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…

Hu and Nation's (2000) study, which stipulated that second language (L2) readers need to be familiar with 98% of lexical items for adequate text comprehension, has become highly influential in L2 vocabulary research and pedagogy. However, the 98% critical threshold figure is based on findings from a research project in which a regression analysis…

This multisite study replicates Webb, Newton, and Chang's (2013) study on the effect of repetition on incidental learning of multiword units (MWUs). Even though more researchers have started to investigate MWUs, most data have been collected from university students. Furthermore, the large effect of MWU repetition on learning reported by Webb…

This study explored the effects of practice schedule on the processing of new second language (L2) vocabulary and resulting knowledge. Participants were 107 low-achieving adolescents attending a vocational high school in Korea. They were randomly assigned to one of three practice groups and completed a L2 English-L1 Korean paired-associates…

This study investigates whether audiovisual phonetic training with hand gestures encoding visible or nonvisible articulation features has a differential impact on learning second language sounds. Ninety-nine Catalan-Spanish bilingual students were trained to differentiate English /ae/ and /[lambda]/, which differ in the visible lip aperture and…

This study investigated the relationship of a set of word-combination-based measures of phraseological diversity, sophistication, and complexity to second language (L2) Chinese proficiency and writing quality in comparison to that of a set of large-grained topic-comment-unit-based measures. Our dataset consisted of 101 assessed narratives produced…

The last two decades have seen a significant amount of interest in bilingual language learning and processing. A number of computational models have also been developed to account for bilingualism, with varying degrees of success. In this article, we first briefly introduce the significance of computational approaches to bilingual language…

This study investigated how much practice is necessary for learners to attain durable second language (L2) grammar knowledge. Using digital flashcards, 119 participants practiced translating 12 sentences into an artificial language, followed by feedback, until they had typed all sentences correctly. Participants repeated this activity in one, two,…

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,…

This study examined the impact of a second language (L2) on how event phases are categorized. The aim was to test how strong a boost the L2 system provides when learners are trained to classify events in a new way. The targeted linguistic contrast was the grammatical expression of change-of-state events in progress, available in English but far…

Characteristics of vocabulary lists as well as study and test translation direction may affect the ease of learning second language (L2) vocabulary. We examined immediate and delayed test performance of first language (L1) English speakers learning a fixed set of L2 vocabulary placed on lists formed by crossing semantic relatedness (unrelated vs.…

When introducing new words in a second language (L2), presenting vocabulary with concurrent gestures might facilitate learners' recollection of new words. Previous research has suggested that this gestural advantage might hold only for gestures that overlap with the semantics of the words. Dual coding theory predicts that learners should learn…

Second language acquisition (SLA) research offers valuable insight on how languages are learned and how they coexist and influence each other. Sign language learners offer unique perspectives on SLA, allowing researchers to test theories that are otherwise constrained by access to only one modality. Current literature on sign language learning…

Novel word learning and consolidation was studied in inexperienced language learners, to conceptually replicate and extend a similar study in experienced learners by Bakker, Takashima, Van Hell, Janzen, and McQueen (2015). Participants learned definitions for novel words on Day 1 and for another set of novel words on Day 2. Brain potentials…

Research on anxiety and motivation in second language (L2) learning is proliferating. However, these two individual differences are commonly measured by self-report questionnaires, the psychometric properties of which have been questioned. Building on previous works on study quality, this methodological synthesis systematically describes and…