Access to definitions facilitates the learning of word meanings when novel words are encountered in reading. However, the memorial costs and benefits of inferring word meanings from context, compared to seeing definitions of unfamiliar words before reading, are not yet well understood. We conducted two experiments with adult L1 (English) and L2 (Chinese) readers to investigate whether the development of declarative and nondeclarative word knowledge benefits more when definitions are supplied before reading (errorless treatment) or after reading (trial-and-error treatment). Study participants encountered 90 target vocabulary items three times in short informative texts under errorless or trial-and-error conditions and entered their meaning inferences immediately after reading each text. Posttreatment, we evaluated participants’ declarative knowledge of the target items using a meaning generation (recall) task and nondeclarative knowledge using a self-paced reading task. The trial-and-error treatment followed by definitions resulted in a superior declarative and nondeclarative knowledge, compared to the errorless treatment, for L1 and L2 readers. Inference errors affected the development of declarative but not nondeclarative knowledge, and the trajectory of the development of nondeclarative knowledge was different for L1 and L2 readers. We interpret these findings in terms of the declarative and nondeclarative memory processes underpinning contextual word learning.

L2 sounds present different kinds of challenges to learners at the phonetic, phonological, and lexical levels, but previous studies on L2 tone learning mostly focused on the phonetic and lexical levels. The present study employs an innovative technique to examine the role of prior tonal experience and musical training on forming novel abstract syllable-level tone categories. Eighty Cantonese and English musicians and nonmusicians completed two tasks: (a) AX tone discrimination and (b) incidental learning of artificial tone-segment connections (e.g., words beginning with an aspirated stop always carry a rising tone) with synthesized stimuli modeled on Thai. Although the four participant groups distinguished the target tones similarly well, Cantonese speakers showed abstract and implicit knowledge of the target tone-segment mappings after training but English speakers did not, regardless of their musical experience. This suggests that tone language experience, but not musical experience, is crucial for forming novel abstract syllable-level tone categories.

The current study investigates the effects of more explicit versus more implicit corrective feedback on beginner Mandarin learners’ perception and production of Mandarin tones. The effects of oral corrective feedback have been extensively investigated for various domains of second language acquisition (see Mackey & Goo, 2007). For phonological errors, implicit feedback has shown to be particularly salient to learners (Mackey, Gass, & McDonough, 2000) and therefore potentially more effective for tone learning. However, for lower proficiency beginners, explicit corrective feedback has been shown to be more effective (Li, 2009, 2014). Using a mixed methods design, the current study investigated the acquisition of Mandarin tones in beginner, adult learners (n = 41) enrolled in a 14-week, one-on-one, synchronous computer-mediated communication course. Learners were divided into two experimental groups: a more implicit feedback group and a more explicit feedback group. Pretests and posttests assessed changes in tone perception and production. Upon completion of the course, learners in the more implicit feedback group had greater improvement in tone production compared to the more explicit feedback group (d = .75). Both learners and the instructor indicated a preference toward recasts for tone feedback. No statistically significant differences were found for tone perception.

Bilingual language development might be characterized by transfer, deceleration, and/or acceleration, the first two being relevant for the language impairment diagnosis. Studies on bilingual children’s productive phonology show evidence of transfer, but little is known about deceleration in this population. Here, we focused on phonological transfer and deceleration in L1 speech of typically developing Polish-English bilingual children of Polish migrants to the United Kingdom (aged 4.7–7). We analyzed L1 speech samples of 30 bilinguals and 2 groups of Polish monolinguals, matched to the bilinguals on age or vocabulary size. We found that bilingual children’ speech (both simultaneous and early sequential) was characterized by transfer, but not by deceleration, suggesting that while phonological deceleration phases out in children above the age of 4.7, transfer does not. We discuss our findings within the PRIMIR model of bilingual phonological acquisition (Curtin et al., 2011) and show their implications for SLT practices.

