- Title：Professor
- Degree：Ph.D. & Habilitation in Language Sciences (University of Toulouse II, France)
- Directed Research：Second Language Education
- Research Field：Applied Linguistics, with a focus on plurilingual speech perception and education
For details: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sylvain_Detey
Biography
I hold a PhD and a Habilitation (HDR) in Language Sciences from the University of Toulouse (France). After a Baccalauréat in Science, I studied Mathematics, Physics and Engineering before obtaining a BA in English studies, an MA in French Applied Linguistics and a PhD in Language Sciences with a focus on L2 speech education, psycholinguistics and phonology among Japanese learners of French. A full-time Lector at Salford University (UK), then an Adjunct Lecturer at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (Japan), I got a tenured position as an Associate Professor (Maître de Conférences) in the Linguistics Department at the national University of Rouen (France), before joining Waseda University in 2009.
In 2016, I received the Waseda Reseach Award for my High Impact Publication research activity. I specialize in Applied Linguistics (L2 speech education, corpus phonology, sociolinguistics and educational policies), with a focus on French, English and Japanese. Co-director of the international research project (Inter)Phonology of Contemporary French (63 researchers, 41 universities, 26 countries), I co-edited several volumes (Paris, Oxford, Tokyo) on the varieties of spoken French in the world with the support of the French national agency for linguistic social and educational policies (DGLFLF, French Ministry of Culture and Communication), of which I have been appointed as a scientific expert member.
Positioning myself at the interdisciplinary interface between cognitive and social sciences, I work with phonologists, phoneticians, psycholinguists, sociolinguists and computer scientists interested in linguistic policies, research methodologies and educational tools.
My current research interests are: 1) Input and L2 speech learning; 2) Norms and variation in L2 speech learning; 3) Linguistic educational policies; 4) Plurilingualism and internationalization in higher education; 5) Contrastive pragmatics; 6) Communicative handicap.
In 2023, I published a monography entitled “Savons-nous vraiment parler? Du contrat linguistique comme contrat social” (Paris: Armand Colin) (Do we really know how to speak? The linguistic contract as a social contract) and I was awarded the title of “Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes académiques” by the French Republic (Knight in the Order of the Academic Palms).
For details: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sylvain_Detey
Major Works / Publications Awards
Link to the Waseda Researcher Database
Directed Research
My supervision aims at nurturing young researchers and university-level teachers specializing in the fields of plurilingual perception, evaluation, acquisition and education, with a particular focus on speech perception-production, linguistic variation, corpora, multimodality and AI-assisted L2 pronunciation learning.
The objective of the course is to offer an advanced and comprehensive view of the core framework of the discipline, examining the linguistic, sociolinguistic, psycholinguistic and pedagogical aspects that must necessarily be taken into account in any research project devoted to plurilingual education. The focus is set on specific research issues and projects from which students can draw academic knowledge and methodological insights connected to their own research objectives.
Most of my students carry out their research in the following domains: 1) Input and L2 speech learning; 2) Norms and variation in L2 speech learning; 3) Linguistic educational policies; 4) Plurilingualism and internationalization in higher education; 5) Contrastive pragmatics; 6) Communicative handicap.
Their projects have involved different L1s (English, Japanese, Chinese, Mongolian, Singhalese, Swiss German…) and different L2s or L3s (Chinese, English, Italian, Japanese, Korean…). Students may join some of the research projects I am involved in and benefit from the expertise of my international research network.
For details: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sylvain_Detey
Inquiry for Prospective Applicants (not for current students)
