“He is the best soccer player of this
world”
An Exploration of the Language Use of Dutch Bilingual
Children in a Classroom setting
Myra Bosman 3452158
Master Thesis English Language and Culture
Master Programme Language, Mind and Society
Supervisors: dr. Leonie Cornips and dr. Merel Keijzer
Utrecht University
July 2011
Acknowledgements
In the very first month of my master Language, Mind and Society, I started thinking about my
master thesis and soon focused on the relation between social interaction and speech. During a
course on bilingualism, I realised that I am particularly interested in the language use of
bilingual children, and I began exploring this topic with great enthusiasm. I was lucky to
contact Leonie Cornips who offered to supervise me and guided me into the direction of
ethnographic data collection. I would like to thank Leonie for her advice, critical comments
and quick email responses; I have learned a lot through her guidance and instructions. I would
also like to thank the teachers of the master courses I took at Utrecht University, who helped
me become a master degree student by teaching me the skills and knowledge I needed to
complete my thesis. However, I could not have conducted my research without the teachers
and pupils of the primary school I was able to spend two weeks of observation. Therefore, I
am grateful for their helpfulness and the wonderful time I had during my observation period.
Writing a master thesis can be a challenge, and I have found out that writing two
master theses simultaneously can be a tremendous challenge. Although it took a lot of time,
effort and energy to concentrate on two different topics, I have very much enjoyed doing
research and I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to do so. I am greatly indebted to
my friends and family who continue to support me even though I have sometimes neglected
them due to time pressure. Additionally, I would like to thank several of my friends for provereading my thesis and for correcting spelling errors.
Source front cover picture: http://iccpresentaties2011.jantenthije.eu/interactie-in-demulticulturele-wiskundeklas/
1
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
4
§ 1.1. Introduction
§ 1.2. Research Topic
§ 1.3. Research method
§ 1.4. Relevance
§ 1.5. Background Discussion
§ 1.6. Chapter Outline
4
4
6
9
9
10
Chapter 2: Language and Identity, Language Acquisition and
Dutch grammatical gender
12
§2.1. Identity and Language
§2.2. Bilingual Language Acquisition:
Dutch Grammatical Gender
§2.3. Grammatical Gender
12
15
16
Chapter 3: Linguistic elements in the language use
of pupils
20
§3.1. General findings
§3.2. Grammatical Gender
§3.3. Pronunciation
§3.4. Sentence structure
§3.5. Prepositions
§3.6. Vocabulary
§3.7. Notes written work
20
21
35
36
38
38
40
Chapter 4: Relation social behaviour and
language use
41
§4.1. Field notes social behaviour among pupils
§4.2. Friendship Questionnaire
§4.3. Notes interviews: social interactions
§4.4. Field notes language use among pupils
§4.5. Notes interviews: language use
41
43
44
45
46
Chapter 5: Discussion of research findings
and Concluding remarks
50
§5.1. Discussion: Usage of Non-Standard
Linguistic Elements
§5.2. Discussion: Language use and
Social Interaction
§5.3. Concluding remarks
50
52
53
2
Bibliography
55
Appendix A: Description of field
work and participants
57
§A.1. Description of individual actors
§A.2. Pupils
§A.3. Teachers
§A.4. Researcher
§A.5. Description of research site
Appendix B: Classroom map
69
Appendix C: Friendship Questionnaire
70
57
57
63
64
66
Appendix D: Interview Transcript and
Summary
72
3
Chapter 1
§ 1.1. Introduction
For three years, I have been teaching extra lessons in mathematics and Dutch to Samira, a
Dutch-Moroccan girl, while closely observing her language use. Both of Samira’s parents
grew up in Northern Morocco and speak Dutch on a beginner’s level, which they usually do
not speak to their children. By contrast, Samira (age 11) is born in the Netherlands and speaks
Dutch and Berber fluently.
Samira’s bilingual situation is no exception in her neighbourhood; all of her friends
and schoolmates are bilingual speakers with a non-Western descent. Samira sometimes shows
uncertainty in the use of Dutch grammatical gender and her pronunciation signals her
bilingual background. As I became friends with Samira’s mother, I am invited at birthday
parties and noticed that several of Samira’s friends display a similar kind of language use.
This made me wonder whether there is a relation between the social interactions among
children and their language use. Additionally, I started to become interested in the linguistic
aspects which sounded non-Standard to me, and I became curious whether specific patterns
would be detectable.
In Samira’s neighbourhood, many primary schools host bilingual children and the vast
majority of pupils has both a Dutch and non-Western nationality. These schools are attended
by children of various cultural and linguistic backgrounds and offer an interesting site for
sociolinguistic research. My interest in the linguistic situation of children like Samira together
with my background in sociology and linguistics started me to investigate the language use of
bilingual pupils in a classroom situation.
§ 1.2. Research Topic
In this research, I aim to explore how the construction of social identity and language use are
related, by investigating the speech of Dutch bilingual pupils. Previous research has focussed
on the way bilingual teenagers of various ethnic backgrounds (e.g. Moroccan-Dutch and
Turkish-Dutch) employ non-Standard1 language use, and it is assumed that this functions as a
marker of their (ethnic) identity (see for instance Cornips, 2008; and Nortier and Dorleijn,
2006). Based on these assumptions, I have chosen to conduct empirical research to gain an
1
By Standard Dutch I mean the Dutch language as described and referred to in the Van Dale dictionary and the
Algemene Nederlandse Spraakkunst (ANS) General Dutch Speech, available at: http://www.let.ru.nl/ans/e-ans/
[29 April 2011].
4
insight into the language use of bilingual pupils. However, I do not take ethnicity as a starting
point in my research, as I follow the constructionist theory that social identity is an outcome
of social interaction rather than a priori given (see sections 1.5 and 2.1. of this thesis). Hence
my research questions are open and do not mention cultural backgrounds, but I will come
back to this theme in the discussion of my findings.
1.2.1. Research Question
What kind of language use do Dutch bilingual speakers (age 11-13) employ in a classroom
setting?
1.2.2. Sub questions:
The main research question is divided into two themes:
Theme I: The linguistic elements used by the pupils which vary from Standard Dutch.
This topic addresses the language usage of the pupils from a linguistic point of view by
analysing their speech.
1) What kind of grammatical gender usage of adjectives and determiners is perceivable in the
speech of the speakers?
2) How does the speaker’s pronunciation vary from Standard Dutch2?
3) To what extent are the speakers aware of their own language use and that of their fellow
pupils?
Theme II: The relation between social identity and language use of pupils.
This theme seeks to explore whether the language use of the pupils reflects social ties between
them. Additionally, it seeks to investigate whether the language use of the pupils can be
linked to the construction of their social identity within linguistic interactions.
1) How do the speakers interact with each other socially?
2) How do the speakers interact with each other linguistically?
3) To what extent do the speakers adopt linguistic elements from each other?
2
By pronunciation of Standard Dutch, I mean the phonemes of Dutch as described by, among others, the linguist
Dick Smakman (2006) in his dissertation Standard Dutch in the Netherlands. A sociolinguistic and phonetic
description.
5
§ 1.3. Research Method
In order to investigate the language use of the bilingual children, I have conducted
ethnographic research in a classroom setting. Fortunately, I found a primary school teacher of
the 8th grade3 who was enthusiastic about my research project and offered me his classroom as
observation site. To assure the privacy of the persons referred to in this research, I have used
pseudonyms for all of the individuals mentioned in my thesis.
In the following paragraphs, I will describe the methods I have used to investigate the
language use of the bilingual pupils, who are all attending the 8th grade, but I will first provide
a short description of the pupils. A more detailed description is included in Appendix A, on
which table 1A is based.
1.3.1. General description Pupils
The cultural and social background of the pupils varies, as can be seen in table 1A. Based on
interviews and conversations I have had with the pupils, the teachers, and the intern mentor of
the school I am able to give the following general description of the linguistic background of
the pupils:
The bilingual pupils (1) often have parents who speak little Dutch, (2) have been raised in a
bilingual situation, in which Dutch is considerably less frequently used than the other
language(s) spoken by the parents, and (3) appear to score below average on tests about
written language proficiency (in comparison to national standards provided by the testing
organisation CITO).
Pupil
Cultural Background
Home Language(s)
Parents
Ali
Moroccan
Mostly Moroccan Arabic/Berber4, some Dutch
Amina
Moroccan
Moroccan Arabic/Berber and Dutch
Sarah
Libyan
Arabic
Laila
Moroccan
Moroccan Arabic/Berber and Dutch
Victoria
Sudanese and Polish
Arabic and Polish
Brayen
Eritrea
Arabic
3
In the Netherlands, the 8th grade is the final grade of the primary school, which would be the 6 th grade in
England. Children are usually between 11 and 12 years old.
4
The Moroccan-Dutch pupils were unable to give me detailed information about the language their Moroccan
parents speak. They simply call this “Moroccan” and tell me it is not Berber, but cannot confirm it is Moroccan
Arabic. Hence, I have filled in Moroccan Arabic/Berber in table 1A.
6
Rob
Sierra Leone
Krio Language and Local Sierra Leone
Language5
Hakima
Moroccan
Moroccan Arabic/Berber
Fatima
Moroccan
Moroccan Arabic/Berber, some Dutch
Brayen
Surinam
(Surinam-) Dutch, some Hindu
Damien
Surinam
(Surinam-) Dutch, some Hindu
Figure 1A. Overview cultural and linguistic background pupils
1.3.2. Participatory Observation
I have mainly used participatory observation as a research method to gather data on the
language use and social behaviour of the pupils. The technique of participatory observation
involves the researcher to be present at the site of investigation and to participate in the
research site, in order to follow the actions of the persons observed (‘t Hart, 2001: 279). This
technique allowed me to gather spontaneous speech of the bilingual pupils and additionally, to
observe the social interactions they engage in.
The teacher and I agreed upon ten schooldays of observation and he assigned me a
position in the back of the classroom, from which I could watch and hear the pupils without
disturbing them (see appendix B for a classroom map) I have not made recordings within the
classroom, as this area is too large to record all pupils. Instead, I have written down
observations about both language use and social behaviour of the pupils and additionally, I
have made reflective comments on my notes. I have tried to ensure the reliability of my
investigation by limiting the scope of my research after spending two school days observing
the pupils. This way, I entered the field in an open way and was able to find out what kind of
linguistics variations struck me as non Standard speech. The first two days, I have enlisted all
of the linguistic utterances made by the pupils and then found specific topics I was able to
investigate further within the classroom setting. I have integrated these topics in the subquestions of my research, and have concentrated on these themes continuously by
systematically making notes throughout the observation period.
As I have not used a recorder, I was unable to observe and write down every single
utterance uttered by the pupils. Therefore, I have mainly concentrated on specific linguistics
patterns, which I found to be salient in the language use of the pupils. This means that I am
unable to provide absolute numbers on how many utterances the pupils made, and
additionally in how many cases I found a specific pattern. I can only give an insight into the
5
Rob is unable to provide the name of this local language.
7
patterns I have found and give an idea of the relative frequency in which they occurred by
making comparisons between pupils.
1.3.2.2. Reflection on Participatory Observation method
Like all research methods, participatory observation has certain limitations which need to be
taken into account. First of all, this research technique only allows the observer to make
statements about specific persons in a particular situation, during a certain period of time.
Secondly, the number of persons the researcher is able to observe is usually limited, due to the
observer’s inability to thoroughly examine the actions of a large number of people. For these
two reasons, the findings of this research should be considered as those of a case study, which
do not allow for making generalisations or drawing general conclusions. Thirdly, the
participatory observer is part of the field s/he is investigating, and needs to be close enough to
make detailed observations while simultaneously staying at a distance, as not to influence the
actions of the ones observed. The observer therefore needs to find an adequate position within
the field and in relation to the actors in the field, which facilitates the making of relevant
observations. As a result, the researcher needs to be cautious about her/his behaviour and
should consider her/himself as an actor within the observed situation (Emerson, 2001: 240).
1.3.3. Interviews
The observations I have made in the classroom provided me with a large amount of data on
the language use and social behaviour of the pupils. In order to verify and deepen my
findings, I have interviewed all of the eleven pupils in groups of two or three for
approximately half an hour, and I also interviewed both teachers individually (see Appendix
D). All of the interviews were semi-structured as I had listed several topics I wanted to
address, but had not written down all of the questions I was planning to ask. This way, I could
follow the direction the interviewees were taking and listen carefully to what they wanted me
to know, while subtly directing them to topics I wished to hear their opinion about.
All of the interviews were recorded using a Sony ICD-P620 recorder, which allowed
me to listen to the interviews several times and make notes without distracting the
interviewees or myself during the actual interview. As the interviews are not my main source
of information, I have only partly transcribed the interviews and summarised the less relevant
parts. The quotes used in this research are part of the transcribed interview sections.
8
1.3.4. Friendship Questionnaire
In order to gain a broader understanding of the social interactions within the group, I have
formulated a questionnaire (see appendix C). about the friendship relations of the pupils. The
form consists of six open questions about who the pupils regard as friends among their fellow
pupils and who they meet after class. The teacher had integrated the questionnaires into her
teachings on social ties among children, and presented the forms as a part of her training. The
pupils were unaware that I had formulated the questions and handed them in to the teacher.
The answers of the pupils together with my own observations enable me to analyse whether
social relations are signalled by certain speech patterns.
1.3.5. Analysis of written work
In order to compare the oral and written abilities of the pupils, I had asked one of the teachers
whether I could read some of the written texts of the pupils. One week later, the teacher had
set homework for the pupils which included writing an essay (250-300 words) about what
they would do if they were “the boss of the world for one day”. These texts consist of
informal speech and provide me with information about the written language skills of the
pupils. Although the information is limited, the essays provide an opportunity to investigate
whether my observations of oral language use are present in written texts as well.
§ 1.4. Relevance
The findings of this research offer an insight into the way language is used by bilingual
speakers in a classroom setting. This research fits into a wider academic interest into the ways
language is used as an identity marker by bi and multilingual children in The Netherlands (see
for instance Cornips, 2008; and Nortier and Dorleijn, 2006). As such, this thesis may
contribute to the existing knowledge as it provides ethnographic data of classroom
interactions in relation to language use and additionally, a description of the linguistic
elements observed. However, the findings presented cannot be generalised to other bilingual
groups and should be considered as providing information on a specific group in a particular
setting, during a certain time period. Nevertheless, this research is useful for researchers
operating in the intersection of sociology and linguistics, as it relates ethnographic findings to
academic theories.
§ 1.5. Background Discussion
The idea that language functions as a marker of a person’s identity is subject to debate in a
9
wide range of disciplinary fields, such as sociolinguistics and anthropology. The relation
between language and identity touches upon the topics of language use as well as the
dynamics of culture and society. The theme, therefore, encompasses more than one academic
field and it may be appropriate to approach the relationship between language and identity
from an interdisciplinary perspective, coined as ‘socialcultural linguistics’ by Bucholtz and
Hall (2005: 585). This way, it becomes possible to study the subject from multiple analytical
levels and to draw upon theories from, for instance, linguistics and sociology simultaneously.
It also allows for the use of the term ‘identity’ as a “relational and sociocultural phenomenon
that emerges and circulates in local discourse contexts rather than as a stable structure located
primarily in the individual psyche or in fixed social categories” (Bucholtz and Hall, 2005:
586).
In this research, the relation between language use and social interaction will be
explored from a social constructionist viewpoint, using the theories of the American linguists
Mary Bucholtz and Kira Hall. Additionally, the linguistic components of the language
employed by bi or multilingual children will be discussed using the works of, among others,
the Dutch linguists Leonie Cornips and Jacomine Nortier. Finally, an overview will be given
of the acquisition of grammatical gender in Dutch by bilingual children through, for instance,
the works of Leonie Cornips and Aafke Hulk.
§ 1.6. Chapter Outline
This thesis consists of five chapters, and starts in chapter 2 with an overview of previous
research on language use of bilingual children in the Netherlands. In this same chapter, the
theory of constructionism in relation to language use will be explained, and features of
grammatical gender in Dutch will be outlined. Chapter 3 focuses on the linguistic elements
used by the pupils, and will provide examples to illustrate this usage. Considerable attention
will be paid to non-Standard speech, and additionally, to the way grammatical gender is
displayed. This way, theme I of the research question is addressed. In chapter 4, a description
of the social interactions among the pupils will be given and this will be related to their
language use. This chapter focuses on theme II of the research question. The discussion in
chapter 5 and the concluding remarks will further connect the two themes and elaborate on the
relation between the construction of social identity and language use.
The appendixes also include relevant information for this research; especially
Appendix A is important as it gives an extensive overview of the individual pupils, the two
teachers and myself as a researcher. Additionally, a description is provided of the school as to
10
picture the context in which this research took place. Appendix B consists of a map of the
classroom, on which the position of the pupils is drawn. The other two appendixes, C and D,
include the Friendship Questionnaire and a summarised transcript of the interviews I
conducted with the pupils and teachers.
11
Chapter 2
Language and Identity, Language Acquisition and Dutch grammatical gender
In this chapter, an outline will be given of the debate on the relation between identity and
language from a constructionist viewpoint, as this is often the starting point of current
sociolinguistic research. Subsequently, the findings of (socio)linguistic research in the
Netherlands on bilingual speakers of Dutch will be presented, as to further explore the relation
between identity and language. In order to gain an understanding of the acquisition of
grammatical gender by bilingual speakers, an overview will be given of relevant research
results. Lastly, this section will provide a description of the way grammatical gender of
determiners and pronouns is used in Standard Dutch, and is linked to linguistic theme (ii) of
the main research question
§2.1. Identity and Language
The American linguists Bucholtz and Hall (2005) investigate the relation between identity
and language from a social constructionist viewpoint, in which identity is considered to be
constructed and reconstructed through social interaction. ‘Identity’ is a complex term, and in
this thesis I will follow Bucholtz and Hall (2005: 586) who broadly define identity “as the
social positioning of self and other.” Constructionism has emerged from the disciplines of
sociology and anthropology, among others through the works of the Canadian sociologist
Erving Goffman (1959: 60), who argues that individuals display a “performance”, which is
‘socialized’, molded and modified to fit into the understanding and expectations of society in
which it is presented.” This idea of performance or performativity (Butler, 1991) is further
elaborated on by sociolinguists who share the notion that identity is not a fixed and stable
state of being which can be categorised, but rather that identity is dynamic and shaped and
reshaped during interactions (Schilling-Estes, 2004: 163). Language is important to the
construction of identity as “social actors use linguistic and other cultural resources” to display
“personal and group identity”(ibid.) and it is through interaction “that all these resources gain
social meaning” (Bucholtz and Hall, 2005: 586). In other words, identity is “intersubjectively
rather than individually produced” and additionally, it is “interactionally emergent rather than
assigned in a priori fashion” (Bucholtz and Hall, 2005: 587). This means that “identities only
emerge in relation to other identities” and continuously change within an interaction as
“identity is emergent in discourse, and does not precede it”(Bucholtz and Hall, 2005: 605-7).
Consequently, social identity cannot be viewed as the “stimulus and the language behaviour
12
the response” (Ochs, 1993: 295) as the social identity itself is produced in the linguistic
interaction.
The American linguist Ochs (1993: 295) explains that traditional sociolinguists “treat
social identity as an independent variable” and use this as an “explanation for language
variation.” According to Ochs (1993: 297), this is problematic as “correlation studies” fail to
explain “why some people with the same social identity do not use a linguistic construct and
others do”. Bucholtz and Hall (2005: 591) also conclude that viewing the use of certain
linguistic structures as the outcome of a particular social category (e.g. gender, ethnicity) does
not take into account that identity “is shaped from moment to moment in interaction.” The
researchers (Bucholtz and Hall, 2005: 594) put forward that indexing speakers into large-scale
social categories is based on “ideological structures” as “associations between language use
and identity are rooted in cultural beliefs and values –that is, ideologies- about the sorts of
speakers who (can or should) produce particular sorts of language.” In Bucholtz and Hall’s
(2005: 291) view, it is necessary to investigate a speaker’s position on a micro-level by
studying a person’s local identity, thereby taking into account that individuals continuously
employ temporary roles (e.g. “joke teller” or “evaluator”). These contemporary roles should
be considered as “transitory interactional positions” which “typically occur simultaneously
within a single interaction” (Bucholtz and Hall, 2005: 592-3). This way of theorising identity
has led Bucholtz and Hall (2005: 591) to focus on qualitative research methods, such as
ethnographic research, as this has proven to “provide a better empirical account of linguistic
practise”.
2.1.2. Research on Bilingual Speakers of Dutch
The empirical approach is valued by sociolinguists in the Netherlands and is for example
apparent in the ethnographic account of the Belgian sociolinguist Jürgen Jaspers (2005). He
followed a group of Belgian-Moroccan boys from the upper grades of secondary school for
nearly three years and discovered that they used several varieties of standard Dutch in
different interaction styles. The use a speech pattern they themselves call “Illegal”, which
consists of faulty Dutch and is used in a joking manner (De Laet, 2008: 1). This “Illegal”
speech refers to foreign people who are illegal citizens of Belgium and speak little Dutch. The
language variety used by the boys contains linguistic structures which deviate from standard
Dutch, as is signalled by phonetic, prosodic, and grammatical characteristics (Jaspers, 2005:
260). Speakers of “Illegal” speech, for instance, did not use definite determiners or personal
pronouns (ibid.). Jaspers (2005: 148) argues that the language use of the boys is related to the
13
roles they perform within an interaction. They employ “Illegal” speech as a means to distance
themselves from the linguistic norms at their schools, and are able to switch between language
varieties of Standard Dutch, such as the Antwerp city dialect (ibid. and 199). According to the
researcher, the boys play with language varieties and construct different roles when doing so,
for instance a comic role when they use “Illegal” speech, and a more serious one when they
employ Standard Dutch (De Laet, 2008: 1-2). This implies that their language use functions as
a means to communicate their social identity, which is also perceivable in the speech patterns
of Dutch Moroccan or Dutch Turkish youth (Nortier and Dorleijn, 2006).
Like Jaspers, the Dutch linguist Lotte Vermeij (2006) investigated the language use of
teenagers with a non-Western background at secondary schools. In her research, Vermeij
(2006: 53) studies “interethnic language adoption”6 such as “imitation, as well as grammatical
errors that are associated with other ethnic groups than the own.” She argues that “members
of ethnic minority groups often distinguish themselves from others by their language use” as
“non-standard language offers [these members] the possibility to communicate and accentuate
their group identification” (Vermeij, 2006: 52). This notion is also supported by research of
the Dutch linguists Jacomine Nortier and Margreet Dorleijn (2006: 2), who point out that the
“ethnolect” employed by for instance Moroccan-Dutch teenagers is used to signal their ethnic
identity. Based on her findings, Nortier (2002: 203) argues that a Moroccan-Dutch speech
pattern is widely used by members of other ethnic groups, including occasional usage by
some monolingual Dutch teenagers. Therefore, Vermeij (2006: 52) argues that consistent
employment of “non-standard language use” serves as a “social marker.” She describes this
language use as consisting of “foreign influences […], deliberate grammatical errors and
foreign sounding pronunciations” (Vermeij, 2006: 50). Dorleijn and Nortier (2006: 1) are
more specific about the characteristics of ethnolect and describe the phonetic elements as a
“stronger” or more obvious /x/, /s/, /z/, /t/ and /d/ sounds and a /ə/ which is sometimes deleted.
Although language adoption is not frequently found, Vermeij’s findings (2006: 69 and 71-2)
suggest that classmates who have a “strong positive relations with Arabic or Turkish
classmates” are more likely to adopt words and “a Turkish or Moroccan accent”, which
occurs more often in “the context of interethnic friendships.”
The Dutch linguist Leonie Cornips (2002: 285) also argues that language use and
ethnic identity are related, as she indicates that “ethnic Dutch” functions as an identity marker
6
Vemeij (2006) does not provide a definition of ‘ethnicity’, hence I use the words of the anthropologist Eriksen
(2002: 12): “Ethnicity is an aspect of social relationship between agents who consider themselves as culturally
distinctive from members of other groups with whom they have a minimum of interaction.”
14
by which certain bilingual speakers (e.g. Moroccan-Dutch) can and want to be recognised.
