Research on how non-natives process and learn binomials (black and white) is limited. The present study addresses this gap using online (eye-tracking) and offline (familiarity rating) tasks. Sixty non-native speakers of English (L1 = Arabic) read six stories seeded with 21 novel binomials in three conditions: one exposure, six exposures, and no exposure (i.e., only in post-test) in a counter-balanced design. Each item was also presented in the reversed order (white and black). The non-natives read the stories as their eye movements were monitored and answered comprehension questions. In addition to the novel binomials, 12 existing binomials (congruent with Arabic) were included in the passages as a baseline for comparison. After completing the reading task, the participants completed an offline rating task as a measure of declarative knowledge of the binomial configuration (i.e., word order). All items were rated twice, once in the forward direction and once in the reversed direction. Online results showed that non-natives were not sensitive to the configuration of existing binomials, and there was limited evidence of any sensitivity to novel binomials. Offline, non-natives showed sensitivity to the configuration restrictions of existing binomials but not novel ones.

Evidence that certain semantic and pragmatic skills follow a similar developmental trajectory cross-linguistically suggests an important role for semantic-pragmatic tasks in the assessment of bilingual children. This study investigates whether quantifiers constitute a language-neutral linguistic category in this context. Forty-three Polish–English bilingual children aged 4–7 years completed the Quantifier Comprehension Task (QCT) and the Test for Reception of Grammar (TROG-2), a standardized morphosyntactic assessment, in both languages. The results indicated that children’s performance on QCT is strongly correlated between their two languages. This correlation was significantly stronger than that observed for the TROG-2, indicating that quantifier comprehension may be less language dependent than general grammar comprehension measures. These findings highlight the diagnostic value of semantic-pragmatic tasks, particularly quantifier interpretation, in evaluating bilingual language development. While the children in this study are all typically developing bilinguals, our goal is to explore whether quantifier comprehension tasks can support the development of language-neutral tools for assessing bilingual language skills.

In the continued effort to identify creative talent, divergent thinking (DT) assessments are commonly employed to objectively assess aspects of individual creative ability. Despite their common usage, the selection of DT prompts remains unstandardized. This is concerning because it is unclear if all prompts can be employed equally or if certain characteristics associated with the acquisition and usage of said prompt in a given language affect the magnitude of response originality. Researchers administered a computer-based DT assessment to 386 elementary students and compared the originality scores of the respondents to the originality scores predicted by prompts’ psycholinguistic features. Hierarchical linear modeling was employed to control individual DT ability and examine the effects of psycholinguistics on originality at two levels, with individual response originality scores (level 1) nested within individual respondents (level 2). Results indicated statistically significant main effects for word frequency, semantic diversity, prompt type, and item reaction time. There were also several significant interaction effects between prompt type and word frequency, prompt type and word length, and prompt type and semantic diversity. The resulting final model explained approximately 18% of the variance in originality scores, suggesting the need for further consideration of DT prompt choice.

Readers associate the generic masculine (e.g., in German, die Zuschauer, for a gender-mixed group) more with men, whereas they associate the German gender star form (e.g., die Zuschauer*innen) more with women. However, the stability or malleability of these gender biases is unclear. In the present study (N = 272), we examined whether increasing the salience of the gender star form’s inclusiveness (by anaphoric references to an equal number of women and men) in a first task influences gender representations in ensuing tasks. We observed no influence of the salience manipulation on two measures, but for a third measure, response speed, the female bias of the gender star form was neutralized by the salience manipulation. Thus, for some—though not all—measures, experiences in a previous task seem to influence how easily representations of men compared to women are available, indicating that gender representations elicited by language forms are malleable.

In prior studies, contextual diversity (CD) has been shown to significantly impact word learning, yet gaps remain in understanding its theoretical underpinnings and moderating factors. This research aimed to synthesize trends in CD studies, evaluate the heterogeneity in its definitions and operationalizations, explore its correlation with word learning, and examine potential moderators influencing this relationship. After a literature search and application of screening criteria, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 20 empirical studies. The primary target population comprises both L1 monolingual and L2 bilingual speakers. Behavioral studies revealed a significant effect of CD on word learning (Cohen’s d = 0.44, p < .001). Eye-tracking data demonstrated significant effects during early and later stages of processing, reflecting heightened attention: first fixation duration: d = −0.365, p = .023, gaze duration: d = −0.574, p = .005, go-past time: d = −0.749, p = .023, and total time: d = −0.691, p = .009. Moderator analysis identified age as a key factor, while gaps in theoretical frameworks and assessments of cognitive moderators were noted. These findings highlight the need for integrating offline and online methods and developing clearer theoretical models to advance our understanding of CD.

