Studies in Second Language Acquisition最新文献

This paper reports an expansion of the English as a second language (L2) component of the Multilingual Eye Movement Corpus (MECO L2), an international database of eye movements during text reading. While the previous Wave 1 of the MECO project (Kuperman et al., 2023) contained English as a L2 reading data from readers with 12 different first language (L1) backgrounds, the newly collected dataset adds eye-tracking data on English text reading from 13 distinct L1 backgrounds (N = 660) as well as participants’ scores on component skills of English proficiency and information about their demographics and language background and use. The paper reports reliability estimates, descriptive statistics, and correlational analyses as means to validate the expansion dataset. Consistent with prior literature and the MECO Wave 1, trends in the MECO Wave 2 data include a weak correlation between reading comprehension and oculomotor measures of reading fluency and a greater L1-L2 contrast in reading fluency than reading comprehension. Jointly with Wave 1, the MECO project includes English reading data from more than 1,200 readers representing a diversity of native writing systems (logographic, abjad, abugida, and alphabetic) and 19 distinct L1 backgrounds. We provide multiple pointers to new venues of how L2 reading researchers can mine this rich publicly available dataset.

This paper responds to Al-Hoorie, Hiver, and In’nami’s (2024) critique of the second language (L2) Motivational Self System (L2MSS) by advocating for an immediate cessation of its use in the absence of substantial revision and validation. We revisit foundational studies in the tradition, exposing critical methodological flaws that we feel undermine empirical support for the model. Further, we examine systemic factors that contributed to the largely uncritical acceptance of the model. Drawing on our own experiences, we reflect on how these dynamics have obstructed the adoption of more robust motivational theories available in psychology and education. We further caution that without a stronger emphasis on validating measurement instruments, similar distractions may continue to hinder progress in the field.

Growing evidence suggests that ratings of second language (L2) speech may be influenced by perceptions of speakers’ affective states, yet the size and direction of these effects remain underexplored. To investigate these effects, 83 raters evaluated 30 speech samples using 7-point scales of four language features and ten affective states. The speech samples were 2-min videorecordings from a high-stakes speaking test. An exploratory factor analysis reduced the affect scores to three factors: assuredness, involvement, and positivity. Regression models indicated that affect variables predicted spoken language feature ratings, explaining 18–27% of the variance in scores. Assuredness and involvement corresponded with all language features, while positivity only predicted comprehensibility scores. These findings suggest that listeners’ perceptions of speakers’ affective states intertwine with their spoken language ratings to form a visual component of second-language communication. The study has implications for models of L2 speech, language pedagogy, and assessment practice.

This study explored how second language (L2) speakers’ use of multiword sequences in speech predicted perceived fluency ratings while controlling for their utterance fluency. A total of 102 Japanese speakers of English delivered an argumentative speech, which was analyzed for bigram and trigram measures (frequency, proportion, and mutual information) and utterance fluency measures capturing three subdimensions: speed, breakdown, and repair fluency (Tavakoli & Skehan, 2005). Perceived fluency was assessed by 10 experienced L2 raters. Mixed-effects regression analyses revealed that after establishing the parsimonious model solely by UF predictors (marginal R2 = .61), a frequency-based n-gram predictor––bigram proportion––slightly but significantly explained the remaining variance of fluency rating scores (0.8%). The results indicated that multiword sequences in speech had a small but systematic impact on perceived fluency, even controlling for the effects of utterance fluency. This finding contributes to the discussion concerning the role of multiword sequences in fluent speech production.

Morphological knowledge refers to the ability to recognize and use morphemes correctly in syntactic contexts and word formation. This is crucial for learning a morphologically rich language like Finnish, which features both agglutinative and fusional morphology. In Finnish, agglutination occurs in forms like aamu: aamu+lla (‘morning: in the morning’), where a suffix is transparently added. Fusional features, as seen in ilta: illa+lla (‘evening: in the evening’), involve allomorphic stem changes that reduce transparency. We investigated the challenges posed by stem allomorphy for word recognition in isolation and in context for L2 learners and L1 speakers of Finnish. In a lexical decision task, L2 speakers had longer response times and higher error rates for semitransparent inflections, while L1 speakers showed longer response times for both transparent and semitransparent inflection types. In sentence reading, L2 speakers exhibited longer fixation times for semitransparent forms, whereas L1 speakers showed no significant effects. The results suggest that the challenges in L2 inflectional processing are more related to fusional than agglutinative features of the Finnish language.

