The CTM research programme focuses on the linguistic mechanisms that influence equity in education, and has led to a body of research in three major fields:

• psycholinguistics
• sociolinguistics
• language testing

Many of the research studies have clear interdisciplinary links, especially with educational research. At university level, the senior researchers at the CTM (Kris Van den Branden; Koen Jaspaert) are the driving force behind the research group 'Language and education' of the Faculty of Arts.

Psycholinguistics
At the CTM, fundamental psycholinguistic research has been carried out into processes of instructed (second) language acquisition. This strand includes Van den Branden’s PhD research (1995) into the negotiation of meaning in second language acquisition (at the level of primary education), Verhelst’s PhD research (2002) into the impact of input on the incidental acquisition of second language vocabulary by young children, and a quasi-experimental study into the relation between implicit/explicit instruction and second language acquisition (Goossens, 2003).

• into pupil-pupil and teacher-pupil interaction within a context of co-operative learning (Van den Branden & Van Gorp, 2000, 2003)
• on student teachers’ and primary school teachers’ beliefs about language learning and teaching (Van den Branden, 2003; Van Gorp & Van den Branden, 2003)
• on the impact of teacher training on language teachers’ actions and perceptions (Devlieger et al., 2004)
• on language education in multilingual kindergarten classes (Verhelst & Verheyden, 2003)
• and on the relationship between language learning and the socio-emotional classroom climate (Callebaut & Timmermans, 2004)

Sociolinguistics
A second, more sociolinguistically oriented, strand of research conducted at the CTM focusses on language behaviour in social interaction. This includes Van Avermaet’s PhD research into social determinants of language choice behaviour of adult Turkish and Italian immigrants in Flanders and the Netherlands (Klatter-Folmer & Van Avermaet, 2001), building on the work of Jaspaert & Kroon (1991).

This part of the research programme also includes ethnographic research into teachers’ and pupils’ compliance with, and reactions to, language norms in multilingual classes (Jaspaert & Ramaut, 1998; Ramaut, 1995, 2000), and a pilot study in how teachers perceive and react to multilingualism in primary schools (Van Gorp & Berben, forthcoming).

The CTM also conducted a study together with the University of Gent, in the field of minority language and culture teaching in Flanders (Delrue & Ramaut, 1998). The language use of individuals and groups in a multilingual society and multilingual educational context, and the perceptions, attitudes and beliefs that drive this linguistic behaviour, constitutes the main focus of this body of research.

Language testing
Over the past ten years, CTM has also developed an extensive methodological know-how with regard to the development of language testing. This involves different types of research, such as needs analysis (largely based on observations and surveys/questionnaires) and predictive validity research (based on observations ‘in the field’) (Van den Branden et al., 2002).

Since 1999, CTM, together with the University of Amsterdam (under the supervision of Prof. Jan Hulstijn), develops the annual exams for the official Certificate Dutch as a Foreign Language. Its methodological expertise has positioned CTM as one of the leading institutions for the development of language proficiency tests for Dutch as a Second Language in Flanders, and has recently led to two research projects, carried out in co-operation with the University of Antwerp and with Rianne Janssen from the Centre of Educational Effectiveness and Evaluation into the development of instruments for the national assessment of the attainment targets for Dutch writing and listening at the end of primary school.

Current activities
Currently the PhD research by Van Gorp and Verheyden will allow the CTM to combine, and more fundamentally explore, the different research interests of the CTM, especially those regarding teacher-pupil interaction, teachers’ beliefs about language learning and multilingualism, teachers’ reactions to language norms, and language learning outcomes.

This study will look at the impact of teachers’ perceptions and actions with respect to miltilingualism on the educational success of second language learners of Dutch in Flemish education. It will enable the CTM to empirically explore the linguistic mechanisms that influence equality of opportunities in education by looking at the impact of teachers’ perceptions on their linguistic behaviour (interaction and instruction), and at the effect of these variables on language learning outcomes.