Projektleiterin / Projektleiter
+41 26 305 62 87
isabelle.udry@unifr.ch
Forschungsinteressen
- Individuelle Unterschiede im Fremdsprachenerwerb
- Schulisches Fremdsprachenlernen
- Sprachlerneignung
- Kreativität und Mehrsprachigkeit
Dissertation
Cognitive and Affective Individual Differences in Instructed Foreign Language Learning: Structure, Stability, and Change among Young Learners
This thesis includes five studies that explore the impact of cognitive and affective individual differences on foreign language (FL) learning in primary school students. Based on data from the project Language Aptitude at Primary School (LAPS), which monitored 811 Swiss children (aged 10 to 12) learning French and English, the research found that cognitive abilities, language aptitude, and positive emotional dispositions were positively associated with FL achievement, while extrinsic motivation was not. Internal factors (low anxiety and high intrinsic motivation) were more strongly linked to children’s FL self-concepts than external factors (teacher and parental encouragement). Language-analytic ability showed intra-individual stability over time. While students with special educational needs reported less favourable affective dispositions, they improved in English and language-analytic skills with appropriate support. This research provides valuable insights into the factors that shape the development of FL skills in young learners.
Forschungsprojekt (Leitung)
Publicaziuns
Udry, I., & Berthele, R. (2025b). Language aptitude and affective dispositions in young EFL learners with special educational needs. In M. del P. García Mayo (Ed.), Investigating attention to form and individual differences—Research with EFL children. Springer.
Udry, I., & Berthele, R. (2025a). A case study of Online and Paper Bilingual Dictionaries and their Impact on Vocabulary Learning through Meaning-Focused Reading;International Journal of Lexicography.
Udry, I., & Berthele, R. (2024). Young learners’ academic self-concepts for L2/L3 French and English. International Journal of Multilingualism, 0(0), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2023.2301094
Udry, I., & Berthele, R. (2023). Digitale Übersetzungsprogramme und Online-Wörterbücher im Fremdsprachenunterricht: Erkenntnisse aus einer Umfrage bei Lehrpersonen und Lernenden der obligatorischen, post-obligatorischen und tertiären Bildung. Linguistik Online, 120(2), 145–167.
Berthele, R., & Udry, I. (2023). Welche fremdsprachlichen Lernziele der Schulen können mit digitalen Tools aber ohne Lernen erreicht werden? Simply playing the ostrich will not help in the long run. Zeitschrift Für Interkulturellen Fremdsprachenunterricht, 28(1).
Udry, I. & Kutzelmann, S. (2022). «Lesecoaching per Videochat - Wortschatzaufbau durch virtuelles Lesetraining». Babylonia 1:60-65
Udry, I. & Berthele, B. (2022). «Entwicklung der Fremdsprachkompetenzen Englisch bei Kindern mit sonderpädagogischer Förderung». Vierteljahresschrift für Heilpädagogik und ihre Nachbargebiete (VHN) 91(3):212–229.
Udry, I. & Vanhove, J. (2021). The stability of language aptitude: Insights from a longitudinal study on young learners’ language analytic abilities (EuroSla Studies Series). Individual differences in early instructed language learning: The role of foreign language aptitude, cognition, and motivation (S. 197–210). Berlin: Language Science Press.
Udry, I., Berthele, R. & Steiner, C. (2021). Language Aptitude at Primary School (LAPS): Theoretical framework of the project (EuroSla Studies Series). Individual differences in early instructed language learning: The role of foreign language aptitude, cognition, and motivation (S. 1–50). Berlin: Language Science Press.
Udry, I. & Berthele, R. (2021). The smart, the motivated, and the self-confident: The role of language aptitude, cognition, and affective variables in early instructed foreign language learning (Eurosla Studies). In R. Berthele & I. Udry (Hrsg.), Individual differences in early instructed language learning: The role of foreign language aptitude, cognition, and motivation (S. 71–90). Berlin: Language Science Press.
Udry, I. (2021). Creative thinking as an individual difference in task-based language teaching (EuroSla Studies Series). In R. Berthele & I. Udry (Hrsg.), Individual differences in early instructed language learning: The role of language aptitude, cognition, and motivation (S. 125–142). Berlin: Language Science Press.
Steiner, C., Berthele, R. & Udry, I. (2021). Language aptitude at primary school (LAPS): Research design (Eurosla Studies). In R. Berthele & I. Udry (Hrsg.), Individual differences in in early instructed language learning (S. 51–70). Berlin: Language Science Press.
Berthele, R., Vanhove, J., Steiner, C., Udry, I. & Schneider, H. (2021). Predicting L2 achievement: Results from a test battery measuring language aptitude, general learning ability, and affective factors (EuroSla Studies Series). In R. Berthele & I. Udry (Hrsg.), Individual differences in early instructed language learning: The role of foreign language aptitude, cognition, and motivation (S. 91–104). Berlin: Language Science Press.
Berthele, R. & Udry, I. (2021) (eds). Individual differences in early instructed language learning: The role of language aptitude, cognition, and motivation. EuroSLA Studies 5, 2021, Berlin: Language Science Press, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5378471.
Udry, I., Steiner, C. (2019). Sprachlerneignung und Differenzierung im Fremdsprachenunterricht – Chancen und Grenzen. Babylonia - Differenzierung im Fremdsprachenunterricht.
Udry, I., Lambelet, A. & Berthele, R. (2019). Les aptitudes langagières : construit et résultats de recherche. Une synthèse de la revue de la littérature. Un rapport du Centre scientifique de compétence sur le plurilinguisme.
Lambelet, A., Berthele, R. & Udry, I. (2019). Les aptitudes langagières : construit et opérationnalisation. Une revue de la littérature. Un rapport du Centre scientifique de compétence sur le plurilinguisme.
Berthele, R., & Udry, I. (2019). Multilingual boost vs. cognitive abilities: Testing two theories of multilingual language learning in a primary school context. International Journal of Multilingualism. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14790718.2019.1632315