CALL FOR PAPERS
Symposium: *The Language of Foreign Language Teaching Materials and
Reference Works*
Date: Friday 7 November 2025
Location: Osnabrück University (Germany)
Organisers: Elen Le Foll & Anna Fankhauser
Abstract submission deadline: 1 March 2025
BACKGROUND
Foreign language teaching and reference works play a crucial role in
institutionalised foreign language teaching and are known to constitute
an important source of learners’ foreign language (e.g. Huang, 2019).
However, multiple studies suggest that the language of these textbooks
often differs considerably from the kind of language typically used in
communicative situations outside the foreign language classroom (e.g.,
Barbieri & Eckhardt, 2007; Gilmore, 2004; Römer, 2005; Rössler, 2010;
Winter & Le Foll, 2022). The language of textbooks may even be
considered a distinct language variety (Le Foll, 2024a; 2024b).
Reference works traditionally used in foreign language teaching have
also been shown to under- or misrepresent various lexico-grammatical
features, as seen in comparisons with recent corpus-based reference
works (e.g., Fankhauser, 2024; Siepmann & Bürgel, 2023).
FOCUS
This symposium is intended to provide an opportunity to present and
discuss new descriptive, comparative, and evaluative studies on the
language of foreign language teaching materials. We look forward to
empirical examinations of textbooks, language learning apps, and other
(digital) teaching materials, as well as of reference works designed for
foreign language teaching, e.g., learner dictionaries and (learner)
pedagogical grammars. The symposium will also allow us to discuss key
concepts such as authenticity, pedagogical norms, and the relationship
between teaching materials and syllabi in foreign language teaching.
FORMAT
We welcome contributions in English, German, French or Spanish in the
form of presentations (20 minutes + 10 minutes discussion) and posters
(especially for research-in-progress contributions). The symposium will
take place at Osnabrück University and will be on-site only. Submissions
from early career researchers are expressly welcome. Following the
symposium, participants will be invited to contribute to an edited
volume or special issue.
SUBMISSION
To be included in the programme, please send an abstract of your planned
contribution (300-500 words plus bibliography) to [email protected]
or [email protected] by 1 March 2025. Remember to
indicate whether you would like to give an oral presentation or present
a poster. We will get back to you by 1 May 2025. If you have any
questions, feel free to contact us at the aforementioned e-mail addresses.
--
*Dr. Elen Le Foll*
/Post-Doctoral Researcher & Lecturer/
Department of Romance Studies
<https://romanistik.phil-fak.uni-koeln.de/> • Data Center for the
Humanities <https://dch.phil-fak.uni-koeln.de/> • University of Cologne
<https://portal.uni-koeln.de/en/uoc-home>
Applied Linguistics • Corpus Linguistics • Language Teaching & Learning
ORCID <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5839-8010> • HAL Science
<https://cv.hal.science/elenlefoll>
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