During his entire career, he published on various topics within Dutch linguistics and science pedagogy. He brought his particular attention to grammar, a topic that is often considered complex and inaccessible, to the fore in a clear and understandable manner.
Royal distinction
After Coppen's valedictory lecture, Mayor Hubert Bruls presented him with a royal disctinction for his many years of dedication to Dutch language and culture. Bruls lauded the many roles Coppen fulfilled during his rich career in which he managed to inspire teachers, students, pupils, colleagues and readers.
Science communicator throughout
Coppen is best known to the general public as science communicator. He writes columns for daily newspaper Trouw and Levende Talen Magazine and has been an editorial member of the popular science magazine Onze Taal for 27 years. He is furthermore editor of the free online magazine Neerlandistiek, in which Dutch language specialists share their passion for language. He is also a regular guest on the radio programme De Taalstraat on NPO Radio 1, where he explains linguistic topics to a wide audience.
Previous recognition
In 2022, Coppen received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Science Communication from the National Research School of Linguistics. The jury praised him for his ability to bring sentence analysis to life for a wide audience, and for his willingness to engage in discussions about language via social media:
Coppen manages to make his readers or listeners think for themselves about language, thereby immediately involving them in the research.
Link between education and science
Coppen is also active within the Meesterschapsteam Nederlands (Dutch Mastery Team), where he played an important role as board member and later chair in updating the core objectives and learning outcomes of the school subject Dutch. He has worked to strengthen the link between the school subject, academic Dutch studies and science pedagogy.
This distinction crowns an impressive career in which Peter-Arno Coppen has enriched Dutch linguistics and language education in an inspiring way.