Immigrant minority language maintenance in Europe: focusing on language education policy and teacher-training

Abstract

ABSTRACT The present position paper claims that language education policy in Europe regarding immigrant minority languages is far from reaching satisfactory results. Despite a tradition of language diversity and foreign language teaching, there are no general distinct policies on fostering and maintaining those languages that cannot be subsumed under the label foreign or minority languages. We want to call to attention how important it is to adapt present teacher-training for linguistically diverse classrooms. Taking Germany by way of example, we disclose how the past and actual situation excludes immigrant minority languages and thus complicates their maintenance: In fact, there is a lack of clear statements toward multilingualism in both language policy and education acts. Based on the fact that there is no legal frame which regulates the support of all languages in European language policy, we suggest that the following recommendations should be surveyed in detail in future: (1) teachers must be adequately prepared for multilingualism in school, (2) various outcomes of immigrant minority language transmission must be taken into account, and (3) mother-tongue instruction needs to be revised.