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Article In: Rethinking Multilingualism in Education: Inclusion, policy and practice for newcomers in Europe
Edited by Steven Delarue and Wendelien Vantieghem
[Nota Bene 3:1] 2026

The use of multilingual strategies in Dutch reception classes

 | Utrecht University
 | Utrecht University
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
This research focuses on several forms of “translanguaging”, the use of multilingual strategies for dealing with the linguistically diverse backgrounds of newcomer students in the Netherlands. By using translanguaging the home languages of students are welcomed into the classroom, and are used as a bridge to learning Dutch and other subject content. The literature shows many positive effects of translanguaging on school language skills, metacognitive and metalinguistic awareness, and on various aspects of pupils’ socio-emotional development. We present a survey among Dutch secondary school teachers that assessed the attitudes of teachers on translanguaging, the extent to which different teachers use different translanguaging strategies, the reasons why they use or don’t use them, the obstacles they may experience in the use of these strategies, and the needs they experience in using the home languages in the classroom. The results show that most teachers have a positive attitude towards a multilingual approach, particularly those that are experiences in working with and in several languages, but that they need adequate materials and practical information about how to make use of the home languages.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.ISK reception classrooms
  • 3.Language policy in newcomer education
  • 4.Multilingual strategies in the classroom
    • 4.1Advantages of multilingual strategies
    • 4.2Translanguaging methods
    • 4.3Challenges in the application of translanguaging
  • 5.Research method
    • 5.1Materials and data collection
    • 5.2Participants
    • 5.3Procedure
  • 6.Results
    • 6.1Attitudes with respect to translanguaging
    • 6.2Different uses of translanguaging
      • 6.2.1Initiators of the use of home languages
      • 6.2.2Contexts of the use of translanguaging
      • 6.2.3Use of comparisons between languages
      • 6.2.4Use of multilingual materials and activities
      • 6.2.5Other ways of using the home languages
    • 6.3Obstacles in the use of translanguaging
    • 6.4Possibilities to expand the use of translanguaging
      • 6.4.1Satisfaction with the present use of home languages
      • 6.4.2Requirements for expanding translanguaging
  • 7.Discussion
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Author queries
  • References
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