Studying the Language of Young Learners: Methodological Advances and Challenges

Studying the Language of Young Learners: Methodological Advances and Challenges

16-17 July 2026

Workshop at the University of Bonn, Germany, organized by Robert Fuchs (University of Bonn), Valentin Werner (University of Bamberg) & Anna Rosen (University of Freiburg) as part of the project Young German Learner English (funded by the German Research Foundation).

https://www.iaak.uni-bonn.de/bael/en/uploads/yglew2_cfp.pdf

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, organized by the YGLE team (https://www.ygle.de), 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).

The workshop will feature keynotes by
- Prof. Emma Marsden, University of York
- Prof. Detmar Meurers, Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen

The workshop will take place jointly with the15th Bonn Applied English Linguistics Conference (BAELc15; https://www.iaak.uni-bonn.de/bael/en/news-and-events/all-news-and-events/bael-conference/baelc-1/baelc15), which will focus on corpus-based research but is open to other fields of applied linguistics as well. While the working language of the event is English, we welcome contributions on all learner and target languages. The conference is planned as an in-person event in Bonn. It will start after 12 pm on Thursday and end (at the latest) at 4 pm on Saturday, leaving room for travel.

Please submit your abstracts (in the range of 400–500 words + potentially a data table or figure for illustration + references; please use APA style) before April 15th, 2026 via easyabs (see link below). You will receive feedback on acceptance in early May 2026. We will be able to accommodate a limited number of online presentations. Please indicate your availability in your submission.

Submit via easyabs: https://easyabs.linguistlist.org/conference/YGLEw2/

Please send any inquiries to bael@uni-bonn.de