She bases this assumption on speech patterns of eight boys (age about twenty) in the
Netherlands with different ethnic backgrounds (Moroccan, Turkish and one Surinam), of
which she analysed the language use. Cornips (2002: 285 and 289) explains that the “spoken
variety of Dutch” employed by the boys is characterised, among others, by
overgeneralization of the non-neuter definite determiner ‘de’. The researcher emphasises that
the boys are fluent speakers of Dutch, but do so in a different way than their monolingual
contemporaries (Cornips, 2002: 290). A positive attitude towards the Dutch language and/or a
strong motivation to speak Dutch fluently will increase the likelihood that the boys employ
the same speech patterns as monolingual teenagers (Cornips, 2002: 292). According to
Cornips (2002: 292-4), the boys use “ethnic Dutch” as a means to mark their social identity in
a dynamic society, and to display their membership of a social group. In her research, Cornips
(2008: 18-9) extends this view as she explains that the overgeneralization of common gender
is found more often in bilingual Moroccan or Turkish-Dutch youth than for instance in
English-Dutch children. She indicates that “it is assumed that Moroccan and Turkish children
fossilize in a non-target stage although the length of exposure to Dutch is from birth onwards”
(Cornips, 2008: 26) which cannot be explained by language interference or language
acquisition. This leads Cornips (2008: 26-7) to conclude that the loss of grammatical gender
should not be regarded as a “mistake” , but instead it “is governed by linguistic norms of the
members of a group” and “becomes meaningful in a process of ethnic identification.” The
overgeneralization of common gender is “an element in the indexing and reproducing of an
(immigrant) “allochtoon” identity versus the dominant “autochtoon” one” (Cornips, 2008:
27).
§2.2. Bilingual Language Acquisition: Grammatical Gender7
The constructionist theory is useful for explaining how identity is constructed in interactions,
but does not concentrate on processes of language acquisition. As the latter theme is also
highly relevant for my research, I will outline research findings about the acquisition of
grammatical gender in Dutch.
Monolingual children and bilingual children appear to acquire grammatical gender in
Dutch at the same rate (Blom et al., 2008: 259). Both bilingual and monolingual children
initially use ‘de’ for both neuter and common nouns; they show an overgeneralization of ‘de’
7
This paragraph contains a revision of some of my work that has occurred in my research proposal for the
master course Bilingualism at Utrecht University.
15
(Cornips and Hulk, 2008: 273). However, a distinction can be noticed “in the targetlike levels
of the neuter definite determiner [‘het’]”, since bilingual children, age four to seventeen, show
a higher error-rate than their monolingual counterparts on production tasks (Cornips and
Hulk, 2008: 273). Moreover, research conducted by Cornips and Hulk in 2006 and 2008 (274)
shows that bilingual children between ages 9;3 and 10;5 of ethnic minority groups, do not
reach a targetlike use of ‘het’. Cornips and Hulk (2006: 130) investigated the use of, among
others, definite articles by bilinguals of ethnic minority groups (e.g. Moroccans), and drew the
conclusion that it is possible that the grammar of these children has been fossilised. In other
words, the monolingual children showed progress in the correct, i.e. grammatical, use of
definite articles. Bilinguals on the other hand, show an inability to use ‘de’ and ‘het’ in a
targetlike way, which indicates a ‘quantitative’, or temporarily, and perhaps even a
‘qualitative’, or permanent difference (Cornips & Hulk, 2006: 130). In a later study, Cornips
and Hulk (2008: 268) attempted to investigate whether these results could be explained by
external factors: “the age of onset, the length of exposure, the quality of the input, and the role
of the other language.” They (Cornips and Hulk, 2008: 289) concluded that the first two
factors may explain the differences in competence between the successful and less successful
bilinguals, but argue that it is unlikely that the other language, for instance Moroccan
Arabic/Berber, influences the use of Dutch the same way but in a different rate (Cornips and
Hulk, 2008: 290). Moreover, Moroccan Arabic/Berber has gender distinction as well, and
may therefore facilitate the acquisition of Dutch grammatical gender. For that reason, there is
no evidence that the delay in acquisition of neuter definite articles, or perhaps even the stage
of fossilisation has a purely linguistic reason or origin. Hence Cornips (2008: 18-9) argues
that the overgeneralization of ‘de’ by Dutch-Moroccans may function as a marker of their
identity.
§2.3. Grammatical Gender8
Grammatical gender in Standard Dutch is “a lexically-specified property of nouns” (Blom et
al., 2008: 260) and nouns can be either neuter or common. The gender of a noun is arbitrary
and can only be indicated by agreement with functional morphemes (Blom et al., 2008: 260).
These functional morphemes, i.e. attributive adjectives, determiners, and relative pronouns,
have to agree with the noun’s lexical gender, independent of its semantic gender. For
example, both ‘man’ (‘man’) and ‘vrouw’ (‘woman’) take the non-neuter definite article ‘de’,
8
This paragraph contains a revision of some of my work that has occurred in my research proposal for the
master course Bilingualism at Utrecht University.
16
while the former refers to a male and the latter to a female person. Hence it is often
impossible to predict whether a noun will be neuter or non-neuter, although there are a few
root nouns which indicate the gender of the noun (Blom et al., 2008: 260). Nevertheless,
grammatical gender remains “the most puzzling of the grammatical categories” (Corbett,
1991: 1).
2.3.2. Definite determiners
Standard Dutch appears to have more nouns which take ‘de’ than ‘het’, “the overall ratio
varies from 3:2 to 2:1, depending on how you count your words” (Van Berkum, 1996: 11).
Moreover, there are two categories of nouns of which the definite article is predictable:
diminutives always go together with neuter ‘het’, and plural nouns always take ‘de’. The
following figure illustrates this:
Neuter
Common
Singular
Plural
Diminutive
Het licht
The light
Het vuur
The fire
De deur
The door
De fiets
The bike
De lichten
The lights
De vuren
The fires
De deuren
The doors
De fietsen
The bikes
Het lichtje
The small light
Het vuurtje
The small fire
Het deurtje
The small door
Het fietsje
The small bike
Figure 2A. Table definite determiners
Sometimes a noun is both plural and diminutive, and in those cases it will take ‘de’ as definite
determiner.
2.3.3. Demonstrative determiners
The Dutch demonstrative determiners ‘dit’ and ‘dat’ precede neuter nouns, whereas ‘deze’
and ‘die’ are followed by common nouns. Their use also depends on the proximity of the
object concerned, as can be seen in figure 2B below. Demonstrative determiners are used to
refer to an object within the text, an inner text object, or to an object which does not occur in
combination with the demonstrative determiner within a sentence, an outer text object. For
instance, when a person is talking about a watch she is wearing and while showing it she says:
“Ik vind dit mooi.”
“I like this.”
She is talking about an outer text object, as she points at the object itself. When this same
person says:
17
“Ik vind dit horloge [N] mooi”
“I like this watch”
she is talking about an object which also occurs in the sentence; an inner text object.
Like definite determiners, neuter demonstrative determiners are always combined with
diminutive nouns and plural nouns always take common demonstrative determiners.
Proximity
Singular Noun
Plural Noun
Diminutive Noun
Neuter
Near
Neuter
Far
Common
Near
Common
Far
Dit vuur
This fire
Dat vuur
That fire
Deze fiets
This bike
Die fiets
That bike
Deze vuren
These fires
Die vuren
Those fires
Deze fietsen
These bikes
Die fietsen
Those bikes
Dit vuurtje
This small fire
Dat vuurtje
That small fire
Dit fietsje
This small bike
Dat fietsje
That small bike
Figure 2B. Table demonstrative determines
2.3.4. Relative Pronouns
In Standard Dutch, the relative pronoun ‘die’ is used to refer to a common noun antecedent
and ‘dat’ is used to refer to a neuter noun antecedent. There is no difference in restrictive and
non-restrictive relative pronouns in Standard Dutch, as is the case in English. Table 2C below
provides examples.
Singular Noun
Neuter
Restrictive
Neuter
NonRestrictive
Restrictive
Common
Common
NonRestrictive
Het kind, dat
The child, that
Het kind, dat
The child, who
De kok, die
The cook, that
De kok, die
The cook, who
2C. Relative Pronouns
2.3.5. Attributive adjective Agreement
Attributive adjectives agree in number and gender with nouns, and also with the definite or
indefinite determiner preceding them. The adjective takes the same form in all combinations,
except for the combination indefinite determiner, adjective and neuter noun. Figure 2D
illustrates this.
18
Noun (Singular)
Neuter
Indefinite
Neuter
Definite
Common
Indefinite
Common
Definite
Een groen licht
A green light
Het groene licht
The green light
Een groene fiets
A green bike
De groene fiets
The green bike
Figure 2D. Adjective Agreement
19
Chapter 3
Linguistic elements in the language use of pupils
In this chapter, specific patterns and linguistic features observed in the language of the pupils
will be described and examples will be provided. Additionally, an analysis of their writings
will be given in order to investigate whether there is a difference in written and oral language
use of the pupils. In the next chapter, the relation between the use of the language patterns and
the social interactions of the pupils will be described.
§3.1. General findings
During my observation period, I soon found out that the determiner ‘die’ is used frequently,
and in particular instead of the definite determiners ‘de’ or ‘het’. I have decided to concentrate
on this phenomenon and made notes of all instances in which ‘die’ was used either as definite
determiner, demonstrative determiner or relative pronoun. As the difference in use of ‘die’ as
a definite determiner and ‘die’ as a demonstrative determiner is rather small, I have provided
examples to clarify my arguments. Additionally, I will explain in which cases I have
classified ‘die’ as a definite determiner or as a demonstrative determiner.
In order to understand whether the frequent use of ‘die’ is related to grammatical
gender, I have focused on the use of definite determiners, demonstrative determiners and
relative pronouns in general. I have attempted to write down all instances in which these were
used, including the speaker, the speaker’s interlocutor and the general context (e.g. during
physical training or mathematics). This has resulted in a list of utterances, which I will use to
exemplify my observations.
Another way in which I have investigated how pupils cope with grammatical gender,
is by looking at adjective agreement. As I was at first primarily concentrating on the use of
‘die’, I have less data on the use of adjectives, but still a sufficient amount to give an
impression of the way it is used. The use of possessive pronouns (first person “ons/onze”)
which also reflects grammatical gender, is left out of this description, as it was used only
occasionally by the pupils. Next to the use of grammatical gender, I have observed the
sentence structure, use of prepositions, the pronunciation, and the vocabulary of pupils. As the
observations differ greatly among pupils, I cannot describe general patterns as is the case with
the usage of ‘die’.
Although the findings presented in this chapter offer a relevant insight into the
language patterns employed by the pupils, it should be noted that it is unattainable for a
20
researcher to make notes of all of the utterances uttered by the pupils. Consequently, I have
mainly gathered data on pupils who were speaking often and displayed language use which
differs from Standard Dutch. As a result, pupils like Amina and Victoria are less quoted, since
they do not speak often and additionally, display few of the linguistic patterns indicated and
elaborated on below. However, this does not mean that these pupils do not utter certain
linguistic elements, but it means I have gathered less data on their speech.
§3.2. Grammatical Gender
3.2.1.Grammatical gender: Usage of ‘die’ as a determiner
It appears that the linguistic item ‘die’ is used frequently by the pupils, and I have counted in
which cases it was employed as a definite determiner or as a demonstrative determiner. Often,
it was rather simple to categorise the usage of ‘die’, but as explained in section 2.3. the use of
demonstrative ‘die’ is rather complex as it can refer to an inner or outer text object. As a
result, the only way to decide whether ‘die’ is used as a definite or demonstrative determiner
is by closely observing the context in which it is used. While making notes of the pupils’
language use, I have written down whether the usage of ‘die’ can be categorised as that of
demonstrative determiner, but due to the rapid speech of the pupils, I have not always had the
opportunity to write down entire conversations. Consequently, I am unable to display exact
contexts in which ‘die’ occurred, but I can demonstrate why I have classified ‘die’ as either a
demonstrative of definite determiner.
3.2.1.2. Usage of ‘die’ as definite determiner
The general pattern which I have observed seems to be that many pupils use ‘die’ as
replacement of a definite determiner. This usage is detectable in pupils of different linguistic
backgrounds, and some use ‘die’ as a determiner more often than others. Victoria and Amina
for instances, rarely use ‘die’ this way, whereas the other pupils, and especially Hakima and
Fatima, frequently do so. I will provide several examples to indicate the usage of ‘die’ as a
definite determiner.
During class, the teachers asks whether any of the pupils can summarise the story of Little
Red Riding Hood. In her answer to this question, Hakima refers to the grandmother of Little
Red Riding Hood and the mean wolf, and uses ‘die’ to precede the nouns. She has not
however, said anything about the grandmother or the wolf before, hence ‘die’ is not used as a
demonstrative determiner. The teacher has also not related anything about the story, when
21
Hakima answers his question as follows:
(1) “…die oma [C] wordt opgegeten en dan gaat Roodkapje naar die wolf [C]”
“…that grandmother is being eaten and then Little Red Riding Hood goes to that wolf”
Another time, the teacher talks about a trip the pupils will go on to visit the Anne Frank
building. Fatima promptly raises her hand and shares a description of the Anne Frank building
with the rest of the class:
“die voorhuis [N] is aangeplakt met die Achterhuis [N]”
“that front building is attached to that secret annex”
It almost seems as if Fatima is describing a picture and points at the building in order to
specify which houses are attached to one another. However, there was no such picture present
in the classroom when Fatima gave her description. Additionally, the phrase ‘Achterhuis’
“secret annex” is linked to the Anne Frank building, as this part of the building has become
quite famous. Therefore, it can be said that there is only one ‘Achterhuis’ Fatima might be
referring to, which means that she used ‘die’ as a definite determiner.
Ali uses ‘die’ similarly as he gives a presentation on a book he read, and links it to the author:
(2) “…die prijs [C] voor die beste schrijfster [C] in Maasland”
“…that award for that best writer of Maasland”
In this instance, it appears Ali used ‘die’ two times in one sentence as definite determiner. He
wants to say that the writer won an award for her book, and was considered the best writer of
a certain area in the Netherlands. This is the only time Ali talks about this award, so he does
not refer to an award which he has mentioned in a previous sentence.
During the break, Ali is talking to another pupil about soccer and they disagree on who might
be considered as the best soccer player ever.
(3) “hij is de beste voetballer van die wereld [C].”
“he is the best soccer player of this world”
As there is only one world he might be referring to, i.e. earth, it appears that he used ‘die’ as a
definite determiner.
One week later, Rob also gives a presentation and seems quite nervous. This may explain why
22
he uses ‘die’ as a determiner in the following example. Rob is talking about an English soccer
team, when he remarks:
(4) “…voor die ouders [C] voor die Engelse team [N]…”
“…for those parents for that English team…”
In this sentence, Rob seems to talk about the parents of English soccer players, but he has not
mentioned anything about these parents in his previous sentences. Hence, it is unclear who he
means exactly, which indicates he uses ‘die’ as a definite determiner.
Another example is provided by Laila, who talks to Amina about Richard (teacher). There is
no other teacher present in the classroom, and as she has not mentioned any other teacher
during her conversation with Amina, she is clearly referring to Richard when she says:
(5) “ja maar die meester [C] zegt…”
“yes but that teacher says…”
Laila seems to correct herself sometimes, for example when she answers a question posed by
the teacher about a reading assignment she has made. In this instance, Laila does not mean to
refer to a particular riot, as becomes clear when she corrects herself.
(6) “….naar die eh de opstand [C]”
“….to that eh the riot”
Laila corrects herself once more when she asks a fellow pupil whether she has piece of paper
for her to make notes on:
(7) “…die eh…de blaadje [N]”
“…that eh…the paper”
In both instances, Laila did not refer to a specific riot or to a specific piece of paper. This is
also shown by the fact that she corrects herself, and uses a definite determiner instead of a
demonstrative determiner.
Laila also appears to correct other pupils. She for instance corrects Brayen who answers a
question posed by the teacher. The teacher wants to know what prevents prisoners from
escaping a prison situated on an island. Laila notices immediately that Brayen uses ‘die’
instead of a definite determiner.
(8) Brayen: “die water”, “that water”
Laila: “het water” (her emphasis), “the water”
23
Brayen: “Oh” [surprised]
Figure 3A show that the pupils use ‘die’ in combination with both neuter and common nouns,
although the latter combination is found more frequently (Van Berkum, 1996: 11). Especially
Rob and Brayen use ‘die’ in combination with neuter nouns, whereas Ali only uses it in
combination with common nouns. In nearly all cases, ‘die’ is used in combination with countnouns, which occur in Dutch considerably more frequent than non-count nouns. Figure 3A
gives an overview of the usage of each pupil, as it indicates the number of instances ‘die’ is
used as a definite determiner. This table also shows how often the usage of ‘die’ occurs in
combination with neuter and common nouns.
Pupil
Laila
Hakima
Ali
Fatima
Damien
Rob
Brayen
Bakey
Victoria
Amina
Sarah
Total
Usage of ‘die’ as
definite determiner
14
9
10
7
7
7
5
2
1
0
0
62
Neuter
nouns
5
1
3
2
3
5
19
Common
nouns
9
8
10
4
5
4
2
1
43
Figure 3A. Number of instances ‘die’ is used as definite determiner
in combination with neuter and common nouns.
The occurrence of ‘die’ as definite determiner happened in combination with the neuter nouns
listed below. The noun “book” was used two times, but is mentioned only once in the list
below.
(9) Neuter nouns
blaadje [dim]
boek
bord
ding
filmpje [dim]
geld [non-count]
gevecht
hoofd
huis
“paper”
“book”
“blackboard”
“thing”
“clip”
“money”
“fight”
“head”
“house”
kamp
land
licht
museum
plan
schrift
team
vliegtuig
water
“camp”
“country”
“light”
“museum”
“plan”
“exercise-book”
“team”
“plane”
“water”
‘Die’ was used in combination with the following common nouns:
(10) Common nouns
anderen [pl]
“others”
Martini toren “Martini tower”
24
auto
basis
blaadjes [dim, pl]
bonnen [pl]
buik
buurt
dieren [pl]
erfenis
familie
handdoek
haren [pl]
helpers [pl]
inbrekers [pl]
kaart
kaartjes [dim, pl]
kast
landen [pl]
“car”
“basis”
“papers”
“stamps”
“belly”
“neighbourhood”
“animals”
“inheritance”
“family”
“towel”
“hair”
“assistents”
“bugglers”
“map”
“tickets”
“cabin”
“countries”
meester
mensen [pl]
meubels [pl]
moeder
olifant
oma
opstand
ouders [pl]
prijs
schrijfster
schrijver
soep
spullen
telefoon
vlag
wereld
wolf
“mister/teacher”
“people”
“furniture”
“mother”
“elephant”
“grandmother”
“riot”
“parents”
“price”
“female writer”
“writer”
“soup”
“stuff”
“telephone”
“flag”
“world”
“wolf”
These examples of neuter and common nouns show that ‘die’ is frequently used in
combination with nouns that are likely to occur in the daily speech of the pupils, such as
“mother”, “book” and “cabin”.
3.2.1.3. Usage of ‘die’ as demonstrative determiner
The use of ‘die’ as a demonstrative determiner occurs frequently in the language use of the
pupils, and this happens mostly in combination with a neuter noun. This combination is nonStandard, of which Laila seems to be vaguely aware as she appears to hesitate sometimes. For
instance when the teachers asks her where she left her exercise book:
(11) “ik heb ‘m niet bij me….die eh….schrift [N]” Standard Dutch: dat schrift
“I didn’t bring it with me…this ehm…exercise book”
In this instance, Laila refers to a specific exercise book, which the teacher asked her about.
On a Monday afternoon, local policeman Aart teaches the pupils about violence and teasing.
He explains that some weeks ago, a little girl was abused by a group of children who were
teasing her. This item was also on the news, and Ali likes to know:
(12) “wat is er eigenlijk gebeurd met die meisje [N]?” dat meisje
“what happened to that girl?”
Ali refers specifically to the girl Aart was talking about, hence he uses a demonstrative
determiner.
25
Sarah uses ‘die’ in a similar way, when she relates a story to Fatima, Hakima and Amina and
points at a specific fence she often gathers with friends.
(13) “we zaten daar bij die hek” dat hek
“we were sitting over there close to that fence”
When the teacher is talking about food stamps which were in use during the Second World, he
explains that people could buy all sorts of food with those stamps. He also indicates that there
was not much food available and many people could only get hold of some soup and bread.
This makes Hakima wonder:
(14) “…die soep [C] en die brood [N] konden ze die halen?” dat brood
“that soup and that bread, where they able to get those?”
Hakima refered in this instance to the soup and bread the teacher had told her about.
Another example is provided by Laila, who has listened to the teacher’s lecture on the use of
money. She wants to know more about it, and refers to the words of the teacher when she
asks:
(15) “maar meester blijft die geld [N, non-count]…” dat geld
“but mister remains that money…”
During mathematics, the teachers summons the children to use a booklet in which is explained
how litres have to be converted to kilos. Bakey cannot find this booklet, and asks Fatima
whether she has it:
(16) “heb jij die boekje [N] met liters?” dat boekje
“do you have this booklet with litres?”
Ali looks at a picture in his mathematic book and provides an answer to the teacher’s question
about the size of the island and of the house displayed on the picture:
(17) “een eiland is klein en die huis [N] is ook klein” dit huis
“an island is small and that house is also small”
In most of the above examples, ‘die’ is used in combination with a neuter noun. This is often
the case as can be seen in figure 3B.
26
Pupil
Laila
Bakey
Fatima
Sarah
Damien
Hakima
Rob
Ali
Brayen
Amina
Victoria
Total
Usage of ‘die’ as
demonstrative determiner
7
7
4
4
4
4
4
3
1
1
0
38
Neuter nouns
4
4
4
3
3
3
2
3
1
27
Common nouns
(targetlike)
3
3
1
1
1
2
1
11
Figure 3B. Number of instances ‘die’ is used as a demonstrative determiner in combination
with neuter and common nouns.
3.2.2. Grammatical gender: Usage of ‘die’ as a relative pronoun
The language us of the pupils also displays a frequent use of ‘die’ a as relative pronoun,
referring to both neuter and common nouns. In Dutch, it is grammatically correct to use ‘die’
in combination with common nouns and in everyday speech ‘die’ is also used to refer to
neuter nouns. The pupils, however, do not appear to overuse ‘die’ as a relative pronoun,
which may be because they do not use relative pronouns regularly. If they use ‘die’ as a
pronoun, they nearly always do so in a Standard9 way, that is in combination with a common
noun.
Laila is the most frequent user of ‘die’ as a relative pronoun, for instance when she asks the
teacher about the Second World War (in a Standardlike way):
(18) “is er geen een Jood [N] die ging onderduiken en het heeft overleefd?”
“is there no single Jew who went into hiding and survived?
Laila is the only pupil who uses ‘die’ in a non-Standard way, which also frequently occurs in
the speech pattern of monolingual speakers:
(19a) “zo’n meisje [N] die zei…” meisje dat
“a girl who said…”
By ‘Standard way’, I mean to say that the language use of the pupils resembles Standard Dutch. Henceforward
I will use the terms Standard and non-Standard to indicate whether examples comply or deviate from Standard
Dutch.
9
27
The other incident in which Laila uses ‘die’ to refer to a neuter noun, is also in combination
with “meisje” (girl).
(19b) “ [Anne Frank] was een jong meisje die alles opschreef” meisje dat
“ [A.F.] was a young girl who wrote down everything”
Pupil
Laila
Sarah
Rob
Brayen
Bakey
Ali
Fatima
Damien
Victoria
Amina
Hakima
Total
Usage of ‘die’ as
relative pronoun
4
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
8
Neuter
nouns
2
2
Common nouns
(targetlike)
2
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
6
Figure 3C. Number of instances ‘die’ is used as a relative pronoun in
combination with neuter and common nouns.
3.2.3.Grammatical gender: Use of demonstrative determiners
In order to compare the use of ‘die’ as demonstrative determiner to the use of the other
demonstrative determiners, I have noted all cases in which these occur. Figure 3D provides an
overview of these occurrences and shows ‘die’ is used more often than any of the other
demonstrative determiners. ‘Deze’ is also used frequently, but nearly half of the time its usage
is non-Standard, which means that the demonstrative determiner is used in combination with a
noun carrying a different gender. The usage of ‘dit’ and ‘dat’ occurs substantially less
frequent, although it is used in a Standard way.
In table 3D below, I have indicated whether the use of demonstrative determiners occurs in a
Standard or Non-Standard way. In these instances, I have only looked at the congruence in
grammatical gender between the demonstrative determiner and the noun, and left out the
proximity of the object referred to. The number of times ‘die’ is used as a demonstrative
determiner is also mentioned in figure 3B of paragraph 3.2.1.3., and is displayed here as well
to compare its usage to that of the other demonstrative determiners. Laila for instance, uses
28
the ‘dit’, and does so in a non-Standard way, hence I have written down 0/1 the first column.
