The English locative alternation relates sentences of the type John loaded hay onto the wagon to those of the type John loaded the wagon with hay. Some locative verbs occur in both of these patterns, others in only one or the other. It is known that there are differences among languages with respect to which verbs are possible. The present research focuses on the constructional meaning of the locative alternation and on the constraints governing verbs that can participate in the alternation. One characteristic of the “ground-object” locative is that the object tends to be viewed as completely affected. This is known as the holism effect. Additionally, English has certain narrow constraints on the verbs that can occur in the two constructions. This study investigates whether native speakers of Korean learning English develop knowledge of the holism effect in the English locative and knowledge of the narrow constraints. English native speakers and Korean learners of English participated in a forced-choice picture-description task. Native speakers of Korean also judged an equivalent test instrument in Korean. The primary results are these: When given a ground-object structure, both learners and English native speakers preferentially chose a ground-holism picture. We interpret this as a reflection of the holism effect: Learners, like native speakers, have knowledge of this aspect of the constructional meaning of the locative. English native speakers also show their knowledge of the narrow conflation classes by rejecting ground-object structures containing verbs that are not permitted in this structure, even if the picture would be appropriate. Korean learners show no effect for narrow verb class. We interpret this as showing that the learners have not achieved native-speaker knowledge of the narrow classes. Korean uses a different basis for verb classification.

There is currently much interest in the role of prediction in language processing, both in L1 and L2. For language acquisition researchers, this has prompted debate on the role that predictive processing may play in both L1 and L2 language learning, if any. In this conceptual review, we explore the role of prediction and prediction error as a potential learning aid. We examine different proposed prediction mechanisms and the empirical evidence for them, alongside the factors constraining prediction for both L1 and L2 speakers. We then review the evidence on the role of prediction in learning languages. We report computational modeling that underpins a number of proposals on the role of prediction in L1 and L2 learning, then lay out the empirical evidence supporting the predictions made by modeling, from research into priming and adaptation. Finally, we point out the limitations of these mechanisms in both L1 and L2 speakers.

This study evaluates a working hypothesis held by a number of second-language researchers that second-language learners progress in their acquisition of target language structure by observing regularities in their input, implicitly forming hypotheses, testing those hypotheses against further input, and revising some while dropping others as a result of their fit with the input. The study considers four possible sources for variability encountered in learner language: (1) the situation(s) in which particular forms are produced; (2) the learner's encoding and decoding capabilities; (3) the target language itself, whereby systematicity at one level may leave variability at another; and (4) the analyst and procedural decisions that may effect the perception of variability. The study concludes that the analyst's task must match in complexity that of the language learner if the fullness of the learner's accomplishments is to be captured accurately.

This study examines second (L2) and third (L3) language learners’ pitch perception. We test the hypothesis that a listener’s discrimination of and sensitivity (d’) to Japanese pitch accent reflects how pitch cues inform all words a listener knows in an additive, nonselective manner rather than how pitch cues inform words in a selective, Japanese-only manner. Six groups of listeners performed a speeded ABX discrimination task in Japanese. Groups were defined by their L1, L2, and L3 experience with the target language’s pitch cues (Japanese), a language with less informative pitch cues (English), or a language with more informative pitch cues (Mandarin Chinese). Results indicate that sensitivity to pitch is better modeled as a function of pitch’s informativeness across all languages a listener speaks. These findings support cue-centric views of perception and transfer, demonstrate potential advantageous transfer of tonal-L1/L2 speakers, and highlight the cumulative role that pitch plays in language learning.

An area of keen interest in applying Chomsky's UG parameter-setting model to SLA has been the Pro-Drop or Null Subject Parameter (Cyrino, 1986; Hilles, 1986; Phinney, 1987; White, 1985, 1986). However, the nature of this parameter changes dramatically from the Jaeggli (1982) and Rizzi (1982) conception with Jaeggli and Safir's (1989) proposal linking uniform morphological agreement paradigms with null subjects. Data reported here show a number of L2 learners exhibit knowledge that English is morphologically nonuniform yet still accept English null subject sentences. This is inconsistent with the predictions of the Morphological Uniformity Hypothesis and renders uncertain its applicability to SLA. The results are considered in light of a number of possible positions that can be adopted when faced with data that disconfirm a hypothesis within the UG SLA research program; it is concluded that the Morphological Uniformity Hypothesis is disconfirmed and that any reformulation of the Null Subject Parameter must take these results into consideration.

