Research project: Nederlands voor alle kinderen

Young newcomers learn the Dutch language in taalscholen and taalklassen. After one year of this dedicated program, children are expected to join a regular school. But then the big question comes: how to assess their language proficiency?

This research:

Newcomers make huge progress in their first year in the Netherlands. However, the level of their Dutch cannot be compared with the one of their Dutch-speaking peers. The project Nederlands voor Alle Kinderen aims at creating a tool that can track and measure second language development in young newcomers (refugees, asylum-seekers, work migrants), while considering both linguistic and extra-linguistic factors typical of this population. To date, no such an instrument is available to measure the linguistic progress of these children.

Who are involved:

Manuela Pinto and Shalom Zuckerman (principal investigators). In addition, we also have the precious assistance of Mirjam Lentz (MA student) and Sanne Ditewig (PhD candidate), and a number of dedicated student-assistants.

External parties involved in this project are LOWAN, and a number of taalscholen throughout the country.

This project was partly crowd founded and partly supported by the following organisations: 

Janivo Stichting, Stichting Elise Mathilde fonds, Stichting Het R.C. Maagdenhuis on behalf of Werkgroep Vluchtelingen & Educatie, Utrechts Universiteitsfonds Crowdfunding 2021, private donations.