European cities are becoming more and more diverse in terms of language. Multilingualism is also increasingly evident in the classroom in the Netherlands, as more and more students speak another language than Dutch at home. Moreover, the mass media and the internet have familiarised many young people with English already before they receive any formal instruction in that language.

While linguistic diversity enriches society and the education system, it also poses new challenges. On the one hand, multilingualism is promoted by the EU as a crucial catalyst for citizenship, education and the economy. But this policy is only partially incorporated at the national and municipal level. While languages such as English, and to a lesser extent French and German, are increasingly valued in education, immigrant languages are seen as the ultimate obstacle to integration. This essay is about the paradox of multilingualism.

EU and Member States in favour of multilingualism

According to the EU, multilingualism is something fundamentally good that should be encouraged. EU policymakers cite four reasons why they promote multilingualism. Multilingualism is supposed to boost intercultural dialogue, stimulate citizens of the Member States to cultivate EU citizenship, offer new possibilities to citizens to study and work abroad, and open up new markets for EU companies that want to do business outside of the EU. In other words, multilingualism is seen as a stimulus to the EU economy, to educational mobility and to civic education.

For these reasons, the EU is trying to protect linguistic diversity and to encourage its citizens’ knowledge of languages. The goal is for all Europeans to learn at least two other languages besides their mother tongue, preferably from a very young age. The objective of ‘mother tongue plus two languages’ (1+2) was laid down by government leaders at the summit of Barcelona in March 2002. It should be noted that the EU itself does not have authority in the area of education, but it does promote language education, multilingual education and exchanges between different educational systems in different languages through a number of programmes.

The endeavour to promote multilingualism is also gaining acceptance within various Member States. To date, most Member States’ educational systems have been monolingual. This does not mean that no other languages are taught in these schools as a separate subject but rather that the instruction of regular subjects is typically given in one language.