18th Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition
Short Title: GASLA-18

Date: 16-Apr-2026 - 18-Apr-2026
Location: Cambridge, United Kingdom
Contact: Dora Alexopoulou
Contact Email: [email protected]
Meeting URL: https://gasla18.mmll.cam.ac.uk/

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics; Cognitive Science; Language Acquisition; Linguistic Theories; Psycholinguistics

Submission Deadline: 17-Nov-2025

We are excited to announce that the 18th meeting of Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition (GASLA-18) will take place at the University Cambridge on 16-18th of April 2026.

GASLA is a biennial conference where linguists present theoretically informed research on second language acquisition.

Presentation Format:
All submissions will be considered for both oral presentations (30 minutes, including 10 minutes for discussion) and poster presentation. The submission process is the same for the main session and for the themed sessions.

Main Session:
For the main session, we invite abstract submissions of original, unpublished work conducted from the generative perspective on any aspect of second language acquisition, bilingualism, third language acquisition / multilingualism, and/or heritage language acquisition. Submitting results from work in progress or unsuccessful experiments is also encouraged.

Themed Sessions:
In addition to the main session, there will be two themed sessions.

Themed Session I: Theoretical Foundations
We invite submissions considering the implications of recent empirical results on theory and current debates on L2/multilingual representations and learnability.

Themed Session II: Language Learning and Teaching
We invite submissions considering connections between generative SLA research and teaching, e.g. linguistically informed intervention studies, implications of generative SLA approaches for curriculum design, teaching materials, teacher training etc.

Submission Guidelines:
Abstracts should not exceed one page in letter-size or A4 paper, with one extra page for examples, tables, figures and references, with 1 inch or 2.5 cm margins on all sides and 12-point font size.
- The abstract should have a clear title and should not reveal the name of the author(s).
- The abstracts must be uploaded as PDF attachments to our Oxford Abstracts page.
- Submissions are limited to one first or single-author abstract. Multiple joint (not first) author submissions are accepted (but no more than two joint abstracts from the same group of authors).
- Please indicate if you would like your abstract to be considered for one of the themed sessions. All submissions will be considered for both oral and poster presentations.
- We encourage graduate students and early career scholars to submit.

Important Dates:
Abstracts open for submission: 1st Sept 2025
Abstract deadline: 17th Nov 2025
Notification of acceptance: 18th Jan 2026
Conference: 16-18th Apr 2026