GRAL Research Group

📚 New edited volume featuring several GRAL members!

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.

The book explores:

• how OV television benefits different linguistic skills

• how audiovisual input can be effectively integrated in the classroom

• empirical insights from multiple languages beyond English

✨ Chapters by GRAL members include:

🔹 Vocabulary Learning from Captioned Video Viewing in Primary School Learners by Daniela Avello & Carmen Muñoz

🔹 Teaching English Pronunciation with TV Series by Valeria Galimberti, Joan C. Mora & Roger Gilabert

🔹 Comedy Screenplay Writing After Extensive Viewing by Maria-del-Mar Suárez

Congratulations to all authors for contributing to a volume that pushes audiovisual input research forward in SLA and pedagogy! 🎉

Can we predict how well kids learn new words? 🧠📝

As we continue sharing our 2025 highlights, we’re diving into the world of language learning aptitude in young learners.

In this new study, Carmen Muñoz and Ariane Ruiz de Apodaca examined 95 primary school students (ages 10–12) to see what best predicts their success in learning new vocabulary.

Key Findings:

LLAMA_B Works: The LLAMA_B test proved to be an effective tool for measuring aptitude in children this age.

🔹Aptitude vs. Knowledge: Both aptitude (LLAMA_B) and existing vocabulary size were significant predictors of how well students learned new words.

🔹Flashcards vs. Wordlists: Whether students used visual associations or verbal ones, their aptitude scores helped explain their progress.

🔹This research helps us better understand individual differences in the classroom and how to measure the potential for language growth from a young age.

🔗 Read the full study: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2025.103921 (First published November 2025)

From all of us at GRAL, we wish you a productive and stress-free week ahead! ☕️✨

Another paper from GRAL in 2025: 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.
Key Insights:

Engagement Boost: Games successfully engaged students who were otherwise disinterested in traditional classwork.

Dual Paths: Increased game use was driven by either successful language performance or positive attitudes—but rarely both at once.

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: https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccaf041

✨ New year, new look: same GRAL! ✨

We hope you all had a wonderful break 💜

GRAL had another strong and productive year, with numerous publications across different areas of Second Language Acquisition; and we’re excited to start sharing them with you!

📚 Over the coming weeks, we’ll be featuring our publications from 2025, and as the year unfolds, we’ll continue showcasing new work published in 2026.

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)

This study examines how L2 learners’ comprehension develops across nine episodes of the same TV series, comparing captioned and uncaptioned classroom viewing.

👀 Key findings:
▪️ Comprehension improves over time, but not in a linear way
▪️ Substantial variability across episodes suggests comprehension is episode-dependent
▪️ Captions significantly enhance comprehension
▪️ Learners with larger vocabularies consistently achieve higher comprehension
▪️ Lexical coverage alone does not fully explain comprehension outcomes

📖 Published in Language Learning & Technology, 29(1), 1–24. 🔗 Read the full paper here:
https://doi.org/10.64152/10125/73605

More research coming very soon 👀

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.

Our PhD researchers also explained the stage they are currently at and discussed their research prospects for 2026, making it a great moment to reflect and look ahead.

We wish you all a restful and 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, including new publications by GRAL members. Stay tuned!

🎇 Flashback to a year ago when Dr. Sal Consoli from The University of Edinburgh came to Universitat de Barcelona to give a speech entitled "Reflexivity as Social Practice: Humanizing Applied Linguistics" to professors, MA students, and PhD students of Gral Barcelona 👏

🎉 The GRAL Research Group celebrates 30 years!

📅 On September 26th, the Language Acquisition Research Group (GRAL) of the Universitat de Barcelona celebrated its thirtieth anniversary together with former members and closest collaborators.

📍 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.

👥 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.

🔗 Here is a link to GRAL's website for more information: https://ubgral.wordpress.com/

🎉 GRAL started the academic year strong with a PhD dissertation defense by Gisela Sosa-López (Universitat de Barcelona)!

