Aims/objectives/research questions: A common concern for bilingual education is that it detracts from students’ progress with the society’s dominant language. Several studies in this area have focused on bilingual educational settings using the dominant societal language and a language that is the native one of the students. Findings are hard to generalise to other educational settings, due to the inherent heterogeneity of bilingual education, including not only the choice of languages used but also the amount and type of exposure to each of them. Here, we investigate English language attainment in the case of a bilingual primary school in England which uses English, the dominant societal language, and French, a language which is not the home language of any sizeable group of students in the school. Design/methodology/approach: Early years primary school students were assessed near the beginning and end of the academic year using English language assessments normed in the United Kingdom. Attainment in government-set national-level assessments is also reported. Data/analysis: We performed statistical analyses of achievement and progress using linear mixed effects models. Findings/conclusions: Students’ performance and progress with foundational language skills in English were within the expected range, and this was the case both for monolinguals as well as children who had an additional home language. The students also met government-set standards of progress for reading and writing. Originality: This study offers a glimpse into a rare educational setting in England, a non-selective English–French bilingual primary school whose students have various home languages other than French. Implications: The emerging picture contributes towards dispelling one of the commonly held concerns about bilingual education. Students of any linguistic background in this type of bilingual setting were not negatively impacted in their progress with the dominant societal language, while of course progressing with their additional language learning in French.
Aims and objectives: Most researchers assume language non-selective lexical access: when a target is presented, words sharing form and/or meaning are activated regardless of language and may compete for identification. Lexical decision studies have explored the lateral inhibition (LI) mechanism using orthographic substitution neighbors (words that differ by one letter). Although an inhibitory neighborhood priming effect is commonly observed (i.e., longer latencies when a higher-frequency neighbor primes a target compared to an unrelated word), inconsistencies in the literature remain. This is likely due to the influence of variables that were not fully addressed, such as orthographic and phonological (OP) consistency and L2 daily use. Based on the possible effect of those variables, the robustness of LI as an explanatory mechanism was evaluated. Methodology: We examined the inhibitory neighborhood priming effect in a masked priming lexical decision task, manipulating the OP consistency through the primes’ orthographic and phonological neighborhood sizes. A total of 152 European Portuguese (L1)–English (L2) bilinguals who varied in L2 daily use participated in the study. Data and analysis: Response times (RTs) and error percentages (E%) were analyzed using mixed-effects models. Variables related to the participants entered the models as covariables. Conclusions: The inhibitory effect was replicated in European Portuguese (L1)–English (L2) bilinguals, although modulated by neighborhood size and L2 daily use. Results were validated by a control study, and simulations with Multilink+ showed strong correlations between cycle times and RTs. Originality: This is the first time the orthographic and phonological neighborhood size of the prime words and the daily use of the L2 were considered when examining cross-linguistic neighborhood effects. These variables modulated the results, showing that the effect occurs in the early stages of the visual word recognition process. Implications: Theoretical implications are discussed, considering alternative mechanisms to LI as possible underlying competition mechanisms.
Aims and Objectives: This study combines eye-tracking measures and stimulated recall interview data to investigate how late Spanish–English bilinguals process interlingual homographs in sentence contexts that differ in semantic constraint, and how they report managing parallel activation in contexts characterized by low semantic constraint. Methodology: To examine the influence of sentence-level semantic constraint on bilingual lexical processing, 19 late bilingual speakers of L1 Spanish and L2 English read sentences containing English–Spanish interlingual homographs embedded in high- and low-semantic-constraint contexts while their eye movements were recorded. A subset of participants took part in stimulated recall interviews prompted by their own eye-movement recordings from low-constraint sentences, targeting moments of increased processing difficulty. Data and Analysis: Eye-tracking data were analyzed using early and late eye-movement measures indexing initial lexical access and later integrative processing. Linear mixed-effects models were used to assess the effect of contextual constraint on reading behavior. Stimulated recall data were analyzed qualitatively using thematic content analysis to identify participants’ reported cognitive activities during ambiguity resolution. Findings and Conclusions: Results showed that high-semantic-constraint contexts facilitated faster and more efficient processing of interlingual homographs, whereas low-constraint contexts elicited longer reading times and increased rereading, indicating greater processing difficulty. Stimulated recalls revealed participants’ awareness of parallel activation, their use of contextual cues, and monitoring and rereading behaviors during ambiguity resolution in low-constraint contexts, complementing the eye-tracking findings. Originality: By integrating eye-tracking with stimulated recall interviews, this study links online processing patterns with readers’ reported cognitive activities, providing a more comprehensive account of how bilinguals manage cross-language ambiguity during sentence reading. Implications: The findings have implications for models of bilingual lexical processing and suggest that increased sensitivity to semantic context may support more efficient comprehension of lexically ambiguous input in L2 learning.
Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: This study examines how Spanish–Guaraní bilinguals structure code-switching (CS) on Twitter/X and investigates what these patterns reveal about competing models of bilingual grammar. Specifically, it explores language dominance, switch direction, syntactic position, switch span, and register effects in Paraguayan bilingual discourse. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study adopts a corpus-based and dependency-analytic approach using Universal Dependencies (UD) annotation to examine CS patterns in a Spanish–Guaraní social media corpus. Data and Analysis: The analysis is based on an extended UD-annotated Spanish–Guaraní Twitter/X corpus. Switch points were examined according to direction, dependency relations (DEPREL), part-of-speech categories, span length, and register (formal vs. informal tweets). Quantitative analyses were complemented by qualitative examination of representative examples. Findings/Conclusions: Results show that Guaraní, including the variant Jopará, functions as the dominant matrix language overall, especially in formal tweets. Switches into Spanish occur disproportionately at core grammatical positions such as subjects, objects, and obliques, whereas switches into Guaraní frequently occur at clause-edge and discourse-related positions. Switch spans are generally short but vary systematically according to syntactic environment, with clause-structuring elements licensing longer spans than argument-level switches. Originality: The study introduces switch span as a measure of structural scope in CS and combines dependency-based syntactic analysis with register-sensitive investigation in a low-resource bilingual setting. Significance/Implications: The findings support Matrix-Language Frame predictions in formal registers while demonstrating the importance of hierarchical and scope-based accounts of bilingual grammar. More broadly, the study shows how dependency annotation can provide fine-grained insights into CS in Indigenous and mixed-language repertoires.
Aims: This study investigates morphological code-mixing, the combination of morphemes from two languages within a single word, in the spontaneous speech of young German–English bilingual children. Following a usage-based perspective, the study asks whether children’s morphological code-mixing shows systematic patterns and whether these patterns reflect properties of the linguistic input they receive. Method: The analysis is based on longitudinal corpus data from three German–English simultaneous bilingual children aged 2 to 3 years. All children were raised in Germany in families following a one-parent–one-language approach, but their input conditions differed in the relative frequency and distribution of German and English. Utterances were coded for language type and analyzed for instances of morphological code-mixing. Data and Analysis: Across the three corpora, 696 instances of morphological code-mixing were identified. Each mixed form was coded for type of mixing, part of speech, language of stems and affixes, and grammatical categories realized in inflectional mixing. Quantitative comparisons were conducted across children to examine distributional patterns and effects of differing input conditions. Findings: Morphological code-mixing appeared in fewer than 2% of utterances but was produced by all children. Individual differences emerged in both frequency and types of mixes. Inflectional mixing was the most common pattern, especially German inflectional morphemes attached to English stems. Children with more balanced or shifting input conditions also produced German stems with English inflectional markers. Mixed compounds occurred in both German–English and English–German configurations. These patterns mirrored the children’s input distributions and developmental shifts in language proficiency. Originality: The results support a usage-based account in which morphological code-mixing arises from entrenched morphological frames and analogical extension rather than violations of grammatical constraints. Significance/Implications: The study shows that morphological code-mixing in early bilingual development is systematic, input-sensitive, and shaped by children’s experience with partially schematic constructions across their two languages.
Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: Recently, contact linguistics has become increasingly interested in multiword units. At the same time, the code-copying framework (CCF) includes the notion of mixed copies (MCs) that are in-between global copies (‘borrowing’) and selective copies (‘structural change’) and illustrate the transition between the lexicon and grammar. The research question is: What types of MCs occur in English-Estonian bilingual speech? Design/Methodology/Approach: The data were transcribed, and MCs identified, annotated, and classified according to their structure. English items were searched for in Estonian dictionaries to establish their Estonian equivalents or conventionalization of such items. The frequencies of MCs and their Estonian equivalents were also searched on Google to determine whether the MCs occur outside the corpus. Data and Analysis: Three datasets were analysed: written texts from 44 blogs (385,124 tokens), spoken data from 10 vlogs (117,555 tokens), and 8 podcasts (77,277 tokens). Quantitative analyses of the various MC types were conducted, followed by a qualitative analysis of representative examples. Findings/Conclusions: Compound nouns constitute the majority of MCs, followed by idioms, phrasal compounds, and a small number of compound verbs. No frame-changing MCs (i.e., MCs resulting in grammatical change) were attested. Since compound nouns and analytic verbs occur in both languages, structural similarity may be a facilitating factor in copying. Originality: The notion of MCs is not widely used. Research typically focuses on particular types of items (e.g., compound nouns or verbs); here, however, the question is reversed: which types of items yield MCs? Significance/Implications: It was established that the proportion of MCs in the data is comparable to that of selective copies. Within MCs, the globally copied element renders the remaining part more specific, highlighting the importance of meaning in contact-induced language change. MCs are also present on the Estonian internet and, in some cases, outnumber their Estonian equivalents, if such equivalents exist.
Aims: This study explored how valence and modality affect emotional word recognition in unbalanced Spanish-English bilinguals. Design: Two lexical decision tasks were used: a visual task (Study 1) and an auditory task (Study 2), conducted in either L1 or L2. Data and Analysis: Data from 80 (Study 1) and 40 (Study 2) unbalanced Spanish-English bilinguals living in an L1-majority country were analyzed using repeated-measure ANOVAs with Bonferroni-corrected post hoc tests. In both studies, performance was assessed through discrimination (d’), bias (C), and reaction times. Findings: Results revealed positive words were recognized more accurately and quickly, reflecting a positivity advantage. L1 groups showed better discrimination and fewer false alarms than L2, suggesting more efficient processing. Modality effects varied: L1 participants responded faster to positive pseudowords visually, while L2 participants were more sensitive to emotional pseudowords auditorily. Originality: This study is the first to directly compare valence effects across visual and auditory modalities in unbalanced Spanish-English bilinguals using parallel lexical decision paradigms, providing novel evidence on how emotional processing differs between L1 and L2. Conclusions: These findings support the density hypothesis, suggesting that positive words benefit from higher semantic cohesion. A stronger liberal bias for emotional words in L2 may reflect compensatory strategies under lexical uncertainty. Implications: findings underscore the interplay of language proficiency, modality, and emotion in bilingual lexical access, with implications for bilingual education, cognitive assessments, and emotional processing research.
Aims: This conceptual review of the recent literature on metaphor acquisition aims to highlight the directions for future impact-oriented work with young monolingual and bilingual children. Approach: The latest work in metaphor development is discussed in light of two main issues which need addressing through empirical research: (a) the need for longitudinal studies which can capture metaphor learning as a continuous and dynamic process, and (b) the need for studies in metaphor acquisition in early bilingualism. Data and analysis: The questions about metaphor acquisition are positioned within broader debates on the topic, but the main focus falls on metaphor studies conducted in the last 6 years. Conclusions: Recent studies with monolingual children show that metaphor abilities emerge early and at a varied pace, but the diverse methods these studies adopt cannot capture the exact onset of metaphor use in the broader context of bilingual development and in relation to developing cognitive skills. To better understand metaphor use in the early years and to leverage its educational potential, we should ask (a) how bilingual pre-schoolers acquire metaphors, (b) how mono- and bilingual children move from one stage of metaphor acquisition to the next, (c) how verbal and verbal-cognitive skills are related to metaphor acquisition over time, and (d) how metaphor processing and comprehension are related with metaphor production. Originality: The novelty of this article lies in its comprehensive approach to recent developments. It brings together findings from various metaphor studies that differ in their theoretical and methodological orientations. This makes it possible to start evaluating the value of the current trends in child metaphor research and to highlight areas for future study. Significance: The article demonstrates how theories can be reconciled, how methods can be adapted, and what areas of metaphor research should be pursued to create societal impact.
