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Structural priming facilitates L2 learning of the dative alternation in Mandarin Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-09-18 Yanxin (Alice) Zhu, Theres Grüter
This study investigated whether structural priming, as a reflection of error-driven learning mechanisms, could facilitate second language (L2) learning of the dative alternation in Mandarin. We sought evidence of learning from both priming and acceptability judgment data. Participants were 25 native speakers and 41 classroom learners (CLs). After a priming session in which participants predicted and
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Task-generated processes in second language speech production: Exploring the neural correlates of task complexity during silent pauses Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-09-18 Andrea Révész, Hyeonjeong Jeong, Shungo Suzuki, Haining Cui, Shunsui Matsuura, Kazuya Saito, Motoaki Sugiura
The last three decades have seen significant development in understanding and describing the effects of task complexity on learner internal processes. However, researchers have primarily employed behavioral methods to investigate task-generated cognitive load. Being the first to adopt neuroimaging to study second language (L2) task effects, we aimed to provide novel insights into the neural correlates
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Explicit information and practice type can affect the L2 acquisition of plural marking: Empirical insights from web-based contrastive instruction Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-09-16 Matt Lucas
Previous research has indicated that explicit information (EI) about either the first language (L1) or second language (L2) along with task-essential practice can facilitate L2 learning (e.g., Fernández, 2008; McManus, 2022). However, little research has examined L1–L2 contrastive EI with L1/L2 practice. Targeting plural-marking accuracy, the present study sought to fill this gap by exposing 127 Japanese
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Bilingualism and flexibility in task switching Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-05-23 Rebecca Ward, Justin Awani
This study aimed to closely replicate Wiseheart et al. (Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 19(1), 141–146, 2016) by investigating the transferability of language-switching skills to nonlinguistic task switching. Current evidence is mixed and there is a need to conduct robust replications in this area. Bilingual (n = 31) and monolingual (n = 47) young adults characterized stimuli by either colour
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Acceptance and engagement patterns of mobile-assisted language learning among non-conventional adult L2 learners: A survival analysis Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-05-22 Hyun-Bin Hwang, Matthew D. Coss, Shawn Loewen, Kaitlyn M. Tagarelli
Research on mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) has revealed that high rates of attrition among users can undermine the potential benefits of this learning method. To explore this issue, we surveyed 3,670 adult MALL users based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and also conducted an in-depth analysis of their historical app usage data. The results of hierarchical
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Coherence and Comprehensibility in Second Language Speakers’ Academic Speaking Performance Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-05-20 Aki Tsunemoto, Pavel Trofimovich
This study examined the role of discourse organization in second language (L2) comprehensibility ratings. Twelve English for Academic Purposes teachers listened to 60 L2 speech samples elicited through a TOEFL–type integrated speaking task, evaluating each sample for comprehensibility and coherence (perceived interconnectedness of ideas). The samples were analyzed for the occurrence of discourse features
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The Interplay of Mindsets, Aptitude, Grit, and Language Achievement: What Role Does Gender Play? Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-05-20 Yasser Teimouri, Somayeh Tahmouresi, Farhad Tabandeh
The study aimed to examine the interrelationships between growth mindset, L2 aptitude, L2 grit, and L2 achievement, while also exploring the moderating role of gender in these interactions. A sample of 236 English-major students participated in the study by completing a language aptitude test and a questionnaire. The results of path analyses indicated that both aptitude and L2 grit similarly and positively
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Statistical Insignificance is not wholesale transfer in L3 Acquisition: an approximate replication of Rothman (2011) Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-05-13 Kyle Parrish
This study was an approximate replication of Rothman (2011),examining the determiner phrase syntax of a large sample (n = 211) of L3 learners of Portuguese who spoke English and Spanish. Rothman (2011) investigated whether L3 Italian or Brazilian Portuguese speakers are differently impacted by another known Romance Language, if it was their L1 or L2. The original study concluded that groups did not
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How well are primary and secondary meanings of L2 words acquired? Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-05-09 Beatriz González-Fernández, Stuart Webb
Most words in a language have more than one meaning. Yet, few studies have explicitly examined the acquisition of secondary meanings of L2 words and the extent to which polysemy and homonymy affect vocabulary learning. This study explores the effect of polysemy and homonymy on the deliberate acquisition of the form–meaning connections of L2 words. Thirty-six EFL learners (compared with a control group
