Our project fits into the narrative movement in scientific literacy but defends a different position with regard to children’s literature in science. We do not see a division between science and literature but rather a fertile convergence between the construction of a storyline and the activity of scientific “problematization”, a process at the heart of scientific learning. We believe that reading certain fictional narratives offers a conductive environment for engaging young children in scientific questioning. The meaning of the fictional narrative arises from the conflict between the elements of fiction and the elements of reality, between what is within the realms of possibility and what reflects the truth. In contrast, it is through fictional events that natural world phenomena can be questioned. Stories invent a “possible world” which forces the reader back to knowledge of the real world in order to understand it. Following Bruner, we attribute an epistemic aim to some fictional narratives. This project seeks to understand how pupils aged 3-11 years get involved in science within and outside school based on the reading of fictional picture books with the aim of giving teachers the means to develop integrated teaching systems (science and literature): to what extent does reading fictional storybooks lead children to test their representations of the animal world, and more specifically metamorphosis? We will work with a body of “realistic fiction”-type children’s storybooks that bring into play the idea of metamorphosis. We will identify the literary sources to which pupils aged between 3-11 years refer spontaneously when they talk about animal transformations. We will analyse the mechanisms which give rise to the children’s questioning about the metamorphosis of animals as well as comprehending the nature and coherence of this questioning with regard to the stories themselves.

Learning a language involves recognizing the acoustic properties of speech sounds that have a functional role. The abilities of perceiving and processing speech sounds are first constrained by basic hearing abilities. The auditory system extracts and processes the acoustic properties from the input language and thus, fully contributes to the development of phonetic categories. Surprisingly, information concerning the interaction between basic auditory capacities and early development of speech processing is still lacking. The present project seeks to combine two approaches to explore this interaction: developmental psycholinguistics, studying the acquisition of a language, and psychoacoustics, describing the auditory mechanisms linked to the perception of speech sounds. First, this project aims to investigate when and how auditory and speech processes interact. The perception of the speech acoustic information (such as spectro-temporal modulations described by psychoacoustic studies) will be assess in adults and infants from different language environments. Second, this project aims to explore further this interaction by investigating the effect of impaired auditory processes on speech perception development. The perception of speech acoustic information will be assessed in hearing-impaired children having access to the hearing world through hearing aids. This research project highlights an innovative multidisciplinary perspective within the speech perception development field. This project will have significant impacts on 1) general health (i.e., auditory rehabilitation for hearing-impaired children) and 2) language education (i.e., perception of foreign languages during development).

The global impact of urbanization presents unprecedented opportunities and profound challenges for universities. It significantly impacts the expectations placed on universities and where in the world – and the city – they need to adapt their institutional infrastructures, pedagogical practices and ways of operating. The multiscalar networks of global urbanization mean urban universities must be understood as being more than simply located ‘in the city’. The ‘new urban university’ is regionalizing and globalizing in dramatic, chaotic ways. What capacities do universities have as urban leaders in a globalizing world? How can universities better mobilize in, and for, extended city-regions? How can marginalized urban communities inform universities’ spatial and strategic actions? Situating the New Urban University responds to the challenges of global urbanization by illustrating how higher education providers can better serve people in places, versus drawing people to a place. By taking stock of the influence major sociospatial changes in urban regions have on universities (e.g. globalization, neoliberalization), the project: (1) provides an international assessment of universities’ engagement practices and impacts; and (2) presents a major comparative examination of higher education systems at the city-regional scale. In-depth studies of universities’ spatial strategies in the London and New York global city-regions will speak directly to best practices in creating and sustaining reflexive, resilient university-society networks for diverse communities in urban contexts. Stakeholder involvement from the initial phases of the research allows the project to integrate direct input from in the research design and outputs. Situating the New Urban University deepens academic and policy understandings of how knowledge transfer takes place in global city-regions, enabling higher education and urban policymakers to optimize universities’ contributions and societal impact.