wil geven: het leggen van verbindingen (in de ruimste zin van het woord) met burgers, overheden of instellingen in het buitenland. Internationalisering is een middel om de beleidsdoelen zoals geformuleerd in de gemeentelijke visiedocumenten (en uitgewerkt in de verschillende begrotingsprogramma’s) te realiseren.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2013, p. 7)
“De groep internationale kenniswerkers voelt zicht thuis in een stad die door de vele faciliteiten, openheid en door haar grensligging véél meer internationaal perspectief biedt dan veel andere steden.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2013, p. 10)
“Puur vanuit, puur vanuit de tekorten die je op de Nederlandse arbeidsmarkt simpelweg hebt. Dus met welke politieke kleur je er ook naar kijkt, dat probleem is aanwezig. En daar zul je wat mee moeten doen.” (Interviewee 2, March 14, 2018)
“Meertaligheid is een wederkerend en essentieel thema in deze nota. Het aanbieden van diensten en het beschikbaar stellen van informatie in meerdere talen is onontbeerlijk voor de gemeente. Het scala moet hierbij breed georiënteerd zijn, van de registratie voor uitwisselingsstudenten tot bijvoorbeeld een vergunningsaanvraag voor ondernemers.” (Municipality of Maastricht, p. 16)
“De gemeente moet ervoor zorgen dat niemand in de stad achtergesteld wordt. Maastricht is er voor alle inwoners en gasten van de stad, met een van nature open internationale blik.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2013, p. 25)
“Het is noodzakelijk de nog bestaande grensbarrières – die niet alleen fysiek, maar ook mentaal- aan te pakken … Maastricht kan zich juist profileren als de stad van meertaligheid: native speakers zijn altijd in de buurt en voorzien in de behoefte aan meertaligheid van steeds meer bedrijven. Meertaligheid van de bevolking blijft echter belangrijk.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2013, p. 11)
“Wat ook bij bestuurszaken … getrokken wordt, is dat buurtaalonderwijs. Dat zie je natuurlijk ook, dat dat heel belangrijk is. We zijn heel erg Engelstalig georiënteerd, maar we spreken de taal van de buren niet.” (Interviewee 2, March 14, 2018)
“Om informatie toegankelijker te maken voor internationale studenten is de gemeente per 1 oktober 2013 gestart met een extra inloopspreekuur voor deze groep. Ruim 30 meest gevraagde gemeentelijke producten/diensten zijn ook Engelstalig toegevoegd aan het (digitale) gemeenteloket.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2015b)
“Op het moment dat Hogeschool Zuyd heel veel overging naar Engels, heb ik ook weleens geluiden gehoord dat dat toch een flinke uitdaging was die transitie.” (Interviewee 2, March 14, 2018)
Migration
“De gemeente Maastricht is een internationale kennisstad, en staat bekend om haar gastvrije karakter. De opvang van asielzoekers en vergunninghouders wordt dan ook in dat licht opgepakt. Vluchtelingen zijn welkom in Maastricht. Tegelijkertijd wordt van hen verwacht dat zij kennisnemen van de Nederlandse waarden en positief bijdragen aan de Maastrichtse samenleving.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2016, p. 5)
74
“Vergunninghouders die aan Maastricht zijn toegewezen willen wij direct laten starten met de integratie en participatie.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2016, p. 30)
“De gemeenten mochten, deden vroeger de inburgering. Maar dat mogen wij, dat doen wij dus niet meer. Daar lobbyen we wel voor, want we willen heel graag dat wij dat weer doen.” (Interviewee 3, March 7, 2018)
“Als gemeentes zijn wij niet blij hoe dit geregeld is.” (Interviewee 4, April 6, 2018)
“In het algemeen is het natuurlijk erg raar als je ook kijkt naar de arbeidsmarkt. We komen tekorten en ja ze sturen dadelijk mensen terug die hoogopgeleid zijn … Terwijl we die mensen eigenlijk heel goed kunnen gebruiken. Dus ja, dat is apart.” (Interviewee 4, April 6, 2018)
“Integratie is met name een resultaat van een proces waarin mensen elkaar opzoeken, zich met elkaar verbinden en handreikingen doen over sociale en culturele grenzen heen, met respect voor elkaars eigenheid. Dit is per definitie een proces dat van onderop moet komen, je kunt mensen daartoe niet verplichten of dwingen. De gemeente kan er wel in voorwaardenscheppende zin aan bijdragen.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2016, p. 46)
