Language—in all its manifestations—fascinates me. Linguistics is not only my professional core, but also a constant source of curiosity. I am interested in how language works, how it is acquired, used, and experienced, and how it shapes people’s lives in multilingual and migratory contexts.
My academic background is in formal linguistics, specifically Generative Grammar, which has shaped my analytical and critical approach to language research. Building on this foundation, I have developed a broad, interdisciplinary research profile at the intersection of second language development, language use, intercultural communication, identity, and cultural heritage. I approach these themes holistically, viewing language as a cognitive, social, and cultural phenomenon.
A central strand of my work concerns the development of fair and ecologically valid methods for assessing language comprehension in children. Together with Shalom Zuckerman, I developed the Coloring Book, an innovative digital tool for measuring receptive language comprehension, and later KleurenSchat, a novel instrument for assessing Dutch receptive vocabulary in primary school children.
In recent years, my research has increasingly focused on migration. I study second language development among newcomers not only from a linguistic perspective, but also in relation to social context, living conditions, and emotional experiences. This work informs both my research projects and my teaching, in which I actively involve students in community-engaged learning initiatives in collaboration with social partners.
Across research, teaching, and public engagement, my work is driven by the conviction that linguistic expertise can contribute meaningfully to understanding societal challenges—and to educating critically minded, socially engaged students.
Below is a selection of projects I have worked on in recent years, as well as projects that will start this year.
Coloring Book
A playful coloring game that measures language comprehension
A digital method for assessing receptive language comprehension in children: for children, a coloring game; for researchers, a reliable tool, developed from linguistic research and practical experience.
See our website for details https://coloringbook.wp.hum.uu.nl/?lang=en
KleurenSchat
A window onto children’s vocabulary
A digital instrument, based on the Coloring Book method, for observing Dutch receptive vocabulary development in primary school children in an accessible and reliable way.
Nederlands voor Alle Kinderen (Dutch for All Children)
Tracking language development in young newcomers
A language assessment for young newcomers that maps their development in Dutch, taking into account both linguistic and contextual factors. The project has been completed, and discussions are currently underway with LOWAN and a major Dutch publisher to explore how the test can be further developed and brought to the market.
Stemmen van Nieuwkomers (Voices of Newcomers)
Stories about learning language in asylum seeker centers
An exploratory research project in which refugees themselves describe how they experience learning and using Dutch, and which obstacles and forms of resilience play a role in this process.
The Invisible Stories of Italian Migrant Women
Making invisible stories visible
A collaborative project with Monica Jansen that has just started, focusing on collecting and sharing the life stories of Italian migrant women in the Netherlands as part of transgenerational cultural heritage.
See also the website of the course Migrazioni al Plurale Migrazioni al plurale | Universiteit Utrecht | Home
Also Butterflies Are Migrants
Explaining migration to children
A creative educational project that will start this year, in which children learn—through stories from nature, history, and their own families—that migration is a phenomenon of all times. The project will conclude with a public presentation of the children’s drawings.
Meertalige Sprookjes op de Gele Bankjes (Multilingual Fairy Tales on the Yellow Benches)
Fairy tales, multilingualism, and encounter
A mini-project within the City of Utrecht’s Reading Campaign that will take place next October, in which students and children will read and discuss traditional fairy tales from migrants’ countries of origin in Dutch.