NL-Term – Foundation for Dutch Terminology

NL-Term, the Foundation for Dutch Terminology, was founded as an association in 1997, with the support of the Dutch Language Union (Nederlandse Taalunie). It became  a Foundation in 2022 and likes to describe itself as a “field organisation” addressing anyone who is involved in Dutch terminology, at a practical or theoretical level.

The board of NL-Term consists of the following members:

Joost Buysschaert (co-president), Marcel Thelen (co-president), Frieda De Vos, Oele Koornwinder, Els Ruijsendaal, Ingrid van Gent, Leona Van Vaerenbergh and Cornelia Wermuth.

Since its inception, NL-Term has organised over twenty conferences and symposiums.

NL-Term is also open to cooperation with other organisations involved in activities relating to terminology.

Mission:

NL-Term (the Foundation for Dutch Terminology) aims to position itself as a field organisation and act as a pivot

• between users,

• between users and the Language Union, as well as

• between users and the Institute for the Dutch Language (Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal), and/or the Centre of Expertise for Dutch Terminology (Expertisecentrum Nederlandstalige Terminologie),

with the aim of maintaining and reinforcing Dutch terminology and domain-specific language.

Vision:

Dutch terminology and domain-specific language play an important role in effective and efficient communication between government/institutions/businesses and citizens in the Dutch-speaking language areas on the one hand, and between citizens on the other. Anglicisation of Dutch terminology and domain-specific language contributes to loss of cultural identity and to miscommunication. This also has adverse consequences for education and other sectors of society. Therefore, Dutch terminology and domain-specific language should be maintained and reinforced.

Objectives:

In order to implement this mission and vision, NL-Term has the following objectives:

1. fostering cooperation in the subject field;

2. representing the interests of speakers of Dutch regarding terminology and domain-specific language;

3. making terminology and its importance within the Dutch-speaking language areas more widely known;

4. fostering know-how in the field of terminology.

Realisation:

NL-Term aims to achieve these objectives by, among other things:

1. organising the yearly TiNT days (Terminology in the Dutch-speaking language areas);

2. offering an interactive forum on its website, intended for and used by users;

3. active involvement in building up and positioning the Centre of Expertise for Dutch Terminology (ENT) of the institute for the Dutch language (INT);

4. providing both solicited and unsolicited advice to the Taalunie, based on information from the professional field;

5. cooperation and exchange of information with ENT and INT.