Multilingualism Laboratory Network

The Multilingualism Laboratory Network (MLN) is dedicated to establishing an academic community of multilingualism research experts in the North of the Netherlands, with a special focus on the Frisian case. It aims to research and discuss questions on multilingualism from society, and to propose useful solutions. 

The importance of a MLN as a catalyst for a scientifically fostered knowledge ecosystem is underlined by the Covenant on Frisian Language and Culture (Bestjoersôfspraak Fryske Taal en Kultuur - i.e. the set of administrative agreements between the national and the provincial government with regard to Frisian language and culture). The MLN is also one of the main legacies of the Leeuwarden Capital of Culture 2018.

Current aims
The MLN:

• aims to initiate regional, national, and European funding for projects in which researchers cooperate in the four research areas, i.e. multilingualism and learning, multilingualism and healthcare, multilingualism and legal settings, and multilingualism and public space;
• facilitates scientific researchers from partner institutes to share their knowledge of multilingualism within the Frisian context of the North of the Netherlands and cooperate with industry, the public sector and society at large;
• offers evaluation research in multilingualism projects, or advise on quality control in future research projects.

See also the brochure (PDF) of the Multilingualism Laboratory for more information.

Future ambitions
As we develop our short-term agenda we will update this website with more details relating to current activities and opportunities for collaboration.The MLN endeavors to:

• be easy to access for the Frisian and the Northern Netherlands community for questions on issues regarding multilingualism in the Frisian and Northern Dutch context;
• disseminate scientific results and expertise through workshops, trainings, summer schools, etc.;
• target regional, national and European financing to further develop the Network and the four research areas.

Partners
The MLN consists of multilingualism research experts from:

• University of Groningen/Campus Fryslân
• University of Groningen
• NHL Stenden
• Mercator European Research Centre for Multilingualism and Language Learning
• Fryske Akademy

The MLN will seek close collaboration with societal partners in the field of multilingualism.

Current projects
There are several projects currently running at the five institutes with a focus on multilingualism within the Frisian context:

• 3M Project of NHL Stenden (and other partners)
• Talen4all of NHL Stenden (and other partners)
• Holi-Frysk 2.0 of NHL Stenden (and other partners)
• EERA project: Determining Research Priorities on Language Education in Europe, of University of Groningen (en oare partners)
• The Virtual Language App (VirtuLApp) of Fryske Akademy/Mercator Research Centre and NHL Stenden (and other partners)
• ENROPE of Fryske Akademy/Mercator Kennissintrum (en oare partners)
• COLING of Campus Fryslân and Fryske Akademy/Mercator Research Centre (and other partners)
• Speakaboo of Fryske Akademy/Mercator Research Centre
• Centre for Research and Practice in Cultural Continuity of Campus Fryslân (and other partners)
• LOcal Linguistic Landscapes for global language education in the school context (LoCALL) of University of Groningen (and other partners)
• The Online Dutch-Frisian Dictionary
• Oersetter bi-directional Dutch-Frisian automatic translation
• Frisan-Dutch bilingual speech recognition
• We the north: ‘proeftuin meertaligheid’: project streekmeertaligheid
• Several PhD-projects running at Campus Fryslân and Fryske Akademy

Learn more! 
Interested in learning more about the MLN? Drop a line to Jelske Dijkstra and sign up for our mailing list!