Gorter, Durk

ALEX M. J. RIEMERSMA

Durk Gorter (born 1952 in Friesland, the Netherlands) grew up bilingually in Frisian
and Dutch from birth. He was educated in sociology at the University of Groningen, the
University of Amsterdam, and the University of California Santa Barbara (USA). His PhD
thesis was on language use and code switching of local civil servants and their clients in
Friesland (Gorter, 1987a, 1993).
In 1978 Durk Gorter was the first scholar in the sociology of language appointed at the
Fryske Akademy, the research institute on the language, history, culture, and society of
Friesland (founded in 1938). As from 1994, he combined his work at the Fryske Akademy
with a part-time professorship of Frisian sociolinguistics at the University of Amsterdam.
His appointment, in 2008, as a research professor with the Ikerbasque foundation at the
University of the Basque Country (in Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain) is a significant devel-
opment in his academic career. He continues to be involved in joint research activities
between the University of the Basque Country and the Fryske Akademy.
His main fields of research are multilingualism, comparative studies of European minor-
ity languages in education, and the linguistic landscape. He has participated in various
European research projects, edited books and special issues of journals in his fields of
specialization, and has been involved in the organization of international meetings such
as the series of International Conferences on Minority Languages (ICML) that started in
1980 (Gorter, 2009).
He started his career as one of the researchers in the project “Taal yn Fryslân” (Language
in Friesland; 1979–84); this is the most complete and highly valued survey on language
use and language attitudes in Friesland. It comprises a thorough sociological study with
over 1,000 respondents throughout the province of Friesland. The study focused on
language competencies, language use in various domains (education, media, church life,
and leisure time), as well as reading habits, language attitudes, ideology, identity, and
language policy. The study included also the use of Dutch as the majority language and
the non-Frisian dialects within Friesland (Gorter, Jelsma, Van der Plank, & De Vos, 1984;
Gorter, 1987b). The survey was repeated a dozen years later as the project “Taal yn Fryslân
op ‘e nij besjoen” (Language in Friesland revisited; 1993–6). The overall results showed
that while the oral use of the Frisian language (94% of the population understand Frisian
and 74% are able to speak Frisian) as well as the reading competence (65%) remained
stable, the reported proficiency in Frisian writing increased from 11% in 1980 to 17% in
1994 (Gorter, 1994; Gorter & Jonkman, 1995). The survey project in Friesland was part
of the European Language Surveys Network (1994–9), which comprised similar survey
projects in the Basque Country, Ireland, Wales, Catalonia, and Galicia.
Long before that Durk Gorter had become active on the European level. He was one of
the founding fathers, together with, among others, Dónall Ó Riagáin and Helen Ó Murchú,
of the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL). This European organization
for the protection and promotion of regional or minority languages in the European Union
was created after the adoption of the Arfé resolution by the European Parliament (in 1981).
He served on the Board from 1982 to 1990.

The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, Edited by Carol A. Chapelle.

© 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal1320
2 gorter, durk

In 1987 the Mercator network was set up, with the help of the European Commission,
to store and collect documentation and information and to carry out research on minority
or regional languages. It comprised three centers: Mercator Education in Ljouwert/
Leeuwarden hosted by the Fryske Akademy, Mercator-Media in Aberystwyth (Wales),
and Mercator-Legislation in Barcelona. The network centers closely cooperated to offer a
broad range of information services. In his position as project leader of Mercator Education,
Durk Gorter initiated several projects—among others, the Regional Dossier series which
to date reflects over 40 minority languages of Europe (www.mercator-research.eu).
Furthermore, important studies on teaching materials, teacher training, preschool provi-
sion, and trilingual education were carried out. Around the time of the start of Mercator
Education, in April 1988, he was one of the organizers of a European conference on primary
education of and in minority languages in the so-called EMU project. Over 100 delegates
representing more than 40 minority language communities came together in Friesland for
the first time during the European Union’s existence to discuss issues surrounding primary
education (Sikma & Gorter, 1990).
Through his work for Mercator Education and his research publications Durk Gorter
contributed significantly to European comparative studies on language planning policies
regarding regional and minority languages (Extra & Gorter, 2001, 2008; Cenoz & Gorter,
2005, 2008a; Gorter, 2008). He was also a member of the stakeholder group on languages
for the preparation of the Lifelong Learning Program 2007–13 of the European Union and
he did advisory work on language diversity for the Council of Europe.
From 1998 to 2005 Durk Gorter was also the President of the Berie foar it Frysk, the
Frisian Language Advisory Board to the provincial government of Friesland. During his
two terms as president he contributed greatly to the shaping of Frisian language policy
in the field of public authorities, education, and the media, based on his great scholarly
expertise. The Frisian Language Advisory Board has substantially influenced the renewed
Covenant on the Frisian Language and Culture which was agreed between the central
Dutch government and the provincial administration of Friesland in 2001 for a period of
10 years. The Board was also involved in guiding the process of implementation. The
idea of co-responsibility of provincial and local municipalities for language planning was
developed in a “menu system” based on a similar menu system in part III of the European
Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of the Council of Europe.
In the Network of Excellence SUSDIV (Sustainable Development in a Diverse World)
(2005–11) in the 6th European Framework Program, he became one of the task leaders. In
this network he was able to develop the dimension of language diversity and multilingual-
ism, amongst other things, through a focus on the newly developing field of linguistic
landscape studies (Gorter, 2006; Cenoz & Gorter, 2008b; Bracalenti, Gorter, Santonico Ferrer,
& Valente, 2009; Shohamy & Gorter, 2009; Gorter, Marten, & Van Mensel, 2011).
In his recent post at the University of the Basque Country Gorter has established
the Donostia Research Group on Education And Multilingualism (DREAM, www.
multilingualeducation.eu). His innovative research projects on multilingual education in
the Basque Country (where Basque, Spanish, and English are used) compared to Friesland
(where Frisian, Dutch, and English are taught), already show some interesting outcomes
(Gorter & Cenoz, 2010; Cenoz & Gorter, 2011).
Durk Gorter’s work has influenced the comparative study of European minority lan-
guages. He has been seminal for the development of linguistic landscape studies and
currently he is involved in promising new work on multilingualism and education.

