Analyses in vocabulary research should avoid the language‐as‐a‐fixed‐effect fallacy, whereby no statistical evidence is provided to support claimed generalizations beyond the words tested in the sample. Although mixed‐effects models are widely adopted in social sciences to avoid this fallacy, second language vocabulary researchers primarily conduct potentially problematic fixed‐effects analyses. In

Instructed second language acquisition (ISLA) inquiry emphasizes the ways in which systematic manipulation of learning conditions may facilitate second language (L2) acquisition. ISLA research has tended to prioritize grammar and vocabulary over pronunciation. However, an increase in classroom‐based pronunciation research has begun to address this oversight. Within ISLA inquiry, themes of interest

This response to the commentaries on our conceptual review article on structural complexity and learning difficulty in second language acquisition (SLA) clarifies the scope and objectives of our framework, the challenges of defining and measuring complexity and difficulty, and the broader relevance of our proposal for both empirical research and theory building in SLA, including its relationships to

We employed structural priming to test whether targeted exposure to unambiguous form–meaning mappings led to learning of noncanonical word orders, specifically in object relative clauses, among 165 low‐to‐intermediate‐level L1 German L2 learners of English. We further investigated the scope of structural priming by assessing whether priming with related grammatical structures that had been acquired

Prior research suggests that second language (L2) proficiency is key in students’ study progress, but this research has mainly been carried out at universities. It is thus unclear how this relation varies across different educational levels. Moreover, previous studies are often not informative about the causality of this relation, making it difficult to base intervention policies on these studies.

The current study investigated from a usage‐based perspective how phrasal frequency and collocational strength of verb–preposition collocations influence preposition placement in wh‐relative clauses. Native English speakers and Chinese learners of English as a second language of the intermediate and advanced English proficiencies completed a sentence completion task and an acceptability judgment task

This study investigates how distributional cues are integrated into the mental representation of the as‐predicative construction by English native and nonnative speakers, drawing on associative learning theory. We examined speakers’ constructional retrieval when given a verbal cue (Experiment 1) and their verb retrieval when given a constructional cue (Experiment 2). Speakers concurrently integrated

Seeing written forms of novel words during learning can help memorize vocabulary, but it may alter pronunciation, especially when orthography is opaque like in English. This study investigated whether a color‐code helps participants learn novel words with unpredictable pronunciation. Sixty Spanish speakers learned 16 English‐like pseudowords in one of three training conditions. Audio group learned

The present study used immersive virtual‐reality (iVR) technology to simulate a real‐life environment and examined its impact on novel‐word learning and lexicalization. On Days 1–3, Chinese‐speaking participants learned German words in iVR and traditional picture–word (PW) association contexts. A semantic‐priming task was used to measure word lexicalization on Day 4, and again 6 months later. The behavioral

Learning multiword expressions (MWEs) typically involves exposure to language input, such as through reading and listening. However, this way of learning can be rather slow. Therefore, finding strategies to enhance learning from input is crucial for language acquisition. In this study, 80 Iranian learners of English as a foreign language read short texts with 28 figurative English phrasal verbs (PVs)

Abundant research has indicated fluency features as meaningful predictors of second language proficiency. However, the extent to which different fluency dimensions and features can predict proficiency remains underexplored. This meta‐analysis employed a multilevel modeling approach to synthesize fluency–proficiency relationships from 71 empirical studies from 1959–2023. Additionally, we examined several

There is considerable lab‐based evidence for successful incidental learning, in which a learner's attention is directed away from the to‐be‐learned stimulus and towards another stimulus. In this study, we extend incidental learning research into the language learning classroom. Three groups of adult second language (L2) learners (N = 52) engaged in structured classroom Mandarin learning took part in

Inferring the meaning of words and then verifying one's interpretations is widely believed to create relatively strong memories of the items. According to the available research, it is when the inferences are accurate that the learning outcomes are the most promising. The present study extends this inquiry to idioms. Fifty‐six ESL learners were presented with 21 English idioms (e.g., toe the line)

The present study investigates the impact of bidialectalism on L2 production, focusing on the role of dialect modes. Shanghai–Mandarin Chinese bidialectal speakers were recruited to produce second language (L2) English vowels under the influence of either Shanghai or Mandarin Chinese mode. Results showed that in the Shanghai mode, participants’ English vowel production closely resembled that of native

Studies looking into second language development have shown that findings about a group of learners cannot be transferred to individual learners. In this study, we explored ways to meaningfully group individuals starting from the data and investigated whether this grouping can give extra information about learning trajectories that goes beyond the individual learner. We followed 61 learners for 10

Second language (L2) viewing with captions (i.e., L2 on‐screen text) is now a proliferating as well as promising area of L2 acquisition research. The goal of the present meta‐analysis was to examine (a) the relationship between captioned viewing and incidental vocabulary learning and (b) what variables related to learners, treatment, methodology, and vocabulary tests moderate the captioning effect

