Reliable language corpus implies a text sample of size n that provides stable probability distributions of linguistic phenomena. The question is what is the minimal (i.e. the optimal) text size at which probabilities of linguistic phenomena become stable. Specifically, we were interested in probabilities of grammatical forms. We started with an a priori assumption that text size of 1.000.000 words is sufficient to provide stable probability distributions. Text of this size we treated as a "quasi-population". Probability distribution derived from the "quasi-population" was then correlated with probability distribution obtained on a minimal sample size (32 items) for a given linguistic category (e.g. nouns). Correlation coefficient was treated as a measure of similarity between the two probability distributions. The minimal sample was increased by geometrical progression, up to the size where correlation between distribution derived from the quasi-population and the one derived from an increased sample reached its maximum (r=1). Optimal sample size was established for grammatical forms of nouns, adjectives and verbs. General formalism is proposed that allows estimate of an optimal sample size from minimal sample (i.e. 32 items).

As the representative of the Dutch Embassy in Washington, D.C., told our Martindale group about the pull for cheap labor from within the Netherlands and the push for a better life among people from the Middle East, I wondered about the consequences of these forces. Is it possible that this push and pull could truly result in a mutually beneficial relationship between Dutch society and immigrants from the Middle East? Or is it more likely that these two forces are incompatible and thus have engendered a division between Dutch society and the immigrants? Investigating the answers to these questions has led me to the conclusion that the immigration and integration issues which the Netherlands faces today partly stem from the tension caused by a desire for cheap labor along with the apparent rejection of non-Dutch culture by many elements of Dutch society. The Netherlands, long perceived as an open and welcoming society and therefore the country least expected to face immigration problems, has recently found itself at the center of the fiercely debated topic of immigration. At the heart of the problem lies the motivation of government policies regarding immigration and integration. I argue here that the concept of multiculturalism, which arose in government immigration and integration policy during the 1980s, was a more acceptable term for the less acceptable idea of distancing the host population from immigrants who arrived in the Netherlands as a result of 1970s’ labor recruitment programs. In the context of Dutch immigration and integration policy, multiculturalism can be defined as an ideology in which cultural differences of minorities are recognized and respected by the host nation. The concept, however, became a tool with which the government developed immigration and inte-