Pupil
Laila
Bakey
Fatima
Sarah
Damien
Rob
Ali
Hakima
Brayen
Amina
Victoria
Total
Standard use of
‘dit’+ N noun/
Non-Standard
use
0/1
2/2
1/1
1/1
4/5
Standard use of
‘dat’ + N noun/
Non- Standard
use
1/1
1/1
Standard use of
‘deze’ + C noun/
Non- Standard
use
1/2
3/4
2/3
1/1
0/1
0/3
0/2
7/16
Standard use of
die + C noun/
Non- Standard
use
3/7
3/7
0/4
1/4
1/4
2/4
0/3
0/2
0/1
1/1
11/38
Figure 3D. Instances in which demonstrative determiners are used, indicated grammatical correctness.
Especially Fatima seems to have mastered the use of demonstrative pronouns in combination
with neuter nouns. She for instance shouts at another pupil:
(20) “hallo zij wil toch deze pen [C] pakken!”
“hello she wants to grab this pen!”
She also uses ‘deze’ in nearly all cases in a Standard way, for example when she jokes with
another pupil about an elephant:
(21) “deze olifant [C] gaat niet aan de kant”
“this elephant won’t move away”
Sarah uses ‘deze’ similarly when she asks Hakima:
(22) “mag ik even deze rekenmachine [C] lenen?
“can I borrow this calculator for a moment?”
However, Sarah also provides an example of non-Standard usage of ‘deze’ when she asks
Amina:
(23) “hoe oud is deze boek [N]” dit boek
“how old is this boek?”
29
Likewise, Fatima one time makes a remark about a book she got:
(24) “juffrouw deze boek [N] stinkt” dit boek
“miss this book smells”
Brayen seems to find the usage of demonstrative determiners confusing and jokes to himself:
(25) “ik wil deze boek [N] lenen ik wil die boek [N] lenen ik wil deze boek [N] lenen”
“I want to borrow that book I want to borrow this book I want to borrow that book”
3.2.4. Grammatical gender: Definite determiners ‘de’ and ‘het’
The pupils seem to display a preference for the common definite determiner ‘de’, which
occurs more frequently in Dutch than ‘het’ (Van Berkum, 1996: 11). I have enlisted my
findings in figures 3E and 3F for usage of both definite determiners. These tables reveal that
‘de’ is used more often in a Standard way than ‘het’. The following examples show how the
definite determiners are used.
Laila asks the teacher a question while discussing a text:
(26) “Wat is de gevolg [N] van…” het gevolg
“What is the consequence of…”
Bakey answers a question during a lesson in grammar, in which he uses the non-Standard
combination of ‘de’ and a neuter noun followed by the grammatically Standard combination
of ‘de’ and a common noun:
(27) “de onderwerp [N] staat achter de persoonsvorm [C]” het onderwerp
“the subject follows the conjugated verb”
Victoria presents an example of Standard Dutch usage of ‘het’:
(28) “…uit het vuur [N] slepen”
“…towing out of the fire”
Rob appears to be aware of the Standard Dutch usage of definite determiners when he asks
Brayen about a youtube clip:
(29) “Hoe lang is ‘t filmpje [N], hoe lang is de film [C]?”
“How long takes the clip, how long takes the movie?” (Rob is talking about time)
30
Some pupils show uncertainty in their use of definite determiners or correct themselves.
Especially Laila seems to be aware of the way definite determiners are used as she for
instance asks the teacher:
(30) “meester het is toch de getto in plaats van het getto?”
“mister it is the ghetto instead of the ghetto right?”10
Pupil
Laila
Fatima
Hakima
Sarah
Rob
Bakey
Brayen
Damien
Ali
Amina
Victoria
Total
Usage of definite
determiner ‘de’
8
8
6
5
4
4
3
1
1
0
0
40
Neuter nouns
3
3
1
4
1
12
Common nouns
(targetlike)
5
5
5
1
4
4
3
1
28
Figure 3E. Usage of definite determiner ‘de’ in combination with neuter and common nouns.
Usage of ‘de’ is Standardlike when preceding common nouns.
The following neuter nouns occur in combination with ‘het’, which is indicated in table 3F
below:
(31) neuter nouns
“het nieuws”
“het Anne Frank huis”
“ ‘t filmpje”
“het vuur”
“het goede voorbeeld”
“ ’t begin”
“the news”
“the Anne Frank building”
“the short video”
“the fire”
“the right example”
“the beginning”
10
The word ‘getto’ has an ambiguous gender in Dutch, as it is used in combination with a neuter determiner in
its general meaning, but used with a common determiner when referring to a specific place.
31
Pupil
Neuter nouns
(targetlike)
2
1
1
Common nouns
Ali
Rob
Victoria
Usage of definite
determiner ‘het’
2
1
1
Brayen
Hakima
Bakey
Fatima
Amina
Sarah
Damien
Laila
Total
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
6
1
1
6
0
-
Figure 3F. Usage of definite determiner ‘het’ in combination with neuter and common nouns.
Usage of ‘het’ is Standardlike when preceding neuter nouns.
Tables 3E and 3F show that several pupils rarely use definite determiner ‘het’, whereas they
do use definite determiner ‘de’ frequently. Interestingly, it appears that if ‘het’ is used, this is
often done in a Standard way. The definite determiner ‘de’ occurs considerably more often in
the language use of the pupils. Laila, Sarah and Fatima, for instance show uncertainty in their
use of Standard Dutch usage of ‘de’ and do not use ‘het’ often. Brayen, on the other hand,
uses both definite determiners in a Standard way. This indicates that there are differences
among pupils in their use of definite determiners. I have no specific notes on the use of
definite determiners by Victoria and Amina, since I have not observed non-Standard usage in
their speech.
Overall, it appears that the pupils use ‘de’ more often in a Standard way. However, this does
not mean that the usage of ‘het’ is being avoided altogether, as it is often used as a personal
pronoun and as an indefinite pronoun. For example, Hakima comments on Rob who is sitting
in front of her while they are watching television. She relates her frustration to Fatima:
(32) “ik kan het niet zien door z’n hoofd”
“I cannot see it because of his head”
This kind of usage occurs more often and shows that ‘het’ is indeed employed and not
neglected.
32
3.2.4.2. Omission of definite and indefinite determiners and personal pronoun ‘het’
It seems, however, that the usage of definite determiners and the usage of ‘het’ as personal
pronoun is sometimes avoided. Especially Hakima frequently does so, for instance when she
states to another pupil:
(33) “ik heb __ gezien [trans] ik heb __gezien [trans]”
“I saw __ I saw__”
‘To see’ is a transitive verb in Dutch, and in this instance ‘het’ would be a likely option to
take the object position.
Hakima is not the only one employing this kind of comments; Laila makes a similar remark to
the teacher, using the verb ‘to swear’ which is also a transitive verb in Dutch :
(34) “Ik zweer [trans] __ ….u moet een bril”
“I swear __….you need glasses”
The omission of definite and indefinite determiners is also observable in the language use of
some pupils, whereas it does not occur in the language use of others.
For instance, when Hakima, Fatika, Amina and Sarah are talking about a younger Muslim girl
at their school, Laila asks them:
(35) “Moet ze __ hoofddoek [C]?”
“Does she have to have __ headscarf?”
Fatima tells a story about some plates she put on the balcony:
(36) “…borden op __ balkon [N] gezet”
“…put plates on __ balcony”
It appears that the omission of both definite determiners appears equally often, but I have not
observed this pattern in the speech of all pupils. I have only noticed Hakima, Fatima, Laila,
Brayen, Bakey and Ali omit definite and indefinite determiners.
3.2.5. Grammatical gender: Attributive adjective agreement
The use of adjective agreement is often employed in a Standard way by the pupils, for both
neuter and common nouns. As shown in 2.3.5., adjective agreement in Standard Dutch occurs
33
in the combination indefinite determiner-adjective-noun (“een groot huis [N]”, “a big house”/
“een grote man [C]”, “a big man” ) and definite determiner-adjective-noun (“het grote huis
[N]” “the big house” / “de grote man [C]”, “the big man” ). The pupils differ slightly in the
use of Standardlike adjective agreement, as Hakima for instance, employed adjective
agreement in a Standard way during my observations, whereas I noticed
Victoria say:
(37) “… als je een goeie diploma [N] hebt”
“…if you have a good diploma”
In this example, Victoria employs the colloquial word ‘goeie’, which would be replaced by
‘goede’ in Standard Dutch. Still, ‘een goede diploma’ is non-Standard, as the adjective is not
in congruence with the noun.
Ali relates during his book presentation that he read:
(38) “een echte boek [N]”
“a real book”
Hakima talks about a history subject and says:
(39) “...grote ontwikkeling [C]”
“… huge development”
Amina sings a personally made up song while putting away some crayons:
(40) “één zwarte wascokrijtje [N], één zwarte wascokrijtje [N]”
“one black crayon, one black crayon”
This example is telling of the way Amina is able to play with language, which is also
perceivable in the way she can imitate accents (see 4.5.1.2.).
My observations regarding the use of adjective agreement are complex, as pupils sometimes
left out determiners, used a non-Standard combination of definite determiner and noun (e.g.
‘de’ + neuter noun) or used possessive pronouns in a non-Standard way. Therefore, I cannot
display my observations in a table without confusing the reader and I have chosen not to
further elaborate on the use of adjective agreement. However, I can say that, based on my
findings, adjective agreement occurs mostly in a Standardlike way (Standard Dutch, as
34
described in section 2.3.5.)
§3.3. Pronunciation
The pronunciation of several pupils signals that they grow up in bi and multilingual situation,
as some phonemes, for instance /z/ and /x/, appear to stand out in their speech. It should be
noted that it is complex to speak of Standard Dutch pronunciation as there are multiple
variations of Dutch, which are considered to be Standard speech (see Smakman, 2006).
However, it appears that there is a tendency among monolingual Dutch speakers to devoice
/v/ and /z/ sounds, so their pronunciation merges to /f and /s/ phonemes respectively
(Smakman, 2006: 216). This phenomenon does not seem to occur in the speech of Fatima,
Hakima, Bakey, Sarah, and Laila, as the /z/ sounds appears to be fully voiced. Especially
Fatima stresses the /z/, for example when she yells at Amina: “heb je iets in je hoofd of/z/o?”
“Are you out of your mind?”. Her /x/ is also strongly voiced in some cases, for instance when
she says “s/x/oonmaken” “to clean”, whereas this phoneme tends to become more devoiced
in Standard Dutch (Smakman, 2006: 218) . From time to time, Fatima’s speech also appears
to contain a strong devoicing of the /x/ phoneme; sometimes a /χ/ sound following a /s/
phoneme can be heard, for example in: /s χ la:n/ (‘slaan’, ‘to beat’).
By contrast, I have not observed Hakima and Laila using a /χ/, although they do stress
the /z/ and /x/ sounds. Hakima, for example, was reprimanded by the teacher for singing a
song, and Hakima related to a fellow pupil: “/z/e [juf] zegt dat ik ge/z/ongen heb, terwijl hij
/z/at te /z/ingen” “she says [ teacher] that I have sung, but he’s singing”. Like Fatima, Hakima
and Laila sometimes employ a particular intonation which starts at a high pitch and ends at a
lower one. The speech of these three girls also displays the use of schwa /ə/ in the middle of a
noun, which makes words sound shortened. For instance, ‘zeg’ (‘say’) is pronounced as /zəx/
instead of /zɛx/. In addition, they sometimes delete the /ə/ sound, which is also makes words
sound shorter. These pronunciations are also referred to be Nortier and Dorleijn (2005), in
their research on Moroccan-Dutch youth. Sarah and Bakey’s speech also frequently seems to
contain strong /z/ and /x/ sounds, and both use a similar falling intonation as displayed by
Fatima, Hakima and Laila.
Rob’s speech on the other hand, sounds Standardlike and contains features of the local
Leiden dialect (Wortel, 2002). Although he does not employ the/ɾ/ sound typical of the
Leiden dialect (ibid.), as for instance in / wa: ɾ/ “true”, he does use a Leiden dialect
intonation, which begins low and rises in pitch at the end of the sentence. The /o:/ is turned
35
into a /ø/ sound, so for instance ‘ook’ “also” sounds like /øk/ instead of /o:k/. Similarly,
Karim’s speech sometimes displays features of the Leiden dialect, but not as often as is
apparent in Rob’s language use.
The speech pattern of Victora, Brayen and, Amina does not appear to display any nonStandardlike features and additionally, does not contain elements of a local dialect.
§3.4. Sentence structure
The sentence structure of the pupils was not my prime focus during observation, but I do have
written down some utterances of the pupils which struck my as interesting. Although I cannot
say to have found a general pattern, I did notice that several pupils use the verb ‘zitten’ (‘to
sit’) regularly to express the present continuous tense. This is Standard in Dutch, although
other options are available as well.
Ali is telling a story about himself and remarks:
(41) “ik zit zo te lopen en…”
“I sit/am walking and…”
This seems a contradicting remark, as ‘to sit’ and ‘to walk’ are verbs which refer to different
actions; sitting while walking is impossible. This combination is also perceivable in informal
speech of monolinguals to indicate present continuous tense. Similar to Ali, Fatima responds
to another pupil and says:
(42) “nee ik zat toch te slapen”
“no I sat/was sleeping right”
Hakima provides another example when she talks about Rob:
(43) “hij zat soep te maken”
“he sat/was making soup”
In all of these examples, the verb ‘zitten’ is not used to refer to a specific (sitting) position,
but rather to express a durative event, which is target like in Standard Dutch.
One time however, Rob does use the verb ‘zitten’ to relate that he was actually sitting while
studying, but uses the wrong tense which the teacher makes clear to him:
36
(44) R: “die zit ik aan het leren gisteren”
“I sit/am studying those yesterday”
T: “zat ik aan het leren”
“sat/was studying”
R: “ja”
“yes”
Interestingly, in this instance Rob also replaces the combination “te” + infinitief (“te leren”
“studying”), by “aan het” + infinitief (“aan het leren” “studying”). This latter combination is
Standardlike, but in combination with the verb “zitten” “to sit”, it becomes non-Standardlike.
Rob thus seems to be aware of certain Standardlike linguistic elements, but combines them in
this instance in a non-Standard way.
Another observation I have made concerns the use of negatives, like ‘geen’, ‘niet’ and ‘niks’,
which are sometimes used in an non-Standard way.
Hakima for instance responds to a remark of the teacher:
(45) “het was mijn schuld voor niks” het was mijn schuld niet
“it was my fault for nothing” (for no reason)
Fatima talks to another pupil about a family she knows:
(46) “ze hadden geen genoeg geld enzo…” ze hadden niet genoeg geld enzo
“they did’t have enough money…”
While making a drawing, Sarah says to Amina:
(47) “dit is niet grond” dit is geen grond
“this isn’t ground”
Additionally, the word order of some of the pupils appears to deviate from Standard Dutch:
(48) Karim: “omdat ze had niet goed opgelet” omdat ze niet goed had opgelet
“because she had not paid attention carefully”
(49) Sarah: “ik snap niet die vraag” ik snap die vraag niet
“I don’t understand that question”
(50) Fatima tells the teacher:
“net zo goed kunt u de licht aan doen” u kunt het licht net zo goed aan doen
37
“you might as well turn on the light”
Fatima often appears to make utterances which deviate from Standard Dutch, as she for
instance remarks:
(51) “toen [past] zeggen [present] ze dat ik een hersenschudding heb”
“then they say that I have a concussion of the brain”
In this particular sentence, the tense of ‘toen’ ‘then’ (past) is not in agreement with the tense
of the verb ‘zeggen’ ‘say’ (present). Fatima does not appear to be aware of this, and
moreover, I have not observed her correct her language use. Most of the pupils however,
rarely make comments like these.
§3.5. Prepositions
The pupils use prepositions mostly in a grammatical way, but Fatima appears to use
deviations frequently. She once said to the teacher:
(52)“ik vroeg tegen Laila…”
ik vroeg aan Laila…
“I asked against Laila…”
She also tells to another pupil that she threw plates:
(53) “uit de balkon” van het balkon
“out of the balcony”
The other pupils rarely display ungrammatical usage of prepositions in their speech, but
during grammar lessons they do appear to make ungrammatical combinations.
§3.6. Vocabulary
The vocabulary of the pupils contains an interesting phenomenon: the frequent use of ‘zo’n’.
This is an abbreviation of ‘zo een’, which has a meaning close to the English ‘like’ or ‘such’
and is used in a Standard way. It may be that the pupils use ‘zo’n’ to avoid using a definite
determiner, and thus grammatical gender. I have observed that all of the pupils use ‘zo’n’, of
which Laila provides an example:
(54) “zo’n man stond bij de bakker met zo’n hond”
“there was such a man at the bakery with such a dog”
38
She also notes to another pupil:
(55) “ik had vroeger zo’n buurman in X….”
“previously, I had such a neighbour at X…”
When the teacher asks Sarah “who is Linda?” she answers:
(56) “zo’n meisje”
“such a girl”
Bakey gives the following summary of the Dutch (local) tradition to collect candy on the
eleventh of November, by singing songs, holding a lampion and visiting neighbours:
(57) “met zo’n lichtding….ga je bij deuren….”
“with such a light thing… you go from door to door…”
During music class, Damien tells the other pupils:
(58) “gewoon zo’n ritme doen”
“just do such a rhytm”
One final example is provided by Ali:
(59) “toen ik WK ging kijken zei zo’n presentator…”
“when I was watching the World Championship such a presenter said…”
It appears that ‘zo’n’ has become part of the speech pattern of all of the pupils, and is used
both among pupils and when addressing the teacher. Overall, the language use of the pupils
contains colloquial and informal speech, but little swearwords. Hakima once jokingly said
“potverdikkie” which translates as “woopsie daisies” and is a polite swearword. Hakima also
used the English phrase “oh my Gosh’ several times during the last two days of my
observation period, which she had not done before.
I have noted that Laila stands out in comparison to the other pupils because of her
large vocabulary. She uses a variety of words and often looks up words in a dictionary when
she is reading a text or book. Fatima on the other hand, has a less extensive vocabulary and
sometimes mistakenly uses one word while she means another. For instance when she says
‘beslist’ ‘decided’, while she meant ‘verplicht’ ‘obliged’ as Hakima immediately pointed out
to her.
39
§3.7. Notes written work11
The written text I have analysed of each pupil contains approximately 250 to 300 words and is
mostly handwritten; only Rob and Sarah used a computer for their writing. The teacher had
told the pupils to write about what they would do if they would be “the boss of the world for
one day”. All of the pupils handed in this assignment, and their work shows that they took the
writing seriously as the texts are well thought through.
I have analysed these texts in order to investigate whether there are similarities
between the oral and written language use of the pupils. It appears that the pupils leave out the
use of ‘die’ as a definite determiner, since none of the children uses ‘die’ this way. They do
use ‘die’ as a relative pronoun and demonstrative determiner. It seems that several pupils use
definite determiners in a Standard way, these are: Laila, Bakey, Victoria, Hakima and Amina.
This observation is in line with that of the spoken data of Bakey, Amina and Victoria, but
differs from that of Laila and Hakima since they do use ‘de’ and ‘het’ in a non-Standard way.
The other six pupils, Damien, Brayen, Sarah, Ali, Rob and Fatima, display non-Standardlike
usage of definite determiners and they write down words such as:
(60) Non-Standard use of definite determiners
Ali:
“de team [N]”
Rob:
“de land [N]”
Brayen: “de paleis [N]”
Damien: “de raam [N]”
Fatima: “de bedrijf [N]”
Sarah: “de park [N]”
Sarah: “het .. wereld [C]”
“the team”
“the country”
“the palace”
“the window”
“the company”
“the public garden”
“the world”
Only Sarah seems to combine the definite determiner ‘het’ with a common noun (nonStandardlike), which does not appear to occur in spoken language use (see section 3.2.4).
However, it should be noted that, according to the teachers, she is dyslectic. The other
examples shows that ‘de’ is used in combination with neuter nouns (non-Standardlike) which
also occurs in the speech employed by the pupils (ibid.) Interestingly, the words enlisted in
example 60 are regularly used and heard in daily speech, and since the pupils write them
correctly, it is likely they have used them before.
11
It should be noted, that according to the teachers Sarah and Fatima are dyslectic.
40
Chapter 4
Relation social behaviour and language use
The following chapter describes the social interactions of the pupils with each other and
additionally, the relation between their language use and social behaviour. This way, theme II,
the relation between social interaction and language use, of the research question is addressed.
§4.1. Field notes social behaviour among pupils
4.1.2. Position in the classroom
It appears that some of the pupils occupy a more prominent position in the classroom than
others. Laila for instance, displays self-confident behaviour, as she frequently states her
opinion and comments on the doings of fellow pupils. Especially during physical training, she
tells other pupils what to do or where to stand during a ball game. She takes lead of her team
in order to win the game, and her fellow team members listen to her directions. Laila seems to
take in a dominant position towards the rest of the pupils, without teasing or displaying
aggressive behaviour. The other pupils do not appear to be afraid of her, as Amina for
example tells Laila to stop pitching during baseball, and to give Brayen a chance to do so.
Hakima has this same kind of tendency to control what others are doing during physical
training, but seems to get unfriendly in doing so. She for instance shouts at Bakey and makes
fun of him when he fails to throw a ball into her hands. During this same baseball game, she
seems to get bored and makes funny noises when pupils from the opposite team are throwing
the ball. Inside the classroom, she does not display this kind of behaviour and is more quiet.
Fatima also has a dominant position within the classroom, but she gets overruled by
Laila who publically questions the truth of her stories. Within small group interactions
however, Fatima does have a dominant role as she comments on what other pupils say or
opposes their opinions. She seems to aim at gaining a high social position by impressing
others with her stories, but others do not always take her seriously. The teachers sometimes
address her in class publically, when they do not agree with her behaviour. This also affects
her reliability and social position, as it is not ‘cool’ to be reprimanded by the teacher.
The other pupils take in a less prominent position and the relations between pupils
seem to be more or less egalitarian. Sometimes pupils make fun of Rob, and may make
teasing remarks about his stammering when he is about to present his book. Rob does not
seem to bother about these comments and during sports, he is not afraid of telling other pupils
to run faster or throw the ball differently. It does not seem that teasing is part of the daily
41
activities of the pupils, and none of them is teased regularly. Victoria does appear to be less
well integrated in the group, but no one makes fun of her.
4.1.3. Social interaction: boys versus girls
It seems that the pupils prefer to have contact with someone of their own sex. Inside of the
classroom, the children are positioned in mixed groups by the teacher, and within these
groups they talk to each other. During the break however, the boys play soccer together, while
the girls stand in a circle and throw a ball to each other. None of the other school pupils joins
the 8th graders during the break, and the boys even send a younger boy away when he wants
to play soccer too. The boys and girls do not have contact with each other at all during the
break, and form separate groups.
This situation is perceivable inside the classroom too, even though there is more
interaction between the boys and girls because they are sitting next to each other. They ask
each other questions about homework or whether they can borrow a pencil or book from
someone, regardless of the other pupil’s sex. But when Fatima reads something funny in her
book and would like share it with someone, she falls silent when she notices that only Bakey
is close to where she sits. She would not hesitate to talk to one of the girls, as I have often
observed them group together and laugh with each other. Especially Amina, Laila, Sarah and
Hakima cluster together and like to chat with each other whenever possible. The boys do so
less, and just make contact with one another while seated by making jokes. They also walk up
to each other, but rarely group together. Damien and Brayen are neighbours, so they talk to
each other often and sometimes Bakey comes up to them to asks a question. I have frequently
noticed that the girls gather around Laila’s and Sarah’s desk, and not around any of the other
pupils’. The girls seem to wear their hair in the same way: they all wear their long hair in a
knot, which they redo a couple of times a day. When I returned to school after my observation
period, I noticed that all of the girls had their hair hang loose. The girls also sometimes
abbreviate each other’s name, for example Sarah becomes Saar.
All in all, the pupils are friendly to each other and eager to laugh, regardless of
whether the joke is made by one of the pupils or by the teacher. They are keen on answering
questions posed by the teacher and help each other when necessary.
4.1.4. Awareness of diversity
The pupils interact with each other regardless of each others cultural descent or linguistic
background. Five of the eleven pupils have Moroccan parents, of which Ali is the only boy,
42
but they do not form a separate group within the class. The mixture of cultures inside of the
classroom is known to the pupils and they comment on this sometimes. When the dance
teacher mistakenly says Sarah has an Egyptian background, several pupils correct her and say
she is Libyan.