Increased interest in depth of processing (DoP) within instructed second language acquisition (ISLA) research highlights its influence on L2 learning outcomes, especially in vocabulary retention, grammatical accuracy, and overall proficiency. Despite its theoretical significance, inconsistencies in DoP’s conceptualization and operationalization have resulted in mixed findings regarding its impact on language development. This study presents a research synthesis and quantitative meta-analysis of ISLA studies on DoP, examining the operational definitions of DoP and the variations in its operationalizations across studies. The analysis examines how DoP affects L2 learning outcomes and how differences in its definition and operationalization shape these outcomes. The study also identifies key limitations in DoP research, including inconsistencies across conceptual frameworks and operationalizations, and a lack of a unified approach. Finally, it discusses the methodological and pedagogical implications of DoP and proposes future research directions to refine its operationalization and explore its sustained effects on L2 development.

Although the home literacy environment (HLE) is known to influence early literacy, less is understood about how language-specific HLE components relate to literacy outcomes in bilingual children. This study examined the HLE of 104 first-grade Chinese–English bilinguals and its associations with English literacy. Parents completed parallel HLE questionnaires for Chinese and English, and children were assessed on English receptive vocabulary, letter–word recognition, and reading comprehension using standardized tests. Descriptive results showed children experienced a richer HLE in English than in Chinese, though parents engaged in literacy activities in both languages. Children performed above age expectations in reading-related skills but below average in receptive vocabulary. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed distinct patterns: English HLE had limited associations with English outcomes, whereas several Chinese HLE components were significantly linked to English literacy. When both HLEs were considered, Chinese book exposure and English digital device use positively predicted reading comprehension and overall reading, while Chinese digital device use negatively predicted reading comprehension and receptive vocabulary. These results highlight the differentiated roles of language-specific HLE components in bilingual contexts and suggest that bilingual HLEs function as integrated, interrelated literacy ecologies rather than separate monolingual environments. Supporting both languages at home may therefore enhance literacy outcomes across languages.

Children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) often experience difficulties with morphosyntax and discourse processing, which hinder their ability to establish referential coherence. While pronoun resolution has been extensively studied in typically developing (TD) children, little is known about how children with DLD process pronouns in real time, especially in Spanish—a language with rich morphology and flexible word order. This study investigated how Spanish-speaking children with DLD interpret third-person subject pronouns during sentence comprehension, examining their use of semantic and syntactic cues in reference resolution. Across three eye-tracking experiments, we tested children’s reliance on semantic gender cues in overt pronouns (Experiment 1), on syntactic cues such as grammatical role and order of mention in overt pronouns (Experiment 2), and on these same cues in null pronouns (Experiment 3). Participants were 48 Spanish–Catalan bilingual children: 16 with DLD, 16 age-matched TD peers, and 16 younger TD children matched by mean length of utterance. Eye movements during a visual world task were analyzed using growth curve and mixed-effects models. Results showed that children with DLD used semantic gender cues when available and relied on first-mentioned or subject referents when such cues were absent, suggesting compensatory use of structural heuristics in pronoun resolution.

Comprehension of wh-questions often poses challenges for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in wh-movement languages like English. However, it remains unclear whether wh-in situ languages like Mandarin present similar difficulties. Moreover, the present study explores potential differences in comprehension between Mandarin subject and object wh-questions. We hypothesize a subject wh-question advantage, given that Mandarin object wh-questions exhibit a longer dependency than subject wh-questions. If confirmed, it would support that Mandarin wh-questions involve covert movement. Using eye-movement measures of the intermodal preferential looking (IPL) paradigm, this study investigates the comprehension of matrix subject and object wh-questions in Mandarin-speaking children with ASD (N = 35, mean age = 60.94 months) compared to their typically developing (TD) peers (N = 38, mean age = 29.66 months), matched on expressive vocabulary levels. The results showed that children in the TD group comprehended both subject and object wh-questions. However, in the ASD group, children comprehended only subject wh-questions. Overall, Mandarin-speaking children with ASD exhibited weaker comprehension of wh-questions than their TD counterparts, with particular difficulty processing object wh-questions. The subject-over-object advantage in wh-questions among Mandarin-speaking children with ASD suggests that they were sensitive to the longer dependency involved in object wh-questions. These findings support the involvement of covert movement in Mandarin wh-questions.