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L2 Language Development in Oral and Written Modalities Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-05-08 Myeongeun Son
This study investigates whether second language (L2) learners’ language development and accuracy in production are comparable across oral and written modalities on the basis of Pienemann’s processability theory (PT). Eighty-seven English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, from high beginner to advanced levels, completed comparable speaking and writing tasks designed to elicit particular morphosyntactic
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Feeling signs: motor encoding enhances sign language learning in hearing adults Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-04-29 Laura M. Morett, Mathew Cieśla, Mary E. Bray, Karen Emmorey
Manual production enhances learning and recall of signs by hearing second language learners; however, the mechanisms enabling this effect are unclear. We examined whether the motor encoding (somatosensory feedback) that occurs during sign production benefits learning and whether it interacts with sign iconicity, which also enhances learning. American Sign Language (ASL) signs varying in iconicity were
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The effects of distributed practice on second language fluency development Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-04-22 Joe Kakitani, Judit Kormos
This study examined the effects of distributed practice on second language (L2) speech fluency development. A total of 116 Japanese L2 learners of English were randomly divided into experimental or control conditions. Learners assigned to the experimental groups engaged in four fluency training sessions either in a short-spaced (1-day interval) or long-spaced (7-day interval) condition. Although different
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Development of verb argument constructions in L2 English learners: A close replication of research question 3 in Römer and Berger (2019) Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-04-05 Yingying Liu, Xiaofei Lu
This study closely replicates the analyses of the third research question in Römer and Berger (2019), which reported that the associations between verbs and verb argument constructions (VACs) used by German and Spanish learners of English move closer to a native usage norm as the learners’ proficiency increases. This study conducted the same correlation analyses from the original study but with a substantially
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Robust evidence for the simple view of second language reading: Secondary meta-analysis of Jeon and Yamashita (2022) Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-04-04 Akira Hamada, Haruka Shimizu, Yuko Hoshino, Shuichi Takaki, Yuji Ushiro
This paper reports a complete secondary analysis of Jeon and Yamashita’s (2022) systematic review to build the second language (L2) model of the simple view of reading (SVR). The same meta-analytic methodologies were maintained, with the exception of applying meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM). This study successfully replicated some of the aggregated correlations but not others, owing
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Clarifying the role of inhibitory control in L2 phonological processing: A preregistered, close replication of Darcy et al. (2016) Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-04-04 Amanda Huensch
Darcy et al. (2016) examined the relationship between language abilities and general cognition, or specifically, how inhibitory control might relate to L2 speech perception and production. Given that their findings unexpectedly indicated a stronger relationship between inhibitory control and perception in comparison to inhibitory control and production, and because inhibitory control was measured using
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The interpretation of verbal moods in Spanish: A close replication of Kanwit and Geeslin (2014) Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-04-02 Aarnes Gudmestad, Amanda Edmonds, Carlos Henderson, Christina Lindqvist
This study is a close replication of Kanwit and Geeslin (2014), a variationist investigation of the interpretation of verbal moods in adverbial clauses in Spanish. Whereas the first language (L1) of the second-language participants in the initial study was English, we explore whether Kanwit and Geeslin’s results extend to other L1 populations—Swedish and French learners of Spanish. Participants in
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A comparison of Lab- and Web-based elicited imitation: Insights from explicit-implicit L2 grammar knowledge and L2 proficiency Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-04-01 Kathy Minhye Kim, Xiaoyi Liu, Daniel R. Isbell, Xiaobin Chen
Elicited imitation (EI) tasks are a practical tool for measuring second language (L2) knowledge and skills. In this study, we implemented a web-based EI task that measures English morphosyntactic knowledge and compared its measurement properties to a traditional laboratory-based EI. A cohort of 149 L2 English learners engaged in the web-based EI task, and 151 participants completed a traditional lab-based
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Testing for proficiency effects and crosslinguistic influence in L2 processing: Filler-gap dependencies in L2 English by Jordanian-Arabic and Mandarin speakers Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-25 Alaa Al-Maani, Shayne Sloggett, Nino Grillo, Heather Marsden
