Beleid en Nederlands Als Tweede Taal

The Dutch government has never developed an active long-range policy concerning the more than 400.000 speakers of other languages currently living in the Netherlands, mainly because it was assumed that their stay in the Netherlands would be temporary only. This paper discusses the facilities provided so far for speakers of other languages in this country, specifically in the field of language-teaching. Next the results of research into Dutch as a second language are discussed and it is suggested how a consistent policy may be developed.