English

Gregory Miras

Short resume

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[PRESENT]

Full Professor of applied linguistics at University of Lorraine (France) (2022-today)
Coordinator of the language teams at the Lorraine Institute for Teacher Education (2022-today)
AILA Executive Board Member as AILA Research Networks Coordinator (2024-ajd). https://aila.info/research/
Honorary Chairman of the French Association of Applied Linguistics - AFLA (2023-today)

[PAST]

AILA Europe Coordinator (2021-24). https://aila.info/about/regionalization/aila-europe/
Chair of the French Association of Applied Linguistics - AFLA (2017-2023)
Dr. Associate professor in applied linguistics at Rouen University (France) (2016-22)
French post-doctoral degree allowing to supervise PhD students at University Sorbonne Nouvelle (2021). Link : click here
PhD Thesis (2014) on "Pluralistic approach of the links between music and speech in the learning and teaching of the pronunciation of French as a foreign/second language". Link : click here

Science for the public

Why AI software 'softening' accents is problematic

Could the Netherlands crack the secret of language learning using this approach?

A few papers and books

Miras, G. & Sock, R. (2024). « Mettre l’ « accent dit étranger » au travail : tensions et adaptations ». Vaxélaire, B., Marsac, F., Chebil, S. & Kleiber, G. (dir.). Perception, parole et apprentissage. Recherches en Parole. Mons : Editions du CIPA. ISBN : 978-2-930200-99-6, pp. 99-112. https://hal.science/hal-04588719

In this first article from the PROSOPHON project, the focus is on how the "so-called foreign accent" or multilingualism in the workplace creates tensions and adaptations. Specifically, the study examines job interviews, revealing that accents are socially constructed within interactive discursive situations. The implications of an accent depend on pre-existing perceptions of all participants involved. Convergence processes between phonological variations can either create a sense of threat or foster positive relations, especially in client-based interactions. This contradiction is particularly evident in recruitment interviews, such as teaching positions, where evaluation often relies on the myth of the native speaker. Although these considerations are influenced by professional constraints, they never fully disappear, as clients' reactions to accents can impact business operations. As workplaces adopt a more tolerance-centered discourse, the influence of accent becomes subtler. The PROSOPHON project aims to explore these complexities and how accents affect social and professional integration.

Miras, G. (2021). Pronunciation Learning and Teaching: from correction to mediation. Paris: Didier FLE. URL : https://didierfle.com/produit/didactique-de-la-prononciation-en-langues-etrangeres-de-la-correction-a-une-mediation-livre/

This book is devoted to the teaching and the learning of foreign pronunciation. It provides a critical reflection on a purely “corrective” approach to pronunciation training and suggests a “mediation” framework more in line with contemporary research in applied linguistics and the human sciences. The reader is guided through a process of deconstructing his or her representations or of reconsidering old concepts in the light of more recent theoretical contributions. Language-learning systems are shown to be more relevant if they enable the learners to develop their own agency based on an individual definition of their objectives in terms of norms and translanguaging identity. The (pronunciation) teacher becomes a mediator (vs. a model) by developing his or her awareness of the fact that each learner has different needs, goals and trajectories.

Miras, G. & Sock, R. (2024). « Mettre l’ « accent dit étranger » au travail : tensions et adaptations ». Vaxélaire, B., Marsac, F., Chebil, S. & Kleiber, G. (dir.). Perception, parole et apprentissage. Recherches en Parole. Mons : Editions du CIPA. ISBN : 978-2-930200-99-6, pp. 99-112. https://hal.science/hal-04588719

Pronunciation has a particular status in the field of the teaching and the learning of foreign languages. Theses particularities (specifically for French as a foreign language) rely on a peculiar epistemology fluctuating between two poles: behaviourism and variationism. The result is the emergence of complex teaching attitudes that leads to a general feeling of illegitimacy – even stronger when it comes to the so-called “non-native” teachers. This study, conducted within a project led by University of Rouen Normandie at the request of International Organisation of La Francophonie, aims at measuring the impact of a reflexive (and autobiography-based) process on beginning teachers’ practises regarding the teaching and the learning of French (as a foreign language) pronunciation. The results show that even if working on short autobiographical writings triggers a reflexive posture towards the links between past learning events and present teaching attitudes, it has to be connected to other tools – such as a human mediation and autoscopy – in order to change the way pronunciation is taught.