This study expands on previous research into filler-gap dependency processing in second language (L2) English, by means of a replication of Canales’s (2012) self-paced reading study. Canales, among others, found that advanced L2-English speakers exhibited the same processing behavior that Stowe (1986) found for native English processing: On encountering a filler, they posited gaps in licensed positions and
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The effects of exposure and explicit stereotypes on veracity judgments of Polish-accented English speech: A preregistered close replication and extension of Boduch-Grabka & Lev-Ari (2021) Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-22 Samantha Barlow, Greg Beardsley, Zéta Bsharah, Robin Crofts, Carlos De La Rosa, Andrea Gutierrez, Carlie Highfill, Amy Gail Wade Johnson, Caroline Johnson, Jacob Johnson, Isaac Leyva Cardenas, Jordan Taylor Martinez, Nathaniel Todd Miller, Riley Monroe Murray, Sylvia Page, Taylor Petersen, Irina Ramos, Rayvin Rhodes, Phoebe Vainuku, Brenan M. Wednesday, Emma Corrine Farnsworth, Seung Kyung Kim, Rachel
Boduch-Grabka and Lev-Ari (2021) showed that so-called “native” British-English speakers judged statements produced by Polish-accented English speakers as less likely to be true than statements produced by “native” speakers and that prior exposure to Polish-accented English speech modulates this effect. Given the real-world consequences of this study, as well as our commitment to assessing and mitigating
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Sense-aware connective-based indices of cohesion and their relationship to cohesion ratings of English language learners’ written production Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-21 Xiaofei Lu, Renfen Hu
The use of connectives has been considered important for assessing the cohesion of written texts (Crossley et al., 2019). However, existing connective-based indices have not systematically addressed two issues of ambiguity, namely, that between discourse and non-discourse use of polysemous word forms and that in terms of the specific discourse relations marked by polysemous discourse connectives (Pitler
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L2 learning outcomes of a research-based digital app for Japanese children Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-18 Hee Jin Bang, Eric Setoguchi, Alison Mackey, Akiko Fujii
Digital educational game-based apps can be effective in helping young children develop language skills, particularly when paired with formal instruction. However, we need to know more about how educational games benefit learning in the absence of formal instruction, given children’s proficiency with and willingness to use mobile devices anytime, anywhere. This study uses a randomized controlled trial
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Multilingualism and native speakerism in academic journals’ language policies: Exploring a potential power of applied linguistics journals in promoting equitable publishing practices Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-18 Leiry K. Warren, Masatoshi Sato
Multilingualism in the context of academic publishing involves beliefs and actions manifested through publications in multiple languages. However, a systematic analysis of how academic journals practice multilingualism has been scant. Therefore, the present study analyzed how indexed journals of applied linguistics promote and practice multilingualism following their scopes and language policies (LPs)
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Research Methods for IDs and TBLT: A Substantive and Methodological Review Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-15 Lara Bryfonski, Yunjung (Yunie) Ku, Alison Mackey
As part of ongoing efforts to characterize the extent to which tasks and interaction-driven language learning are influenced by individual differences (IDs), task-based researchers have thus far examined variables like learners’ levels of L2 anxiety, motivation, cognitive creativity, working memory capacity, and aptitude. Building on a tradition of prior syntheses in task-based language teaching (TBLT
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Do verbal and nonverbal declarative memory tasks in second language research measure the same abilities? Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-11 Phillip Hamrick, Christopher A. Was, Yin Zhang
A growing body of evidence demonstrates that individual differences in declarative memory may be an important predictor of second language (L2) abilities. However, the evidence comes from studies using different declarative memory tasks that vary in their reliance on verbal abilities and task demands, which preclude estimating the size of the relationship between declarative memory and L2 learning
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Optimizing the input for learning of L2-specific constructions: The roles of Zipfian and balanced input, explicit rules and working memory Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-06 Manuel F. Pulido
Usage-based theory has proposed that learning of linguistic constructions is facilitated by input that contains few high-frequency exemplars, in what is known as a skewed (or Zipfian) input distribution. Early empirical work provided support to this idea, but subsequent L2 research has provided mixed findings. However, previous approaches have not explored the impact that cognitive traits (e.g., working
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Prosodic processing in sentences with ‘only’ in L1 and L2 English Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-02-14 Rachida Ganga, Haoyan Ge, Marijn E. Struiksma, Virginia Yip, Aoju Chen
