Plenary Talks
The following speakers have agreed to deliver plenary talks:
Prof. Adriana Biedroń (Pomeranian Academy in Słupsk, Poland)
Dr Dorota Campfield (Educational Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland)
Prof. Jelena Mihaljević Djigunović (Univeristy of Zagreb, Croatia)
Prof. Carmen Muñoz (University of Barcelona, Spain)
Prof. Victoria Murphy (School of Education, Oxford University, UK)
Prof. Mirosław Pawlak (Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań;
State University of Applied Sciences in Konin, Poland)
Adriana Biedroń is Professor of English at the Faculty of Philology, Pomeranian University in Słupsk, Poland, and the Faculty of Philology, Koszalin University of Technology, Koszalin, Poland. She received her doctoral and postdoctoral degrees in applied linguistics from Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland. Her main areas of interest are SLA theory and research, individual differences in SLA, in particular, foreign language aptitude, working memory, intelligence, personality factors and linguistic giftedness. Her publications include “Foreign Language Aptitude: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” (co-authored with Edward Wen and Peter Skehan, 2016, Language Teaching) and “New Conceptualizations of Linguistic Giftedness” (co-authored with Mirosław Pawlak, 2016, Language Teaching).
Contact details:
Faculty of Philology, Pomeranian University
ul. Słowiańska 8
76-200 Słupsk, Poland
([email protected])
Contact details:
Faculty of Philology, Pomeranian University
ul. Słowiańska 8
76-200 Słupsk, Poland
([email protected])
Title: Trainability of foreign language aptitudes in children
The purpose of this presentation is to discuss selected problems of research on foreign language aptitudes in children. Aptitude is a complex term including a number of factors contributing to foreign language learning success such as cognitive ability, personality, motivation, learning experience and learning environment. On the other hand, it is often defined in terms of only cognitive aptitude, which constitutes a ceiling on ultimate attainment (Doughty 2018). Foreign language aptitude, as other cognitive abilities, is traditionally presented as a stable, and, consequently, untrainable inborn capacity. Nevertheless, the discussion of trainability and instability of foreign language aptitude(s) has been high on the agenda of SLA research recently (Biedroń & Birdsong 2019; Doughty 2018; Rogers et al. 2017). The crux of the matter is whether learning of languages contributes to an increase in foreign language aptitude. Unfortunately, research into child’s foreign language aptitude is scarce and, consequently, our knowledge of this problem is limited. Linguistic abilities in children have to be studied differently than in adults due to the cognitive differences between these groups. One of them refers to cognitive aptitudes for explicit versus implicit learning. Aptitude for explicit learning predicts ultimate attainment for adults, not for children, whereas aptitude for implicit learning predicts learning for both children and adults (DeKeyser 2018; Granena 2013). Another factor is developmental dynamics. Aptitude in young children cannot be regarded as a fixed quality because it changes over time as children grow older and develop cognitively (Suárez & Muñoz 2011). Moreover, early bilingualism enhances cognitive abilities and these benefits persist throughout the lifespan. The presentation will focus on the following problems related to language aptitude pliability in children: heritability of language aptitude versus environmental influences, the relationship between cognitive abilities and bilingualism in children, trainability of language aptitudes and working memory and development of linguistic giftedness of young interpreters. Finally, a few suggestions for further research will be presented.
References:
Biedroń, A., & Birdsong, D. (forthcoming). Highly proficient and gifted bilinguals. In A. De Houwer, & L. Ortega (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of bilingualism. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
DeKeyser. R. (2018) Making research on aptitudes for second language learning more useful for practitioners. Plenary lecture presented at a conference “Individual differences in second language learning and teaching”. Konin, Poland.
Doughty, C. J. (2018). Cognitive language aptitude. Language Learning, September 2018. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12322
Granena. G. (2013). Reexamining the robustness of aptitude in second language acquisition.
