A Non-native English teacher in a Dutch primary school: English versus Dutch Teaching

Abstract

Currently, a nationwide study is being conducted into the use of English as a language of instruction for parts of the curriculum at Dutch primary schools. This project is called Proefproject 15% vvto (vroeg vreemde talen onderwijs, or early foreign language education) and is a combined initiative of the European Platform and the Dutch Ministry of Education. As one of the researchers for this trial project my task was to gather and analyse data. I am also one of the authors of the final report. One of the aims of this study is to find out how teachers who are native speakers of Dutch cope with the added task of teaching in English. This paper will consist of a qualitative analysis of the teaching behaviour of a single teacher. The primary aim of my case study will be to discover whether the use of a non-native language of instruction leads to differences in teaching style. The participant is a teacher for whom English is a non-native language.