There is also awareness of differences among pupils as it comes to skin colour.
Damien for instance, used the word ‘discrimination’ one morning a couple of times, when
fellow pupils where allowed to do activities he was not. Fatima asked him whether he knew
what it meant, and he started explaining the term to her: “You’re white and I am black…”,
which shows that he is aware of the difference in skin colour of fellow pupils. Damien is the
only pupil referring to the background of other pupils, which he usually does in a joking way.
When Rob was sent by the teacher to pick up a book from another teacher Damien said:
“you’re only allowed to do that because you’re a Negro.” Rob did not reply to this remark,
and the teacher had not heard it. Another time Damien talked about two girls who normally
join the 8th grade on Wednesdays, and are normally part of the International class; a class for
children who recently arrived in the Netherlands. After playing rock, paper, scissors with
these girls, Damien told Brayen that “those Turks barely say anything”. These remarks of
Damien do not seem to be negative, and none of children appear to feel offended by them.
Damien calls Rob a ‘negro’ but he himself has a dark skin colour too, which may make his
remarks funny instead of insulting to his fellow pupils.
§4.2. Friendship Questionnaire
4.2.1. Girls
The Friendship questionnaire reveals that although the girls often group together, they rarely
meet each other after school. All of them state that they enjoy being with each other and most
of them regard each other as friends. Most of the girls state that they are less fond of hanging
out with boys than with girls of their class. Outside of their school friends, their other friends
are mainly girls, who appear to be of various cultural backgrounds which is indicated by their
non-Dutch names. The girls give multiple reasons for being friends with someone: because
that person is kind, funny, trustworthy, eager to help, nice and/or shares the same opinion.
It appears that some of the girls have discussed the questions while answering them, as
for instance Fatima and Hakima (neighbours) give identical reasons for liking Laila and
Amina. This is also the case with Sarah, Laila and Amina, who sit close to each other.
Victoria seems least favoured by the girls; only Sarah indicates she regards her as a friend,
which Victoria confirms as she views only Sarah as a friend.
43
4.2.2. Boys
In contrast to the girls, the boys do meet each other after class and often play soccer with each
other. Like the girls, the boys rather spend time with each other than with the girls of their
group. Ali summarises this by stating that he does not enjoy being with any of the girls, while
the others have given their opinion about each of the individual girls on the Friendship
questionnaire. The boys give many reasons for liking each other: the other person is kind,
funny, sweet, nice, well at being a keeper, able to run fast, a good soccer player, supports the
same soccer team and/or is a colleague. It appears that all of the boys have a great liking for
soccer and play soccer regularly with each other.
The friends they have outside of their school friends are also boys and they too are into
playing soccer. The boys have one mutual friend and they all state to play soccer with this
boy. Most of the boys have a job at school; they clean the playground on Fridays and gather
waste, for which they receive a small amount of money in return.
§4.3. Notes interviews: social interactions
The children appear to be aware of each others cultural background, and also of that of the
other pupils at school. Ali for instance told me that “there are many Moroccans in group 7”
and when I ask the pupils how they can tell someone is Moroccan, they explain it has to do
with someone’s physical appearance. They tell me that to them, it does not matter what kind
of cultural background someone has; they will play with another child if s/he is nice and kind.
Fatima, for instance, states that it does not matter what language a fellow pupil speak at home
“as long as its ‘gezellig’ [pleasant] in the classroom”. Sarah adds to that by saying “actually, I
think everyone is the same”, hence she does not think about someone’s cultural background.
Moreover, it appears that the pupils enjoy their multicultural class as “it would be boring”
according to Ali, to have a monolingual Dutch group, because “then you wouldn’t have a
friend from the same country” and, additionally, you would end up “speaking with Dutch
people all the time.” Victoria agrees with Ali, and relates that she prefers her class over the
ones she sometimes sees on ‘Jeugdjournaal’ (news for kids) which solely contain “those real
Dutch people” who attend “typical Dutch schools”.
Most of the children have visited their parent’s home country, and especially the
pupils with a Moroccan descent frequently go there on holidays. Although they enjoy these
holidays, Laila and Hakima tell me right away that they would never want to live there, as it is
44
difficult to find a job. Like the other pupils, Laila and Hakima have family members who
immigrated to the Netherlands or elsewhere in Europe.
§4.4. Field notes language use among pupils
4.4.1. Adoption of linguistic elements
There are differences among pupils in their language use in terns of grammatical usage and
pronunciation (see chapter 3) . In several cases, pupils adopt each other’s words, for instance
in the case of “die boek” “that book”. Laila once corrected Hakima by emphasising it is “dat
boek”, but she has used “die boek” herself a couple of times as well. Several pupils use this
non-Standard combination frequently, and often right after someone else has used it. One
time, Sarah asks the teacher a question about “de dagboek [N]” “the diary”, an
ungrammatical combination, and immediately afterwards Laila talked about “de dagboek” as
well. One week later, Ali asks local policeman Aart about what happened to “die meisje [N]”
“that girl”, and Aart corrects him by saying “dat meisje [N]”. This does not prevent Rob from
asking the policeman again about “die meisje”.
Besides adopting the usage of definite and demonstrative determines, pupils also take
over the phrase “zo’n” “such a” from one another (see section 3.2.9). This is the case, for
instance, when they talk about another person, who they are not familiar with: “zo’n man”
“such a man”. I have often heard the pupils use “zo’n” when speaking to each other, and it
appears to have become part of their speech.
One last interesting feature is Damien’s imitation of a Moroccan accent in Dutch,
when he jokes that beating persons is custom in Morocco. “/sjala:n/ (“beating”) that’s what
they do in Morocco “/sjala:n/” he says. This example shows that Damien seems to be aware of
some features Moroccan people may display when speaking Dutch. However, I have not
observed him doing this more often, and he also has not adopted this pronunciation.
4.4.2. Relation social behaviour and language use
During my observation period, I have attempted to explore whether the speech pattern of the
pupils is related to their social role within an interaction. For instance, whether their use of
grammatical gender is more apparent in social interaction with fellow pupils in comparison to
a conversation with the teacher. I have especially focussed on differences in speech based on
the interlocutor and the relation the pupil has with that person, for instance a befriended
fellow pupil or the teacher. Naturally, all interactions take place within a classroom setting,
which influences the speech of the pupils and may differ from the speech they employ in a
45
home situation or at the playground.
I have noticed that sometimes, a pupil’s pronunciation slightly changes when speaking
to a fellow pupil. Damien’s /z/ pronunciation for example, seems to become stronger when he
asks Hakima a question, but this only occurred twice. Interestingly, Damien and Hakima
indicate on the Friendship Questionnaire that they do not consider each other as friends.
Bakey sometimes shows a similar kind of /z/ pronunciation when he addresses another pupil,
and his intonation appears to rise, but this is unrelated to what kind of person he is talking to.
Hakima and Fatima’s /z/ and /x/ sounds seem to become stronger when they are talking to
each other, and especially when one of them is mocking the other. They are the only two
pupils I have heard using Moroccan swear words at each other inside of the classroom.
There are also pupils who’s language seems to be less dependent on the interlocutor.
Ali’s language use, for instance, does not change in terms of non-Standard usage when he
speaks to a fellow pupil or to the teacher. This is the case for most of the pupils; except for
using formal ‘u’ (similar to French ‘vous’) to address the teacher and leaving out colloquial
words, I have observed little difference in their language use. Amina’s speech for example
does not change when she speaks to Laila (her friend) or when she talks to one of the boys,
who she does not regard as friends. Additionally, the speech of the pupils displays nonStandard usage of ‘die’ (see for example section 3.2.1.2), regardless of the interlocutor.
Nevertheless, it should be noted that more extensive research techniques should be used to
further investigate the differences in speech of individual pupils. Only when using a recorder,
more extensive analyses and comparisons can be made, as participant observation may fall
short as a research method in order to make adequate statements about the variations in
speech employed by an individual pupil. However, the observation that some pupils employ a
different kind of pronunciation when speaking to one another, like Hakima and Fatima, may
indicate that there is a relation between the social role of a pupil and the speech s/he employs.
It also appears that language is used as a means to influence the social position a pupil
has in the classroom. Especially Laila frequently comments on the utterances of other pupils
by correcting them, which strengthens her prominent position inside of the classroom. The
comments on Rob about his stammering before his presentation started, also show that
commenting on someone’s language may be a means to gain power.
§4.5. Notes interviews: language use
A summary of the interviews which includes quotes can be found in Appendix D.
46
4.5.1.2. Pupils: Awareness of non Standard language use
During the interviews, it appeared that all of the pupils know what kind of language(s) their
fellow pupils speak. Most of the pupils speak a language related to Arabic (e.g. Moroccan
Arabic or Libyan Arabic), and could describe how this differs from the language other pupils
speak. Victoria for instance, who speaks Arabic and Polish, explains to Fatima that she does
understand her Moroccan speaking classmates sometimes, but is better at understanding what
Sarah says in Libyan Arabic. Sarah too, states that there are similarities in words between
Moroccan Arabic and her own mother tongue, and she is also able to provide examples.
The pupils are also aware of accents other people have and are able to imitate and play
with them. Amina relates to me that she once met a Turkish woman who thought Amina was
also Turkish, and started talking to her in Dutch. Amina uses a Turkish style accent and
intonation to imitate this woman, for example saying “ik weet jij bent Turk” “I know you’re
Turk”. By making short sentences and imitating a rising intonation, she tries to resemble a
Turkish-Dutch person, which Sarah appears to be able to reproduce as well. When I ask Sarah
why she is so well at imitating an accent she tells me “you get used to it you know”, because
many people around her have an accent when speaking Dutch. Ali is also able to indicate
persons who speak with an accent, and talks about people from Northern and Southern
regions of Holland. Likewise, Fatima refers to people from Surinam and tells me how those
people pronounce the ‘w’, and makes long /w:/ sounds to provide an example. Hakima and
Laila on the other hand, use their mothers as example and say they sometimes make fun of
their accents. In return, Laila’s mother jokes about her oldest daughter’s Leiden dialect, which
Laila seems to appreciate as she laughs while telling it.
Most of the pupils think the pronunciation and language use of their fellow classmates
resembles Standard Dutch. When I ask them if they believe the language use of their
classmates indicates that they speak “more than one language”, most of them think this is not
the case. Only when we talk a little bit more about accents, the pupils refer to Fatima who,
according to them, says “jonne” instead of “jongen” (“boy”). Interestingly, all of the pupils
provide this exact same example, hence I assume there has been made a comment or joke in
class about Fatima’s pronunciation by one of the pupils, as the teachers do not appear to know
anything about it. The pupils do not think Fatima’s pronunciation is related to her bilingual
background, but instead to her friendship with another girl at school. Hakima explains to me:
“she was able to say it [referring to the“boy” example] at first, but she often talks with
Souhailla and that’s why she now says it as well”. When I ask Fatima whether she can tell if
any of the pupils is bilingual based on her/his speech, she tells me “I am the only one who
47
speaks a bit weird”. She does not refer to any of the other pupils, but Victoria, who I am
interviewing at the same time, says she can tell Laila and Hakima are Moroccan. She finds it
hard to explain why, and hesitatingly tells me that it may also be because she hears them talk
Moroccan Arabic often. Fatima does not agree with her at all, and contradicts Victoria’s
statement firmly.
Another pupil who is often mentioned by the pupils is Rob, who arrived in the
Netherlands five years ago. The pupils explain to me that he used to pronounce words
incorrect, as he for instance said “teipen” [ei] instead of “typen” [i:] as Damien points out.
They sometimes made fun of him, which Rob did not seem to bother about as long as the
pupils did not “cross a line” because he then “get’s mad, but only a little”.
4.5.1.3. Awareness of own language use
During the first interview, I learned about ‘street language’ which all of the pupils appear to
know and some also speak it outside of their home. ‘Street language’ contains many words
from “Moroccan”, “Surinam” and “Dutch”, Ali, Bakey and Rob explain to me. Damien
relates to me that he adopts words from other children, which appears to be a characteristic of
street language “for example, someone comes from a different country or different area and
then he asks ‘what’s that? and then he explains what it is and then it spreads throughout
Leiden that way”. It appears that the reason for speaking street language is to “be tough”
according to Rob, who himself “does not want to be tough” but he also does not like to be
“laughed at” for not understanding what others are saying “when he is outside with his
friends”.
Inside of the classroom, pupils also adopt words of others as Victoria explains to me;
when a pupil says a ‘new’ word it is repeated by others and then “it gets into the heads of
others too”. She tells me these words are mainly Moroccan swear words, which Fatima
confirms. The pupils also seem to influence each others’ speech when it comes to the use of
definite and demonstrative determiners, as they indicate to be at loss sometimes with the
Standard usage of these items. Most of the children tell me they will turn to the teacher when
they are confused about these linguistic items, and do not know which one to use. However,
when I pose more questions, the pupils relate they actually “just choose one” or make a
decision based on “what fits” or “sounds right”. Rob also notes that he listens to what other
pupils say and then just “repeats” what they say, even when it “sounds weird”. Most of them
are aware that they sometimes use definite and demonstrative determiners in a non-Standard
way. It appears that the pupils think the teachers rarely correct their language use and some
48
regret this.
4.5.2. Teachers: views on the language use of pupils
Both teachers indicate that they correct the language use of pupils when they consider it to be
ungrammatical. They tell me that many pupils have “problems” using ‘de’ and ‘het’ correctly,
which they feel is a consequence of the language deficit (“achterstand”) many pupils have.
The teachers tell me that pupils rarely ask them which definite determiner they should use, as
many think they “know it, but then it often goes wrong” according to Richard. Monique tells
me pupils frequently make “mistakes” in the usage of demonstrative determiners, and she
jokingly says that “after a while, you end up doing it yourself that way too, I swear.”
The teachers fall silent when I ask them if they can categorise any of the pupils as
bilingual based on her/his language use. Only when I share my findings, they refer to Fatima
who, according to Monique, is “sloppy (“slordig”) in her language use”. Richard mentions
that he does not believe the pupils have a non-Standard intonation, but he does notice that
pupils use grammar items, such as demonstrative determiners, in an “incorrect way”. Monique
recalls that several pupils with a Moroccan background of a previous 8th grade class had an
obvious “accent”, especially when using the /s/ sound. She discussed this pronunciation with
the pupils and told them “it’s ok to have an accent, but you should not exaggerate”.
“Fortunately”, Monique says “this group isn’t that extreme” and therefore she has not
discussed the language use of the pupils in class. Richard on the other hand, tells me that he
has mentioned to the pupils that they have to work a bit harder because they “do have a
certain language deficit” which “may be a bit of a handicap to them.”
Overall, the teachers do not employ specific strategies to diminish the language deficit
they notice, besides the usual language assignments. Monique mentions that the teachers have
decided to always combine nouns with a definite determiner when writing on the digital white
board. Other than that, there is no specific teaching method applied.
49
Chapter 5
Discussion of research findings and concluding remarks
In this section, I will elaborate on my research findings by addressing the research questions
as formulated in paragraph 1.2. In order to explain my results, I will refer to the theories and
research findings outlined in chapter 2. The two themes of my research, the linguistic
elements used by the pupils (I) and the social interactions they engage in (II), will be
connected. Special attention will be paid to the construction of social identity trough language
use, as this is of importance in order to provide possible explanations for the non-Standard
elements apparent in the speech of some of the pupils. In the concluding remarks, I will
reflect on my research methods and findings, and I will provide suggestions for further
research.
§5.1. Discussion: Usage of Non-Standard Linguistic Elements
It appears that the language use of some of the pupils displays a pattern of overgeneralization
of ‘die’. By this I mean by that, (i) some pupils appear to use ‘die’ instead of a definite
determiner (‘de’ or ‘het’), and apply ‘die’ as a definite determiner (see table 3A). In addition,
(ii) there seems to be an inclination among several pupils to use ‘die’ as a demonstrative
determiner, which is targetlike, in combination with neuter nouns (non-Standard use; see table
3D). In the former case (i), it appears that a small number of pupils use ‘die’ as a third
definite determiner. That is to say, they replace the definite determiners ‘de’ or ‘het’ by ‘die’.
Interestingly, this kind of usage occurs more often in combination with common nouns than
with neuter nouns, which may indicate that the pupils are aware of the Standard combination
‘die’ (demonstrative determiner) + common noun and apply this to the usage of ‘die’ as a
definite determiner as well. However, the more frequent use of ‘definite determiner’ ‘die’ in
combination with common nouns may be due to the fact that these nouns occur more often in
Dutch (Van Berkum, 1996: 11). Examples 9 and 10 of chapter 3 show that the use of ‘die’ as
a definite determiner happens in combination with nouns of which the meaning is known to
the pupils. The words, such as “book”, “blackboard” and “cabin” can be heard daily in
lectures of the teacher, as well as in conversations between pupils. Therefore, it is likely that
the pupils have come across all of the nouns enlisted in examples 9 and 10 in combination
with Standard Dutch usage of definite determiners, as, for instance in the language use of the
teacher or in their exercise book.
50
Overall, there seems to be a preference for the use of common determiners, as the
definite determiner ‘de’ is used more frequently than ‘het’ (see table 3E). This appears to be
in line with Cornips and Hulk’s (2006) findings that bilingual children of ethnic minority
groups between the age of 9; 3 and 10;5 show an overgeneralization of ‘de’ and do not appear
to progress in the acquisition of targetlike usage of ‘het’. The pupils observed in this research
are between the ages of 11 and 13, hence it is highly probable that the findings of Cornips and
Hulk (2006) are applicable on the language use of the pupils. It should be noted that when the
pupils use definite determiner ‘het’, this often occurs in a Standardlike way.
The usage of ‘die’ as a definite determiner is not perceivable in the text I have
analysed of each pupils. Some of the pupils use definite determiners in a non-Standard way,
as they overgeneralize ‘de’, which also occurs also in oral language use. It appears that Laila
and Hakima, who often use grammatical gender in a non-Standard way, make targetlike
definite determiner + noun combination. However, in the interviews I conducted, all of the
pupils explained to me that they are confused sometimes as to which definite determiner they
should use (see 4.5.1.3). I have only analysed one text of each pupil, which means I can only
give an indication whether certain patterns that occur in oral speech also occur in written
language use. It remains remarkable that the use of ‘die’ as definite determiner does not occur
in the writings of the pupils.
When looking at the individual oral language use of the pupils, it appears that there is
a small group of pupils who often use grammatical gender in a non-Standard way. Laila
(Moroccan-Dutch), Fatima (Moroccan-Dutch), Hakima (Moroccan-Dutch), Damien
(Surinam-Dutch) and Bakey (Eritrean-Dutch) can be frequently found to employ grammatical
gender of determiners in a non-Standard way. By contrast, Amina (Moroccan-Dutch),
Victoria (Sudanese-Polish-Dutch) and Brayen (Surinam-Dutch) rarely employ this kind of
language use. As can be seen right away, it is not possible to relate the non-Standard usage of
grammatical gender to a specific ethnic and/or linguistic background. This is also emphasised
by the constructionist theory, which states that identity is constructing within (linguistic)
interactions and does not function as a stimulus of someone’s language use (Bucholtz and
Hall, 2005). It may seem like this is the case, as there are more Moroccan-Dutch pupils who
overgeneralize ‘die’, but this can be explained by the fact that the majority of pupils (five out
of eleven) has a Moroccan-Dutch background. Moreover, the figures are based on the
utterances of the pupils in the classroom, so those pupils who speak more often than others or
get the chance to speak regularly are more likely to occupy a high position in the tables of
51
chapter 3. This is especially the case for Laila, who frequently gets to answer questions posed
by the teacher and additionally, often chats with fellow pupils.
Those pupils who display non-targetlike use of grammatical gender in determiners, are
also the ones who employ a non-Standard pronunciation. Laila, Fatima and Hakima can be
observed to have a stronger pronunciation of /z/ and /x/ sounds, which is in congruence with
Dorleijn and Nortier’s (2006: 1) findings of Moroccan-Dutch teenagers. They (ibid.) also
refer to a /ə/ sound which is sometimes deleted, or less obviously pronounced, and this is
indeed perceivable in the pronunciation of Laila, Fatima and Hakima.
§5.2. Discussion: Language use and Social Interaction
The pupils interact with each other often inside of the classroom, although the boys seem to
prefer to interact with fellow male pupils and the girls with fellow female pupils. Outside of
the classroom, this becomes even more visible, the boys and girls form separate groups during
the break. All of the pupils indicate that they interact with each other regardless of someone’s
linguistic or cultural background, and my observations confirm this. Some of the pupils seem
to be aware of the speech of other pupils, like Laila who sometimes corrects non-Standard
usage of pupils. Several pupils are able to imitate accents (e.g. Amina doing a ‘TurkishDutch’ accent, see section 4.5.1.2.) when I ask them about it, but most of them do not feel that
the speech of their fellow pupils signals their bilingual background.
The social ties between the pupils and the positive attitude towards each other may
indicate that language adoption takes place, as pointed out by Vermeij (2006). Based on my
findings, it appears that some of the pupils display similar language use in terms of
pronunciation and determiner usage. This is the case for Laila, Hakima and Fatima (all
Moroccan-Dutch), who regard each other as friends and often group together. Interestingly,
Amina (Moroccan-Dutch) and Sarah (Libyan-Dutch) are also part of this group, but their
speech contains less non-Standard linguistic elements. The boys do not appear to take over
non-Standard pronunciation or usage of ‘die’, but they do relate that they speak ‘street
language’ with each other outside of school, which appears to signal that they belong to a
group of youth who speak ‘street language’ (see section 4.5.1.3). Moreover, most of the pupils
seem to use the phrase “zo’n” (see section 4.3.9.), which may be a sign of language adoption.
However, I have not recorded the language use of pupils during interactions, which means I
can only give a general account of the pupils’ speech and can only give examples of cases in
which language adoption may occur.
Overall, the language use of the pupils as described in my research, seems to be
52
similar when they are speaking to the teacher or to fellow pupils. The examples provided in
chapter 3, for instance, show that the usage of ‘die’ as a definite determiner occurs both in
interaction with the teacher and in conversations with fellow pupils. The correction incidences
of Laila appear to only occur in situations in which both the pupils and the teacher can hear it,
but I may have been unable to note the cases in which Laila corrected a pupil during a one-toone conversation.
During my observation, I have tried to investigate how the construction of identity
takes place within interactions and in what way language is used to construct this identity.
Based on my findings, it appears that pupils take on different social roles within an
interaction, and may employ Standard or non-Standard language to construct their identity.
However, the large number of pupils I was observing prevented me from focusing extensively
on the temporary social roles of pupils in interactions. Additionally, I believe that in a
controlled setting like a classroom situation, it may be more complex to investigate these
social roles.
§5.3. Concluding remarks
The aim of this research is to gain an insight into the language use of bilingual speakers in a
classroom setting. It appears that the language use of some of the bilingual pupils I have
observed varies slightly from Standard Dutch. These non-Standard elements are only a small
part of the speech pattern of these pupils, and the overall language use appears to be
targetlike. As described in my research, there appears to be an overgeneralization of ‘die’, as
this element is sometimes used instead of a definite determiner. Based on my research
observations, I cannot provide definite explanations for this occurrence, as I have conducted
participant observation for only two weeks. Additionally, I do not have exact information on
the quantity and quality of the Dutch language input received by the pupils on a daily basis.
Therefore, I can only indicate possible explanations for the overgeneralization of ‘die’, but I
lack information to indicate definite reasons. It might be that the pupils have not yet acquired
a Standardlike level of grammatical gender usage, which would explain why the pupils relate
to me that they are often confused about Standard usage of definite determiners. Additionally,
it could be that language interference and fossilization of targetlike use of grammatical gender
are possible explanations, a possibility which is also explored by Cornips and Hulk (2006,
2008). These researchers indicate that Moroccan-Dutch children may benefit from their
ability to speak Moroccan-Arabic/Berber, as these languages also contain grammatical gender
(Cornips and Hulk, 2008: 290).
53
Moreover, research by Cornips (2002, 2008), Cornips and Hulk (2006, 2008) and
Nortier and Darleijn (2006) indicates that the use of non-Standard speech of bilingual youth
of ethnic minority groups may be used as a marker of their social identity. Hence the
fossilization process may be partially explained by social reasons, instead of solely linguistic
or cognitive ones. Consequently, the non-Standard speech patterns displayed by some of the
pupils may be related to the way they construct their identity through language use. My
research indicates that bilingual speakers with a similar ethnic and linguistic background (e.g.
