Professor Rosamond Mitchell

Modern Languages
University of Southampton
Highfield
Southampton
SO17 1BJ

Position: Chair in Applied Linguistics

Location: 65/3029
Extension: 22231
Telephone: (023) 8059 2231
Fax: (023) 8059 3288
Email Professor Rosamond Mitchell

Biographical notes

I studied Early & Modern Irish at Trinity College Dublin and taught French and Irish in a Dublin comprehensive school. I worked as a researcher and lecturer in applied linguistics in Stirling and in Edinburgh before moving to the University of Southampton in the 1980s. After many years in the School of Education I joined the School of Humanities/ Modern Languages in 2004, where I was founding director of the Centre for Applied Language Research and currently hold a chair in applied linguistics.

Teaching interests

I am convenor of the MA Applied Linguistics (Research Methodology).

I teach a range of courses on second language learning, language pedagogy and research methods on MA programmes in Applied Linguistics and English language teaching.

Research expertise

I have two major areas of research expertise: second language acquisition, and foreign language classroom learning and teaching. In second language acquisition I have particular interests in the development of corpus based approaches for the study of learner development, and have worked extensively on the development of learner corpora in French and Spanish. In foreign language education, I have particular research interests in: classroom interaction and its role in language learning; critical thinking in language education; foreign language pedagogy for early learners. I welcome research applications in these areas.

Funded research projects

FLLOC: The Structure of French Interlanguage: A corpus-based study

Researchers: R. Mitchell (University of Southampton), F. Myles (University of Newcastle), A. David (University of Newcastle) and S. Rule (University of Southampton).

Summary: This created a new corpus of intermediate level spoken L2 French (the "Newcastle corpus") and added this to the existing collection of French learner language oral corpora created at Southampton. A second aim was to add a small corpus of native speaker French to the collection. We are currently exploiting the entire set of corpora within FLLOC to produce a full account of the development of the language system of instructed learners of L2 French and we will maintain and update the existing corpora in line with evolving technical standards and to invite deposit of additional complementary corpora from other researchers.

Website: www.flloc.soton.ac.uk

Funding: AHRC funded October 2005- September 2008

Traditional pedagogic cultures in foreign language education and the need for multicompetence

Researchers: Ros Mitchell and Elena Ioannidou (University of Southampton), Silvia DalNegro, Gerda Videsott and Gessica De Angelis, (University of Bolzano, Italy), and Katalin Petneki, University of Szeged, Hungary

Summary: This collaborative project forms part of the wider LINEE network funded under the EU 6th Framework (Languages in a Network of European Excellence). The team is conducting case study research into the teaching of German as a second/ foreign language in three national contexts (England, Italy/ Alto Adige, and Hungary). The case study of German is being used to explore the evolution of European language education policy, and to determine how far this is in line with overall goals of societal multilingualism and individual multicompetence.

Website: www.linee.info

Funding: EU funded November 2006-April 2008

SPLLOC 1: Linguistic Development in L2 Spanish: Creation and Analysis of a Learner Corpus

Researchers: R. Mitchell (University of Southampton), F. Myles (University of Newcastle), E. Marsden (University of York), L. Domínguez (University of Southampton), and S. Rule (University of Southampton)

Summary: The purpose of the project was to study how students, aged 14-21, learn Spanish as a second language. During the first year researchers visited local schools and colleges in order to collect the data for a new corpus of Spanish as a second language. The data has been tagged and digitally prepared for analysis, and is now available to both the teaching and research community from the project website. During the second year of the project analysis of the collected data was begun. The researchers have been studying how certain morphosyntactic properties of Spanish, which are not found in English, are learnt. These include word order, clitic pronouns and verb morphology.

Website: www.splloc.soton.ac.uk

Funding: ESRC funded, April 2006-March 2008

Primary modern languages: a longitudinal study of language learning at Key Stage 2

Researchers: C Cable (Open University), P Driscoll (Christ Church Canterbury University), R Mitchell (University of Southampton), B Holmes (University of Southampton)

Summary: This collaborative project is tracking the implementation in primary schools in England of the Key Stage 2 Framework for Primary Languages. This foreign language learning initiative is introducing an element of foreign language study into the curriculum for all children from age 7. The research team are conducting ethnographic research in a small sample of schools, to trace the extent to which schools are succeeding in providing a coherent FL experience for their learners, in line with the Framework guidelines, and the factors influencing success.

Funding: DCSF funded September 2006 – August 2009.

SPLLOC 2: Emergence and Development of the Tense-Aspect System in L2 Spanish

Researchers: L Dominguez, R Mitchell, N Tracy-Ventura (University of Southampton); F Myles (University of Newcastle); M Arche (University of Greenwich).

