Fernex , A., Lima, L. , & DeVries, E. (2014). Exploring Time Allocation for Academic Activities by University Students in France. Higher Education, electronic publication. DOI: 10.1007/s10734-014-9782-5

The purpose of this article is to study how students allocate time to different university and extra-university activities and to identify factors that might explain variability both between and within fields of study. At the heart of this exercise is the question of the time students dedicate to academic activities in competition with a whole range of other activities. In the literature, multiple candidate explanations are available that arise from models from essentially different conceptual origin. In particular, economic, sociological, and phenomenologically inspired models could provide valuable insight into the question. After a critical examination of these models on their potential for explaining time allocation, a study is reported involving a survey in higher education institutions in France. Data were analyzed using a hierarchical linear modeling approach. Results show that time allocation seems to be rooted in students’ past and current experience more than in their anticipations of the future. Implications for the value of the models in relation to the study of time allocation are discussed.

Fernex, A., & Lima, L.(2012). To be a student within the Bologna process: new insights and studies outcomes. Grenoble, France : PUG. ISBN: 2706116595.

This work is the result of an international scientific collaboration that has been going on for ten years. The research's themes are higher education and students. A lot of works are now produced on higher educational policies, at a national level, but also at an international level. The originality of this book is that it proceeds by inquiries with the students, on the basis of an international questionnaire that allows international comparisons.
The book gathers texts of researchers' from university teams of several European countries (Germany, Austria, Spain, France), but also from Taïwan and Quebec.
In a context of economic globalization and technological revolution, in a period when the changes brought by the construction of Europe and the increase of the international university exchanges render necessary a better knowledge of academic publics, this work brings precious information not only for the persons in charge and the decision-makers, but also for all the actors of the higher education.

 Lima, L. (2012). De quoi "ça" parle: essai d'analyse référentielle du discours de l'enseignant. Education et didactique, 6, 3, 41-63.

Dans cet article nous proposons une tentative adaptation des modèles de compréhension du discours à une analyse, semi-automatisée, du discours de l’enseignant en contexte de cours magistral. Il s’agit de suivre l’évolution de la structure référentielle du discours pour, d’une part, pouvoir identifier la structure thématique développée par l’enseignant et, d’autre part, rendre compte de l’organisation référentielle à l’intérieur de chaque thème. La vidéo permet alors d’identifier aussi les référents déictiques auxquels l’enseignant renvoie en désignant des éléments du contexte. L’algorithme de calcul de l’activation des référents proposé semble permettre d’identifier la structure thématique du discours de l’enseignant à partir de la détermination de référents centraux et de changements de thèmes. Il permet aussi d’analyser plus finement le développement du discours de l’enseignant à travers les proximités ou les distances entre référents. Au-delà de l’analyse d’une vidéo de classe, les résultats obtenus montrent que cette technique d’analyse peut être un outil pertinent, et complémentaire à ceux déjà mis en œuvre, pour l’analyse didactique de situation d’enseignement.

Bianco, M., Pellenq, C.,Lambert, E., Bressoux, P., Lima, L., & Doyen, A.-L. (2011). Impact of early code-skill and oral compréhension training on reading achievement in first grade. Journal of Research in reading, 35, 4, 427-455. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9817.2010.01479.x

In a 3-year longitudinal study, we examined the relationships between oral language development, early training and reading acquisition on word-identification and reading-comprehension tests administered to a sample of 687 French children. Hierarchical linear models showed that both phonological awareness and oral comprehension at the age of 4 years were relevant to reading acquisition 2 years later. These two broad skills explained separate parts of the variance on both outcome measures, while revealing opposite effects: phonological skills explained more variance for alphabetic reading skills and oral comprehension explained more variance for reading comprehension. We also assessed the effects of two preschool training programs focusing on either phonological awareness or comprehension skills. The results showed that phonological awareness training had a positive effect on alphabetic scores, and comprehension training had a positive effect on reading comprehension. These results provide insight into earl y oral instruction and contribute to the theoretical debate about the linguistic predictors of literacy acquisition.