Title Promoter Affiliations Abstract "The development of Dutch syntax in learners of Dutch as a foreign language: effects of immersion, language background and training by means of syntactic priming." "Sarah Bernolet" "Centre for Computational Linguistics, Psycholinguistics and Sociolinguistics (CLiPS)" "Background: In these days of mass migration, many people learn a brand new language at a later age. This is not easy: Languages have both similarities and differences in the sentence structures with which they express particular meanings. For instance, the Dutch and French active sentences are similar in both languages (Le chat chasse la souris - De kat jaagt op de muis [The cat cases the mouse]), but Dutch has three different forms for the full passive sentence, whereas French has only one (La souris est chassée par le chat). How do learners deal with this? Aims: Previous research suggests that bilinguals share information about sentence structure across their languages, whenever these structures are similar enough. Hartsuiker and Bernolet (2017) proposed a developmental model for second language syntax in which learners go through several consecutive learning stages before they share syntax between languages. The challenging aspect is our goal to test that theory in ecologically valid settings. More specifically, we investigate the influence of immersion in the L2 and of knowledge of related languages on the development and the representation of Dutch syntax in students who learn Dutch as a foreign language. Additionally, we investigate whether and how syntactic priming experiments can aid the develoment of native-like production preferences in Dutch as an L2. Methodology: All studies in the project use syntactic priming as a tool (Branigan & Pickering, 2017): all sentences that need to be produced or comprehended are preceded by a prime sentence with the same or a competing syntactic structure. If a prime structure is represented in memory, it will influence the production and the comprehension of the upcoming sentence, within and across languages. We will investigate the syntactic representations in different speakers of Dutch: 1) Flemish students with Dutch as their only native language; 2) Walloon students who learned Dutch at the age of 10; 3) first generation immigrants learning Dutch as their first or second Indo-European language. The first production study compares groups 1 and 2. We investigate the representation of Dutch syntactic structures that lack a similar counterpart in the learners' native language (French) and we compare the production preferences for Walloon learners of Dutch living inan immersion context with the preferences of learners living in a monolingual French context. The second study investigates how we can boost the production of Dutch syntactic structures that are dispreferred due to influence of a native language. Studies 3 is a longitudinal study that explores the differences between the learning trajectories for Dutch syntax in native Arabic speakers who learn Dutch as their first or second Indo-European language (after English). Impact: By documenting the different stages in L2 syntactic development with actual learner data, this project will have a strong impact on both the psychology of language and on second language acquisition research. Additionally, this project will provide valuable information on the learning trajectory for Dutch syntax, more specifically on the influence of native language syntax, and on the effects of immersion, knowledge of related languages and specific training on the development and the final representation of Dutch syntax. Hence, the project outcome will be relevant to teachers and trainers of Dutch as a foreign language." "Ministerial decision awarding the grant for the period 01.09.2018 to 31.08.19 at Hasselt University for organizing Olyfran." "Martine VERJANS" "Center for Applied Linguistics" "The grant is awarded at Hasselt University for the organization of the Flemish Olympiad of French: Olyfran 2018-2019, particularly Olyfran-max , Olyfran Junior and Olyfran-Cadet. The organization of Olyfran is done in accordance with the work plan 2018-2019 that was approved by the EWI department." "Stylistic appropriateness in English as a foreign language: The acquisition of grammatical formality by translation trainees." "Jim Ureel" "Translation, Interpreting and Intercultural Studies (TricS)" "An important component of communicative competence is sociolinguistic competence, which is the ability to use language appropriately in communication. Despite an increasing body of research into sociolinguistic features of foreign language (L2) learning, a feature that has received relatively little and/or one-sided treatment to date is the acquisition of sensitivity to (in)formal language use in L2 learners. This project addresses that gap by investigating sensitivity to grammatical formality in L2 learners of English. By using both quantitative and qualitative data, we will map – cross-sectionally and longitudinally – the acquisition of sensitivity to grammatical formality.Quantitative data from an online revision task and qualitative data from semi-structured interviews will be integrated to acquire a more nuanced understanding of how sensitivity to grammatical formality is acquired in L2 learners of English. The results will contribute to a better understanding of how sociolinguistic competence develops in L2 learners and to facilitating sociolinguistically responsive foreign language instruction." "Expert sensitivity to linguistic formality as a benchmark for measuring stylistic translation revision competence." "Jim Ureel" "Translation, Interpreting and Intercultural Studies (TricS)" "This project directly contributes to the foundation of experimental research into the acquisition of translation revision competence. Funding is required to create a benchmark for the stylistic revision of a formal academic translation. The benchmark will guarantee the validity and reliability of ensuing experimental research. The data-collection instrument used for the benchmark and ensuing research consists of a source text (academic text in Dutch) and a