Many studies show that poor readers make more errors in nonword repetition than better readers. Although this finding is generally linked to the lower quality of poor readers’ phonological representations in verbal short-term memory, the nature of this poor performance remains unclear. We addressed this issue by focusing on two types of phoneme-related performance in a nonword repetition task: (a) recall of phonemes irrespective of their serial order (phoneme identity) and (b) recall of correctly reproduced phonemes’ serial order (serial order). We tested 91 young adults with and without dyslexia. Generalized linear mixed-effects models demonstrated that controls outperformed individuals with dyslexia in the recall of phonemes’ serial order but failed to detect a difference in the recall of phonemes’ identity. These findings are discussed not only in terms of the nature of or access to phonological representations but also in terms of another concept that has recently been advanced in the literature: a specialized serial order mechanism in verbal short-term memory. We also consider the possibility that individuals with dyslexia may be less sensitive to phonotactic constraints.

This study investigates the effect of an abstract word training paradigm initially developed to treat lexical retrieval deficits in patients with aphasia on second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition. Three English–Spanish L2 learners (Experiment 1) and 10 Spanish–English L2 learners (Experiment 3) were trained on 15 abstract words within a context-category (e.g., restaurant) using a five-step training paradigm based on semantic feature analysis. In addition, 7 English–Spanish L2 learners were trained on either abstract or concrete words within a context-category (Experiment 2). Across all experiments, the majority of participants trained on abstract words showed improved production of the trained abstract words, as measured by a word generation task, as well as improvement on untrained concrete words within the same context-category (i.e., generalization). Participants trained on concrete words (Experiment 2) exhibited much smaller word production gains and no generalization to abstract words. These results parallel previous findings from aphasia research and suggest that this training paradigm can successfully be extended to L2 learning contexts, where it has the potential to be a useful tool in vocabulary instruction. We discuss the findings in terms of models of spreading activation and the underlying conceptual representations of abstract and concrete words in the L2 lexicon.

The present study examined Chinese speakers’ knowledge of English polysemous phrasal verbs (PVs) and factors that may constrain the development of PVs. The intermediate and advanced learners judged the acceptability of 100 senses of 50 PVs. Results indicate that both the intermediate and the advanced learners tended to favor the high-frequency senses (51.2%∼67.2%) of PVs but disfavor the low-frequency senses (32.9%∼46.3%) of PVs. PV frequency, semantic transparency, and time spent reading books and watching films/TV could predict the advanced learners’ mastery of the high-frequency senses, while PV frequency and preemption could predict their mastery of the low-frequency senses. Semantic transparency, PV frequency, and preemption could predict the intermediate learners’ knowledge of the high-frequency senses, while semantic transparency, frequency of high-frequency senses, and preemption could predict their acceptance of the low-frequency senses. No reliable relationship was detected among the learners’ PV knowledge, entrenchment, time spent in second language immersion, listening to music, and communicating with others for the two groups.

This study investigated whether third person singular –s and past tense accuracy and error types can reveal distinct developmental patterns of agreement and tense acquisition in younger and older Welsh (L1) sequential bilingual (L2) English children with typical development (L2-TLD) and in younger children with language impairment (L2-SLI_Y). A group of older (L2-TLD_O; mean age = 93.72 months) and younger (L2-TLD_Y; mean age = 67 months) Welsh–English (TLD) bilingual children and a group of young (mean age = 63 months) children with SLI (L2-SLI_Y) age matched to the L2-TLD_Y group were administered the screening component of the Test of Early Grammatical Impairment. Results indicated that the three groups differed in their production of third person singular –s and regular past tense but not in accuracy on irregular past tense verbs, when vocabulary skills were considered. The L2-SLI_Y children produced similar error types to the L2-TLD_Y children, who differed from their L2-TLD_O peers in this respect. L2 children’s vocabulary size, nonverbal intelligence, and item-level factors, such as frequency and morphophonology, differentially contributed to their performance across the various morphemes. We discuss these results within current accounts of language development and impairment.

We examined the cross-lagged relations between word reading fluency in the two orthographic systems of Japanese: phonetic (syllabic) Hiragana and morphographic Kanji. One hundred forty-two Japanese-speaking children were assessed on word reading fluency twice in Grade 1 (Times 1 and 2) and twice in Grade 2 (Times 3 and 4). Nonverbal IQ, vocabulary, phonological awareness, morphological awareness, and rapid automatized naming were also assessed in Time 1. Results of path analysis revealed that Time 1 Hiragana fluency predicted Time 2 Kanji fluency after controlling for the cognitive skills. Time 2 Hiragana fluency did not predict Time 3 Kanji fluency or vice versa after the autoregressor was controlled, but Hiragana and Kanji fluency were reciprocally related between Times 3 and 4. These findings provide evidence for a cross-script transfer of word reading fluency across the two contrastive orthographic systems, and the first evidence of fluency in a morphographic script predicting fluency development in a phonetic script within the same language.