Using computational Social Network Analysis (SNA), this longitudinal study investigates the development of the interaction network and its influence on the second language (L2) gains of a complete cohort of 41 U.S. sojourners enrolled in a 3‐month intensive study‐abroad Arabic program in Jordan. Unlike extant research, our study focuses on students’ interactions with alma mater classmates, reconstructing

Research on second language (L2) pronunciation self‐assessment reports a general misalignment between self‐ and other‐assessment. This has been attributed to the object of self‐assessment, the self‐assessment task, the measures to which self‐assessment is compared, and speakers’ characteristics. Here, we examined self‐assessment of a discrete phonological feature—sentence stress—by L2 English speakers

This study investigated changes in motivation, self‐efficacy beliefs, and a range of emotions, including enjoyment, hope, pride, curiosity, anxiety, boredom, apathy, confusion, and shame, from a complex dynamic systems theory (CDST) perspective over a 2‐year period in the Hungarian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. Using the same questionnaire, we collected data four times throughout 4 semesters

This longitudinal study examines the effects of a pre‐study abroad (SA) pedagogic intervention and subsequent SA experience on second language (L2) Mandarin fluency. It explores two temporal aspects of oral fluency—planning time and speech rate—along with one performance measure, duration of response. Additionally, L2 contact data were included as a supplementary variable in the analysis. The experimental

This study tested whether encouraging prediction enhances prediction in second language (L2) speakers. L2 English speakers listened to English sentences like The woman … will read/buy one of the newspapers while viewing the target (a newspaper) and distractor objects (a rose, a bowl, and a mango) on a screen and clicked on the target as quickly as possible. The target was predictable (read) or unpredictable

This study investigated how repeating a video‐lecture‐based task affects second language (L2) learners’ processing and incidental acquisition of technical vocabulary as well as the relationship between processing and lexical gains. The participants were 75 Chinese learners of L2 English. Thirty participants performed the task once (control group), whereas another 30 participants did the same task three

Because of authentic exposure, study‐abroad sojourners are expected to become more proficient in terms of holistic formulaicity (defined as targetlike language use of intensifiers, fillers, multiword sequences, lexical features, verb–argument constructions, pragmatic and discourse features, and so on), use of formulaic sequences, and lexical measures. This study traces the development of these constructs

Our contribution draws on quantitative data from a longitudinal mixed‐methods study to uncover different patterns of social contacts of study abroad (SA) students and the relationship of these social contacts with (a) language use, (b) target language development, and (c) contextual variables. Data were obtained by means of online questionnaires pre, during, and post sojourn. English oral proficiency

Substantial research suggests that high variability (multitalker) phonetic training helps second language (L2) adults improve differentiation of challenging nonnative speech sounds. Is such training also useful for L2 children? Existing studies have mixed findings and important limitations. We investigate the potential benefits of computerized phonetic training for 50 Dutch 7‐year‐olds and 39 11‐year‐olds

Native language (L1) attrition is ubiquitous in modern globalized society, but its cognitive/psycholinguistic mechanisms are poorly understood. We investigated lexico‐semantic L1 attrition in L1 Russian immigrants in Israel, who predominantly use their second language (L2), Hebrew, in daily life. We included Russian monolinguals as a control group. We tested two potential causal mechanisms of attrition:

This study investigates whether syntactic unification occurs during online L2 sentence comprehension using time‐frequency analysis. We measured the oscillatory power changes in native English speakers and L1‐Cantonese L2‐English speakers while they were reading well‐formed English sentences, syntactically intact nonsense sentences, and random word lists. Additionally, we conducted traditional ERP analyses

We explore how general principles of learning apply to and combine with usage‐based approaches to language learning and teaching, with a focus on the effects of order of exposure to new information in second language (L2) instruction. Although the effects of input spacing and timing on memory and learning have been previously explored (see Rogers, 2020; Shintani, 2017, for an overview), the effects

Second language (L2) grammar learning is difficult. Two frameworks—the psycholinguistic lexical bottleneck hypothesis and the neurocognitive declarative/procedural model—predict that faster L2 lexical processing should facilitate L2 incidental grammar learning. We tested these predictions in a pretest–posttest syntactic adaptation study of English relative‐clause attachment preferences. First‐language

Recent research on second or additional language (L2) pragmatics instruction in study abroad has incorporated the technique of encouraging students to gather data about pragmatics, for example, by asking members of the host country to complete questionnaires, practice using pragmatic features, or answer questions about pragmatics (e.g., Hernández, 2021; Mir, 2021). Such studies have reported positive

A strong predictor of children's language is performance on non‐word repetition (NWR) tasks. However, the basis of this relationship remains unknown. Some suggest that NWR tasks measure phonological working memory, which then affects language growth. Others argue that children's knowledge of language/language experience affects NWR performance. A complicating factor is that most studies focus on school‐aged

In this Methods Showcase Article, we illustrate mixed‐effects modeling with a multinomial dependent variable as a means of explaining complexities in language. We model data on future‐time reference in second language Spanish, which consists of a nominal dependent variable that has three levels, measured over 73 participants. We offer step‐by‐step procedures for multinomial logistic regression with

