{"title":"Structure building, memory retrieval, and structural prediction in second language sentence comprehension","authors":"Ian Cunnings, Shatha Alaskar, Hiroki Fujita","doi":"10.1017/s0272263126101910","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0272263126101910","url":null,"abstract":"Potential difficulty in second language (L2) compared to first language (L1) sentence processing has been ascribed to various factors, including difficulty in building syntactic structure, difficulty in retrieving information from memory during comprehension, and difficulty in making predictions about upcoming elements. In this paper, we examine pronoun resolution in so-called <jats:italic>crossover</jats:italic> constructions ( <jats:italic>The girl who she helped earlier today went home</jats:italic> ), where comprehension requires the interaction of structure building, structural prediction, and memory retrieval in real-time, as a test case of these claims. In three preregistered experiments (N = 96 in Experiments 1a/b, and N = 160 in Experiment 2), we found that L1 and L2 real-time processing and final comprehension are constrained by crossover constraints. There was also no evidence for L1/L2 differences in the processing of crossover. These results suggest similar processes of structure building, structural prediction, and memory retrieval in L1 and L2 readers during sentence comprehension.","PeriodicalId":22008,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Second Language Acquisition","volume":"6 1","pages":"1-23"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148698801","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Open qualitative L2 research: Where are we now and where do we go from here?","authors":"Meng Liu, Ali H. Al-Hoorie, Phil Hiver","doi":"10.1017/s0272263126101855","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0272263126101855","url":null,"abstract":"The field of L2 research is going through a shift toward greater openness. However, many widely promoted open research practices, such as replication and preregistration, originated in response to the reproducibility crisis in psychology and map unevenly onto qualitative research. This critical review synthesizes literature from L2 research and neighboring fields to examine open research from a qualitative perspective. We organize the review around five key debates, including replication, preregistration, data sharing, data reuse, and publication policy. Taken together, these debates reveal the complexity of openness in qualitative inquiry and show both points of convergence and tension. We identify an emerging trend from principled resistance to principled engagement in the literature, with transparency standing out as a unifying principle. Building on these insights, we propose the situated-openness framework that serves as a heuristic for qualitative researchers to consider how to practice open scholarship in alignment with their own epistemological and ontological commitments.","PeriodicalId":22008,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Second Language Acquisition","volume":"36 1","pages":"1-19"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148693474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Magdalena Kachlicka, Kyle Jasmin, Ashley Symons, Kazuya Saito, Fred Dick, Adam Tierney
{"title":"English Prosody Dataset for investigating English prosody acquisition","authors":"Magdalena Kachlicka, Kyle Jasmin, Ashley Symons, Kazuya Saito, Fred Dick, Adam Tierney","doi":"10.1017/s0272263126101788","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0272263126101788","url":null,"abstract":"English prosody conveys grammatical structure, word meaning, and pragmatic information. However, research on second language (L2) acquisition has primarily focused on segmental properties of speech, with relatively less attention to prosody. We present the English Prosody Dataset to facilitate research on the acquisition and use of English prosody. The dataset includes contrastive examples of three prosodic features: phrase boundary, disambiguating syntactic dependencies; contrastive focus, disambiguating key information within a phrase; and lexical stress, disambiguating word sense through syllabic emphasis, all recorded by three female and three male voice actors speaking Standard Southern British English. Researchers can tailor experiments by selecting stimuli isolating individual acoustic dimensions (e.g., pitch and duration) and by adjusting perceptual difficulty using samples with reduced acoustic information. The dataset also provides acoustically unmanipulated recordings and sentence lists that can be used to develop naturalistic comprehension paradigms or to elicit speech.","PeriodicalId":22008,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Second Language Acquisition","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148414759","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A call for greater attention to the external validity of studies of second language acquisition","authors":"Stuart Webb","doi":"10.1017/s027226312610179x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s027226312610179x","url":null,"abstract":"Internal and external validity are key criteria for evaluating the quality and usefulness of research on second language acquisition (SLA). Although considerable attention is given to internal validity, external validity—the extent to which findings can be generalized beyond the specific study conditions—may be neglected during peer review and subsequent interpretations of findings. This editorial argues that a lack of attention paid to