The spacing effect refers to the learning benefit that comes from separating repeated study of target items by time or by other items. A prominent proposed explanation for this effect states that repeated exposures that occur closely together may not engage full attentional processing due to residual activation of the previous exposure and also, in an intentional learning context, due to a sense of familiarity that may result in strategic allocation of less study time to an item in massed repetitions. The present study used eye-tracking methodology to investigate the effects of temporal distribution of repeated exposures to novel second language words on attentional processing and learning of these words under intentional learning instructions. Adult native speakers of English read Finnish words embedded in English sentence contexts under massed and spaced conditions. The results showed that (a) massed repeated exposures received less attentional processing than spaced repeated exposures; (b) target words were better remembered in the spaced condition; and (c) attention was a significant mediator of the obtained spacing effect, in line with the predictions of the deficient processing account of the spacing effect. Implications for vocabulary learning are discussed.

Previous research has suggested that the production of speech rhythm in a second language (L2) or foreign language is influenced by the speaker’s first language rhythm. However, it is less clear how the production of L2 rhythm is affected by the learners’ L2 proficiency, largely due to the lack of rhythm metrics that show consistent results between studies. We examined the production of English rhythm by 75 Korean learners with the rhythm metrics proposed in previous studies (pairwise variability indices and interval measures). We also devised new sentence stress measures (i.e., accentuation rate and accentuation error rate) and investigated whether these new measures can quantify rhythmic differences between the learners. The results found no rhythm metric that significantly correlated with proficiency in the expected direction. In contrast, we found a significant correlation between the learners’ proficiency levels and both measures of sentence stress, showing that less-proficient learners placed sentence stress on more words and made more sentence stress errors. This demonstrates that our measures of sentence stress can be used as effective features for assessing Korean learners’ English rhythm proficiency.

A long-standing hypothesis is that rapid automatized naming (RAN) measures access to phonological representations stored in long-term memory, but this has been difficult to test experimentally because phonological representations are mental constructs not easily operationalized. Here, we provide a method to test this theory using rime neighborhood density as an index of phonological representational strength. Thirty adults completed four picture-naming tasks orthogonalized for item composition (repeating vs. nonrepeating) and presentation format (discrete vs. serial). Each task was presented in two dichotomous conditions of rime neighborhood density (dense and sparse). There was no effect of rime neighborhood density on naming speed in the discrete nonrepeated (confrontation naming) task. However, rime neighborhood density significantly facilitated naming speed for serial repeated (i.e., RAN), discrete repeated, and serial nonrepeated tasks (ps<.03). The effect was weakest for confrontation naming (d=0.14) and strongest for both discrete and serial RAN tasks (ds=1.01), suggesting that repeating items, not serial presentation, makes RAN uniquely sensitive to manipulations of rime neighborhood density and, by proxy, phonological representations.

Previous research suggests that native speakers quickly adapt to the properties of the language in the surrounding context. For instance, as they repeatedly read a structure that is initially nonpreferred or infrequent, they show a reduction of processing difficulty. Adaptation has been accounted for in terms of error-based learning: the error resulting from the difference between the expected and actual input leads to an adjustment of the knowledge representation, which changes future expectations. The present study tested whether experiencing an error is sufficient for adaptation. We compared native English speakers and second language (L2) learners’ processing of, and adaptation to, two types of temporarily ambiguous structures that were resolved toward the nonpreferred interpretation. Whereas both native English and L2 speakers showed increased reading times at the disambiguating word versus a nonambiguous control, our data suggest that only native English speakers adapted, and only to one of the two structures. These results suggest that experiencing an error is not sufficient for adaptation, and that factors such as ease of revision and task effects may play a role as well.

This article examines the performance of heritage speakers (HSs) on two types of acceptability judgment tasks (AJTs) as well as their corresponding confidence ratings. Data were collected from 75 native speakers of Spanish who were subsequently divided into three groups: Spanish monolinguals, Spanish-dominant HSs, and English-dominant HSs. An AJT targeting morphosyntax (Task 1) showed that all groups were affected by task stimulus, that is, they were significantly less accurate on the ungrammatical items. A lexically focused AJT (Task 2) revealed the tendency of HSs to accept complex words that are possible yet not attested. Confidence ratings on both tasks were very high overall, and there was a significant relationship between accuracy and confidence. Thus, the data question the assumption made in a number of previous studies that HSs suffer from a lack of certainty in their linguistic intuitions. Finally, between-group effects show that the Spanish-dominant HS group was not different from the monolingual group on Task 1, yet there were significant differences between all three groups on Task 2. By comparing morphosyntactic and lexical phenomena on two tasks administered in the same modality, this research contributes to the discussion of vulnerable domains in heritage language bilingualism.