“Ik denk dat dat wel een hele belangrijke stap is om te kunnen integreren.” (Interviewee 3, March 7, 2018)
“Maar voor de inburgering moet je, je moet Nederlands op een bepaald niveau spreken, dus dan kun je niet zeggen van, ik doe dat niet. En dat is soms wel een spanning, omdat die hoogopgeleiden denken van “ja hallo, ik spreek toch perfect Engels, wat moet ik nu met dat Nederlands,” maar dat moeten ze toch halen.” (Interviewee 4, April 6, 2018)
“Als internationale regio heeft Maastricht-Heuvelland een lange geschiedenis met het opvangen van niet-Nederlandstalige leerlingen. Soms zijn dat vergunninghouders, maar soms ook kinderen van expats of andere internationale verhuizers. De ondersteuning van deze kinderen kent een dilemma: enerzijds is het belangrijk dat zij zo snel mogelijk Nederlands leren, anderzijds is het wenselijk dat zij zo snel mogelijk integreren in de eigen (school)omgeving.” (Municipality of Maastricht, 2016, p. 37)
“Wij vinden het heel belangrijk dat iedereen kan deelnemen in de maatschappij. En wij hebben wat ik jou al zei he, wij geven subsidies uit aan vrijwilligersorganisaties… Dus dan zie je dat wij dat ook belangrijk vinden dat er voor iedereen, jong-oud, arm-rijk, van Nederlandse afkomst of van een hele andere afkomst, dat we dat belangrijk vinden dat iedereen kan meedoen in de maatschappij.” (Interviewee 3, March 7, 2018)
“Daar is veel protest geweest echt ook demonstraties. Ook het AZC daar is een keer, ja een bedreiging geweest of er is een woning vernietigd.” (Interviewee 3, March 7, 2018)
75 Appendix F – Original quotes used in the bottom-up analysis
This appendix gives an overview of the translated quotes used in the bottom-up analysis of chapter six. These quotes have been translated from Dutch into English. The original quotes will be listed in order of their appearance in the analysis chapter.
Authenticity
“Nee er zijn geen echte regels. Ja natuurlijk, maar dat is een omgeschreven regel die spreekt voor zich, iedereen spreekt natuurlijk Nederlands voor de klas. Ik bedoel, je geeft les in het Nederlands.” (Interviewee 5, April 4, 2018)
“Ja de regel is eigenlijk dat je gewoon tijdens de lessen Nederlands met de kinderen spreekt. Tenzij een uitzondering van wat ik zei over dat woordje verduidelijken he. Dan heeft het echt een duidelijk functie. Maar in de klas wordt Nederland gesproken. Die regel staat nergens geschreven geloof ik, maar dat is gewoon eh.” (Interviewee 7, April 4, 2018)
“Ja in de klas is eigenlijk een beetje de tendens dat je wel gewoon Nederlands spreekt, want je zit in de les en in de klas en je boeken zijn in het Nederlands en je uitleg is in het Nederlands. Ja en dan bereik je ook de hele groep als je Nederlands blijft praten. Je hoort, ik denk dat de meeste kinderen die Nederlands praten wel het dialect verstaan, maar ja dat weet ik niet helemaal zeker.” (Interviewee 9, April 5, 2018)
“Ja instructies of in de les probeer ik dat in het Nederlands te doen. Ik zelf merk dat ik wel verval soms in, dus je zit gewoon in de les en je wilt even kort wat zeggen van “pak even dat beukske”. Dat je dat dan in het dialect zegt. Terwijl je dat eigenlijk gewoon in die Nederlandse taal moet blijven in de les. En als ik gewoon met kinderen vertel en je weet dat ze dialect spreken, dan ga ik ook snel op het dialect over.” (Interviewee 8, April 5, 2018)
“Los van het feit of het wel of niet mag he. Als ik het over de lessituatie heb, ben ik verplicht Nederlands te praten he. Dat is echt, dat moet. En dat doe ik dus ook. Maar als ik voor de klas, als ik weleens zeg van hé te gek of goed gedaan, ik zeg het even zo, dan doe ik dat ook vaker in het Maastrichts.” (Interviewee 10, April 5, 2018)
“Het zijn toch Maastrichtse kinderen kom. Kom he de eigen taal. We spreken gewoon in onze eigen taal.” (Interviewee 10, April 5, 2018)
“Bij kleuters zie je heel vaak dat als je in het dialect tegen ze gaat praten, dan praten ze opeens wel terug. Praat je in het Nederlands, dan zeggen ze niks.” (Interviewee 6, April 4, 2018)
“Dat doe ik weleens bewust he. Dan denk ik van ah eens even wat minder afstandelijk he. Dan vind ik dat weleens leuk om te doen. Of als je een grapje met iemand maakt.” (Interviewee 7, April 4, 2018).