external validity reduces the interpretability and responsible use of SLA research through overgeneralization and misinterpretation of results. Current initiatives aimed at improving generalizability, including replication, meta-analysis, and multisite studies, are discussed, and a framework for evaluating external validity is proposed. The editorial concludes by calling for more transparent reporting practices and more cautious interpretation of research findings, with the aim of promoting accurate interpretation, replication, and theoretically motivated follow-up research in SLA.","PeriodicalId":22008,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Second Language Acquisition","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148393950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The L2 Spanish Listener Ratings Dataset (L2SLRD): L2 Spanish speech rated for intelligibility, comprehensibility, and accentedness","authors":"Amanda Huensch, Charlie Nagle","doi":"10.1017/s0272263126101867","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0272263126101867","url":null,"abstract":"This data report introduces the L2 Spanish Listener Ratings Dataset (L2SLRD, https://osf.io/67nm4/) and comprises two main types of data: (a) second language (L2) oral data from English first language (L1) learners of L2 Spanish at varying proficiency from two institutions in the US ( <jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 42), and (b) listener ratings of that data from L1 Spanish speakers ( <jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 201). The data were initially collected to examine intelligibility, comprehensibility, and accentedness in L2 Spanish, focusing on listener judgments of L2 speech, but have the potential to be used for a wide range of new analyses, particularly those focused on exploring listener characteristics that influence speech rating. After providing a thorough description of the dataset, including information about data collection waves, coding, preparation, and previous analyses on subsets, descriptive statistics are presented along with an example analysis that demonstrates just one of the many potential uses of the L2SLRD. We continue by providing suggestions for ways in which the dataset could be used for future inquiry both “as is” and with additional coding or data collection. We conclude with recommendations for researchers interested in sharing data publicly in the future based on our reflections on challenges faced while preparing this dataset.","PeriodicalId":22008,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Second Language Acquisition","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148394043","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"L2 task-based interaction: Exploring how learners’ interaction mindsets and task perceptions shape learner engagement, task completion, and lexical learning","authors":"Phung Dao, Phil Hiver","doi":"10.1017/s027226312610182x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s027226312610182x","url":null,"abstract":"Framed within Social Interdependence Theory, this study investigated how learner factors (interaction mindsets and task perceptions) relate to learner engagement, task completion, and lexical learning. One hundred and five L2 learners of English completed an interaction-mindsets questionnaire and a lexical pre-test, performed two interactive tasks (i.e., collaborative spatial planning task vs. asymmetric visual comparison task), completed an engagement questionnaire, and participated in a post-test and a debriefing. Learner interactions were coded for engagement (semantically engaged talk, responsiveness, LREs), while survey and interview data were analyzed using inferential statistics and thematic analysis. Our results showed that interaction mindsets predicted various dimensions of engagement (i.e., cognitive, social, and emotional) and lexical learning. Most learners viewed tasks positively despite their differing foci. Follow-up tests revealed the impact of task type on engagement, which in turn predicted task completion. The results evidence links between learner factors, engagement, and learning outcomes, which highlights the need to foster positive interaction mindsets and task perceptions to enhance engagement and learning.","PeriodicalId":22008,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Second Language Acquisition","volume":"76 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148335884","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sara Fernández Santos, Patrick Rebuschat, Susana Correia, Padraic Monaghan, Miquel Llompart
{"title":"The effect of morphological salience and novel phonology in the initial stage of second language learning","authors":"Sara Fernández Santos, Patrick Rebuschat, Susana Correia, Padraic Monaghan, Miquel Llompart","doi":"10.1017/s0272263126101776","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0272263126101776","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates whether adult learners can simultaneously acquire the sounds, words, and grammar of a novel language through cross-situational statistical learning (CSL). English-speaking participants were exposed to an artificial language with unfamiliar phonology and varying morphological salience. Results showed measurable acquisition of nouns and verbs, but limited learning of adjectives and case markers. Importantly, only participants in the high-salience condition showed sensitivity to morphosyntactic violations, suggesting that perceptual salience enhances awareness of grammatical structure. A word–picture matching task revealed that