Immigration to the Netherlands has been shaped by various waves, each characterized by different countries of origin and drivers of migration. The post-war period, particularly from the 1960s to the 1980s, saw a significant labour shortage in the Dutch economy. This encouraged labour migration from Mediterranean countries, including Turkey and Morocco (Lancee, 2012). Following decolonization, there was an influx of migrants from former Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia and the Caribbean, such as Indonesia and Suriname. More recently, immigration from Eastern Europe has increased following the liberalization after the Cold War and particularly the expansion of the European Union (Nijhoff, 2017).

Integration and language

The integration of immigrants into Dutch society has been a popular research focus. Studies highlight varying degrees of integration among different immigrant groups and their language practices as a community (Van Tubergen & Kalmijn, 2008; Irizarri van Suchtelen, 2016). For instance, Nijhoff’s (2017) study on Polish migrants in The Hague examines their integration into Dutch society. She highlights the challenges and successes of Polish newcomers, emphasizing the gaps in Dutch policies regarding the social and cultural participation of migrants from other EU member states. Polish migrants often face difficulties related to language barriers, employment, and social integration, yet they significantly contribute to the local economy and cultural diversity.

A common phenomenon among immigrant communities in the Netherlands is code-switching, the practice of alternating between two or more languages within a conversation. This linguistic practice reflects the dynamic nature of language use in multilingual settings and serves various communicative functions. For many immigrants, code-switching facilitates effective communication in diverse social contexts, helps maintain cultural identity, and navigates different linguistic landscapes.

Studies on Turkish and Moroccan communities in the Netherlands, for instance, reveal that code-switching between Dutch and their respective community languages is prevalent, especially among the younger generations who are often fluent in both languages (Backus, 2001). This multilingual flexibility not only aids in social integration but also underscores the complex interplay between language, identity, and cultural adaptation in a migration setting.

Among Eastern European migrants, such as the Polish community, code-switching between Polish and Dutch is frequently observed, highlighting both the challenges and resourcefulness of navigating a new linguistic environment (Nijhoff, 2017). The practice of code-switching thus provides valuable insights into the linguistic adaptability and resilience of immigrant communities in the Netherlands.

What about the German immigrants communities in the Netherlands?

Despite the extensive research on non-Western immigrants, migration from Western Europe to the Netherlands has been less studied. This is surprising given that immigration from these countries, especially Germany, has consistently constituted a significant proportion of the immigrant population in the Netherlands (Lancee, 2012). To visualise, since the 1990s, around ten to fifteen thousand people coming from Germany have settled in the Netherlands every year (CBS, 2020).

Also from a linguistic perspective, the research on German-speaking communities in the Netherlands has so far been limited, especially when compared with other studies on language use in a Dutch context. German has received much less attention by sociolinguists, even though more than 61% of respondents based in the Netherlands reported being able to hold a conversation in German (European Commission, 2024).

This research gap strongly contrasts with the public and academic interest towards English in the Netherlands (Edwards, 2016), with some now arguing that English is increasingly becoming the second language of the Dutch (Van Oostendorp, 2012). Especially in education and international commerce, English appears to be the dominant language, becoming increasingly the only language of international communication. The English dominance goes hand in hand with the decline of other foreign and second languages, in particular with French and German becoming less chosen as free subjects in secondary school and at university (Michel et al., 2021; Saris, 2014). This trend is also reflected in language learning attitudes, with university-level English vastly outpacing the other two languages in numbers of students and courses (Van Oostendorp, 2012).

Other major European languages such as Spanish have also been investigated in Dutch society. Izarri van Suchtelen (2016) focuses on heritage speakers of Spanish and Latino populations within the Netherlands, showing that heritage language transmission often stops after the second generation, with Dutch becoming the preferred language of the members of this community. On another note, Spanish is experiencing an expansion in popularity in the Netherlands with increasing learners and speakers (European Commission, 2024; Irizarri van Suchtelen, 2016), which starkly contrasts with German and French.

More research needed

The literature on immigration to the Netherlands and minority languages reveals rich accounts of linguistic and cultural integration shaped by diverse circumstances and waves of immigration. Despite the significant number of German immigrants and the high proficiency in German among Dutch residents, sociolinguistic studies on German use remain limited compared to the extensive research on for example English, Polish, Turkish, and Spanish.

Projects like Dr Naomi Truan’s are crucial in addressing this research gap by promoting German studies and examining the role of German in the Dutch multicultural context. By fostering multilingualism and enhancing the visibility of German, such initiatives can help revitalize interest in the language and contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of linguistic diversity in the Netherlands.

References

Backus, A. (2011). The role of semantic specificity in insertional codeswitching: Evidence from Dutch-Turkish. In Code-switching worldwide (pp. 125–154). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110808742.125

CBS. (2020). Grensoverschrijdende mobiliteit van mensen—Duitsland—Internationaliseringsmonitor | CBS. Retrieved from: https://longreads.cbs.nl/im2020-1//grensoverschrijdende-mobiliteit-van-mensen

Irizarri van Suchtelen, P. (2016). Spanish as a heritage language in the Netherlands: A cognitive linguistic exploration. LOT.  

Lancee, B. (2012). Immigrants in Germany and the Netherlands. In Immigrant Performance in the Labour Market (pp. 33–56). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt45kd4j.7 

Nijhoff, K. G. (2017). Polish Migrants in The Hague: Stories of integration and attachment. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 18(2), 623-640. DOI: 10.1007/s12134-016-0491-z 

Van Oostendorp, M. (2012). Bilingualism versus multilingualism in the Netherlands. Language Problems and Language Planning, 36(3), 252-272.    

Van Tubergen, F., & Kalmijn, M. (2009). Language Proficiency and Usage Among Immigrants in the Netherlands: Incentives or Opportunities? European Sociological Review, 25(2), 169–182. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcn043