A Review of Policies to Improve Migrant Workers'' Language Skills Language Education for Migrant Workers in the Netherlands

Journal of the International Network for Korean Language and Culture 16-1, 261-296. The influence of globalization leads to the emergence of a transnational network, further development in capitalism, and subsequently, a rise in labor migration. In Korea, like everywhere else in the world, the issue of migrant workers is being raised, as the number of foreign workers who stay in the country has grown as a result of its economic growth, low birth rates, and aging population. In this context, the present study aims to exaine language policies and the language education system in the Netherlands, which has long implemented multicultural policies to strengthen language skills, as it made a policy pivot towards integration; this study thereby reviews what would be a good policy direction for Korean language education provided to migrant workers living in Korea. The Netherlands put in place a 'stricter policy' for economic assimilation, which helps migrants enter the labor market because it makes provision of language education mandatory. Giving the reason behind the policy, the Dutch government said that if migrant workers are able to communicate better as a result of language education, it would improve work performance and productivity, which could then help them seek economic benefits as well as live with a sense of identity and belonging as a member of the society they are in. From the case of the Netherlands, the present study confirms that language education has had a direct effect on the lives of migrant workers. (Sangmyung University)