Description and contextualization of the subject

The main aims of this course are: 1) to provide students with the necessary tools to be able to design a specific experiment and to carry it out successfully and 2) to acquire basic knowledge on how to do a transcription of data obtained experimentally as well as in natural production and how to code the data thus obtained in order to carry out subsequent statistical analyses. The knowledge of these two skills will enable students to carry out experimental research successfully. Students will be expected to design a small scale study (a pilot study) on one of the different areas of SLA. Once the data are collected they will have to transcribe it according to the CHILDES format and provide a codification of the data.



Specifically, after completing the course, students will be able to:

1. Design a specific experiment to investigate a specific areas within language acquisition

2. Control possible factors, variables and difficulties which may arise when designing experiments

3. Use basic knowledge of CHILDES to do a linguistic transcription of oral and written data obtained in both natural and experimental conditions

4. Adapt the transcription of data to the needs of the students’ own investigation

5. Code such transcriptions using CHILDES

6. Create excel tables in order to analyze them statistically

Ordinary call: orientations and renunciation

Attendance to class is obligatory (10%) and students will be penalized if absence is not properly justified. In order to complete the course students will have to hand in a written paper (12-15 pages long) (50% of the final mark) and present the pilot study designed individually in a data collection session (40% of the final mark).

Extraordinary call: orientations and renunciation

Students will have to hand in a written paper (50%) and present a recording of an oral presentation (50%), both of them similar to the assignments in the first call.

Temary

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

The main aims of this course are: 1) to provide students with the necessary tools to be able to

design a specific experiment and to carry it out successfully and 2) to acquire basic knowledge on how to do a

transcription of data obtained experimentally as well as in natural production and how to code the data thus obtained in

order to carry out subsequent statistical analyses. The knowledge of these two skills will enable students to carry out

experimental research successfully.



Students will be expected to design a small scale study (a pilot study) on one of the different areas of SLA. Once the data

are collected they will have to transcribe it according to the CHILDES format and provide a codification of the data.



Specifically, after completing the course, students will be able to:



1. Design a specific experiment to investigate a specific areas within language acquisition



2. Control possible factors, variables and difficulties which may arise when designing experiments



3. Use basic knowledge of CHILDES to do a linguistic transcription of oral and written data obtained in both natural and

experimental conditions



4. Adapt the transcription of data to the needs of the students own investigation



5. Code such transcriptions using CHILDES



6. Create excel tables in order to analyze them statistically



CONTENTS:



1. Overview of different studies in SLA



2. Designing an experiment



2.1. Naturalistic data



2.2. Experimental data



2.3. Oral production



2.4. Written production



3. Introduction to CHILDES



3.1. Data transcription



3.2. Data codification



3.3. Excel tables



GRADING SYSTEM:

Students' attendance to class is obligatory and will be taken into consideration in the final grade (10%). In order to

complete the course students will have to hand in a written paper (12-15 pages long) (50%) and present the pilot study

designed individually in a data collection session (40%).



The written paper should include:



-Brief introduction: state of the art of the topic of investigation



-Questions to be investigated: variables, hypotheses and predictions



-Experiment (pilot test)



-Subjects (at least 3 or 4)



-Materials:



justification of choice of task, the experiment and the protocol followed in the administration of test



full list of test sentences or samples of materials, questionnaires etc used (include them in an appendix)



-Results



Data obtained in experiment (including sample transcription, codification procedure and tables with data obtained)



Those students who do not collect experimental/naturalistic data will provide a transcription with the corresponding

codification



Discussion of your results and conclusion



Bibliography



The oral part should:



Take up 20 minutes maximum + 10 minutes for questions



Students are expected to contribute with comments to each presentation (feedback expected)

Bibliography

Compulsory materials

- Crain, S. and Thornton, R. 1998. Investigations in Universal Grammar: A guide to experiments on the acquisition of syntax and semantics. Crambridge, MA: MIT Press.



- McDaniel, D. and McKee, C. 1996. Methods for assessing children's syntax. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.



- MacWhinney, B. The CHILDES Project: Tools for Analyzing Talk. 3rd edition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawarence Erlbaum Associates.



- Mackey, A. and Gass, S. 2005. Second Language Research: Methodology and Design. Mahwah, N.J: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.



- Mackey, A. and Gass, S. 2012. Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition: A Practical Guide. West Sussex, UKJ: Wiley-Blackwell.

Basic bibliography

- Crain, S. and Thornton, R. 1998. Investigations in Universal Grammar: A guide to experiments on the acquisition of syntax and semantics. Crambridge, MA: MIT Press.

- McDaniel, D. and McKee, C. 1996. Methods for assessing children's syntax. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

- MacWhinney, B. The CHILDES Project: Tools for Analyzing Talk. 3rd edition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawarence Erlbaum Associates.

- Mackey, A. and Gass, S. 2005. Second Language Research: Methodology and Design. Mahwah, N.J: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.

- Mackey, A. and Gass, S. 2012. Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition: A Practical Guide. West Sussex, UKJ: Wiley-Blackwell.

In-depth bibliography

- Benati, A. 2016. Key Methods in Second Language Acquisition Research. Equinox.



- Blom, E. and Unswroth, S. 2010. Experimental Methods in Language Acquisition Research. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.



- Brown, J. D. 1988. Understanding Research in Second Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.



- Brown, J. D. and T. S. Rodgers. 2002. Oxford Handbooks for Language Teachers-Doing Second Language Research. Oxford: Oxford University Press.



- Hatch, E. and A. Lazaraton. 1991. The Research Manual: Design and Statistics for Applied Linguistics. New York: Newbury House (now Heinle).

Journals

- Applied Linguistics



- Bilingualism: Language and Cognition



- International Journal of Bilingualism



- International Journal of Multilingualism



- International Review of Applied Linguistics



- IRAL



- Journal of Multilingual And Multicultural Development



- Journal of Research Design and Statistics in Linguistics and Communication Science



- Language Acquisition



- Language Awareness



- Language Learning



- Language Teaching



- Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism



- Second Language Research



- Studies in Second Language Acquisition



- System



- The Modern Language Journal



- TESOL Quarterly

Links

- AILA (Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquée) : http://www.aila.info



- AAAL (American Association of Applied Linguistics): http://www.aaal.org



- BAAL (British Association of Applied Linguistics): http://ww.baal.org.uk



- EUROSLA (European Second Language Association): http://eurosla.org/home.html



- ICOSLA (International Commission on Second Language Acquisition) http://www.hw.ac.uk/langWWW/icsla/icsla.htm



- The Linguist List. http://www.linguistlist.org



- Second Language Research Forum (annual meeting): http://www.nflrc.hawaii.