This study revisits the roles of different aspects of phonological vocabulary knowledge in second language (L2) listening. Japanese learners of English (n = 114) completed the TOEIC Listening test and three phonological vocabulary tests assessing (a) ability to recognize the meanings of aural forms (meaning recognition), (b) ability to recall the meanings of aural forms (meaning recall), and (c) ability

In this paper, we report a longitudinal study of the effects of procedural task repetition on learners’ task performance (i.e., syntactic complexity in relation to lexical complexity). We investigated how task repetition results in differences at the group and individual level across each task interval (T = 7). Intermediate‐level Saudi learners of English (N = 93) performed a written task biweekly

Eye tracking has taken hold in second language acquisition (SLA) and bilingualism as a valuable technique for researching cognitive processes, yet a comprehensive picture of reporting practices is still lacking. Our systematic review addressed this gap. We synthesized 145 empirical eye‐tracking studies, coding for 58 reporting features and applying a gap analysis to the codings. Although certain aspects

Most second language acquisition (SLA) research has documented the processes involved in learning second/foreign languages, with few studies focusing on the durability of attained second language (L2) skills once instructed learners/users are no longer receiving formal instruction. The current study examines the effects of continued exposure and peak instructional attainment on the long‐term evolution

This study examined the influence of cognate status and language distance on simultaneous bilingual children's vocabulary acquisition. It aimed to tease apart effects of word‐level similarities and language‐level similarities, while also exploring the role of individual‐level variation in age, exposure, and nontarget language proficiency. Children simultaneously acquiring two closely related languages

Collocational priming is a priming effect induced by collocationally related words; it has been taken to explain the cognitive reality of collocation. Collocational priming has largely been observed in first language (L1) speakers, whereas work on the representation of collocation in a second language (L2) is still limited. In the present study, we sought to investigate this phenomenon in L1 and L2

For Spanish nouns, masculine gender is unmarked and feminine is marked. Effects of markedness on gender agreement processing are inconsistent, possibly owing to differences between online methods. This study presents a reanalysis of eye‐tracking data from Keating's (2022) study on the processing of noun‐adjective gender agreement in speakers of Spanish as a majority and a heritage language. Pairwise

In a recent study, preschoolers adapted their syntactic expectations about a familiar phrase in French; this adaptation affected later word learning. In two experiments, we probed the generality of this finding by replicating the experiment and extending it to a different expression in English. We examined the ambiguous phrase the baby, which can be followed by nouns (the baby monkeys) or verbs (the

Adults learning a new language tend to judge unconventional utterances more leniently than fluent speakers do; ratings on acceptable utterances, however, tend to align more closely with fluent speakers. This asymmetry raises a question as to whether unconventional utterances can be statistically preempted by conventional utterances for adult learners. We report a preregistered study that provided undergraduates

Concrete symbols (e.g., sun, run) can be learned in the context of objects and actions, thereby grounding their meaning in the world. However, it is controversial whether a comparable avenue to semantic learning exists for abstract symbols (e.g., democracy). When we simulated the putative brain mechanisms of conceptual/semantic grounding using brain‐constrained deep neural networks, the learning of

What is the relationship between literacy skills and implicit learning? To address previous mixed findings, we compared school‐aged readers, typical (CON, n = 54) and with dyslexia (DYS, n = 53), in relation to their performance on a serial reaction time task. For the first time, we also included an isolated spelling deficit group (ISD, n = 30) to control for distinctive effects of reading and spelling

Taza in Spanish refers to cups and mugs in English, whereas glass refers to different glass types in Spanish: copa and vaso. It is still unclear whether such categorical distinctions induce early perceptual differences in speakers of different languages. In this study, for the first time, we report symmetrical effects of terminology on preattentive indices of categorical perception across languages

The temporal focus hypothesis (TFH) entails that individuals who value the past tend to conceptualize it in front, whereas individuals who value the future tend to map the future in front instead (de la Fuente et al., 2014). This varies as a function of culture, individual differences, and context. Here, we extend this line of inquiry by testing a contextual variable, namely COVID‐19 quarantine status

Some listeners exhibit higher sensitivity to subphonemic acoustic differences (i.e., higher speech gradiency). Here, we asked whether higher gradiency in a listener's first language (L1) facilitates foreign language learning and explored the possible sources of individual differences in L1 gradiency. To address these questions, we tested 164 native Spanish speakers with different linguistic profiles

Second language acquisition theory has traditionally focused on the cognitive and psycholinguistic processes involved in additional language (L2) learning. In addition, research on learner psychology has primarily centered on learners’ cognitive abilities (e.g., aptitude and working memory) and internal traits or states (e.g., dispositions, motivations, and affect). Language learning behavior, however

Color terms divide the color spectrum differently across languages. Previous studies have reported that speakers of languages that have different words for light and dark blue (e.g., Russian siniy and goluboy) discriminate color chips sampled from these two linguistic categories faster than speakers of languages that use one basic color term for blue (e.g., English blue). This effect has been reported