Summary: This project will enhance the existing SPLLOC database of L2 Spanish by collecting new cross-sectional learner past tense data. The team will then undertake a short programme of substantive research on the development of the Tense-Aspect system in L2 Spanish which will: a) Test selected predictions of the Lexical Aspect Hypothesis and the Discourse Hypothesis regarding the emergence of L2 tense and aspect; b) Explore the interface between morphology and semantics with respect to the imperfect in Spanish L2. Overall the project will contribute to understanding the route of acquisition of past forms in an instructed setting and consider its implications for curriculum design and teaching practice.

Funding: ESRC funded August 2008-january 2010.

Selected publications

R Mitchell (2009) ‘ Current trends in classroom research’. In Long, M and Doughty, C. eds The Handbook of Language Teaching, Wiley-Blackwell, pp 675-706.
R Mitchell (2009) ‘Foreign language teaching and educational policy’. In Knapp, K and Seidlhofer, B eds Handbook of Applied Linguistics vol 6, Walter de Gruyter.
R. Mitchell and F. Myles (2004) 'Second language Learning Theories'. 2^nd edition. Arnold
R. Mitchell (2003) ‘Rethinking the concept of progression in the National Curriculum for Modern Foreign Languages: a research perspective’. Language Learning Journal 27.
R Mitchell (2000) ‘Applied linguistics and evidence-based classroom practice: the case of foreign language grammar pedagogy’. Applied Linguistics 21 (3), pp 281-303.

Teaching responsibilities for Professor Rosamond Mitchell
Module title	Module code	Discipline	Role
Language Learning: online	LING6024	Linguistics	Course leader
Research and Enquiry in Applied Linguistics 1	LING6001	Linguistics	Course leader
Second Language Learning	LING6005	Linguistics	Course leader
Assessment of Language Proficiency	LING6007	Linguistics	Tutor

Publications from e–Prints Soton

	Mitchell, R.F., Dominguez, L., Arche, M.J., Myles, F. and Marsden, E. (2008) Linguistic development in L2 Spanish: creation and analysis of a learner corpus. Southampton, UK, University of Southampton, 13pp.
	Ford, Peter, Johnston, Brenda and Mitchell, Rosamond (2006) Skills development and theorising practice in social work education, Southampton, UK, Subject Centre for Social Policy and Social Work (SWAP), University of Southampton, 44pp. (SWAP Report 3)
	Ford, Peter, Johnston, Brenda, Brumfit, Christopher, Mitchell, Rosamond and Myles, Florence (2005) Practice learning and the development of students as critical practitioners: some findings from research. Social Work Education, 24, (4), 391-407. (doi:10.1080/02615470500096910)
	Brumfit, Christopher, Myles, Florence, Mitchell, Rosamond, Johnston, Brenda and Ford, Peter (2005) Language study in higher education and the development of criticality. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 15, (2), 145-168. (doi:10.1111/j.1473-4192.2005.00085.x)
	Myles, Florence and Mitchell, Rosamond (2005) Using information technology to support empirical SLA research. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1, (2), 169-196.
	Ford, Peter, Johnston, Brenda, Mitchell, Rosamond and Myles, Florence (2004) Social work education and criticality: some thoughts from research. Social Work Education, 23, (2), 185-198. (doi:10.1080/0261547042000209198)
	Mitchell, Rosamond, Johnston, Brenda, Myles, Florence and Ford, Peter (2004) Development of criticality among undergraduates in two academic disciplines. Southampton, UK, Economic and Social Research Council, 18pp. (R000239657)
	Mitchell, Rosamond and Myles, Florence (2004) Second language learning theories, London, UK: New York, USA, Arnold Publishers: Oxford University Press, 313pp.
	Marsden, Emma, Myles, Florence, Rule, Sarah and Mitchell, Rosamond (2003) Using CHILDES tools for researching second language acquisition. In, Sarangi, Srikant and Van Leeuwen, Theo (eds.) Applied Linguistics and Communities of Practice. London, UK; New York, US, British Association for Applied Linguistics / Continuum, 98-113. (British Studies in Applied Linguistics 18).
	Mitchell, Rosamond (2003) Rationales for foreign language education in the 21st century. In, Sarangi, Srikant and Leeuwen, Theo Van (eds.) Applied Linguistics & Communities of Practice. London, UK, Continuum, 114-131. (British studies in applied linguistics, 18).
	Mitchell, Rosamond (2003) Rethinking the concept of progression in the National Curriculum for Modern Foreign Languages: a research perspective. Language Learning Journal, 27, (1), 15-23. (doi:10.1080/09571730385200041)
	Mitchell, Rosamond and Lee, Jenny Hye-Won (2003) Sameness and difference in classroom learning cultures: interpretations of communicative pedagogy in the UK and Korea. Language Teaching Research, 7, (1), 35-63. (doi:10.1191/1362168803lr114oa)
	Rule, Sarah, Marsden, Emma, Myles, Florence and Mitchell, Rosamond (2003) Constructing a database of French interlanguage oral corpora. In, Archer, Dawn, Rayson, Paul, Wilson, Andrew and McEnery, Tony (eds.) Proceedings of the Corpus Linguistics 2003 conference. Lancaster, UK, University of Lancaster, 669-677.

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