Raphael Berthelé
Prof. Dr.
raphael.berthele@unifr.ch
+41 26 300 7140
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1403-4116
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Ordentliche_r Professor_in,
Departement für Mehrsprachigkeitsforschung und Fremdsprachendidaktik
MIS 10 bu. 1.14
Rue de Rome 1
1700 Fribourg
Forschungsinteressen
- Mehrsprachigkeit
- insbesondere: Interkomprehension, rezeptive Fertigkeiten, interlinguale Einflüsse
- kognitive Linguistik
- Variationslinguistik
- Laienlinguistik
Forschung und Publikationen
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Publications (automatic import from ORCID)
101 Publikationen
Aptitude, not polyglotism, is associated with efficient activation in core language areas
Irene Balboni, Olga Kepinska, Alessandra Rampinini, Raphael Berthele, Narly Golestani, (2026) | PreprintDoing politics in the other language. Sentiment and subjectivity in Swiss political debates
Raphael Berthele, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (2026) | ArtikelMultilingualism: Learning and using multiple languages and varieties
Berthele, Raphael (Language Science Press, 2026) | BuchMultilingualism and Working Memory: The Role of Formal vs. Informal Language Learning
Amin Mohammed, Alessandra Rampinini, Irene Balboni, Raphael Berthele, Narly Golestani, Olga Kepinska, (2026) | Preprint«Yes, I understood that in German: wishy-washy!» Political polarization and the foreign language effect
Raphael Berthele, Naomi Shafer, International Journal of Bilingualism (2025) | ArtikelA Case Study of Online and Paper Bilingual Dictionaries and their Impact on Vocabulary Learning through Meaning-Focused Reading
Isabelle Udry, Raphael Berthele, International Journal of Lexicography (2025) | ArtikelDyslexia in Bilinguals: a PRISMA Systematic Review
Irene Balboni, Olga Kepinska, Raphael Berthele, Narly Golestani, (2025) | PreprintBrain activation for language and its relationship to cognitive and linguistic measures
Irene Balboni, Alessandra Rampinini, Olga Kepinska, Raphael Berthele, Narly Golestani, Cerebral Cortex (2025) | ArtikelSwiss-German Additive Focus Particle auch in bi-/multilingual Speakers: The Role of Language Typology, Language Dominance and Proficiency
Giulia Berchio, Audrey Bonvin, Raphael Berthele, Journal of the European Second Language Association (2025) | ArtikelYoung learners’ academic self-concepts for L2/L3 French and English
Isabelle Udry, Raphael Berthele, International Journal of Multilingualism (2025) | Artikel -
Forschungsprojekte
Digital tools in L2 and L3 vocabulary acquisition. A cross-linguistic investigation
Status: LaufendBeginn 01.02.2024 Ende 31.01.2028 Finanzierung SNF Projektblatt öffnen 1. Research project objectives Digital tools such as online dictionaries, translation engines and subtitled audiovisual material can aid foreign language (L2) vocabulary learning, but their impact is under-researched. This project aims to investigate the role of digital tools in L2/L3 vocabulary acquisition. We will focus on both the products of learning (how many words have been learned) and on the process of learning (allocation of learners’ cognitive resources and how these promote learning). The project will be conducted in two linguistic settings: monolingual Poland (L1-Polish) and multilingual Switzerland (L1-French and L1-German). We will investigate how the use of digital tools benefits intentional and incidental L2 word learning. Since learning novel words is influenced by cross-linguistic similarities, we will focus on English words that are cognate (similar in form and meaning) or noncognate (dissimilar in form, similar in meaning) between the English and each of the three L1s from different linguistic families: Polish (Slavic), French (Romance), or German (Germanic). The rationale is that cognateness may influence lexical acquisition differently depending on the learner’s L1s and L2s, which belong to different linguistic families: Slavic (Polish), Romance (French), Germanic (German), and depending on whether the learner is monolingual or multilingual. There are five main research questions: 1. Does using digital tools when writing influence lexical acquisition to different extents? 2. Is processing during L2/L3 writing different for cognates vs. noncognates relative to learners’ L1s and L2s? 3. How does viewing L2 films with L1-subtitles and L2/L3 captions affect lexical learning across the L1s?4. Is subtitle processing different for cognates and noncognates relative to learners’ L1s and L2s? 5. How do individual learner differences affect learning aided by digital tools? 