While our earlier report focused on the initial four months of the dataset (Saito et al., 2018, Language Learning), this study investigates the relationship between individual differences in motivation (Ideal Self and Ought–to Self), emotions (Enjoyment and Anxiety), and L2 speech learning among 121 Japanese English–as–a–Foreign–Language high school students over 1.5–years. Participants’ L2 speech proficiency consistently improved at each testing point (6 months, 10 months, and 1.5 years), while their motivation and emotions, measured through questionnaires, remained relatively stable. The results of structural equation modeling suggest that the relationship between motivation, emotions, and acquisition may evolve. Within the first 6-10 months, data indicated a correlational relationship, highlighting a mutual influence among motivation, emotions, and acquisition. However, as the study progressed beyond one year, after students had fully adapted to their educational settings, a clearer causal relationship emerged: Enhanced motivation and more positive emotions were linked to increased classroom practice, leading to significant gains in L2 speech proficiency. The predictive roles of Anxiety remained unclear in this longitudinal dataset.

Fluency, intelligibility, comprehensibility, and accentedness are important dimensions of second language (L2) pronunciation proficiency representing global, listener-based intuitions. This study meta-analyzed 49 reports from 1995 to 2023, examining 141 effect sizes (Pearson r) to understand their relationships and possible moderators. Three-level meta-analysis models showed weighted mean correlations of .82, .75, .62, .57, and .32 for fluency/comprehensibility, comprehensibility/accentedness, fluency/accentedness, intelligibility/comprehensibility, and intelligibility/accentedness, respectively. Task types moderated correlations for fluency/accentedness, intelligibility/comprehensibility, and intelligibility/accentedness, with controlled tasks leading to higher correlations. Ratings of multiple dimensions by the same listeners tended to result in weaker correlations for fluency/comprehensibility and comprehensibility/accentedness. The findings imply that having an accent does not mean being unintelligible and support prioritizing intelligible and comprehensible speech over accent reduction. The study also highlights an over-reliance on first language speaker norms in L2 pronunciation research and advocates for more transparent reporting.

Research on second language (L2) speech learning suggests that incidental perception training can lead to the establishment of non-native phonological categories. The present study contributes to this line of enquiry by investigating how this training is mediated by individual differences in working memory capacity and domain-general auditory processing abilities. In our study, 130 native British English speakers without prior knowledge of Portuguese were randomly assigned to trained or untrained conditions. All participants completed a visual digit span task and an auditory processing test battery. We observed improvements from pretest to post-test in production only, but since both groups improved, these gains cannot be attributed to the incidental perception training. The analysis of the ID measures further confirms the important role played by auditory processing abilities in L2 speech learning. However, more research is needed to better understand the role of incidental perception training and the mediating role of cognitive aptitudes.

Lexical proficiency is a multifaceted phenomenon that greatly impacts human judgments of writing quality. However, the importance of collocations’ contribution to proficiency assessment has received less attention than that of single words, despite collocations’ essential role in language production. This study, therefore, investigated how aspects of collocational proficiency affect the ratings that examiners give to English learner essays. To do so, collocational features related to sophistication and accuracy were manipulated in a set of argumentative essays. Examiners then rated the texts and provided rationales for their choices. The findings revealed that the use of lower-frequency words significantly and positively impacted the experts’ ratings. When used as part of collocations, such words then provided a small yet significant additional boost to ratings. Notably, there was no significant effect for increased collocational accuracy. These findings suggest that low-frequency words within collocations are particularly salient to examiners and deserving of pedagogic focus.