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Language Learning Discussion Group
The Language Learning Discussion Group has arisen out of the Cognitive Linguistics Discussion Group which was formed in 2006, following the initiative of one of our PhD students in the Department of Language & Linguistics, Antonis Polentas. In our informal group meetings, we discuss selected readings and have presentations given by group members on their work. Readings are typically concerned with research into language learning from a usage-based/cognitive linguistics perspective and/or from a pedagogical/applied linguistics perspective. Our main focus is on recent empirical studies of second language learning. Presentations include work in progress on which the presenter would like feedback from the group (e.g. plans for a PhD project, data collection instruments to be tried out, results from a pilot or main study) and practice runs of conference presentations. The programme below gives a good impression of kind of things we do in our sessions. All interested staff and graduate students are welcome to join the group. If you would like further information, please feel free to email me: kroehr
Schedule for Spring Term 2011/2012 Room 6.348, Thursdays 13:00-15.00
Thursday, 19 January, 1 pm Group project: Interrater reliability
Thursday, 26 January, 1 pm Discussion of: Mulder, K., & Hulstijn, J. H. (2011). Linguistic skills of adult native speakers, as a function of age and level of education. Applied Linguistics, 32(5), 475-494.
Thursday, 9 February, 1 pm Discussion of: Peterson, M. (2010). Learner participation patterns and strategy use in 'Second Life': an exploratory case study. ReCALL, 22(3), 273-292. Paper introduced by Vasiliki Antoniou.
Thursday, 23 February, 1 pm Group project or Discussion of Scheffler (2011) - to be decided
Thursday, 8 March, 1 pm Group project
Thursday, 15 March, 1 pm Discussion of Akakura (2012)
Thursday, 22 March, 1 pm t.b.c. Schedule for Autumn Term 2011/2012 Room 4.311, Wednesdays 13:00-15.00
Wednesday, 19 October, 1 pm Start-of-term meeting to decide on a schedule; suggestions for readings and offers to do a presentation are invited!
Wednesday, 26 October, 1 pm Discussion of: Ellis, N. C., & Sagarra, N. (2010). The bounds of adult language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 32, 553-580. Paper introduced by Karen Roehr.
Wednesday, 2 November, 1 pm Group project: Finalisation of answer key and scoring scheme.
Wednesday, 23 November, 1 pm Discussion of: Serrano, R. (2011). From metalinguistic instruction to metalinguistic knowledge, and from metalinguistic knowledge to performance in error correction and oral production tasks. Language Awareness, 20(1), 1-16. Paper introduced by Zak Absi.
Wednesday, 14 December, 1 pm Discussion of: Sparks, R. L., Patton, J., Ganschow, L., & Humbach, N. (2011). Subcomponents of second-language aptitude and second-language proficiency. Modern Language Journal, 95, 253-273. Paper introduced by Angela Tellier.
Schedule for Summer Term 2010/2011 Room 5A.332 (unless specified otherwise)
Thursday, 28 April, 1 pm, Room TC2.7 Start-of-term meeting to decide on a schedule; suggestions for readings and offers to do a presentation are invited!
Thursday, 5 May, 1 pm, Room TC2.7 Discussion of the 2010 project report Metalinguistic knowledge of undergraduate students of English Language and Linguistics by J.C. Alderson & T. Horak
Thursday, 12 May, 1 pm, Room TC2.7 Group project: Developing an answer key and a scoring scheme for participants' rule explanations on a metalinguistic test.
Thursday, 19 May, 1 pm Group project: Further work on answer key and scoring scheme.
Thursday, 26 May, 1 pm Group project: Further work on answer key and scoring scheme.
Thursday, 9 June, 1 pm Presentation (practice run for the LangUE conference) by Zak Absi: Metalinguistic knowledge and speaking proficiency in instructed Syrian academic learners of English. SPSS/statistics session: Bring along your problems and questions!
Thursday, 16 June No meeting - LangUE conference.
Thursday, 23 June No meeting - Departmental seminar by Rosemary Erlam (4 pm)
Thursday, 30 June, 1 pm Presentation by Effie Georgiadou: Working memory and oral L2 performance in instructed L1 Arabic university-level learners of English: A pilot study
Thursday, 7 July, 1 pm Group project: Additional meeting to proceed with scoring.
