Dr. Bastien De Clercq

​​Bastien De Clercq is a post-doctoral researcher, lecturer and teaching assistant in the linguistics department of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and has worked at the VUB since 2012. Bastien De Clercq’s research has focused on second language acquisition from a number of perspectives (phonology, vocabulary and morpho-syntax) and in relation to a variety of languages (including Italian, French, English and Dutch). In his doctoral research, he examined morpho-syntactic and lexical complexity in a comparative study of L2 French and L2 English. In this work, he has explored notions such as (the cross-linguistic comparability of) structural linguistic complexity and learning difficulty, in addition to the role of instruction in the language learning process. More recently, he has sought to combine this line of research with a research focus on phonology. This line of research investigates how concepts with wide currency in morpho-syntactic SLA studies (structural complexity vs. acquisitional difficulty, explicit vs. implicit instruction) can be adapted to phonological acquisition and pronunciation instruction. 

Selected publications

• Simon, E., De Clercq, B., Degrave, P., & Decourcelle, Q. (2022). On the robustness of high variability phonetic training effects: A study on the perception of non-native Dutch contrasts by French-speaking learners. In Second Language Pronunciation (pp. 315-344). De Gruyter Mouton. Chicago.  

• Housen, A., De Clercq, B., Kuiken, F., & Vedder, I. (2019). Multiple approaches to complexity in second language research. Second Language Research, 35(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267658318809765. 

• De Clercq, B., & Housen, A. (2019). The development of morphological complexity: A cross-linguistic study of L2 French and English. Second Language Research, 35(1), 71-97.   https://doi.org/10.1177/0267658316674506. 

• De Clercq, B., & Housen, A. (2017). A Cross-linguistic Perspective on Syntactic Complexity in L2 Development: Structural Complexity and Diversity. The Modern Language Journal, 101(2).  

• Michot, M-E., De Clercq, B., & Pierrard, M. (2017). La complexité linguistique, un facteur pertinent pour l'acquisition de langues étrangères? Recherches et Applications, 61, 22-33.