NEWS
Prof. Dr. Martijn Wieling elected as Lonnoy Chair for Multilingualism 2025-2026!
Martijn Wieling is Professor by special appointment of Low Saxon /Groningen Language and Culture at the Center for Groningen Language and Culture and an Associate Professor at Center for Language and Cognition Groningen at the University of Groningen. His research focuses on investigating language variation and change quantitatively, with a specific focus on the Low Saxon language. In his work, he employs large digital corpora of text and speech in analyzing language variation, but also to develop and improve speech and language technology for lower-resource variaties. In addition, he uses experimental approaches, such as electromagnetic articulography, to assess speech articulation. At the University of Groningen, he heads the Speech Lab Groningen and manages the University of Groningen's unique mobile laboratory SPRAAKLAB.
Prof. Wieling: "For the past years, I was already collaborating with Prof. Stefanie Keulen, and I am very much looking forward to strengthen the ties between my lab in Groningen and the other BCLS researchers. I am honoured that the Lonnoy Chair was awarded to me, and expect it will serve as the start of a lasting collaboration between researchers at the University of Groningen and those at the VUB."
SAVE THE DATE: Inaugural Lecture - 23/10/25
BCLS members - media coverage
- 2/01/25 - Dr. Melissa Schuring on English in children's Dutch - Jong Geleerd (NRC). Link.
- 2/12/24 - Dr. Melissa Schuring comments on the word of the year chosen by teenagers and children (De Standaard). Link.
- 9/7/22 - Prof. dr. Rik Vosters and Prof. Dr. Jianwei Xu on Chinese in Brussels being different from Chinese in Antwerp (BRUZZ). Link.
- 9/4/21 - Prof. dr. Rik Vosters and Prof. Dr. Jianwei Xu in the Brussels Times: "Brussels initiative aims to preserve the use of non-Belgian languages". Link.
- 9/4/21 - Prof. dr. Rik Vosters on the BeTalky Grant (VUB Press release). Link.
Policy advice
- Raad voor de Nederlandse Taal en Letteren (RNTL) - Prof. dr. Rik Vosters on 'thuistalen' (home languages) and Dutch. Link.
EVENTS
Stuttering symposium: new challenges and opportunities in stuttering research and therapy
- website: https://events.vub.be/stuttering-symposium-new-challenges-and-opportunities-in-stuttering-research-and-therapy
- Date: 26/5/2025 (8:30 AM - 5:00 PM)
- Location: U-Residence, VUB Campus Etterbeek, Boulevard General Jacques, Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium.
- Registration: starting on March 1, 2025
- Local Organizing Team: Prof. dr. Stefanie Keulen, Dr. Silke coemans, Dra. Anastasia Lada
- This one day symposium brings together researchers, speech-language practitioners, and professionals to explore cutting-edge research and therapy on stuttering and dysfluency.
Historical Sociolinguistics Young Researchers Forum
- website: https://www.historicalsociolinguistics.be/hsyrf-2025/
- Date: 31/1/25-1/2/25
- Location: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (UResidence)
- Local Organizing Team: Rik Vosters, Julie Van Ongeval, Qiqi Huang, Gijsbert Rutten
- The Historical Sociolinguistics Network (HiSoN), as sponsored by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) as part of its Historical Sociolinguistics Research and Training Program, is proud to announce the sixth edition of the Historical Sociolinguistics Young Researchers Forum (HSYRF). This event is aimed at early career researchers – MA and PhD students, postdocs, and other young (at heart) researchers –, offering a mix of lectures, master classes and hands-on workshops on various topics relevant to anyone interested in historical sociolinguistics or language history more generally.