Moroccan-Dutch) may differ in terms of pronunciation and use of grammatical gender. This
finding supports the notion that the relation between ethnicity and language use is not given,
as outlined by the constructionist theory (see section 2.1.).
This particular topic about the way language use facilitates the construction of social
identity could be further explored in future research, in which children are followed for a
longer period of time. It would be useful if such a longitudinal investigation would
concentrate on the speech pattern of children in both controlled (e.g. school setting) and
uncontrolled (e.g. playground) situations. In addition, I would recommend the use of
microphones and recorders to record the language use of the speakers, in order to connect this
to the social interaction the subject engages in. In my opinion, qualitative research should be
preferred over quantitative research methods, as the former provides a better understanding of
the way language is employed in interaction. Future research may concentrate on the way
identity is constructed through interaction, by focussing on the temporary roles a person
displays and on the ways language use facilitates identity construction. Like large social
categories (e.g. ethnicity), social roles should not be though of as the stimulus for certain
language use, but they should be regarded as the result of linguistic interactions. This way of
thinking would be useful in order to gain a deeper understanding of the speech patterns of
bilingual speakers.
54
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Appendix A
Description of field work and participants
§A.1. Description of individual actors
In the following paragraphs, the actors present in the classroom will be introduced and
described, categorised as teachers, pupils and the researcher. The description of the eleven
pupils of the 8th grade is based on my own observations, while the information about their
cultural and linguistic background is based on what the pupils have told me. I have also
spoken to Olga, the intern mentor of the school, who documents the school records of the
pupils. She provided me with information about the linguistic background of the pupils’
parents and told me whether the children have brothers and sisters. Olga explained to me that
most of the children score below average on national school tests in reading and vocabulary,
although they show improvement over the years. According to teacher Richard, this may be a
result of an insufficient teacher the children had in their 6th year. I have not used these test
results in my research, and will not elaborate on the individual school level of the pupils.
§A.2. Pupils
A.2.1. Ali (age: 12)
Wearing a Feyenoord scarf and a sweatshirt with 'Morocco' on it, Ali displays his support of
the Rotterdam soccer team and his cultural background simultaneously. Ali seems to be
concerned with the results of his favourite team and discusses them with the other boys, who
do not appear to be Feyenoord fans and sometimes tease him about this. Ali defends his
soccer team without getting hugely upset.
During class, Ali raises his hand often when the teacher asks a general question, but
when no attention is paid to him, he seems to loose his interest and starts staring out of the
window. Ali's desk is separated from that of other pupil's, as the teacher feels Ali cannot
concentrate on his schoolwork when he sits close to fellow pupils. This position does not
prevent Ali from making eye contact with the other boys, especially Bakey. Ali has written on
the Friendship questionnaire that Bakey is a friend of him, because he is funny and joins the
same soccer team. Ali does not talk to the girls often, which he has also noted on the
Friendship questionnaire. His concentration is sometimes low, especially when he has to do
assignments individually, and although he keeps silent, he starts observing the classroom
without continuing his work. He is sometimes allowed to sit opposite Bakey, next to the
teacher's desk.
57
Ali has told me that his father is born in Morocco and came to The Netherlands at the
age of nine. Ali's Moroccan mother moved to The Netherlands when she married Ali's father.
Ali has older (step) brothers and sisters who also grew up in Leiden. During the interview, Ali
says he speaks Arabic at home, but later on he explains that he talks Moroccan12 with his
mum, who speaks little Dutch, and sometimes he speaks Dutch with his father. He quit Arabic
lessons, because he found them boring.
A.2.2. Amina (11)
Like Ali, Amina's desk is separated from the other pupils', but she often walks to the girls,
except for Victoria, to ask them questions about assignments. Often, she talks to them for a bit
or starts helping them too, but never turns to one of the boys for assistance. This is also
reflected in her Friendship questionnaire, as she states that she does not enjoy being around
the boys of her class. She views all of the fellow girls as friends, but does not meet them after
class.
Amina is eager to help fellow pupils, for instance when Ali drops his pencil, she gets it
for him and she lends her mathematics stencil to Fatima. Amina jokes with teacher Richard
and often sneaks to the empty desk next to Sarah's table, which she is allowed to use at certain
moments, for instance when the teacher is giving an explanation. Amina enjoys sitting in a
group and chatting to the other girls.
Both of Amina's parents have a Moroccan background and she tells me they speak
mainly Moroccan at home, although she speaks Dutch with her mother as well. Her mum
speaks Dutch fluently and helps her with Dutch sayings and phrases. Amina has an older
sister and brother, and a younger sister.
A.2.3. Sarah (13)
Sarah seems to be a diligent pupil, as she is always paying close attention to what the teacher
is saying and finishes her assignments quickly. She once forgot to prepare for a geography
exam and blushed when the teacher informed her about her low score; she promised him right
away to do better next time. Sarah often discusses assignments with her neighbours, Laila and
Victiora, and helps other girls when they have questions. Sarah is eager to ask the teacher for
an explanation, and frequently raises her hand when something is unclear to her.
All of the children with a Moroccan descent told me they speak ‘Moroccan’ at home, which is not the same as
Berber they explained. I presume they mean Moroccan Arabic, but I will use Moroccan to indicate their
linguistic background as I want to keep close to the information the pupils related to me.
12
58
Sarah's parents are born in Libya and speak little Dutch, therefore they speak Arabic to
Sarah and her younger brother and sister.
A.2.4. Laila (12)
Laila's presence is quite noticeable in class, as she often gets to say the answer to a question
posed by the teacher and additionally, she often comments on the behaviour of her fellow
pupils. She sometimes corrects their language use and intervenes in discussions among pupils.
Fatima, for example, once related a story about an extremely rich neighbour of hers, which
Laila did not believe as she argued rich people do not wish to live in the flats Fatima was
talking about. Laila seems not afraid of stating her opinion, as she for instance jokingly told
teacher Richard to get a pair of glasses, when he failed to see that she scored during baseball.
Like Sarah, Laila works hard in class and in addition, is much concerned about her results.
She frequently asks teacher Richard whether he has corrected her test as she is aiming at a
high mark, stating that she would like to take a resit when her mark is low. She states on the
Friendship questionnaire that she likes all of the girls in class, but does not view Victoria as a
friend. She rarely meets the girls outside of class.
Laila's parents are Moroccan and according to Laila, they are not strict as it comes to
her upbringing and marriage choice in comparison with her female friends. Her parents are
divorced, and she speaks Dutch and Moroccan to her father and mainly Moroccan with her
mother. Her older brother and sister speak mostly Dutch to her and Laila tells me they correct
her language use.
A.2.5. Victoria (11)
At first glance, Victoria seems to be a bit of a shy and quite person who is an outsider to the
girls’ group. The other girls group together, but do not actively involve Victoria and she does
not take lead in approaching others. She is often working on her own and listens to what the
other girls are saying to each other. After observing Victoria for a little while, it turns out she
is a talkative and spontaneous girl who does state her opinion when she feels like doing so.
She frequently raises her hand when the teacher asks a question, and when she gets a turn she
appears to be an eloquent person who is eager to give the right answer. When the teacher
disagrees with her answer, she does not hesitate to elaborate on her thoughts. Victoria seems
to have an analytical mind as she described herself as being a shy and frightened girl before,
but now has confidence to express her thoughts.
Victoria states on the Friendship questionnaire that she gets a long with all of the girls,
59
and regards Sarah as a friend because they “often have the same opinion about things”. She
does not enjoy being with the boys and rarely sees any of the pupils after school. Victoria's
mother is Polish and her father Sudanese, and they both speak in their mother tongue to their
two daughters. Her younger sister and she sometimes talk in Dutch.
A.2.6. Bakey (12)
Bakey sits close to Rob and seems to joke often with him. He sometimes experiences
difficulty doing assignments, as he gets distracted when other pupils talk or walk through the
classroom. Like the other boys, Bakey enjoys playing soccer and has written on the
Friendship questionnaire that Damien, Rob, Ali and Brayen are his friends since they often
play together after school. He also appreciates other qualities in his friends as he describes
Brayen as “mostly kind and sweet” and Damien as “kind and generous.” Bakey sometimes
walks up to them during class and asks them questions about assignments or just chats with
them.
Bakey's parents are born in Eritrea and they speak Arabic with their children, in which
Bakey also takes lessons every Saturday for three hours. Bakey has a younger brother.
A.2.7. Rob (13)
Rob is sitting next to the teacher's desk, and has to turn around to see the other pupils. As a
result, he is frequently sitting half way turned on his chair, joking and talking to his fellow
classmates. Rob is eager to answer questions of the teacher, but sometimes he forgets what he
wanted to say or is lost for words, and hesitates to continue answering the question. Rob
rarely gets up from his chair to go to other students, but he does interact with both boys and
girls from a sitting position.
Rob is talented at baseball and easily throws the ball far away, which he knows and
jokes about to the other pupils: “you better start running before I throw the ball” he once
shouted at them. During physical training, he comments on the behaviour of fellow pupils and
tells them where to stand and what to do. He is a member of the same soccer club as Bakey
and Ali, but proudly declared he plays at a higher level.
Five years ago, Rob came to The Netherlands with his family as refugees from their
home country Sierra Leone. Rob told me he speaks Krio language, a mixture of English and
African languages, and a local Sierra Leone language at home of which he could not give me
the name. His older sister speaks Dutch fluently.
60
A.2.8. Hakima (12)
Hakima is a diligent pupil who is concentrated on her assignments and listens carefully to
what the teacher is saying. She frequently raises her hand when the teacher asks a question
and also asks questions when she wants to know more about a particular subject. Hakima
talks to both boys and girls, but only regards some of the girls as her friends; Laila, Amina
and her neighbour Fatima. She seems to be constantly aware of what is happening in the
classroom and is curious about the doings of others. For example, when Victoria talks to the
teacher, she wants to know what they are talking about and asks Victoria about it. She
sometimes displays bold behaviour towards the teacher, for instance when he comments on
the way she throws books on the desks of other pupils and she replies that he sometimes does
the same.
During physical class, Hakima enjoys playing baseball and is well at pitching. She
knows this and tells the others what to do or how to throw the ball at her, and mocks them
when they fail to do it correctly. Hakima and Fatima are often chatting with each other, but if
Hakima needs help with doing an assignment she turns to Laila and Sarah.
Hakima's parents are Moroccan and they speak mainly Moroccan at home. Hakima
attends Arabic courses on Saturdays, and has brothers and sisters.
A.2.9. Fatima (12)
Fatima sits next to Hakima and often talks to her while making assignments. Fatima is silent
during lectures, and sometimes raises her hand to answer a question. She frequently tells
Brayen to get her bag for her (which lays behind Brayen), and asks this in a demanding
manner. Fatima often shares stories she in a loud voice with other pupils, which are for
example about fancy trips she made or presents she has got. She once told a story about how
she threw plates of the balcony, when her mum told her to do the dishes and she did not feel
like it. The other students are not always impressed by these stories, but Fatima nevertheless
repeats them or tells other ones.
The teacher often comments on Fatima’s behaviour, which she listens to but seems to
forget shortly afterwards. Fatima regards Hakima, Laila and Amina as her friends, because
she likes them and thinks the first two are funny. She wrote on the Friendship questionnaire
that she equally enjoys interacting with boys and girls.
Fatima's parents are Moroccan and she tells me they speak Dutch at home, especially
with her brothers and sisters, but sometimes Moroccan. According to the teachers, her parents
speak mainly Moroccan and little Dutch. Fatima attends Arabic classes on Saturday, which
61
she finds “useless” as she “learns nothing.”
A.2.10. Damien (12)
Damien enjoys helping the teacher and is eager to find things he can do. He comes up with
chores, and then proposes to the teacher to perform them. He for instances hands out
assignments to the pupils, returns a book to another teacher and writes the current date on the
mini-whiteboard. During physical training, Damien gathers all the materials needed for games
(e.g. baseball) and makes sure everything is ready, before he calls the teacher to inform him
they can begin.
Damien is befriended with Brayen, who sits next to him, and they often talk with each
other about soccer or assignments. Both Damien and Brayen have sometimes difficulty
concentrating on their assignments or listening to the teacher's lecture, and then help each
other with the information they missed out on. Damien for instance forgot what he was
supposed to do during a mathematics task and asked Brayen for assistance. Damien is silent
when the teacher is lecturing, but does not raise his hand often when the teacher asks a
question. He often walks through the classroom, sometimes waving his arms or making
rhythmic dance moves. During these walks, he observes the other pupils and looks over their
shoulder to see what they are doing. He likes to make jokes or comments about others, and
sometimes shouts through the classroom to address students on the other side of the room.
Damien's parents are born in Surinam and Damien tells me they speak Hindu, which
he understands but does not speak himself. At home, they mainly speak Dutch, which he also
speaks with his older brothers and sisters.
A.2.11. Brayen (13)
Like Damien, Brayen makes an effort to concentrate on his assignments and the lectures of
the teacher, but sometimes misses out on the information which is provided by the teacher. He
is silent when the teacher is lecturing, and raises his hand frequently to answer questions.
Brayen often jokes with the other boys and comments on Damien behaviour in a joking way.
Damien for instance, walked up to the teacher and accidentally dropped his book, on which
Brayen commented by saying: “it's heavy, isn't it?”. Brayen states on the Friendship
questionnaire that he and Damien are friends, because they “both support Ajax”. He is enjoys
the company of Bakey and Damien, but likes all of the boys. He does not enjoy interacting
with his fellow female pupils he states on the questionnaire. He does however, talk with them
and always responds to Fatima's demand to get her bag, which lays behind him.
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Brayen meets all of the boys after school to play football or hang out with. His parents
are from Surinam and he speaks Dutch and Hindu at home. He has two younger and two older
brothers and sisters.
§A.3. Teachers
The pupils of the 8th grade have several teachers during the week, of which teacher Richard
and teacher Monique are the ones they see most of the time. Richard teaches four days a week
and has a day off on Wednesdays, which is the only day Monique teaches the 8th grade. On
the Wednesdays I was present, the pupils took a music course for approximately one hour by
teacher Wil and a half hour dance class by Anneke.
Several times a month, the local policeman, Aart, educates the pupils about safety and
violence. Additionally, there are sometimes guest teachers who inform the pupils about
specific topics, such as railway guards who give a presentation about their job. As Monique
and Richard are the pupils’ main teachers, I will give a personal description of them.
A.3.1. Teacher: Richard
Richard has been working as a teacher in the area of Leiden for a long time and has a
preference for teaching the highest grades of the primary school. He has a particular interest
in history and lectures the pupils about historical events, such as the Second World War,
several times a week. Richard likes to joke with some of the pupils, but as one of the pupils
related during an interview “he takes into account which pupils can handle his jokes.” Richard
has authority over his class and comments on behaviour of pupils when he finds it to be
inappropriate. Most of the time, it is silent in the classroom, especially when the pupils are
working on their assignments.
Richard talks for a considerable amount of time, but interrupts his lectures regularly to
ask pupils questions about definitions of words or to test whether they have remembered
information he has given before. Some pupils have indicated to me that they think Richard’s
lectures are too long and they sometimes get bored or experience difficulty concentrating.
Although Richard often involves the pupils in his lectures by asking questions, the children do
not get to talk for long periods of time and they also do not get assignments which actively
stimulate them to talk or discuss with each other. The children are allowed to ask each other
questions when they are working by themselves, even when this means they have to walk to a
fellow pupil.
After class or during the break, I have often talked with Richard about the pupils and
63
noticed that he talks about them with great enthusiasm. He related funny remarks they made
or told whether they had done their homework well. Richard was able to describe the pupils
and to provide information about their parents, brothers, sisters and their cultural background.
During the period I have observed Richard’s lessons, I have not gained the impression that he
gives special attention to the language use of his pupils. He rarely comments on their
utterances and I have only noticed him correct a pupil once.
A.3.2. Teacher: Monique
Monique teaches the pupils every Wednesday for nearly four hours, as Richard has a day off.
Like Richard, she is enthusiastic about the pupils and knows background information about
their social situation. She walks through the class or sits on the table while lecturing the
children, and makes frequent use of the digital black board. Monique has authority over the
class as the children are silent when she wants them to be, and comments on behaviour she
does not agree with. Besides lecturing and giving assignments to the pupils, Monique’s
lessons are full of creativity; she lets the pupils draw and paint, and interrupts her classes by
letting the children play scissors, paper, rock. Monique tells me she finds it important to let
the children work in groups or interact with each other, and puts this into practise by using a
teaching method called cooperative learning. Monique often asks questions and walks around
the classroom to help children when needed.
§A.4. Researcher
A.4.1. Introduced as teacher in training
My presence is announced by the teacher a couple of days before I enter the classroom, so the
children know beforehand that I will spend some time with them. Mister Richard introduces
me as a teacher in training, miss Myra, who will observe the class for a couple of weeks.
None of the children asks a question. Immediately after this introduction, the pupils have
physical training and head to the sports centre, a five minute walk from the school building. I
walk behind the group, and Laila comes up to me and asks me for how long I am going to
stay. She also tells me her name, and then joins the other girls again. The other children keep
on talking with each other and ignore me. I start talking to Victoria for some time, but when
we reach the sports building we stop our conversation. For the rest of the day, none of the
children starts talking to me or asks a question.
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A.4.2. Relation researcher and pupils
Before my observation period started, I discussed with Richard how I will be introduced to
the pupils and we agreed that I should be presented as a teacher in training, who will be sitting
in the classroom without actively helping pupils. My intention was to avoid establishing a
teacher pupil relation with the children, as I wanted to be able to observe natural speech and
to have as little influence as possible on the behaviour of the pupils. The very first morning of
my observation, Richard sent pupils to me to explain an assignment to them. This was the
only time he did so, and none of the children got used to it. Only Brayen asked me about an
assignment twice, and Hakima came up to me once when the teacher send her away saying
she was not allowed to ask questions at that particular moment. I have helped these pupils in
those instances, but I have never actively assisted any of the pupils.
Although my presence was obvious to the pupils, my passive attitude made them less
aware of me as they rarely looked my way. Additionally, I was sitting in the back of the
classroom, so none of the pupils could see me when looking at the teacher. Only Hakima, who
was sitting close to me, has been keeping an eye on me throughout my two weeks observation
period. She for instance looked at me when a comic clip was showed on youtube, to see
whether I was laughing too. One time, she was handing out books and gave me one as well.
Her neighbour Fatima, on the other hand, was less aware of my presence, possibly because
she could not see me as I was sitting right behind her. But even when I was ‘visible’ for her,
she ignored me for instance when she threw a piece of paper on the ground when walking
with the other girls to the school building. Hakima turned around and looked at me to see my
reaction, but Fatima and the other girls ignored both me and Fatima’s action. I have not
commented on her behaviour at that particular moment or on the behaviour of any of the
pupils during my observation period. Consequently, I have noticed the pupils’ behaviour
become slightly bolder towards each other when the teacher is not present in the classroom.
They for instance chase after each other inside the classroom and are louder when speaking to
one another. Based on these observations, I assume my influence on the language use and
social behaviour of the pupils has been little.
Nevertheless, I was not invisible as a researcher and although the pupils did not
address me as a teacher, it appears they did view me that way. Laila for instance asked
Richard why he did not send “the other teacher” [meaning the researcher] to tell the girls to
get out of the dressing room after physical training. During physical training, I was sitting
next to the teacher, which made my presence more noticeable. Perhaps this explains why
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Laila turned to me when the teacher failed to see her score during a ball game; she wanted me
to prove she did. Other than that, the pupils rarely addressed me, and even did not greet me.
A.4.3. Announcement about research
After I had finished my observation period, I told the pupils about my research and explained
to them I had been making notes about their language use. I related that I find it a great
accomplishment of them that they speak more than one language, and that I am interested in
their bilingualism. I explicitly mentioned that the research I am doing is anonymous, and I
asked them whether they knew what this meant, which they all did. I continued my talk by
saying that I would like to interview them, and asked them whether they had any questions.
Many raised their hand, and for instances wanted to know what I am studying and what kind
of university I attend. Fatima wanted to know whether the other teachers in training at the
primary school are actually researchers in disguise as well. The others laughed and I
explained that I was an exception. During the interviews, I asked the pupils whether they
knew I had been observing them instead of the teaching methods of the teacher, and Fatima
and Laila said they found it odd that I was making so many notes. Victoria said she though I
probably wanted to be a really good teacher, since I was writing a lot.
After the observation period, I have given extra lessons to Amina, Victoria and Rob
once a week for about three months.
§A.5. Description of research site
This section provides a description of the school and classroom at which I have conducted my
research. A description of the school day scheme of the pupils is included, in order to give an
overview of their school activities.
A.5.1. Description of school
The primary school I have contacted for my research is located in Leiden and is situated in the
middle of a multicultural neighbourhood. The school was build in 1946 and has three stores, a
playground and an auditorium. The nursery section is situated in a separate building, on the
other side of the playground. The school hosts about hundred thirty children of approximately
twelve different nationalities, of which Dutch children with a single nationality are a minority
group. Pupil Victoria states that “we kinda have a bit of a multicultural school” and Ali says
that “nearly all of the people who attend this school are actually foreigners.” Teacher
Monique describes the school as “colourful”, rather than the colloquial term ‘black school’,
66
which is often used in the media. There are about twenty teachers working at the primary
school, who are often working on a part-time basis. In contrast to the pupils, most of the
schoolteachers have a solely Dutch background and have only Dutch as their mother tongue.
A.5.2. Description of classroom
The classroom of the 8th grade, the class I have observed, is situated at the top level of the
school building. There are a total of twenty two desks, but only eleven pupils hence half of the
tables are empty (see also appendix B for an overview of the classroom). To the left and right
side of the pupils, there are large windows with curtains and there is a sink in the back corner
of the room. The teacher sits in front of a digital white board, and has a group of six desks in
front of him, which is occupied by four pupils. There is another group of six tables, which is
also used by four pupils. Two pupils are sitting next to the window, while one sits next to the
teacher. All of the pupils face the teacher, and most of them can view the other pupils as well.
The room is light because of the large windows and although there is a busy road close to the
school, it is quiet in the classroom.
There are three cabins in the classroom, which are filled with books and other
materials for the pupils. The teacher has a computer in the corner of the classroom, which she
needs to use the digital white board. Behind the teacher, a pile of dictionaries is placed on a
table. There are plenty of plants in the window stills and several posters about the Second
World War are hanging on the wall.
A.5.3. Description of school day scheme
The following description provides an insight into the daily school activities of the pupils
during my observation period.
Every morning at 08.25 a.m., the teacher awaits the pupils downstairs in the hallway and
waits until everyone has taken off his/her jacket. The pupils then go upstairs, enter the
classroom and throw their bags underneath a table next to the door. Everyone talks to each
other, goes to his/her own desk, takes the chair of the table and takes a seat. The teacher then
starts explaining what they will do in the following hours and starts the lesson by going
through the homework assignments. Richard usually continues his class by giving
mathematics and grammar exercises. On Mondays, the pupils have physical training for about
an hour. At 10.15 a.m., the children have a break and go downstairs to play outside. Fifteen
minutes later, they are called by the teacher and gather again in the hallway to take off their
67
jackets. They go upstairs when the teacher tells them to and continue their work or read a
book for fifteen minutes, while they are allowed to eat a sandwich or small snack. During
Monique's classes on Wednesdays, the pupils then turn to biology or creative activities, such
as painting. Afterwards they have music lessons and for some period they also receive a dance
training. Richard, on the other hand, has the pupils continue their assignments. At 12.00 a.m.,
the pupils have a one hour break and go home, except for Wednesdays; they then leave at
12.15 a.m. as the school closes in the afternoon. On Tuesday’s, the 6th grade joins the 8th
grade for one hour, and Richard teaches this class geography. The 8th grade pupils change
positions and group together, while the 6th grade pupils take a seat.
At 12.55, the teacher opens the door again and the children gather in the hallway.
After the break, the pupils concentrate on subjects like history, geography or have any other
subject other than mathematics or grammar. On Fridays, the pupils usually have a geography
test in the morning and a special programme in the afternoon, in which they either follow a
dance course by Monique or a genealogy lesson by Richard. At 15.00, the children put their
chair onto their desk, pick up their bags again and go home. Two of the pupils stay to sweep
the classroom floor and tidy up, which they have to do for one week.
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Appendix B
Classroom Map
69
Appendix C
Friendship Questionnaire
Vrienden en Vriendinnen
Naam:………………..
