LANGUAGE AND LEARNING
Leonie Twente
Research Assistant
Triforum (3.11, 3rd floor)
Innere Kanalstraße 15
50823 Cologne, Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 221-470 76843
Email: leonie.twente(at)mercator.uni-koeln(dot)de
Office hours: by appointment via email
Leonie Twente is a research assistant with teaching duties (Prof. Dr. Marx). In her doctoral dissertation, she is working on quantitative secondary analyses synthesizing data form multiple independent studies to investigate German language development of newly immigrated children and adolescents. In 2023, she joined the project "Language Competencies of Newly Immigrated Pupils in Regular Classes" in the Department of Language and Learning. Previously, she had been a research assistant in the project What works?, where she was involved, among other things, in the production of a systematic review investigating the effectiveness of language-sensitive subject teaching.
She studied Linguistics & Phonetics and Digital Humanities at the University of Cologne and graduated with a Master of Arts in Linguistics. From 2020 to 2021, she also completed a certificate program "New Immigrants in Adult Education" at the University of Duisburg-Essen. As an freelance lecturer, she hosts trainings, for example for LESEMENTOR Köln (VHS, AWO, primary and secondary schools).
Research
Research interests:
Additional language development in the target language German in school-aged migrant learners, language education for heterogenous learner populations, quantitative methods, survey research, evidence synthesis
Projects:
- dissertation project: Secondary data analyses on the German language development of newcomer students in the German education system (working title)
- Language Skills of Newly Immigrated Students in Mainstream Education (2021-2024, see description)
- The effectiveness of integrated strategies in classrooms: A systematic review (see description)
- What works? (see description)
Professional career
since 2023
doctoral studies in linguistics
since 01/2023
research assistant at the Mercator Institute for Literacy and Language Education, Department Language and Learning
since 10/2022
research assistant with Prof. Dr. Marx, University of Colgone
since 10/2021
research assistant at the Mercator Institute for Literacy and Language Education, Department Language and Education System
07/2022-10/2022
research associate in the project Schule macht Stark at the Technical University Chemnitz (Prof. Krelle)
09/2020-09/2021
certificate program Newly Arrived Immigrants in Adult Education (University Duisburg-Essen), term paper: Intendierte und nicht-intendierte Effekte der Nutzung mehrsprachiger Ressourcen in einem Integrationskurs für Erwachsene: Perspektiven der Lehrkraft und der Lernenden.
10/2019-03/2022
Master of Arts in Linguistics (University of Cologne), thesis: Characteristics of German child-directed speech during book sharing and play activities in a standardized naturalistic setting.
01/2018-09/2021
student research assistant at the Mercator Institute for Literacy and Language Education, Department Language and Education System
11/2016-12/2017
student assistant at the Department of Linguistics (University of Cologne)
10/2015-09/2019
Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics & Phonetics and Digital Humanities (University of Cologne), thesis: Der Erwerb von Possessivkonstruktionen bei deutschsprachigen Kindern. Eine empirische Studie
Teaching
Winter Semester 2026/27
German as an additional language in newcomer students attending German secondary schools - teaching-research project in cooperation with schools in Cologne (graduate-level seminar for students in teacher training and Intercultural communication and education studies)
Summer Semester 2026
Development of school-relevant German language skills in adolescent newcomer students who are learners of German as a second language: Individual and contextual factors (graduate-level seminar for students in teacher training and Intercultural communication and education studies)
Winter Semester 2025/26
Research approaches and results on a heterogenous learner group (graduate-level seminar for students in teacher training and Intercultural communication and education studies)
Summer Semester 2025
Reading and writing: supporting literacy in newcomer students. (School cooperation seminar for graduate-level students in teacher training and Intercultural communication and education studies)
Winter Semester 2024/25
Multilingualism in (Subject) Teaching for Newly Immigrated Students (graduate-level seminar for students in teacher training and Intercultural communication and education studies)
Summer semester 2024
Language Education in (Subject) Teaching for Newly Immigrated Students (graduate-level seminar for students in teacher training and Intercultural communication and education studies)
Winter semester 2023/24
Children’s university workshop on multilingualism (together with Maike Beyer)
Winter semester 2023/24
Understanding and appraising current research on newcomers in school (graduate-level seminar for students in teacher training and Intercultural communication and education studies)
Summer semester 2023
Language development in multilingual contexts (undergraduate-level seminar)
workshop "Questionnaires: development and evaluation'' held in the context of the international block seminar for graduate students ("'Multilingualism' as a construct: A thorn in the side of linguistic research" led by Prof. Dr. Nicole Marx)
Winter semester 2022/23
Language development in children and adolescents (undergraduate-level seminar)
Publications, Presentations and Poster Presentations
An up-to-date collection of my publications and presentations is found on my zotero profile: www.zotero.org/leonie_twente
Other
Functions in committees
- since April 1st, 2025: deputy member of the Gender Equality Committee at the University of Cologne
- April 1st, 2023 - March 31st, 2025: deputy member of the Gender Equality Committee at the University of Cologne
Reviewing
Research Synthesis in Applied Linguistics
Membership in Associations
- Cologne Center of Language Sciences (CCLS)
- EuroSLA
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sprachwissenschaft e. V.
- Gesellschaft für Angewandte Linguistik e. V.
- Junge Sprachwissenschaft e. V.