Resumen de Mother tongue teaching and the acquisition of Dutch by Turkish and Moroccan immigrant workers’ children
In 1977, an experimental school for Turkish and Moroccan children was started in Leyden (Holland). The school had the characteristics of a transitional bilingual school. During the first year, the children's respective mother tongues were used as the medium of instruction about 75% of the time, and for the second year, about 40%. After two years, the foreign children went to regular schools in their neighbourhoods. This paper presents results of the research on the oral and written second language proficiency of the children who participated in the experimental school model. The results support the claim that mother tongue teaching does not harm or hinder second‐language acquisition.
