Generation 1.5 in adult literacy classes in the Netherlands

The study presented in this article aimed at investigating the differences in Dutch language abilities of three groups of adults attending basic education in the Netherlands: native Dutch students, Generation 1.5 students, who had been living in the Netherlands for more than twenty years or arrived before the age of 15, and regular L2 students, who arrived after the age of 18 or had been living in the Netherlands for less than 10 years. The 255 participants in the study attended courses in nine different adult education centres. In addition to background data on the students (e.g. age, age of entrance into the Netherlands, education, L1), we collected data on five different skill areas in Dutch: oral language proficiency (vocabulary and syntax), word reading/fluency, reading comprehension, word spelling and text writing. The analyses revealed that the Generation 1.5 students differed from both groups in vocabulary, but were more similar to the L2 students in writing ability. Although on nearly all tasks the scores of Generation 1.5 fell more or less in between native Dutch and regular L2 students, in particular syntax, morphology and lexical choice they clearly showed a difference between native Dutch on the one side, and Generation 1.5 and L2 students on the other. Some educational implications of the different profiles are discussed.