“Maar juist omdat deze kinderen zo klein zijn, dan doe je het wel sneller om juist wel de relatie eigenlijk te versterken en die kinderen op hun gemak te laten voelen. Dus ik denk dat het wel afhankelijk is van de leeftijd en ook van de persoon. Ik heb ook collega’s die wel vaker Maastrichts met de kinderen spreken. Ook in de bovenbouw. Maar ik zelf niet.” (Interviewee 5, April 4, 2018)
“Als ik zou merken dat een leerkracht moeite heeft met de grip op de groep te krijgen of de orde te bewaken, dan zou dat wel ook een van de dingen zijn die ik eens zou observeren in de vrije situatie van ja he misschien is het toch te amicaal. En dat heeft toch wel te maken met het Maastrichts spreken. Vaak als je dan ABN spreekt, ja dan is gewoon die afstand wat meer.” (Interviewee 5, April 4, 2018)
“Voornamelijk spreek ik wel Nederlands om toch wel, dat doe ik bewust, om toch wel de band leerkracht-leerling te behouden. En niet te amicaal te worden.” (Interviewee 8, April 5, 2018)
“Toen we de adviesgesprekken hadden met groep 8, toen hebben we wel, omdat de ouders en de leerlingen erbij zaten en de directeur die ook zelf Maastrichts spreekt, hadden we wel zoiets van dat doen we gewoon in het Maastrichts. Lekker informeel. Het formele gesprek toch informeel houden, laagdrempelig houden.” (Interviewee 8, April 5, 2018)
“Ik vind het niet echt een taak van de school. Dus in zoverre is het leuk als je er als school iets aan kunt bijdragen, maar ja het zit niet opgenomen in het lessysteem of zo.” (Interviewee 5, April 4, 2018)
“Ja met carnaval wordt het wel in het Maastrichts allemaal gepresenteerd en gedaan. En ook de prins en prinses liefst Maastrichtenaren, maar in ieder geval caranvalsvierders, vastelaovendvierders.” (Interviewee 8, April 5, 2018)
“Rond de carnavalstijd als ik dingen op de Facebook zet en op de website zet, dan schrijf ik het echt in het Maastrichts op. Ik bedoel, carnaval is iets dat doe je in het Maastrichts en dat moet je ook in het Maastrichts. Dat hoort er dan bij. Dat die Hollander het dan niet kan lezen, pech gehad, dan leert hij het zeg maar.” (Interviewee 10, April 5, 2018)
76 “Ja in het verleden hadden we sowieso ieder kerstpel en musical die we hadden, dat was sowieso allemaal in het dialect … Wat ik nu doe, ja goed dat zit dan altijd al in de huidige musical zit altijd een Maastrichtenaar in die Maastrichts wil praten.” (Interviewee 10, April 5, 2018)
“Alleen vond ik dat persoonlijk ook wel leuk om dat gewoon toch erin te houden, omdat je toch wel merkt van, de meeste mensen zijn hier al lang en die kunnen wel als ze hier eventjes, dat is althans de ervaring, als ze hier even in Maastricht wonen, dan kan je het behoorlijk goed verstaan. Dat kan wel. Dus daarom hadden we ervoor gekozen. Dan doe je zo’n rol toch er tussendoor.” (Interviewee 8, April 5, 2018)
“We hebben wel vaker in samenwerking met de Veldeke Krink, waarin ook weleens lessen zijn waarin Maastrichtse dingen worden gedaan.” (Interviewee 5, April 4, 2018)
“Maar Maastrichtse lessen zitten de mensen niet meer op te wachten.” (Interviewee 10, April 5, 2018)
“Dus wat dat betreft, het is wel echt een Maastrichtse school en dat willen we ook wel uitstralen, maar iedereen is natuurlijk van harte welkom.” (Interviewee 8, April 5, 2018)
“Ik vind toch, het hoort gewoon bij Maastricht en ja. Ik zou het zonde vinden als het zou verdwijnen. Dat zou ik echt zonde vinden ... Het is toch een beetje ja cultuur wat je wilt behouden. Beetje eigenheid. Dat zou ik wel jammer vinden als het echt zou verdwijnen.” (Interviewee 7, April 4, 2018)
“Ja, absoluut. Het is iets wat moet blijven voortbestaan. Wat dat betreft ben ik wel chauvinistisch. Mensen van buiten Maastricht zeggen arrogant, nou daar ben ik het niet mee eens. Ik ben daar wat dat betreft trots op en dat wil ik ook gewoon zo houden.” (Interviewee 8, April 5, 2018)
“Ik vind het superbelangrijk. En dan niet over schrijven, want dat is flauwekul voor mij hoor. Maar het fatsoenlijk leren spreken en blijven praten, jazeker. Laten we asjeblieft, het gaat toch al steeds verder achteruit.” (Interviewee 10, April 5, 2018)
“Dat sommige mensen nu weloverwogen de keuze gaan maken om he Nederlands te spreken, dan vind ik dat ook wel bijzonder. Dan denk ik van eigenlijk wordt daarvoor gekozen uit zogenaamd “ik heb er heel goed over nagedacht, want het kan het kind belemmeren blablabla”. Maar dan denk ik, zoek nog maar eens iets verder in de onderzoeken, want het is juist goed voor een kind.” (Interviewee 5, April 4, 2018)
