The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science annually makes 9 million euros available (in two rounds) for the PhD positions for teachers. This gives them the chance to further develop themselves and to strengthen the connection between universities and schools.
Third person
Gerbrich de Jong works as a teacher trainer in Dutch and Frisian at NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences (Leeuwarden) and as a teacher of Frisian language proficiency at the University of Groningen. She will use the grant for her research project 'Can Madam help me?' Forms of address in Friesland.
'In Frisian, you can address someone with 'jo' (Dutch 'u') or 'do' (Dutch 'jij'), but also in the third person, as in the title of this project,' De Jong explains. 'Some Frisians also use that form when speaking Dutch.' In the project, De Jong will investigate when these forms of address are used, by whom and to whom, where they come from and also what effect they have on the person addressed. Knowledge of this will contribute to mutual understanding and intercultural communication in the bilingual province of Friesland. De Jong: 'I think this is the first time this scholarship has been awarded to a Frisian subject.'
Media attention
Frisian and national media paid plenty of attention to the new project:
- Radio interview Omrop Frylan (in Frisian)
- News article Omrop Fryslân (in Dutch)
- News article NOS.nl (in Ducth)
- News article Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch)
Gerbrich de Jong will start on 1 September. The research will last for five years.