Aims and Objectives: Narrative skills are essential for literacy and academic success and are shaped by linguistic knowledge and environmental factors such as input quantity and quality. This study compares narrative macrostructure skills in heritage Farsi–English bilingual children and examines the influence of internal (cognitive, linguistic) and external (input-related) factors. Design and Methodology: Thirty-seven Farsi–English bilingual children (mean age = 8;7) were assessed using LITMUS - MAIN for narrative macrostructure (Story Structure [SS], Story Complexity [SC]) and LITMUS-CLT for vocabulary in both languages. Internal and external factors were collected via parental questionnaires. Data and Analysis: Pearson correlation analyses examined associations among SS, SC, vocabulary measures, and internal and external background factors. Multiple regression analyses were used to assess the unique contributions of vocabulary and input-related variables to SS and SC in each language. Findings and Conclusions: Narrative macrostructure skills were comparable across Farsi and English. SS and SC were strongly correlated within each language. Vocabulary was associated with SS within each language but not across languages, and only English expressive vocabulary accounted for unique variance in English SS. SC was associated with vocabulary only in Farsi, suggesting a stronger role of lexical resources in supporting narrative complexity in the heritage language. Age at testing was positively associated with English SS, while age of bilingualism was associated with SS and SC in both languages. Richness of Farsi input was positively related to Farsi SS, whereas greater English use showed a negative association. Together, these findings highlight the role of vocabulary and input quality in narrative development, particularly in the heritage language. Originality: This study addresses an underexamined language pairing, Farsi–English, and demonstrates how linguistic and experiential factors jointly shape bilingual narrative development. Significance and Implications: The findings underscore the importance of assessing both languages and considering input quality when evaluating bilingual children’s narrative abilities, with implications for reducing misdiagnosis and supporting culturally responsive practices in clinical and educational settings.
Aims and Objectives: This study examined whether bilingual language control is shared across comprehension and production or supported by separate mechanisms in a dissimilar language pair. Specifically, we investigated whether Chinese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) show asymmetric switch costs in comprehension-to-production (C-to-P) language switching. Design: Thirty-three Chinese EFL learners completed a joint language switch paradigm combining picture naming (production) and semantic categorization (comprehension). Language switching in picture naming was triggered by interleaved categorization in Chinese or English. Data and Analysis: Reaction times were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models. Findings: Participants showed a switch benefit in the L1 naming block but no switch effect in the L2 block. This asymmetry is inconsistent with both shared- and separate-control accounts and instead suggests a major contribution of modality control, particularly in the L1 block. Originality: The study provides initial evidence for asymmetric switch benefits in C-to-P language switching and highlights language similarity as a key factor of modality and cross-modality language control. Implications: We propose the Multimodal Inhibitory Control (MIC) model as a framework for predicting control demands across tasks, language pairs, and dominance profiles.
Aims and Objectives: The article is devoted to the analysis of the value orientations and attitudes toward the Kazakh and Russian languages among two groups of residents in Kazakhstan (Russian-speaking Kazakhs and Russians). These groups, located at the intersection of identities, historical memory, and everyday language practices, are significant for interpreting linguistic transformations in the country’s multilingual context. The two groups are united by Russian as the dominant language of everyday communication, but they differ ethnically, which enables the distinction of linguistic identity and ethnic affiliation as independent variables. Methodology: The study was conducted within a post-positivist paradigm, utilizing a cross-sectional design and a cross-sectional survey. Data and Analysis: The data from a survey of 517 respondents were analyzed. To examine differences in language perception through the lens of values, non-parametric statistical methods were used (Kruskal–Wallis tests; Dunn and Mann–Whitney tests with Bonferroni correction). To corroborate and cross-check the survey data, an analysis of texts from a variety of social media platforms was also conducted. Findings/Conclusions: The findings indicate statistically significant variations in language attitudes that correlate with value orientations. Russian-speaking Kazakhs tend to perceive the Kazakh language as a symbol of cultural continuity and post-colonial identity, while Russian respondents demonstrate more neutral or ambivalent attitudes toward it. Originality: The study contributes to the academic discourse on the role of language and attitudes toward it in Kazakhstani (and, more broadly, post-Soviet) society. The study’s significance also lies in identifying key factors (the historical legacy of the Soviet period, contemporary educational strategies, the digitalization of the communicative space, etc.) that influence language attitudes. Significance/Implications: The results obtained can be used to develop a more balanced language policy that takes into account both the symbolic and functional aspects of language use.
