23rd International Symposium of Processability Approaches to Language Acquisition - PALA 2025
The 23rd International Symposium of Processability Approaches to Language Acquisition (PALA) will be held at the Paderborn University.
September 18th – 19th 2025
In case of questions etc. please contact pala2025@mail.uni-paderborn.de
Call for Papers
Please open the Call for Papers for further information regarding the abstracts for papers and important dates.
Registration
To register for the conference please send an e-mail to pala2025@mail.uni-paderborn.de with your name, e-mail address, affiliation and whether you will attend the conference dinner (yes/no).
Travel and Venue
By car
The address of the university is Warburger Str. 100, 33098 Paderborn, Deutschland. There are a number of parking options around and on the university campus (see the map under Venue).
The nearest highway (Autobahn) is the A33.
By train
You can take regional trains to get to Paderborn as well as a few long-distance trains (e.g. ICE) depending on where you’re travelling from. Most ICEs go to Bielefeld rather than Paderborn. From Bielefeld you can take the RB74 to Paderborn. The best way to find the best connection is through the app or website of Deutsche Bahn (see below).
Information on the Deutschlandticket:
This ticket is 58€/month and enables you to take all buses and trains in public, local and regional transport all over Germany. There is no limitation of the number of journeys. If you plan on taking a number of buses and trains that weekend this might be cheaper than paying for each individual trip. However, long-distance trains (e.g., IC, EC, ICE as well as Flix trains and long-distance buses) are NOT included. If you want to take one of these long distance transport options you’ll have to purchase a separate ticket for those. In addition, the Deutschlandticket is only valid for second class. It can be booked via the website of Deutsche Bahn (https://www.bahn.de/angebot/regio/deutschland-ticket), through the app (more information below) or at vending machines and counters. If you are only planning on using the ticket for the time of the conference make sure to cancel your subscription, so you don’t have to pay for another month.
You might want to download the local transportation/train app in order to check relevant connections and possible delays: “DB Navigator”. The DB Navigator can also be accessed online: https://www.bahn.de/ .
By bus
Transportation from the main station (Paderborn Hauptbahnhof) to the university:
There are a few buses that operate regularly between the main station and the university. The two bus stops at the university are called “Uni/Südring” and “Uni/Schöne Aussicht”. You can get off at either one of these two. Most bus lines only stop at one of the two stops. Possible lines to take are line 100 (the university line, going to both university bus stops), line 1, line S30 and line S85. Line 100 usually operates every 15 minutes, S30 and S85 hourly.
Another stop where you could take a bus from is the Westerntor which is near the city center (about a 10 min walk from the main station). Possible lines here are line 1, 4, 6 and 14.
You might want to download the local transportation/bus app in order to check relevant connections and possible delays: “OWLmobil”
By plane
If you come by plane the following airports are the closest/best to go to:
Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport (PAD) (closest to the university)
Hannover Airport (HAJ)
Kassel (KSF)
Düsseldorf Airport (DUS)
Köln Bonn Airport (CGN)
Frankfurt (FRA) (quite far away from Paderborn; we would recommend another airport from the list above if possible)
The conference will be held in the J building at the Paderborn University. It will mainly take place on the 4th floor in rooms J4 219 and J4 319.
Find a map of the university here: https://www.uni-paderborn.de/universitaet/anreise-lageplan
Not all of the linked hotel websites below are in English. However, each of the hotels can also be found on common traveling sites which usually offer English versions.
Most of these hotels are located in or around the city center. To get to the venue (Paderborn university) you can take a number of different buses.
Lower Budget
B&B Hotel Bahnhof
Double Room (for single or double use): from 60-70€
Breakfast: 13.90€/person
Website: B&B Hotel Paderborn I Günstiges Hotel in Paderborn
InterCity Hotel
Double Room (for single or double use): from 69€
Double Room with breakfast: from 85€
Website: https://hrewards.com/de/intercityhotel-paderborn
IBIS Hotel
Double Room (for single or double use): from 60€
With breakfast: from 75€
Website: https://www.ibis-paderborn.de/
IN VIA AKADEMIE/Hotel
Single room: from 65€
Double room: from 100€
Breakfast: 14,50€/person
Website: https://www.invia-akademie.de/
Hotel Cherusker Hof
Single room: from 55€
Double room: from 70€
Breakfast: 8€/person
Website: https://www.cherusker-hof.de/cms/
Hotel Irma Garni
Single room: from 52€
Double room (for single use): from 60€
Breakfast is included in the prices
Website: https://www.hotelirma.de/
Medium/Higher Budget
Welcome Hotel
Double room (for single use): from 70€
Double room including breakfast: from 80€
Website: Hotel Paderborn | Welcome Hotel Paderborn
Hotel Aspethera
Double room (for single use): from 98€
Double room: from 132€
Breakfast is included in the prices
Website: Startseite Hotel Aspethera in Paderborn - Hotel Aspethera - Tagungshotel in Paderborn
Hotel Kaup
Single room: from 95€
Double room: from 115€
Breakfast is included in the prices
Website: https://hotelkaup.jimdofree.com/
Hotel Arosa/Best Western
Single room: from 130€
Double room: from 170€
Website: https://www.arosa-paderborn.de/
The conference weekend
There will be a social dinner on the first evening of the conference (18.09). The venue is still to be announced.
tba

Decoding the dynamics of L2 interaction – A processability lens on the acquisition of turn-taking skills
Anke Lenzing, University of Innsbruck
In my talk, I focus on some of the key challenges L2 learners face in the acquisition of turn-taking. The bulk of human language use is conversational, and turn-taking is regarded as part of the “universal infrastructure for language” (Levinson, 2016). However, despite its ubiquitous occurrence in communication, turn-taking poses a huge cognitive challenge to interactants in a conversation. It forms part of an intricate system characterised by the rapid exchange of turns between interlocutors, aiming to minimise gaps and avoid overlaps (Sacks et al., 1974; Levinson & Torreira, 2016).
