Traditional approaches to the study of language have focused on understanding language as a system of rules and on linguistic structure as evidenced in spoken or written form. The multimodality and semiotically rich nature of language, including the role of iconicity in language, was largely ignored or marginalized as not reflecting the real „stuff“ of language. As traditional approaches are giving way to approaches that embrace and compel a focus on the use of language in face-to-face contexts of interaction, the importance of understanding language as a multimodal phenomenon is moving to the fore. In this talk, I focus on language that cannot be conceived as other than multimodal and iconic: signed language. I present an overview of research on signed language that sheds light on the question of what we can learn by studying iconicity. This includes looking at how iconicity shapes the lexicon and structure of language, how iconicity contributes to language learning, and how iconicity may be a window into conceptual representation. I conclude with implications of iconicity and multimodality for how we think about and study language. 

In this talk, I will explain how to develop robust experimental designs, drawing inspiration from the philosophical lessons in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's book entitled "Le Petit Prince." Our journey will begin in the desert, as a tabula rasa. From there, we will visit six planets, each inhabited by an adult who will teach us a new insight. Ultimately, we will return home with our hearts enriched.

In this workshop we will be discussing the process and reasons for developing parent-report inventories – Communicative Development Inventories – from start to finish for a new language. We may also touch on the development of picture vocabulary tests for new languages and cultures. We will work through the process from initial vocabulary selection to validation and norming, and data sharing via a selection of archives.
 
The workshop is most suitable for participants who have started or are interested in starting to develop CDIs or other language assessments for their own languages. Ideally participants will be able to bring their own case studies and tell us about their languages but we will also make use of language sketches or existing CDI development procedures.

In this workshop we will discuss the basics of infant EEG: what the signal consists of, and how we can use it to answer questions about language processing in infants. We will go into the challenges of collecting and analyzing infant EEG data, and discuss differences between adult and infant EEG. In the final practical part we will play around with processing infant EEG data using Fieldtrip in Matlab.

The workshop is intended for anyone interested in using EEG to study language processing in infants, and is suitable for both complete novices and for researchers who have already some basic experience with EEG data.

Gaze can offer valuable insight into the information individuals are processing at the time. This makes eye-tracking a fruitful method to study language processing and language development. In this workshop, we will focus on the latter: How can we use eye-tracking to study language acquisition in young children? The workshop will start with a comprehensive introduction to eye-tracking to study language development, followed by a more in-depth discussion on various eye-tracking techniques, including portable head-mounted eye-tracking suitable for infants, lab-based techniques tailored for preschool-aged children, as well as webcam-based eye-tracking designed for remote data collection.

While the primary focus remains on methodology and application, we will also briefly address data analysis considerations, including data coding and structural aspects. This workshop is suitable for anyone interested using eye-tracking to study language learning with children. No previous eye-tracking experience required.

Most existing child language acquisition research – especially research more than a decade old – isn’t sufficiently robust to allow us to draw reliable conclusions. Recently, though, a number of tools have emerged that allow researchers to conduct more robust, reliable research. This workshop arranges these tools into a transparent pipeline.

Workshop participants will (1) Program a simple study in Gorilla (https://gorilla.sc), (2) Consider ethics issues, (3) Collect pilot data, (4) Preregister analysis syntax (https://osf.io), (5) Plot the final data (https://ggplot2.tidyverse.org), (5) Run a simple mixed-effects-model analysis (https://cran.r-project.org/package=lme4) and (6) Write a results section.

Participants will leave the workshop with a pipeline for setting out a theoretical prediction and testing it as robustly as possible. It’s not “Open Science”; it’s just science. No prior experience is necessary, although participants who haven’t previously used R will need to complete Chapter 1 of https://appliedstatisticsforlinguists.org/bwinter_stats_proofs.pdf before attending. Also useful, though optional, are https://experimentology.io and https://bookdown.org/ndphillips/YaRrr/

This workshop will focus on how (and why) to construct a conversational corpus in a laboratory environment, how to use it for quantitative multimodal analyses, as well as on how to use qualitative and quantitative multimodal corpus analyses for generating hypotheses for experimental testing. The workshop will start with an introductory part tapping the motivation for constructing a particular corpus (Holler), the practicalities of collecting the data (ter Bekke), plus two different foci of analysis within the corpus and experiments), namely hand gestures (ter Bekke) and facial signals (Holler). The instructors are keen to engage in active discussions with the participants throughout. No specific previous experience is required.

In this beginner-friendly workshop, we will cover the essentials of multimodal language data collection. You will learn practical techniques for synchronizing multiple videos, managing audio/video recordings, and ensuring consistent data quality. We will also talk about what to include in the consent form when collecting audio-visual data and the possibilities to make the audio-visual recordings available for other researchers. There will be hands-on activities to apply what you have learned.

