The German Debate

03/07/2011

During his visit to Germany, Turkey's prime minister said children of Turks living here should learn Turkish first. His comment sparked a contentious debate. Petra Schulz, a professor for German as a second language, discusses the issue with SPIEGEL.

SPIEGEL: During a visit to Germany last week, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: "Our children must learn German, but they must learn good Turkish first." Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle says: "Children who grow up in Germany must learn German as the very first thing." Who's right?

Schulz: If Mr. Westerwelle means that Turkish parents in Germany should, as a matter of principle, speak German with their own children, he is wrong, at least from the standpoint of language acquisition research. What sort of German would it be? Probably very broken German, in many cases. This sort of a role wouldn't do anyone any good.

SPIEGEL: So is the order Erdogan proposes better?

Schulz: With this type of family, yes, but German should be added as early as possible, even before the first language is completely developed. The human brain is very well equipped to learning more than one language at the same time.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,749442,00.html