Miras, G. (2021). « L’autobiographie comme support d’une réflexivité enseignante sur l’accent : le cas du projet JEDA ». Language Education and Multilingualism – The Langscape Journal. ISSN 2570-2432. https://edoc.hu-berlin.de/handle/18452/24149

Pronunciation has a particular status in the field of the teaching and the learning of foreign languages. Theses particularities (specifically for French as a foreign language) rely on a peculiar epistemology fluctuating between two poles: behaviourism and variationism. The result is the emergence of complex teaching attitudes that leads to a general feeling of illegitimacy – even stronger when it comes to the so-called “non-native” teachers. This study, conducted within a project led by University of Rouen Normandie at the request of International Organisation of La Francophonie, aims at measuring the impact of a reflexive (and autobiography-based) process on beginning teachers’ practises regarding the teaching and the learning of French (as a foreign language) pronunciation. The results show that even if working on short autobiographical writings triggers a reflexive posture towards the links between past learning events and present teaching attitudes, it has to be connected to other tools – such as a human mediation and autoscopy – in order to change the way pronunciation is taught.

Abendroth-Timmer, D., Aguilar, J., Brudermann, C., Miras, G. & Schneider, R. (2021) (Eds.). Language Teacher Education and Plurilingualism in Digital Learning Environments. Language Education and Multilingualism – The Langscape Journal. Vol. 3. https://edoc.hu-berlin.de/handle/18452/19672

For the third volume of LEM we are pleased to welcome a team of editors from Langscape, Prof. Dr. Dagmar Abendroth-Timmer from the department of Romance languages at the University of Siegen, Dr. José Aguilar from the French as a Foreign a language department at the Paris-Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Dr. Cedric Brudermann from the language department at the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris, Dr. Gregory Miras from the University of Rouen and Dr. Ramona Schneider from the University of Bonn. The team reflects the plurilingual and pluricultural philosophy of the journal, combining Romance and Germanic languages, and the volume, which is devoted to the training of language teachers from a plurilingual perspective, integrates digital technology as an essential element of the general context of teacher education for the 21st century. The ten articles were selected in response to a call for papers following the conference entitled “Professionalisation of (future) teachers of French as a foreign languaghttps://didierfle.com/produit/didactique-de-la-prononciation-en-langues-etrangeres-de-la-correction-a-une-mediation-livre/e in the digital age”, which was held at the University of Siegen

Miras, G. & Burrows, A. (2021). « Teaching in French Universities During the COVID-19 Pandemic: (Not so) Outstanding Practices or Lasting Changes? ». International Journal of Technologies in Higher Education. 18-1. pp. 194-211. https://www.ritpu.ca/fr/articles/view/467 ISSN 1708-7570.

In order to ensure pedagogical continuity, using digital tools during the COVID crisis has lit up pedagogical ideologies linked to institutional injunctions. A survey filled by teachers in a faculty of literature and social sciences has made it possible to question the links between declared teaching practices during the health crisis and changes that may have occurred in the teaching praxis. The results show that crisis situations are not likely to allow long term changes especially when they awake fears linked to top-down decisions on digital tools and innovation.

Miras, G. & Vignes, L. (2019) (Eds.). Prononcer les langues : variations, émotions, médiations. Lidil, 59. https://journals.openedition.org/lidil/5895

The purpose of this issue is not merely to take stock of research on language pronunciation but also to focus on research methodologies that aim to take into account variation and the potential emotions and mediations in speech. The aim is to bring out a scientific framework in which pronunciation is seen as an emerging process embodied by socio-emotional individuals in order to go beyond a corrective vision of pronunciation and enable a more humane mediation approach.

