Downward spiral threatens language subjects
Language studies attract fewer and fewer students. This applies not only to French and German, but also to the core subject of Dutch. If no one studies a language anymore, the supply of new teachers will dry up. “It's really a crisis now.”
image: XF&M
Just three signals. In 2019, the Vrije Universiteit abolished its Dutch course. In 2020, the Lorentz Lyceum in Arnhem decided to no longer offer German as a final exam subject at pre-university level. And in the spring of 2023, Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf adopted the advice of the National Sector Plans Committee to work towards a 'joint national (bachelor's) program per language for the deficit subjects French and German'. He has so far ignored the same advice for the dwindling Dutch courses.
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These languages are indeed notoriously deficient subjects. According to the latest Labor Market Teachers trend report from the Ministry of Education, the teacher shortage for French will double by 2032, for German the shortage will grow by 50 percent and for Dutch the shortage appears to shrink slightly after 2027, but because this subject is compulsory for all students According to the researchers, this will remain a major problem in absolute numbers.
A Dutch teacher from Rotterdam put two pre-university education classes together and had to keep a HAVO class running in the room next door.
Now there are more school subjects with shortages. What makes the situation with languages dire is the sharply declining attention for language study. And if no one studies a language anymore, the supply of new teachers will dry up. “We are mutually dependent,” says Marc van Oostendorp, professor of Dutch and Academic Communication at Radboud University. “It's really a crisis now. I spoke to a Dutch teacher from Rotterdam who had put two pre-university education classes together and also had to keep a HAVO class running in the room next door. That is not possible.”
harrowing
Robert Chamalaun, Dutch teacher at Bernrode grammar school in Heeswijk-Dinther and chairman of the Dutch section of Living Languages, agrees. “There is a dire shortage of Dutch teachers. At the beginning of July there were more than 350 vacancies. While schools normally complete their formation around that time.”
These shortages have long been predicted, but Chamalaun has not yet managed to catch the government in strong policy. “It depends on emergency bandages. In discussions with the ministry, we repeatedly insist on constructive and coherent policy.”
You are giving the signal that the languages are apparently unimportant
Merging five university courses into one national one, as is currently happening with French and German, does not fall under constructive policy, Van Oostendorp believes. “This sends out the signal that the languages are apparently unimportant. And that further reduces the prestige of being a teacher in those subjects.”
Kees van Eunen, retired German teacher and member of the German section of Living Languages, speaks of a bad sign: “If you merge courses, you can be sure that there will be even fewer students and therefore fewer teachers than now. This is a downward spiral.”
Just abolish those subjects if you don't take them seriously
Charlotte Goulmy, French teacher at Vavo Deventer, notes total disinterest in the languages among the government. “I once said to the House of Representatives Committee for Education: Just abolish those subjects if you don't take them seriously. I'd rather have that than ramble on and talk hypocritically about the importance of speaking our languages.”
Contact hours
This spring, Levende Talen urged the government for a similar promotional campaign to 'Kies Exact' in the XNUMXs. Now under the heading 'Choose a Language'. Van Eunen and fellow section member Stijn Heusschen, deputy director of pre-university education at Merlet College in Cuijk, would like to elaborate on this further: Choose a Neighboring Language.
At the end of April, following the merger of the German and French courses, the Neighborhood Languages Vision Group sent an urgent letter to the Ministry of Education with recommendations to improve the position of German and French in schools. For example, they ask for a guarantee that all students at VMBO, HAVO and VWO can choose French and German, regardless of their choice of profile. They do not have much confidence that this will be honored. “The focus of politics is not on that,” Heusschen also notes. Van Eunen is quite angry about this: “Germany is the largest trading partner of the Netherlands. It's really strange that you don't speak the language of your immediate neighbors. It is extremely unwise economically to let our neighboring languages wither away.” Van Eunen says that the ambassadors of France and Germany expressed their concerns about this in a conversation with Dijkgraaf in mid-July. “He listens seriously, but of course he doesn't commit himself. Still, I hope that it will increasingly trickle through that something is not going well.”