Aims: This article examines linguistic bias as experienced by migrants of different language backgrounds in Australia, focusing on their construction of Self as shaped by the perpetrators of bias. Approach, data, and analysis: It draws on narrative interview data and applies a thematic analysis method, and makes use of the Sartrean conception of gaze in relation to the Self and the Other to understand how the participants make sense of their Self before the Other on being exposed to linguistic bias. Findings: The participants framed their awareness of their Self, in the gaze of the Other, as an “incompetent” or “unbelievably competent” English speaker/writer who was forced into pre-determined categories of race, language, or residency status. They gazed back at the Other and were not willing to accept the negative dimensions about their Self as imposed by the latter. The participants, in addition, became the social Other in the eyes and ears of the bias perpetrators who represented/supported the social Self. Originality: Studies which discuss incidents when migrants receive biased comments on their English competence do not focus much on linguistic-bias encounterers’ construction of self in relation to bias perpetrators. The present study attempts to shed light on this issue. Implications: The idea about a particular form of English associated with a certain type of English users needs to be critically examined and debated.
Aims and objectives: This meta-analysis investigated the role of inhibitory control in code-switching comprehension, which remains debated. Method: Systematic searches in Chinese and English databases (2002–2024) identified 23 empirical studies (36 effect sizes) that met PRISMA criteria. All reported switch costs measured by reaction time during comprehension in healthy bilinguals with clear demographic/language information. Hedge’s g was used as the effect size, a random-effects model was applied, and mixed-effects models were employed to examine moderators. Findings: Inhibitory control had a small but significant overall effect on code-switching comprehension. Task input modality and preparation time emerged as significant moderators: the effect was larger for visual than for auditory input, and larger under experimenter-controlled than under participant-controlled preparation time. No significant moderation was found for age, age of acquisition, bilingual type, or switching direction. Originality: This is the first meta-analysis to systematically quantify inhibition control in code-swtching comprehension, moving beyond production-focused work. It uniquely identifies input modality and preparation time as critical task-related moderators and further show that inhibitory engagement in comprehension is modest and reactive rather than proactive. Significance: The findings support the language non-selective access hypothesis and the Inhibitory Control model, while qualifying them by showing that inhibition in comprehension is weaker and more context-dependent than in production. The results reconcile prior contradictory evidence by demonstrating that task design features (modality, timing) strongly determine whether inhibitory effects are observed. These insights refine current theories of bilingual language control and offer methodological guidance for future comprehension-based switching research.
Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: Research on language learning motivation has mainly focused on the L2 classroom. However, to understand migrant language learners more fully, it is also important to consider how acculturation shapes their learning experiences. Acculturative stress may influence language anxiety (the fear of making mistakes), while learning motivation can play a key role in mediating this relationship. The present study investigates language learning motivation and acculturative stress among German learning migrants in Dresden, Germany. Research questions address whether acculturative stress and motivation can predict language anxiety, whether the perceived expectation to integrate predicts language anxiety, and whether German proficiency can predict language anxiety. It was of particular interest to uncover differential anxiety outcomes across public and classroom settings. Design/Methodology/Approach: To address these questions, the Assessment of Language Motivation and Acculturative Stress (ALMAS) was developed through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Data and Analysis: German learning migrants ( n = 148) ranging from A1 (beginner) to C2 (fluent) were recruited for optional and anonymous online participation. Data was collected from complete questionnaires and analyzed through ordinary least squares regression (OLS) and structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings: Analyses confirm that some acculturative stress dimensions (social isolation) predict language anxiety across contexts. Integration expectations emerged as a predictor of classroom language anxiety. German language proficiency offsets public language anxiety, but not classroom anxiety. Originality: These findings highlight the importance of addressing sociocultural themes in language education, particularly among migrants. Implications: Language proficiency is often discussed as a general remedy for anxiety and acculturative stress; however, these results demonstrate a more context-dependent connection. Moreover, these findings attest to the limitations of motivation (as extrinsic motivators such as societal pressure have adverse effects), and factors such as integrativeness and instrumentality had no significant offsetting effect on reducing anxiety.