2. Research project methodology When investigating adult learners with different L1s (Polish, German, and French), we will focus on both products and processes of learning. Tests will be used to assess word retention (learning products); eye tracking will trace attention allocation during reading; and keylogging software will help monitor the writing (learning process). Word- and learner-related variables will be controlled for. The project will be divided into two tracks. Track 1 focuses on the learning of L2-English words (cognates and noncognates) via timed essay writing. Learners will need to incorporate into their writing pre-selected unknown keywords whose retention will be measured (pretest-posttest). In Condition 1, learners will use monolingual L2 dictionaries, in Condition 2 a translation engine (e.g., Google Translate), and in Condition 3 digital glosses. The writing process will be investigated via: 1) keylogging software (e.g., Inputlog) to record and monitor re-writing events; 2) eye-tracking software to monitor writers’ gaze (and thus processing) during writing. Both keylogging and eye-tracking will provide fine-grained data regarding the mechanisms underpinning lexical learning through writing. Track 2 focuses on the incidental learning of words when watching subtitled films in L2-English. In Condition 1 the stimuli will be presented without on-screen text (only L2 audio); in Condition 2 the stimuli will contain English-to-English subtitles (L2 captions); in Condition 3 interlingual subtitles (translated into the learners’ L1s, i.e., Polish, French, or German). The retention of the pre-selected cognates and noncognates will be measured (pretest-posttest). Eye-tracking will be used to monitor learners’ attention allocation, to help explain the mechanisms underlying the acquisition of the keywords. 3. Expected impact of the research project on the development of science Track 1 will be one of the first studies to use eye tracking and keylogging to triangulate results and thus better explain learning words through writing. Track 2 will be the second study ever (after Wang & Pellicer Sánchez, 2022) to measure learning through watching subtitled videos while using eye-tracking to monitor lexical processing. Critically, we investigate cognate effects and control for more word- and learner-related variables than previous studies. Finally, we will test learners with three different L1s (Polish, French and German), adding to the robustness of the design. EuroSLA 31
Status: AbgeschlossenBeginn 01.07.2022 Ende 30.09.2022 Finanzierung SNF Projektblatt öffnen Es handelt sich um eine internationale Tagung, die jährlich und jeweils in Absprache mit dem Trägerverein "European Second Language Association" (www.eurosla.org) an einer anderen europäischen Hochschule stattfindet. Die Ausgabe 2022 findet an der Universität Freiburg statt und wird vom Departement für Mehrsprachigkeitsforschung und Fremdsprachendidaktik sowie dem Institut für Mehrsprachigkeit organisiert. An der Tagung wird im Rahmen von Keynotes, Vorträgen, Doctoral Workshops und einem Round Table der State of the Art im Bereich Fremd-, Zweitsprachenerwerb und Mehrsprachigkeit präsentiert. Das Feld soll in seiner ganzen disziplinären Breite abgedeckt werden. Übergeordnetes Ziel ist es, die Forschung zum Erwerb und Gebrauch von Zweit- und Fremdsprachen voranzubringen und die wiss. Diskussion zu Zwei-/Mehrsprachigkeit mit Bezug zu Individuen sowie in der Gesellschaft zu führen. Die Tagung widmet sich zudem der Förderung von herausragenden Nachwuchsforschenden: Der erste Tag der Tagung ist Doktorandenworkshops gewidmet, an denen Doktoranden präsentieren und ausführliches Feedback von erfahrenen Forschenden erhalten. Es werden zudem mehrere Doktorandenstipendien für die Teilnahme an der Tagung vergeben. Alle Beiträge sind peer-reviewed. Die besten Vorträge und Keynotes der Tagung werden in JESLA-The Journal of EuroSLA publiziert (peer-reviewed). Les outils de traduction en ligne dans l’enseignement des langues étrangères
Status: AbgeschlossenLes technologies numériques et l’apprentissage du vocabulaire en milieu professionnel
Status: AbgeschlossenMonolingualism
