Area of expertise: Language and multilingualism
Research theme: The multilingual society
Duration: 2019-2022, 2024-…
Coordination Fryske Akademy/Mercator: Dr Jelske Dijkstra, Femke van Seijen MA
Partners: Royal Kentalis (NL)
Funding: De Friesland Foundation, Frysk Akademyfûns
More information: Project website

Within the research project ‘Speakaboo’ by the Fryske Akademy/Mercator, a Frisian version of the app ‘Speakaboo’ is being developed.

This app is a tool that allows a speech therapist to screen the speech development of a multilingual child in the age of 3-6 years in only 10 minutes. The application can be used to elicit target words with the help of small interactive games. During this process, the audio is being recorded, so it can be analyzed at a later point.

The Frisian version is being tested with the help of research sessions with Frisian-speaking children in the age group. De Frisian version is very important in order to bring to light the speech development in Frisian. Not a lot is known about this up until this point, and so far, Frisian-speaking children have mainly been tested on their speech with the help of Dutch tools. By means of this research project, the Fryske Akademy/Mercator hopes to get more insight into how

the Frisian speech development in children evolves, and how to act when this needs some support.