Aims and objectives: This study investigates how Chinese-English (C-E) bilinguals and Chinese-English-Japanese (C-E-J) trilinguals express English caused state change events (CSC), focusing on the similarities and differences between the two groups. It explores the underlying motivations with an emphasis on cross-linguistic influence, particularly the inverse typological effect of the L3 (Japanese) on the L2 (English), as modulated by L3 proficiency.Design and methodology: This study employed a video description task to compare C-E bilinguals and C-E-J trilinguals differing in Japanese proficiency (low-to-intermediate/high). Participants (no. 96) described 12 video clips depicting CSC events.Data and analysis: The database comprised CSC descriptions of C-E bilinguals (no. 32), C-E-J trilinguals with low Japanese proficiency (no. 32), and C-E-J trilinguals with high Japanese proficiency (no. 32). Analyses focused on two dimensions: (1) semantic structure and (2) cognitive mechanisms.Findings and conclusions: (1) Trilinguals showed more inaccuracies in employing S-constructions and reduced semantic precision in expressing [manner] information. They also exhibited lower frequencies of employing alternative manner expressions, complete causal chains, and causal tight forms. (2) The impact of L3 (Japanese) typological framework features was primarily negative, with cognitive aspects showing clearer signs of change than semantic aspects. As learners' Japanese proficiency increased, reliance on transfer from L1 Chinese declined, while the shared V-language typology of Japanese and English became salient in L2 (English) production.Originality: This study advances novel research on the inverse effects of L3 on L2, with a particular focus on CSC as a new research object.Significance and implication: Our findings confirm that in multilingual acquisition, the linguistic distance and proficiency of the subsequent language (L3) influence the previous language (L2).
Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: This study explores university students’ perceptions of translanguaging and its role in higher education in South Africa. It seeks to understand how students perceive the integration of translanguaging into teaching, learning, and assessment, and how it contributes to inclusivity and academic success. Design/Methodology/Approach: A qualitative phenomenological approach was adopted to explore students’ lived experiences. Data were collected through focus group interviews with 32 participants and questionnaires completed by 345 students across four faculties. Data and Analysis: Data were thematically analysed, focusing on key themes emerging from students’ responses about the value, challenges, and practical implications of translanguaging in higher education contexts. Findings/Conclusions: The findings reveal that students perceive translanguaging as a powerful tool for inclusivity, comprehension, and participation in multilingual classrooms. They also highlight challenges, including institutional resistance and a lack of supportive language policies. The study concludes that translanguaging has significant potential for decolonising higher education and supporting academic success. Originality: This study contributes to emerging scholarship on translanguaging in South African higher education by centring the voices of students in the debate on translanguaging, an area often dominated by lecturer and policy perspectives. It adds insight into how students themselves experience and value translanguaging practices. Significance/Implications: The study provides evidence that integrating translanguaging into higher education pedagogy can advance inclusivity and academic equity. It also underscores the need for supportive policies and institutional commitment to legitimising translanguaging as part of teaching, learning, and assessment.
