Presentation - ECV2024-529

Children’s speech development: Flemish

Cassandra ALIGHIERI, Ghent University, Belgium (Cassandra.Alighieri@Ugent.be)
Evelien D’HAESELEER, Ghent University, Belgium (Evelien.Dhaeseleer@Ugent.be)
Kristiane VAN LIERDE, Ghent University, Belgium (Kristiane.VanLierde@Ugent.be)

Flemish is a variant of Dutch. It is spoken in Flanders (i.e., the Northern part of Belgium) and in some southern areas in the Netherlands. There are different Flemish dialects, namely West and East Flemish, Brabantian, and Limburgish. Flemish is characterized by 23 consonants, consonant clusters, 13 vowels, and 3 diphthongs. There are several studies of children’s acquisition of Flemish that demonstrate that most consonants are correctly produced by 75% of the children around the age of 4;0. Around the age of 3;0, all vowels are correctly produced by 90% of the Flemish children. Researchers have focused on children with speech sound disorders, childhood apraxia of speech, dysarthria, cleft lip and palate, and children with hearing loss. Common speech assessments include the Antwerp Phonological Processes Analysis, Phonological Awareness Assessment, and Logo-Art articulation assessment. Common speech interventions include phonetic articulation therapy, auditory discrimination, Metaphon Approach, Cycles approach, and PROMPT.

Key words:
Flemish, multilingual, communication, speech, language, children’s development, interdisciplinary, international communities, assessment, intervention

Book chapter:
Alighieri, C., D’haeseleer, E., & Van Lierde, K. (2025). Flemish speech development. In S. McLeod (Ed.). The Oxford handbook of speech development in languages of the world. Oxford University Press.

Language overview presentation:

This presentation relates to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:

Scroll to Top