Given the critical role of phonological vocabulary in second language (L2) listening proficiency, scholars have increasingly focused on measuring not only the form–meaning mapping aspects of vocabulary knowledge but also the extent to which learners can access this knowledge accurately and promptly in real-time contexts. To assess the automatized dimension of vocabulary knowledge, we built upon prior efforts to develop the lexicosemantic judgment task (LJT). Study 1 successfully replicated previous findings, showing that LJT outcomes could be distinguished from measures of declarative vocabulary knowledge (meaning recognition) and that LJT exhibited relatively strong associations with general L2 listening proficiency, even when controlling for other influencing factors. To further refine the construct validity of LJT as a measure of automatized L2 knowledge, Studies 2 and 3 developed and tested a timed version of the LJT. The results of the timed LJT, compared to the untimed version in Study 1, revealed similar links with listening proficiency, suggesting that the effect of time pressure on performance may be relatively minor. The test materials are provided in various formats to facilitate future research and pedagogical applications.

In recent years, insights from cognitive psychology on unconscious learning have been applied to second language acquisition (SLA) research, proposing that unconscious knowledge gradually becomes conscious through repetitive experience. This perspective offers a reinterpretation of the interface between implicit and explicit knowledge in SLA, contrasting with the traditional view that explicit knowledge gives rise to implicit knowledge. While the phenomenon of unconscious knowledge becoming conscious provides valuable insights into the dynamics of knowledge acquisition, it also suggests the need to reconceptualize the traditional notions of implicit and explicit knowledge. This article aims to propose a framework that integrates recent insights on unconscious learning with traditional claims in SLA. Specifically, we propose replacing the unidimensional linear continuum view – which positions implicit and explicit knowledge as two ends of a single axis and conceptualizes second language development as a back-and-forth transition between these poles – with a multilayered knowledge view: The Hierarchical-Layer Model of Conscious–Unconscious Knowledge (H-L Model). This alternative model serves as a working hypothesis to better capture the multilayered and differentiated nature of linguistic cognition.

This study examined how three groups of Vietnamese learners of Japanese perceive Japanese vowel length, focusing on duration and pitch cues. Seventy-five Vietnamese participants across three proficiency levels (N1, N2, N3) and 10 native Japanese (NJ) speakers completed a two-alternative forced-choice identification task using /kado/ and /kaado/ stimuli varying in duration and F0. Results showed that Vietnamese learners primarily relied on duration, similar to NJ speakers, but exhibited delayed categorical boundaries. While their first language (L1) experience with contrastive duration in Vietnamese tense–lax vowels may enhance durational sensitivity, it does not fully resolve challenges in distinguishing Japanese contrasts. Despite L1 experience with lexical tones, Vietnamese learners struggled to use pitch as a secondary cue. This may result from L1 strategies, which primarily link duration to vowel quality for tense–lax vowel discrimination, rather than to pitch. Limited familiarity with Japanese pitch accent and second-language-specific strategies for vowel length may have further hindered Vietnamese learners from integrating pitch cues with duration for vowel length perception. Among the three learner groups, only advanced learners (N1) showed modest adaptation in integrating pitch with duration, whereas lower-proficiency groups (N2 and N3) relied almost exclusively on duration. These findings highlight the influence of L1 experience on second language (L2) perceptual strategies and the need for explicit phonetic training to help L2 learners develop native- like cue weighting.

Archibald's article makes a strong case for abstract symbolic representations in the phonological grammars of second language learners/users (L2ers). The evidence he brings to bear on this comes principally from the prosodic domain. However, the case for abstractness is hardest to defend in the segmental domain, specifically when it comes to motivating a role for features. The goal of this commentary is to show that L2 speech perception is mediated, in part, by features and thereby provide support for Archibald's claim. Two speech perception studies are discussed. The first study shows that the status of the feature [nasal] in vowels in the first language (L1) grammar, as contrastive (French) or allophonic (English), impacts naive perception of novel nasal vowels. French listeners successfully perceive the novel vowels; English listeners' success is hindered by the phonological status of [nasal] in the L1 grammar. The results are proposed to support a role for abstract phonological representations: for features; for the conditions under which they must be shared across segments; and for a theory of licensing that can capture the licensing potential of different prosodic positions. The second study shows that the absence of the feature [SG] from the L1 grammar of French negatively impacts the ability to perceive and build an appropriate representation for English /h/. The lack of [SG] is proposed to account for three types of behaviour displayed by L2ers: their failure to perceive [h] as distinct from Ø; their VOT values for 'voiced' and 'voiceless' stops which fall between those of L1 French and those of target L2 English; and their overapplication of aspiration to stops in sC clusters. It is shown that these patterns cohere under a phonological account, as features have a classificatory function and are thereby expected to shape phonological behaviour across multiple groups of segments.