Burrows, A. & Miras, G. (2019). « Pratiques numériques en langues : de la verbalisation à l’analyse des préoccupations enseignantes ». Alsic, 22. https://journals.openedition.org/alsic/3549#article-3549

The latest reforms in the status of university teachers place specific emphasis on preparing them for university level teaching. The implementation of such measures is taking place alongside changes to university structure and teaching methods (teaching to mass audiences, the introduction of digital teaching methods), which in turn reflect wider social transformations. However, these transformations may provoke feelings of unease amongst university teachers. It is therefore necessary to examine the role and the effects of the support mechanisms put in place for those who must adapt to such changes.This study will be founded upon the creation of the Perl, a service of Sorbonne Paris City University, with the aim of determining the ways in which such a project influences the creative process of the thirteen language specialists recruited to design online learning resources. Interviews carried out at two different moments during the project will shed light on the main points to take into account when accompanying teachers through such a transformation of their working environment. In particular, we will show that a personalised approach to the evolution of teaching styles is necessary to show that there is no generalised "resistance to change", but rather the preoccupations of individuals faced with an ever-evolving social, educational, and institutional framework.

Miras, G. (2019). « De la correction à la médiation : la doxa terminologique en didactique de la prononciation du français comme langue étrangère ». Recherches en didactique des langues et des cultures [En ligne], 16-1. URL : https://journals.openedition.org/rdlc/4298

The teaching and learning of pronunciation, especially of French as a foreign language (FFL), confronted to representations, beliefs and doxa, is often described, without empirical data, as a forsaken domain. The consequence of this statement is two-fold: on the one hand, language teachers rarely feel legitimate to teach pronunciation and on the other hand, learners' attention is hardly called upon to the way they pronounce their first language. Some studies tried to define the broad outlines of these representations but the data in the field of FFL is fragmented. This study aims to take stock of the situation of the teaching and learning of pronunciation using two levers: 1) an analysis of the role granted to pronunciation in the CEFR and its companion volume and, 2) a corpus consisting of 597 French-language scientific papers in the field of “Didactique des langues-cultures” published in six journals, since 2000. Confronting the results will reveal links between representations emerging from political tools such as the CEFR and those from scientific research in “Didactique des langues-cultures”. The analysis of these links will be an opportunity to suggest ways for redefining terminology in the teaching and learning of pronunciation.

Narcy-Combes, M.-F., Narcy-Combes, J.-P., MacAllister, J., Leclerc M., Miras, G. (2019). Language Learning and Teaching in a Multilingual World. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. URL : http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?K=9781788922982

The majority of people around the world live in multilingual societies, and so it follows that plurilingualism should be considered normal. This book proposes a flexible and adaptive framework for designing and implementing language learning environments and tasks, which will be useful for practitioners working in classrooms where many languages are already spoken. The authors begin by presenting a state-of-the-art review of current research on language learning, language teaching and multilingual language acquisition. This is followed by a qualitative review of 37 multilingual research projects, which are treated as case studies to inform the practical guidance that constitutes the remainder of the book. The information and practical framework contained within this book will be of interest to both researchers, teachers and teacher educators.

Miras, G. (2017). « Réponse à Joëlle Aden : le corps à la lumière de l’émergentisme linguistique. ». Recherches en didactique des langues et des cultures [En ligne], 14-1. URL : https://journals.openedition.org/rdlc/1442

In her paper, Joëlle Aden considers the implementation of an enactive approach which would participate in defining the contours of a first-person experienced method of exploration. We will try to question this framework by analyzing how the body is theorized in linguistic emergentism. We will reconsider her epistemological analysis which led her to acknowledge we are INSIDE language. We will follow her proposition for an epistemological shift in the field of education and applied linguistics while considering, with hindsight, the possibility of generalizing such a framework.