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By using a quantitative approach, we examined the family language policy of Turkish parents in the Netherlands. Based on our earlier ethnographic work with 20 Turkish families and interviews with 35 parents, we designed and conducted a large-scale survey among 116 first-generation and 184 second-generation parents. The findings reveal that both first- and second-generation parents have bilingual language ideologies. Although second-generation parents are more positive about Dutch-oriented language practices of family members, both groups believe that Turkish should be a part of family life. Because parents establish a link between Turkish identity and culture, parents from both generations show strong attachment to Turkish language. Regarding language practices, both generations’ language preferences shift towards bilingualism although the first-generation choose to speak Turkish more. Second-generation parents and their third-generation children are more dominant in Dutch but they all report a preference for Turkish in the domestic domain. Regarding language management in the family, different generations of parents show different engagement strategies. With respect to the host society orientations to heritage language maintenance, the informants report unfavourable conditions in the Dutch media, politics and public institutions.

This Special Issue focuses on family language policy as part of then language maintenance and shift efforts of Turkish heritage-speaker families in Australia, Belgium, France, Sweden and the Netherlands.

Internationalization agenda, especially the Erasmus framework, has become a significant process affecting the Turkish higher education. Erasmus, as being the most influential and preferred mobility scheme, has attracted significant attention and witnessed increasing number of students in years. There are various studies on the outcomes of the Erasmus program in terms of social, cultural, and academic gains of students as well as associated challenges and influence of the Bologna Process on the Turkish higher education outlook. However, there are less visited concepts in terms of challenges that need further attention. This paper addresses these less visited subjects such as project management/implementation issues (diversity, funding, and outcomes), politics of difference, and consumerist approaches. The findings suggest that these issues may complicate program implementations and run the risk of hindering general program targets, leading to a paradoxical outlook such a becoming exclusive to certain group of students, emphasizing difference rather than mutual understanding, seeing the experience as a to-do list item. So, the tension between various issues such as consumerist approaches, politics of difference and project implementation issues and general program targets and outcomes must be acknowledged towards emphasizing the critical role of appropriate student advising and expectation management as well as development of flexible and diverse evaluation-placement methods for efficient and positive program implementation.

This article investigates the perceptions of mainstream Turks in Turkey towardsTurkish (re)migrants from West European countries. It seeks to gain insight intothemes and issues emerging in the cultural contact of (re)migrants with Turksback in Turkey and to elucidate the dimensions of the perceivedstigmatization of Turkish (re)migrants. By using an original survey instrument,the items of which were generated based on the semi-structured interviewswith 53 informants, data were collected from 606 Turkish informants. Basedon the survey results, a model was developed and validated. The results ofthe study are discussed within the frameworks of intergroup relations andsocial categorization of the social identity approach.

We studied the psychological and socio-cultural adaptation processes of Syrian refugees in Turkey using semi-structured, face-to-face, in-depth interviews among 15 participants. The study explored the themes and issues emerging in the psychological and socio-cultural adaptation processes such as life-satisfaction, contact with the host community and future plans of Syrian adults. Berry’s acculturation model (1997) is used to form the theoretical basis of this research. Our findings revealed that psychological and socio-cultural adaptation of Syrian refugees are strongly influenced by economic concerns, pre-migration expectations, religion and perceptions of Turkish natives’ expectations/ attitudes towards Syrians. From the perspective of the informants, economic concerns and uncertainty regarding duration of stay have a negative impact on refugees’ acculturation, leading to delayed psychological and socio-cultural adaptation. Positive perceptions of Turkish natives’ expectations/ attitudes towards Syrians are perceived to increase motivation to seek social support, which promotes well-being and life satisfaction in Turkey. Yet, negative perceptions such as prejudice and discrimination, may pose a risk for psychological health and low socio-cultural adaptation. One major finding of the paper is the two-fold impact of religion on Syrian refugees: Religion can be considered a binding/ equalizing function subsuming refugee and native groups under a superordinate identity. Nonetheless, it also appears to generate social distance when perceived as a threat to the secular national identity. The findings of this research can be used to minimize factors that undermine favorable acculturation outcomes and promote factors that facilitate high levels of psychological and socio-cultural adaptation.

