Language detectives: Children involved in study on multilingualism

Primary school pupils as researchers

‘Alle Scholen Verzamelen’ is an annual citizen science initiative especially aimed at primary school children. This year, Knopp and Max Spotti work together with 137 primary schools throughout the country. “The children will look for languages and document them with photos in the area around their school. They answer questions on the context of the language they come across,” she explains. In this way, the children not only learn about their environment, but also about the role of languages in society. “Questions include why a certain language is used. What does it tell them about the diversity in their area? We encourage them to think how these languages contribute to the cultural identity of their community. This will teach them that language is more than grammar alone: it is a way to connect with other people.” Spotti: “By answering questions about the languages that pupils come across, they study how language works as a social indicator of diversity, inclusion and exclusion”

Academic value

After the children have collected the data, researchers Knopp and Spotti will analyse the material. “We look at the results in quantitative and qualitative ways. For instance, we explore questions such as ‘How many instances of Papiamentu did the children find, and how is it spread across the country?’, but we are also interested in the children’s perspective of the linguistic diversity in their environment, especially compared to what we think about this as researchers. We expect to be able to get back to the participating schools on these results within a few months, so they can reflect on them in class. We hope to stimulate the children’s language awareness in this way. This is a learning objective that will have an important position in the new language curriculum.”

The study does not only provide valuable data for academic research, it also teaches children how science works and why it is important. “The children will be real researchers. They will learn that you have to abide by certain rules if you do academic research. You need to follow certain methods, otherwise it is an opinion, not science.”

Proud of multilingualism

Knopp emphasizes the value of this study for children. “We want to make them aware of language diversity and teach them multilingualism is a benefit. The Netherlands is a multilingual society: one quarter of primary school children also speak languages other than Dutch at home, but at school it often seems as if Dutch (and English) are the only relevant languages. This creates a disconnection. We want to teach the children that other languages pose no threat to the Dutch language. Languages can coexist perfectly well.”

By actively involving the children in the study, the researchers also hope to boost their pride in their language and culture. Knopp: “They may be proud, for instance, that they can recognize and understand a particular word in Urdu (the official language of Pakistan), and subsequently explain it to their classmates." Spotti adds: "The presence of languages reflects the complex, globalized, layered society which they live and grow up in.”