In G. Granena, & M. H. Long (Eds.), Sensitive periods, language aptitude, and ultimate l2 attainment (pp.179–204). Amsterdam: John Benjamins
Rogers, V., Meara, P., Barnett-Legh, T., Curry, C., & Davie, E. (2017). Examining the LLAMA aptitude tests. Journal of the European Second Language Association , 1(1), 49–60. doi: 10.22599/jesla.24
Suárez, M., & Muñoz, C. (2011). Aptitude, age and cognitive development: The MLAT-E in Spanish and Catalan. In L. Roberts, G. Pallotti, & C. Bettoni (Eds.), EuroSLA Yearbook (Vol. 11, pp. 5–29). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Dorota Campfield entered research with broad experience in English teaching and teacher education, in the UK, Poland and Finland. Her work and personal experience prompted her interest in child foreign language (FL) acquisition with particular reference to prosody and methods for evaluation. Her present research focusses on executive function with respect to FL. She has been engaged in large-scale investigations into effectiveness of FL education in schools and executive functions in pre-school children, with publications in applied linguistics journals and books on language education and dyslexia with other contributions to national reports. She instructs student teachers at Warsaw University and has a Senior Researcher post at IBE, Warsaw. She is engaged with various long-standing education-related initiatives where she lives.
Jelena Mihaljević Djigunović worked as Professor of SLA and TEFL at Zagreb University, Croatia, until she retired in 2014, where she currently supervises PhD students. Her main research interests are teaching modern languages to young learners and the role of affective factors in language learning. She has been involved in a number of large scale national and international research projects, the latest one being the Early Language Learning in Europe (ELLiE). Her publications include two research books on affective learner factors, several edited volumes and over 100 research papers and book chapters.
For her full CV see her website: anglist.ffzg.unizg.hr/?p=18965&lang=en
Title: Heterogeneity in the young learner classroom: A blessing or a curse?
Even though the 'homogeneity by virtue of chronological age' myth (Tomlinson et al., 2003: 119) seems to be a matter of the past, many still consider children to be much more similar to each other than more mature learners. Teachers to YLs, however, have always known better, and emerging insights from early FL learning studies (e.g., Garton & Copland, 2018) seem to prove them right.
Heterogeneity in the YL language classrom is considered to be a highly relevant and exciting research topic: its study may reveal important interactions of factors which not only underlie the processes of early FL learning and teaching but are also responsible for differences in learning outcomes. On the other hand, it may present a huge challenge for many teachers, as well as learners, who have to face it on a daily basis and do not share the researchers' excitement!
The first part of this talk will explore causes of heterogeneity in the YL language classroom. The following ones will be focused on: 1) individual learner differences (from well established ones like attitudes and motivation to newly conceptualised ones like language learning curiosity) and ensuing behaviours; 2) relevant teacher characteristics (teacher beliefs, motivation to teach) and behaviours; 3) contextual factors impacting YL and teacher behaviours (parents' attitudes; characteristics of the immediate learning / teaching environment; out of class exposure to the FL).
In the second part, manifestations of heterogeneity evidenced in empirical research in different FL learning contexts will be looked into. Episodes from a variety of early FL classroom settings will be presented and analysed with reference to causes of heterogeneity. This will be followed by exploring ways of dealing with heterogeneity, such as differentiated instruction (e.g., Sullivan & Weeks, 2018). The exploration will be based on the notion that heterogeneity is not a stable phenomenon but alters with change in its causes and their manifestations.
The presented insights into the complex nature of heterogeneity and ways of dealing with it which reflect its nature will, hopefully, convince us that heterogeneity is perhaps best described as a blessing in disguise.
For her full CV see her website: anglist.ffzg.unizg.hr/?p=18965&lang=en
Title: Heterogeneity in the young learner classroom: A blessing or a curse?
Even though the 'homogeneity by virtue of chronological age' myth (Tomlinson et al., 2003: 119) seems to be a matter of the past, many still consider children to be much more similar to each other than more mature learners. Teachers to YLs, however, have always known better, and emerging insights from early FL learning studies (e.g., Garton & Copland, 2018) seem to prove them right.
Heterogeneity in the YL language classrom is considered to be a highly relevant and exciting research topic: its study may reveal important interactions of factors which not only underlie the processes of early FL learning and teaching but are also responsible for differences in learning outcomes. On the other hand, it may present a huge challenge for many teachers, as well as learners, who have to face it on a daily basis and do not share the researchers' excitement!
The first part of this talk will explore causes of heterogeneity in the YL language classroom. The following ones will be focused on: 1) individual learner differences (from well established ones like attitudes and motivation to newly conceptualised ones like language learning curiosity) and ensuing behaviours; 2) relevant teacher characteristics (teacher beliefs, motivation to teach) and behaviours; 3) contextual factors impacting YL and teacher behaviours (parents' attitudes; characteristics of the immediate learning / teaching environment; out of class exposure to the FL).