The question central to interlanguage research, and all language acquisition research, is ‘How do acquirers internalize linguistic patterns of the target language?’ Much research addressing this question is based on the hypothesis that the language of the second language acquirers represents a systematic linguistic continuum. The interlanguage hypothesis suggests two questions which are prerequisite to answering the central question cited above: 1) What are the form-function relationships of the interlanguage? and 2) How do those form-function relationships change as the acquirer revises the interlanguage?

The current paper reports on a one-year longitudinal analysis of the interlanguage of an adult acquiring English without formal instruction (Huebner 1983). It presents observations of the form-function relationships in the early interlanguage and of the ways these relationships change over the twelve months of the study.

It describes features of the early interlanguage related to presupposed-asserted information, topic-comment organization of information, and referentiality, which express both pragmatic/discourse functions and semantico-grammatical case functions (Pfaff 1982) in the interlanguage, and examines the changing functions of these forms with attention to the role of set phrases, quasi-spontaneous speech, and processes of neutralization in the changing interlanguage system. The paper concludes by proposing two ways in which hypotheses may be neutralized and speculates that these two processes are reciprocally linked.

Previous studies of semantic implicit learning in language have only examined learning grammatical form-meaning connections in which learning could have been supported by prior linguistic knowledge. In this study we target the domain of verb meaning, specifically semantic preferences regarding novel verbs (e.g., the preference for a novel verb to take abstract objects). Using a reaction time methodology we show that, after exposure to correct verb-noun combinations, reaction times to incorrect combinations are slowed down even for participants who are unaware of the semantic regularity. This effect was obtained on a decision that was irrelevant to the actual underlying regularity, suggesting that the knowledge that has been acquired exerts its influence automatically, hence satisfying one criterion for implicitness. Combined with a lack of verbalizable knowledge, these experiments provide strong evidence for semantic implicit learning in language.

This study examines the nature of the involvement load (Laufer & Hulstijn, 2001) in second language (L2) lexical input processing through reading by considering the effects of the reader-based factors of L2 reading proficiency and background knowledge. The lexical input processing aspects investigated were lexical inferencing (search), attentional allocation during target word (TW) verification (evaluation), TW episodic memory after verification, TW retention, and changes in lexical input processing. This study also addresses the relationships between inferencing and retention as well as the relationships among the various phases of lexical input processing. A questionnaire on self-reported strategy use during the TW verification task was designed to examine motivation and cognitive involvement. A repeated-measures design was used with a cross-sectional sample of 35 adult L2 learners of Spanish. Participants read narratives (one more and one less familiar) that contained nonsense words. They guessed the meanings of the TWs. After reading all of the stories, participants completed an online inference verification task whose goal was to confirm or to correct guesses and to encourage deeper processing of TWs. This was followed by a test of TW episodic memory (yes/no verification) and a strategy questionnaire. Afterward, participants completed two tests that measured receptive retention of meaning. Analyses reveal differential effects of the reader-based variables across the different aspects of lexical input processing and negative changes in lexical input processing due to an interaction between reading proficiency and background knowledge. Results illustrate how reader-based factors also affect learner involvement and lexical input processing.

Acquisition of negation in Italian as a second language (L2) is investigated on the basis of the longitudinal data of five learners with different first languages (L1s) in the framework of a functional approach focusing on the semantic and pragmatic principles governing the organization of learner varieties and the process of their complexification. Negation develops in a cumulative process in four successive stages. New constructions entering into interlanguage (IL) at each stage effect reduction in frequency of use of previous constructions that specialize for special functions, such as constituent negation. The acquisition process provides insight into some of the mechanisms involved in the processing and filtering of grammatical elements from the input and into strategies employed by the learners to integrate the expression of the scope of negation into the syntactic organization of their variety. The results contribute to a better understanding of the acquisition processes of negation in L2s, allowing the comparison of the development of a relatively straightforward target with an invariable preverbal particle, Italian, with the better investigated development of the complex patterns of English and German.

The identification of stressed syllables by adult second-language (L2) Spanish learners was examined for evidence of influence of an allophonic alternation driven by word position and stress. The Spanish voiced stop-approximant alternation, whereby stops occur in stressed-syllable and word onsets, was utilized. If L2 learners track the distribution of this alternation, they should tend to link stops to stressed syllables in word-onset position and approximants to unstressed, word-medial position. Low- and high-intermediate-level first-language English learners of Spanish as well as native Spanish and monolingual English speakers listened to a series of nonce words and determined which of the two consonant-vowel (CV) syllables they perceived as stressed. In Experiment 1, onset allophone and vowel stress were crossed. In Experiment 2, the onset allophone alternated and a vowel unmarked for prominence was used. The results show that the monolingual English and low-intermediate groups were more likely to perceive syllables with stressed vowels as stressed, regardless of the allophone onset. In contrast, listeners with greater Spanish proficiency performed similarly to native Spanish speakers and were more likely to perceive stress on syllables with stop onsets, a pattern that follows the distributional information of Spanish. This finding suggests that learning the interplay between allophonic distributions and their conditioning factors is possible with experience and that knowledge of this relationship plays a role in the acquisition of L2 allophones.