“Ja ik heb daar eigenlijk gewoon niet zo’n heel goed zicht op. Dus in zoverre denk ik dan van, ja dan zal het dus wel een beetje tegenvallen, want anders zou ik er denk ik wel zich op hebben. Ik kan me zo niet echt herinneren wat de gemeente daarin zou bijdragen eigenlijk.” (Interviewee 5, April 4, 2018)
“Ik zou het helemaal niet weten zelfs. Dat weet ik echt niet. Je hebt de verenigingen die daar van doen he, maar de gemeente zelf?” (Interviewee 10, April 5, 2018)
“Ik bedoel dat zou ik wel toejuichen, maar om nu te zeggen van de gemeente moet dat doen of is daar verantwoordelijk voor.” (Interviewee 9, April 5, 2018)
“Daar krijg ik echt niks van mee eerlijk gezegd. Ik zou ook niet weten hoe ze dat moeten doen.” (Interviewee 8, April 5, 2018)
“Nee want dan krijg je zo’n Hollandse fluit die daar op het stadhuis zit en die moet dan in een keer het Maastrichts gaan promoten. Nee.” (Interviewee 10, April 5, 2018)
“Dan hebben we het over het laten kennismaken met de Franse taal. Dus we zingen Franse liedjes met ze, we benoemen de kleuren en de lichaamsdelen en de beesten en in groep 8 hoe je de weg kunnen beschrijven. Dat soort dingen gebeuren wel in de klas. En dat is ongeveer een half uur per week.” (Interviewee 5, April 4, 2018)
“Ja we doen het wel als Euregio school, maar het is wel in de praktijk valt dat wat minder. Omdat het ook veel meer voorbereiding is.” (Interviewee 8, April 5, 2018)
“Frans wordt wel gegeven hier ook. Ja sporadisch volgens mij hoor. Duits niet.” (Interviewee 9, April 5, 2018)
“Kijk het Engels dat vind ik wel. Omdat het Engels veel gebruikt wordt en dat horen ze heel veel. Maar het Frans. Hoe mooi ik het ook vind, dan zeg ik van nee dan vind ik andere dingen belangrijker. We hebben genoeg dingen op ons programma staan wat ik belangrijker vind.” (Interviewee 7, April 4, 2018)
“Je hoeft het voor mij echt niet te beheersen, maar je moet wel een beetje in contact komen met je buurttaal die we hier hebben. Maar het Engels dat moet je vind ik wel, dat moet je uiteindelijk wel kunnen beheersen.” (Interviewee 10, April 5, 2018)
“Oh ik vind dat wel goed. Ja ik ben zelf ook wel gericht op de talen ... dus dat vind ik zelf wel heel goed.” (Interviewee 5, April 4, 2018)
77 “Ik vind het Engels wel veel belangrijker.” (Interviewee 8, April 5, 2018)
Internationalization
“Dat ze veel meer buitenlandse studenten willen werven. Dus je hebt twee stromenopleiding. Nederlands en het Engels en ze hebben jaren geleden gezegd dat dat het beleid is dat ze veel meer internationale studenten willen binnenhalen en op termijn willen ze 40%, [iets onverstaanbaars], 40% buitenlandse studenten en 60% Nederlandse.” (Interviewee 14, April 23, 2018)
“We hebben sinds dat ik denk dat het 2013 als ik het niet mis heb, ik ben er pas twee jaar namelijk, hebben ze een internationale bachelor geïntroduceerd. Dus ja dan maak je het eigenlijk pas mogelijk he om internationalen echt te ontvangen en mee te kunnen laten doen he met het onderwijs dat wij aanbieden.” (Interviewee 16, May 8, 2018)
“We werven internationaal omdat we een international classroom willen creëren. En dan moet je je afvragen “waarom wil je zo’n class dan creëren?”. Dat is om die interculturele competenties mee te geven aan de studenten vanaf een jong moment, omdat we er eigenlijk niet meer omheen kunnen dat over 10-15 jaar, omdat we nu al zoveel internationale business doen, dat we ja studenten daarvoor willen klaar preppen. Maatschappelijk als wel professioneel. Dus dat is eigenlijk de achterliggende gedachte.” (Interviewee 16, May 8, 2018)
“Ons nieuwe profiel is: ‘Zuyd no borders’. Dat gaat ook over geografische grenzen. Met een grote diversiteit aan internationaliseringsprojecten geven wij al heel goed invulling aan dat profiel. Maar daarnaast willen we internationalisering ook echt zichtbaar maken binnen Zuyd, in alle faculteiten en diensten. Met als doel de internationale competenties van ál onze studenten te verbeteren.” (Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, 2017, p. 8)
“Ja ja. We zijn nu echt bezig met mensen voor support staff, dat zij allemaal Engelse cursussen krijgen. En international staff krijgen als ze willen Nederlandse les betaald. Ik weet niet of het verplicht is.” (Interviewee 13, April 11, 2018)
“Nu wil de school dat iedereen, iedere leraar die hier zit, C1 haalt. Iedereen heeft of Engelse cursus gekregen of examentraining gekregen. En ook voor 2020 moet iedere leraar bij Cambridge gecertificeerd zijn op C1 niveau.” (Interviewee 15, April 24, 2018)