It has been proposed that second language (L2) learners differ from native speakers in processing due to either influence from their native language or an inability to integrate information from multiple linguistic domains in a second language. To shed new light on the underlying mechanism of L2 processing, we used an event-related potentials (ERP) paradigm to examine the processing of sentences with
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When and how to use confirmatory composite analysis (CCA) in second language research Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-02-06 Abdullah Alamer, Florian Schuberth, Jörg Henseler
Researchers in second language (L2) and education domain use different statistical methods to assess their constructs of interest. Many L2 constructs emerge from elements/parts, i.e., the elements define and form the construct and not the other way around. These constructs are referred to as emergent variables (also called components, formative constructs, and composite constructs). Because emergent
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Variability in heritage and second language writers’ linguistic complexity: Roles of proficiency and motivational beliefs Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-04 Janire Zalbidea
This study investigates the extent to which (a) Spanish heritage (HL) and second language (L2) writers’ linguistic complexity differs across register contexts and (b) Spanish proficiency and writing motivational beliefs differentially affect HL and L2 writers’ performance. Participants were 58 HL and 54 L2 Spanish learners who completed two persuasive writing tasks—the Email to Friend and Letter to
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Inhibitory and facilitative effects of lexical neighbors in spoken word recognition: The role of language experience Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-11-29 Mona Roxana Botezatu, Dalia L. Garcia
The study evaluated whether the direction (inhibitory or facilitative) of the phonological neighborhood density effect in English spoken word recognition was modulated by the relative strength of competitor activation (neighborhood type) in two groups of English-dominant learners of Spanish who differed in language experience. Classroom learners and heritage learners of Spanish identified spoken English
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Unpacking L2 explicit linguistic knowledge and online processing of the English modals may and can: A comparison of acceptability judgments and self-paced reading Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-11-28 Nadia Mifka-Profozic, David O’Reilly, Leonarda Lovrovic
The present study uses self-paced reading as a measure of online processing and an acceptability judgement task as a measure of offline explicit linguistic knowledge, to understand L2 learners’ comprehension processes and their awareness of subtle differences between the modal auxiliaries may and can. Participants were two groups of university students: 42 native speakers of English and 41 native speakers
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The effectiveness of note taking through exposure to L2 input: A meta-analysis Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-11-21 Zhouhan Jin, Stuart Webb
There has been increasing interest in the effects of note taking in second language (L2) research. However, no meta-analysis has been conducted to examine the relationship between note taking and learning through exposure to L2 input. We retrieved 28 effect sizes from 21 studies (N = 1992) to explore the overall effects of note taking as well as to examine the extent to which the effectiveness of note
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Mapping the predictive role of MLAT subtests for L2 achievement through regression commonality analysis Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-11-06 Philip S. Dale, Richard L. Sparks
Despite the widespread use and effectiveness of the Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT) composite score in predicting individual differences in L2 achievement and proficiency, there has been little examination of MLAT subtests, although they have potential for illuminating components of L2 aptitude and the mechanism of prediction. Here we use regression commonality analysis to decompose the predictive
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The processing advantage of multiword sequences: A meta-analysis Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-11-06 Wei Yi, Yanlu Zhong
This meta-analysis synthesized 35 English studies (130 effect sizes, N = 1,981) that employed online tasks to investigate the processing of multiword sequences (MWSs). We examined (a) to what extent MWSs enjoy a processing advantage over novel word combinations; (b) how such a processing advantage is moderated by statistical regularities (i.e., phrasal frequency, association strength), MWS type, and
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The validation crisis in the L2 motivational self system tradition Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-11-06 Ali H. Al-Hoorie, Phil Hiver, Yo In’nami
Concerns have recently been raised about the validity of scales used in the L2 motivational self system tradition, particularly in relation to sufficient discriminant validity among some of its scales. These concerns highlight the need to systematically examine the validity of scales used in this tradition. In this study, we therefore compiled a list of 18 scales in widespread use and administered