The long history of psycholinguistic experimentation has largely focused on written and spoken languages. In doing so, the field has neglected the contribution of the body in mechanisms involved in language processing, production, and acquisition. It is now well established that sign languages, the languages of deaf communities, are expressed with the hands, facial expressions, and body movements. So, how can we design experiments with languages that are not expressed through sound, and lack a writing system? In this session, we will discuss a series of empirical paradigms to carry out controlled psycholinguistic experiments in sign languages. We will explore some of the fundamental protocols developed over the last decades and discuss in detail the most important considerations when working with sign languages and deaf communities. No prior knowledge on sign linguistics is necessary but some understanding of the basics of experimental design are desirable.

There will be an opportunity to put in practice some of the concepts covered in class, in particular relating to operationalisation of variables, ethics, populations, psycholinguistics variables, to mention but a few. Importantly, this session will allow researchers to reflect on the importance of the manual-visual modality in psycholinguistic experimentation to get a real picture of the human capacity of language.

In this workshop, you will be introduced to the affordances of Virtual Reality as an experimental tool that can be used to answer fundamental research questions in the language sciences. The first part consists of an introduction of important concepts related to Virtual Reality (e.g., immersion, presence, tracking and rendering, passthrough, head-mounted displays and CAVEs, virtual agents and avatars, the uncanny valley). In the second part, we will look at how the method has been used so far as an object of study, application, and method in the language sciences (e.g., to study how bilinguals switch between languages and how listeners predict upcoming words). In the third part, we will look at what it practically takes to set up a VR study yourself. The workshop is accessible and introductory in nature, but having some basic knowledge about experimental language research will be helpful.

A staggering number of FMRI studies are published seemingly on an hourly basis, and many of these studies concern topics related to language. Approaches to the study of language vary greatly, and it may be that those with a background in theoretical linguistics or experimental psychology find themselves scratching their heads when considering what to make of claims supported by FMRI evidence or how to critically interpret them. They may wonder whether these results, or the lessons drawn from them, can be appropriately incorporated into their own theoretical views, or whether they even should be. In this workshop, we will discuss a number of topics in language related FMRI research, working through basic tenants of design and analysis, discussing controversies, and working through and a number of studies and opinion articles to illustrate these points and address the integration of ideas across disciplines.

This workshop is designed for FMRI novices, but those with more experience are certainly welcome (although they will probably be more interested in the second half).

The development of eye trackers and virtual reality offer the exciting opportunity to extend vision-based psycholinguistic research. This workshop will introduce the benefits and challenges of using these dynamic and multimodal tools to investigate language processing in both a naturalistic environment in the lab and with more diverse language populations. The session will include a chance to brainstorm and design your own virtual reality or cross-linguistic eye tracking experiment, to heighten your understanding of the advantages and methodological considerations of using these techniques. The workshop is intended for early career researchers (Master and PhD students and postdocs) in the fields of Linguistics, Psychology, or Cognitive Science. However, other researchers interested in implementing these methodologies are also welcome. No prior exposure to the topic is necessary.

Aim:
Language processing is possible by virtue of the coordinated activity of a large number of neurons, the basic signalling units of the brain. Neuronal activity produces electrical signals that travel along the neural pathways, and these electrical signals can be recorded non-invasively using electroencephalography (EEG). The EEG technique enables real-time measurements of brain activity, and unveils neuronal events underlying specific sensory and cognitive processes, called event-related potentials (ERPs). There are several ERP components that are typically associated with language processing and have been proven useful in investigating diverse linguistic domains ranging from phonology/phonetics and morphology to semantic, syntax and discourse. This workshop aims to equip participants with the understanding and core skills to use the EEG technique in linguistic research, and give concrete guidance on experimental designs. A special focus will lie on the ERP components that have played a key role in exploring spoken language perception and comprehension.

Outcome:
Upon completion of the workshop, participants will be able to:
-          understand the basics of EEG, including the nature of signals and information embedded in them.
-          interpret and compare ERPs that are mostly relevant for spoken language perception and comprehension.
-          familiarize with basic concepts and procedures for data recording and processing.
-          apply above points to their own research questions and initiate their own experiments.

Target group:
The workshop is intended for early career researchers with little to no knowledge of EEG. It might also be suitable for researchers who have a solid understanding of EEG but limited or no experience of linguistic research questions.

Format:
The workshop constitutes three hours of training, structured as a mixture of theory and practice. No preparation is required. Input on specific research questions will be provided during consultation sessions.

Over the past decade, experimental psychology has seen a surge in researchers moving their studies to the “online lab”. Likewise, a growing number of psycholinguistic experiments are conducted via the internet. The advantages of online testing are obvious: Compared to testing in the lab, researchers are able to reach more diverse participants (also in remote parts of the world) and testing can proceed in parallel, facilitating quick data collection. One consequence of this trend is the growing number of commercial and non-profit programming environments becoming available for implementing online experiments and researchers formulating best-practice guidelines.