“Nee, wel een internationaliseringsbeleid. En dat heeft met name met studentenmobiliteit en en docenten uitwisselings. Bijvoorbeeld de Erasmus en en he. En Socrates programma's en dat soort dingen meer.” (Interviewee 11, March 5, 2018)
“Er zijn heel veel buitenlandse studenten. Er zijn allerlei verschillende nationaliteiten. Er wordt Engels gesproken. En ik heb ook heel veel collega’s die een andere nationaliteit hebben of gehad.” (Interviewee 14, April 23, 2018)
“Je ziet daar wel een constante groei. Dus wat we nu de afgelopen 4-5 jaar hebben gezien is er toch wel een constante groei van tussen de 10 en 20%.” (Interviewee 12, April 4, 2018)
“Ik denk dat, nou goed de grootste groep studenten bij ons is natuurlijk Nederlands en van de internationale studenten hebben we het grootste gedeelte België-Duitsland en dan heb je een aantal mensen uit Italië, een aantal mensen uit Spanje, een aantal mensen uit Azië, maar het zijn allemaal losse aantallen.” (Interviewee 15, April 24, 2018)
“We zijn de meest internationale universiteit van Nederland, maar als je verder kijkt dan zie je heel veel Duitse studenten. En zeker binnen onze studenten, de socio-economische diversiteit is echt niet gegeven. Dus wij hebben heel veel studenten, die komen gewoon uit hoogopgeleide families.” (Interviewee 13, April 11, 2018)
“Nee ja misschien hebben ze daar wel informatie over en is dat ook een beetje HR-beleid, maar in mijn ogen wordt daar niet zoveel aandacht aan besteedt, of aandacht aan gegeven.” (Interviewee 14, April 23, 2018)
“Het is wel natuurlijk, iedereen is welkom, iedereen is gelijk. Net zoals iedere school dat doet, doen wij dat natuurlijk ook, maar het is niet wij actief benadering zoeken naar minderheidsgroepen nee.” (Interviewee 15, April 24, 2018)
“Ja. Dat klopt dat wij dat niet zo heel veel hebben hier. Dat valt ons wel op. Daar wordt over nagedacht ... Kijk als ze toch al heel lang in Nederland zijn, kan het zijn dat het natuurlijk heel erg gemixt is, je culturele achtergrond en dingen, dus we hebben wel een paar rondlopen he, dat wil ik niet zeggen, maar dit is een vrij witte school nog.” (Interviewee 16, May 8, 2018)
“Maar wij weten ook, diversity is the first step, maar dan moet je ook, je moet diversiteit kunnen mobiliseren. Je moet er echt iets kunnen uithalen. En dat vraagt om skills, om tijd, en om echt een investering. Dus daar kwamen ze snel achter en ze dachten van oke we hebben echt iemand nodig en we hebben een programma nodig dat dit kan implementeren. Dus dat we niet alleen uitstralen van diversiteit.” (Interviewee 13, April 11, 2018)
“En daar gaan ze echt kijken, oke hoe krijgen we vluchtelingen, maar zij zijn ook zeker voor vluchtelingen die nu op de middelbare school zitten. Dus dan gaat het echt om integratie van vluchtelingen in onze gemeenschap, en zij geven language courses, bijles en die soort dingen.” (Interviewee 13, April 11, 2018).
78 “Als grote regionale onderwijsinstelling én werkgever voelt Zuyd Hogeschool de verantwoordelijkheid vluchtelingen structureel te helpen en kansen te bieden.” (Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, 2017, p. 30)
“Ja er zijn weleens zo’n projecten geweest omdat dat asielzoekerscentrum achter de school ligt. En dat die mensen weleens zijn betrokken in een project wat ze gedaan hebben ja.” (Interviewee 14, April 23, 2018)
“Ja wat je ziet is dat alles tweetalig is binnen de universiteit. Dus dat merk je zelf ook al bij alles wat je opstelt van teksten, van berichten. We leveren het allemaal in twee talen aan, dus Nederlands en Engels.” (Interviewee 12, April 4, 2018)
“Nee ja, is Engels en Nederlands. Ja ja. Zeg maar alle officiële communicatie die wij voeren naar interne mensen toe is tweetalig.” (Interviewee 15, April 24, 2018)
“Nee een Franse track dat zou te ver gaan. Kijk Engels is toch wel gerelateerd aan, een wereldtaal he.” (Interviewee 14, April 23, 2018)
“Ja en dan moeten we ophouden met, daar allerlei, dat politiek correcte. Ik denk dat Engels wel een beetje de taal wordt waar we onszelf in.” (Interviewee 11, March 5, 2018)
“Qua talen nee. Het is echt Engels ja.” (Interviewee 15, April 24, 2018)
“Nou het is een besluit enerzijds, dus een standpunt. Voor ons, we echt zeggen van nee Engels. Maar anderzijds hebben we het budget noch de tijd voor, want ja dan wil je dat eigenlijk gewoon goed laten gebeuren. Dat moet dat een vertaalbedrijf doen en ja dat kost geld ja.” (Interviewee 16, May 8, 2018)
