Roel Vismans

Negotiating address in a pluricentric language: Dutch/Flemish

Dutch is a pluricentric language: in Europe, it is spoken in two different countries (the Netherlands in the north and Flanders, Belgium, in the south) with differing linguistic norms. Vismans investigates what happens when the northern and southern Dutch address systems meet. His data come from in-depth radio interviews between Dutch journalists and Flemish academics. In a qualitative analysis, he tracks the development of the relationship between the two speakers and their use of address forms, as well as other markers of (in)formality. The analysis also takes into account other possible factors affecting the interaction (age, gender, residence in the other country) and pays special attention to speakers’ commentary on the variation between familiar and formal second-person pronouns.

Address Choice in Dutch 1: Variation and the Role of Domain

Abstract This article reports on research into the use of Dutch forms of address (i.e. the second-person pronouns u and je/jij) among students in the Netherlands and their parents. It takes the address model proposed by Clyne et al. in Language and Human Relations (Cambridge University Press, 2009) as its theoretical inspiration, and homes in on domain as a factor for the choice of address form. The article is based on the quantitative analysis of a questionnaire in which respondents were asked which pronoun they used to address a variety of interlocutors. The article also tries to map changes in the use of Dutch address pronouns in the last two decades on the basis of a global comparison with an earlier study.

Address Choice in Dutch 2: Pragmatic Principles of Address Choice in Dutch

ABSTRACT This paper reports on research into the use of Dutch forms of address (i.e. the second-person pronouns u and je/jij) among two generations in the Netherlands. Its main aim is to determine the factors behind different choices of address pronoun. It takes the model of address choice proposed by Clyne et al. in Language and Human Relations (Cambridge University Press, 2009), and more specifically their concept of general pragmatic principles, as its theoretical inspiration. The research is based on a questionnaire in which respondents were asked which pronoun they used to address a variety of interlocutors. The questionnaire also asked respondents to reflect on their choice, especially if it was ambivalent (i.e. if they would address the same type of interlocutor sometimes with u and sometimes with je/jij). It is the qualitative analysis of these reflections that is the focus of this paper. Although there is some variation between the age groups’ evaluation of the importance of some principles, the article establishes (relative) age and familiarity as the leading principles in Dutch address choice. There is also a high level of meta-sociolinguistic awareness of the mechanisms behind address choice. The conclusion suggests a number of modest enhancements to Clyne et al.’s model of address choice.

‘It was prompted by the narrowness of the Lang-Lit idea’: an interview with Peter King

Abstract Peter King held the Chair in Modern Dutch Studies at the University of Hull between 1976 and 1987. This interview with him concentrates on the origins and principles of the undergraduate degree programme with the same name.

Trading culture, teaching culture: the role of the Dutch language tutor in the acquisition of intercultural skills at beginners level

Abstract In a beginners language course intercultural skills are often acquired implicitly. An earlier investigation into culture in beginners courses of Dutch as a foreign language (Van Rossum and Vismans 2004) demonstrated that teaching materials for beginners contain a wealth of cultural information. However, it also pointed to the absence of a systematic approach in providing students with a critical perspective on foreign (and home) culture, and in training their intercultural skills. Student questionnaires suggested that tutors play a significant role in the acquisition of such skills. This article aims, first, to deepen our insight into the role of the language tutor in the acquisition of intercultural skills at beginners level. We concentrate on this level, because it is here that the foundation for the future development of intercultural skills is laid. Yet it remains relatively under-researched. Our second aim is to identify examples of successful processes in the acquisition of intercultural skills as well as examples of successful ‘products’ (skills themselves). The analysis is based on a variety of data from classroom observations, questionnaires and/or tutor and student diaries.

Accentuation and the Order of Constituents in Dutch

Abstract The paper, which represents linguistic work in progress, is concerned with word order in Dutch declarative sentences used as the main clause. It reports on an experimental study designed to explore the extent to which the acceptability of a declarative clause in a given context is dependent on its accentuation pattern and the position of the accented constituent(s) in the clause. The paper consists of three parts: (1) background and methodology, (2) explanation of the experiment, and (3) discussion of the findings.

An analysis of linguistic data based on social choice concepts

The ranking of sentence forms by a set of individuals is an important problem in linguistic analysis. This can be interpreted as a social choice problem in which we have information about individual preferences and wish to devise a group ranking of the sentences. This paper discusses the relevant social choice theorems and illustrates how they can be applied to some Dutch linguistic data.