Tracking developmental patterns in learner corpora: Focus on longitudinal studies
(2017) International Symposium on Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, University of Thessaloniki — Location: Thessaloniki
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- Before delving into learner corpora, the talk will first briefly review some of the research data and methods that have been used to track development in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) studies. As pointed out by Ionin (2013: 119) “Given the interdisciplinary nature of SLA, the field has drawn on the methodologies used in other fields, including linguistics, first language acquisition, psychology, sociology, and education, among others”. The different methodological influences and related data types are directly linked to what Ortega (2012: 205) calls the pluralization of knowledge in SLA and the relationship between ‘epistemological diversity’ (e.g. formal linguistic vs. cognitive-interactionist orientations) and the ‘moral ends’ of the research carried out (such as, for instance, concern – or lack thereof – for educational and instructional issues). In the second part of the talk, I will narrow down the focus to data and methods in learner corpus research (LCR). Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies will be compared, as will the methodological issues that each approach entails. I will then argue in favor of what Myles (2015: 309) calls bidirectional moves between LCR and SLA (viz. the need for more LCR in SLA and more SLA theory in LCR) and will also plead for the use of mixed-method research approaches as they are key to more fine-grained descriptions of and explanations for developmental patterns. In the third part of the talk, I will illustrate how such mixed-methods can take place concretely by presenting an ongoing research project on the acquisition of L2s in immersive and non-immersive settings. This multidisciplinary 5-year research project (which started in September 2014) aims to assess Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in French-speaking Belgium. On the basis of a large-scale longitudinal study, the project aims to gain insight into the linguistic, cognitive, socio-affective and educational aspects of CLIL and to understand how the interplay between these perspectives may underlie L2 acquisition processes. The data collected for the project involves French-speaking CLIL and non-CLIL learners (control group) with Dutch or English as a target language, at different times during their final two years of primary and secondary school education.
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Meunier, F. (2017). Tracking developmental patterns in learner corpora: Focus on longitudinal studies. International Symposium on Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/53568