Schedule for Spring Term 2010/2011 Room 4.336 (unless specified otherwise)
Thursday, 27 January, 2 pm, Room 5N.4.6 Discussion of: Spada, N., & Tomita, Y. (2010). Interactions between type of instruction and type of language feature: A meta-analysis. Language Learning, 60(2), 263-308. Paper introduced by Karen Roehr.
Thursday, 10 February, 2 pm Discussion of: Norris, J., & Ortega, L. (2003). Defining and measuring SLA. In C. J. Doughty & M. H. Long (Eds.), The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition (pp. 717-761). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Thursday, 24 February, 2 pm Discussion of: Hu, G. (in press). Metalinguistic knowledge, metalanguage, and their relationship in L2 learners. System (2011), doi:10/1016/j.system.2011.01.011. Paper introduced by Zak Absi.
Thursday, 10 March, 2 pm Discussion of: Bialystok, E. (1988). Levels of bilingualism and levels of linguistic awareness. Developmental Psychology, 24(4), 560-567. Paper introduced by Angela Tellier.
Thursday, 17 March, 2 pm Discussion of: Felder, R. M., & Henriques, E. R. (1995). Learning and teaching styles in foreign and second language education. Foreign Language Annals, 28(1), 21-31. Paper introduced by Wafa Alsafi.
Schedule for Autumn Term 2010/2011 Room TC2.7
Thursday, 14 October, 1.15 pm Start-of-year meeting to decide on readings and other activities of the group for this term.
Thursday, 28 October, 1.15 pm Discussion of: Soler-Alcon, E.. (2009). Focus on form, learner uptake and subsequent lexical gains in learners' oral production. IRAL, 47, 347-365. Paper introduced by Zak Absi.
Thursday, 11 November, 1.15 pm Discussion of: Larson-Hall, J., & Herrington, R. (2010). Improving data analysis in second language acquisition by utilizing modern developments in applied statistics. Applied Linguistics, 31(3), 368-390. Paper introduced by Karen Roehr.
Thursday, 2 December, 1.15 pm Presentation by Christina Gkonou: Investigating English language classroom anxiety of Greek EFL learners: A pilot study
Thursday, 9 December, 1.15 pm Presentation by Zak Absi on his pilot study: Metalinguistic knowledge, speaking proficiency, and oral self-repair in instructed Syrian academic learners of English
Thursday, 16 December, 1.15 pm Presentation by Steven Samuel on his PhD project: Bilingualism, Culture, and Theory of Mind: A Study with Korean Speakers of English
Schedule for Summer Term 2009/2010 Room 3.406 (unless specified otherwise)
Thursday, 29 April, 1.30 pm Zak Absi will lead the session:
Thursday, 6 May, 1.30 pm Zak Absi will lead the session:
Thursday, 13 May, 1.30 pm Presentation by Karen Roehr: The development of metalinguistic awareness and oral L2 proficiency: A longitudinal case study Preparatory reading: Chapter 1 (Complexity theory: what's it all about?) from Larsen-Freeman, D., & Cameron, L. (2008). Complex systems and applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Thursday, 20 May, 1.30 pm Presentation by Benjaporn Thepseenu on her preliminary study: Reading comprehension and the use of reading strategies by L1 Thai university-level learners of L2 English.
Thursday, 10 June, 1.30 pm Kamonrat Sriharuksa will lead the session:
Spring Term 2009/2010 The group is suspended during this term. Meetings will resume in the Summer Term 2009/2010.
Schedule for Autumn Term 2009/2010 Room 2.411 (unless specified otherwise)
Thursday, 22 October, 1.30 pm Start-of-year meeting to decide on readings and other activities of the group in this term.
Thursday, 5 November, 1.30 pm Presentation by Angela Tellier on her PhD research design.
Thursday, 12 November, 1.30 pm Discussion of: Collins, L., Trofimovich, P., White, J., Cardoso, W., & Horst, M. (2009). Some input on the easy/difficult grammar question: An empirical study. Modern Language Journal, 93(3), 336-353. Paper introduced by Karen Roehr.
