Research project
Multilingualism and Language Policy
This project investigates the languages spoken by elementary school children in Leiden: which languages or varieties do they use, what is their level of competence and in what domains do they use them?
- Duration
- 2025 - 2027
- Contact
- Gijsbert Rutten
In this project, we aim to obtain a clear picture of which languages children in Leiden use in their daily lives. We go to elementary schools to give a lesson about multilingualism and then ask the children to fill in a colouring page, where they can indicate which languages they use in different domains of their lives through different colours. Through an interview amongst themselves, they also answer in-depth questions about their language use. The scientific goal of the project is to gain more insight into the linguistic repertoires of children and how they use them. The societal goal is to normalise multilingualism in children and to be better informed on how to support them in their language use.