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Second Workshop on Studying the Language of Young Learners
Workshop at the University of Bonn, Germany, 16 to 17 July 2026.
Co-located with the 15th Bonn Applied English Lingusitics Conference
Location: IMPULSE – House for Intellectual Innovation and Creativity, Adenauerallee 131, Bonn
Research on young second language (L2) learners, as well as young learner (inter-)language specifically, has gained increasing attention in recent years, driven by calls for greater diversity and representativeness in both Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and Learner Corpus Research (LCR). Although a growing number of learner corpora are available (Fernández & Davis, 2021), corpora representing young learner language, broadly defined, remain comparatively rare. While empirical findings from young learners are of exceptional theoretical and applied importance, they also raise distinct methodological challenges at every stage of the research process, from study design and data elicitation to annotation, analysis, and interpretation (Granger, 2015; Myles, 2015, 2021; Tracy-Ventura & Paquot, 2021).
This workshop focuses explicitly on these methodological issues. It is intended as an interdisciplinary forum for researchers working with young learner populations, typically situated in institutional (primary or secondary school) contexts, to exchange insights, innovations, and best practices that advance the methodological foundations of our field (Gilquin, 2015, 2021; Paquot & Plonsky, 2017).
We invite single- or multiple-authored papers that address methodological aspects of research on young learner language, including but not limited to:
Corpus design and compilation for young learner data (ethical considerations, sampling, metadata, longitudinal vs. cross-sectional designs) (Gilquin, 2015; Granger & Paquot, 2017; Paquot et al., 2024).
Task design and elicitation methods, including age-appropriate, engaging, or multimodal tasks (Cameron, 2001; Pinter, 2017; Ellis, 2003).
Annotation challenges (e.g., handling non-target-like or emergent language, multimodal learner output, interlanguage features, discourse-pragmatic annotation) (Lüdeling & Hirschmann, 2015; MacWhinney, 2000; Werner, 2017).
Analytical approaches and reflections, such as:
Statistical and computational techniques suited for unbalanced or sparse data (Gries, 2015; Alexopoulou et al., 2017).
Frameworks for modelling developmental trajectories (Biber et al., 2020; Housen & Kuiken, 2009; Pallotti, 2020).
Methodological triangulation, including integration of learner corpora with questionnaires, observations, eye-tracking, keystroke logging, or psycholinguistic experiments (Meunier & Littré, 2013; Marsden et al., 2016).
Replicability and transparency in studies with young learners (Marsden et al., 2016; Paquot & Plonsky, 2017).
Data management and ethics, including consent procedures, anonymization, and working with educational administrators and institutions
Technology-enhanced approaches, including digital recording environments, automatic annotation tools, as well as NLP applications for child/learner language (Wittenburg et al., 2006).
The workshop will feature two keynotes by
Prof. Emma Marsden, University of York
Prof. Walt Detmar Meurers, Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen
References
Alexopoulou, T., Michel, M., Murakami, A., & Meurers, D. (2017). Task effects on linguistic complexity and accuracy: A large‐scale learner corpus analysis employing natural language processing techniques. Language Learning, 67(S1), 180-208.
Biber, D., Reppen, R., Staples, S., & Egbert, J. (2020). Exploring the longitudinal development of grammatical complexity in the disciplinary writing of L2-English university students. International Journal of Learner Corpus Research, 6(1), 38-71.
Cameron, L. (2001). Teaching languages to young learners. Cambridge university press.
Ellis, R. (2003). Designing a task-based syllabus. RELC journal, 34(1), 64-81.
Fernández, J., & Davis, T. (2021). Overview of available learner corpora. In N. Tracy-Ventura & M. Paquot (Eds.), Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and corpora (pp. 147-159). New York: Routledge.
Gilquin, G. (2015). From design to collection of learner corpora. In S. Granger, G. Gilquin & F. Meunier (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Learner Corpus Research (pp. 9–34). Cambridge University Press.
Granger, S. (2015). Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis: A reappraisal. International Journal of Learner Corpus Research, 1(1), 7–24.
Gries, S. T. (2015). The most under-used statistical method in corpus linguistics: Multi-level (and mixed-effects) models. Corpora, 10(1), 95-125.
Housen, A. & Kuiken, F. (2009) Complexity, accuracy, and fluency in Second Language Acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 30(4), 461–473.
Lüdeling, A., & Hirschmann, H. (2015). Error annotation systems. The Cambridge handbook of learner corpus research, 135-157.
MacWhinney, B. (2000). The CHILDES project: The database (Vol. 2). Psychology Press.
Marsden, E., Mackey A. & Plonsky, L. (2016). The IRIS repository: Advancing research practice and methodology. In A. Mackey & E. Marsden (Eds.), Advancing Methodology and Practice: The IRIS Repository of Instruments for Research into Second Languages (pp. 1–21). Routledge.
Meunier, F., & Littré, D. (2013). Tracking learners' progress: Adopting a dual ‘corpus cum experimental data’approach. The Modern Language Journal, 97(S1), 61-76.
Myles, F. (2015). SLA theory and Learner Corpus Research. In S. Granger, G. Gilquin & F. Meunier (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Learner Corpus Research (pp. 309–331). Cambridge University Press.
Myles, F. (2021). Commentary: An SLA perspective on Learner Corpus Research. In B. Le Bruyn & M. Paquot (Eds.), Learner Corpus Research Meets Second Language Acquisition (pp. 258–273). Cambridge University Press.
Pallotti, G. (2021). Measuring complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF). In P. Winke & T. Brunfaut (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Testing (pp. 201–210). Routledge.
Paquot, M. (2024). Learner corpus research: A critical appraisal and roadmap for contributing (more) to SLA research agendas. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory, 20(3), 567–590.
Paquot, M. & Plonsky, L. (2017). Quantitative research methods and study quality in Learner Corpus Research. International Journal of Learner Corpus Research, 3(1), 61–94.
Paquot, M., König, A., Stemle, E. W., & Frey, J. C. (2024). The Core Metadata Schema for Learner Corpora (LC-meta) Collaborative efforts to advance data discoverability, metadata quality and study comparability in L2 research. International Journal of Learner Corpus Research, 10(2), 280-300.
Pinter, A. (2017). Teaching young language learners. Oxford University Press.
Tracy-Ventura, N. & Myles, F. (2015). The importance of task variability in the design of learner corpora for SLA research. International Journal of Learner Corpus Research, 1(1), 58–95.
Tracy-Ventura, N., Paquot, M. & Myles, F. (2021). The future of corpora in SLA. In N. Tracy-Ventura & M. Paquot (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Corpora (pp. 409–424). Routledge.
Werner, V. (2017). Adversative pragmatic markers in learner language: A cross-sectional perspective. Corpus Pragmatics, 1(2), 135-158.
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