Language maintenance among the Dutch in Canberra

Abstract

Seen as 'the best assimilated migrants', the Dutch were popular migrants in the fifties, when migration from the Netherlands to Australia reached its peak, but by 1984 they had slipped to 6th place in popularity, according to a mid-year opinion poll. Nowadays they form what is very much a greying group, since hardly any new Dutch migrants are settling in Australia. The figures in chapter 4 Table 1, show that in the ten years bet\AJeen 1975 and 1985 on ly 10,956 Dutch settlers arrived in Australia, and that in the same period 3,112 Dutch settlers left. While the Dutch formed the fourth largest group of non-English speakers in 1983, it may not be long before they cease to get separate mention as an ethnic group. It is thus important to look at Dutch speech in Australia now, while sufficient first generation Dutch speakers remain, especially since hardly any of their children have learned to speak Dutch. Show more