Trajectory panel

RESEARCH TRAJECTORY PANEL

My research trajectory could be summarized through a series of questions that spoke to me and challenged me as an applied linguist. An early question was: Is it true that young children in our schools can absorb English like sponges if they start very early? Lessons learned in the BAF project while exploring this question gave rise to two major ones. The first was: How can we provide learners with enough input to acquire an L2? This inspired me to explore input-rich learning scenarios inside the classrooms, such as CLIL, and beyond, such as Study Abroad and, more recently, learning through original-version audiovisual materials. The second question emerged from our observations of classroom learners: What determines the diverse learning trajectories of school learners? This launched a ten-year journey following children as they developed into more or less successful adolescent English learners. I continue to face new questions and seek answers.