Receptive multilingualism as a language mode in the Dutch-German border area

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What possibilities do Dutch and German native speakers have when communicating with each other in the border area? Roos Beerkens answers this question in her study by analysing language use. Her analysis shows that ‘receptive multilingualism’ is a successful way of communicating and that it is also being used as such. Receptive multilingualism is a language mode in which each person speaks his/her own language and has enough receptive knowledge of the other language to understand what is said. It is a solution which possesses many advantages. The main advantage being that one is able to express oneself best in his/her own language. The societal development of receptive multilingualism is also taken into account; the language mode is being used in both civil society as well as governmental organisations, albeit for different reasons. Nevertheless, both developments contribute to the development of the use of receptive multi-lingualism in the Dutch-German cross-border society.