Understanding cognitive individual differences to enhance second language learning in schools, universities, and corporate environments.

In an increasingly global and mobile society learning a second language represents an important skill that learners may desire or need to acquire across the lifespan at different stages of their education trajectory in schools, at university, in further education and in the workplace. A crucial aspect of the success of foreign language learning lays in the acknowledgement that learners differ with respect to their aptitude for the acquisition of these skills, and that their success can be enhanced by tailoring training plans and strategies to their individual cognitive profiles. This is an important aspect for learners in general and in particular for neurodiverse learners, for example learners with specific learning differences such as dyslexia.
One of the main aims of this fellowship will be to raise awareness about the importance to consider learners' cognitive characteristics in language training at all stages of the training cycle (needs analysis, instruction design, delivery and assessment). Specifically, the present fellowship provides the resources to address three main areas: (a) raising awareness of the role of cognitive individual differences in language learning in school and universities and informing about the tools that are already available for use, (b) raising awareness of the importance of cognitive assessment in language training in corporate environments and of the tools that are already available for use, and (c) the development of an assessment tool for procedural learning ability, a cognitive ability that plays an important role specifically in child language learning, as research by myself and other scholars has recently evidenced.
The activities aimed at schools and universities will primarily include networking at the events of two main language teaching associations and the provision of CPD (continuous professional development) events aimed at primary and secondary school teachers and university language tutors.
The activities aimed at corporate environments include close collaboration with two UK businesses that provide business-to-business foreign language training and consultancy with clients ranging from small- medium sized companies to multinational corporations. Beside being beneficial to the two businesses involved, this initial collaboration will identify a pattern of collaboration that could be replicated and extended to other businesses maximising the dissemination of innovative practices in the corporate language training sector. Ultimately, these actions aim at generating competitive advantages for these companies in the national and international markets in which they operate.
As a part of my collaboration with business stakeholders, I will also work at the design of an assessment instrument for procedural learning ability availing myself of the expertise of ELTWell, a UK business specialising in linguistic consultancy and in the development of assessing and teaching materials for specific learning differences.
A further aim of the present fellowship will be to consolidate on-going academic collaboration with national and international researchers and institutions in the area of second language learning and cognitive individual differences. This will include deploying original methodology developed in my PhD dissertation in a new experimental pilot developed in collaboration with researchers at the University of Barcelona. The results of my PhD will be further disseminated at three international conferences and at two conferences organised by two main language learning associations in the UK (Association for Language Learning and Association of the University Language Centres).
The consolidation of my publication record in high-impact journals will also be a central aim of the fellowship and will contribute to the enhancement of my research profile and to the consolidation of my reputation as an expert in the area of second language learning.