“Nee, ik weet alleen van mijn faculteit, dus van Cultuurwetenschappen, dat een bepaalde masterprogramma’s waren inderdaad zo. En bij psychologie denk ik ook. Dan kon je bijvoorbeeld papers in het Duits schrijven, maar echt om een structureel programma in het Duits aan te bieden niet.” (Interviewee 13, April 11, 2018)
“Op een universiteit in Maastricht, is toch wel heel internationale universiteit. Dus dat is, daar praten ze in mijn ogen niet meer Nederlands of zo.” (Interviewee 14, April 23, 2018)
“Nou in principe is het zo dat als je in de internationale groep zit Engels natuurlijk ook de voertaal is. En Nederlands, daar is dan geen richtlijn op nee. Kijk het probleem is natuurlijk, en dat hebben we ook met de universiteit zo besproken, dat als je een bepaalde meerderheid in zo’n internationale groep hebt zitten, dan logischerwijs ook die taal vaak dan leidend is. De universiteit heeft dat in het Duits en wij hebben dat natuurlijk in het Nederlands.” (Interviewee 15, April 24, 2018)
“Zuyd heeft wel een soort internationaliseringsbeleid, maar het hangt erg van de, de invulling hangt heel erg af van de faculteit.” (Interviewee 11, March 5, 2018) “Maar ik zie het nu voor mij wel, ik ben nu hier op de berg [verwijst naar het gebouw], en hier is Engels echt nog niet aangekomen.” (Interviewee 13, April 11, 2018)
“Nee we werken niet echt samen. Er is wel veel contact.” (Interviewee 12, April 4, 2018)
“Mensen werken fulltime. Moeten natuurlijk goed Engels spreken. Dat zijn eigenlijk een soort voorwaarden. Nou dat kan bij sommige collega’s nog wat beter. Maar ja om na je werk ook nog eens een keer 2 uur in de week les te hebben en dan ook nog eens huiswerk moeten doen.” (Interviewee 16, May 8, 2018)
“Ja er zijn ook wel docenten die wel echt hebben gezegd van ik kan dat niet of ik doe dat niet. Weet je, dat heeft niet alleen met, hoe moet ik dat zeggen, met willen te maken maar ook met kunnen en sommige zijn daar heel onzeker in en zeggen ja ik kan wel in het Nederlands voor een klas lesgeven, maar als ik dat ook nog een keer in het Engels moet doen.” (Interviewee 14, April 23, 2018)
“Je ziet toch dat met name natuurlijk de medewerker wat hier al heel lang rondloopt. Die heeft zijn vak altijd in het Nederlands gedaan. Die is daarin thuis, die kan zich daarin vinden. Kan zich ook makkelijk verstaanbaar natuurlijk maken in dat Nederlands. En opeens is opgelegd geworden “zo en nu ga je het ook in het Engels doen”.” (Interviewee 15, April 24, 2018)
“Je krijgt meteen, het commentaar dat je krijgt zie je dat het uit angst komt. Dan gaat het niet om het programma per se, maar dan gaat het erom inderdaad de angst om je taal kwijt te raken.” (Interviewee 13, April 11, 2018)
“Het is ook een beetje gekoppeld aan het Nederlands, aan de cultuur waar je woont en als je dat gaat internationaliseren, gaat ook wel een stukje waarde van je eigen identiteit verloren in het onderwijs.” (Interviewee 14, April 23, 2018)
“En dan zit je in een meeting en dan praten mensen gewoon dialect tegen elkaar en dan voel je je meteen geexcludeerd, omdat jij het dan niet kan. Dus daar zijn wij ook mee bezig om te thematiseren van hoe speelt dat ... Dus het idee om het dialect bijvoorbeeld, het authentiek “mestreechs”, bij te houden, is iets heel belangrijks voor Maastrichtenaren. Dus hoe ga je daarmee om als internationale organisatie?” (Interviewee 13, April 11, 2018)
79 “We zijn wel divers en we worden steeds diverser binnen onze studentenpopulatie, maar dan moet je ook skills hebben om daar mee om te kunnen gaan. Binnen staff, ja academic staff zijn we zeker internationaal.” (Interviewee 13, April 11, 2018)
“En ik vind het wel als je gewoon in de stad loopt wel gezellig om dat Engels en dat Spaans enzo af en toe om je heen te horen. Dat vind ik een mooie. Het geeft de stad ook wat ja, wat mooiere uitstraling. Ik bedoel ook niet vervelend, maar dan alleen dat platte Maastrichts.” (Interviewee 11, March 5, 2018)
“En je ziet deze stad ook gigantisch worstelen met de studenten. Je ziet hoe dat, hoe dat wringt met elkaar. De, het traditionele Maastricht en die hele nieuwe.” (Interviewee 11, March 5, 2018)
“Dus ik zie het nu toch vaker en ik weet ook er zijn heel veel botsingen tussen studenten en in wijken, de inwoners.” (Interviewee 13, April 11, 2018)
“En als mensen dat een beetje meer zouden zien. Ja ik vind dat het een mensen business moet blijven, begrijp me niet verkeerd, maar dan zou er wat meer tijd voor vrijgemaakt worden, zou er meer beleid op gemaakt worden.”
