Abstract This article focuses upon the measurement of accuracy in second-language task-based spoken performance, with measures related to unit of analysis, error gravity, and accuracy linked to clause length. Building on established indices, three new measures of accuracy, all linked to clause length, are described. In addition, variations in an error gravity formula are also used. The measures, both established and new, are trialed with an existing dataset from a study exploring planning effects on second language narrative performance. A range of established measures is shown to generate appreciable effect sizes with this dataset. The newly developed measures also work well, as do alternative error gravity formulae. The new length-accuracy measures also seem sufficiently distinct from measures of language complexity. We discuss the implications of these findings for measuring accuracy in task-based spoken language performance, as well as the relevance of the new measures for theoretical accounts of second language performance.
Abstract Potential difficulty in second language (L2) compared to first language (L1) sentence processing has been ascribed to various factors, including difficulty in building syntactic structure, difficulty in retrieving information from memory during comprehension, and difficulty in making predictions about upcoming elements. In this paper, we examine pronoun resolution in so-called crossover constructions ( The girl who she helped earlier today went home ), where comprehension requires the interaction of structure building, structural prediction, and memory retrieval in real-time, as a test case of these claims. In three preregistered experiments (N = 96 in Experiments 1a/b, and N = 160 in Experiment 2), we found that L1 and L2 real-time processing and final comprehension are constrained by crossover constraints. There was also no evidence for L1/L2 differences in the processing of crossover. These results suggest similar processes of structure building, structural prediction, and memory retrieval in L1 and L2 readers during sentence comprehension.
This study investigates whether adult learners can simultaneously acquire the sounds, words, and grammar of a novel language through cross-situational statistical learning (CSL). English-speaking participants were exposed to an artificial language with unfamiliar phonology and varying morphological salience. Results showed measurable acquisition of nouns and verbs, but limited learning of adjectives and case markers. Importantly, only participants in the high-salience condition showed sensitivity to morphosyntactic violations, suggesting that perceptual salience enhances awareness of grammatical structure. A word-picture matching task revealed that learners encoded phonolexical forms imprecisely: while clearly deviant items were rejected, minimally different lures were often accepted. Finally, individual differences in phonolexical precision were only weakly associated with phonetic discrimination ability. These findings demonstrate the power and limits of CSL in second-language learning and highlight the importance of perceptual cues for acquiring complex L2 structure.
In the field of second language (L2) research, interest in applying meta-analytic techniques has gained momentum in recent years. Considering the potentially far-reaching impact of meta-analyses, they must adhere to rigorous methodological practices and a high level of transparency regarding decisions made throughout the meta-analytic process. This study empirically assessed the methodological and reporting practices of 224 L2 meta-analyses published across 99 journals. To conduct systematic coding, a comprehensive instrument was developed, comprising 39 items that each address a key aspect of meta-analytic methodology or reporting practice. The overall findings provided an overview of current practices, identifying both strengths and areas for improvement. Based on the findings, recommendations were offered for improving methodological rigor and transparency in L2 meta-analyses. Additionally, the comprehensive coding instrument developed in this study offers a valuable resource for the systematic evaluation of methodological and reporting practices in future L2 meta-analytic research.