Thursday, 19 November, 1.30 pm Discussion of: White, J., & Ranta, L. (2002). Examining the interface between metalinguistic task performance and oral production in a second language. Language Awareness, 11(4), 259-290. Paper introduced by Zak Absi.
Thursday, 3 December, 1 pm - Please note earlier start time! -
Thursday, 10 December, 1.30 pm Discussion of: Robinson, P. (2007). Aptitudes, abilities, contexts, and practice. In R. M. DeKeyser (Ed.), Practice in a second language: Perspectives from applied linguistics and cognitive psychology (pp. 256-286). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Paper introduced by Karen Roehr and Angela Tellier.
Thursday, 17 December, 1.30 pm Discussion of: Lam, Y. (2009). Applying cognitive linguistics to teaching the Spanish prepositions 'por' and 'para'. Language Awareness, 18(1), 2-18. Paper introduced by Adela Ganem and Haliza Harun.
Schedule for Summer Term 2008/2009 Room 4.202C (unless specified otherwise)
Monday, 27 April, 11 am Sparks, R., Patton, J., Ganschow, L., & Humbach, N. (2009). Long-term crosslinguistic transfer of skills from L1 to L2. Language Learning, 59(1), 403-443.
Monday, 18 May, 11 am Presentation and discussion of draft questionnaires by
Monday, 1 June, 11 am The measurement of metalinguistic awareness in children and adults: Presentation and discussion of draft tests by
Monday, 22 June, 11 am, Room 5N.3.10 Presentation by Adela Ganem: Use of L1, metalanguage, and discourse markers: a window into the regulatory processes of L2 learners during individual task performance.
Schedule for Spring Term 2008/2009 Room 4.202C (unless specified otherwise)
Monday, 19 January, 11 am Presentation by Anthony Polentas on Yip, V., & Mathews, S. (2007). The bilingual child: Early development and language contact. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Monday, 2 February, 11 am Abrahamsson, N., & Hyltenstam, K. (2008). The robustness of aptitude effects in near-native second language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 30, 481-509.
Tuesday, 10 February, 1.30 - 3 pm, Room 3.108 Research seminar by Prof. Teresa Siek-Piskozub, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland: Explicitness and language learning Teresa will offer two further research seminars: Thursday, 12 February, 11 am -12.30 pm, Room 6.333 Autonomy of the foreign language learner from a Polish perspective Thursday, 12 February, 1.30 - 3 pm, Room 3.501 The role of music in EFL learning and teaching
Monday, 23 February, 11 am, Room 5B.330 Presentation by Effie Georgiadou on Working memory and self-repairs in standardised oral testing
Monday, 9 March, 11 am Jessner, U. (2008). A DST model of multilingualism and the role of metalinguistic awareness. The Modern Language Journal, 92 (2), 270-283.
Schedule for Autumn Term 2008/2009 Room 4.202C (unless specified otherwise)
Monday, 13 October, 11 am Start-of-year meeting to decide on readings and/or other activities of the group in this term.
Monday, 27 October, 11 am Housen, A., Pierrard, M., & Van Daele, S. (2005). Structure complexity and the efficacy of explicit grammar instruction. In A. Housen & M. Pierrard (Eds.), Investigations in instructed second language acquisition (pp. 235-269). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Monday, 10 November, 11 am Barbieri, F., & Eckhardt, S. E. B. (2007). Applying corpus-based findings to form-focused instruction: The case of reported speech. Language Teaching Research, 11(3), 319-346.
Monday, 24 November, 11 am Sáfár, A., & Kormos, J. (2008). Revisiting problems with foreign language aptitude. IRAL, 46, 113-136.
Monday, 8 December, 11 am No meeting.
Schedule for Summer Term 2007/2008 Room 4.202C (unless specified otherwise)
Monday, 28 April, 1.30 pm Iwashita N., Brown, A., McNamara, T., & O'Hagan, S. (2008). Assessed levels of second language speaking proficiency: How distinct? Applied Linguistics, 29(1), 24-49.
Monday, 12 May, 1.30 pm Tokowicz, N., & MacWhinney, B. (2005). Implicit and explicit measures of sensitivity to violations in second language grammar: An event-related potential investigation. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 27, 173-204.
