Francesco Bäck Romano presents Linguamapping, a new digital tool that serves as an alternative to traditional language research methods. All interested are welcome!
Francesco Bäck Romano is a senior lecturer in English linguistics at the Department of Languages and Literatures, University of Gothenburg.
In the wake of COVID 19, language processing research has come to terms with greater challenges and barriers to participant recruiment which have impacted the usability of traditional methods such as eye-tracking and self-paced reading. In this article, Linguamapping, a new tool which combines click-mapping software with traditional word order exercise creation software is introduced as a feasible alternative. We use data from an initial pilot study gathered from Spanish and Swedish speakers of L2 English to showcase different measurements of the processing and production of L2 English structures and capture evidence of L1 transfer in novel ways. Challenges in the first implementation of the tool are identified and solutions proposed for future development and implementation. Finally, Linguamapping’s application to other areas such as pragmatics, syntax-semantics, reading comprehension and even student profiling within language programs are illustrated.