This study investigates how linguistic framing-specifically, the use of presupposition versus assertion-affects the critical evaluation of incoming information across development. While presuppositions present content as taken for granted, assertions introduce information as new, leading to differing levels of epistemic scrutiny. Prior work has shown that adults are less likely to detect falsehoods when they are presupposed rather than asserted. This study explores whether similar framing effects operate in childhood, and whether children's sensitivity is modulated by Information Structure-specifically, topic-focus articulation. To this end, we tested three age groups (7-year-olds, 10-year-olds, and adults) using a truth-evaluation task involving short videos and spoken sentences that either asserted, focally presupposed, or topically presupposed false information. Results revealed that across all age groups, presuppositions increased the likelihood of accepting false statements as true, indicating their potential to mislead. However, this effect varied with age: compared to adults, the impact of topical presuppositions was especially pronounced in 10-year-olds, and this stronger effect was possibly present in 7year-olds as well. The results have implications for theories of pragmatic development, linguistic models, and practices of epistemic vigilance, with practical relevance for understanding children's susceptibility to misleading or manipulative content. (c) 2026 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

How the speaker presents information linguistically may impact the recipient’s epistemic vigilance. For instance, information communicated through a presupposition suggests it does not warrant thorough scrutiny. Traditionally, presuppositions arise from the use of various linguistic triggers, but it has been suggested that a focal status can suspend the triggering of the presupposition. Using a mistake recognition task, we investigate whether the information structure of the utterance (specifically, topic-focus articulation) and different triggers (definite descriptions vs temporal clauses) influence presuppositions’ persuasive potential, both immediately and after one week. Our findings suggest that while a focal status of the presupposition does not seem to affect immediate mistake recognition rates, it shapes memorial representation, but only for one of the tested triggers (definite descriptions). Thus, this study provides further support that presupposition serves as a persuasive strategy; specifically, it indicates that for memory formation, this is influenced by the interplay between the information structure of the utterance and the type of trigger.

Integration between production data and processing data has generally been based on the combination between corpus-based measures and psycholinguistic experiments. The main limitation of this approach is that the sample of participants providing these two kinds of data will be different, thus entailing the impossibility of investigating how production and processing are related at the level of the individual. This is particularly true when it comes to a key component in second language development such as word combinations, which has attracted attention in both corpus linguistics and psycholinguistics, without ever addressing the individual learner experience. To tap into this area, we conducted a preliminary study by eliciting written texts from a group of learners of Italian as a second language (L2), identified a set of correct verb + noun (object) combinations in each text, performed lexical and grammatical manipulations and built individualised eye-tracking experiments for each of the same participants. We found that originally produced verb + noun (object) combinations are processed faster than manipulated combinations, that lexical manipulation affects processing more than grammatical manipulation and that a higher strength of association between the components of the combination determines a processing advantage in learners with an advanced level of proficiency. Theoretical and methodological implications for the analysis of production and processing in an L2 are discussed.

Collocations are one of the most studied types of word combinations. Their intricate nature, based on varying degrees of restriction, begs the question as to how modifications in their typical form influence the way they are processed by native speakers and learners. In this study, an eye-tracking experiment was carried out. We compared native speakers and learners of Italian when processing typical (i.e., common) and atypical (i.e., uncommon) collocations of Italian. Atypical collocations were developed by manipulating the grammatical and lexical components of a set of typical collocations. We also investigated how the online processing was affected by the different modifications (i.e., lexical and grammatical) performed and proficiency levels included. Both kinds of modifications disrupt collocation processing, with lexical modification being generally more salient than grammatical modification in terms of processing costs. Further, proficiency level influences phraseological processing, with varying effects related to the different kinds of modifications. The findings of our study are largely in line with previous research, while providing new insights into how lexis and grammar affect phraseological processing. They contribute to the evidence on languages other than English, a still under-researched domain in second language acquisition as a whole.

This paper addresses foreign language teaching related to deafness by considering the Italian school context, and Italian deaf students in their attempt at trying to learn a foreign (and vocal) language. It is important to keep in mind that there is a strong connection between language development, learning, motivation, and accessibility of resources, especially when we have to do with deaf students. For this reason, it is relevant to consider how language resources and materials can influence the learning process, which leads us to the core of this research, i.e. the materials for Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) to deaf students, that are very limited. Furthermore, in the Italian school context there is only one English handbook for deaf and hard-of-hearing learners, entitled : "Talking Hands". We analyze the syllabus, the use of pictures, the graphic and visual design, and the organization of the units, learning strategies used with deaf students with the aim of structuring new, modern, and deaf-oriented activities for textbooks. Starting from the analysis of the existent handbook, a prototype unit for a hypothetical new inclusive English handbook for deaf learners and for all will be proposed. By explaining some of the activities, it will be possible to evaluate to what extent the strategies used in "Talking Hands" are innovative.