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Usage events and constructional knowledge: A study of two variants of the introductory-it construction Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-10-19 Sakol Suethanapornkul, Sarut Supasiraprapa
Usage-based theories hold that mental representation of language is shaped by a lifetime of usage. Both input to which first language (L1) and second language (L2) users are exposed and their own language production affect their construction learning and entrenchment. The present study investigates L2 users’ knowledge of two introductory-it variants, Adj-that (e.g., it is clear that …) and Adj-to (e
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Definite and indefinite article accuracy in learner English: A multifactorial analysis Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-10-13 Kateryna Derkach, Theodora Alexopoulou
We present a learner corpus-based study of English article use (“a”/“the”/Ø) by L2 learners with four typologically distinct first languages (L1s): German and Brazilian Portuguese (both have articles), Chinese and Russian (no articles). We investigate several semantic and morphosyntactic factors—for example, specificity, prenominal modification that can affect article use. Our analysis of 660 written
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Individual differences in L2 listening proficiency revisited: Roles of form, meaning, and use aspects of phonological vocabulary knowledge Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-10-12 Kazuya Saito, Takumi Uchihara, Kotaro Takizawa, Yui Suzukida
The present study revisits the differential roles of form, meaning, and use aspects of phonological vocabulary knowledge in L2 listening proficiency. A total of 126 Japanese English-as-a-foreign-language listeners completed the TOEIC Listening test, working memory and auditory processing tests, the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire, and several tasks designed to tap into three broad aspects
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Processing to learn noncanonical word orders: Exploring linguistic and cognitive predictors of reanalysis in early L2 sentence comprehension Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-09-28 Holger Hopp, Sarah Schimke, Freya Gastmann, David Öwerdieck, Gregory J. Poarch
To test the contributions of processing to L2 syntax learning, this study explores (cross-) linguistic and cognitive predictors of sentence reanalysis in the L2 comprehension of relative clauses among low-intermediate L1 German adolescent learners of L2 English. Specifically, we test the degree to which L2 comprehension is affected by L2 proficiency, reanalysis ability in a related, earlier-acquired
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Modeling effects of linguistic complexity on L2 processing effort: The case of eye movement in text reading Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-09-18 Xiaopeng Zhang, Nan Gong
This study examined how linguistic complexity features contribute to second language (L2) processing effort by analyzing the Dutch English-L2 learners’ eye movements from GECO and MECO, two eye-tracking corpora. Processing effort was operationalized as reading rate, mean fixation duration, regression rate, skipping rate, and mean saccade amplitude. In Study 1, the lexical, syntactic, and discoursal
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Introduction to the special issue on working memory and L2 writing: Implications for SLA individual differences research Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-09-14 Rosa M. Manchón, Cristina Sanz
This Introduction to the special issue first elaborates on the rationale for advocating the inclusion of L2 writing in SLA individual differences (IDs) research and subsequently provides an overview of empirical work on IDs in the domain of writing, with a focus on cognitive IDs and specifically working memory. Against this background, we synthesize the focus, structure, and contents of the special
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The role of cognitive factors in second language writing and writing to learn a second language Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-09-14 Judit Kormos
This article revisits the role of cognitive individual differences in creating synergies between second language (L2) writing and second language acquisition research that were proposed by Kormos (2012). It takes stock of the advances in research findings, in the past decade, on the role of working memory and language learning aptitude in L2 writing processes and performance. The article offers an
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Exploring the relationship of working memory to the temporal distribution of pausing and revision behaviors during L2 writing Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-09-14 Andrea Révész, Marije Michel, Minjin Lee
This study examined the extent to which L2 writers with varied working memory display differential pausing and revision behaviors at different periods during writing. The participants were 30 advanced Chinese L2 users of English, who wrote an argumentative essay. While composing, participants’ keystrokes and eye-gaze movements were recorded to capture their pausing, revision, and eye-gaze behaviors
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Working memory, L2 proficiency, and task complexity: Independent and interactive effects on L2 written performance Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-09-14 Rosa Maria Manchón, Sophie McBride, María Dolores Mellado Martínez, Olena Vasylets