In the second part, manifestations of heterogeneity evidenced in empirical research in different FL learning contexts will be looked into. Episodes from a variety of early FL classroom settings will be presented and analysed with reference to causes of heterogeneity. This will be followed by exploring ways of dealing with heterogeneity, such as differentiated instruction (e.g., Sullivan & Weeks, 2018). The exploration will be based on the notion that heterogeneity is not a stable phenomenon but alters with change in its causes and their manifestations.
The presented insights into the complex nature of heterogeneity and ways of dealing with it which reflect its nature will, hopefully, convince us that heterogeneity is perhaps best described as a blessing in disguise.
Carmen Muñoz is Full Professor of Applied English Linguistics at the University of Barcelona (Spain). Her research interests include the effects of age and context on second language acquisition, young learners in instructed settings, individual differences, bilingual/multilingual education, and multimodality in language learning. She has coordinated a dozen research projects, among them the BAF Project (“Age and the Rate of Foreign Language Learning”, in Multilingual Matters, 2006) and more recently the SUBTiLL Project, on the effects of captions/subtitles on second language learning. In 2016 she was awarded the Eurosla Distinguished Scholar Award.
Professor
Departament de LLiLM i Estudis Anglesos
Universitat de Barcelona
Gran Via 585
08007 Barcelona
www.carmenmunoz.weebly.com
www.ubgral.com
Title: Internal and external factors in foreign language learning by young learners
In this talk I will reflect on individual differences in foreign language learning by young learners on the basis of research findings from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies as well as from comparative studies of young learners in different European contexts. The examination of internal and external factors in these studies provides insights to better understand the different trajectories followed and the attainment reached by young learners. It also reveals some of the challenges that teachers face when teaching a foreign language to young learners.
Professor
Departament de LLiLM i Estudis Anglesos
Universitat de Barcelona
Gran Via 585
08007 Barcelona
www.carmenmunoz.weebly.com
www.ubgral.com
Title: Internal and external factors in foreign language learning by young learners
In this talk I will reflect on individual differences in foreign language learning by young learners on the basis of research findings from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies as well as from comparative studies of young learners in different European contexts. The examination of internal and external factors in these studies provides insights to better understand the different trajectories followed and the attainment reached by young learners. It also reveals some of the challenges that teachers face when teaching a foreign language to young learners.
Title:
Language in Education: Support for multilingualism through educational contexts Genesee (2017) argued that given children have the capacity to acquire more than one language without significant costs or difficulties, our challenge is create learning environments that allow children to give full expression to this capacity. In this presentation I will discuss the role of Education as a potential context through which young children’s emergent bi- or multi-lingualism can be supported. I focus on children who have a home language that is different from their language of education and present a selective review some evidence which speaks to effective ways of supporting young children’s emergent multilingual development through educational provision. I then highlight the particular importance of developing knowledge of vocabulary as a means of supporting literacy development in linguistically diverse pupils and review the research on children’s developing knowledge of lexical form, meaning and use during the early school years. I conclude by arguing for a need to have more focused studies investigating multilingual pedagogies that present a balanced and evidence-based agenda for supporting linguistically diversity in all our pupils. Genesee, F. (2017). “Looking back over 25 years of research and moving forward”. Keynote presentation to the NALDIC25 conference, London, November 2017. |
Victoria Murphy is Professor of Applied Linguistics and the Deputy Director of the Department of Education, University of Oxford. She is the research group convener of the Applied Linguistics, and the R.E.A.L. (Research in English as an Additional Language) research groups. Victoria’s research focuses on understanding the inter-relationships between child L2/FL learning, vocabulary and literacy development. Her work focuses on examining cross-linguistic relationships across linguistic systems in the emergent bilingual child and how foreign language learning in primary school can influence developing first language literacy. She has published in a wide range of Applied Linguistics journals in the area of young language learners and is the author of two books.
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Mirosław Pawlak is Professor of English in the English Department, Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts of Adam Mickiewicz University, Kalisz, Poland, and Department of Research on Language Learning and Teaching, Faculty of Philology, State University of Applied Sciences, Konin, Poland. He is also currently Rector of State University of Applied Sciences, Konin, Poland.