“He zo’n stad als Maastricht leeft daar ook van denk ik. Het is gewoon heel goed voor de economieën. Zolang zo’n stad wel maar kan vasthouden ook aan de tradities en de hele cultuur wat in Maastricht leeft wat Maastricht ook maakt als stad. En dat vind ik wel heel belangrijk. Maastricht is juist heel rijk aan geschiedenis en aan gebruiken en andere zaken die er gebeuren en zolang daar ruimte voor blijft, dan is internationalisering geen slecht ding denk ik.” (Interviewee 15, April 24, 2018)
Migration
“Is het overigens met ISK altijd. Je bent afhankelijk van wat ergens in de wereld gebeurt en waarvoor mensen hier naartoe komen.” (Interviewee 17, March 22, 2018)
“Dus de leerling die binnenkomt, heeft een bagage mee, dus die heeft een eigen rugzak. Een leerling die uit oorlog gevlucht is, of een leerling die komt uit Duitsland vanwege dan huwelijk van de ouders of werk van de ouders, dus er is een behoorlijk verschil in achtergrond.” (Interviewee 21, April 13, 2018)
“Het is een afspiegeling van de samenleving. Er is gewoon in Limburg helaas, hier in Zuid-Limburg, helaas niet te zien. Nee we hebben geen enkele docent van een andere afkomst.” (Interviewee 21, April 13, 2018)
“Er is geen diversiteitbeleid intern bij de gemeente of overheid die bekend is. Wij kunnen eigenlijk niet direct rekening houden met diversiteit.” (Interviewee 21, April 13, 2018)
“Ja, dat vind ik dan heel bijzonder om te zien met zoveel nationaliteiten. Met zoveel leeftijden, met zoveel, dat dat toch allemaal ook heel goed en leuk is he. Dat het ook echt een leuke ervaring is.” (Interviewee 20, April 3, 2018).
“Nou, die discussie, dat spanningsveld, speelt hier ook vaak. Als jij met docenten spreekt zal je merken dat dat heel erg betrokken mensen zijn. Die zijn zo betrokken dat het bijna pijn doet. Het zijn wel de mensen die je hier denk ik nodig hebt hoor. Die er ook voor willen gaan. Maar van de andere kant zou je ook moeten zeggen, is het nog reëel? Want ik help er niemand mee. Als ik hem blijf pamperen en blijf goed vinden dat hij dan maar 4 dagen extra weg blijft.” (Interviewee 17, March 22, 2018)
“Die grens ligt bij Nederland. Bij de Nederlandse norm.” (Interviewee 17, March 22, 2018)
“Ik bedoel ik houd er wel rekening mee dat er daardoor een leerachterstand ofzo kan komen. Ik bedoel dat is vrij logisch. Maar je zal aan mij niet heel snel merken als docent zijnde van oh jij hebt dit meegemaakt, dus dit en dit en dit.” (Interviewee 19, March 23, 2018)
“Iedere keer als er iemand uit een nieuw land komt, wat we nog niet gehad hebben, dan krassen we op kraskaart.” (Interviewee 20, April 3, 2018)
“We zijn nu bijvoorbeeld bezig met een afvalproject. Ja dan kan je zeggen van wat is dat nou eigenlijk. Ik denk dat met name ook deze jongeren geleerd moeten krijgen dat wij in Nederland vinden dat wij ons afval niet zomaar op straat gooien, maar dat we dat op afgesproken plekken aanleveren.” (Interviewee 17, March 22, 2018)
“Sommige jongeren hebben moeite met het accepteren van het gezag van een vrouwelijke docent.” (Interviewee 21, April 13, 2018)
“Ja weet je iedereen, dat vind ik dan wel leuk binnen zo'n school van, hoe verschillend iedereen ook is, de neuzen staan wel allemaal dezelfde kant op. He iedereen, ook al is het soms lastig, iedereen gaat toch voor die kinderen weet je wel.” (Interviewee 20, April 3, 2018)
80 “Je hebt zeg maar als ze gaan samenwerken, dan merk ik toch wel dat ze heel snel terugvallen in het Arabisch of in het Tigrinya als je het over Eritreeërs hebt, maar ik moet zeggen, dat stoort me opzich niet, maar zolang ze mij maar gewoon in het Nederlands kunnen antwoorden.” (Interviewee 19, March 23, 2018)
“Kijk kinderen die uit hetzelfde land komen, dat zoekt elkaar natuurlijk op. Of als je dezelfde taal spreekt. Soms is het ook wel heel fijn, want soms als je kinderen hebt die nog heel weinig Nederlands spreken of bijna niks. Soms heb je dan hulp aan iemand anders uit de klas die het al beter begrijpt en die ook dezelfde taal spreekt. Dan laten we soms ook vertalen van "kun je uitleggen dat zus en zus en zo".” (Interviewee 20, April 3, 2018)