Le combinazioni lessicali sono centrali nell’apprendimento linguistico perché possono essere elaborate velocemente (Siyanova-Chanturia, 2015) e il loro uso contribuisce a dare l’idea di fluenza in produzione (Nattinger & DeCarrico, 1992). Tuttavia, l'acquisizione della competenza fraseologica in L2 è fonte di difficoltà per gli apprendenti. Nei sillabi per l’insegnamento della lingua italiana, inoltre, il lessico è generalmente presentato sotto forma di elenco di singole parole e la dimensione fraseologica risulta assente. Sarebbe quindi utile sviluppare un sillabo che tenga conto di questa dimensione. Come afferma Luoni (2016), nel sillabo gli item linguistici devono essere organizzati considerando la complessità dei processi comunicativi e dei processi di apprendimento e di acquisizione. Il sillabo fraseologico dovrebbe, pertanto, integrare funzioni comunicative e misure di complessità fraseologica. In questo contributo, presentiamo una riflessione teorico-metodologica che rappresenta la necessaria premessa per lo sviluppo di un sillabo fraseologico che tenga conto di misure di complessità fraseologica, definite tramite metodologie computazionali e psicolinguistiche, e di funzioni comunicative e argomenti caratteristici di ciascun livello di competenza. TOWARDS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PHRASEOLOGICAL SYLLABUS FOR LEARNING ITALIAN L2: SOME THEORETICAL-METHODOLOGICAL PREMISES Lexical combinations are central to language learning because they can be processed quickly (Siyanova-Chanturia, 2015) and their use gives the idea of fluency in production (Nattinger & DeCarrico, 1992). However, the acquisition of L2 phraseological competence is difficult for learners. Furthermore in Italian L2 syllabuses, vocabulary is often presented as a list of words and the phraseological dimension is usually absent. To fill this gap, a phraseological syllabus should be designed. As stated by Luoni (2016), linguistic items in the syllabus should be organized taking into account the complexity of the communication processes and the complexity of the learning and acquisition processes. Thus, the phraseological syllabus should integrate communicative functions and measures of phraseological complexity. In this article, we discuss the theoretical and methodological premises for the development of a phraseological syllabus that takes into account measures of phraseological complexity that are defined through computational and psycholinguistic methodologies and the communicative functions and topics that characterize each proficiency level.

The paper aims to explore if mental time travel (i.e., the ability to reconstruct in one's autobiographical memory scenarios of one's past or generate plausible scenarios about one's future), is linked to difficulties in story generation in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Forty-six children with ASD and forty-six with typical cognitive and language development participated in the study. They were asked to generate stories under three conditions: in a first condition they had to generate the beginning (i.e., Foreword); in a second condition they had to generate the plot (i.e., Interweaving); in a third condition they had to generate the end (i.e., Epilogue). The transcripts of these stories were analyzed according to the parameters established by Marini and Carlomagno (2004). To explore the possible difference between groups and conditions these data were analyzed with a series of mixed ANOVAs with repeated measures. These analyses showed the presence of language difficulties in children with ASD that appeared to be particularly evident in certain conditions rather than in others. Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorders; Mental Time Travel; Storytelling; Narrative discourse; Global coherence.

This volume reveals new insights on the faculty of language. By proposing a new approach in the analysis and description of Italian Sign Language (LIS), that can be extended also to other sign languages, this book also enlightens some aspects of spoken languages, which were often overlooked in the past and only recently have been brought to the fore and described. First, the study of face-to-face communication leads to a revision of the traditional dichotomy between linguistic and enacted, to develop a new approach to embodied language (Kendon, 2004). Second, all structures of language take on a sociolinguistic and pragmatic meaning, as proposed by cognitive semantics, which considers it impossible to trace a separation between purely linguistic and extralinguistic knowledge.Finally, if speech from the point of view of its materiality is variable, fragile, and non-segmentable (i.e. not systematically discrete), also signs are not always segmentable into discrete, invariable and meaningless units. This then calls into question some of the properties traditionally associated with human languages in general, notably that of ‘duality of patterning’. These are only some of the main issues you will find in this volume that has no parallel both in sign and in spoken languages linguistic research.

Fluency is a long-debated notion in linguistics, as it plays a crucial role in second language acquisition (SLA) research and applied linguistics. Starting from some recent discussions on the topic, this paper examines whether aphasiology could benefit from insights from these fields of study. First, we will summarize the most relevant views on fluency concerning aphasic speech. As we will see, every account of fluency has two common features: some reference to speech timing, and some reference to anomia. Nonetheless, fluency as a whole still remains nothing more than an intuition, since no model has implemented a satisfactory definition of it. We argue that the reason behind this decades-long uncertainty is because its two main components -time and retrieval- pertain to two distinct levels -namely speech and language- and therefore cannot be judged on the same scale. To show our point, we will briefly pass in review studies on time patterns in aphasic speech and see whether it is possible to draw a distinctive behavior compared to non-pathological speech. We will then move to anomia and see how the matter has been approached in second language research, especially in fluency modeling. While certainly not relatable on several issues, we believe that some key outcomes in linguistic fluency can be adapted to aphasia research, and offer new perspectives on aphasic speech evaluation and understanding.

