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Professor David Singleton

Fellow Emeritus (C.L.C.S.)

 dsnglton@tcd.ie

 


Biography

I was born in Poole (Dorset) in 1948. I was educated at the local Catholic primary school and state grammar school. I took my primary degree (Moderatorship in Modern Languages - French and German -, Class I) at Trinity College Dublin and my doctorate (in French Linguistics) at the University of Cambridge. My first lecturing position was in the French Department of St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, but since 1980 I have been a member of staff of the Centre for Language and Communication Studies, Trinity College Dublin. I have been deeply involved in various professional organizations - including the Irish Association for Applied Linguistics (President 1982-85), the Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquée (Secretary General 1993-96) and the European Second Language Association (President 1999-2003).

Research Tags

  Immigration   Language Acquisition (first & second)   Multiculturalism

Languages

Language Skill Reading Skill Writing Skill Speaking
Dutch Medium Basic Basic
English Fluent Fluent Fluent
French Fluent Fluent Fluent
German Fluent Medium Medium
Polish Basic Basic Basic
Spanish Medium Basic Basic

Memberships

Membership of Professional Institutions, Associations, Societies

Details Date From Date To
Member of the Philological Society 1976
Member of the Irish Association for Applied Linguistics 1977
Member of the National Committee of the Irish Association for Applied Linguistics 1978 1988
President of the Irish Association for Applied Linguistics 1982 1985
Member of the Executive Board of the Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquée 1984 1996
Deputy Secretary General of the Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquée 1987 1993
Secretary General of the Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquée 1993 1996
Member of the European Second Language Acquisition 1989
Secretary of the European Second Language Acquisition 1989 1993
President of the European Second Language Acquisition 1999 2003
Ageing and multilingualism in, editor(s)Singleton, D., Aronin, L. , Twelve chapters on multilingalism, Bristol, Multilingual Matters, 2019, pp213 - 230, [Munoz, C., Singleton, D.], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
Pfenninger, S.E. & Singleton, D., A critical review of research relating to the learning, use and effects of additional and multiple languages in later life, Language Teaching, 52, (4), 2019, p419 - 449, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Pfenninger, S.E. & Singleton, D., Starting age overshadowed: The primacy of differential environmental and family support effects on L2 attainment in an instructional context, Language Learning, 69, (S1), 2019, p207 - 234, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Pfenninger, S.E. & Singleton, D., Making the most of an early start to L2 instruction, Language Teaching for Young Learners, 1, (2), 2019, p111 - 138, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Singleton, D., Pfenninger, S.E., Exploring a poorly understood variable: An agenda for classroom research on the age factor, Language Teaching, 52, (1), 2019, p111 - 127, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Singleton, D., Discussion, European Journal of Higher Education, 9, (3), 2019, p343 - 350, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Singleton, D., Bi-/multilingual communication, identity and the posited intermingling of language systems in the mind, Theory and Practice of Second Language Acquisition, 5, (2), 2019, p25 - 38, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Really late learners: Some research contexts and some practical hints in, editor(s)Gabryś-Barker, D., , Third age learners of foreign languages, Bristol, Multilingual Matters Ltd, 2018, pp19 - 30, [Singleton, D.], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
Children's second language acquisition with a focus on the age debate in, editor(s)Garton, S Copland, F., , The Routledge handbook of teachng English to young learners, London, Routledge, 2018, pp30 - 43, [Singleton, D. & Pfenninger, S.E.], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
The 'earlier=better' assumption through the ages: On the origin and history of a myth in SLA and its pedagogical consequences in, editor(s)Ubermann, A. Dick-Bursztyn, M. , Language in the new millenium: applied-linguistic and cognitive considerations, Bern, Peter Lang, 2018, pp41 - 61, [Pfenninger, S. E. & Singleton, D.], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
  

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Pfenninger, S. E., Singleton, D., Affect trumps age: a person-in-context relational view of age and motivation in SLA, Second Language Research, 32, (3), 2016, p311 - 345, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Singleton, D, Globalization, language, and national identity: the case of Ireland. CLCS Occasional Paper No.68, 11 pp., 2007, Working Paper, PUBLISHED
Harrington, S., Singleton, D., Henry, A, At the sharp end of language revival: English-speaking parents raising Irish-speaking children. (CLCS Occasional Paper 57), 12 pp. , 2000, Working Paper, PUBLISHED
Singleton, D., Lexical processing and the "language module" (CLCS Occasional Paper 53; ERIC Reports ED 421 856), 38 pp., 1998, Working Paper, PUBLISHED
Singleton, D., French: some historical background, Dublin, Authentik, 1992, 1 - 81pp, Book, PUBLISHED
Singleton, D., Singleton, E., University-level learners of Spanish in Ireland: a profile based on data from the TCD Modern Languages Research Project (CLCS Occasional Paper 35; ERIC Reports ED 354 781), 12 pp., 1992, Working Paper, PUBLISHED
Singleton, D., What can we do about vocabulary?, FTA Bulletin, Spring/Summer, 1990, p2 - 4, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Singleton, D., The TCD Modern Languages Research Project: objectives, instruments and preliminary results (CLCS Occasional Paper 26; ERIC Reports ED 333 723, 19pp. , 1990, Working Paper, PUBLISHED
Little, D., Devitt, S., Singleton, D., Learning foreign languages from authentic texts: theory and practice, Dublin/London, Authentik/Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research, 1989, 1 - 122pp, Book, PUBLISHED
Success factors in the language classroom in, editor(s)O'Meadhra, B., Richardson, B., Ó Cuilleanáin, C. , Languages in the 1990s: proceedings of the MTLA's Third National Modern Language Convention, Dublin, Modern Language Teachers' Association/Dublin City University, 1989, pp118 - 123, [Singleton, D.], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED

  

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Awards and Honours

Award Date
Election to Fellowship of Trinity College Dublin 1994
Medal of Honour, University of Silesia 2013

Research Interests

Description Of Research Interests

My research interests have ranged from fairly theoretical areas of linguistics (e.g. lexical semantics and semantic change) to very practical and applied domains (e.g. second language syllabus design). In recent times most of my research activity and publications have been concerned with second language acquisition, and in particular (i) cross-linguistic influence in second language acquisition and processing, (ii) the second language mental lexicon, (iii) multilingualism and (iv) age-related factors in second language acquisition.