Monday, 2 June, 1.30-3 pm, Room 4SA.6.19 Research seminar by Dr Jacek Rysiewicz, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland: Measuring language aptitude - issues and problems Jacek will offer two further research seminars: Tuesday, 3 June, 11 am-1.30 pm, Room 5B.202 Awareness of L1 grammar and foreign language learning Tuesday, 3 June, 1.30-3 pm, Room 5B.202 Learner profiles and how to find out about them Abstracts can be downloaded here.
Monday, 9 June, 1.30 pm Short presentation by Frank Romano on tests used for his PhD study; discussion of implicit and explicit knowledge and the construct validity of relevant measures.
Schedule for Spring Term 2007/2008 Room 4.202C (unless specified otherwise)
Monday, 21 January, 1.30 pm Egi, T. (2007). Interpreting recasts as negative evidence: The roles of linguistic target, length, and degree of change. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 29(4), 511-537.
Monday, 4 February, 1.30 pm Chapter 5 (Language and other cognitive processes) and Chapter 6 (Biological underpinnings) in Dabrowska, E. (2004). Language, Mind and Brain: Some psychological and neurological constraints on theories of grammar. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Monday, 18 February, 1.30 pm Tomasello, M. (2006). Acquiring linguistic constructions. In R. Siegler & D. Kuhn (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology. New York: Wiley.
Monday, 3 March, 1.30 pm Dimroth, C. (2008). Age effects on the process of L2 acquisition? Evidence from the acquisition of negation and finiteness in L2 German. Language Learning, 58(1), 117-150.
Monday, 17 March, 1.30 pm Ellis, R. (2006). Current issues in the teaching of grammar: An SLA perspective. TESOL Quarterly, 40(1), 83-107.
Schedule for Autumn Term 2007/2008 Room 4.202C (unless specified otherwise)
Monday, 15 October, 2 pm Start-of-year meeting and discussion of possible readings and other activities.
Monday, 29 October, 2 pm Leeman, J. (2007). Feedback in L2 learning: Responding to errors during practice. In R. M. DeKeyser (Ed.), Practice in a second language: Perspectives from applied linguistics and cognitive psychology (pp. 111-137). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Monday, 12 November, 1.30 pm Chouinard, M. M., & Clark, E. V. (2003). Adult reformulations of child errors as negative evidence. Journal of Child Language, 30, 637-669.
Monday, 26 November, 1.30 pm Presentation by Sonja Eisenbeiss: The role of contrast in children's morphosyntactic development. Preparatory reading (article will be summarised by Sonja): Saxton, M. (1997). The contrast theory of negative input. Journal of Child Language, 24, 139-161.
Monday, 10 December, 1.30 pm Sheen, Y. (2007). The effect of focused written corrective feedback and language aptitude on ESL learners' acquisition of articles. TESOL Quarterly, 41(2), 255-283.
Schedule for Summer Term 2006/2007 Room 4.202C (unless specified otherwise)
Thursday, 3 May 2007, 2 pm Erlam, R. (2006). Elicited imitation as a measure of L2 implicit knowledge: An empirical validation study. Applied Linguistics, 27(3), 464-491.
Thursday, 17 May 2007, 2 pm Macaro, E., & Masterman, L. (2006). Does intensive explicit grammar instruction make all the difference? Language Teaching Research, 10(3), 297-327.
Thursday, 31 May 2007, 2 pm Ellis, R. (2006). Modelling learning difficulty and second language proficiency: The differential contributions of implicit and explicit knowledge. Applied Linguistics, 27(3), 431-463.
Thursday, 14 June 2007, 2 pm Negueruela, E., Lantolf, J. P., Jordan, S. R., & Gelabert, J. (2004). The "private function" of gesture in second language speaking activity: A study of motion verbs and gesturing in English and Spanish. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 14(1), 114-147.
Thursday, 28 June 2007, 11 am, Room 6.348 Presentations by Karen Roehr and Adela Gánem: (1) Metalinguistic ability in L2 learning: An individual difference variable (2) Talking about language: What learners' metalinguistic knowledge teaches us about explicit instruction in the L2 classroom
Schedule for Spring Term 2006/2007 Room 4.202C
Thursday, 25 January 2007, 2 pm MacWhinney, B. (2004). A multiple process solution to the logical problem of language acquisition. Journal of Child Language, 31, 883-914.