This study reports on a bibliometric mapping analysis of L2 pronunciation research. Analyses on 629 articles published between 1977 and 2020 in 15 prestigious SSCI-indexed applied linguistics journals identified significant research themes and trends, influential authors, documents, and publication sources. The results of the analyses of citation impact, cocitation, and research trends provide valuable insights into understanding the dynamics, evolution patterns, and the intellectual background of L2 pronunciation research, thereby guiding future research and practice.

This contribution will compare the acquisition of German of three adult Poles over a period of 3 years. As background to the acquisition of grammatical features in German (e. g., morphology, auxiliary and modal verbs, constituency structure, temporality), an acquisition profile of the informants will be constructed. With the help of computer-aided corpus descriptions, the sequences in acquisition will be specified.

This study examines the perception of English vowels by native speakers of Italian. In two preliminary experiments, Italian university students who had lived in Canada for 3 months were found to have difficulty discriminating because they often identified both members of each contrast as instances of a single Italian vowel. The participants in two other experiments, long-time residents of Canada, were assigned to groups based on their age of arrival in Canada from Italy (early vs. late) and percentage of first language (L1) use (high L1 use vs. low L1 use). Experiment 3 focused on the discrimination of , and experiment 4 examined the discrimination of correct from incorrect realizations of . In both experiments, the early learners obtained higher discrimination scores than the late learners, and low-L1-use participants obtained higher scores than high-L1-use participants. Most important, the early learners who used Italian often (early high), but not the early learners who used Italian seldom (early low), were found to differ from native speakers of English in perceiving English vowels. These results suggest two important conclusions regarding second language (L2) perceptual learning: Learning an L2 in childhood does not guarantee a nativelike perception of L2 vowels, nor does the establishment of a sound system for the L1 preclude a functionally nativelike perception of L2 vowels. Another important finding is that, although the late learners generally perceived English vowels less accurately than the early learners, some perceived them accurately.This study was supported by grant DC00257 from the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communicative Disorders. The authors thank J. Prosperine and M. Pearse for help locating participants, Fr. M. Brodeur of St. Anthony's Church in Ottawa, Ontario, and all the participants. The authors are grateful to D. Meador and T. Piske for help preparing the stimuli used in experiment 4. Finally, thanks are extended to K. Aoyama, S. Imai, K. Tsukada, T. Piske, and three anonymous SSLA reviewers for comments on an earlier version of this article.

Research in both first and second language reading has undertaken the study of discourse structure and the influence of the rhetorical organization of the text on readers' passage comprehension. A considerable amount of research has also examined the effect of text adjuncts of various kinds on passage comprehension. The present study explored the effect of providing novice foreign language readers information about the rhetorical structure of an expository text as a text adjunct. Two passages were tested under each of three conditions: no framework, minimal framework, and expanded framework. Results indicate that an expanded framework is an effective text adjunct for the comprehension of expository prose.

This article reports on a comprehensive synthesis of the literature on the role of working memory in second language (L2) writing. It starts with an overview and clarification of the construct and measurement of working memory, followed by an elaboration of major theoretical models informing the synthesized research. The article then presents a synthesis of the methods and results of the 16 studies that have been conducted on the associations between working memory and L2 writing. The methodological synthesis encompasses research design, methods of working memory, measurement of writing performance, methods of data elicitation for writing processes, and data analysis and reporting. The results of the synthesized studies demonstrate that (1) working memory is largely unrelated to overall writing proficiency; (2) it is predictive of specific aspects of L2 composition such as complexity, accuracy, and fluency; (3) the role of working memory varies as a function of genre, proficiency, target structure, instruction type, and task demands; and (4) verbal working memory, phonological short-term memory, visual-spatial working memory, and executive functions (inhibiting, shifting, and updating) have differential associations with the process and product aspects of L2 writing. The methods and results are discussed by identifying trends, accounting for disparities, clarifying confusion, recommending solutions, and proposing new directions.

