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Interview Laura Rupp: ‘Why do you speak that way?’

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15 November 2024
For language teachers, it is quite normal to take different language backgrounds into account. Yet multilingualism receives less attention outside specific language courses, even though it plays an important role there too.

To raise awareness about language variation, Laura Rupp, Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for Global English, organised a successful Mother Language Day at VU Amsterdam in 2024. On Thursday 13 February 2025, this event will take place again, with the premiere of a documentary, the festive announcement of the MOOC Dutch and, above all, a lot of attention for really listening to one another. 

The ALP spoke to Laura Rupp about the importance and programme of this day. Rupp explains that sometimes language has become so natural to us that we are not always aware of what happens in our heads when we hear certain language varieties. ‘People naturally have associations with language. When you see someone for the first time, you notice their appearance, but also: how do they talk? Sometimes one language variety is seen as better or more correct than another. People are excluded or discriminated against based on the language variety they speak.’ On Mother Language Day, visitors will get more insight into language variation and what it involves. 

From both sides 
Language variation can be tricky. ‘We don't always understand each other very well,’ says Rupp. She once helped a group of Chinese PhD students with their English pronunciation, because their supervisors were having trouble understanding them. ‘Very often the responsibility is put on the speaker - ‘you have to speak English properly’- but communication goes both ways. As a listener you can also pay more attention to the ways in which a language is spoken.’ Rupp explains that you can learn a lot about why someone speaks a language in a certain way. Someone's mother tongue has a lot of influence on this. ‘It would have been useful if the PhD supervisors had also come along, so that both parties could've learned more about language variation.’  

VU Mother Language Day
There is an exciting mix of activities scheduled for 13 February. For example, a documentary made last year will be shown, about a wide range of people who work or study at VU Amsterdam, each of whom has a special relationship to language. One of them is an academic staff member who is from South Africa and speaks Afrikaans. ‘She values her language very much,’ says Rupp, ’because she grew up with it, but at the same time there is a whole colonial history attached to it.’   

There will also be a Holobox, a 3D holographic projection, in the Main Building in which different people talk about their language and its background. In addition, a survey will be conducted to find out how many languages are actually spoken at VU Amsterdam. Finally, there will also be a celebratory introduction of the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) Dutch, developed by teachers of Dutch as a Second Language from the VU-NT2 department. Too often, people still talk in terms of ‘deficiencies’ about language varieties within Dutch. This broad course is for people who are learning Dutch, but more broadly offers many ways to get to know different language variants of Dutch better.  

Understanding each other better
Precisely because language variation offers so many challenges, it is meaningful to look at it together. There is a story behind every language spoken. With more awareness, we can all benefit from it.   

Rupp sums up her hopes for the day: ‘What I would like us to achieve with the VU Mother Language Day is that we become aware of the different languages and language varieties that are spoken and that we understand why those varieties exist. And how by understanding that better, we learn to understand each other better.’ 

Would you like to attend the second VU Mother Language Day on Thursday, 13 February 2025? Fill out our 'Save the Date' form. Click here for more information about the VU Mother Language Day.

Contact Academic Language Programme

For VU staff: you can contact us about ALP courses for you or your students or with questions about language policy or communicative skills.

Dr. Gea Dreschler, academic director ALP

Dr. Nel de Jong, coordinator ALP for Dutch (NT1, NT2)

For students: for questions or information about a course, workshop or coaching, contact us at

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