This workshop provides an overview of theoretical considerations and an introduction to tools and platforms available. I will start by discussing theoretical points that researchers should engage with when considering conducting their experiment via the internet, including the choice of experimental paradigm and the role of imprecision during stimulus presentation and response recording. In the second part of the workshop, I will provide a short introduction to the most popular programming environments currently available and will share our recent experiences in using commercial participant databases. I will close by formulating some practical recommendations.

The workshop is aimed at anyone with an interest in conducting (language) experiments via the internet. Participants should be familiar with basic concepts of the empirical cycle, i.e., how to design and set up an experiment. Having designed and administered an own experiment is an advantage but not a prerequisite for being able to follow the workshop.

Language offers a rich set of lexical options to refer to the world around us, reflecting the many ways in which we can identify, describe, classify and differentiate the physical entities we talk about. For example, in any given context, a speaker can choose between a more or less specific noun (e.g., ‘the cat,’ ‘the striped cat,’ ‘the tabby’), or between expressions that convey more or less information about the referent through adjectival modification (e.g., ‘the cup,’ ‘the blue cup,’ ‘the paper cup’). A well-established line of research highlights the role of efficiency in speakers’ choice of referential expression. But what makes a referring expression “efficient”? Efficiency in communication has often been conceptualized in terms of an informativity/effort trade-off, with informativity operationalized in terms of inference, and effort in terms of cognitive or physical cost (Horn, 1984; Levshina, 2021). However, there is also evidence that other factors such as the salience of visual features (e.g., color; Rubio Fernández, 2016) or the syntactic position of a modifier (e.g., prenominal vs postnominal; Wu & Gibson, 2021) can lead speakers to use expressions that are, strictly speaking, overinformative in the narrowest sense of the term. In this MEDAL workshop, I will present a series of cross-linguistic studies of reference production and comprehension addressing the question of what makes a referential expression efficient and how different factors (perceptual, linguistic, inferential) interact in referential communication. A variety of research methods will also be covered in the workshop, including reference elicitation paradigms for children and adults, eye-tracking methods for reference comprehension, and also briefly, computational models of reference production and comprehension.

Language production is complex. Speakers have to go through several fast, cascading, and covert cognitive processes to successfully complete speech planning and reach articulation. How can such processes be studied? Electroencephalography (EEG) is one method that can capture fast processes well, as it offers a fairly direct measure of neuronal electrical activity. However, for many decades it was not the go-to method for studying speech planning. This is because speech itself can cloud the reflection of the cognitive processes in the EEG signal, by creating speech artifacts. Do you want to find out about research designs that make it possible to study production with the use of EEG? Or are you maybe curious about what preprocessing techniques could be used to correct speech artifacts in the EEG signal? Then, this is the ideal workshop for you!

This workshop will consist of a presentation and a practical part. For the practical part, we will use Fieldtrip in Matlab.

Requirements: Some basic understanding of Matlab, Fieldtrip, or coding in general will be useful. Some familiarity with EEG studies is also beneficial but not required.

Classically, research in psycholinguistics has focused on the mechanisms of comprehension and production in isolation. But these processes typically occur together during conversation. In this workshop, we will cover theories and studies investigating how we coordinate comprehension and production processes when interacting with another person. We will discuss the difficulties of studying conversation in the lab and insights we can gain from corpus analyses. 

Target group: Participants don’t really need to have any specific background knowledge. Maybe some basic knowledge of comprehension and production would be useful, but it’s not necessary. 

Working with speech often entails the annotation, analysis, and manipulation of sound files such as experiment stimuli or participant recordings. Praat is a free and open source program (and programming language) built specifically for these purposes. In this workshop, we will walk through the basics of using Praat to carry out essential scientific work that pertains to speech sounds, looking at typical workflows and common pitfalls, exploring annotations and the corresponding TextGrid file format, analyzing the outputs of various acoustic manipulations and analyses, and briefly looking into some potential interactions/combinations with other software. The workshop is aimed at all researchers who expect to work with Praat to annotate, analyze, or manipulate speech.

The workshop is beginner-friendly: Prior experience with Praat or specific expertise in phonetics, though invariably helpful, is NOT required, and the first part of the workshop is dedicated to a quick general introduction to Praat.

This workshop, at the intersection of experimental and corpus-based methodologies, will focus on the role of research infrastructures such as the CLARIN-ERIC in linguistic research. Participants will engage in practical sessions aimed at elucidating how experimental linguists can benefit from the CLARIN services and tools.

The workshop will feature demonstrations encompassing hands-on presentations, focusing on two main themes:

- Integration of Corpus and Experimental Methods: Participants will learn techniques for combining corpus analysis with experimental approaches, enabling hypotheses testing.
- Annotation and Analysis of Production Data with CLARIN (CLAN): A key emphasis will be on mastering CLAN software for annotating and analyzing production data, equipping researchers with essential skills for linguistic analysis and interpretation of their results.

