Neglected Native Tongues

The integration debate in Germany has included a strong focus on immigrant children's language skills. Both politicians and educators agree that it's especially important to speak the language of the country you live in -- and speak it well in order to get a good education and find a job.

In Germany, though, children from immigrant families often have problems at school. Their German just isn't good enough. As a result, some German states are giving fewer lessons in these kids' native tongues -- a move not all teachers and linguists agree with.

Ruprecht Baur, professor for German as a foreign language at Duisburg-Essen University, said several questions always come up in discussions on integration. Does the fact that a child comes from an immigrant family and speaks a different language prevent him or her from learning German and doing well at school? Should the parents speak German at home, and avoid their native tongue? And is being exposed to two languages the reason some children here, notably with an Italian or Turkish background, fail in school?

According to Baur, these questions arise despite multilingualism being the rule almost everywhere in the world.

"International studies show that the mother tongue is no distraction," Baur said. "The majority of people all over the world speak several languages. They're born with a mother language, and often know two more."

Germany lacking interest in linguistic heritage

The European Union has repeatedly stressed the importance and its support of linguistic pluralism. EU guidelines even commit member states to promote language classes in the children's mother tongues.

That's the case in Germany as well -- in theory. In practice, North Rhine-Westphalia for example has cut back on native language teaching positions. Neighboring Hesse has discontinued these classes altogether.

The western German states reasoned that learning German at an early age was more important. But Vassilios Fthenakis, professor for development psychology at Italy's Bozen University, is critical of Germany's educational policies.

"It's an ongoing German problem: not taking a serious interest in the importance of a child's mother language and culture, but pushing forward integration that isn't working," Fthenakis said. "It's a fundamental problem that Germany doesn't first strengthen a child's mother language and culture, and then push learning German from that point on."

Immigrant parents shouldn't speak German at home

Cultural and linguistic diversity is a richness that should be used for the individual and collective learning experience, the Greek-born Fthenakis said. Germany though didn't have policies like Sweden, England or France do. He said German guidelines could only be called disoriented.

According to Fthenakis, the role that the family and their educational level play should not be underestimated. Young students will quickly learn German if they can speak and write in their mother language, Fthenakis said.

He said he is convinced that the language learning process should start before kids enter the school system. In Germany, that would be before the age of six. Every child is open to any language in the world before its first birthday -- learning a second language is no problem at all, Fthenakis said.

Critics of the multilingual approach said immigrant parents should speak German with their children at home. But this was counterproductive, said Duisburg-Essen University's Baur.

"If the parents don't speak German well, they shouldn't speak it with their children," Baur said. "At some point, the children's German language abilities will be better than the parents', and then they'll make fun of them and say, you can't even speak the language properly that you're trying to speak with me."