The few studies on the achievement differences of mainstream and immigrant primary school students in large-scale assessments point to an achievement gap in many subject areas, with immigrant students trailing mainstream students. A recurrent methodological problem of these studies is that the two student groups do not come from comparable backgrounds. This study examined the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) math achievement of 4th grade mainstream and immigrant students in various European countries. Results showed that there was no systematic difference between first- and second-generation immigrants’ mathematics achievement levels. It was found that after statistically matching the background resources of the mainstream and immigrant students, both groups revealed comparable levels in mathematics. Finally, related to country characteristics that were associated with educational achievement, it was found that immigrant students in countries which had higher human development indicators showed higher educational performance.

In order to provide detailed background information about Turkish immigrants abroad, a detailed socio-historical profile of the group is presented in this Chapter. In order to make sense of the experiences of Turkish immigrants, this chapter is important. The aim is contextualizing the topic for a better understanding of the issues facing Turkish immigrants in the immigration context. In this respect, a number of social, cultural and linguistic topics are discussed.

Turkish immigrant community is the largest group in Western Europe. Researchers from various disciplines conducted research on acculturation orientations, bilingual skills, language maintenance/shift, and school achievement of Turkish immigrant groups in various countries.

This book puts forward a new model of acculturation combining psychological, sociolinguistic and identity theories to study Turkish immigrants across the globe. The authors argue that such a multidisciplinary perspective is very important in understanding acculturation processes in migrants, particularly for pivotal aspects such as language and identity. Studying one group or several groups within a country is the most common methodological approach in acculturation studies. The authors argue on the basis of their extensive ethnographic work that focusing on one immigrant ethnic group across countries instead provides deeper insights into interactive acculturation orientations of both the receiving societies and immigrant groups. They therefore synthesize findings from their work on Turkish immigrants in Australia and several countries in Europe. Moreover, they include extensive accounts of acculturation across several generations of Turkish migrants, thereby giving readers insights into the long-term acculturation process. The book critically discusses language maintenance and shift, child-rearing practices and socialization beliefs, and educational achievement in Turkish immigrants, and uses a mixed-methods approach. It is meant for researchers and policy makers interested in acculturation and the role of the acculturation context.In a nutshell, the book stresses the dynamic and ever-evolving nature of linguistic habits and cultural integration tendencies and convinces the reader about the complexity of the background factors that play a role in shaping the behaviour of immigrant minorities. Anyone who reads the book will be equipped with the skills to critically assess research on immigrant language maintenance.

This book presents a synthesis of findings from a number of different research projects on language maintenance and shift, acculturation orientations, family language policy, school achievement and bilingualism in Turkish speaking communities in different immigration contexts.

One of the most significant contributions of this book to the field is bringing together various interdisciplinary perspectives on the same topic to gain a deeper insight into the role of families in the acculturation process, language maintenance and shift. Using evidence from sociology, sociolinguistics, educational linguistics and cross-cultural psychology, we examine the outcomes of language and cultural contact in minority-majority settings.

European discourse on linguistic minorities reflect the construction of inter-ethnic boundaries between national (such as Dutch or French), indigenous minorities (such as Basque, Catalan or Frisian), and immigrant minorities (Arabic, Berber or Turkish). In the European public discourse on immigrant minority groups, two major characteristics emerge: immigrant minority groups are often referred to as foreigners (étrangers, Ausländer) and as being in need of integration. It is common practice to refer to immigrant minority groups in terms of non-national residents and to their languages in terms of non-territorial, non-regional, non-indigenous, or non-European languages. This conceptual exclusion rather than inclusion in the European public discourse derives from a restrictive interpretation of the notions of citizenship and nationality. Based on the empirical evidence derived from Language Rich Europe project, a phenomenological perspective on ethnic minorities and inter-ethnic boundary construction will be presented in this paper.