SEE ALSO: Language Policy and Multilingualism; Linguistic Diversity; Linguistic

Landscape; Minority Languages in Education; Multilingual Education in Europe
 gorter, durk 3

References

Bracalenti, R., Gorter, D., Santonico Ferrer, C. I., & Valente, C. (Eds.). (2009). Roma multietnica
(I cambiamenti nel panorama linguistico/Changes in the linguistic landscape). Rome: Edup S.r.l.
(bilingual Italian–English edition).
Cenoz, J., & Gorter, D. (Eds.). (2005). Trilingual education in Europe (Special issue). International
Journal of the Sociology of Language, 171.
Cenoz, J., & Gorter, D. (Eds.). (2008a). Multilingualism and minority languages: Achievements and
challenges in education. Special issue of AILA-review, 21.
Cenoz, J., & Gorter, D. (2008b). Linguistic landscape as an additional source of input in second
language acquisition. IRAL, International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching,
46, 257–76.
Cenoz, J., & Gorter, D. (Eds.). (2011). Toward a Multilingual Approach in the Study of Multilingualism
in School Contexts (Special issue). The Modern Language Journal 95(3).
Extra, G., & Gorter, D. (Eds.). (2001). The other languages of Europe: Demographic, sociolinguistic
and educational perspectives. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.
Extra, G., & Gorter, D. (Eds.). (2008). Multilingual Europe: Facts and policies. Berlin: De Gruyter.
Gorter, D. (1987a). Aspects of language choice in Friesland: Neutrality and asymmetry. Journal
of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 8(1&2), 121–32.
Gorter, D. (Issue Ed.) (1987b). The sociology of Frisian. International Journal of the Sociology of
Language, 64.
Gorter, D. (1993). Taal fan klerken en klanten. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of
Amsterdam, Ljouwert, Fryske Akademy.
Gorter, D. (1994). A new sociolinguistic survey of the Frisian language situation. Dutch Crossing
(A Journal of Low Countries Studies), 18(2), 18–31.
Gorter, D. (Ed.). (2006). Linguistic landscape: A new approach to multilingualism. Clevedon, England:
Multilingual Matters. Also published as special issue of International Journal of Multilingualism,
3(1).
Gorter, D. (2008). Developing a policy for teaching a minority language: The case of Frisian.
Current Issues in Language Planning, 9(4), 501–20.
Gorter, D. (2009). Minority languages today: A short history of the International Conferences on Minority
Languages (1980–2009). University Tartu, Estonia. Retrieved April 19, 2011 from http://
www.icml13.org/fileadmin/icmlxiii/pdf/Minority_Languages_Today_brochure_2009.pdf
Gorter, D., & Cenoz, J. (2010). Multilingual education for European minority languages: Innovative
approaches in the Basque Country and Friesland. In H. Alidou, N. Nikièma, & C. Glanz
(Eds.), Principles and innovations in multilingual education. Special issue of International Review
of Education.
Gorter, D., Jelsma, G. H., Van der Plank, P. H., & De Vos, K. (1984). Taal yn Fryslân. Ljouwert:
Fryske Akademy.
Gorter, D., & Jonkman, R. J. (1995). Taal yn Fryslân op ‘e nij besjoen. Ljouwert: Fryske Akademy.
Gorter, D., Marten, H. F., & Van Mensel, L. (Eds.). (2011). Minority languages in the linguistic
landscape. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
Shohamy, E., & Gorter, D. (Eds.). (2009). Linguistic landscape: Expanding the scenery. New York,
NY: Routledge.
Sikma, J., & Gorter, D. (1990). European lesser used languages in primary education: An inventory
and proceedings of the colloquy. Ljouwert: Fryske Akademy/EMU-projekt.