Studies of learning indicate that presenting materials from multiple categories together (interleaving them) tends to yield better learning vs. presenting categories separately (blocking them). However, the impact of interleaving on language learning is mixed and has not been tested in the context of dual language learning. Here, we taught monolingual English-speaking adults vocabulary in German or Polish across two experiments, interleaving or blocking the languages. In Experiment 1, we observed a benefit of interleaving. Experiment 2 included a break midway through the task, and participants across conditions performed similarly. Our findings indicate that the interleaving advantage observed in other domains extends to dual language learning and may stem from a spacing effect. These findings have implications not only for theories of second language acquisition and dual language learning, but also for developing pedagogical approaches that optimize learning of multiple languages.

The Attrition via Acquisition (AvA) model unifies acquisition and attrition by proposing that intake to the inference engine can come from the first language (L1) or the second language (L2). What this model does not specify, however, is the specific psycholinguistic mechanisms that can lead to attrition nor how partial representation may come about. This study expands the AvA model by incorporating activation as a key mechanism and precursor to attrition, and tests the proposal with cross-linguistic priming in bilinguals. We present data from two studies of Finnish and Estonian/English in a community of long-term L1 Finnish emigrants in USA, Canada, Australia, and Estonia. The target condition were the alternation between the marked and unmarked form of the accusative, and marked accusative and partitive, since these two morphemes have been previously documented to suffer attrition in contact with English. Although results did not indicate cross-linguistic priming from either English or Estonian into Finnish, there was evidence of within-language priming in the English–Finnish bilinguals. These findings support the incorporation of activation into the model, but also suggest that the source of attrition for morphology in particular might not come from the L2.

This article draws attention to the obstacles created by imprecise definitions and misleading dichotomies. In this case the focus is on second language and multilingualism research literature. Despite the obvious benefits of reformulating otherwise complex ideas and approaches in simpler terms in order to distill their essential meaning, misunderstandings and misrepresentations can too easily arise. These can then proliferate within and beyond these research fields and hinder productive debates between proponents of different theoretical approaches. A selection of classic examples relating to issues of language cognition are discussed in this article. They include definitions of terms like cognitive, nativist, innatist, interactionist, usage-based, and dynamic. Simple contrasts introduced to improve readability and to introduce a longer discussion can become highly misleading where the context fails to include clarification. Incorrect inferences may otherwise be drawn by less well-informed readers. In other cases, dichotomies can be just wrong. We discuss the choice and phrasing of various terms and distinctions and argue that more care is needed by all involved. Discussions can still be carried out in a combative style if discussants so wish but not to the point of introducing conceptual confusion in debates that should serve to advance understanding in second language acquisition research.

In the past decades, complex dynamic systems theory (CDST) has been used as an important framework for studying second language development. CDST is a metatheory of change and focuses on processes. Even though it has been broadly accepted as an inspiring dimension of research in psychology, sociology and second language development, some scholars have raised questions about the methodologies used, the interpretation of the data, and the nature of its claims. Specifically, Pallotti questioned whether CDST generates testable hypotheses, and criticized its position towards reductionism and generalizability, based on philosophical argumentations. The present article evaluates the issues addressed, reviews the work that has already been done, and looks ahead at future CDST applications to research in second language development, by exploring recent methodological developments in the field.

Few studies have examined global foreign accent (GFA) in bilingual children, and little is known about how GFA changes over time and what factors determine change. Here, we examine GFA trajectories in Japanese–English bilingual returnees (Japanese children who returned to Japan after having lived in a majority English environment for several years). In two accent-rating tasks, first language (L1) speakers of English or Japanese rated returnee speech excerpts recorded at three time points over a five-year period. The ratings show a decrease in Japanese GFA one year after return to Japan, and an increase in English GFA, but only five years after return. These findings suggest rapid re-exposure effects of the L1 and relatively stable maintenance of the second language (L2). Changes varied by L2 English age of onset (AoO) and exposure to L2 English while abroad, suggesting a crucial role for these individual factors in transitory contexts such as returnee bilingualism.