In this work, we discuss the design and development of a communication system for enhanced support of the deafblind.The system is based on an advanced motion tracking Data Glove that allows for high fidelity determination of finger postures with consequent identification of the basic Malossi alphabet signs.A natural, easy-to-master alphabet extension that supports single-hand signing without touch surface sensing is described, and different scenarios for its use are discussed.The focus is on using the extended Malossi alphabet as a communication medium in a Data Glove-based interface for remote messaging and interactive control of mobile robots.This may be of particular interest to the deafblind community, where distant communications and robotized support and services are rising.The designed Data Glove-based communication interface requires minimal adjustments to the Malossi alphabet and can be mastered after a short training period.The natural interaction style supported by the Data Glove and the popularity of the Malossi alphabet among the deafblind should greatly facilitate the wider adoption of the developed interface.

Over the last few years, Italian sign language courses have attracted a widespread and growing interest from hearing learners who, while not familiar with deafness, are choosing, more and more, to embrace this language and culture, out of mere curiosity or for professional purposes. Three issues will be discussed in this paper, set out in three paragraphs, which in the author’s opinion are some of the most compelling in the teaching and learning of LIS as a second language. The issues under discussion are 1) the repercussions that the absence of a writing system has on the teaching and learning of a language; 2) the metalinguistic awareness and consciousness in a not yet standardized language; 3) the approaches, methods and materials that are best suited to the teaching of a sign language.

Research on pedagogical and didactic advancements in the context of new mobile technologies is currently gaining importance. This paper presents a novel pedagogical framework, in which augmented interactions with the surrounding environment provide the students an enhanced learning experience through the gadgets they own. Our pedagogical model employs QR codes that are easily accessible through smartphone apps and stimulates the efficient development of essential communication skills. Hence, students can use their own devices to interact with the educational content, share information, and help each other while working collaboratively on different assignments. More specifically, we introduce and explore a new BYOD-based T-TEL setup that supports the creation and management of storytelling activities and fosters the development of communication skills through m-CSCL. This approach could be extended to environments specifically crafted for individuals with special needs.

What and how do signers labialke in the act of signing? Is labialkation related to the interface between form and rhythm of the sign? What do signers think about this phenomenon? Are oral components considered in LIS (Italian Sign Language) teaching? These are some of the questions that we posed and attempted to answer. To shed light on such a controversial phenomenon, a questionnaire was designed and disseminated online. It involved over 273 deaf and hearing signers from all over Italy. The purpose of the questionnaire was to investigate the perception and awareness of the phenomenon in order to define teaching practices that could be adopted in Italian sign language courses. The results led us to consider orality in LIS as a complex, ubiquitous and heterogeneous phenomenon, which by some signers is still looked upon with suspicion and as a matter of controversy with in the signers' community Although unstable and often redundant, the oral component is often a functional, discreet phenomenon, coordinated with the movement of the manual component in an articulatory cluster involving the whole signer's body. In consideration of the fact that oral components perform very similar functions to those of co -verbal gestures in vocal languages, since they convey morpho-syntactic, pragmatic, textual and metadiscursivefltnctions in signed languages, we maintain that this should be prominently reflected in LIS teaching.

The aim of this study was to investigate, using an eye-tracking tool, the processes behind the exploration of written texts performed by deaf people with different language skills and different educational backgrounds. Our sample comprised 36 deaf participants (12 of whom use Italian sign language most of the time, 12 who use Italian only, and 12 who can use both languages) and 12 hearing participants who could not understand any sign language. This research shows how in respect of oculomotor movements the discriminant variable is linked to the different educational backgrounds and the reading habits of participants.

We present here the case of one deaf student who attended two Language Teaching courses, the first one compulsory and the second one elective, necessary to satisfy the requirements to complete his Master of Arts-Linguistics program. We investigated a very specific aspect of metalinguistic knowledge by asking our participant to sign and describe a list of the most widely used technical terms of Second Language Acquisition (SLA). These were : Acquisition and Learning, Communicative competence, Interlanguage and Fossilization, Interference errors, Content and Functional words, Morpheme and Phoneme. All these terms had been introduced during lectures and laboratory sessions. Although our participant attended them with the assistance of an interpreter we found that he did not possess an explicit knowledge of the above concepts. Some terms were quite effectively signed due to an implicit awareness of their meaning, others were clearly resulting from literal translation from Italian, but were not fully understood. In a few cases our participant gave the same sign for two terms or was not able to produce any sign. The results suggest that enriching sign languages with metalinguistic terminology will help deaf students to really understand what they study and achieve better results in their academic endeavours.