A linguistic journey from Groningen to Odense

Very few people studied Danish or the Scandinavian languages at the University of Groningen in the late 1990s. Nevertheless, that was what Catherine – or Rineke, as she prefers to be called – Brouwer did.

She was (and is) very interested in languages, and she wanted to learn a language other than Dutch, and one that wasn’t as ‘mainstream’ as the ones most people chose to study. After a while, she decided that she could learn Danish even better if she lived in Denmark. Through the Erasmus programme, she came to Denmark and to Odense University, where she took courses in foreign language pedagogy.

During her first studies at the University, she met Jørgen – also formerly an SDU employee – with whom she has since started a family. They have two children together and live in Odense and on the island of Strynø.

- I’ve forgotten why it was Danish and Denmark, but it all ended very well, she smiles.   

Immersed in language and communication between people

Academically, she has fallen in love with the communication that takes place between people, and she has always endeavoured to base her research on everyday life in everything from kindergartens and hearing clinics to hospitals. She is fascinated by conversations and communication between people.

- I use conversation analysis a lot to study the relationship particularly between professionals and the people they work with. This may be preschoolers or patients with acquired brain injury. There is so much to analyse in a conversation based on what is said, how it is said, body language, etc.

Rineke Brouwer wrote her PhD dissertation at SDU in Applied Linguistics, later becoming an assistant professor and then an associate professor.

Taking the conversation analyses home

As a result of her highly analytical approach to language and communication, Rineke Brouwer has often found herself interpreting conversations she has also taken part in.

Her husband Jørgen has a keen interest in cycling, and although Rineke has not watched cycling races on TV with quite as much dedication as him, she has nevertheless paid attention to the cycling programmes.

- I’ve really enjoyed listening to the commentators and their dialogue with each other, but that means we haven’t had to fight over the TV, she says.

Researcher and Head of Studies

Rineke Brouwer has also been involved in designing one of the educational flagships at the Faculty of Humanities, namely the speech and language therapy programme, where she has been head of studies twice.

There are obvious parallels between the programme and her language pedagogy background, since the speech and language therapy programme includes stuttering, voice, pronunciation, hearing problems, aphasia, tinnitus.

- I have gained valuable insight into the world of speech and language pedagogy, and I think there are clear parallels with my language pedagogy background, which means that I have also been able to contribute to the development of the programme. It has given me great insight into the healthcare sector and the lives of students. They are really skilled and almost too focused, and it would be a big mistake if the master's degree programme is affected by the upcoming reform, she says.

The management tasks also required a major reorganisation of both her own work and of the programme during the COVID pandemic when universities were forced to digitalise.

- We had to organise the teaching and learning online. This forced us into an incredibly steep learning curve in a very short time, which caused a lot of hassle, but it has also taught us some skills in terms of being able to conduct teaching and education programmes online for the benefit of more people, she says.

She is referring to the UUDAV programme (with the somewhat long-winded title of Programme for Teachers of Danish as a Second Language for Adults), where Rineke is responsible for some of the courses. The programme is only offered in Odense, but it is now possible to study the programme online from anywhere in the country.

‘Use the skills of multilingual children more’

Rineke Brouwer has often advocated for more recognition and integration of children who come to Denmark speaking a language other than Danish.

- The focus on this field of research changes, depending on the surrounding world’s attention. When there is an influx of refugees, the importance of language pedagogical efforts receives an increasing focus; a focus which similarly decreases when political agendas limit the number of people coming into the country.

She hopes that more will be done in the future to make use of the qualities that children with multiple languages possess.

- International research shows that knowing another language is a strength. Why not incorporate it more into the school curriculum? Children from a different culture possess enormous resources in terms of creativity and language, and imagine how uncomfortable it must be to feel like everyone is looking at you.

Contemplation and tranquillity in the present and in the future

25 years after her first real job at the University, Rineke Brouwer is currently getting back to focusing on her research, and her office is currently adorned with a number of illustrations describing current research projects, but also ideas for new ones, such as the drawing featuring ‘motivation’, illustrated in a very specific way, which Rineke learned on a course in graphic facilitation.

She is happy to be able to immerse herself in research again, and when asked to highlight the greatest professional moment of her time in Denmark, she emphasises her PhD project, which in her own words was a ‘bloody great thing to accomplish and delve into’.

Her love of language, communication will stay with Rineke Brouwer for the rest of her time at SDU. After that, she predicts that much of the family’s time will be spent in their newly renovated house on the island of Strynø, which has room for both conversation and quietude.