Purpose: This preliminary study explored patterns of English past tense production, in 10 Spanish-L1-English-L2 dual language learners (DLLs), predicted by Bybee’s usage-based Network Model (NM). Methodology: DLLs completed the Test of Early Grammatical Impairment and the semantic and morphosyntax subtests from the Bilingual English-Spanish Assessment (BESA). The Paradis corpus was employed, as a representative corpus, to index English language input among DLLs. Using these data, we examined the relationship between language input (i.e., word and lemma frequencies for verbs) and phonological properties (i.e., stem-final endings corresponding to regular past tense allomorphs) found to relate to past tense production during English second language (L2) acquisition. Connections between English lexical and semantic knowledge and the use of the past tense were also investigated, as research has linked lexical, semantic, and broad grammatical skills during children’s L2 language acquisition. Data and analysis: A Friedman test and Kendall’s tau- b correlations were conducted to compare production accuracy between the allomorphs and to determine relationships between language input, phonological properties, lexical-semantic knowledge and English past tense production. Conclusions: DLLs produced past tense allomorphs with comparable rates of accuracy. In addition, DLLs’ use of allomorph /d/ positively correlated with their semantic knowledge in English. Relationships between past tense production accuracy, language input, and lexical knowledge were not observed. Originality: This study uniquely contributes to our understanding of the potential link between language input, phonological properties, lexical-semantic knowledge and English pasttense marking in dual language learners. Significance: These findings extend our understanding of English past tense production during childhood L2 acquisition.
Aims: The present study explores how language switching modulates cross-language semantic competitor effects in Chinese-English bilinguals to test the Inhibitory Control Model and Language-Specific Selection Model. Design: Two behavioral experiments adopted a modified cross-language semantic competitor priming paradigm. Computational models simulated inhibitory and non-inhibitory mechanisms. Data and analysis: Linear mixed-effects models and generalized linear mixed-effects models were used to analyze reaction time and accuracy from behavioral experiments. Computational simulations were compared with behavioral results. Findings: For L2 production, cross-language semantic interference effects emerge under non-switch conditions and diminish under switch conditions. For L1 production, no cross-language semantic interference effects were detected under either the non-switch or switch conditions. Computational simulations matched these results. Originality: A dual-mechanism account is proposed that L2 production relies on inhibitory control and L1 production on language-specific selection. Significance: Language control mechanisms by Chinese-English bilinguals can be modulated by language dominance.
While substantial scholarly attention has focused on native-speakerism’s influence on teachers’ professional identities, considerably less research has examined its effects on multilinguals navigating transnational spaces. When combined with neoliberal educational frameworks that commodify language skills as marketable assets, native-speakerism creates complex challenges for multilingual individuals. This study addresses this gap by examining three South Korean multilinguals who completed K-12 education at English-medium international schools abroad. Based on in-depth qualitative interviews, this study explores how native-speakerist ideology influences multilinguals’ everyday language practices and learning investments. Participants’ experiences illuminate how native-speakerist judgments operate primarily as social positioning mechanisms rather than genuine linguistic assessments, with geographical and racialized credentials mattering more than actual competence. The participants developed sophisticated strategic responses including geographical legitimacy-seeking, alternative linguistic capital accumulation and identity repositioning to navigate ideological constraints. These findings reveal how native-speakerist hierarchies impose profound personal and professional costs on multilinguals, a process that highlights the urgent need to dismantle systems that privilege ideological conformity over authentic multilingual competence.
Aims and Objectives: The article aims to show that corpora have made it possible to expand the field of phraseology and gain a better understanding of multiword units, including in foreign or second language learning and teaching. At the same time, however, it argues that corpora cannot answer all questions related to multiword units in and for learners and it therefore pleads for the combination of corpora with other sources of information. Approach: The article first describes the contributions of corpora to phraseology, emphasizing that several essential aspects of multiword units are not accessible to intuition and require the use of corpora. It then highlights the limitations of corpus linguistics when it comes to the study of multiword units in and for learners and shows how these limitations can be overcome by combining corpora with other sources of information. Findings: Linguistic expertise, experimentation and pedagogical experience are presented as useful complements to the corpus study of multiword units in and for learners, allowing for the investigation of additional aspects such as the functional classification of multiword units, their mental representations or their teachability. The article mentions different ways of combining these sources of information and underlines some of the challenges involved in combining them. Originality and Significance: While multiword units have often been approached from a single perspective, using one source of information, this article argues for methodological pluralism and triangulation, claiming that multiword units in and for learners can be approached more comprehensively through the combination of several sources of information.
