GRAL Research Group
The GRAL or Language Acquisition Research Group (GRAL is the Catalan acronym for Grup de Recerca en Adquisició de LLengües) is devoted to the study of Second Language Acquisition with a special focus on aspects such as age, input, aptitude, and context. The GRAL is a Research Group which was consolidated by the Universitat de Barcelona back in 2000 and by the Generalitat de Catalunya in 2005.
Research
The GRAL Research Group initiated its activity in 1995 with the study of the effects of age on foreign language learning. This early work, which found its continuity in successive grants from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, culminated with the publication of the book Age and the Rate of Foreign Language Learning (2006) edited by Dr. Carme Muñoz and published by Multilingual Matters as well as various book chapters and articles in journals such as International Journal of English Studies, Spanish Applied Linguistics, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, AILE and Eurosla Yearbook.
The GRAL was also involved in studying the interaction of age, input and aptitude in university learners of English. The results of this project were presented in Eurosla (Cork, 2009) and in SLURF (Maryland, 2010). At present, the group is working on different projects entitled 'Adquisición del inglés a diferentes edades en contextos de exposición intensiva extraescolar y escolar' (The acquisition of English at various ages through intensive curricular and extracurricular exposure), 'Lessons from the English language classroom in primary school and beyond: from description to intervention' and 'Age, input and aptitude as predictors of proficiency in English as a foreign language: a longitudinal study'.
Research
The GRAL Research Group initiated its activity in 1995 with the study of the effects of age on foreign language learning. This early work, which found its continuity in successive grants from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, culminated with the publication of the book Age and the Rate of Foreign Language Learning (2006) edited by Dr. Carme Muñoz and published by Multilingual Matters as well as various book chapters and articles in journals such as International Journal of English Studies, Spanish Applied Linguistics, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, AILE and Eurosla Yearbook.
The GRAL was also involved in studying the interaction of age, input and aptitude in university learners of English. The results of this project were presented in Eurosla (Cork, 2009) and in SLURF (Maryland, 2010). At present, the group is working on different projects entitled 'Adquisición del inglés a diferentes edades en contextos de exposición intensiva extraescolar y escolar' (The acquisition of English at various ages through intensive curricular and extracurricular exposure), 'Lessons from the English language classroom in primary school and beyond: from description to intervention' and 'Age, input and aptitude as predictors of proficiency in English as a foreign language: a longitudinal study'.
