Languages in the City Symposium: Reflections from Utrecht
The Languages in the City symposium took place in Utrecht on 7-8 April 2025, hosted by researchers affiliated with the Institute of Language Sciences (ILS) and the Institute for Cultural Inquiry (ICON). Over two days, we explored how formal and informal language practices can either open doors or create barriers for inclusion in urban spaces - whether in schools, universities, workplaces, or everyday life. The symposium also tackled questions around language variation, language policy, and how institutions deal with linguistic diversity.
The symposium opened with a speech by Robert Snoeijenbos (Director, Utrecht International Center) who expressed that finding one’s place in a new context starts with language. He reminded us also that language is more than words - it is also tone of voice, posture, gestures, and expressions.
Many people approach their center with practical questions, but beneath those are often deeper concerns: Will I be seen? Can I be myself—even if I don’t speak the language yet? His call to action was powerful: How can institutions communicate in ways that feel welcoming?
Among the many insightful presentations, I’d like to highlight a few that stood out:
A multilingual festival as public engagement
Eva Knopp, presenting on behalf of co-authors Sharon Unsworth and Imme Lammertink, introduced Kletskoppen (Chatterboxes) - a multilingual language festival in partnership with Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics.
Target audience were children aged 2 to 12 and their families, and it used research-based games and activities to make language science accessible and enjoyable, while encouraging children to value their own multilingual repertoire.
Pre- and post-festival attitudes surveys showed that multilingual children considered being multilingual more important than before attending the festival. The team highlighted how multilingualism has the potential to address negative attitudes towards linguistic diversity.
Expanding this initiative - by partnering with other contexts, localising activities, and training teachers to use these tools - could greatly extend its reach and impact.
An initiative to support pupils who are acquiring the language of instruction
Indira Wakelkamp, representing a team from Utrecht, presented a year-long professional development programme that prepares teachers to support newcomer pupils.
These "newcomer specialists" assist with subject-specific language, tap into pupils' home languages, establish school-family-municipality partnerships, and support trauma-sensitive teaching. They also play a pivotal role in developing inclusive language policies within schools—moving from monolingual approaches to multilingual ones.
Receptive multilingualism in academic workplaces to facilitate participation
Natalia Rivera-Vera, Madison Steele, and Rick de Graaff, on behalf of their collaborators Kimberly Naber and Jan ten Thije from Utrecht University, explored how receptive Dutch - the ability to understand Dutch without speaking it - can help international staff participate in meetings in academic settings.
This ties into broader policy developments in the Netherlands, including the Language and Accessibility Act (2019) and the Internationalisation in Equilibrium Act, both of which favour increased Dutch use in higher education.
Multilingual cityscape
Karin van der Worp presented her research on the linguistic landscape and soundscape of a public market in Donostia-San Sebastián, a coastal city in the bilingual Basque Autonomous Community.
Her study examines both written and spoken language use among salespeople and clients in a highly multilingual setting, and includes qualitative interviews to look into how people perceive and navigate multilingual urban spaces.
My contribution
In my presentation, I shared insights from my PhD dissertation on foreign academic researchers and their multilingual practices, cultural experiences, and intercultural competences. I highlighted that through their mobility experiences, languages, and intercultural encounters, these researchers have developed competences that benefit both the scientific and local communities.
My recommendations focused on how higher education institutions can recognise and support this talent to help retain it in the region.
The symposium concluded with Poetry in the City, where city poets Maria Barnas (former poet laureate of Alkmaar), Dean Bowen (former poet laureate of Rotterdam), Hanneke van Eijken (member of the Utrecht Poets Guild) shared verses that captured the essence of belonging, identity, and home.
These examples illustrate just a few ways in which multilingualism specialists are working to make cities, schools, and workplaces more inclusive - by being attentive to newcomers’ experiences, addressing language attitudes, advising on language policies, and establishing partnerships and collaboration across municipalities, schools, and universities for a shared vision.