A. Schrijf alle namen van de kinderen uit je klas op. Geef met een nummer aan hoe
graag je met deze persoon omgaat. Gebruik de volgende nummers:
1) ik ga héél graag met deze persoon om
2) ik ga graag met deze persoon om
3) ik ga niet graag met deze persoon om
4) ik ga helemaal niet graag met deze persoon om
Bijvoorbeeld: Katinka (3), Peter (2) …..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………....
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
B. Wie zijn jouw vrienden en/of vriendinnen in de klas? Schrijf achter elke naam waarom
je bevriend bent met diegene.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………
C. Ga je ook na schooltijd om met kinderen uit de klas? Zo ja, met welke leerlingen? Wat
doen jullie?
Bijvoorbeeld: Robbie>voetballen, Naima>afspreken
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………....
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……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
D. Welke taal of talen spreken jullie dan?
……………………………………………………………………………………………..
E. Welke taal of talen spreek je thuis?
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
F. Schrijf 4 namen op van kinderen die niet in de klas zitten, maar waar je wel veel mee
om gaat. Waar ken je hen van?
Bijvoorbeeld: Samira> buurmeisje, Rogier> dansles
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
G. Waarom vind je deze kinderen aardig?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………
H. Schrijf op welke van deze kinderen een aap, pestvogel, konijn of kanjer is.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………….
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Appendix D
Interviews with pupils and teachers
Amina (L) en Sarah (D)
Wat denk je dat ik onderzocht heb?
L hoe we met de meester praten en met elkaar
D hoe je uitspreekt en of je normale woorden gebruikt, hullie enzo
Zijn er mensen in de klas die met een accent praten?
L> nee
D> en faroba die zegt jonen
L> bevestigt dit> zegt dat het komt door een meisje uit groep 7 > jonne
Bij jezelf?
D> hoe ik woorden uitspreek
L> moeilijke woorden
En als je een woord niet weet?
L> dan zegt de meester pak maar een woordenboek
Let de meester op taal?
L> hij corrigeert niet zo snel, laat andere kinderen dat doen
D> Laila let op taal, bijvoorbeeld dat boek of dit boek of andersom
Waarom is het fout om dat boek te zeggen?
D> dat weet ik niet, ik zie de verschil eigenlijk niet
D> de/ het, het en de vind ik hetzelfde…het klinkt hetzelfde
L> je moet kijken naar de zin en hoe het klinkt
L> soms zegt de wel de auto en een auto> kan allebei
D> arabisch thuis, begrijpt sommige woorden Frans
L>arabisch, marokkaans
Arabisch of berber
L> begrijpt geen berber, marokkaans is anders
D> weet wel iets van marokkaans, snapt het een beetje door gelijksoortige woorden met
Arabisch.
05.42
Spreken jullie dat dan ook op school?
L> buiten
D> hmmm, alleen als we echt die woord niet kennen in het Nederlands
L> soms spreek je Nederlands en Marokkaans door elkaar heen
L {spreekt over Nederlands als normaal: normaal zeg je hallo, maar soms vergis ik me}
72
Spreken jullie ouders NL?
L> ja, oma spreekt een heel klein beetje Nederlands
D> nee, m’n moeder spreekt een beetje Nederlands
D&L> doen accent moeder/oma na
L> als je deze onderzoeking hebt gedaan, wat bereik je daar dan mee?
Wat spreken je met vrienden?
D> als ze libisch zijn, praat ik libisch
L> ik spreek makkelijker marokkaans
L> zegt soms iets in het marokkaans zonder dat ze het doorheeft
meester verbetert jullie niet echt?
L> nee hij laat andere verbeteren
D> maar als anderen het niet weten dan doet hij het zelf
L> meester geeft ongeveer 5 beurten, Rob weet soms woorden maar zegt ze niet
D> maar hij gebruikt soms rara woorden
D&L> vertellen dat Rob nog maar 4 jaar hier woont, doen zijn uitspraken na, zeggen dat hij
soms stottert
zijn jullie hier geboren?
L> ja
D> geboren op grens NL-BE
broertjes en zusjes?
D> geen zus wel broertje en zusje
L> wel grotere zus, hier geboren
L> “sommige mensen zeggen, heb ik gelezen bij de telegraaf, die lees ik elke ochtend”…..dat
je niet tegen warmte kan als je in een koud land geboren bent
gaan jullie elk jaar terug?
D> elk jaar 5 keer
L> drie keer per jaar
voel je je nederlands?
D> ik vind eigenlijk dat iedereen hetzelfde is
L> begint verhaal over vader die Arabisch spreekt
D> ik heb geprobeerd Marokkaans te leren, “ik begreep niets van die vraag, weet ik”
L> vertelt dat ze in het vliegtuig naar Marokko een keer naast een Turkse vrouw zat die zeker
wist dat Amina Turks is> doet accent na
jij kan dat accent helemaal na doen?
L> ik weet niet hoe ik daar aan kom
D> ik kwam een man tegen en die begon heel raar te praten, zoals Rob
D&L> praten over een winkeltje in de buurt waar je kan bellen D> “de blaadje”
vanaf 17.50
73
hoe kunnen jullie dat accent zo goed na doen?
D> “je raakt eraan gewend eigenlijk”
L> begint weer over Turkse vrouw “ik weet jij bent Turk”
D> begint ook accent na te doen, van mensen die een shoarma zaak hebben
L> begint hier ook over, doet ook accent na
maar weet je het ook van de kinderen in de klas waar ze vandaan komen?
L> begint alle landen op te noemen waar de kinderen vandaan komen
kan je het ook horen aan hakima en fatima?
D> ja
L> je kan het gewoon zien
maar niet horen?
L> horen?
D> een beetje wel
L> aan het praten, nee dat niet. alleen als ze marokkaans praten
D> jawel ik vind van wel. omdat ze marokkaans zijn horen ze dat niet, maar ik hoor het wel.
ze spreken anders
L> ja ik hoor het ook bij jou, ik zweer. andersss
D> jullie spreken normaal, maar ik vind het anders
andere woorden of andere uitspraak?
D> andere uitspraak. dat merk ik bij alle marokkanen bijna die ik ontmoet
tegen L> ja jij bent toch ook Marokkaan wat moet ik dan zeggen
hoor jij het ook of niet?
L>ik hoor het wel van haar (Sarah)
L> maar bij dinges, hoor ik ook een beetje arabisch bij Alexandra. een heel klein beetje maar
je hoort het wel
D> Alexandra praat een beetje schools
L> als wij praten dan begrijpt ze het wel een beetje
D> maar zij kan niet praten
L> ze kan niet terug praten
L> als ze express over Alexandra praten in het marokkaans, om haar te testen, verstaat ze het
wel
D> als ik op school ben vind ik het lastig om arabisch te praten. als ik thuis ben, ben ik
gewend om arabisch te praten. nu vind ik het moeilijker
L> ik praat met m’n moeder thuis gewoon Marokkaans nederlands, maar met m’n vader
marokkaans
maakt het uit in de klas met wie je omgaat of andere kinderen ook arabisch zijn?
L> nee
D> nee
L> nederlands kunnen we allemaal dus
D> het is best wel grappig als je…
L> ja het is wel beter als je marokkaans kan praten met een ander, want misschien weet hij of
zij dan wel dat woord
74
L> doet verkoper in winkel na die niet weet wat een courgette is in het nederlands. Spreekt
het telkens verkeerd uit.
dus jullie moeten geregeld volwassenen helpen met nederlands?
L>ja
D> ja, maar dat is wel grappig. dan denken ze dat je groot bent
L> ik heb een Nederlandse tante die met een Marokkaanse oom is getrouwd. en als we dan bij
m’n oma zijn dan moet ik alles vertalen; gesprek tussen hen
D> vertalen
L> dan zeg ik: “ik ben geen postuil”
D> ik vind het wel belangrijk dat als je trouwt met iemand die marokkaans is dat je een beetje
marokkaans gaat leren
L> ja maar ze kan nu echt marokkaans, hallo en hoe gaat het enzo
willen jullie nog iets vragen?
D&L> nee
Brayen (R) en Damien (S)
1.50 minuut
ik let op taal, waar denken jullie dan aan?
R& S> hoe je schrijft en later ook gaat schrijven.
wat spreken jullie thuis
R&S> nederlands en hindoestaans
waar komen jullie ouders vandaan
R&S> suriname
Surinaams nl thuis?
S> nee, ik ben hindoe.
zeg je vaker die in Surinaams NL> die brood ipv het brood, klopt dat?
R> ja en ze praten met een accent meestal, kan accent niet nadoen
maar herken je dat van die brood?
S> ja meestal zeg je dat wel
volgens mij zijn er meer dingen, weet je nog iets?
S> het lijkt op NL
kan je het aan andere kinderen id klas horen dat ze nog een taal spreken
R> rob, je hoort dat hij nog niet lang in NL woont
75
R> en Fatima misschien, komt uit marokko
R> ze zegt dingen fout, verkeerd
S> in plaats van jongen zegt ze jonne
wie is nog meer marokkaans?
R> ali
en hoor je het aan hem ook?
S&R> nee
en Laila?
R> ook niet
hakima?
R&S> nee
hebben jullie broers en zussen?
R> 2 oudere, 2 jongere> spreek NL met hen
S> alles ouders> spreekt NL met hen
R&S> met vriendjes spreken ze NL, vriendjes komen uit buitenland
R> sommige uit suriname
R&S> zien elkaar buiten school, spelen voetbal
R&S> meester en juf letten niet op taal
R> maakt niets uit dat ze daar niet op letten
fouten in het NL
R> soms is schrijven wel moeilijk
en soms heb je weleens de en het he?
R> daarmee maak ik ook veel fouten
wat doe je als je het niet weet?
R> volgens mij langer maken
S> soms doe ik de brood of het brood, dan kijk ik wat het beste klinkt
dan luister je gewoon?
S> ja
en als je het dan echt niet weet?
R> dan ga ik naar de meester of ik vraag het iemand uit m’n groepje
S> of als het bij een toets is, dan gok ik gewoon
en hoe spreek je zelf, let je op wat je zegt?
R> ik probeer wel goed te spreken, maar soms verbeteren mensen mij
neem je dingen over van andere kinderen?
R> neemt weleens woorden over, straattaal
76
wat is straattaal?
S> dat is een taal, niet die je op school spreekt maar op straat
S> bijvoorbeeld ewau is hallo, geen marokkaans
R> spreekt je niet met je ouders, mijn ouders spreken NL
S> als m’n moeder wat in het hindoestaans zegt, dan spreek ik in het NL terug.
R> versta het wel, maar kan het niet spreken
09.00 wat leuk van die straattaal, wie bedenkt die woorden?
S> dat gebeurt gewoon. Bijvoorbeeld iemand komt uit een ander land of uit een ander gebied
en dan gaat ie vragen wat is dat? en dan gaat hij weer zeggen wat het is en dan gaat het heel
leiden door daardoor
R> mix van verschillende talen
zijn er ook kinderen die alleen NL spreken die dat doen?
R> ja
S> straattaal is gewoon eigenlijk NL, alleen je zegt het anders
R>en er zitten een paar andere woorden in van een andere taal
S> uitspraak> gewoon hoe je zelf praat
en zitten er ook meisjes in jullie vriendengroep>
R> nee
S> als iemand een meisje tegenkomt, gaan we daar mee praten> tijdens voetbal geen enkel
meisje
en zit er ook leids accent in?
S> kunnen geen r, ik ben hier ook geboren en ik kan ook geen r
R> broertje is ook in leiden geboren
R>kan geen leids na doen
S>kan ook geen leids> ik heb anders leren praten
S> wil gewoon normaal nederlands praten
11.00 maakt het uit hoe iemand praat om er mee om te gaan?
R> nee
S> als we maar verstaan wat ze zeggen [hakkelt, begint een aantal keer overnieuw]
maken jullie ook wel eens grapjes over hoe iemand praat?
S&R> ja
S> bijvoorbeeld Rob, dan staat er typen maar hij zegt teipen. of eh we hadden het in groep 7
over roken en toen zei hij tabak dat is toch een broodje
S> of waterkoker, watterkooker
S> klopt is kloooopt en kauwgom zegt ie gauwgom
doet ie dat nu niet meer?
R> alleen soms af en toen
en de rest?
S&R> nee
S> soms doen we rob wel na
77
en kan je ook een marokkaans of Turks accent?
S> ik kan alleen in het marokkaans hallo zeggen: salam eleikum
willen jullie nog iets vragen?
R> laat je dit ook nog aan andere mensen zien of is dit alleen voor jezelf?
geluidsband alleen voor mezelf, werkstuk voor iedereen
R> wil weten of ik dit ook voor aardrijkskunde of rekenen had kunnen doen
S> vult mijn uitleg aan en geeft aan dat ik uitspraak let
S> u moest er dan 3 maart zijn, want toen moest iedereen een spreekbeurt over zichzelf geven
praten over studenten> troep, doen wat ze willen
Laila (N) en Hakima (S)
N&S> lijken ietwat zenuwachtig, kijken ook wat afwachtend. vooral hakima lijkt wel nerveus
en is erg stil voor haar doen> zachte stem
hadden jullie het door?
N&S> jawel
N> je was veel aan het schrijven
waar zou ik op gelet hebben?
N> hoe we spreken
S> praten
S> of je goed kan uitspreken, of je dingen goed kan zeggen
N> bij mijn thuis wordt heel veel corrigeert, en dus doe ik dat ook op school
wat spreek je thuis?
N> arabisch
berber?
N> nee marokkaans, gewoon arabisch
wat is het verschil?
geen duidelijk antwoord
waar komen je ouders vandaan?
N> eentje uit marakesh en eentje uit silisimen (naast fez), kent u dat? vlakbij agadir
S> ik woon ook in davasta (??) en mn vader komt uit het platteland, noorden
gaan jullie vaak naar marokko
N> elk jaar
S> niet elk jaar, soms andere landen, daar ook familie: Frankrijk, belgie, engeland
N> ik ook, in kerstvakantie naar italie want daar ook familie, Frankrijk, spanje, engeland
wat spreken jullie vooral thuis
78
N> zussen en broers NL, vader en moeder gescheiden, vader soms NL en marokkaans,
moeder marokkaans
S> soms NL, moeder marokkaans, vader soms NL
kan je heel goed marokkaans?
S> ja, Marokkaanse les
ben je weleens in de war tussen taal?
S> soms paar woorden NL in Marokkaanse zin en andersom
N> niet, soms in een zin een beetje NL en een beetje marokkaans
let je er erg op?
N> op school praat ik gewoon NL, dan raak ik er niet in de war mee, maar als ik met m’n
moeder praat dan wel
let de meester in de klas op hoe kinderen praten?
S> soms, niet vaak. juf wel soms
N> bijvoorbeeld hunnie kan niet
nog andere dingen waar ze op let?
N> nee, schrijven soms
als je iets niet weet, bijv lidw. wat doe je dan?
N> m’n zus, doet uni
S> ga naar m’n vader, die heeft ook veel d
stel zijn er allebei niet?
N> internet
stel dat is er ook niet? staat in het bos…
N> “dan denk ik aan ’t taalblad die hebben we gekregen van de meester” daar staat op hoe het
moet. dan ga ik nadenken
S> dan ga ik gokken.
let je ook op hoe andere kinderen praten?
S> ja
verbeter je ze ook?
S> ja
N> sommige vinden mij een beetje irritant
S> zijn we aan het praten, gaat ze ineens zeggen dat moet je zo niet zeggen
praten jullie onderlinge ook marokkaans?
S> soms
kunnen jullie een accent herkennen, herkomst persoon?
S> soms wel ja. m’n moeder praat een beetje raar, anders. ze heeft een raar accent, niet
nederlands.
doe je het wel eens na?
S> ja als we grapjes zitten te maken over onze moeders
79
N> m’n zus praat heel leids, soms gaat m’n moeder haar na praten, heel grappig
wat is leids?
N> r
S> zeuve ofzo
iemand in de klas, waar je het aan hoort?
N>sarah soms, rekent soms in het arabisch
S> jaja
en verder, van de jongens?
N> rob, woont pas drie jaar in NL
en welke meiden hebben we nog meer, fatima, Alexandra, amina
N&S> fatima (lachend)
N> ze kan geen jongens uitspreken, ze zegt jonens
S> ja
denk je dat dat is omdat ze marokkaans is?
N&S> nee
S> ze kan het gewoon niet goed uitspreken
N> ik denk niet omdat ze marokkaans is, zo praat haar zus ook en een ander meisje hier op
school, Souhailla, ook
S> ja, want eerst kon ze het wel zeggen, maar ze praat heel vaak met Souhailla en daarom
zegt ze het nu ook
nemen jullie ook dingen van elkaar over?
N&S> nee
vinden jullie van elkaar dat jullie kunnen horen dat iemand marokkaans is?
N> nee
S> nee
is er verschil tussen spreken en schrijven, letten jullie op het een meer dan op het ander?
N> op spreken let ik meer, maar als ik schrijf dan ga ik in mezelf praten en dan weet ik weer
hoe ik het moet schrijven
maakt het uit of je met andere kinderen of met de meester praat in hoe je praat?
N> taalgebruik?
S> soms een beetje straattaal achtig
kunnen jullie ook straattaal?
S> beetje
een beetje?
N> ja het zijn allemaal woorden (geeft voorbeelden)
hoe ken je die?
S> van zussen, oudere
N> m’n zus, soms als ik zo praat wordt ze boos, wil niet dat ik zo praat
80
hoe ken je het?
N> gewoon van buiten of zo, eigenlijk via via
met wie gaan jullie om buiten? met kinderen van school?
N> nee
S> soms kinderen van school
waar wonen jullie?
N> X
S> XD
straattaal ook op school?
N> ja soms in de pauze ofzo, msn
N> op msn praat je altijd anders, tog
neem je dat ook over met praten?
S&N> nee
maakt het uit welke taal degene met wie je omgaat spreekt?
S> nee
N>nee, ik neem niets over
N> als eentje alleen maar marokkaans praat dan ga je er wel mee om, maar niet zo veel
S> niet zo veel, niet zo vaak
wat vind je makkelijker?
S&N> alletwee
N> maar in NL moet je meer letten op de, het in marokkaans heb je dat niet. let je niet op zij
of hunnie, want dat bestaat niet
letterlijk vertalen uit marokkaans?
S&N> ja
N> ik lach om m’n moeder NL en zij om mijn marokkaans
S> soms wel, als ik een paar woorden zeg gaat m’n moeder lachen of m’n broer
voel je je anders als je marokkaans praat?
S&N> nee
N> maar in marokko voel je je dan wel anders, want iedereen praat dan marokkaans
hoe kijken ze daar tegen je aan?
N> ze zien je als iemand die heel rijk is
S> ja uit het buitenland
N> gaan ze achter volgen
S> gaan ze flirten enzo
S> soms is het wel eng, hele grote mannen enzo
N> een keertje in marokko, toen klopte er een man van 36 aan die wou me uithuwelijken
mag je daar in kiezen?
N> m’n moeder zegt je mag het gewoon zelf weten
81
S> ja
N> maar niet met die man
N> mijn ouders zijn ook niet van de strenge kant zeg maar, zijn heel losjes in vergeleken met
vriendinnen
N> moeder heeft al 20 jaar NL rijbewijs, ze woont er al jaren
hebben jullie het er wel eens over wie streng opgevoed wordt en wie niet?
N> ja
S> nee ik niet
N> met m’n ouders dan
S> m’n moeder zegt weleens ja toen ik 7 jaar was kon ik al zo goed koken
wat doen broers en zussen?
N> zus hogeschool bedrijfskunde, wil naar uni
S> broer wil in lab gaan werken. ROC mbo en daarna hbo
N> advocaat worden, rechter overhalen ben ik denk ik wel goed in
S> nieuwslezeres worden
in marokko?
S> nee
N> daar verdien je heel slecht, niet heel boeiend
Bakey (B),Ali (K) en Rob (T)
Wat zou ik opgeschreven hebben?
K> praten, hoe ons taalgebruik is
Verschil hoe mensen praten?
K> als iemand uit Friesland komt, hoor je het?
En in de klas?
T> ik, praat meestal eh...
B> lachen
Waarom moet jij lachen?
B> soms als hij iets nieuws krijgt dan kan hij het niet goed uitspreken, maar nu is het wel
beter gegaan met hem
hoe lang was je nou in NL?
T> 5 jaar, het gaat nu wel
T> we praten ook veel straattaal, marokkaans een beetje
thuis
B> arabisch, Eritrea
T> soort engels, niet echt, paar woorden uit engels. als ik het praat dan versta je eigenlijk wel
wat ik zeg
ik kan het verstaan?
82
T> als je heel goed luistert wel
wat spreek jij thuis?
K>arabisch
wat is marokkaans en wat is arabisch?
K> marokkaans zelfde taal, andere woorden. spreekt ze anders uit
B>sommige woorden zijn anders
kan jij marokkaans verstaan?
B> ja sommige woorden snap ik wel
komt dat door die straattaal?
T> sommige scheldwoorden
letten jullie op elkaar hoe je spreekt?
B> nee
T> nou wel letten wel op, echt wel
B> nou misschien als iemand een fout maakt, maar hoe je praat daar let ik niet op
herken je accenten? als jij een andere marokkaan tegen komt, hoor je dat? bijv hier in de klas?
K> ja, faroba
T> begint te lachen
K> jongen, jonne
horen jullie dat ook?
T&B> ja
dan denken jullie ook meteen, o ze is marokkaans?
B> ja nee dat zie je ook gewoon aan haar ook
van de rest?
T&B> Souhailla
maakt het uit of iemand met een accent praat?
B&K> nee
B> nou ik kan wel met een accent praten, maar als je een fout maakt in een woord gaan de
meeste mensen lachen
K>dat is heel vaak bij Rob
T> ik vond het niet erg hoor, alleen als het te ver gaat, word ik soms wel een beetje boos,
maar niet echt
Leids?
T> spreken niet alles uit, spreken niet echt NL, allemaal straatwoorden er tussen, niet echt NL
dat doen de jongeren?
T> ja
zit jij in een vriendengroep waar straattaal gesproken wordt?
83
T> ja
B> als je een woord hier in leiden zegt en je gaat naar amsterdam dan snappen ze er niets van
wat is leids?
K> r
B> ja r
K> ze maken het langer
kan jij dat leids?
T> nee
ken je mensen die het spreken>
K> ja ik ken wel mensen, 't is een tweeling en ze hebben een broertje
T> jessie en joeie?
K> ja
T> ik ken maar een meisje en dat is lien, zij spreekt ook zo
B> nee, mensen ken ik ze maar ben vergeten wie
thuis?
K> veel NL, kent niet zo goed arabisch. Arabisch ken ik niet zo goed
ouders hier geboren?
K> vader 9 toen hij hier kwam, moeder kwam naar NL toen ze gingen trouwen
B> arabisch, vooral
Sarah kan ook arabisch, versta je dat?
B> ja misschien maar er zitten andere woorden in, hoe je het uitspreekt
T> helemaal geen arabisch
K> moeder kan niet zo goed NL, spreekt met haar marokkaans
B> arabische les op zaterdag
K> eerst wel, maar vond het saai en stopte
B> soms leuk
K> soms is arabische les ook onder voetbalwedstrijd, kan B niet
B&K zitten bij elkaar op voetbal
T> zit in hoger team dan B&K
zien jullie elkaar buiten school?
K> ja
K> wonen bij elkaar id buurt
let meester/juf op hoe je praat?
K> ja, op school mag je geen marokkaans praten
B> op accent?
ja, of allebei
Hebben ze gezegd dat je alleen NL mag spreken?
T> ja ze hebben het gezegd, want anders weten ze niet wat je zegt
84
T> dat doen we wel hoor, gewoon schelden in de klas
K> als we kwaad worden op de meester
op schoolplein?
K> ja ook, maar bijna alle mensen die op deze school zitten zijn eigenlijk buitenlanders. in
groep 7 zitten veel marokkanen
T> noemt namen, K ook
maakt dat uit voor hoe het in de klas is, zou het anders zijn als je in een klas zit waar iedereen
alleen maar NL praat?
T&K> nee
K>zou saaier zijn, want dan heb je helemaal geen vriend uit hetzelfde land. zit je alleen maar
met NLers te praten, ofzo
is het gezelliger?
T> ligt eraan welk land, als ze te veel pesten kinderen uit een ander land (?) wordt het niet
echt leuk
meer omgaan met mensen uit zelfde land?