This study examined the independent effects of working memory (WM) and the interactive effects of WM/L2 proficiency and WM/task complexity on L2 written performance. The study followed a within–between-participant factorial design, with two levels of task complexity as the within-participant variable and L2 proficiency and WM as between-participants variables. The outcome measure was L2 writing performance
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Cognitive individual differences in the process and product of L2 writing Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-09-14 Gisela Granena
This paper examines how research in second language acquisition has approached the study of cognitive individual differences in the process and product of L2 writing from a theoretical and empirical perspective, paying special attention to the three empirical studies included in this special issue. The paper is divided into three sections. The first section examines the cognitive abilities that have
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On the effects of task focus and processing level on the perception–production link in second-language speech learning Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-09-13 Miquel Llompart
This study presents a reanalysis of existing data to investigate whether a relationship between perception and production abilities regarding a challenging second-language (L2) phonological contrast is observable (a) when both modalities must rely on accessing stored lexical representations and (b) when there is an asymmetry in task focus between perception and production. In the original studies,
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Language proficiency modulates L2 orthographic learning mechanism: Evidence from event-related brain potentials in overt naming Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-09-11 Yang Fu, Beatriz Bermúdez-Margaretto, David Beltrán, Wang Huili, Alberto Dominguez
The present study investigates bilinguals’ capacity to rapidly establish memory traces for novel word forms in a second language (L2), as a function of L2 linguistic proficiency. A group of Chinese-English bilinguals with various English proficiency levels were presented with a reading-aloud task, consisting of 16 pseudowords and 16 English words repeatedly presented across six training exposures.
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Evaluating evidence for the reliability and validity of lexical diversity indices in L2 oral task responses Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-08-30 Kristopher Kyle, Hakyung Sung, Masaki Eguchi, Fred Zenker
Although lexical diversity is often used as a measure of productive proficiency (e.g., as an aspect of lexical complexity) in SLA studies involving oral tasks, relatively little research has been conducted to support the reliability and/or validity of these indices in spoken contexts. Furthermore, SLA researchers commonly use indices of lexical diversity such as Root TTR (Guiraud’s index) and D (vocd-D
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How to present L2 Chinese words effectively for learning: Exploring learning outcomes and learner perceptions Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-08-04 Xuehong (Stella) He, Shawn Loewen
Second language (L2) research on input manipulation has focused mainly on increasing the salience of target structures, but presentation formats of L2 input can be another important aspect for manipulation. This study compared the horizontal, vertical, and adjacent formats for presenting the characters, pinyin, and English meaning of L2 Chinese vocabulary, by recruiting 69 English native speakers to
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Measuring the development of lexical richness of L2 Spanish: A longitudinal learner corpus study Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-07-31 María Díez-Ortega, Kristopher Kyle
Research has indicated that lexical richness is an important indicator of second language (L2) proficiency. However, most research has examined written, cross-sectional English L2 corpora and does not necessarily indicate how spoken lexical use develops over time or whether observed trends are stable across L2s. This study adds to previous research on the development of spoken vocabulary by investigating
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Effects of speaking task and proficiency on the midclause pausing characteristics of L1 and L2 speech from the same speakers Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-07-19 Amanda Huensch
This study explored the effect of speaking task on midclause pausing characteristics in the L1 and L2 speech of the same speakers to gain further insights into the potential relationship between pause location and stages of speech production. Participants included English L1 learners of L2 French (n = 29) or Spanish (n = 27) from the publicly available, longitudinal LANGSNAP corpus. Participants completed
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Meta-analysis of second language research with complex research designs Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-07-19 Reza Norouzian, Gavin Bui
Meta-analyses play an instrumental role in informing second language (L2) theory and practice. However, current (i.e., classic) approaches to meta-analysis are limited in their ability to do so because they often fail to capture the complexity inherent in primary studies’ research designs. As we argue in this article, when complex L2 studies are represented by simplistic meta-analyses, the latter cannot
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Mind the gap: Psycholinguistic and individual factors affecting expressive and receptive vocabulary skills in English-Gaelic bilingual children Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-06-20 Vicky Chondrogianni, Morna Butcher
