Task design isn't just about following a manual—it's about opening up to new, interdisciplinary ways of creating meaningful learning experiences.
🔗 Read the full chapter here: doi.org/10.1075/tblt...
#GRAL #TBLT #TaskDesign #SLA #LanguageTeaching #EducationInnovation #AppliedLinguistics
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A "Bottom-Up" Future: Moving toward a more collaborative process that involves teachers and teacher communities.
New Frontiers: Looking at fields like Learning Design and Human-Machine Interaction to spark innovation in #TBLT.
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🔗 Read the full chapter here: doi.org/10.1075/tblt...
Key Takeaways:
The "Disconnect": Addressing why research findings don't always reach the classroom.
Needs Analysis: Why understanding the learner’s specific goals is a partial solution to design hurdles.
🔗 Read the full chapter here: doi.org/10.1075/tblt...
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Task Design: Serious Business for the 21st Century
How do we bridge the gap between complex research and the tasks teachers actually use in class?
Roger Gilabert explores the evolution of task design and where it’s headed next.
🔗 Read the full chapter here: doi.org/10.1075/tblt...
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Vocabulary size remains a central factor in language learning, yet developing large vocabularies in foreign language contexts continues to be challenging, with considerable variation among learners.
Congratulations to the author! 👏
📚 A new entry by GRAL member Imma Miralpeix has been published in the The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics!
📖 Read the entry:
doi.org/10.1002/9781...
#AppliedLinguistics #VocabularyLearning #SecondLanguageAcquisition #GRAL #UB
A super insightful contribution for anyone interested in TBLT, teacher education, and digital resources.
🔗https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688251376529
Their study digs into how primary school teachers design TBLT tasks using a digital tool, revealing 18 micro-stages of task design, teachers’ reasoning processes, and how they integrate linguistic features and Focus on Form.
Another GRAL publication!
Huge congratulations to Vera Trager and Roger Gilabert for their article in Language Teaching Research 👏
#GRAL #AppliedLinguistics #TBLT #TaskDesign #EdTech #EFL #TeacherTraining
✨ GRAL chapters on captions & vocabulary (primary learners), pronunciation via TV series, and comedy writing after extensive viewing.
Congrats to all authors! 🎉
📚 We are excited to share the publication of Audiovisual Input in Foreign Language Learning, edited by GRAL members Anastasia Pattemore & Ferran Gesa, bringing together recent empirical research on how original-version audiovisual materials support foreign language learning.
#GRAL #SLA
🔗 Read the full study: doi.org/10.1016/j.sy... (First published November 2025)
From all of us at GRAL, we wish you a productive and stress-free week ahead! ☕️✨
#GRAL #SLA #Aptitude #VocabularyLearning #LanguageResearch #AppliedLinguistics #YoungLearners #Bilingualism
2. 🔹Flashcards vs. Wordlists: Whether students used visual associations or verbal ones, their aptitude scores helped explain their progress.
3.🔹This research helps us better understand individual differences in the classroom and how to measure the potential for language growth from a young age. 🧵🧵🧵
Three Key Findings:
LLAMA_B Works: The LLAMA_B test proved to be an effective tool for measuring aptitude in children this age.
1.🔹Aptitude vs. Knowledge: Both aptitude (LLAMA_B) and existing vocabulary size were significant predictors of how well students learned new words.
Can we predict how well kids learn new words? 🧠📝
As we continue sharing our 2025 highlights, we’re diving into the world of aptitude in young learners.
Carmen Muñoz and Ariane Ruiz de Apodaca examined 95 students aged 10–12 to see what best predicts their success in learning new vocabulary.
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The Verdict: Games are powerful tools for reaching "unengaged" learners, especially when paired with materials that bridge the gap between play and study.
🔗 Read the full paper: doi.org/10.1093/elt/...
#GRAL #GameBasedLearning #SLA #AppliedLinguistics #EdTech #L2Learning
3️⃣key insights:
1.Engagement Boost:Games successfully engaged students who were otherwise disinterested in traditional classwork
2.Dual Paths:Increased game use was driven by either successful language performance or positive attitudes but rarely both at once
🔗 full paper: doi.org/10.1093/elt/...
New Release Alert
Gaming for Literacy: Fun vs. Effectiveness? 🎮📝
Does enjoying a game actually lead to better learning? Matthew Pattemore and Roger Gilabert investigated 125 young EFL learners playing literacy minigames to find out.
🔗full paper: doi.org/10.1093/elt/...
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Published in Language Learning & Technology, 29(1), 1–24. 🔗 Read the full paper here:
doi.org/10.64152/101...
More papers coming very soon 👀
Stay tuned!
#GRAL #SecondLanguageAcquisition #AVInput #Captions #L2Learning #Research #AppliedLinguistics #Publications #NewYearNewResearch
👀 Key findings:
▪️ Comprehension improves over time, but not linearly
▪️ Comprehension may be episode-dependent
▪️ Captions significantly enhance comprehension
▪️ Learners with larger vocabularies consistently achieve higher comprehension
▪️ Lexical coverage alone does not fully explain comprehension
✨ New year, new look: same GRAL! ✨
We hope you all had a wonderful break 💜
We’re kicking things off with the first article of the year👇
🔍 Does comprehension of L2 television programs improve through regular classroom viewing?
✍️ Geòrgia Pujadas & Stuart Webb (2025)
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Our PhD researchers also explained the stage they are currently at and discussed their prospects for 2026.
We wish you all a well-deserved holiday break. May it be full of good rest, inspiration, and time to disconnect.
We’ll be back in January with a new look and exciting updates.
Stay tuned!
🎄✨ Happy holidays from GRAL! ✨🎄
Last Friday we held our last GRAL meeting of the year, where we shared updates on our ongoing projects in Second Language Acquisition, covering areas such as task-based learning (TaskGen app), CLIL, reading, phonetics and audiovisual input.
🎇 Flashback to a year ago when Dr. Sal Consoli from @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social came to @ub.edu to give a speech entitled "Reflexivity as Social Practice: Humanizing Applied Linguistics" to professors, MA students, and PhD students of @gralbcn.bsky.social 👏
👥 Currently, GRAL, made up of 17 members and 5 fellows, coordinates four funded research projects in the areas of tasks, audiovisual input, multimodal reading and pronunciation.
🔗 Take a look at GRAL's website for more information here: ubgral.wordpress.com
📍 The group began in 1995 with the Barcelona Age Factor (BAF) Project.
📄 Over the years, GRAL, led by Professor Carme Muñoz, has played a leading role in research on foreign language learning with nearly a thousand publications and 85 theses read.
🎉 The GRAL Research Group celebrates 30 years!
📅 On September 26th, the Language Acquisition Research Group (GRAL) of @ub.edu celebrated its thirtieth anniversary together with former members and closest collaborators.
🥳 A huge congratulations to Dr. Sosa-López! @gralbcn.bsky.social is so proud of you and looking forward to your next endeavours!
👥 The examining board included Francisco Gallardo del Puerto (@univcantabria.bsky.social), Natalia Fullana Rivera (@ub.edu), and Magdalena A. Szyszka (Uniwersytet Opolski).
🎉 GRAL started the academic year strong with a PhD dissertation defense by Gisela Sosa-López entitled "The Role of L2 Speaking Anxiety in L2 Speaking Fluency, Pronunciation Accuracy and Comprehensibility in Instructed English" supervised by Juan C. Mora Bonilla (@ub.edu).