T> ikke niet hoor
K> alleen met klasgenoten, marokkanen
B> ik kijk gewoon wie er in de buurt is en daar ga ik voetballen mee
spreek je liever NL, of andere taal?
K> ligt eraan, als je het niet kan uitspreken dan liever NL maar als je het kan en iedereen om
je heen doet het dan doe je het zelf ook
B> mij maakt het niet, wie NL kan spreek ik met hem NL, wie arabisch kan
T> ligt eraan, als het met m'n ouders is, spreek ik gewoon liever mijn eigen taal. met
vrienden praat ik natuurlijk gewoon NL
kan je een accent nadoen?
K> ja ik denk het, belgisch
B> amsterdams, wijfie.
K>brabants
B> in limburg praten ze met een accent van belgisch nog, alsof het boerenkinderen zijn
straattaal, wanneer?
T> wanneer ik echt aan het chillen ben
K> als m'n ouders niet thuis zijn, en ik ben met m'n vriend dan spreek ik het binnen ook
B> buiten
wat is het?
B> een taal voor allemaal mensen die buiten zitten te spelen
T>heel raar, bijvoorbeeld ze willen gewoon niet nederlands praten. ze halen woorden uit
talen, uit een andere taal of gewoon zelf verzinnen en dan komt het gewoon. dan wordt het
gewoon steeds uitgebreider
K> zoals namen, zijn ook marokkaanse namen en dat betekent bijvoorbeeld liegen, of een
marokkaanse naam
T> zoals doesjie, dat betekent schat
B> ik ga naar osso, amsterdams
85
allemaal voorbeelden
B> meeste straattaal komt uit het surinaams
T> ja uit het surinaams
B> voorbeelden
gaan jullie dan ook veel met surinamers om?
T> eigenlijk niet echt
B> in de buurt misschien
K>alleen damien, een hele, en brayen dat is een halve want die komt ook uit india
T> je hoort het ook vanzelf, en je komt een ander groepje tegen en je kent ze niet maar die
ander die zijn vrienden ofzo met elkaar dan kom je mensen tegen die je hoort praten.
B> surinamers praten gewoon NL met een accent, maar als je naar den haag gaat, dan is een
ander accent: twwweee. (bedoelt dat je in den haag surinamers hoort)
de/het? gebeurt het weleens?
K> ja
T> bij mij gebeurt het wel
B> die boek, verbetert door Laila
T>ja laila, zegt dat boek
en wat doe je dan?
T> ja het klinkt een beetje raar, bij jezelf denk je dat het goed is, maar als die ander het zegt
dan ga je het nazeggen en dan klinkt het gewoon raar. deze boek. liever die
als je het niet weet?
K> kiest er gewoon een
B> bij de of het is het nog makkelijk, maar bij die of dat of deze
T> ja
dan kies je er gewoon een?
T> ja, het gaat gewoon vanzelf eigenlijk
gebruik je meestal die of meestal een andere?
T> ik gebruik heel vaak die
K> nee
B> misschien wel
en als een iemand het zegt, zeg jij het dan ook?
B> het gaat gewoon automatisch, ik zeg gewoon die of dat, wat beter past
zouden julie willen dat de meester daar mee op let?
B&K> nee
T> ja nee
nemen jullie dingen van elkaar over, gewoon woorden?
K&T> ja
K> toen hij (T) hier voor het eerst in leiden was, toen nam hij allemaal woorden over, gewoon
marokkaanse woorden
86
18.02waarom?
T> klinkt gewoon stoerder, en eh ja, niet dat ik zelf stoer wil zijn maar als je met vrienden
buiten bent en en hij zegt het tegen jou en jij snapt het niet dan gaan ze je wel een beetje
uitlachen, dan gaan je je een beetje schamen
K> erbij horen, en dan ga je dezelfde taal praten
K> zus niet verteld wat je in zwolle studeert, heeft hem nog nooit vertedl wat zij precies doet.
T> je zus?
B> woord en gebaar in utrecht, wat is dat?
Fatima (S) en Victoria (A)
S> niet door dat ik onderzoek deed naar school. ik dacht dat wat ben je zo schijnheilig aan het
schrijven enzo. kan je toch veel beter naar juf Maaike die is veel leuker
A> ik dacht wat is ze veel aan het schrijven, wil een heel goede juf worden
taal?
A> aan hoe je schrijft
S> nee, ik dacht aan hoe je praat. of je buiten anders praat dan binnen
doe je dat?
S> ja best wel, als je buiten bent maak je meer ruzie dan binnen, dat is bij iedereen. buiten kan
je alles zeggen wat je maar wilt, binnen niet.
binnen let de meester op
S> ja als je de meester wilt uitschelden, dan kan je 'm buiten over hem schelden. wat is hij
irritant, hij lijkt net een robot enzo.
A> en hij is nooit ziek
S> verhaal over 3 jr terug dat kinderen iets in z'n kopje wilden doen dat hij ziek werd
A> kinderen uit een paar jaar geleden zeiden kinderen dat meester R heel erg saai is, maar hij
heeft wel z'n leuke momenten met grappen. hij is wel heel saai, maar wel grappig
S> hij praat eentonig, heel saai. krijg je slaap van
03.15let hij op taal?
A> nee ik denk het niet. ik denk eerlijk gezegd dat hij let op hoe wel schrijven. misschien op
hoe we uitspreken, maar niet letterlijk bijvoorbeeld dat je zegt. ehm bijvoorbeeld je zegt de
meisje, en daar let hij niet echt op
zou hij dat moeten doen?
A> ja ik denk het wel, want het is wel belangrijk voor later
vind jij dat ook S?
S> nee eigenlijk niet. want kijk leidenaren praten echt heel anders dan amsterdammers weet
je. want we hebben echt van die woorden die we verzinnen en die verstaan ze gewoon, maar
ze bestaan eigenlijk niet.
wat dan?
S> jullie ehm nee, die bestaan eigenlijk wel. nee hem zijn
87
A> probeert te helpen, maar komt er ook niet echt op
A> soms bedenk je ze en dan worden ze een beetje echt, als je ze herhaalt
gebeurt dat in de klas?
A&S> ja
04.35A> en woorden uit een andere taal gezegd door 1 persoon, herhaalt het vaak en dan gaan
de anderen het ook in hun hoofd krijgen, bijv een scheldwoord
wie doet dat dan? wie begint met zoiets?
A> ik weet niet maar het zijn vaak woorden uit het marokkaans
S> ja
A> en misschien surinaams zijn ofzo
en waarom marokkaans dan?
05.21 A> er zijn veel marokkanen hier op school, we hebben niet eens een NLer in de klas,e
en groep 7...nou groep 7 denk ik wel. toch een NLer. dat is wel weinig, we hebben een beetje
een multiculturele school.
A> wel leuk, want in sommige klassen bijvoorbeeld als we jeugdjournaal kijken dan zie je
echt van die hollanders. soms zie je ook wel anderen maar er zijn ook scholen die zijn typisch
hollands.
nieuw woord in klas en het is marokkaans. gaat iedereen het gebruiken?
S> bepaalde woorden, zoals XXX, die gebruikt daarna wel iedereen. maar andere
scheldwoorden niet
5.59 maar gebruik je die ook in de klas?
A> ja
S> gewoon hardop
A> meester verstaat je niet
thuistaal?
A> moeder pools, vader sudanees, soort arabisch. anders dan het arabisch dat je op school
leert. met zusje soms NL, en af en toe voor de gein engels
in allemaal even goed?
A> juist niet. NL en pools het best, daarna sudanees. kan het wel met vader maar tv is te
moeilijk, dat is typisch arabisch dan begrijp ik niks, gaat snel
S> met ouders NL en zus ook, praten NL thuis. met soms ook marokkaans. moeder roept
faroba bijvoorbeeld in arabisch en dan zeg ik ik kom eraan in het nederlands.
A> ja ik ook
S> m'n moeder praat marokkaans tegen ons. (contradiction!)
S> vader praat ook berbers
verschil marokkaans en berber?
S> marokkaans is veel anders, je hebt een verschil in cultuur. marokkaans is heel anders, je
hebt een verschil in woorden, bijvoorbeeld koffie. XX in berber en nog een hele rare woord in
berber. bepaalde woorden in het berber
88
les?
S>1 keer in de week 10 uur tot 13 uur arabische les, pikt er niets van op. leert er niets. ik kan
gewoon echt niet marokkaans praten. het heeft echt geen nut
A> marokkaans is echt anders dan arabisch. als sudanees begrijp je eerder arabische tv dan jij
S> weet ik, want soms zeg ik tegen m'n moeder wat zeggen zij daar? wat een rare woorden.
A> ja want als ik hoor wat jullie zeggen dan begrijp ik heel soms, want ik kan best wel
arabisch verstaan, sarah begrijpt jullie ook niet zo goed
S> ik al helemaal niet, ik versta haar echt niet
A> ik wel, libisch en arabisch
horen jullie van elkaar dat de ander nog een taal spreekt?
S> nee we weten volgens mij wel alle talen in de klas
en hoor je het ook?
S> ehm nee ik ben de enigste in de klas die een beetje raar spreekt
een beetje raar?
A>ze zegt in plaats van eng zegt ze en
S> ja
A>ze zegt geen jongen maar jonne ofzo
S> lacht en A ook
A> of zo voor de gein dan zegt ze ehm jonne
nog meer dingen?
A> nee
S> we pikken ook van andere scholen, je leert van andere scholen ook de taal. dat is wel heel
raar
wat voor taal leer je dan van andere scholen?
S> alleen maar marokkaans
S> als je buiten bent dan hoor je ook alleen maar marokkaanse scheldwoorden ofzo, het is
heel raar
zijn er andere kinderen om je heen die ook zo spreken?
S> ja de laatste tijd eigenlijk bijna alle hollanders, zal ik het zo zeggen, die spreken nu
eigenlijk ook marokkaans
A> ja, onder marokkanen. ik hoor bijvoorbeeld...
S> turkse mensen ook
A. ik heb bijvoorbeeld een paar nederlandse buren, die lijken gewoon wel marokkanen
waarom zou dat zo zijn?
A> dan gaan ze gewoon zichzelf...
S>...met hun om
A> het is iets nieuws voor hun
S> ja maar kijk eens, ik zal het gewoon heel eerlijk zeggen meestal zeggen ze ja marokkanen
zijn veel gezelliger marokkanen durven meer
A> ze staan een beetje achter elkaar, dus daarom gaan ze ook vechten
S> 111.40 verhaal over hoe marokkanen op komen voor elkaar, ook al ga ik vechten met een
hele Hollandse groepje, met die hele hollande groepje
89
S> voorbeeld over kermis, zo'n hollandse jongetje die een marokkaans meisje had geslagen.
toen kwam zo'n jongen uit meerwijk.
hoe weet je dat het marokkanen zijn?
A> dat zie je ook wel
S> aan hun hoofden
A> ik herken wel hollandse jongens en marokkaanse, ook een beetje aan hun kleding
en een marokkaan en een turk?
S> turken hebben een platte hoofd, een plat achterhoofd. en marokkanen hebben zo'n rond
hoofd zeggen ze
maar hoor je het ook?
A> ja
S> ja
wat dan?
A> nederlanders hoor je gewoon echt nederlands, maar marokkanen hebben een beetje een
andere stem en ook een iets ander taalgebruik dus dat hoor je wel. een accent
S>marokkanen schelden heel erg, veel meer. ook al praten ze op een gegeven moment gaan ze
gewoon schelden, dat heb je gewoon aangeleerd van buiten
maar als ze in het NL praten, hoor je dan ook dat ze ook nog marokkaans kunnen?
S> nee, want Nederlanders praten zo
A> nee marokkanen
S> marokkanen?
ja, voorbeeld in de klas, ll uit marokkaans. kan je dat aan hen horen?
S> euh, ja
A> amina niet nee
S> amina wel
wie nog meer?
A> maar zij heeft ook een typisch hollandse stem
S> ja nee, omdat haar moeder
A>ja ik weet het
A> je hoort het een beetje aan laila, en hakima vind ik
S> nee hakima niet en laila al helemaal niet
A> nee?
wat hoor jij?
A> ehm, ik weet niet. ik kan het ook niet omschrijven want ik hoor ze vaak niet marokkaans
praten dan kan ik ook niet zeggen dat ik ze niet zou kennen dan weet ik het niet precies ik
hoor ze gewoon elke dag bijna iets marokkaans zeggen.
filmpje najib amali, marokkaans?
S> ja nee niet echt
A> hij kan ook een nederlander na doen, en een turk
A> als je zo kijkt dan denk je hij is een turk en hij heeft ook een nederlandse stem
90
S> hij is zelf marokkaans dat weet ik van hem, en dat ie hij acteert zeg maar dat ie een
hollander is
A> dat kan ie goed, haha
kunnen jullie dat ook, een accent na doen?
S> ja jawel
wat dan?
S> surinaams, geeft voorbeelden van woorden. helemaal heel raar en turks ook, ook woorden
A> ik kan alleen engels na doen, amerikaans. nicht studeert, heeft echt een engelse stem
(stem=accent?). ik kan eerder amerikaans dan engels, maar arabisch kan ik niet nadoen en
pools die hebben echt een vvvvv.
eerder met kinderen omgaan die ook jouw taal spreken?
A> nee
S> nee, niet echt. brayen en rob enzo die zijn niet marokkaans. maar weet je het gaat erom dat
je het gezellig hebt in de klas maakt niet uit wat voor taal je spreekt, ze hebben ook
marokkaans geleerd van ons.
ja straattaal, kunnen jullie dat ook?
S> ikke wel
hoe leer je dat?
A> kinderen om je heen
S> gewoon, ehm als je bijvoorbeeld een nieuw woord leert, dan ga je gewoon zo praten. is
gewoon zo aangeleerd
A> je hebt steeds woorden en dan ga je dat ook doen?
waar?
A> schoolplein wel
S> daar doe ik het ook altijd, maar ik ga me niet anders gedragen als ik thuis ben ofzo hoor. ik
gedraag me gewoon zoals ik ben en iedereen moet me accepteren hoe ik ben, en niet dat ze
me heel anders kijken hoe ik ben
A> dat ze steeds die grapjes maken ofzo
S>ja dat is eigenlijk m'n hele familie. m'n broer is echt heel grappig, maar m'n zussen...
wat spreek je met broers/zussen?
S> Nederlands, m'n broer kan helemaal geen marokkaans praten en m'n zus een klein beetje.
dat hebben ze gewoon aangeleerd van thuis, daar spreken we nederlands nederlands
nederlands
wat is een marokkaans accent?
A> ik kan het niet nadoen
S> ehm
A> doe dan
S> wat moet ik zeggen?
A> hallo
S> begint in het marokkaans te praten
S> komt uit wuschta
91
waar is dat?
S>weet ik niet, we hebben in casa blanca een huis en in dusia, majoen en...
je moet iets zeggen in het nederlands, maar je weet even niet hoe je het moet zeggen, wat doe
je dan?
S> dan zeg ik hoe zal ik het uitleggen, tijd rekken, tot iemand anders z'n vinger gaat opsteken
ofzo
A> of iemand verbetert je.bij NL ga ik wachten en zeggen he hoe zeg je dat ook alweer. maar
arabisch, dan ga ik vaak NL beginnen praten. als ik met m'n vader praat dan zeg ik dit in het
arabisch en dit in het NL. in NL heb ik dat niet dan blijf ik gewoon NL praten.
S>ik kan geen marokkaans praten, niet echt goed. maar ik ken wel alle scheldwoorden. echt
allemaal
ook NL scheldwoorden?
S> ikke? ja
de/het?
S> dan zeg ik dat. daarnet had ik nog een spellingsfout gemaakt toen zei ik die horloge en
toen moest ik zeggen dat horloge.
20.45 makkelijker om die te gebruiken?
S> ja, die meisje
A> dat meisje
S> ja ik zeg altijd die
doen mensen om je heen dat dan ook?
A> nee bij mij niet. als ik het niet weet dan kijk ik gewoon wat beter klinkt. daar kijk ik echt
naar bij Nl taalgebruik. voorbeeld het dat. het goeie, maar dat is zo moeilijk uit te spreken, dat
vind ik zo raar klinken.
S>het is de goeie dat zei je nu net.(verbetert?)
A> het klinkt gewoon beter
21.30 doe jij dat ook?
S> ja, bijvoorbeeld kijk nu met dat goeie dan zeg ik ook, dan weet je niet wat je moet zeggen
en dan zeg je beste (?) en dat klinkt ook raar (?) want je weet niet wat je moet zeggen
luister je dan ook naar andere kinderen?
S> ja
A> soms als ik het zelf weet
S> maar kijk soms is het ook zo dat als je geen marokkaans kan en de rest wel dan voel je je
zo kijk es wat praten zij daar nou. terwijl ze niet over je schelden.
vragen?
A> wat kunt u hier mee behalen.
tweetaligheid
S> je raakt helemaal door de war. jij praat, ik kijk naar de juf. vertelt op wat voor dingen ze
allemaal let in de klas.
92
S>zegt vaak kijk eens, begint eigenlijk vrijwel al haar zinnen tijdens het interview op die
manier, naar woorden aan het zoeken?
24.10A> er gaat van alles door m'n hoofd en dan weet ik niet meer of het de of het is, maar
eigenlijk is het goed maar dan ga ik een uur nadenken, dan duurt m'n huiswerk heel lang
S> gisteren bij die huiswerklesbespreking, mocht je zo een paar zinnen opschrijven en toen
had ik geschreven dat meisje gafde, gafde! ik had gafde geschreven
verschil tussen schrijven en praten?
A> ja
zou je gafde zeggen?
A> nee
S> je weet niet wat je schrijft, je hoort... kijk es, je denkt dat het goed is maar 't is eigenlijk
niet goed maar je hebt gewoon in zin het gebeurt gewoon in je hoofd.
ik gafde jou een cadeautje...voorbeeld zin. heel raar
anders als je met de meester praat of andere leerlingen?
A> ja
S> meester kan heel lang praten
A> meester is echt intelligent. bij praten hoor je het sneller, maar bij schrijven niet.
S> meester maakt saaie grappen, soms pest hij daar kinderen mee.
A> wil tegen haar in gaan, maar dat lukt niet
S> gaat door over een specifiek voorval, zegt dat de meester soms kinderachtige grapjes
maakt.
doet hij dat ook over hoe je praat?
S> het is soms ook gewoon grappig. vorig jaar zei de Rob gauwgom. en dan zegt de meester
niet rob maar kim ofzo. en bijvoorbeel typen zegt hij (wie?) teipen.
A> meester kijkt wel naar de kinderen die het aan kunnen, bijvoorbeeld faroba kan het wel
aan die kan wel een beetje pesten aan dus bij haar kan ik wel een grapje maken. bij mij of
sarah, misschien denkt hij dat, dat ik dan geen grapje aan kan.
S> ja maar
A> hij kent mij niet zo goed
S> kijk es heel eerlijk, als je met mij buiten bent dan gedraag je je veel heel anders, je moet
jezelf gedragen zoals je bent. ook binnen.
wat is het verschil?
S> ze doet heel poeslief, heel aardig, en buiten is ze zo heel kattig. kattig niet echt.
A> ja als jij mij dist dan dis ik jouw terug hoor.
S> kijk es, buiten scheld ze je uit ofzo, en binnen helemaal niet. is gewoon zo'n schijnheilige
kant. heel raar
A> nee niet thuis, bij mij in de buurt is het wel een heel groot verschil
27. 40 S> ze eten je niet op ofzo
A> iedereen is wel anders, maar je hebt ook één kind is meer anders en een ander is anders
praat je ook anders?
S> ja
93
A> taalgebruik?
S> veel relaxter, als de meester er is moeten we luisteren. juf sylvia kijkt ze naar uit, al op
dinsdagmiddag al blij, bijna de hele klas. geen zin in meester robert
A> ja maar juf sylvia komt op een leuke dag, meester robert doet al het werk, juf sylvia alle
leuke dingen. als het anders zou zijn, dan zou meester robert....heel leuk
S> meester robert....als ik dit vertel misschien gaat meester robert het niet leuk vinden
A> het is toch anoniem
S> meester robert heeft heel wat toekomsten verpest. heeft tegen haar gezegd dat ze geen
architect kan worden. tegen broertje gezegd dat hij basis moet gaan doen.
S> hij heeft het heel moeilijk gemaakt voor ons, heel ver met geschiedenis in vergelijking met
andere school
S> naam maakt niet uit, hij mag alles horen
S> britten hebben een arrogant accent
S> bijles van studente gehad, is nu op wereldreis. is met haar naar disneyland geweest
(twijfelachtig of dat zo is)
Teacher Richard (R)
Kinderen gaan niet heel bewust met taal om...hoor je van iemand dat diegene een tweede taal
spreekt> Rob
R>Rob niet meest eh
hoor jij van bepaalde kinderen dat ze tweetalig zijn?
R> niet heel expliciet, geen intonatie, meer de bekende woorden...Laila verbetert aanwijzend
voornaamwoorden, dan zegt iemand dat stoel en dan zegt zij die stoel, daar moet ik wel om
lachen. de en het is een bekende, maar verder niet echt hele duidelijke. bij de meeste, nee
eigenlijk geen een hoor je heel duidelijk o die komt daar vandaan, sommige natuurlijk wel.
meesten zijn hier ook gewoon geboren
NL op school
R> ja
R> maar vooral ook dat ze hier zijn geboren, van jongs af aan met NL te maken gehad, dan
spreken ze met de ouders soms wel wat anders
de/het> vragen, vragen om extra uitleg?
R> soms, maar ook heel vaak maken ze er fouten in, soms hoor je weleens van is het nou de
of het. je kan alleen die twee hoofdregeltjes geven van de is altijd bij meervoud en het altijd
bij verkleinwoorden maar verder....dat moet je aanvoelen, weten op een gegeven moment.
kinderen die het meer vragen dan anderen?
R> sarah weet het wel, hakima en laila vragen het meest, zijn ook de kinderen die in het
algemeen het meest vragen.
R> juist de kinderen die het hoogste advies hebben die vragen ook het meeste dat heb je altijd
natuurlijk.
vinden ze van elkaar dat ze erg op taal letten?
94
R> nee
R> fatima maakt nog de meeste fouten, zowel in spelling als in haar praten.
R> die maakt een andere niet-NL zinsvolgorde, maar ook die typische fouten die we net
noemden die hoor ik het meest bij haar
R> maar ook minste woorden kennen, een van de kleinste woordenschatten van de klas.
R> brayen, die valt wel op, die kent wel veel woorden. dat vind ik wel opvallend bij hem.
de/het > vragen we aan meester?
R> heleboel hebben zoiets van ik weet het wel, terwijl het dan juist niet goed is.
verbeter je ze?
R> ja heel duidelijk, in de klas wel ja. ja niet altijd, je wilt ook niet alles verbeteren. en
helemaal in het schrift, dan is het duidelijk, staat het zwart op wit. en in spreekbeurt of een
boekbespreking dan ga ik niet onderbreken, dat vind ik heel veel vervelend.
helpt het?
R> moet niet verwachten dat het direct helpt, is ook een kwestie van lange termijn. en bij de
een zal het veel meer. en soms op tv doen mensen het ook verkeerd, ook van mensen die het
toch beter zouden moeten weten. geeft voorbeeld over weerman: warmere temperaturen. dat
kan niet, op tv zo'n weerman. kijk als fatima dat zegt nouja okee dan kan, dat kan ik me nog
wel voorstellen.
aandacht aan besteed in de les, zoals bijvoorbeeld kleinere woordenschat?
R> je bent veel met woorden bezig en soms noem je ook dingen die door veel mensen fout
worden gedaan. bijv op telefoneren. wordt hier niet gebruikt, maar wordt wel tegen leerlingen
gezegd.
tweetaligheid van kinderen besproken?
R> ze zijn het trouwens niet allemaal he, damien is dat natuurlijk niet. die is surinaams.
hij spreekt hindoe zegt hij, of hij verstaat het in ieder geval
R> ja maar die hebben toch ook al vanaf de geboorte NL geleerd, dat vind ik dan toch alweer
niet echt tweetalig of in ieder geval NT2, nederlands als tweede taal.
R> ik heb ook weleens genoemd dat het een belangrijk punt is en dat ze er wel rekening mee
moeten houden, dat het ook een stukje handicap kan zijn, dat ze daar soms een stapje harder
voor moeten lopen omdat ze daar gewoon een achterstand in hebben. en dat dat niet hun
schuld is, niemand z'n schuld maar dat het wel een gegeven feit is.