We studied the acculturation processes of Syrian refugees in the Netherlands, based on semi-structured in-depth interviews. The study aims to investigate how Syrian refugees perceive the cultural distance caused by the differences and boundaries between Syrian and Dutch culture; how they cope with the boundaries and prejudice that they perceive; and which acculturation orientations they prefer. The research builds mainly on the framework of Berry’s acculturation model. Religion emerges as a prominent issue in the acculturation process and is found to impact acculturation as it is perceived to be a cause of cultural distance, a salient social identity, a bright boundary and a source of prejudice in the host country. Our findings suggest that refugees’ religious identity strongly influences their coping strategies and preferred acculturation orientations. Refugees with low/no religious affiliation were more in favour of an assimilation orientation whereas refugees with strong religious identity preferred an integration orientation.

This study investigated the family language policy of second-generation Turkish immigrant families in the Netherlands by exploring their language ideologies, practices, and management strategies. Using an ethnographic approach, data were collected through a set of observations and interviews with 20 families. Transcriptions of interviews and memos of observations were coded to derive the major strategies employed by parents regarding home language use. The findings show that, although Turkish maintenance is a very important part of the linguistic ideologies of the families studied, there is great diversity and complexity in their language practices and management strategies. All of the families focus their language planning activities around the educational achievement of their children. Therefore, the recommendations of educational institutions are very important in their language practices.

While agency per se has been extensively theorised, the notion of agency in education has not received the attention it merits. This issue is part of a new wave of agency research that focus on the...

This article explores return migration motivations of different generations of Turkish migrants returning from Germany, the Netherlands and France, using semi-structured face-to-face interviews among 48 informants. The study draws on a qualitative approach and inductive content analysis to get insight into how pre-return, migration and transnational experiences of Turkish migrants influence their decisions to return to Turkey. It was found that an ambition to return to Turkey already present when migrating from Turkey, perceived discrimination in Western Europe and a strong sense of belonging to Turkey play the most important role in return decisions.

In bilingualism studies, comparing the competence of mono- and bilingual speakers is common, but it comes with certain limitations. In immigration contexts, many studies concentrate on the skills of immigrant pupils in the mainstream language. In order to account for educational underachievement of minority children, gaps in their language development are often documented by comparing mainstream pupils with immigrant children. Competence in the first language (L1), on the other hand, receives very little attention, despite the fact that it is often assumed that L1 competence has an impact on second language acquisition. Here, we present the findings of an empirical study that compared bilingual Turkish immigrant children ( n = 30) in the Netherlands with monolingual Turkish peers ( n = 30) in Turkey. Contrary to most other such studies, we focus on the development of socio-pragmatic skills. The evidence shows that, from the viewpoint of monolingual conventions, the immigrant children lag behind in their command of these skills. Also after controlling for socioeconomic status, bilingual Turkish immigrant children display much lower knowledge of the socio-pragmatic skills than monolingual Turkish children. The causes of this difference can be attributed to the limited Turkish input in the immigration context.

The European Union has been providing substantial support to academic research on linguistic diversity and multilingualism, and this guide to mobility and inclusion in multilingual Europe (thus, MI...

We studied the consequences of Turkish return migration in the reconstruction of 'migrant' identities into 'almanci' identities (literally: German-like; a pejorative term denoting Turkish returnees with a German-like identity) using semi-structured, oral interviews among 48 informants. The study uses a qualitative approach and inductive content analysis to get insight into the factors influencing (re) adaptation of Turkish return migrants. On the basis of informants' self-reports, we found that perceived discrimination, cultural distance with mainstream Turks and children-related issues experienced after return emerged as major themes in the returnee's narratives. The research revealed that re-adaptation difficulties varied substantially across generations and the socioeconomic status of the informants. The migration experiences and the acculturation orientations of the migrants in the countries of immigration played essential roles for a successful re-adaptation period. The results are discussed within the framework of two major models, Berry's acculturation model and Sussman's cultural identity model. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The aim of this study is to identify the relationship between students' accurate and fluent silent reading skills and their comprehension. The participants of the study were 401 students studying at 1st to 4thgrades. These students were from two state schools and a private school located in regions with different socioeconomic levels. The data on the participants' accurate and fluent reading skills were gathered using Accurate and Fluent Silent Reading Test (AFSRT) and the data on their comprehension levels were obtained through comprehension tests developed by the researchers. The obtained data were analysed using SPSS. As a result of the data analysis, there was a statistically significant relationship between the 1st and 3rd graders' accurate and fluent reading skills and their comprehension levels, Bu araştırmanın amacı, öğrencilerin doğru ve akıcı sözcük okuma düzeyleri ile kavrama başarıları arasındaki ilişkiyi saptamaktır. Araştırmanın katılımcılarını 1-4. sınfta öğrenimlerini sürdüren 401 öğrenci oluşturmaktadır. Bu öğrenciler farklı sosyo ekonomik bölgede yer alan iki devlet okulu ve bir özel okulda eğitim yaşamlarını sürdürmektedirler. Katılımcıların doğru ve akıcı sözcük okuma becerilerine ilişkin veriler “Doğru ve Akıcı Sessiz Okuma Testi” (DASOT) ile; kavrama düzeylerine ilişkin veriler ise yine araştırmacılar tarafından geliştirilen kavrama testleri ile elde edilmiştir. Elde edilen veriler SPSS programında çözümlenmiştir. Yapılan çözümleme sonucunda 1. ve 3. sınıf öğrencilerinin doğru ve akıcı sözcük okuma düzeyleri ile kavrama düzeyleri arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir ilişki olduğu saptanmıştır.

