Current research projects
An overview of current and recently completed CALR projects.
Complexity in Language
Complexity in language is a cross-disciplinary project funded by the University of Southampton’s Research and Innovation Service (July 2010 to December 2011). The project examines the implications of viewing the grammatical systems of
natural languages as 'complex adaptive systems', of the type widely found in the natural world. The project explores the extent to which grammars can be considered to bear the 'hallmarks' of complex systems, including self-organisation, emergent behaviour, and adaptivity, and examines whether
such an approach could mesh with new conceptions of Universal Grammar within theoretical linguistics (Minimalism/biolinguistics). It is hoped that this project will thereby identify entirely new avenues for linguistic research within complexity science
Researchers: Dr Glyn Hicks and Dr Matthew Reeve
LANG-SNAP: Languages and social networks abroad
Social networks, target language interaction, and second language acquisition during the year abroad: A longitudinal study is a project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (research award number: RES-062-23-2996) running from May 2011 to October 2013.
The specific aims of the project are to document the development of Modern Languages students’ knowledge and use of the target language over a 23-month period including a 9-month stay abroad, and to investigate:
- learners’ evolving social networks while abroad
- factors influencing type and amount of language engagement abroad
- the kinds of learning opportunities afforded by target language interaction in a year abroad context
- the relationship between social networking, affect, social interaction and language learning
Participants are students of Spanish and French, spending their third year (of a four-year degree course) abroad in Spain, Mexico, and France. We have recruited 25 students per language (drawn from ERASMUS, foreign language assistant, and work placements). Ten native speakers of each language have also been recruited.
During the main fieldwork phase, six data collection cycles with all participants are planned: 1) pretest, 2-4) successive on-site data collection cycles, 5) posttest and 6) delayed posttest. Pre- and posttests will take place at the home university, while all other data collection will take place abroad. A subset of 12 participants will additionally be invited to participate in individual case studies. These in-depth studies will involve day-long participant observation (shadowing) on two occasions during the year to document amount of time spent interacting in the target language, and the nature of that engagement. These participants will also self-record three interactions in the target language, with members of their current social network, using audio equipment.
Researchers: Prof. Ros Mitchell. Dr. Nicole Tracy-Ventura, Dr. Kevin McManus, Laurence Richard and Dr. Paty Romero De Mills
Biliteracy teaching and learning in two-way-immersion
This project investigates biliteracy teaching and learning as it unfolds in an Italian-German two-way-immersion programme in a primary school in inner Frankfurt/Germany. The study looks into an approach that helps fostering a multilingual environment in which biliteracy can be acquired simultaneously in two languages, Italian and German. The study is ethnographic and collaborative in nature involving active contributions from academics and practitioners and seeks to deepen our understanding of the possibilities for multilingual and multimodal learning in multilingual contexts and the development of multilingual curricula.
Researcher: Dr. Gabriele Budach
Multiliteracies in an urban Inuit community
The project entitled „Multiliteracies in an urban Inuit community“ (funded by the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council 2008-2011, PI: Prof. Donna Patrick, Carleton/University, Ottawa and Co-Investigator Gabriele Budach, University Southampton) investigates literacy practices of Inuit living in the city of Ottawa. This action research project is conducted in collaboration with the Ottawa Inuit Childen Centre in Vanier (http://www.ottawainuitchildrens.com/eng/) and looks into the ways in which multilingual and multimodal literacies are important for urban Inuit to sustain their life as an aboriginal migrant community in the city. The focus of our research is on community based activities developed by and for Inuit in order to understand what literacy means for them in this context and to contribute to the development of aboriginal language policies which take into account the community’s own semiotic resources, in terms of languages and culture.
Researchers: Dr. Gabriele Budach
Fluency in oral proficiency examinations
The term ‘fluency’ is used frequently among language educators to describe and assess the foreign language proficiency of learners, but there is as yet no clear understanding of what precisely teachers and assessors are measuring when they label a candidate as more or less fluent. Given the fact that the grades learners get in high stakes oral examinations have real-life consequences, a clearer understanding of the constructs underpinning professional assessments is vital. This research sets out to investigate the subjective theories that teachers hold about fluency and which they apply in their practice, and links these to their assessment of an existing database of oral proficiency interviews with high-level learners of English. This will help our understanding of assessment practices and also provide a much needed link between existing research on the construct of fluency, and its professional application.
Researcher: Dr. Julia Huettner