Status: AbgeschlossenBeginn 01.11.2018 Ende 31.01.2019 Finanzierung SNF Projektblatt öffnen Die Tagung wird anlässlich des 10-jährigen Bestehens des Instituts für Mehrsprachigkeit der Universität Freiburg und der PH Freiburg durchgeführt. Sie ist gleichzeitig Teil unseres PhD-Programms "Mehrsprachigkeit: Erwerb, Bildung und Gesellschaft" und dient der Weiterbildung der Nachwuchsforschenden. Zusammen mit den Keynote-Referenten möchten wir aus unterschiedlichen Forschungsperspektiven (Sprachideologieforschung, Soziolinguistik, Spracherwerbsforschung, Psycholinguistik, Sprachlehr- und -lernforschung) das Verhältnis von Ein-, Zwei-, und Mehrsprachigkeit als Ausgangspunkt einer kritischen Reflexion einiger zentraler Themen unserer Disziplinen nehmen. Insbesondere diskutiert wird zudem das Spannunsfeld Wissenschaft / gesellschaftspolitisches Engagement, in dem sich Forschende zu Zwei-/Mehrsprachigkeit bewegen sowie die Rolle von Einsprachigkeit in Forschungsanlangen (z.B.: gibt es heute noch einsprachige Versuchspersonen für Kontrollgruppen?) oder den relevanten Diskursen (z.B. in der Schule bei Fragen zur "richtigen" Sprachwahl im Unterricht). Structure informationnelle chez les locuteurs bilingues : Influences interlinguistiques et dominance langagière
Status: AbgeschlossenBeginn 01.12.2017 Ende 30.11.2021 Finanzierung SNF Projektblatt öffnen The aim of the project is to examine the different ways in which French, German and Italian speakers achieve cohesion in narrative spoken discourse. Our approach is derived from theories and methods developed in research on information structure.
To enhance discourse cohesion, languages generally have a range of linguistic devices to choose from, for instance, particles (aussi, auch, anche [also]), temporal adverbs (finalement, schlussendlich, alla fine [in the end]), or contrastive pronouns like lui in French. These linguistic devices are what make it possible to create anaphoric links between actions and protagonists in a narrative.
Various studies have revealed typological differences between languages regarding the availability of linguistic resources and the frequency of their use. These language differences influence how information is organised in texts that are produced by native speakers of a given language. By contrast, productions by second- or foreign-language learners can be influenced by tendencies in the linguistic repertoire of their first language.
Our project pursues these investigations in the context of language contact and asks the following questions:
- How do monolingual and bilingual speakers in Switzerland encode information on protagonists, actions and temporality in each of their languages?
- When cross-linguistic influences are suggested, what form do they take, and can they be partially explained by language dominance?
To answer these questions, we investigate anaphoric links produced in oral narratives of 200 to 250 participants. Data were collected with the help of a sequenced film (Finite Story, Dimroth: 2006).
A further project aim is to determine whether native speakers detect such subtle differences, i.e. whether they perceive narratives (e.g. in Swiss German) constructed using another style (e.g. Italian) as being different. To this end, an exploratory study in which participants are invited to evaluate different texts is developed. This research question is situated within the current interest on different discourse styles at advanced levels of foreign language teaching.
Purpose – Expected results
Title of the thesis by Giulia Berchio (2021) : Modellare la lingua in contesto in situazioni di bilinguismo: monologhi in italiano e svizzero tedesco di parlanti a dominanza linguistica variabile
The aim of this thesis was to describe, by means of quantitative and qualitative analyses, the linguistic repertoire of speakers with Italian and Swiss German as their main codes, in particular with regard to their tendency, in both languages, to use linguistic strategies aimed at structuring information and conferring cohesion on discourse units in speech. As the focus of this thesis is on individual bilingualism, it was also of interest to understand whether and to what extent language dominance can have an effect on the linguistic behaviour of speakers. Finally, a number of linguistic phenomena potentially categorizable as cross-linguistic influences and derived from the data of bilinguals were brought to the attention of speakers classified as quasi-monolinguals (of Italian/Swiss German) in order to observe to what extent these phenomena are possibly perceived as particular, non-idiomatic.Aptitude à l’apprentissage des langues : pourquoi et comment la tester ?