This article discusses the conceptualization, measurement, and validity of a recently emerged construct in the field of second language acquisition (SLA)—implicit language aptitude (alternatively “implicit aptitude”). Implicit aptitude is a set of cognitive abilities that enable learners to make unconscious computations of the distributional and transitional probabilities of linguistic input. Implicit aptitude is key to an accurate understanding of the cognitive foundation of language learning and contributes significantly to the advancement of SLA theory and pedagogy. The article starts by clarifying the concept and components of implicit aptitude, elaborating its role in SLA theories, identifying its attributes, and discussing its measurement. It then synthesizes the empirical evidence on its divergent, convergent, and predictive validity, which refers to whether it is distinct or separable from explicit aptitude, whether measures of implicit aptitude are correlated, and whether it is predictive of learning outcomes, respectively. Next, the article provides an overview of the seven empirical studies included in this special issue that examined implicit aptitude from various perspectives. The article concludes by identifying future directions.

Listener-based ratings have become a prominent means of defining second language (L2) users’ global speaking ability. In most cases, local listeners are recruited to evaluate speech samples in person. However, in many teaching and research contexts, recruiting local listeners may not be possible or advisable. The goal of this study was to hone a reliable method of recruiting listeners to evaluate L2 speech samples online through Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) using a blocked rating design. Three groups of listeners were recruited: local laboratory raters and two AMT groups, one inclusive of the dialects to which L2 speakers had been exposed and another inclusive of a variety of dialects. Reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients, Rasch models, and mixed-effects models. Results indicate that online ratings can be highly reliable as long as appropriate quality control measures are adopted. The method and results can guide future work with online samples.

In response to new theoretical claims and inconclusive empirical findings regarding relative clauses in East Asian languages, this study examined the factors relevant to relative clause production by Korean heritage speakers. Gap position (subject vs. object), animacy (± animate), and the topicality of head nouns (± topicalization) were manipulated as experimental variables, and factors that appear to have been confounded in previous studies (e.g., context, proficiency) were controlled for or measured. Data were collected from Korean native and heritage speakers using an elicited production task. Group results failed to show a subject advantage, but individual analysis revealed that the effect of gap position varied for speakers at different levels of Korean proficiency. Results from the topicalized lead-in condition as well as error analysis revealed two different sources related to these patterns: Traditional asymmetry (i.e., subject advantage) appears to reflect the noun phrase accessibility hierarchy effect, whereas backward asymmetry (i.e., object advantage) seems to stem from word order strategy. Proficiency scores exhibited a modest correlation with the different individual response patterns. However, an animacy effect was not observed. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of a general learning strategy, language universals based on informational prominence, the role of proficiency, and the effect of task demands.

In our reply to Margaret Thomas's article “Programmatic ahistoricity in second language acquisition theory,” we first review pertinent literature, concluding that historical awareness is evident in SLA, though it is not as far-reaching as Thomas would like it to be. We then argue that the attitude of most scholars in SLA toward the past is reasonable given that no significant work in SLA from antiquity has been discovered—by Thomas or anyone else—and that if such work exists Thomas has the burden to bring it to light before declaring the field guilty of ahistoricity. We consider various ways to define the field of SLA, arguing that it should be defined theoretically first, and historically second. We claim that the point at which SLA separated itself from language teaching is a logical point from which to date the beginnings of SLA as a true discipline. We consider and reject Thomas's comparison of SLA and its history to various other scientific disciplines and their histories, arguing that these disciplines have true milestones to point to in the distant past, whereas SLA does not. Although we agree with Thomas that a general awareness of the history of philosophy and science is beneficial for scholars in all fields, we make a sharp division between that history and the history of SLA proper. We conclude by arguing that respect for the field of SLA can come only through sound scientific progress, not by appeals to history.

Elicited imitation (EI) is a much-used measurement instrument in applied linguistics, and it is considered a reliable and quick assessment of holistic speaking ability and implicit grammar knowledge. To date, however, EI research has overwhelmingly relied on highly educated participants. Only a few small-scale EI studies in applied linguistics have considered low-literate learners. Using Item Response Theory (IRT) and inferential parametric and nonparametric statistics, this study examined the EI performance of 113 L2 learners of Dutch with diverging educational backgrounds. All participants were enrolled in A1 and A2 Dutch L2 courses. Additionally, this study examined to what extent EI performances align with standardized tests of speaking and receptive vocabulary. The results indicate that EI can be used with both highly literate and low-educated participants, who will—however—be outperformed by higher educated learners. Especially the repetition of sentences containing pseudowords appears to result in substantial performance differences between the two groups.