In talking about family language policy in the Turkish immigration context in the Netherlands, teachers emerged as the key actors in shaping parental language choices and practices. Previous research has shown that teachers take a central role in the implementation of school language policy but there is not much research on the influence of mainstream teachers on language practices of minority parents in the home context. In this paper, we will combine the evidence derived from observations on 20 families, interviews with 35 parents and with 5 classroom teachers in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Findings show that there is a serious degree of mismatch between parental aspirations regarding teachers' professional advice for parents and teacher expectations regarding parental role in the schooling of immigrant children and the use of home language. The interaction between parental beliefs and teachers' opinions show diverging attitudes towards the value of heritage language, schooling and parental participation.

0000-0001-9610-5496 WOS: 000408448300002 Lower reading and mathematics performance of Turkish immigrant students as compared to mainstream European students could reflect differential learning outcomes, differential socioeconomic backgrounds of the groups, differential mainstream language proficiency, and/or test bias. Using PISA reading and mathematics scores of these groups, we examined the role of bias and various measures related to immigrant integration policies of the host societies. Results of a multilevel analysis of reading and mathematics tests demonstrated that at individual level, students with higher scores on an index of economic, social, and cultural status obtained higher achievement scores. At country level, MIPEX scores of education and the human development index of participating countries could predict differences in reading results but not in mathematics. After correction for background characteristics, effect sizes showed a difference of .65 SD (down from a value of .96 before correction) for reading and .58 SD (down from .78) for mathematics. However, a similar correction for background variables increased the score differences between Turkish immigrants and mainstreamers. Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [2219] This paper is a part of a research project supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) with program no. 2219. Any opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the TUBITAK.

WOS: 000383408500007 The interdependence between the first and second language of bilingual immigrant children has not received sufficient attention in research. Most studies concentrate on mainstream language skills of immigrant pupils. In some studies, the gaps in the language development of immigrant children are documented by comparing mainstream pupils with immigrant children. The competence in the first language receives very little attention. In order to show the role of first language competence in second-language acquisition and lower school achievement, we present the findings of our empirical study by comparing bilingual Turkish immigrant children (n=30, mean age=67.27 months) in the Netherlands and monolingual Turkish speakers (n=30, mean age=66.97 months) in Turkey. The evidence presented in this paper shows that compared to monolingual Turkish speakers, Turkish immigrant children lag behind in their first language cognitive concepts, lexical, syntactic, and textual skills. Mothers' education level turns out to be an important factor in explaining the performance differences of immigrant children. This would have an effect on their concept and cognitive development as well as on their second-language acquisition.