Sometimes I hear about students who didn't have lessons for a whole year, but still have to take an exam
Another recommendation is that the government obliges schools to offer sufficient contact hours for both languages. At the moment nothing has been determined about this and in practice this means that the languages often fare poorly. “It's really terrible,” says Goulmy. “Sometimes there is only one lesson on the schedule. That is not enough to make the subject fun and interesting for students. Sometimes I hear about students who didn't have lessons for a whole year, but still have to take an exam. Self study; then you might as well stop doing it.”
Even for Dutch, there is no mandatory number of basic hours. “As a government, you could also say: Dutch is our national language and a core subject at all school levels, let's safeguard this by putting a minimum number of hours on the lesson table,” says Chamalaun. “This will lead to a greater teacher shortage in the short term, but to a reduction in the long term. Because this makes the subject more interesting for students.” The ministry's response is always the same: you think your profession is important, but other subjects think so too. A non-argument, says Chamalaun. “It is a political choice.”
More interesting subject
The government must create conditions, but teachers, according to all interviewees, also have a responsibility themselves, namely to make their subject more interesting. Dutch, French and German focus too much on individual skills and the subject content has disappeared far from view. “French and German are often taught in a rather old-fashioned way,” Van Eunen notes. “In German, for example, there are always those names. That is not necessary at all.” Heusschen adds: “That is partly due to the teaching methods. They get stuck in the grammar and pay little attention to culture and speaking skills.” While it could be so much more fun, both know. Live contact with peers from abroad, for example. Literature and culture lessons, catching up on current affairs. “A language is so much more than just repeating rows,” says Goulmy. “Watch films, let them sing French songs, write amazing letters, involve them in current affairs in the country. So much is possible.”
Teachers who spend six years drilling signal words ruin the profession and their own job satisfaction
“Students find Dutch boring,” says Van Oostendorp. “They have the idea that they are only taught tricks. That is not a subject you want to study.” Chamalaun sighs. He would like to wipe away that persistent image of boringness and tricks. “How much fun our subject is depends on the person in front of the class.” And yes, he knows that many of his colleagues focus on central writing and therefore mainly pay attention to text explanations. “But then as a teacher you make the wrong choice. Teachers who spend six years drilling signal words ruin the profession and their own job satisfaction.”
There is hope on the horizon. A few years ago, the Mastery Teams for Dutch and Modern Foreign Languages advocated that the link between academic language study and the school subject should be strengthened and that subject content should again take center stage. This also gives students a realistic idea of what the subject entails. The professional innovation committees of teachers and subject experts who are working on new core objectives and final terms under the leadership of the Curriculum Development Foundation seem to be listening carefully to this. More attention would be paid to literature and language appreciation, and to skills in connection. “That offers plenty of opportunities to inspire teachers again,” thinks Chamalaun. “We must become ambassadors of our profession again.”
More money
It is therefore up to teachers themselves to avert the crisis in language subjects. But they cannot do that alone. “They should be given more time to prepare their lessons,” says Van Oostendorp. “This is the only way you can make your subject more attractive and attract students.” So the government would like more money for teachers.
Schools do little or nothing to make a position attractive
School boards can also get involved. Van Oostendorp points to a study by teacher trainers from Fontys into job advertisements for teachers. “This shows that schools do little or nothing to make a position attractive. They invariably invest on the lowest scale and say nothing about opportunities for further training.”
Competitive struggle
Chamalaun knows all about it. “All too often we see a competitive struggle, with first graders leaving for another school because they are given a salary scale of LC or LD. So school boards, pay your teachers properly.”
If every party takes up the challenge, this language crisis may be put in a positive direction. A government that takes languages seriously and is willing to spend money and hours on them, school boards that cherish their language teachers and teachers who teach with enthusiasm. So that interest in language study will arise again and the next generation of language teachers will be in the starting blocks.