Status: AbgeschlossenWissenschaftliches Kompetenzzentrum für Mehrsprachigkeit / Centre scientifique de compétence sur le plurilinguisme
Status: AbgeschlossenBewegung an der Sprachgrenze: Der Einfluss von Sprachdominanz und Sprachmodus auf den Ausdruck der räumlichen Bewegung bei Bilingualen (Französisch-Deutsch)
Status: AbgeschlossenBeginn 01.10.2014 Ende 30.09.2017 Finanzierung SNF Projektblatt öffnen In the past 30 years, research on the linguistic expression of spatial relations has shed light on systematic structural and lexical differences between languages. One such difference concerns how some Romance and Germanic languages (e.g. French and German) describe how figures move in space. Whilst languages like French tend to express the path of movement by means of finite verbs, in German, uninflected elements such as verbal prefixes, adverbs or prepositions perform this function. Although this difference is gradual rather than categorical, it does appear to have far-reaching consequences: As demonstrated in a number of empirical studies, the type of information normally expressed in both languages is fundamentally different. Several studies have investigated the consequences of the differences in expressing space has on learning and using two typologically different languages.
This research project, however, focuses on two previously unexplored, yet interrelated research questions. The first issue concerns how various dominance relations between French and German in a bilingual individual effect the linguistic expression of spatial relations. The main goal is to identify whether and exactly how the dominant language leaves traces in the non-dominant language (e.g. French structures in German utterances of bilingual individuals whose dominant language is French), and whether, inversely, traces of the non-dominant language can also be found in the dominant language.
This question of possible bi-directional transfer will then be combined with a second inquiry into how degree of activation of the bilinguals’ languages (language mode) immediately influences lexicalization patterns in speech production. Are convergence effects influenced by a simultaneous activation of both languages? If yes, are these effects greater in the dominant or the non-dominant language? In this project, we explore these questions using a variety of instruments, including video stimuli with motion segments that bilingual individuals must describe in two modes and two languages (monolingual vs. bilingual mode, German vs. French). A series of items and tests are employed to gather the most important individual variables (identified on the basis of theoretical assumptions) of the participants, thus enabling us to statistically model the influence of individual variables on dependent linguistic variables.
Winter School 'Multilingualism across the Lifespan'
Status: AbgeschlossenBeginn 01.02.2012 Ende 30.04.2012 Finanzierung SNF Projektblatt öffnen Winter School 'Multilingualism across the Lifespan' KFM-Projekte der Gruppe „Dynamik der mehrsprachigen Kompetenz“ bis 2024
Status: AbgeschlossenWissenschaftliches Kompetenzzentrum für Mehrsprachigkeit / Centre scientifique de compétence sur le plurilinguisme
Status: AbgeschlossenBeginn 01.01.2011 Ende 31.12.2015 Finanzierung Andere Projektblatt öffnen Das Wissenschaftliche Kompetenzzentrum für Mehrsprachigkeit (KFM) wird seit 2011 vom Institut für Mehrsprachigkeit im Auftrag des Bundes geführt. Es wird von der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft auf der Grundlage des Sprachengesetzes finanziert. Zu den wichtigsten Aufgaben des KFM gehören die angewandte Forschung, die Vernetzung im Bereich der Mehrsprachigkeitsforschung, die Dokumentation sowie die Erteilung von Auskünften zur Mehrsprachigkeit. Mehrsprachigkeit und Lebensalter
Status: AbgeschlossenBeginn 01.10.2010 Ende 31.03.2014 Finanzierung SNF Projektblatt öffnen This project examines dimensions of multilingualism that have heretofore received little attention in research. The question at the core of the project concerns how the areas of competence necessary for learning and using more than one language change and develop over the course of an individual’s lifetime. The linguistic areas considered incorporate the multifaceted nature of language acquisition and use, and cover the following themes:
- Psycholinguistic processes in the first minutes of an individual’s initial confrontation with a typologically very dissimilar language;
- Pragmatic processes (inferences) in a foreign language/second language;
- Potential of multilingual repertories when attempting to access unfamiliar texts in a foreign language via typologically similar languages;
- Sociolinguistic aspects concerning major biographical disruptions in a person’s education or professional life.