Immigrant children in Denmark differ greatly in educational outcomes. This study examined whether systematic differences in majority language (L2) and preliteracy skills are apparent already at ages 2–6 in immigrant children in Denmark across regional immigration background. Danish language and preliteracy skills in 1,211 immigrant children in four regional groups (based on maternal origin) and 11,259 native Danish nonimmigrant children, all enrolled in Danish childcare centers, were assessed using an age- and gender-normed language assessment instrument. Hierarchical linear models showed that all four immigrant groups scored significantly lower than the native Danish group; the negative coefficients diminished but remained significant when socioeconomic background and having a native Danish father were controlled for. In addition, even with these controls, significant differences existed between some of the immigrant groups, suggesting that factors relating to regional immigrant background were important sources of differences in L2 development. A greater immigrant disadvantage for language than preliteracy skills was found; two immigrant groups did not differ significantly from the nonimmigrant Danish group for preliteracy skills. The results suggest that measures to reduce inequalities in long-term educational achievement between immigrant groups should be taken already before school with a particular focus on L2 language skills.

While the relationship between vocabulary, morphological awareness, and reading comprehension has been examined extensively, research on this relationship among adult second language learners has only been explored recently. The present study addresses this gap by examining how adult English as a foreign language learners developed different types of English vocabulary and morphological awareness over the course of one academic year. Participants included 523 college freshmen in Taiwan with varying reading proficiency levels. Results from a series of mixed-measure analyses of variance revealed that (a) even the more proficient college English as a foreign language learners failed to fully grasp morphological principles; (b) the gap in vocabulary between the less skilled readers, the average, and the skilled readers widened significantly over the course of one academic year; (c) the effect of phonological and orthographic changes involved in morphologically complex words differed for the assessment of base meaning, but did not vary across proficiency levels; (d) progress in different aspects of morphological awareness, such as interpreting the meaning of the suffix or identifying the base of a morphologically complex word, varied significantly among readers of different proficiency levels; and (e) suffixes of different parts of speech posed different challenges to learners. Theoretical and pedagogical implications of the findings are discussed.

Bilinguals are susceptible to interaction between their two phonetic systems during speech processing. Using a language-switching paradigm, this study investigated differences in phonetic transfer of Cantonese–English bilingual adults with various language dominance profiles (Cantonese-dominant, English-dominant, and balanced bilinguals). Measurements of voice onset time revealed that unbalanced bilinguals and balanced bilinguals responded differently to language switching. Among unbalanced bilinguals, production of the dominant language shifted toward the nondominant language, with no effect in the opposite direction. However, balanced bilinguals’ speech production was unaffected by language switching. These results are analogous to the inhibitory control model, suggesting an asymmetrical switch cost of language switching at the phonetic level of speech production in unbalanced bilinguals. In contrast, the absence of switch cost in balanced bilinguals implies differences in the mechanism underlying balanced bilinguals’ and unbalanced bilinguals’ speech production.

This study examines the effects of two cognitive abilities—language analytic ability (LAA) and working memory (WM)—on language learning under five different instructional conditions. One hundred fifty eighth-grade English as a foreign language learners underwent a 2-hr treatment session. They were divided into five groups based on whether and when they received form-focused instruction. One group received pretask instruction on the linguistic target (English passive voice) before performing two narrative tasks; a second group received within-task feedback but no pretask instruction; a third group received both pretask instruction and within-task feedback; a fourth group received feedback after completing the tasks; and the fifth group only performed the tasks. The results showed that (a) LAA was predictive of the posttest scores of the group that only performed the communicative tasks and the group who received posttask feedback, (b) WM was associated with the learning outcomes of the two groups receiving within-task feedback, and (c) neither cognitive variable was implicated in the group that received pretask instruction before performing the tasks. The results suggest that the impact of LAA is evident when there is less external assistance and that WM is involved when learners face the heavy processing burden imposed by within-task feedback.

The aim of the current study was to compare both incidental and explicit auditory learning of second language derivational morphology by measuring the accuracy and the reaction time of a grammaticality judgment task. Furthermore, the study was set up to examine the nature of acquired knowledge using subjective measures of awareness during the testing phases and postexperimental verbal reports. The delayed effects of learning were investigated by testing participants immediately after the learning and 1 week later also. The results showed a significant learning effect for the incidental and explicit learners immediately after exposure, but only the explicit learners maintained the learning effects a week later. Both types of learners showed no significant difference in the reaction time. Incidental learners primarily developed implicit knowledge, while explicit learners relied on explicit knowledge to a large extent, part of which became unconscious later. The differences of learning under incidental and explicit learning conditions are discussed in terms of the maintenance of knowledge.

