J. Steele

Seminar: Methods for studying speech perception and production in French as a second or third language

Workshop: Designing and preparing experimental studies on speech perception and production in French as a second or third language

This seminar will provide an overview of the methodologies and tools currently used to study perception and production among second-language learners. In the area of perception, we will focus in particular on discrimination and identification tasks, as well as eye-tracking paradigms. In the area of production, we will examine methods of acoustic and articulatory analysis. The various methods will be illustrated using two of the most extensively studied sound phenomena: the rounded front closed vowel /y/ and phrase stress.

M. Pélissier

Introduction: Ethical Issues

This introductory session on research ethics will present the foundations and essential principles of responsible research. We will address key aspects such as participant protection, informed consent, and data management, before offering practical advice on preparing and submitting a proposal to an ethics committee.

Morphosyntax in L2: Exploring Acquisition Through Evoked Potentials (workshop)

This workshop offers a practical introduction to EEG as applied to second language morphosyntactic acquisition. Participants will explore the equipment and setup, observe raw EEG signals, and discuss artifacts. Examples of processed evoked potentials will illustrate how ERPs reveal morphosyntactic processing, linking theory with neurophysiological measures.

D. Divjak & P. Milin

Merging linguistic theories and psychological models: towards a usage-based model of language learning  

This course introduces participants to current research on how second language learners acquire complex grammatical meaning, focusing on systems in which form–meaning mappings are abstract, probabilistic, and distributed across contexts of use. 

A substantial hands-on component will allow participants to engage directly with the methodologies discussed using our cloud-based computing interface [https://outofourminds.bham.ac.uk/cloudcomputing/].

N. Dherbey-Chapuis

From Research Question to Experimental Teaching Design

Designing an experiment in a school setting necessarily involves taking into account the constraints of the field and the goals of education. We will examine the possibilities offered by instructional design (a rigorous analytical framework, a priori design, experimentation, and a posteriori analysis) to reconcile scientific and ecological validity, before operationalizing the exploration of a research question within a coherent experimental approach that integrates micro-instructional design (instructional sequences), and the evaluation of interventions.

Integrating experimental design and statistical analysis in an educational context: methodological challenges

The choice of experimental protocol determines the scope, validity, and interpretation of statistical analyses. Case studies, single-case designs, group comparisons, and questionnaires—each of these approaches involves the use of specific statistical tools for control and analysis. Classroom observations, interviews, and reflective analyses combine qualitative and quantitative approaches. We will discuss how field constraints (ethics, missing data, etc.) must be considered from the outset of the protocol to limit their impact on the validity of generalizations and possible conclusions of the study.

Workshop

The goal is to discuss your own research topic and the methodological questions you have. Participants who do not currently have a research project can either brainstorm a future project using a framework or analyze an experimental study in education to identify and discuss the methodological choices made by the authors. The session will take place in small groups in the form of workshops.

Examining Methodological Issues in Second Language Acquisition Research – An Invitation to Reflect on the Methodological Profile of Our Field

Using French as an example, this presentation aims to outline the general methodological characteristics of our field, leading to a discussion of methodological issues that should be considered when planning a research project. By reflecting on such a characterization of the research methods already used in their field, participants are invited to consider innovative avenues that could be pursued in our choice of methods to advance our field at the methodological, thematic, and theoretical level.

J. Saturno

An introduction to Psytoolkit 

PsyToolkit is a valuable tool for designing linguistic and psychological experiments. The workshop first provides a general introduction to the online platform and an overview of the available documentation. The focus then shifts to the hands-on design of a psycholinguistic experiment in the form of a fill-in-the-blanks task, a data collection method that is not easily replicable using alternative tools. The final part of the workshop is devoted to data export.

J. Granfeldt 

Session 1: Theoretical and methodological issues: the role of input in language acquisition

This session provides an introduction to the theoretical issues surrounding the role of input in language acquisition. It also offers an overview of the main methodologies used to study exposure and everyday language use.

Session 2: The Experience Sampling Method (ESM): principles, uses and benefits

The Experience Sampling Method (ESM) is an intensive data collection method that allows for the real-time recording of language exposure and use in everyday life within a natural context. The session will highlight its advantages (ecological validity, precision) as well as the challenges associated with its use.

Session 3: Practical workshop: implementing the Experience Sampling Method (ESM)

This workshop focuses on the implementation of ESM. It will present tools (such as Lang-Track-App), platforms and practical advice for designing and conducting effective data collection.

T. Kamiyama

Workshop

This workshop invites participants to familiarise themselves with various types of auditory perception experiments (identification, discrimination, judgement, etc.) commonly used in phonetics and phonology, as well as to understand which research questions and hypotheses they address, and how the experiments are actually designed. Some of the examples presented will be applicable to other linguistic components. Participants will also be asked to prepare a mini-experiment.