Being multicultural: Representations of diversity in a Dutch language textbook

According to the Centraal Bureau voor Statistiek (CBS) data, the number of immigrants in 2014 and 2015 in the Netherlands had reached 306,000, a number dominated by Polish workers. Since January 1st, 2016 there are 1,800 Syrian children aged under 4 years, 6,100 Syrian children aged 4-12 years, and 3,400 Syrian children aged 12-18 years (Volkskrant: 10-1-2016). Even so, long before the 21st century the Dutch was already home to many foreign workers from Argentina, Italy, Turkey and Morocco in their effort to rebuild a nation ravaged by the Second World War. This fact is ground to observing multiculturalism found in the Netherlands. The Dutch language is certainly a major element in the process of instilling the values of multiculturalism, and immigrants are the main target of planting these values, carried out through textbooks used for learning Dutch as a second language in the Netherlands. Learning foreign languages cannot be separated from learning the target culture. Target culture content must be inserted in language teaching materials. The aim is not only to facilitate the learning of target languages, but also to introduce target cultures to foreign speakers. Contact! Nederlands voor anderstaligen (Contact!) as a Dutch language textbook not only offers a full explanation of the language and rules of use of the Dutch language, but also displays a complete illustration of Dutch culture. One aspect of Dutch culture that is highlighted in the textbook Contact! is the multicultural culture. This paper discusses the Netherlands as a multicultural country portrayed in three Dutch language textbooks: Contact! for levels 1, 2 & 3 (2014). Roach (2005) in Berkes (2010) reveals that multiculturalism is a cultural and political platform for various principles, concepts and guidelines. The aim is to promote equally and fairly, the presence of all cultural groups and create a balance between either race or language. This paper uses content analysis methods to observe the various multicultural culture content presented in all three Contact! books. How the textbook Contact! 1, 2 & 3 represents the Dutch society that is dynamic and multicultural through its variations of skills training is dissected using the representation theory. The results of the analysis show that most multicultural cultural content is present in the illustrations and conversational dialogues. The presence of cultural content in the textbook Contact! manages to illustrate the Dutch people living peacefully and in harmony without social problems among races.