Jye Phillip Smallwood
- PhD Student
About
Supervisor: Dr Dora Alexopolou
Research Topic: Null Subject Language Typology and L2 Proficiency and their Influence on Second Language Acquisition Patterns.
Jye is a PhD student in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics at University of Cambridge. Before beginning his doctoral studies, he earned an MSc in Applied Linguistics for Language Teaching from University of Oxford (2019–2021), MA in Applied Policy Research from Newcastle University and a BA (Hons) in English from Northumbria University (2007–2008). He also holds a Cambridge Certificate in Teaching English to Adults (CELTA) and a PGCert in School Management and Leadership from Harvard University Graduate School of Education.
His interest in crosslinguistic transfer effects in second language acquisition stems from his previous career teaching English in the UK, Europe, The Middle East, and the Americas. His dissertation examines how learners' first language typology influences their English production. More broadly, he is interested in how parametric variation shapes language learning and the interface between formal syntactic theory and applied linguistics. His research interests include generative second language acquisition, corpus linguistics, comparative syntax, and quantitative research methods linguistics.
Scholarships/Prizes
• Pillman & Cody Conference Fund (£600)
• Cambridge Student Union College Officer of the Year: Shortlisted
• U.S. Department of State English Language Fellowship - Taiwan (2025), Vietnam (2021-2022), Russia (2023-2024)
Conference Papers
• Smallwood, J. (2024). 'Assessing the Impact of Typology and Proficiency on Pronoun Usage in SLA: A Large-Scale Analysis of Null-Subject Language Learner'. EUROSLA 33, Montpellier, France.
• Smallwood, J. (2023). 'The role of L1 typology and L2 proficiency in predicting null-subject transfer'. EUROSLA 32, Birmingham, UK.
• Smallwood, J. (2021). 'The role of L1 typology and L2 proficiency in null subject transfer' (master’s thesis). University of Oxford, Faculty of Education.
• Smallwood, J. (2021). 'Teaching Listening from the Bottom-up'. Workshop presented at VietTESOL Conference (Online).
• Smallwood, J. (2020). 'Helping learners with bottom-up listening skills'. Workshop presented at ILE Universidad de San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador.
• Smallwood, J. (2019). 'Using L1 Effectively in the Classroom'. TESOL Arabia, Dubai, UAE.
Other Activities and Roles
• Reviewer: Journal of Language Teaching
• Reviewer: VietTESOL International Conference Manuscript Selection Committee (2021)
• Member: IATEFL, TESOL International, TESOL Arabia, European Second Language Association (EUROSLA)
• Girton College MCR President (2024-2025)
• Girton College MCR General Secretary (2023-2024)
Research
Jye's PhD project focuses on crosslinguistic transfer of null subject properties in second language acquisition. He examines how learners from ten typologically diverse first languages produce English grammatical structures, particularly investigating subjects, objects, agreement morphology, and article usage. Using Roberts' person-phi hierarchy as a theoretical framework, he analyses large-scale corpus data from the EF-Cambridge Open Language Database (EFCAMDAT) with Bayesian statistical modelling. His research explores the role of formal features in parametric transfer and how typological proximity interacts with language proficiency to influence acquisition patterns, contributing to theoretical debates in generative SLA while offering practical implications for language pedagogy.