28.3093, Calls: Lang Acquisition/France

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-28-3093. Mon Jul 17 2017. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 28.3093, Calls: Lang Acquisition/France

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Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2017 12:55:21
From: Amanda Edmonds [amanda.edmonds at univ-montp3.fr]
Subject: Research methodology in the field of second language acquisition and learning

 
Full Title: Research methodology in the field of second language acquisition and learning 

Date: 30-May-2018 - 01-Jun-2018
Location: Montpellier, France 
Contact Person: Amanda Edmonds
Meeting Email: amanda.edmonds at univ-montp3.fr
Web Site: https://amaedmon.wixsite.com/slamethodmontpellier 

Linguistic Field(s): Language Acquisition 

Call Deadline: 30-Nov-2017 

Meeting Description:

With the conference Research Methodology in Second Language Acquisition and
Learning, we hope to highlight the importance of decisions of methodology for
our ability to draw conclusions about language acquisition. In particular, we
aim to place questions of methodology at the center of the discussion and to
foster exchange and reflection on research design and the role it plays in
second language acquisition research and in teaching. 

Generally speaking, researchers working within the field of second language
acquisition and learning share an interest in questions of how learners build
their interlanguage (what learning processes and mechanisms are mobilized,
what developmental trajectories are followed), or an interest in examining
what interlanguage can tell us about language more generally. In attempting to
respond to these questions, SLA researchers are inevitably confronted with
decisions that must be made concerning research method. These decisions are
wide-ranging (design, tasks, participants, data analysis, etc.), and are
guided not only by one’s research questions, but also by a myriad of other
factors, including one’s theoretical framework, the abilities and competencies
of the researcher, and practical concerns (time, access to participants).
Importantly, decisions made concerning research design and methodology
ultimately inform and constrain the observations we make about second-language
learning (Norris & Ortega, 2003). They are thus central to the field, and
their importance is attested by the various recent books that have been
published in order to guide students and researchers in their research design
choices (see, among others, Blanchet & Chardenet, 2011; Blom & Unsworth, 2010;
Jergerski & VanPatten, 2013; Mackey & Marsden, 2016; McDonough & Trofimovich,
2008; Plonsky, 2016). If the importance of research methodology is generally
accepted, the field of SLA rarely places it in the limelight, whether it be at
conferences or in scholarly publications. With the conference Research
Methodology in Second Language Acquisition and Learning, we hope to highlight
the importance of this aspect of our field. In particular, we aim to place
questions of methodology at the center of the discussion and to foster
exchange and reflection on research design and the role it plays in second
language acquisition research and in teaching.

Invited speakers
Nathalie Auger (Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3)
Susan M. Gass (Michigan State University)
Leah Roberts (University of York)


Call for Papers:

We welcome proposals for talks on any aspect of research methodology in second
language acquisition, and encourage proposals from all of the diverse
methodological standpoints represented in SLA (e.g., classroom-based research,
experimental approaches, learner corpora, ecologically-valid approaches,
etc.). Proposals may, for example, focus on one or more aspects of research
design (i.e., participants, data collection, choice of task, data coding, data
analysis), or may address broad questions concerning research methodology. We
particularly encourage talks whose aim is to create a dialogue between
different methodological traditions within the perspective of a complex
approach (see Morin, 1990) which would allow researchers to embrace a variety
of relevant parameters. Other potential topics include, but are not limited
to: 

- choice of theoretical tools and models
- reflections on the analysis of variability in interlanguage
- contributions of (recent) developments in linguistics to research
methodology in SLA (e.g., corpus linguistics, neuro/psycholinguistics, etc.)
- proficiency assessment
- native-speaker norm
- qualitative and quantitative approaches
- reflections on the validity of the results and the potential biases (e.g.,
observer’s paradox)
- use of statistics
- methodological challenges associated with studying multilingual participants




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