A Qualitative Description of the Monolingual and Bilingual School Experience in Germany

Abstract

The education of students of Turkish origin in Germany is treated in different ways in different schools in Germany; some schools help these students by educating them both in German and Turkish, others educate in German and provide limited assistance in their native language, but other schools may educate Turkish students with no support of their native language whatsoever. During the course of my six weeks of research I visited three different elementary schools in Germany: A bilingual German-Turkish school in the Kreuzberg neighborhood of Berlin, a monolingual school in the same neighborhood, and a monolingual school in the town of Bad Salzuflen in another region of Germany. My central topic was immigrant students and how they learn German as a second language in each school setting. I consequently observed classes, attended after school activities, and interviewed students, teachers, parents, and administrators to find out as much as possible about what each of these schools is like.