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Instruments for Research into Second Language Learning: Establishing a Digital Repository 

Emma Marsden (University of York, UK); Alison Mackey (Georgetown University, US)

IRIS is now open to submissions - please visit http://www.iris-database.org

What is IRIS? The IRIS project is creating a freely accessible, searchable, up- and downloadable online collection of instruments that are used to elicit data for research into second and foreign languages. This includes research into the effectiveness of different types of experimental treatments and instructional techniques; the contexts in which second languages are used and learned; and stakeholders' (learners', teachers', policy-makers') opinions about language use and how these impact teaching and learning.  

Why is it needed? IRIS will lead to a timely and necessary step change in how the field operates, with far-reaching and permanent benefits such as improving the systematicity and replicability of research, the visibility and accessibility of the primary research tools, and evaluation of the reliability and validity of research studies. It will also lead to less reinventing of the wheel in terms of instrument creation and will facilitate comparisons between how instruments have been used (e.g. different proficiencies or ages, different geographical or educational contexts).

What will IRIS contain? The multimedia collection will span the range of research tools used in second language research, including: visual stimuli (e.g. picture tasks) to elicit oral and written production; audio stimuli (e.g. sound files), including native and non-native speech, to elicit perception, comprehension and judgements about language; written stimuli and tasks to elicit comprehension and production; experimental teaching materials; questionnaires to elicit opinion, attitude and behavioural data; observation protocols to document language use or instructional contexts; interview protocols, to investigate stakeholders' opinions and behaviours.

This two-year project will foster and demonstrate some uses of the resource, including: workshops and presentations to academic, student and teacher audiences; an open call for replication studies; and a conference on eliciting data in second language research. We have a strong support network of journal editors and professional organizations. Our Advisory Board will help us to address content and design issues, Intellectual Property Rights and ethical issues. The database will use the infrastructure of the Digital Library at the University of York. 

We currently have commitments to contribute instruments from more than 220 researchers, many of whom are prominent, highly cited investigators from the US, the UK, Europe and elsewhere.

The repository is now open to submissions. To add your own instrument to IRIS, please visit our project home page, where you will find details of our criteria for inclusion and instructions for uploading your instruments.

IRIS is set to be fully operational by Spring 2012, with upload, download and search facilities.

You can also read more about IRIS here: IRIS (PDF , 762kb) 

The IRIS Advisory Board
Michael Day (UKOLN Centre of Excellence in Digital Information Management, University of Bath, UK); Professor Rod Ellis (University of Auckland, New Zealand, and Cheung Kong Scholar Professor, Shanghai International Studies University, China); Professor Susan Gass (Michigan State University, US); Professor Jan Hulstijn (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands); Dr. Judith Klavans (University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, US); Professor David Martin (ESRC National Centre for Research Methods and ReStore Sustainable Web Resources Repository project, University of Southampton, UK); Professor Lourdes Ortega (University of Hawai'i at Manoa, US); Professor Leah Roberts (University of York, UK); Professor Norman Segalowitz (Concordia University, Montréal, Canada); Professor Peter Skehan (Emeritus, Chinese University of Hong Kong, China).