Germans Sample Multilingualism Courtesy of World Cup

Even though a fifth of Germany's population grew up with a foreign mother tongue, the dominant language on the streets of German towns and cities remains German. Many politicians -- and much of the German population -- see the growing diversity of languages taking root here as more of a threat than a benefit, and there are few programs devoted to the spread of multilingualism.

Immigrants in Germany must quickly learn the German language, politicians often stress. That makes sense, said Ingrid Gogolin, professor for intercultural education research at Hamburg University. But to really belong, it's not enough to be able to make oneself understood in German, she added.

"More is demanded of people -- that they come to regard German, as if it were their mother tongue," Gogolin said. "Much of this has historical, and I would say ideological, reasons. The idea that a country and its language belong so closely together that one cannot bear to see them separated from each other developed during the 19th century. This is embedded deep within our consciousness, and also in our feelings."

Gogolin, on the other hand, sees multilingualism in Germany as a form of cultural enrichment. In her view, it's important that immigrants, their children and grandchildren continue to use their mother tongue.

"I see this as an opportunity," she said. "As a country in the middle of Europe, we have to maintain contact with many different populations with different languages. I conducted a study with small and medium-sized companies, and many of these businesses have profited from their multilingual employees."

Linguist Michael Clyne from the University of Melbourne in Australia agreed. He argues that ability in more than one language aids mutual understanding, especially in an immigration country, where many people from different cultural backgrounds live together.

"Language is a key to another culture and provides insight into cultural relativity," Clyne said. "It's too bad that more Germany don't make use of the linguistic opportunities they have and choose not to participate in a multilingual society."

In Australia, a different story

In contrast to Germany, Australia places a high degree of importance on maintaining the some 240 languages spoken on the continent. Radio and television stations broadcast in different languages, interpreters are frequently offered when conducting business over the phone, and more than 40 languages are offered in Australian schools.

"For languages not offered in schools, there are Saturday programs offered by state-run schools," Clyne said. "It doesn't matter whether it's French, Turkish, Farsi or Ukrainian -- all languages are given equal status. In our country, anyone who can pass a high school exam in a foreign language receives a 10 percent bonus."

Those sound like dream conditions to Aydan Özuguz, spokeswoman for immigration and integration in the Hamburg branch of the Social Democratic Party. In her opinion, not enough German schools teach Turkish, for example.

"It's a resource -- a lot of kids speak it, and of course they would have a much different motivation to learn it if they could actually use it to get a mark that would be of help to them," Özuguz said.

Immigrant children at a disadvantage

The reality in Germany is much different. Proficiency in a mother tongue counts for almost nothing, whereas insufficient knowledge of German results in a disproportionate number of children from immigrant families being slotted into the country's least challenging educational stream, Hauptschule, instead of a path that would lead to higher education.

"This is a poor reflection on us," Özuguz said. "Other European countries have reacted faster; they've adjusted their school systems, found other ways to support immigrant children. We're still having this discussion about what we actually want -- is bilingualism or multilingualism even a good thing?"

Özuguz and Gogolin are among the few people campaigning for multilingualism in Germany, but they hope that eventually, more politicians will recognize the benefits of having a more multilingual society.

"I've witnessed the joy during the World Cup, and seen how so many people here in Germany suddenly found their languages so helpful," Gogolin said. "I wish that this attitude could extend to everyday life in Germany. Maybe this is something we could take with us from the World Cup."