Interpreting language-learning data

This book provides a forum for methodological discussions emanating from researchers engaged in studying how individuals acquire an additional language. Whereas publications in the field of second language acquisition generally report on empirical studies with relatively little space dedicated to questions of method, the current book gave authors the opportunity to more fully develop a discussion piece around a methodological issue in connection with the interpretation of language-learning data. The result is a set of seven thought-provoking contributions from researchers with diverse interests. Three main topics are addressed in these chapters: the role of native-speaker norms in second-language analyses, the impact of epistemological stance on experimental design and/or data interpretation, and the challenges of transcription and annotation of language-learning data, with a focus on data ambiguity. Authors expand on these crucial issues, reflect on best practices, and provide in many instances concrete examples of the impact they have on data interpretation.

Contents

Introduction
Reflecting on data interpretation in SLA
Amanda Edmonds, Pascale Leclercq, Aarnes Gudmestad

L2 acquisition in a rich dialectal environment
Some methodological considerations when SLA meets dialectology
Linda Evenstad Emilsen, Åshild Søfteland

Comparing ERPs between native speakers and second language learners
Dealing with individual variability
Maud Pélissier

Replication
Measuring the influence of typologically diverse target language properties on input processing at the initial stages of acquisition
Marzena Watorek, Rebekah Rast, Xinyue Cécilia Yu, Pascale Trévisiol, Hedi Majdoub, Qianwen Guan, Xiaoliang Huang

On the relationship between epistemology and methodology
A reanalysis of grammatical gender in additional-language Spanish
Aarnes Gudmestad

Analysing interaction in primary school language classes
Multilevel annotation and analysis with EXMARaLDA
Heather E. Hilton, John Osborne

Transcribing interlanguage
The case of verb-final [e] in L2 French
Pascale Leclercq

Potential pitfalls of interpreting data from English-French tandem conversations
Sylwia Scheuer, Céline Horgues