Thursday, 8 February 2007, 2 pm Ellis, N. C. & Larsen-Freeman, D. (2006). Language emergence: Implications for applied linguistics. Applied Linguistics, 27(4), 558-589.
Thursday, 22 February 2007, 2 pm Mellow, J. D. (2006). The emergence of second language syntax: A case study of the acquisition of relative clauses. Applied Linguistics, 27(4), 645-670.
Thursday, 8 March 2007, 2 pm Ohta, A. S. (2000). Rethinking interaction in SLA: Developmentally appropriate assistance in the zone of proximal development and the acquisition of L2 grammar. In J. P. Lantolf (Ed.), Sociocultural theory and second language learning (pp. 51-78). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Thursday, 22 March 2007, 2 pm Larsen-Freeman, D. (2006). The emergence of complexity, fluency, and accuracy in the oral and written production of five Chinese learners of English. Applied Linguistics, 27(4), 590-619.
Schedule for Autumn Term 2006/2007 Room 4.202C
Thursday, 19 October 2006, 2 pm Start-of-year meeting and discussion of possible readings and other activities.
Thursday, 2 November 2006, 2 pm Chapter 3 (Universals and variation in
language, thought and experience) in
Thursday, 16 November 2006, 2 pm Chapter 14 (What is a cognitive approach to
grammar?) in
Thursday, 30 November 2006, 2 pm Ellis, N. C. (2006). Selective attention and transfer phenomena in L2 acquisition: Contingency, cue competition, salience, interference, overshadowing, blocking, and perceptual learning. Applied Linguistics, 27(2), 164-194.
Thursday, 14 December 2006, 2 pm Bybee, J. (2003). Mechanisms of change in grammaticization: The role of frequency. In B. D. Joseph & R. D. Janda (Eds.), The handbook of historical linguistics (pp. 602-623). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Schedule for Summer Term 2005/2006 (All meetings in room 6.350, unless specified otherwise)
Monday, 8 May 2006, 11 am, Room 4.311 Guest talk by Sophia Skoufaki (University of Cambridge): "Experimental testing of Cognitive Linguistics proposals for L2 idiom instruction"
Monday, 15 May 2006, 11 am Discussion of chapter 5 (Abstract syntactic constructions, pp.144-195) in Tomasello, M. (2003). Constructing a language: A usage-based theory of language acquisition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Monday, 22 May 2006, 11 am Discussion of Goldberg, A. E. & del Giudice, A. (2005). Subject-auxiliary inversion: A natural category. The Linguistic Review 22, 411-428.
Monday, 5 June 2006, 11 am Discussion of MacWhinney, B. (2005). The emergence of grammar from perspective. In D. Pecher & R. A. Zwaan (Eds.), Grounding cognition: The role of perception and action in memory, language, and thinking (pp. 198-223). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Monday, 19 June 2006, 11 am Discussion of Janda, L. (2004). A metaphor in search of a source domain: The categories of Slavic aspect. Cognitive Linguistics, 15(4), 471-527.
Schedule for Spring Term 2005/2006 Room 3.411
Monday, 23 January 2006, 1 pm Inaugural meeting and discussion of possible readings.
Monday, 30 January 2006, 1 pm Discussion of Goldberg, A. E. (2003). Constructions: A new theoretical approach to language. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7(5), 219-224.
Monday, 13 February 2006, 1 pm Discussion of Bybee, J. (2005). The impact of use on representation: Grammar is usage and usage is grammar.
Monday, 27 February 2006, 1 pm Discussion of Goldberg, A. E. & Jackendoff, R. (2004). The English resultative as a family of constructions. Language 80(3).
Monday, 13 March 2006, 1 pm Discussion of Gries, T., Hampe, B., & Schoenefeld, D. (2005). Converging evidence: Bringing together experimental and corpus data on the association of verbs and constructions. Cognitive Linguistics, 16(4), 635-676.
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Karen Roehr, Department of Language & Linguistics, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, United Kingdom.
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