Morphological awareness, i.e., the ability to consciously manipulate roots (e.g., HEALTH) and affixes (e.g., -Y as in HEALTHY), is a key skill for literacy development. While its role is well documented from Grade 3 onward, its early contribution to reading and spelling acquisition remains unclear, especially in French. This study investigates whether morphological awareness predicts early reading and spelling, particularly for derived and inconsistent words, from Grade 1. We used an accelerated longitudinal design with two cohorts of French-speaking children (N = 291): one from Grade 1 to 2 and the other from Grade 2 to 3. An autoregressive structural equation model (SEM) was used to examine the predictive role of morphological awareness on later literacy outcomes, controlling for phonological skills, vocabulary, and non-verbal reasoning. Morphological awareness significantly predicted general reading and spelling abilities, and specifically the spelling of derived words, but not their reading. These effects were stronger in the younger cohort (Grade 1 to 2) due to the lesser effect of the autoregressive path. Morphological awareness plays a unique role in early literacy, particularly in spelling morphologically complex words. Findings are discussed in light of French orthographic consistency and current models of literacy acquisition.

Prior work has suggested that musical abilities are associated with second language (L2) learning at both segmental and prosodic levels: For example, musicians are better at encoding lexical tone or stress in an L2 than non-musicians are. However, it remains unclear how the weighting of distinct acoustic cues when producing L2 prosody may be supported by musical abilities. Our current study investigated two different sub-domains of music perception, melody and rhythm, and their link to the accurate production of English lexical stress by native Mandarin speakers, as measured by differences from native English speakers in duration, F0, and amplitude. Melody, but not rhythm perception (and controlling for other speech perception skills, including the perception of lexical stress), significantly contributed to the production of duration and was also marginally predictive of amplitude, but not F0 production. We argue that the weak or null effects of music perception on F0 production may be due to Mandarin speakers’ F0 sensitivity from their native language, which may complicate the mapping of auditory perception onto L2 speech production skills. Results suggest complex associations between music and language in learners’ use of specific acoustic cues in their production of L2 prosody.

The mental lexicon is a repository of all known words and their phonological connections in long-term memory. These connectivity patterns can be visualized through phonological networks, with network metrics (degree and local clustering coefficient) having previously been observed to influence spoken word recognition. However, it remains unclear whether different dialects of a language have distinct phonological networks and whether such differences affect cross-dialect word recognition. This study compared American English (AmE-Net) and Singaporean English (SgE-Net) phonological networks on predicting word detection performance of native speakers of AmE-Net and SgE-Net for words spoken in both dialects. We hypothesized that network metrics from a participant’s dialect would better predict their spoken word recognition in their own dialect. Results were not entirely as expected: The pattern of the interaction effects suggested that the AmE-Net degree was the superior predictor for both participant groups; yet, the SgE-Net degree, but not the AmE-Net degree, was a significant predictor when words were produced by the Singaporean talker. The Singaporean mental lexicon may thus be more influenced by AmE than previously anticipated. Overall, phonological networks remain valuable for modeling dialect differences, though their predictive power may depend on listener familiarity with the dialect.

Trilinguals’ three languages can be activated simultaneously, but the patterns of co-activation in the language network remain unclear. Our study examines language processing and co-activation in trilingual speakers of Russian, Hebrew, and English. Participants completed a visual search eye-tracking experiment in three languages with cross-linguistic competitors from either one or two languages present in the visual display, as well as vocabulary assessments indexing proficiency and a Flanker task indexing cognitive control. When competitors were present from only one non-target language, higher proficiency in the non-target language increased co-activation, while higher proficiency in the target language decreased co-activation or showed no effects. When competitors were present from two non-target languages, higher proficiency decreased co-activation of one competing language and had a variable effect on the second. Decreased co-activation of more-dominant languages and increased co-activation of less-dominant languages was associated with stronger cognitive control. We conclude that trilinguals co-activate languages similarly to bilinguals when competitors from only one language are present but show different patterns when competitors are present from two languages, with individual differences in language proficiency, dominance, and cognitive control shaping levels of co-activation of each language in the trilingual cognitive system.

Collocational congruency relates to the degree of form-meaning overlap between an L2 collocation and its L1 translation. Congruency effect research consistently shows that low-proficiency language learners respond more slowly and less accurately than their higher-proficiency counterparts to collocations that are incongruent between the L1 and L2, rendering congruency an important quality for applied psycholinguistic collocation research. However, determining whether a given collocation is congruent is typically a binary decision based on expert judgment, which raises concerns regarding subjectivity and consistency. This study presents a data re-analysis of Wolter and Yamashita (2018) to compare expert judgment with two alternative continuous measures of collocational congruency that account for some collocations being “more congruent” than others: corpus-derived frequency and norming study data. The results indicate that while expert judgment is necessary, it is insufficient for reliably defining collocational congruency due to misclassification and multicollinearity issues. Terminological inconsistency was also identified regarding the precise definition of collocational congruency. Crucially, corpus-derived frequency emerged as a more effective complement to expert judgment than norming study data, the latter being resource-intensive and lacking adequate psychometric properties. From these findings, a set of best practice suggestions emerged to assist collocation researchers in identifying congruent and incongruent items.