This study investigated the psycholinguistic and child-related variables that modulate vocabulary development and the so-called receptive–expressive gap in child L2 learners of Gaelic with English as their L1. In total, 50 6- to 8-year-old English-Gaelic bilingual children attending Gaelic-medium immersion education were administered the English and the Gaelic Crosslinguistic Receptive and Expressive
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Cross-linguistic differences in predicting L2 sentence structure: The use of categorical and gradient verb constraints Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-06-15 Duygu F. Şafak, Holger Hopp
This study investigates whether cross-linguistic differences affect how adult second language (L2) learners use different types of verb subcategorization information for prediction in real-time sentence comprehension. Using visual world eye-tracking, we tested if first language (L1) German and L1 Turkish intermediate-to-advanced learners of L2 English make use of categorical and gradient probabilistic
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The congruency effect in L2 collocational processing: The underlying mechanism and moderating factors Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-06-06 Yingzhao Chen
The congruency effect—that is, faster and more accurate processing of congruent multiword units, has been demonstrated in multiple studies. It is still unclear, however, what its underlying mechanism is, and how congruency may interact with other factors. Using an acceptability judgement task, this study examined the congruency effect in immersive (Experiment 1) and nonimmersive (Experiment 2) L2 learners’
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Associations of students’ linguistic distance to the language of instruction and classroom composition with English reading and listening skills Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-06-05 Nils Jaekel, Markus Ritter, Julia Jaekel
Globally classrooms are increasingly linguistically diverse. Research often oversimplifies lived linguistic heterogeneity as binary variables: native versus non-native. Linguistic distance (LD) measures allow a fine-grained operationalization of linguistic diversity in foreign language education. This study investigated associations of cognate LDs of students’ home languages and classroom heterogeneity
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Estimating reliability for response-time difference measures: Toward a standardized, model-based approach Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-05-29 Bronson Hui, Zhiyi Wu
A slowdown or a speedup in response times across experimental conditions can be taken as evidence of online deployment of knowledge. However, response-time difference measures are rarely evaluated on their reliability, and there is no standard practice to estimate it. In this article, we used three open data sets to explore an approach to reliability that is based on mixed-effects modeling and to examine
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Motivational dispositions predict qualitative differences in oral task performance Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-05-23 Mostafa Papi, Mijin Eom, Yiran Zhang, Yang Zhou, Zachary Whiteside
The study examined how learners’ motivational dispositions predict the complexity, accuracy, fluency of their oral task performance and their overall second language proficiency. Eighty-one speakers of English as a second language in the United States completed a regulatory focus and a regulatory mode questionnaire, an oral interview task, and a picture description task. Regression analyses showed
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Co-text, context, and listening proficiency as crucial variables in intelligibility among nonnative users of English Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-05-02 Veronika Thir
Research on intelligibility in international encounters has long focused on issues of pronunciation to the detriment of factors such as linguistic co-text and extralinguistic context, which are comparatively well-studied variables in intelligibility research concerning L1 listeners. This paper seeks to expand the scope of international intelligibility research in this respect by reporting on a large-scale
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Understanding L2-derived words in context: Is complete receptive morphological knowledge necessary? Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-04-26 Batia Laufer
The study investigates whether comprehension of derived words in text context requires a complete understanding of word parts. It explores comprehension of derived words as a function of learner proficiency and contextual clues. Ninety English-as-a-foreign-language learners at three proficiency levels participated in three successive tests representing three clues conditions, absence of clues, availability
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Can personality predict foreign language classroom emotions? The devil’s in the detail Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. (IF 4.2) Pub Date : 2023-04-24 Elouise Botes, Jean-Marc Dewaele, Samuel Greiff, Thomas Goetz
Personality has been identified as a possible antecedent to emotions experienced in the foreign language (FL) classroom. However, contrasting results and differing personality models have resulted in ambiguous findings. This study set out to delve deeper into the role of personality as a predictor of FL emotions through a series of increasingly restrictive statistical models on a sample of n = 246