We investigated how positive, negative, and neutral mood states influence aspects of second language acquisition, either directly or in interaction with certain personality characteristics (openness, intuition, emotional intelligence, foreign language anxiety, and impulsivity). After completing individual differences questionnaires, 120 participants were randomly assigned to either a Comparison group or one of three emotionally induced treatment groups. They were trained on a semiartificial language under incidental learning conditions. Immediate testing measured participants’ knowledge of the target syntactic forms, while source-attribution data gauged the nature (implicit, explicit, or a combination of both) of their knowledge. Contrary to some previous studies, knowledge gains were chiefly conscious-explicit. Participants exhibited substantial variability in how emotions impacted their learning, with self-reported stress management and premeditation resulting in higher learning in the Negative group. Overall, participants that claimed higher levels of intellect showed the best results.

This study examined the linguistic dimensions of comprehensibility and perceived fluency in the context of L2 argumentative speech elicited from 40 Japanese-speaking learners of English. Their speaking performance was judged by 10 inexperienced native speakers of English for comprehensibility and perceived fluency, and was also objectively analyzed in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency as well as pronunciation and discourse features. The results showed that comprehensibility and fluency judgments strongly correlated with each other and that native listeners were significantly more severe when they judged fluency. Furthermore, multiple regression analyses revealed that both constructs were commonly associated with a set of underlying linguistic dimensions (grammatical accuracy, breakdown fluency, and pronunciation). However, comprehensibility was best predicted by articulation rate (speed fluency) whereas perceived fluency was most strongly associated with the frequency of mid-clause pauses (breakdown fluency).

To investigate the skill transfer and the effects of practice schedules in the learning of second language syntax, 129 intermediate-level English learners were divided into six groups, based on practice format (input vs. output practice) and practice schedule (blocked vs. interleaved vs. hybrid [blocked + interleaved]). Analyses revealed that the learners tested on the skill they had practiced outperformed those who were tested on the nonpracticed skill. This pattern was particularly pronounced in comprehension processing speed and production accuracy. Moreover, hybrid practice facilitated skill development more than blocked or interleaved practice alone. Furthermore, a dynamic interplay was detected among practice format, schedule, and learners’ prior knowledge. Hybrid practice led to the least transfer from receptive skills (gained through input practice) to productive skills. Unlike interleaved practice effects, the effects of blocked practice on comprehension speed were more susceptible to learners’ prior processing speed.

This study used the bibliometric method to examine the field of second language acquisition (SLA) between 1997 and 2018 to provide a systematic overview of the field and to discover major trends in SLA. Based on citation/cocitation information and keywords retrieved from Web of Science, this study performed three types of bibliometric analyses to identify the prominent scholarly documents, authors, research institutions, geographic regions, and research topics that have been highly influential in the field of SLA over the last two decades. The scientific network maps and the keyword analysis revealed a number of significant changes as well as new trends in the field.

Prosody is crucial for language comprehension because it highlights underlying structures. This study explores whether prosody facilitates memory recall to the same extent in L1 and L2, and whether memory recall is poorer in L2 or whether language-specific differences can mitigate L2 processing difficulties. Nineteen Greek learners of English, and a monolingual English baseline, repeated three-digit chunks with and without prosodic cues in L1 and L2. Prosody was a major facilitator of memory recall only in L1 despite the high proficiency of learners. This indicates that L2 mastery of prosody perception is hard to attain, mirroring production studies. However, when prosodic boundary cues were absent, memory recall in L2 was comparable to L1. This demonstrates that language-specific differences can attenuate more general processing difficulties in L2. This study is the first to demonstrate differences in prosodic processing in L1 and L2 resulting in poorer memory recall in L2.

The present study examined whether Chinese-English bilinguals showed morphological sensitivity toward prefixed words. In the experiment, English monolinguals showed masked priming effects in a Transparent condition (disagree-AGREE) and an Opaque condition (mischief-CHIEF), but not in a Form condition (stranger-ANGER). In contrast, bilinguals showed equivalent priming effects across the three conditions. Indeed, the difference between the magnitude of priming in the Form condition relative to that in the other two conditions was statistically smaller for the bilinguals than for the monolinguals. These findings suggest Chinese-English bilinguals are less sensitive to the morphological status of prefixes, compared with monolinguals.