His main areas of interest are SLA theory and research, form-focused instruction, corrective feedback, pronunciation teaching, classroom discourse, learner autonomy, communication and learning strategies, grammar learning strategies, motivation and willingness to communicate. His recent publications include Error correction in the foreign language classroom. Reconsidering the issues (2015, Springer), Willingness to communicate in instructed second language acquisition: Combining a Macro- and Micro-Perspective (with Anna Mystkowska-Wiertelak, 2017, Multilingual Matters), and several edited collections on learner autonomy, language policies of the Council of Europe, form-focused instruction, speaking in a foreign language, classroom-oriented research and individual learner differences. He is editor of the journals Studies in Second language Learning and Teaching and Konin Language Studies, as well as the book series Second Language Learning and Teaching, published by Springer.
Professor Mirosław Pawlak is a member of many international associations. He was Secretary General of the Polish Association of Modern Languages in the years 2008-2013 and President of the association in the years 2013-2016. He is currently President of the International Federation of Language Teacher Associations (FIPLV).
Mirosław Pawlak
State University of Applied Sciences, Konin, Poland
Adam Mickiewicz University, Kalisz, Poland
[email protected]
Title:
Teaching foreign language grammar to children: The role of individual differences
While the need for grammar instruction has always been a highly controversial issue, there is currently a broad consensus that such pedagogical intervention is facilitative and may even be indispensable in some contexts (e.g., Loewen, 2015, Nassaji, 2017; Larsen-Freeman, 2015; Pawlak, 2014, 2015, 2017). However, there is still little agreement on the extent to which grammar structures should be taught and the ways in which such instruction should be most beneficially conducted. There is also scarce empirical evidence on the degree to which learner individual differences (ID) mediate the effects of different instructional options, with the bulk of existing research focusing on variables that may be of little relevance to practitioners, such as aptitude or working memory. These issues seem to be of vital importance in teaching foreign language grammar to children where the instructional approach to be adopted should be informed by individual learner profiles to produce tangible learning outcomes (cf. DeKeyser, 2017). The paper provides an overview of the available research on the role of individual variation in teaching grammar to children, discusses the potential contribution of different ID factors in this respect, and points to the lines of inquiry that future empirical investigations should follow.
His main areas of interest are SLA theory and research, form-focused instruction, corrective feedback, pronunciation teaching, classroom discourse, learner autonomy, communication and learning strategies, grammar learning strategies, motivation and willingness to communicate. His recent publications include Error correction in the foreign language classroom. Reconsidering the issues (2015, Springer), Willingness to communicate in instructed second language acquisition: Combining a Macro- and Micro-Perspective (with Anna Mystkowska-Wiertelak, 2017, Multilingual Matters), and several edited collections on learner autonomy, language policies of the Council of Europe, form-focused instruction, speaking in a foreign language, classroom-oriented research and individual learner differences. He is editor of the journals Studies in Second language Learning and Teaching and Konin Language Studies, as well as the book series Second Language Learning and Teaching, published by Springer.
Professor Mirosław Pawlak is a member of many international associations. He was Secretary General of the Polish Association of Modern Languages in the years 2008-2013 and President of the association in the years 2013-2016. He is currently President of the International Federation of Language Teacher Associations (FIPLV).
Mirosław Pawlak
State University of Applied Sciences, Konin, Poland
Adam Mickiewicz University, Kalisz, Poland
[email protected]
Title:
Teaching foreign language grammar to children: The role of individual differences
While the need for grammar instruction has always been a highly controversial issue, there is currently a broad consensus that such pedagogical intervention is facilitative and may even be indispensable in some contexts (e.g., Loewen, 2015, Nassaji, 2017; Larsen-Freeman, 2015; Pawlak, 2014, 2015, 2017). However, there is still little agreement on the extent to which grammar structures should be taught and the ways in which such instruction should be most beneficially conducted. There is also scarce empirical evidence on the degree to which learner individual differences (ID) mediate the effects of different instructional options, with the bulk of existing research focusing on variables that may be of little relevance to practitioners, such as aptitude or working memory. These issues seem to be of vital importance in teaching foreign language grammar to children where the instructional approach to be adopted should be informed by individual learner profiles to produce tangible learning outcomes (cf. DeKeyser, 2017). The paper provides an overview of the available research on the role of individual variation in teaching grammar to children, discusses the potential contribution of different ID factors in this respect, and points to the lines of inquiry that future empirical investigations should follow.