🎓 Congratulations to Dr Miren Adrian Vinagre on successfully defending her PhD thesis, “Words and Sounds: The Role of L2 Vocabulary Size in L2 Phonology,” on 30 October 2026 at the University of Barcelona! 👏 Congratulations to Miren and her supervisor, Dr Joan Carles Mora! #GRAL #SLA

📚 GRAL at BAAL Vocabulary SIG 2026! 🎓 On 28–29 May, GRAL researchers presented two studies on vocabulary learning through audiovisual input at Bangor University, UK. #GRAL #BAAL2026 #VocabularyLearning

🔬🤝 Where Research Meets the Classroom! On 24 October, GRAL’s Maria del Mar Suárez @mmarsuarez.bsky.social delivered a plenary talk at the XI Fòrum EOICat @eoicat.bsky.social in Olot, exploring individual differences in adult language learning.

📚 Three new GRAL book chapters! 🎉 Our researchers explore audiovisual input, vocabulary learning, eye-tracking and pragmatic awareness in Transforming Language Learning and Communication Across Multilingual and Digital Contexts (Peter Lang, 2026). 🔗 doi.org/10.3726/b23446

🌇 New faces, shared experiences, and Barcelona views! In early October, Júlia Barón organised a GRAL rooftop gathering to welcome new MA students alongside PhD researchers and faculty. 🍂 A lovely autumn tradition fostered by Elsa Tragant Mestres and colleagues! #GRAL #UB

📚 Small learners, big lessons in pragmatics! 👏 Congrats to GRAL researchers Júlia Barón, Ariadna Moral-Amarilla & María-Luz Celaya on their new chapter on teaching children to make appropriate requests in English! 🎓 Practical ideas for primary EFL classrooms.

GRAL at TBLT Siena 2026! On 15–16 October, GRAL researchers presented three studies on task design, CLIL, and pragmatics at the University of Siena. 👏 Congratulations to all presenters! 🔗 www.congressi.unisi.it/tbltsiena2026/ #GRAL #TBLT #AppliedLinguistics

✨ Talent UB kicks off with GRAL! 👀 Can subtitles help us learn languages? GRAL researcher Rebeca Finger-Bou explores vocabulary learning through subtitled viewing and eye-tracking. 📅 28 Oct | 18:00 📍 Universitat de Barcelona 🗣️ In Catalan 🔗 www.alumni.ub.edu/agenda/parau...

📚 New publication by GRAL researchers Vera Trager & Roger Gilabert! How can we identify young L2 learners’ real-world language needs? Their new book chapter explores task-based needs analysis with migrant primary school students in Austria. 🔗 doi.org/10.1075/tblt... #GRAL #TBLT

📚 New publication by GRAL researchers Vera Trager & Roger Gilabert! How can we identify young L2 learners’ real-world language needs? Their new book chapter explores task-based needs analysis with migrant primary school students in Austria. 🔗 doi.org/10.1075/tblt... #GRAL #TBLT

📢 New open-access from GRAL: Mora-Plaza, Aliaga-Garcia, Mora & Ortega on training L2 English learners to hear the /æ/–/ʌ/ vowel contrast. Stronger auditory attention = faster, more accurate gains. 📖 doi.org/10.1111/lang...

📢 New from Helena Roquet (GRAL) & colleagues: how teachers interpret CEFR-aligned descriptors for science language skills in CLIL classrooms. Language & Science teachers often disagree on what counts as "good" student writing. 📖 doi.org/10.1515/appl...

New from Roger Gilabert & colleagues: TaskGen, a web tool that helps teachers design and share language-learning tasks (pre-task → task → post-task, with NLP support). Study combines teacher interviews + usage data. 📖 doi.org/10.1075/task...

The book with my new chapter is out - Video Games as Language Learning Contexts. Here's a discount code until 30 September - grab a cheap ebook copy!

New from GRAL: Finger-Bou & Muñoz (2026) on how children perceive gender roles in Charlie and Lola. Older kids showed more awareness of gender equality — and were more likely to challenge stereotypes than reinforce them. Read the article here: doi.org/10.21001/sin...

New Research: Spacing & Context Variability in L2 Vocabulary Learning 👁️📊 Raquel Serrano (UB) & Ana Pellicer-Sánchez (UCL) examine how practice distribution and contextual variation affect incidental vocabulary acquisition during L2 reading. doi.org/10.1017/S014... 🧵🧵🧵

Speech Rhythm & Utterance Fluency in L2 English 🗣️📊 How do objective acoustic metrics map onto subjective listener perceptions? A new GRAL study (2025) unpacks the independent contributions of rhythm and fluency. 🧵

We’re happy to share a new article by Emily Flagg and GRAL member Carmen Muñoz, based on Emily’s MA thesis 🎓 📚 English Language Online Communities: Usage of Synchronous Chat Servers in Informal Digital Learning of English (2025) 🔗https://doi.org/10.14434/li.v23.40787 🧵🧵

Addressing Input-Test Incongruence in AV Research 📺 Does relying on written tests bias results in favor of captioned viewing? A new report from GRAL (2025) argues that unimodal testing overlooks the essential visual channel of audiovisual input. Three key arguments below:🧵🧵🧵

How does self-monitoring influence L2 development? In a new contribution to The Handbook of Second Language Listening (🧵& Levis, Eds.), Ingrid Mora-Plaza & Mireia Ortega (2025) review the state of the field.🧵🧵

🥳🥳🥳Matthew Pattemore successfully defended his PhD "Automated digital corrective feedback in game-based language learning games" last Monday. Dr. Elsa Tragant presided the committee, which included Dr. Jonathon Reinhardt from Uni of Arizona & Dr. Kay Berkling from the Cooperative State Uni, Germany.

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... 🧵

📚 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

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

📚 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

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. 🧵🧵🧵

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/... thread🧵

✨ 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) 🧵🧵

🎄✨ 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 👏