New Blog: Presenting the new crowdsourced database
Presenting the new, crowdsourced LESLLA research database
Louise Shepperd, Kaatje Dalderop & Theresa Wall
Since the founding of the LESLLA organisation in 2005, research with migrant adults learning to read and write for the first time in a new language has continued to grow year on year. However, this population of learners remains underrepresented in broader second language acquisition (SLA) research. Additionally, due to the scarcity and scattering of published research with these learners, researchers and teachers can struggle to locate the existing literature. For this reason, some research has already been compiled on the LESLLA website, including open access to conference proceedings from the Annual LESLLA symposia since 2005.
Today, we are excited to build on this work and announce the launch of a new, crowdsourced research database for LESLLA focused research. The aim of which is to cooperatively and comprehensively draw together our knowledge of existing studies, as well as disseminate our own work to other members of our LESLLA community. We hope that this can offer a useful, easy-to-use, searchable resource for both researchers and teachers working with LESLLA learners around the world.
How it works
The LESLLA research database invites everyone to both browse and contribute to an open collection of relevant research literature. The home page provides background information and guidance about the site, as well as links to browse research contributions and the form for new submissions. As collaboration is at the heart of this initiative, we also welcome feedback and recommendations on ways that we could improve the resource.
If you would like to browse the database, you can do so on the website or follow the link to the full (view only) spreadsheet. Publications have been divided into separate tabs for (1) journal articles, (2) books and chapters, (3) theses, (4) conference proceedings and (5) other publications. Contributions are then organised by year of publication, starting with the most recent publications. On the website, you can scroll and search each of the separate tabs. However, to filter the database or use more of the functionality of Google Sheets, you need to follow the link to the full spreadsheet. As mentioned, you are not able to edit the spreadsheet, so if you notice an error or have a recommendation to change how the database is organised, feel free to contact us.
The hope is that members of the LESLLA research community will notice gaps in the database and keep expanding the list. You can do this through the website via an online form on the submit research page. This form is linked to the database spreadsheet and automatically updates with each submission. These submissions will then be monitored by a group of volunteers to ensure quality and relevance. Also, if you want to amend or delete a submission, you can tell us via the contact us page.
What to submit
We encourage contributions of research with, about or relevant to LESLLA learners and their teachers, published in:
peer-reviewed journals
books or chapters of edited books
conference proceedings
MA or PhD theses
These publications can encompass a range of genres, including: empirical studies, methods papers, review articles, pedagogical applications etc. However, we are recommending that all submissions are peer-reviewed. That being said, dissertations and theses are also welcome. In order to ensure that research contributions are relevant to LESLLA topics, submissions should relate to at least three out of four key themes, namely: adults/adolescents, language learning, emerging literacy, and (forced) migration.
Importantly, we welcome research published in any language. We want to embrace the international and multilingual diversity of the LESLLA research community. Therefore, we are also seeking volunteer reviewers who would be happy to help monitor submissions from a range of different language backgrounds. If you would be interested in occasionally helping with this, do let us know.
What motivated the initiative.
The idea for this database came out of discussion between PhD researchers, who had been through the struggles of compiling literature for their theses and had benefited from recommendations from other researchers around the world. Online meet-ups with LESLLA PhD researchers revealed that those at the start of their research journey welcomed support in knowing where to look for papers. Furthermore, researchers at all stages of their career benefited from hearing about research in different universities and national contexts.
Towards the end of 2022, Louise Shepperd (University of York) began working on a way to bring together the collective knowledge of research held by members of the LESLLA community. Considering the amount of time it can take to maintain a website or manually update publication records, she created this website to automate the process and make it easy to crowdsource the literature. The development of these ideas is also thanks to collaboration with Kaatje Dalderop (University of Amsterdam) and Theresa Wall (University of Wollongong).
As the field grows and more LESLLA research is being published, this seemed a good opportunity to highlight and keep track of new publications. However, the success of this initiative really relies on a communal generosity of time and energy. So, we hope you will join us in testing this out and contributing to our growing literature list.
Next steps
Looking to the future, this database could prove a good resource to develop annotated bibliographies, similar to other useful open access publications in related fields. The database could also provide opportunities to offer semi-regular updates on developments in LESLLA research or highlight particular publications.
