International Summer School on Multilingualism 30 June - 4 July 2025

Organised by the Centre for Research in Language and Heritage, University of Greenwich (UK) and the Centre for Linguistics, Language Education and Acquisition Research (CLLEAR), University of Southampton (UK).

This school is funded by the Centre for Research in Language and Heritage, University of Greenwich and the Southampton Institute for Arts and Humanities (SIAH).

This international summer school offers an immersive learning experience on multiple facets on multilingualism facilitated by scholars internationally recognised, and the opportunity to access international networks. The course is highly interactive and takes a holistic approach, covering topics that range from the theoretical underpinnings of language analysis, development and processing, to the quantitative analysis of the data. Classes and workshops will be delivered online over the course of one week. Participants will receive a link to course documentation including key readings, some to prepare prior to the lectures.

BOOKINGS WILL OPEN SHORTLY - Register your interest here and we will contact you in January when the bookings open.

Date: 30 June - 4 July 2025

Teaching language: English

Online delivery via MS Teams - Delegates will be provided with class links

For enquiries email: CREL@gre.ac.uk

Participants will learn:

Topics include:

• Evidence in second language acquisition
• Native language attrition
• Heritage language acquisition
• Third language acquisition
• Syntactic analyses relevant to multilingualism research
• Quantitative methods

Participants will receive:

• A five-day immersive learning experience comprising different aspects of multilingualism
• Workshops on the quantitative analysis of data
• Invitation to an open public lecture on the last day of the course
• A certificate of attendance, upon active engagement throughout the week

Class materials and online links will be provided to participants

Who Should Attend?

The course is suitable for graduates who want to get a head start in postgraduate studies as well as masters or doctoral students interested in honing their knowledge and broadening their networks internationally. The course can also be attractive to language practitioners interested in getting an overview of current knowledge of language learning processes and how they are investigated.

Lecturers 

• Professor Laura Domínguez,Head of Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics, University of Southampton (UK)
• Dr Clare Wright, Associate Professor in Linguistics & Language, University of Leeds (UK)
• Dr Eloi Puig-Mayenco, Lecturer in Applied Linguistics, Kings College Univeristy of London (UK)
• Dr Ana Paula Palacios, Senior Lecturer in Statistics, University of Greenwich (UK)
• Dr Michael Wiper University Carloss III, Madrid (Spain)
• Professor Jean-Marc Dewaele, Institute of Education, University College London; Birkbeck, University of London

Programme (BST Time Zone)

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Brief description of courses:

Input and bilingual language acquisition: focus on heritage children and their parents

Professor Laura Domínguez, University of Southampton (UK)

In this course we will investigate two main processes and outcomes of bilingual acquisition: heritage language acquisition and native language attrition. In both cases a speaker is exposed to input from two different languages but with different quantitative and qualitative properties. Some of the main characteristics and typical outcomes of bilingualism in these contexts will be explored using data from recent studies as evidence. You will be an opportunity to learn new material and consolidate any previous knowledge on these topics you may already have.

Understanding second language fluency: new trends in research and practice

Dr Clare Wright, University of Leeds (UK)

In these sessions, we will introduce current trends in second language fluency research in different multilingual settings. We will evaluate methods for researching communicative fluency in different multilingual contexts in and out of the classroom; we examine implications for assessment design and evaluation, and will finish with discussions on how to move towards more authentic and inclusive multilingual norms in fluency research, teaching and assessment.

Exploring L3 acquisition: from theoretical discussions to empirical investigations

Dr Eloi Puig-Mayenco, Kings College London (UK)

The focus of this course is to present a critical overview of the field of L3/Ln acquisition with special emphasis on morphosyntactic transfer. We will first present some theoretical constructs relevant for the field, and then discuss the most recent theories and hypotheses with relevant empirical data that is available to date. We will specifically show how to design studies that allow us to test the most recent proposals, highlighting important methodological choices that one needs to bear in mind when designing and L3 study. We will finish the course with some discussion of potential directions for future research regarding both transfer selection and L3 developmental trajectories.

Statistical Analysis

Dr Ana Paula Palacios, University of Greenwich (UK), Dr Michael Wiper University Carloss III, Madrid (Spain)

This course revises some key ideas in statistical testing with application to linguistics including statistical logic (ideas of estimation hypothesis tests), testing for relationships and comparing groups (chi2 tests of association and independence) and linear models (ANOVA and regression).

The relationship between multilingualism, personality profiles and emotions

Professor Jean-Marc Dewaele, Institute of Education, University College London; Birkbeck, University of London

In these sessions we will focus on the relationship between multilingualism and personality profiles and multilingualism and Foreign Language learner emotions. We will address questions around the extent to which multilingualism/multiculturalism shape individuals’ personality and Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety and Foreign Language Enjoyment.

Open Lecture - Friday 4 July 2025

Professor Jean-Marc Dewaele, Institute of Education, University College London; Birkbeck, University of London

How differences in emotional resonance of first and later learnt languages affect our language preferences, perceptions and decisions

Time: 15:00-16:30

Location: Online, booking link to be announced

Abstract

Emotions are at the heart of social interactions, and the ability to perceive and express them accurately is crucial for mental wellbeing. Multilingual language users face particular challenges in this respect because emotion words and concepts do not always overlap between languages and their emotional resonance differs in the mouth and ears of first and foreign language users (Toivo et al., 2023). Declarations of love or swearwords in the foreign language may feel deceptively harmless or inauthentic (Dewaele, 2013). The detachment effect of the foreign language can be highly beneficial in psychotherapy (Cook & Dewaele, 2022) and has a significant effect on moral decision making (Dewaele et al. 2023).

References

Cook, S. R. & Dewaele, J.-M. (2022) ‘The English language enables me to visit my pain’. Exploring experiences of using a later-learned language in the healing journey of survivors of sexuality persecution. International Journal of Bilingualism, 26(2), 125-139. https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069211033032

Dewaele, J.-M. (2013) Emotions in Multiple Languages. Palgrave–MacMillan. 2nd ed.

Dewaele, J.-M., Mavrou, I., Kyriakou, A., & Lorette, P. (2024) The role of language and emotional intelligence in judgments of real-life social and moral transgressions among Greek, Hungarian, and British users of English. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 37(1), e2356. https://doi.org/10.1002/bdm.2356