target text (English translation of said academic source text). To establish the benchmark, 30 experts (professional translators) will be invited to conduct a stylistic revision of the English translation. The revision focus will be on detecting and correcting the inappropriate use of informal language in a formal academic context. Selected grammar and vocabulary problems in the English translation will form the 40 items that make up the data-collection instrument under investigation. A critical analysis of the amount and nature of revision will be performed to benchmark the stylistic revision of the translation. The resulting 'professional benchmark' will be used to select language items in the same academic translation for ensuing experimental research with non-experts (translators in training)." "Collocations in a Flemish Learner Corpus: an approximation to the concept from a pedagogical perspective and its language teaching implications" "Kris Buyse" "Leuven Language Institute (ILT)" "This thesis proposal is aimed at studying collocations employed by Flemish learners of Spanish as a foreign language (FL). The main purpose is to analyse how Spanish collocations are produced by undergraduate Ll Flemish learners and which collocations they produce accurately or cause them difficulties. I will rely upon a learner corpus created at KU Leuven called Aprescrilov (Aprender a escribir en Lovaina), as a result of the ElektraRed project. The corpus has been compiled at KU Leuven between 2005 and 2011 (Buyse and Gonzalez, 2013) in order to analyse the command and production of collocations by Flemish students. At present, there is a lack of research in Spanish which deals with collocations from these sources. In this way, Learner Corpora also provides an opportunity to continue investigating in fields such as error analysis (EA), which does not base its results on the comparison of two different languages, but focuses on real productions written by L2 learners considering errors a mandatory step on the learning process as a mean to achieve a proper linguistic command in their foreign language (Fernandez, 1997).Moreover, the results obtained are expected to contribute to the creation of new pedagogical material and to provide useful guidelines to deal with collocations in Spanish language teaching (Nesselhauf, 2004, 2005; Perez-Avila, 2006; Cruz, 2012)." "Ministerial decision awarding the grant for the period 01.09.2017 to 31.08.18 at Hasselt University for organizing Olyfran." "Martine VERJANS" "Center for Applied Linguistics" "The grant is awarded at Hasselt University for the organization of the Flemish Olympiad of French: Olyfran 2017-2018, particularly Olyfran-max , Olyfran Junior and Olyfran-Cadet. This grant was awarded under the Covenant between the Flemish Community and the Flemish Math Olympiad association, KU Leuven, Hasselt University and the association Certaminacomité 2013-2018, approved by the Flemish Government on 08/11/2013." "www.EUR.Friends: w(orking) w(ith) w(eb). Eur(egional)/(opean). Friends" "Center for Applied Linguistics" "The project meets the objectives and project categories mentioned in the Interreg VA programme by supporting actions fostering language learning and in-company placements, revaluating vocational education, cross-border mobility, students', workers' and job seekers' training. The core idea of this project is to create a sustainable network within the EMR by stimulating professional mobility and improving communication skills (languages and interculturalism)" "Projet Transversal DRC - Anglais Académique - phase 4." "Tom Smits" Didactica "The project ('English for Academic Purposes - Quality, Extension, Sustainability') aims to further deepen teaching processes proper by exploring and developing Blended Learning (BL) solutions for the local context of the seven Congolese universities involved, already introduced in phases 2 and 3. As BL (and in particular its flexible character) allows to cater for different learner groups (level and orientation) and to create a productive virtual English context, it is necessary to concentrate more on this educational approach which is not yet explored in this specific context (where resources and Internet support are very limited). The project also envisages to extend beyond the current target groups, inside and outside the 7 academic institutions involved: i.e. administrative staff, undergraduate students, and paying clients and NGOs. Finally, in view of its dynamics and its sustainability, this project on learning English for academic purposes pursues a much tighter organization per university involved, including a business plan with a financial plan, a timetable and a durable local system of accountability. This represents a major challenge, for which the project needs to benefit from the support of the academic partners ('points focaux')." "Ministerial decision awarding the grant for the period 01.09.2016 to 17.08.17 at Hasselt University for organizing Olyfran." "Martine VERJANS" "Center for Applied Linguistics" "The grant is awarded at Hasselt University for the organization of the Flemish Olympiad of French: Olyfran 2016-2017, particularly Olyfran-max and Olyfran Junior. This grant was awarded under the Covenant between the Flemish Community and the Flemish Math Olympiad association, KU Leuven, Hasselt University and the association Certaminacomité 2013-2018, approved by the Flemish Government on 08/11/2013." "Life is a pitch: self-presentation in the age of corporate speak" "Tom Van Hout" "Communication for Academic and Professional purposes (C-APP)" "Success in the digital economy depends largely on the ability to present yourself in entrepreneurial terms. This requires autobiographical identity work in all-purpose narratives of professional accomplishment and merit. Such narratives present the self as a dynamic and transferable bundle of skills, experiences, and achievements across a range of mobile communicative contexts such as job applications, academic profiles and professional biographies. Life thus becomes a project that needs to be managed and accounted for in the standardized, corporatocratic register of CV speak."