Target group:
The goal of this workshop is to support early-stage researchers (in the first 4 years of their research careers from the date they embarked on a doctorate) but also more experienced researchers (in possession of a doctoral degree and within their first 5 years of their career) in the development of their methodological skills. Participants are encouraged to bring their own laptop and data.

On Tuesday, there will be guided tours of some of the labs at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. The following labs can be visited:
- The babylabs of the Language Development Department.
- The molecular biology lab (wetlab) of the Language & Genetics department.
- The motion capture lab of the Multimodal Language Department.
- The Virtual Reality cave used by the Neurobiology of Language Department, Multimodal Language Department and the LEADS Research Group.

More information on the various MPI labs can be found here.

On the first day of the summer school, Monday 17.06, we will have an introduction to the beautiful city of Nijmegen

On the Tuesday we will have a reception with food and drinks on the ground floor of the Max Planck Institute.

On the Friday, instead of going to a museum, we will bring a museum to us!

The muZIEum (museum of blindness and visual impairment) will come to the MPI to build up an expedition in room 163. This unique expedition allows sighted people to experience what it is like being blind for just one moment.

There will also be talk from a representative from Visio, an expertise center for partially sighted and blind people, anyone can ask questions about being partially sighted or blind. During the presentation, visitors will experience how being partially sighted or blind can affect communication with others. Furthermore, there will be a brief explanation of low vision, Visio's target groups and services.

For those who are interested in joining, after the museum tour, we will take a boat ride on the beautiful river, the Waal. The Pannenkoekenboot ('pancake boat') departs at 16:00 on Friday the 21st of June. This event is at participants' own expense.

The closest airports to Nijmegen are Schiphol Airport and Eindhoven Airport in the Netherlands and Düsseldorf Airport in Germany.

You can get to Nijmegen from Schiphol or Eindhoven by train. Since the Dutch railway charges a 1 euro surcharge for tickets, you can also use a debit or credit card with a contactless payment option in order to pass through the gates at Dutch stations.

Information about the trains is available on the NS website.

The best way of transport in the Netherlands is of course by bike. Luckily for those of us who don't have one, Nijmegen also has a good bus infrastructure. The best way to get to the Max Planck Institute from the train station is by line 6 towards Dukenburg or line 9 towards Grave (stop Van Peltlaan), or line 300 towards Heyendaal, line 10 towards Heyendaal, line 15 towards Wijchen, which all stop at Spinozagebouw/Tandheelkunde, the closest bus stop to both the MPI and the other buildings on campus.

By foot, it is a 45 minute walk from the city center to the campus.

Other than on map applications, information about busses is available on the Breng website.

Same as with trains, you can use a debit or credit card with a contactless payment option in busses.

For those of you staying in the pre-booked accommodation in Groesbeek, we will arrange a shuttle bus to and from the campus.

The summer school will take place in various buildings in the Radboud University Campus: in the Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging (Trigon Building), the Maria Montessori building, the Erasmus building and in the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics.

Note that the maximum walking distance between the Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging (30 on the campus map) and the rest of the buildings is about 20 minutes. You can consult the maps below: one of the campus itself, and one showing the location of the campus within Nijmegen.

The distance between the MPI (5 on the campus map) and Maria Montessori (8) / Erasmus (12) is about 10 minutes.
The distance between Maria Montessori (8) and Erasmus (12) is about 5 minutes.

Nijmegen is very busy in the summer and hotels get booked out quickly.

Once you're unable to find a place through online booking platforms or else, please contact us through medal@ut.ee and we will do our best to help you.

If you live in Nijmegen and have a spare bed, consider signing up as a flat-sharing buddy!

There are several food options on the campus for lunch: the main food court is the Refter, in the Erasmus building (12), which serves a variety of dishes such as soups, pizzas, pastas, salads and sandwiches and also includes a coffee bar. The Max Planck Institute has a small canteen which serves soups, sandwiches, small salads and snacks. The Cultuurcafé (10) is the local bar on the campus and also has some options for fast food and snacks. Another place to grab a drink after a long day near campus is Ons Thuis, craft beer pub.

For those who want to explore Nijmegen, the city center has many nice restaurants, some recommendations are listed below.

Pizzacafé Desem
Smetiusstraat 7
An experimental pizzeria that specializes in sourdough pizza.

Shibui Ramen
Augustijnenstraat 25c
The place to be for Sapporo-style ramen.

Café de Plak
Bloemerstraat 90
A collectivist vegetarian café, famous among activists.

't Hoogstraatje
Hoogstraat 3
A stay in the Netherlands wouldn't be complete without trying traditional pancakes.