- 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 specialize in Applied Linguistics (plurilingual speech education, corpus phonology, sociolinguistics and educational policies). Co-director of the international research project (Inter)Phonology of Contemporary French (IPFC – 63 researchers, 41 universities, 26 countries), I co-edited several volumes (Oxford: Oxford University Press; Paris: Ophrys, CLE international; Tokyo: Sanseido) 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.
I hold a PhD and a Habilitation (HDR) in Language Sciences from the University of Toulouse (CLLE-ERSS UMR 5263 & EDR Octogone-Lordat, 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 Research Award for my High Impact Publication research activity. In 2018, I was Visiting Researcher at the University of Montpellier (Praxiling UMR 5267 CNRS UPV, France). In 2023, I published a monography entitled “Savons-nous vraiment parler? Du contrat linguistique comme contrat social” (Paris: Armand Colin, 416 p.) (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). In 2025, I was Visiting Professor at Sciences Po Paris (Paris Institute of Political Studies, CERI, UMR 7050 CNRS Sciences Po, France).
Between 2020 and 2024, I was the Associate Dean of GSICCS. In 2024, I was elected Dean of GSICCS.
I am a member of the Waseda Institute of Language and Speech Science (ILaSS).
My current research interests are:
1) Input and L2 speech education;
2) Norms and variation in L2 speech education;
3) L2 speech evaluation;
4) Native, Non-native and Artificial speakers;
5) Linguistic educational policies.
Selected publications
Detey, S., De Fino, V. & Fontan, L. (2025). Phonetic or morpholexical issues in L2 speech? A pilot study of ambiguity assessment for pedagogical purposes among Japanese learners of French. Language Testing in Asia (Springer).
Detey, S. (2024). Acquiring phonetics and phonology. In W. Ayres-Bennett & M. MacLaughlin (Eds), The Oxford Handbook of the French Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 644-657.
Detey, S. (2023). Savons-nous vraiment parler ? Du contrat linguistique comme contrat social. Paris: Armand Colin. ISBN : 978-2-200-63634-0, 416p.
Detey, S. (2022). What if language actually mattered in ‘global’ higher education? From LSP to CLIL: the case of the APM program in SILS. Waseda Global Forum 19, Special issue “International education in Japanese universities: plurilingualism beyond English”. Tokyo: Waseda university, 1-16.
Detey, S., Fontan, L., Le Coz, M. & Jmel, S. (2020). Computer-assisted assessment of phonetic fluency in a second language: a longitudinal study of Japanese learners of French. Speech Communication 125: 69-79.
Detey, S., Durand, J., Laks, B. & Lyche, C. (Eds) (2019). フランコフォンの世界. コーパスが明かすフランス語の多様性. Ed. Y. Kawaguchi, N. Yazu, H. Akihiro & K. Sugiyama. Tokyo: Sanseido Press, 232p. ISBN 978-4-385-36146-8.
Detey, S., Racine, I., Kawaguchi, Y. & Eychenne, J. (Eds) (2016). La prononciation du français dans le monde : du natif à l’apprenant. Coll. Références. Paris: CLE international, 263p. ISBN 9782090382419.
Detey, S., Durand, J., Laks, B. & Lyche, C. (Eds) (2016). Varieties of Spoken French. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 572p. & companion website. ISBN 978-0199573714.
Detey, S., Durand, J., Laks, B. & Lyche, C. (Eds) (2010). Les variétés du français parlé dans l’espace francophone : ressources pour l’enseignement. Coll. L’Essentiel français. Paris: Ophrys, 296p. & DVD, 356p. ISBN 2-7080-1283-5.
Detey, S. & Nespoulous, J.-L. (2008). Can orthography influence L2 syllabic segmentation? Japanese epenthetic vowels and French consonantal clusters. Lingua. International Review of General Linguistics 118 (1): 66-81.
Current Funded Project (Head):
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 Applied Linguistics, especially in the fields of plurilingual speech perception, evaluation, acquisition and education, interested in pronunciation, semantics, linguistic variation, corpora, multimodality, AI-assisted speech learning and quantitative research.
Students with solid skills in corpus linguistics, acoustic analysis, phonetics, phonology, psycholinguistics as well as quantitative sociolinguistics are welcomed.
The objective of my Seminar 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.
My students’ projects have involved different L1s (English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Mongolian, Singhalese, Swiss German, Turkish…) and different L2s or L3s (Chinese, English, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean…).
Examples of past and current topics:
-L2 Segmental and Syllabic Acquisition
-Accented Speech Perception
-Plurilingualism and Foreign Language Effect
-Influence of L2 on L3 acquisition (phonology, grammar)
-Heritage Language Education
-L1 Attrition
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)
