• Felix Ameka (Leiden University)
• Ad Backus (Tilburg University)
• Ivo Boers (University of Vigo) 
• Leonie Cornips (Maastricht University and Meertens Instituut)
• Aone van Engelenhoven (Leiden University)
• Ellen-Petra Kester (Utrecht University)
• Maarten Kossmann (Leiden University)
• Luis López (University of Illinois at Chicago)
• Khalid Mourigh
• Natascha Müller (Bergiche Universität Wuppertal) 
• Antje Muntendam (Florida State University)
• Michael Putnam (Penn State University)
• Gijsbert Rutten (Leiden University)
• Jason Rothman (University of Reading)
• Monika Schmid (University of Essex)
• Kutlay Yagmur (University of Tilburg)
• Mehmet S. Yavas (Florida International University)

• Bilingualism Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Chicago
• Zentrum für Mehrsprachigkeit, Universität Konstanz
• Institut für Linguistik, Bergische Universität Wuppertal
• HELPING  ‘Heritage-Bilingual Linguistic Proficiency In the Native Grammar’ , CASTL, Universitetet i Tromsø The Arctic University of Norway

Research Traineeship

French heritage language speakers in the Netherlands: Insights from multilingual classrooms

Members of HERLING are currently working in cooperation with the French Institute in the Netherlands on an innovative educational project with heritage language learners of French (more information below). 

As part of the Internship Linguistics or the Individual Project, we are looking for Ba, Ma or ResMa students with a background in Linguistics with interest in doing fieldwork on French as a heritage language in the Dutch context. This involves collecting, transcribing, and analyzing linguistic data from multilingual classrooms and interviews with parents and teachers. Candidates should be highly proficient in English. Knowledge of either Dutch, French, or Arabic is necessary.

Please submit your application, consisting of a CV and cover letter of maximum 2 pages in a single PDF file, to j.grijzenhout@hum.leidenuniv.nl. The application materials should be in English. If you have written a paper relevant to the project in English, French, or Dutch, please send it together with your application with a short explanation of the context (i.e. in which course you wrote it, as part of which assignment, etc.). There is no deadline; the applications are considered as they are submitted.

More information about the project:

“Je parle aussi français ! Ik spreek ook Frans !” is a project initiated by the French Institute in the Netherlands. It revolves around a series of workshops aimed at children aged 9 to 12 from North African immigrant backgrounds — possibly French-speaking, or with a French-speaking family heritage — with the aim of developing their knowledge of French through the valorization of their cultural and linguistic heritage.

HERLING is associated to the project as a scientific partner. We are particularly interested in three aspects at the intersection of psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, and language teaching:

1. How does storytelling influence foreign/heritage language acquisition?
2. What strategies can be employed to create inclusive environments that value diverse language varieties in multilingual classrooms?
3. What factors, such as connection, exposure, and proficiency level, contribute to the identity construction of heritage language speakers?