ARIKAN, SERKAN/0000-0001-9610-5496; van de Vijver, Fons/0000-0003-0220-2485; Meiring, Deon/0000-0003-3458-2064; Yagmur, Kutlay/0000-0002-0555-4251 WOS: 000378924000006 Large-scale studies, such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), provide data to understand cross-national differences and similarities. In this study, we aimed to identify factors predicting mathematics achievement of Turkish students by comparing to Australian students. First, construct equivalence and item bias were evaluated to check the comparability. Second, factors predicting mathematics achievement of Turkish and Australian students were identified. Then, propensity score matching on background variables was conducted to identify the remaining achievement differences. Results indicated that mathematics skills were free of construct bias in these groups. After removal of some biased items, we obtained an item bias free booklet. Additionally, students' self-confidence and educational resources at home were significant predictors of achievement. Propensity score analysis indicated that educational resources and to a somewhat lesser extent self-confidence were effective in explaining achievement differences between these two countries. Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [2219] This paper is a part of a research project supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) with program no. 2219. Any opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the TUBITAK.

This paper deals with the differences between language policy at the European level and de facto practices at the national level. The findings are derived from the Language Rich Europe project, which is financed by the British Council and the European Commission to promote knowledge sharing about good policy and practice in language learning and teaching across Europe. The project evolved as a result of (1) the need to exchange effective practices in enhancing intercultural dialogue and social inclusion through language learning and teaching; (2) the need for greater European cooperation on improving language policies and practices; and (3) the lack of awareness of the Council of Europe and the European Commission recommendations regarding language policies and practices for promoting language learning and linguistic diversity and the member states’ performance against these recommendations. Making use of a large network of experts and partners from 24 different countries and regions, we have conducted an analysis of language policies and practices in Europe, comparing them to selected European Commission and Council of Europe recommendations. The project is co-financed by the European Commission as a part of its Lifelong Learning Programme, and is managed by the British Council with supervision from a steering group made up of partner organisations. Over 30 partners from across Europe are involved in the project, contributing both funding and expertise. The Babylon Centre for the Study of Superdiversity at Tilburg University led the research. The survey covers 15 EU member states: Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and the United Kingdom, in addition to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Switzerland and Ukraine. In Spain additional research was conducted in Catalonia and the Basque Country. In the UK, research was conducted separately for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In the Netherlands additional research was conducted in Friesland. The results are published as an official project report, Trends in Policies and Practices for Multilingualism in Europe, edited by Guus Extra and Kutlay Yagmur and published in 18 European national and regional languages as well as in Turkish and Arabic as major immigrant languages in Europe, in both book form (Cambridge University Press 2012) and as part of an interactive website: http://www.language-rich.eu/materials-media. Further, key recommendations for policy makers at the regional, country and European level were presented at the European Parliament in March 2013. Given the space limitations, only the findings related to ‘languages in official documents and databases’ and ‘languages in pre-primary, primary and secondary education’ are addressed in this paper.

Language maintenance, shift and ethnolinguistic vitality perceptions of Turkish speakers in the Netherlands are discussed in this paper. Using ethnolinguistic vitality theory of Giles, Bourhis &Taylor (1977) data on language use, choice and attitudes of Turkish immigrants in the Netherlands were collected. Using education as an independent variable, data has been analysed. The findings of this study have contributed further evidence to the role of education for language maintenance and shift. Better-educated Turkish immigrants have higher proficiency levels both in L1 and L2 compared to less educated informants but their attitudes towards Turkish is not as positive as the less educated group.

International audience; This paper aims to investigate the relative clauses in French and Turkish written discourse productions of Turkish-French bilingual and Turkish and French monolingual children and teenagers. It particularly aims to describe the use of relative clause by the means of comparison between bilingual and monolingual children and teenagers' text production. Spoken and written texts were collected from bilinguals and monolinguals in three groups (primary school; secondary school and high school). Bilingual population of our study was selected from a community living in France with an immigration background. The conceptual and methodological basis for this study is derived from an international research project on the development of text production abilities as a critical indicator of literacy across ages (Berman & Verhoeven, 2002). In our study, the main unit of the linguistic analysis is "the clause" which is defined by Berman and Slobin (1994) as a unified predicate describing a single situation (an activity, event, or state). The results show that bilingual primary school students use more relative clauses in French written texts than their monolingual counterparts contrary to bilingual high school students which use fewer relative clauses. Moreover, Turkish-French bilinguals and Turkish monolinguals present similar use of relative clauses by invalidating the intuitive idea that bilinguals would present inferior linguistic ability in either language.