learners encoded phonolexical forms imprecisely: while clearly deviant items were rejected, minimally different lures were often accepted. Finally, individual differences in phonolexical precision were only weakly associated with phonetic discrimination ability. These findings demonstrate the power and limits of CSL in second-language learning and highlight the importance of perceptual cues for acquiring complex L2 structure.","PeriodicalId":22008,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Second Language Acquisition","volume":"47 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148291743","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Evaluating methodological and reporting practices of L2 meta-analyses","authors":"Yuhang Hu","doi":"10.1017/s0272263126101764","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0272263126101764","url":null,"abstract":"In the field of second language (L2) research, interest in applying meta-analytic techniques has gained momentum in recent years. Considering the potentially far-reaching impact of meta-analyses, they must adhere to rigorous methodological practices and a high level of transparency regarding decisions made throughout the meta-analytic process. This study empirically assessed the methodological and reporting practices of 224 L2 meta-analyses published across 99 journals. To conduct systematic coding, a comprehensive instrument was developed, comprising 39 items that each address a key aspect of meta-analytic methodology or reporting practice. The overall findings provided an overview of current practices, identifying both strengths and areas for improvement. Based on the findings, recommendations were offered for improving methodological rigor and transparency in L2 meta-analyses. Additionally, the comprehensive coding instrument developed in this study offers a valuable resource for the systematic evaluation of methodological and reporting practices in future L2 meta-analytic research.","PeriodicalId":22008,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Second Language Acquisition","volume":"25 1","pages":"1-30"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148289630","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Monika Schmid, Beatriz Martin Gascon, Concepción Soto, Ehsan Solaimani
{"title":"Anything you can say, I can say faster","authors":"Monika Schmid, Beatriz Martin Gascon, Concepción Soto, Ehsan Solaimani","doi":"10.1017/s0272263126101806","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0272263126101806","url":null,"abstract":"Bilinguals tend to have slower response times in picture naming than monolinguals in both their first and second languages. Naming speed interacts with item frequency, suggesting that the bilingual disadvantage may be due to less frequent exposure to each language. We measure response speed in a Picture Naming and a Picture-Word-Interference paradigm among 98 bilinguals and 83 monolinguals, looking for interactions between word frequency and frequency of use of both L1 and L2. We confirm previous findings that monolinguals outperform bilinguals, and that the bilingual disadvantage is stronger for low- than for high-frequency items. While immersed bilinguals seem to have an advantage in L2 naming over non-immersed speakers, self-reported use of either language does not affect naming in either language, and the L1 is not affected by the immersed vs. non-immersed distinction. We conclude that frequency remains an elusive factor in bilingual development, and particularly in L1 attrition.","PeriodicalId":22008,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Second Language Acquisition","volume":"56 1","pages":"1-24"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148285901","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Breno Silva, Małgorzata Foryś-Nogala, Katarzyna Kutyłowska, Jakub Szewczyk, Agnieszka Otwinowska
{"title":"Learning cognates, false cognates, and noncognates contextually through reading Do contextual support and cross-linguistic awareness matter?","authors":"Breno Silva, Małgorzata Foryś-Nogala, Katarzyna Kutyłowska, Jakub Szewczyk, Agnieszka Otwinowska","doi":"10.1017/s0272263126101831","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0272263126101831","url":null,"abstract":"Lexical acquisition often occurs through reading, yet little research has compared how cognates, false cognates, and noncognates are learned contextually through reading. To this end, we conducted a week-long pretest-training-posttest study with 54 adult Polish learners of English. During three sessions on consecutive days, participants read 45 short stories (170–317 words) containing 90 target keywords (30 cognates, 30 noncognates, 30 false cognates). We examined how word type, context informativeness, and number of keywords occurrences affected keyword learning. Additionally, participants were randomly assigned to a control or awareness-raising group, the latter trained to notice cross-linguistic similarities. Mixed-effects models showed learning of all word types at immediate posttest, with cognates being learned the most and false cognates the least. Higher context informativeness and more keyword occurrences improved learning for all keywords, but false cognates benefited the most from contextual clues. However, raising awareness of cross-linguistic similarity did not enhance contextual learning.","PeriodicalId":22008,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Second Language Acquisition","volume":"38 1","pages":"1-25"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148285900","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}