R> ja maar ik spreek NL, ja maar....dat snappen ze dan ook wel. het gaat om die fijne taal
dingen die
taalgevoeligheid enzo?
R> ja maar, ik kan behoorlijk redden in het frans, maar ik mis ook een heleboel. zij spreken
beter NL dan ik frans, maar zo probeer ik ze duidelijk te maken dat het zijn vooral de fijne
dingen die je gewoon gaat missen. uitdrukkingen, woordspelingen.
Hun mening?
R> vinden veel moeilijk, vatten de grap niet (heeft het over woordspelingen)
en in het algemeen, hun mening over taalachterstand? doen ze er iets mee?
R> nee
95
R> laila snapt woordspelingen soms wel, die is daarin wat verder terwijl een ander de grap
niet eens ziet. dat is ook logisch, als je daar niet genoeg in thuis bent. dat is de enige die daar
verder in is. het is niet alleen NL als 2e taal, het is ook een stukje mentaliteit.
R> wat we hier natuurlijk hebben is niet de upper ten (?) van marokko van de landen die we
hier hebben, ja dat is gewoon zo. sarah's familie is wat rijker, regelmatig wat toegestoken door
gadafi, haha.
R> kinderen vallen sarah niet lastig mbt pro-gadafi
opleidingsniveau ouders
R> speelt wel mee. collega's onder elkaar: naar tentoonstelling: geen hoofddoek gezien.
populair en naar gezegd maar het is wel zo. geen kinderen naar museum, rembrandt festival,
wel af en toe naar pretpark.
waarom zouden ouders dat niet doen?
R> drempel, echt nog steeds die drempel. voor een deel ook taal, veel woorden die ze niet
kennen. maar ook in het algemeen die drempel, te cultureel. maar ook muziekgroepen, daar
gaan ze niet naar kijken.
R> het valt soms heel erg tegen wat die kinderen doen in vakanties. zijn naar marokko
geweest, vaak zijn ze blij dat ze weer terug zijn want ze hebben alleen maar in dat dorp
gezeten bij opa en oma en ze hebben niets gedaan. nog iets bekeken? nee nergens naar toe
geweest.
R> er zijn er echt die blij zijn als de grote vakantie weer over is. en dat is ook met de andere
vakanties, ze zijn naar de efteling geweeste en naar movieworld, en dat is het. verder hebben
ze gespeeld, op straat, en dat is het enige. echt iets gedaan, naar toe geweest, beleefd, nee.
gaan ook niet roeien, rondvaart. verbaast me toch wel eens. heel vaak heel beperkt. daar
begint het dus mee, het is dus niet alleen dat taalgebruik maar alles wat daar om vast zit.
R>verhaal over toen R in den haag werkte, jongetje dat nog nooit op het strand was geweest
terwijl hij in groep 6 zat. R is erg verbaast> nog nooit het strand geweest, onbegrijpelijk!
R> daar begint het dus al mee, heel verwonderlijk
straattaal, in de klas?
R> nee, dan voelen ze toch aan dat dat twee aparte....
R> daar hebben we het ook weleens over gehad wat zeg je tegen je ouders wat zeg je tegen je
vriendjes. bepaalde dingen zeg je niet tegen je eh....
R> voorbeeld van vorig jaar, he pikkie
R> dat voelen ze toch wel aan bepaalde dingen hoor je op straat en bepaalde dingen...
ook met deze klas over gehad?
R> nee
R> binnenkort over jongerencultuur, dan komt het wel aan bod
regel alleen NL op school?
R> ja
die kennen ze?
R> ja eh, dat is ooit weleens verteld.
R> hier geen probleem, klassen met meerendeel marokkanen. hier zodanig gemengd en daar
komt bij, hier geen marokkaanse jongetjes. meisjes willen zich veel liever aanpassen. laila
heeft een keer heel duidelijk geschreven ik ben heel blij dat ik hier ben ik zou voor geen goud
in marokko willen wonen, letterlijk. en hakima schrijf bijna net zoiets op, ook dat ze niet meer
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terug wil. en dat is een heel andere insteek, dan heb je ook niet de behoefte om arabisch te
praten, want dan wil je ook....
R> klassen met marokkaanse jongetjes, en dan oh marokko dit en dat. en dat is hier helemaal
niet, omdat het toch veel gemengder is en dus krijg je dat ook veel minder. terug aan vallen,
dat heb je hier helemaal niet. ik heb hier geen enkele keer gehad, en voorgaande jaren
weleens, van joh he anderen willen het ook graag horen.
R> ze hebben wel uitzonderingen hoor, maar hier is dat nog geen enkele keer voor gekomen.
verspreken ze zich weleens?
R> nee, soms straattaal woorden die oorspronkelijk uit het marokkaans komen of uit een van
de andere landen, maar dat is dan een woord wat ook iedereen kent. ik zou niet zo gauw een
voorbeeld weten maar dat wordt dan toch wel weer anders is toch wel weer NL een beetje.
straattaal kennen ze wel allemaal.
R> wat ook heel grappig is, maar dat hoor je hier niet zo sterk. marokkanen en turken die
dialect gaan praten, dat hoorde je erg in den haag. hier niet zo, maar dat hele leids is naar mijn
idee op z'n retour. ik hoor het steeds minder dat echte leids terwijl plat haags dat bestaan nog
volop. turkse en marokkaanse jongetjes die plat haags praten.
R> hier hoor ik niet echt leids, maar ik hoor sowieso bijna geen leids meer. behalve de
congierge.
R> ik denk dat een boel hier nauwelijks echt leids gehoord hebben.
spelen kinderen met taal, doen ze elkaar na?
R> nee, nee weinig. nee daar zou ik niet zo gauw een voorbeeld van weten
iedereen weet waar de ander vandaan komt en welke taal gesproken wordt
R> ja dat wel, hoewel....wat zei nou laatst eentje weer, had met suriname te maken werd een
fout gemaakt, iets door elkaar gehaald.
R> nee ja ze weten wel waar ze vandaan komen ja.
patronen in data, die gebruik.
R> kennen regel wel, maar toepassen is nog wel iets anders. werkwoord vervoeging is soms
nog lastig, ook bij de betere, hakima en laila nog steeds af en toe zonder t.
voorbeeld van die water, surinaams NL
R> leraar reageert verbaast, ja ja
tweetalig, taalachterstand?
R> dat laatste meer, want bijvoorbeeld in arabisch zijn ze ook helemaal niet zo sterk, geven
zelf aan dat ze het helemaal niet zo goed spreken, dat ze daar fouten in maken.
25.00spreken liever NL.
R> dat sowieso
R> ik denk dat het meer een hele algemene taalachterstand is, en dat klopt ook als ik na ga dat
de weinige NL kinderen die we hebben, die zijn vaak ook niet zo heel veel beter, hoor.
R> hebben geen fouten met de/het, maar wel andere fouten en woordenschat is ook niet
gigantisch hoog. het is meer een algemene achterstand. dat soort NL ouders zie je ook niet (bij
musea e.d) veel meer een sociaal dan cultureel probleem.
R> het kan voor een deel een geld kwestie zijn, maar voornamelijk een drempel.
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identiteit, elkaar napraten
R> dat geloof ik niet hoor
R> ik geloof dat ze allemaal in NL geboren zijn. ik denk ook dat de meeste hier zullen
blijven. voorbeeld van jongetje dat marokkaan in NL was, en NLer in marokko
R> ze hebben hier een extra probleem, sneller niet buitenlander beschouwt wanneer je
hetzelfde kleurtje en geloof hebt. andere culturele achtergrond.
allemaal: fatima, jonne. iets gebeurt?
R> nee
R> fatima's gezin en bakey ook wel, meest traditioneel. niet zozeer streng geloof. ouders zijn
gekomen uit statische agrarische samenleving, naar stedelijke, dynamische omgeving. waar je
vandaan komt in marokko maakt uit, dorp of stad. die hebben we hier het minste, vooral uit
dorpen.
R> laila, westerisch gericht. zonder waardeoordeel.
R> merkte het ook toen we een keer gingen zwemmen, merkte het aan de kleding. sarah was
heel erg verpakt. beetje stijfjes, laila enige met bikini. sarah meest decent, vond het heel
opvallend dat laila zonder problemen in bikini. heeft voordeel dat ze niet in de klas zit met
allemaal van die marokkaanse jongetjes, die onmiddellijk daar eh....damien zou daar niets van
zeggen, die is surinaams. veel van de die marokkaanse jongetjes die hebben zo iets van dat
kan niet. wel van andere landen, maar de eigen dat kan dan weer niet.
spreek je zelf arabisch?
R> nee nee nee, hoog arabisch klinkt heel mooi.
R> geen van de kinderen spreekt hoog arabisch. fatima wel berber dacht ik.
R> marokkaans arabisch, heel anders dan arabisch in saudie arabie.
Teacher Monique (M)
valt er iets op aan hou kinderen praten?
M> onderling korte zinnen, ook wel in hun antwoorden. als je niet uit kijkt, antwoorden ze het
liefst met een woord. bijvoorbeeld: pen. ipv ik heb geen pen. daar moet je wel alert op zijn en
daar spreek ik ze ook wel op aan en in sommige klassen merk je dan ook dat kinderen elkaar
daarop gaan aan spreken. maar dat valt me wel op dat ze soms geen hele zinnen gebruiken,
iets korts een soort samenvatting van.
M> en dan probeer je ze er toch op te wijzen dat ze langere zinnen moeten maken, uitleg
moeten geven. en bijvoorbeeld dat zie je ook als je gastlessen hebt dan vraagt die persoon van
hoe bedoel je wat je zeggen.
M> en ik denk ook niet dat ze thuis gewend zijn om met echte zinnen echte gesprekken te
voeren, dat is gewoon heel erg moeilijk
omdat ze tweetalig zijn?
M> ook. maar ik vraag me af of ze in hun eigen taal met lange zinnen een heel gesprek
kunnen voeren
je bedoelt hun tweede taal?
M> ja
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zinstructuur?
M> omdat ze niet gewend zijn aan mooie lange zinnen maken, zie je dat die zinstructuur soms
ook behoorlijk rammelt. en in hun spreken merk je dat en ook als ze een opstel schrijven dan
zeg ik joh lees die zin nou nog eens na, en dan oja oja dat klinkt toch niet helemaal.
verbeter je ze ook?
2.39M> opstel twee cijfers: inhoud, fantasie en andere cijfer: spelling, zinsbouw etc.
in de klas?
M> meestal verbeter ik wel, omdat ik zelf wel een taalmens ben. het valt me ook altijd op,
ook met de en het en foute vervoeging van een werkwoord. meestal zeg ik het wel.
hoe reageren ze daar op?
M> ja soms hebben ze wel zoiets van ja he, je weet toch wat ik bedoel. en dat is ook wel
waar. aan de andere kant probeer je uit te leggen waarom het belangrijk is om het duidelijk te
zeggen. zeker na middelbaar onderwijs, winkel, bedrijf dan is het toch wel handig als je je taal
een beetje beheerst.
vallen jou bepaalde accenten op in de klas?
M> ja, bij poolse kinderen merk je moeite met de h, wordt vaak een beetje een g. bij de
marokkanen moet je er op letten dat ze de s niet heel overdreven gaan zeggen. deze groep
valt me mee, vorig jaar had ik een klas, die zei schlim en sjchool. laatst stond er een artikel
een onze taal, heb je het gelezen. weet auteur niet. ging over straattaal in utrecht, ging over dat
marokkaanse jongeren die s vaak heel sterk gaan zeggen. een paar jaar geleden als we een
liedje hadden dan was dat gewoon niet normaal, haha. toen hebben we het daar ook over
gehad, want dat je best wel een accent mag hebben maar dat je ook uit moet kijken dat dat
niet overdreven gaat worden.
M> wil je je wel zo manifesteren, want het kan ook mensen afschrikken. of als je stage gaat
lopen, dat ze zeggen joh jou hoef ik niet, want dat is geen gehoor in de winkel.
wat zeiden ze toen?
M> daar hebben ze niet zo over nagedacht. in het begin is het gewoon grappig en het wordt
steeds erger. en toen hadden we daar over, die zegt nou juf XXX mag ik hier op die sjchool
komen werken, ik kan het niet eens, dan zou ik zeggen nou ik weet niet of ik jou wel in de
klas wil. toen hadden ze zoiets van oh, okee.
deze klas?
M> nee in deze klas is het niet zo extreem gelukkig. nee ik zou niet eh.... je hoort het meer bij
het de en 't het gebeuren. en soms met de werkwoordvervoeging die nog wel eens rammelt.
zijn ze zich bewust van taal?
M> het grappige is dat deze klas verbetert echt elkaar als ze iets fout doen. dat is ook met de
of het. ik weet niet of je het gehoord hebt, mag ik de boek en dan roept de helft het boek. en
soms ik denk ik weleens dat dat misschien soms nog wel meer helpt dan als je er als
leerkracht wat van zegt.
M> ik denk dat de lidwoorden bijna het moeilijkste zijn.
hoe komt dat?
M> ik denk gewoon dat dat toch ook komt omdat ze dat begin stuk taal missen, dat als je
misschien zelf kleine kinderen hebt dan zeg je joh geef mij dat boek even aan of pak jij het
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even het kopje en zet het op de tafel. en dat hele stuk missen ze. en het grappige is dat ze heel
vaak gewoon alleen maar het woord de gebruiken, en dan kan je nog zeggen verkleinwoord is
het er voor, maar negen van de tien keer is toch alles de. en ik weet ook niet hoe je dat...want
je ziet kinderen die wat taalgevoeliger zijn, die leren het zichzelf af en gaan het goed doen.
maar de wat taalzwakkere, die blijven daar toch in hangen zeg maar.
gericht les hierop?
M> nou wat we eigenlijk hebben afgesproken dat alle woorden die we op het bord schrijven
dat daar het lidwoord voor komt. en dictee woorden, dat als er een lidwoord voor kan dat we
er een lidwoord voor zetten. ehm zo het woordbeeld plus lidwoord al aan te bieden.
M> ehm, dat is de afspraak die we daarover gemaakt hebben. vroeger schreef je alleen de
woorden op, maar nu staat als het goed is het lidwoord erbij.
M> en dan zie je toch dat de leerlingen die wat taalgevoeliger zijn dat uiteindelijk wel
oppakken.
die gebruik als lidwoord
M> ja
wat doe je als je lidwoord niet weet, vraag tijdens interviews> vraag aan docent, woordenboek
M> sociaal wenselijk antwoord
die boek, wordt overgenomen door ll
09.20M> als je niet uitkijkt zeg je het op een gegeven moment zelf hoor, ik zweer het je. ik
hoorde een keer die boek en toen zei ik mens hou toch op straks he, en dan roepen we altijd
als grapje dat is m'n goedste nederlands. maar inderdaad als je niet uitkijkt neem je het zelf
nog over. ik zweer het je, en vooral met boek dat is de ergste, die gebruik je ook het meeste op
een dag.
M> op een gegeven moment moet je ook oppassen want je ziet ook in klassen dat het een
grap. dat heb je natuurlijk zelf ook dat als je grapjes gaat maken met taal en dan doe je het op
een gegeven moment zelf ook op momenten dat het niet moet.
dus dat ik ook wel iets wat jou bekend voor komt?
M> ja boek
accenten, fatima s klank, g sterken, z uitgesproken. niemand van de ll zei dat. alleen jongen
jonne
M> fatima is heel slordig in haar spreken, ook met moeilijke woorden dat roept ze meteen
verkeerd en is dan ook niet altijd bereid om het goed te leren. met biologie, zei ze iets van
bigologie, toen hebben we ook zo gelachen.
rent weg tijdens interview om de deur open te doen.
M> over slorig spreken. fatima is dus een hele slordige spreker en ik vraag me, en dat weet ik
dus niet, of ze in haar eigen taal ook slordig spreekt. want ze is in haar gedrag haar schrijven,
ze is ook dyslectisch, maar ze vindt het ook wel best. sarah is ook dyslectisch, maar die
probeert het ook goed te doen. en die komt ook uit een gezin waar wat eisen worden gesteld
en die wordt gestimuleerd op een goede manier dus daar zit wel een heel groot verschil in.
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M> dat is hetzelfde met die boek, als anderen daar iets van zeggen dan heeft zij zo iets van ja
nou. iemand anders zou het vervelend vinden of zichzelf verbeteren maar oh mwah, en drie
tellen later zegt ze het weer.
M> maar inderdaad die spreekt
hakima, hoor ik het ook best wel. ll niet.
M> grappig is dat he (dat andere ll het niet horen)
laila hoor ik het ook, die boek zegt zij ook
M> het grappige is dat zij het bij zichzelf hoort en dat is het verschil. want dan zegt ze
weleens o juf mag ik die dat boek. en dan denk ik je hoort het in ieder geval of je realiseert het
je.
en zei dat ze thuis gecorrigeerd wordt.
M> ja want ze heeft ook een oudere broer en zus, die zijn ook naja middelbare school goed
gegaan, goeie opleiding. en die zullen ook tegen haar zeggen joh he je zegt het verkeerd. en
fatima heeft dat niet
amina heel sterk, accentloos
M> ja
Ali niet, Rob ook niet, ll over rob wel
M> nog maar kort in NL.
M> en ik denk dat kinderen het ook best moeilijk vinden. als we naar school tv jeugdjournaal
kijken, herkennen accenten van kinderen uit limburg, den haag. in groep 7 les over accenten,
streek taal, stadstaal. en dan denk ik je went ook zo aan je eigen groepen hoe iedereen spreekt
enzo dat het je ook niet meer opvalt, denk ik.
grapjes om accenten moeders
M> ja
onderdeel taalgebruik, taalvaardigheid?
M> inderdaad een goede vraag, en ik moet eerlijk zeggen dat ik twijfel tussen die twee. net
wat ik zeg, voor de grap zegt die boek, maak je je daar bij wijze van spreken ook niet meer
druk om, want iedereen zegt het.
M> ik denk dat soms ook wel een bepaalde gewenning is, hoewel je er wat van zegt hoewel je
erover praat....en net zoals laila, die zegt het af en toe wel maar verbetert zich wel dus dan
denk ik die is zich er in ieder geval nog van bewust dat het ook al is het een grapje wat nog
het goede er achter is zeg maar.
M> maar verder zou ik er ook geen harde uitspraken over durven doen want dat weet ik
gewoon niet.
redelijk bewust van taal, want straattaal. maar niemand heeft die genoemd als voorbeeld.
M> nee grappig he. kan je nagaan hoe eigen dat is.
taal als uitdrukking van identiteit,
M> je leert ze wel, je begint al in groep zeven met de aanwijzend voornaamwoorden, de
vervang je door die en het vervang je door dat.
M> daar zijn ook wel veel oefeningen mee. maar dat is denk ik hetzelfde dat ze vaker de
kiezen dan het, en dus zullen ze ook vaker die kiezen dan dat.
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en in sommige talen> surinaams NL alleen die
M> ja dan gaat het eigenlijk al vanzelf
M> sommige spreken het Hoog Arabisch, anderen alleen Berber, van het platteland zeg maar
M> ja en ik denk ook dat als je thuis weinig NL spreekt, om dat taalgevoel erbij te hebben.
M> je ziet gewoon dat sommige die 4 jaar achterstand bijna niet inhalen. en wat lastig is dat
je niet weet wat de vaardigheid in hun eigen taal is. en je ziet ook dat ze vaak schakelen, dan
lopen ze bijvoorbeeld met hun moeder en zusje en praten NL tegen zusje en Arabisch tegen
moeder. dus dat maakt het denk ik ook wel lastig.
doen ze dat ook in de klas?
M> hier is eigenlijk eigen taal verboden, als ik het ook hoor dan heb ik zoiets van nee.
regels?
M> dat is een schoolregel. en als er dan eentje....heel kinderachtig, maar dan zeg ik jij doet
ook kinderachtig, 100 regels ik moet nederlands spreken op school. en dan leg je ook gewoon
uit waarom dat is. want dat bespreek ik ook wel met de kinderen hoe belangrijk is het dat je
NL spreekt, en ook als je bij de blokker loopt waarom moet je dan arabisch spreken, want wat
betekent dat voor een ander.
M> ja dan hoop ik altijd dat er een of twee oppikken wat dat dan betekent.
soms in de pauze...
M> ja en soms bij ruzie, dan komen de buitenlandse scheldwoorden te voorschijn.dat is echt
zo. dan komen ze naar me toe en dan zeggen ze juf hij zegt dat tegen me en dan ken ik zo'n
heel woord niet. inmiddels leer je die natuurlijk ook, en dan zeg ik wat betekent dat en dan
nee dat ga ik niet zeggen. hij zegt een vieze turkse woord. nee dat mag niet.
M> of als er iemand in valt, dan wil ze even stiekem iets tegen elkaar zeggen en dan doen ze
dat in een andere taal want dan kan diegene dat niet verstaan.
meer met elkaar optrekken als ze dezelfde taal spreken?
M> nou, de marokkaanse groep trekt vaak naar elkaar toe, meer dan poolse of surinaamse.
vriendschappen. het komt denk ik ook omdat ze naar dezelfde moskee en de dezelfde
arabische les gaan en er is veel familie van elkaar. dat mengt minder dan de andere culturen.
deze klas is eigenlijk een uitzondering, maar er zit ook maar een marokkaans jongetje in de
klas en in dat opzicht is deze klas een beetje een uitzondering. en hier zitten toevallig ook een
paar meiden in die wat meer hun eigen gang gaan zoals bijvoorbeeld een laila. die zit toch ook
wel in een gezin wat verwestelijkt is, en bijvoorbeeld fatima komt uit een heel traditioneel
gezin. en de ouders spreken nauwelijks drie woorden nederlands. en nou hakima zit ook nog
wel in een redelijk....ook redelijk traditioneel. die vader spreekt nog wel...maar die moeder zie
je ook nauwelijks op school vader komt toch altijd naar de gespreksavonden. nou wordt het
wel wat minder maar met sommige ouders ben je echt met handen en voeten aan het uitleggen
en heel vaak komt een oudere broer of zus mee, dus ja van huis uit krijgen ze niet zo veel NL
mee. en wat ze aan NL horen is ook gebrekkig. maar ali's ouders spreken allebei heel goed
NL, Amina ook. sarah, vader wel, moeder altijd engels. terwijl zij het zelf wel heel goed doet.
er zitten ook nog wel heel traditionele gezinnen bij. en dat merk je toch ook wel, dat zijn ook
de gezinnen waar weinig NL tv wordt gekeken.
en rob dan?
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M> ja maar, wat nou het grappige is en dat zie je ook in de internationale klas, voor rob is NL
wel de bindende taal. want dat zag je op een gegeven moment toen we wat meer polen op
school kregen, dat kliekt allemaal bij elkaar, praat allemaal pools. en toen hij hier kwam, NL
is zijn taal. ook in de internationale klas, kinderen waarvan er geen ander kind is met dezelfde
taal, die moeten wel goed NL leren spreken, want anders verstaan ze je niet.
M> vader van Rob spreekt een beetje NL en ook wel engels, maar zijn zusje is vorig jaar naar
de middelbare school gegaan en die gaat nu naar de havo die spreekt ook goed NL. misschien
ook een goed taal gevoel. ik weet niet of dat dan meespeelt hoor.
Bakey?
M> ouders spreken niet goed NL. eigenlijk vind ik het wel eens jammer dat die ouders zich
niet realiseren hoe belangrijk het is. terwijl we het al zeggen bij de inschrijving hoor, dan
vraag ik wat voor taal spreekt uw kind thuis en dan zeg ik hou er wel rekening mee he, 4 jaar
achterstand we gaan er aan werken he, we doen ons best. dus wat we ook proberen is van de
ouders eh....kijk naar sesamstraat, kijk naar het jeugdjournaal, kijk naar klokhuis kijk naar dit.
wordt lid van de bieb. ja eh....je kan het niet alleen naar school.
M> en dan is dit nog een kleinere groep, dus dat je zelf ook wat meer tijd hebt om met de
kinderen te spreken.
M> handarbeid willen doen, om mij te helpen zodat ik meer taal zou horen. bijvoorbeeld
kringgesprek. eigenlijk de dingen waar jij tussen zou moeten zitten.
M> coöperatief leren, veel spreken onderling. doet juf met engels. leuker, ook voor de
kinderen leuker.
M> “zwarte school” verbetert door juf: kleurrijk.
M>leerlingen zijn overal voor in, paasontbijt in pyjama. zin in schoolkamp. dit is voor jezelf
ook leuker, en je kan ook meer. vorig jaar bij andere klas alleen maar aan het preken.
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