LAMiNATE Newsletter 2024.2
It is with great pleasure that we present the latest edition of the LAMiNATE newsletter, featuring updates an accomplishments from across our community! This issue celebrates the success of two members who have secured funding from the Swedish Research Council. Additionally, we are pleased to announce LAMiNATE’s move from X to LinkedIn, providing more possibilities for engagement. This edition also includes information on the upcoming TEAM Conference, scheduled for 16 January 2025, as well as updates on the autumn series of LAMiNATE Talks. We will also highlight recent publications from our members and underscore the value of active membership within the network.
Happy reading!
Marianne Gullberg & Jonas Granfeldt (Platform leaders)
Henriette Arndt & Frida Splendido (Platform coordinators)
Contents
- Two LAMiNATErs awarded funding from VR!
- LAMiNATE Talks
- LAMINATE moves to LinkedIn
- TEAM Conference 2025
- The Modern Language Teacher Day
- LAMiNATE Membership
- Recent Publications
Two LAMiNATErs awarded funding from VR!
We’re thrilled to announce that two of our LAMiNATE colleagues, Alastair Henry and Panos Athanasopoulos, have received funding from the Swedish Research Council for new research projects.
Alastair Henry's project is entitled “Framsteg i språkinlärning” (Progress in language learning). The aim of the project is to explore how self-perceived progress can influence persistence and engagement in language learning. The project has a longitudinal multi-method design and will be conducted in two countries and with six cohorts of students representing (i) different life stages, (ii) different reasons for language learning, and (iii) different languages. In addition to Henry, Cecilia Thorsen (University West) and Kata Csizér (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary) are also involved.
Panos Athanasopoulos's project is entitled “Switching Languages, Changing Minds: The role of language context in multilingual decision-making.” The aim of the project is to generate new knowledge about the role of language in decision-making in a context of societal multilingualism. Through a programme of research spanning three years, the project explores the dynamics and underlying mechanisms of decision-making in moral judgments, risk-taking, and health-related behaviours in multilingual South Africa, in communities who use multiple languages in their daily lives. In addition to Athanasopoulos, Emanuel Bylund (Stellenbosch University, South Africa) is also involved, and the project elaborates on collaborations between LAMiNATE and the Multilingualism and Cognition Lab (MultiCogLab) in Stellenbosch.
LAMiNATE Talks
We are now just past the halfway mark in this term's LAMiNATE Talks seminar series. So far, the series has included presentations on dyslexia and L2 proficiency (Tanja Kupisch & Ilaria Venagli), foreign language teacher anxiety (Sopiha Juul) and linguistic biases in school children (Sergio Rojo). Additionally, TEAM organised a thematic block on transdisciplinary approaches that included presentations by Nick Ellis and Dwight Atkins.
LAMINATE now on LinkedIn
LAMiNATE has made the decision to transition its “quick communications” from X/Twitter to LinkedIn. Nowadays, LinkedIn provides a more active alternative with better opportunities for engagement. Follow us there!
TEAM Conference 2025
The RJ programme TEAM (Transdisciplinary Approaches to Learning, Acquisition, Multilingualism) is organising its first conference on 16 January. The virtual event will bring together national and international researchers to discuss the latest insights and developments in the field of language acquisition and multilingualism. Six invited speakers are now confirmed and registration has opened. More information is available on the conference website and registration is now open.
All things TEAM are available on the recently launched TEAM website. You can also follow the activities through the TEAM LinkedIn page.
The Modern Language Teacher Day
This year's edition of the Modern Language Teacher Day took place on 19 November. This annual event aims to foster discussion and collaboration between teachers of modern foreign languages and researchers in language acquisition. The 2024 programme opened with a session exploring grammar as a tool for writing development (Katarina Lundin). Participants then chose language-specific workshops, each offering a deep dive into cultural and historical topics: the contrasting perceptions of East and West in German culture (Alexander Bareis), France’s post-colonial ties with Francophone Africa (Thierry Gilles), and the traditions of Día de Muertos in Mexico (Antonio Vázquez).
LAMiNATE Membership
Each LAMiNATE member’s contribution to the platform is important. Here’s a small reminder of what you can do:
- actively participate in our activities, such as the LAMiNATE Talks series.
- use the LAMiNATE symbol (download here) on slides when presenting on topics relevant to LAMiNATE at conferences and outreach events.
- invite colleagues/students to join the Talks series.
- link your research output and activities to LAMiNATE in LUCRIS, when these are clearly related to the topics of language acquistion, multilingualism and language teaching. LAMiNATE should automatically appear under "contributors and affiliations"; if not, you can click on "add organisational unit". Do not forget to untick any publication or activity unrelated to LAMiNATE.
- propose and organise a theme for the LAMiNATE Talks with speakers to invite.
- let us know when you have a new publication so that we can add it to the news page.
Recent Publications
Marianne Gullberg was interviewed on Swedish national radio in the programme Besserwisser about second language acquisition. Click here to listen (in Swedish).
Henrik Gyllstad and colleagues' new paper: Sonbul, S., Macis, M., & Gyllstad, H. (2024). The effect of equal versus expanding spacing practice on the deliberate learning of L2 collocations. TESOL Quarterly. Early View. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3364
Henrik Gyllstad, Tanja Kupisch and colleague's new paper: Gyllstad, H., Kupisch, T., & Lloyd-Smith, A. (2024). Development and initial validation of a yes/no vocabulary test for North Sámi - Drawing on item response theory and signal detection theory. ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics. 43 pp. https://doi.org/10.1075/itl.23005.gyl
The publications above are those that LAMiNATE authors have sent to us. Do you have a new article or book chapter out? Let us know!