These focal areas are not examined as separate elements; the project instead adopts an integrative approach regarding both the premises about multilingual competence as well as how data and results are exchanged within the project. All sub-areas in the Sinergia-Project share key premises, with the first core area of interest being the resources (linguistic, cognitive, pragmatic and social) involved in the dynamic development of multilingualism in an individual repertoire over the course of a lifetime. All sub-projects inquire into how these resources and the utilization thereof change over the course of an individual’s life. In addition, all projects consider partial (in part, highly partial) competence in foreign languages and not so-called “perfectly” bilingual or multilingual individuals. The overall project aims to establish a comprehensive view that specifically includes the lifespan of adults. The precondition for realising this goal is close collaboration amongst the project’s partners, a principle idea within all Sinergia projects. Careful coordination of all independent variables and the development of a common data pool provide the basis for systematically investigating the project’s focal interests in multilingual competence and for establishing correlations – aside from the core variable “age” – between the sub-projects.
Project website: http://www.unifr.ch/pluriling/de/plurilinguisme/forschung/sinergia
Evaluation von Rumantsch Grischun in der Schule
Status: AbgeschlossenBeginn 01.10.2008 Ende 31.10.2011 Finanzierung Andere Projektblatt öffnen This mandate from the cantonal government in Graubünden concerned the follow-up of introducing the newly consolidated written language Rumantsch Grischun to the so-called pioneer communes in the Canton of Graubünden. The communes in question were those with Rhaeto-Romanic schools already teaching Rumantsch Grischun. The long-term plan was to introduce the new language to all Rhaeto-Romanic schools. We evaluatedvarious dimensions resulting from this major change.
Schweizerdeutsch verstehen - Entwicklung von Lernmaterialien zur Kommunikation mit Deutschweizerinnen und Deutschschweizern
Status: AbgeschlossenBeginn 01.04.2007 Ende 31.10.2008 Finanzierung Andere Projektblatt öffnen Das Gesamt-Projekt möchte einem breiten, v.a. jüngeren Publikum Schlüsselkompetenzen für das Funktionieren im Deutschschweizer Sprachalltag vermitteln. Integration im grössten Landesteil der Schweiz kann den Dialektgebrauch nicht ignorieren. Das bedeutet keineswegs, dass junge Ticinesi, Romands, Ausländer oder Migrantinnen Schweizerdeutsche Dialekte sprechen lernen müssen – aber zwei Dinge sind entscheidend und hilfreich: • Das Verständnis für die Sprachsituation in der Deutschschweiz sowie das Wissen und Strategien, wie man im deutschschweizerischen Alltag funktionieren kann • Das ansatzweise Verstehen der wichtigsten Deutschschweizer Dialekte in Kontaktsituationen Die Kommunikation innerhalb der Schweiz und mit der Deutschschweiz wird durch die im Projekt vorgesehene Entwicklung von Materialien gefördert. Dank einem geeigneten Trainingsprogramm wird der Kontakt zu „Dialektsprechenden“ Jugendlichen und Erwachsenen in der Deutschschweiz erleichtert und verbessert. Vorurteile gegenüber Deutschschweizerinnen und Deutschschweizern werden abgebaut, und sprachliche Kontakte mit Deutschschweizerinnen und Deutschschweizern und Verständnis für ihre Sprachsituation wird ermöglicht. Psycholinguistische Grundlagen einer rezeptiven Grammatik des Deutschen
Status: Abgeschlossen