📄 Gisela's dissertation entitled "The Role of L2 Speaking Anxiety in L2 Speaking Fluency, Pronunciation Accuracy and Comprehensibility in Instructed English" was supervised by Juan C. Mora Bonilla (Universitat de Barcelona).

👥 The examining board included Francisco Gallardo del Puerto (Universidad de Cantabria), Natalia Fullana Rivera (Universitat de Barcelona), and Magdalena A. Szyszka (Uniwersytet Opolski).

🥳 A huge congratulations to Dr. Sosa-López! Barcelona is proud and looking forward to your next endeavours!

🔗 https://www.ub.edu/portal/web/filologia-comunicacio/detall-novetats/-/detall/the-role-of-l2-speaking-anxiety-in-l2-speaking-fluency-pronunciation-accuracy-and-comprehensibility-in-instructed-english

ITAP 2025! 🎉

🗣 At the end of June, GRAL Research Group was at the ITAP Annual Conference 2025: "Resources for L2 pragmatics teaching across instructional contexts" at the Universidad de La Laguna (ULL) in Tenerife, Spain. ITAP, or the International Association for Teaching Pragmatics (Teaching Pragmatics and ITAP - International Association for Teaching Pragmatics), was founded in 2020 by GRAL's Júlia Barón, Maria Luz Celaya & Roger Gilabert (Universitat de Barcelona) and Ariadna Sánchez-Hernández (Universidad Complutense de Madrid).

😀 A special shout-out to GRAL's MA student Carles Pérez Gutiérrez (UB) and visiting PhD student Rebecca Elena Vanelli (Università del Piemonte Orientale) for their part in the organization, as well as to Sonia López-Serrano (ULL) as conference host!

👇 Take a look below at presentations and posters by GRAL members and collaborators.

📊 Maria Luz Celaya (UB), Júlia Barón (UB), & Marian Mengual-Pizarro (Universitat de les Illes Balears): "How useful are movies and series to teach L2 pragmatics? A review of research for practical applications"

📊 Bridget Murphy (UB): "Teaching pragmatics through mobile instant messaging in a classroom WhatsApp group"

🔗 Link to conference website: https://www.ub.edu/itap-association/?page_id=1435

EuroSLA34! 🎉

🗣 Last week Gral Barcelona was in Tromsø, Norway at UiT the Arctic University of Norway for EuroSLA34 (EuroSLA), whose current president is GRAL's very own Roger Gilabert. It was a wonderful week of learning about, presenting, and discussing the latest research in second language acquisition. Thank you to the organizers for another excellent conference!

👇 Take a look below at presentations and posters by GRAL members and collaborators.

🔗 Link to conference website: https://en.uit.no/tavla/artikkel/845263/eurosla_34

🗣 Paulina Olender: What do learners do at First Exposure to Audiovisual Input? Processing Evidence from Online and Offline Measures

🗣 Katherine Fraser, Joan C. Mora, Agnieszka Pludra, & Magdalena Wrembel: L1-based differences in L2-English rhythm in read and spontaneous speech: can they predict perceived comprehensibility and accentedness?

🗣 Georgia Pujades & Carmen Muñoz: The Effect of Proficiency on Young Learners' Comprehension of TV Series and Perceived Usefulness of L2 Captions, L1 Subtitles and Bilingual Subtitles

🗣 Elsa Tragant: The dynamics of corrective feedback in WhatsApp discourse

🗣 Arturo Valera-Garcia, Raquel Criado, & Olena Vasylets: Pre-task Planning in L2 Writing: Impact on Secondary School Students' Written Performance

🗣 Raquel Serrano & Ana Pellicer-Sanchez: Spacing, Context, and Desirable Difficulties: Investigating Vocabulary Learning and Processing through Repeated Reading

🗣 Natalia Moskvina & Roger Gilabert: L2 learners' metalinguistic awareness of formulaic language

🗣 Kadir Kaderoglu and Maria del Mar Suárez: Visual Support and Incidental Vocabulary Learning: A Comparative Study of Documentary Genres