To achieve this fine-tuned coordination between listening and speaking, interlocutors need to prepare their turns in advance, which includes making predictions about the current speaker’s turn and aligning with their conversation partner (e.g., Garrod & Pickering, 2015, 2021).
How do L2 learners cope with this cognitive challenge, and which processes are involved in their acquisition of turn-taking skills?
Widening the scope of Processability Theory (e.g., Pienemann, 1998; Pienemann & Lenzing, 2025) to these cognitive aspects of L2 interaction, I discuss theoretical considerations regarding the question as to how the psycholinguistic constraints that learners face in L2 acquisition affect their ability to make predictions in communicative interaction. I then present empirical insights into the turn-taking abilities of L2 learners of English at different stages of acquisition. This includes timing in turn-taking, learners’ alignment behaviour, as well as the learners’ abilities to make predictions. The analyses are based on audio and video data, as well as mobile eye-tracking data obtained from L2 learners’ communicative interactions (e.g., Lenzing, 2024; Lenzing, Schmiderer & Egger, 2025; Lenzing & Schmiderer, submitted/accepted).
The results of the analyses shed light on some of the challenges involved in the acquisition of L2 turn-taking and point to relations between the L2 learners’ processing constraints and their turn-taking abilities.
References:
Garrod, S., & Pickering, M. J. (2015). The use of content and timing to predict turn transitions. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 751.
Garrod, S., & Pickering, M. J. (2021). Understanding dialogue. Language use and social interaction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Levinson, S. C., & Torreira, F. (2015). Timing in turn-taking and its implications for processing models of language. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 731.
Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A., & Jefferson, G. (1974). A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language, 50(4), 696-735.
Lenzing, A. & Schmiderer, K. (submitted/accepted). Processing in the Receptive, Productive and Interactive Use of an L2. In: Wright, C., Peltonen, P., Piske, T. & Steinlen, A. (eds.), Context Matters. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Lenzing, A. (2024). Timing turn-taking: the art of making predictions in L2 communicative interaction. Inaugural lecture, University of Innsbruck, 29.11.2024.
Lenzing, Schmiderer, Egger (2025). Investigating L2 multi-person interaction – what gaze shifts reveal about predictions in turn-taking. Paper to be presented at the EuroSLA conference, Tromsø, 25.-28.06. 2025.
Pienemann, M. (1998) Language processing and second language development: Processability Theory. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Pienemann, M. & Lenzing, A. (2025). Processability Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Simulating language and learning in the context of PT
Manfred Pienemann
Abstract
PT was conceptualised as a formal and thus testable contribution to the debate about the learnability of (second) languages. Its key objective was and still is to add a set of constraints to language learnability theory that is based on an aspect of the human mind, more specifically on language processing.
Recently, the stunning performance of so-called (Large) Language Models (LLMs) gained a great deal of public attention, and some researchers appear to imply that computational language models are now fully capable of replicating the linguistic abilities of human speakers and learners of language through statistical learning.
To this long-term observer of the modern debate about language learnability it appears that with the above LLM-based position the pendulum swings back yet again to that end of the continuum in the learnability debate that was once occupied by S-R theory.
In this presentation, I advocate a position that balances statistical learning with human-specific constraints on language learning, thus embracing a limited role of computational language models in learnability theory. I will show that – despite their impressive performance - the role computational language models is limited, due inter alia to their lack of human capacities such as morality or reasoning that are based on the intentionality of the human mind.
I will look at two examples of the constructive role of SLA simulations in the context of PT-based SLA research. The first example is based on a collaborative research project conducted by Frank Lanze, Anke Lenzing, Howard Nicholas and myself. In this project, we simulate statistical L2 learning based on input and a set of constraining factors. Our software is designed to simulate the internal dynamics of the learning process as a dynamical system. This computational tool enables a comparison of natural learning data with simulated data – thus uncovering computational parameters that determine differential L2 dynamics. This computational tool permits us to test hypotheses such as the following: “L2 developmental and variational dynamics are fundamentally different”.
The second example (suggested by Frank Lanze) utilises a publicly available LLM as a research tool. I will show that the LLM “llama-3.2-3b-instruct“ can be used on a personal computer to generate a program that can analyse a narrow range of ESL samples according to PT principles.
The above computational tools do have the capacity to promote the sophistication of SLA research. However, using or developing such tools does not imply that one needs to assume the now-popular position that LLMs are fully capable of replicating the linguistic abilities of human speakers and learners of language.