This study examines how orthographic knowledge modulates semantic processing across auditory and visual modalities in Chinese, a nonalphabetic script with opaque sound-spelling mappings. Forty-eight native Mandarin speakers performed semantic-relatedness judgements on disyllabic word pairs. Orthographic overlap (shared vs. non-shared character) and common syllable position (first vs. second) were systematically manipulated across auditory and visual sessions, with word frequency, word class, and other confounds carefully controlled. Results revealed a striking cross-modal dissociation. Robust orthographic facilitation emerged in auditory processing but was absent in visual processing. In audition, this facilitation was substantially stronger when the shared character occurred in the second syllable, where phonological disambiguation demands peak, than in the first syllable. Additional modality-specific patterns emerged: target word frequency selectively modulated reaction times in audition, whereas cross-class orthographic overlap unexpectedly produced response interference in vision. These findings indicate that orthographic activation is selectively recruited during Chinese spoken word recognition to resolve lexical ambiguity during temporally extended auditory input. The results support interactive activation models while underscoring that lexical access pathways are both modality-specific and script-specific.

Evidence of parafoveal preprocessing of morphology is mixed for typical hearing readers of English: they demonstrate a preview benefit from morphology for suffixed words but not for compound or prefixed words. Deaf readers may process morphological structure more efficiently in the parafovea due to their ability to attend to information further into the periphery and their particularly tight connections between orthography and semantics, which support morphological processing during initial word recognition. Morphological awareness has been shown to influence reading skill for both deaf and hearing readers, but little is known about how it affects their online processing during sentence reading. Using a gaze-contingent display change paradigm, we tested whether deaf and hearing readers with varying morphological awareness skills showed differences in parafoveal processing of morphology during sentence reading. We found that deaf readers with high morphological awareness showed a graded preview effect, with shorter gaze durations on target words (“sadness”) following a pseudomorphological preview (“sadment”) compared to a nonmorphological preview (“sadnard”). Hearing readers were unaffected by the morphological preview, regardless of skill level. These results suggest that deaf readers are attuned to morphological structure in the parafovea during sentence reading, but only if they have a higher level of morphological awareness.

Communication often hinges on our ability to describe and explain things clearly so others can understand them. While this ability develops throughout childhood, little is known about how it is shaped in adulthood. This gap matters, as referential communication is central to everyday social and professional interactions. This study examines how nonverbal intelligence, formal education, literacy, and theory of mind (ToM) predict referential communication performance in adults. Forty female Spanish-speaking adults in Monterrey, Mexico—20 low-SES and 20 high-SES—completed a referential communication task along with measures of reading fluency, print exposure, nonverbal IQ, and ToM (false-belief and faux-pas tasks). Results revealed that IQ, years of education, and faux-pas comprehension significantly predicted referential communication scores. Our findings suggest that referential clarity in adult speech may rely less on reading experience and more on cognitive ability, opportunities to practice referential communication, and sensitivity to social norms and intentions. We discuss the implications of these findings.

This study examines whether readers simulate the colors of objects during vocabulary processing and how varying levels of automatization in word recognition influence this process. Sixty-seven participants completed a semantic Stroop task in both their first language (Japanese) and second language (English), identifying the font color of presented nouns. Automatization in word recognition was assessed through a lexical decision task. The results did not provide clear evidence for a Stroop effect, and the degree of automatization in word recognition also did not show notable effects. Interestingly, reaction times were faster in the second language than in the first language only under matched conditions. These findings suggest that embodied knowledge may not always be engaged during linguistic processing.

Sentences with plural expressions can be ambiguous between a collective interpretation, where a group of agents acts together on a single object, and a distributive interpretation, where individual members act separately on different objects. Previous studies have identified developmental differences in both interpretation preferences and the use of distributive markers such as universal quantifiers: adults prefer collective interpretations, while children show no clear preference between readings; moreover, children struggle with distributive quantifiers in both comprehension and production, while adults reliably use them when needed. This study is the first to compare both comprehension preferences and production patterns across three age groups: Italian-speaking preschoolers, second graders, and adults. In a picture selection task, participants chose between collective and distributive pictures in response to unmarked, distributive, or collective sentences. In a production task, they described scenes depicting either collective or distributive actions. Results showed that all groups—including, surprisingly, preschoolers—accurately comprehended both distributive and collective markers and interpreted unmarked sentences as collective. However, in production, adults and second graders were more likely to explicitly mark distributive rather than collective interpretations, while preschoolers rarely used any disambiguating expressions. We argue that these findings reflect a developmental shift in pragmatic competence rather than in lexical knowledge, contributing new insights into the interface between semantics, pragmatics, and language development.