Nonadjacent dependency learning is thought to be a fundamental skill for syntax acquisition and often assessed via an offline grammaticality judgment measure. Asking judgments of children is problematic, and an offline task is suboptimal as it reflects only the outcome of the learning process, disregarding information on the learning trajectory. Therefore, and following up on recent methodological advancements in the online measurement of nonadjacent dependency learning in adults, the current study investigates if the recording of response times can be used to establish nonadjacent dependency learning in children. Forty-six children (mean age: 7.3 years) participated in a child-friendly adaptation of a nonadjacent dependency learning experiment (López-Barroso, Cucurell, Rodríguez-Fornells, & de Diego-Balaguer, 2016). They were exposed to an artificial language containing items with and without nonadjacent dependencies while their response times (online measure) were measured. After exposure, grammaticality judgments (offline measure) were collected. The results show that children are sensitive to nonadjacent dependencies, when using the online measure (the results of our offline measure did not provide evidence of learning). We therefore conclude that future studies can use online response time measures (perhaps in addition to the offline grammaticality judgments) to further investigate nonadjacent dependency learning in children.

Gestures can play a facilitative role in the interpretation of structural ambiguities (Guellaiï, Langus, & Nespor, 2014; Prieto, Borràs-Comes, Tubau, & Espinal, 2013; Tubau, González-Fuente, Prieto, & Espinal, 2015) and are associated with spoken expression of negation (Calbris, 2011; Harrison, 2014a; Kendon, 2002, 2004). This study examines gestural forms and timing patterns with specific interpretations intended by speakers in a context of negation in English where the presence of quantification (all/most/many) yields scope ambiguities, for example, All the students didn’t go = (1). Some number of the students went, but all is not the correct number (negation takes wide scope over the quantifier; not>all), versus (2) some number of the students didn’t go, and all is that number (negation takes narrow scope over the quantifier, all>not; see Horn, 2001, Jackendoff, 1972; Syrett, Simon, & Nisula, 2014b). Twenty-five native English speakers produced scopally ambiguous sentences. Analyses of 317 co-occurring gestures revealed a preponderance of head gestures and use of semantically congruent head shakes, alignment of gestures with the negator, and lengthening of gesture strokes where interpretations involved narrow-scope negation. Results are discussed with reference to scope of negation and gesture (Harrison, 2010, 2013, 2014a, 2014b) particularly in comparison to variable patterns found for prosody (Syrett, Simon, & Nisula, 2014a).

Phonological similarity effects are biases to judge words as phonologically similar (i.e., rhyming), even if they are not. First found in rime awareness tasks in preliterates, these biases have recently also been found in proficient adult readers. In this study, we evaluated underlying phonological processing in rime judgment longitudinally, across literacy development. To this end, we created a new rime judgment task (rime; i.e., /t∙aɪ̯∙l/ - /z∙aɪ̯∙l/) with two distractor conditions that varied in size of phonological overlap (body; i.e., /t∙aɪ̯∙l/ - /t∙aɪ̯ ç/; nucleus; i.e., /t∙aɪ̯∙l/ - /r∙aɪ̯∙s/). The task was administered to a group of 61 German-speaking children at four time points across school entry and to 21 adults. Accuracy and latency responses were recorded. Results indicated that children and adults showed phonological similarity effects but the effect decreased gradually over time. However, preliterate children were more sensitive to large compared to small phonological overlap, while the same effect was significantly smaller in literate children and adults. Results suggest that preliterate children are more sensitive to larger grain sizes and become more sensitive to fine-grained units across literacy development. The findings are in line with the assumptions of the psycholinguistic grain size theory.

Previous research has documented conflicting findings regarding the effect of word frequency on spelling in older adults. The current study examines spelling in Hebrew, in which it is easier to define the type of likely misspellings in each word. Younger and older Hebrew speakers spelled 120 single words that differed in word and letter frequency. Results show that all participants made more phonological substitutions of target letters on low-frequency words and on words with low-frequency letters. Yet, younger adults had a lower percentage of correct responses than did older adults, especially on low-frequency words. Vocabulary knowledge eliminated this age effect. We suggest that aging leads to greater reliance on full lexical retrieval of spelling instead of on sublexical phoneme-to-grapheme processing, due to years of exposure to written language, increase in vocabulary, and consolidation of orthographic representations.