SEPAME2: The first longitudinal corpus for Greek as an L2 Maria Iakovou, Olga Dima, Tatiana Katsina, Maria Kavvadia, Sophia- Nepheli Kitrou, Christina Kostakou, Marina Koutsoubou, Froso Pappa, Stavrialena Perrea, Irianna Vasileiadi-Linardaki & Flora Vlachou National and Kapodistrian University of Athens sepame2@phil.uoa.gr, sepame2@gmail.com Abstract SEPAME2 is the first attempt to design and implement a longitudinal corpus of different L1 learners of Greek as an L2. It supports the idea that the best way to learn a language is by being “pushed” to use it in different circumstances/registers and by taking advantage of personalized feedback modes, so that the language becomes not only the result of the learning process, but also the source of further metalinguistic reflection. In this preliminary presentation, main design principles as well as future implications of the SEPAME2 project are discussed. 1 Introduction Learner corpora, defined as electronic collections of written or spoken texts produced by language learners (Granger 2008: 259), can contribute to Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theory and research by enlightening the cognitive processes of language learning and providing a more accurate description of interlanguage. Current learner corpora tend to be synchronic, which means they describe learner use at a particular point of time. There are very few longitudinal corpora, that is, corpora which cover the evolution of learner use. For Granger (2002:11) “the reason is simple: such corpora are very difficult to compile as they require a learner population to be followed for months or, preferably, years”. The challenge becomes even greater, when the research objective focuses on one of the less widely spoken and taught languages, such as Modern Greek, where there are no longitudinal corpora at all. The learner corpus research is eliminated in some cross-sectional corpora quite easily compiled by language certification texts or written essays produced for special occasions, such as those produced by young learners participating in educational programs, like Diapolis or Muslim Minority Education (Tzimokas 2010, Kiliari 2014, Tantos 2015). SEPAME2, which stands for the Greek initials of Learner Longitudinal Corpus for Greek as a Second Language (L2), was initiated in October 2014 at the Modern Greek Language School of the EPiC Series in Language and Linguistics Volume 1, 2016, Pages 191–201 CILC2016. 8th International Conference on Corpus Linguistics A.Moreno Ortiz and C.P´ erez-Hern´andez (eds.), CILC2016 (EPiC Series in Language and Linguistics, vol. 1), pp. 191–201