“Ja contact met mij is wel makkelijker vanwege de taal.” (Interviewee 21, April 13, 2018)
“Maar ja dat moet je natuurlijk wel beperken, want je moet je ook realiseren dat het voor veel kinderen zo is dat ze alleen maar Nederlands op school spreken. En het moment dat ze naar huis gaan spreken ze weer Arabisch of iets anders. Dus je moet dat zoveel mogelijk beperken. Het Nederlands moet hier de boventoon voeren.” (Interviewee 17, March 22, 2018)
“Hoe hoger dat ze komen, hoe minder dat dat mag.” (Interviewee 18, March 22, 2018)
“Ze krijgen ook gewoon Engels lessen hier, dat ze zich zowel in het Nederlands als het Engels gewoon kunnen redden. Dus dat is, wordt wel over nagedacht.” (Interviewee 19, March 23, 2018)
“Maar waar het mij omgaat nou dat is eigenlijk het grote punt vind ik, en dat is ook een maatschappelijk punt vind ik, dat is van waarvoor accepteren wij dat hier mensen rondlopen die al 40 jaar in Nederland wonen, maar nog steeds geen Nederlands spreken. Waarvoor accepteren wij dat en vinden wij dat gewoon?” (Interviewee 17, March 22, 2018)
“Maar dan denk ik gewoon, Nederlands moet gesproken worden, anders is dan nee. Ik denk gewoon wel, Nederlands eh.” (Interviewee 21, April 13, 2018)
“Het is, wat ik merk is wel dat Engels wel belangrijker wordt, maar de voertaal ook gewoon het zakelijk leven en alles hier blijft nog gewoon Nederlands. Ik denk ook wel dat dat nog wel even zo gaat blijven. Dus willen ze zich echt gewoon verstaanbaar maken en echt kunnen mengen in de Nederlandse bevolking zeg maar, denk ik wel dat je de taal moet spreken.” (Interviewee 19, March 23, 2018)
“Voor deze leerlingen niet. Nee voor deze leerlingen niet. Ik denk op andere scholen he, daar heb je ook in het Engels dan, dan denk ik wel dat dat goed is voor Nederlandse leerlingen, maar voor deze leerlingen niet. Ze moeten zich zo richten, dat is zo'n compleet andere taal dan die van hun. Dat krijgen ze ook niet voor elkaar.” (Interviewee 18, March 22, 2018)
“Ja het is moeilijk. Weet je het is altijd een beetje van, ik heb voor mijn gevoel dan he de tijd om ze heel goed Nederlands bij te brengen is al beperkt. En dat is wat ze het hardste nodig hebben denk ik.” (Interviewee 20, April 3, 2018)
“Ja, waar hebben ze het meest aan. Want dat is hier constant de afweging van wat, waar hebben ze het meeste aan qua wat je ze aanbiedt he.” (Interviewee 20, April 3, 2018)
“Maar omdat het aanbesteed it. Dat is ook zoiets raars, dan ga je dus een taalles aanbesteden in Heerlen en dan moet iemand die toch al weinig heeft, die moet dan met de trein naar Heerlen voor taalles te volgen.” (Interviewee 17, March 22, 2018) “Maar wel waar de gemeentes op dit moment, zij laten het aan taalinstanties, gewoon instituten die Nederlands geven. De gemeente of de uitkeringsinstanties, die hebben het contact maar niet zozeer dat zij de uren of aanwezigheid, dat kan eigenlijk beter. Dat moet eigenlijk beter geregeld worden naar mijn idee.” (Interviewee 21, April 13, 2018)
“Ja dan word je in een keer geacht om alles zelf te kunnen. Ja dat is heel prachtig, maar ik moet mijn kinderen soms ook nog helpen met dingen van hoe moet dit nu en en. Ja dan denk ik van, dat is eigenlijk niet realistisch maar diegene die dat bedacht heeft, heeft er vast nooit zelf mee te maken gehad.” (Interviewee 20, April 3, 2018)
“Dan wordt het kind van 18 jaar aan zijn lot overgelaten en die moet functioneren zoals de 18-jarigen Nederlandse jongeren. Die moet op zoek naar een kamer gaan, die moet gewoon een uitkering of een studiefinanciering regelen.” (Interviewee 21, April 13, 2018)
“Als jongeren gebruik willen maken van culturele activiteiten of sportactiviteiten, dan moeten ze gewoon deelnemen in gewoon wat er bestaat. Er is niets speciaals geregeld … Maar niets is specifiek vanuit de gemeente. Misschien is er wel een speciaal potje, maar niet dat we gewoon weten van oke bij die persoon kunnen we zijn.” (Interviewee 21, April 13, 2018)
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