Research has shown a processing advantage for multiword sequences (MWS) in both first language (L1) and second language (L2) speakers over novel word combinations. However, whether this advantage holds for different types of MWS for both groups is not known. We used a self-paced reading paradigm combined with a stop-making-sense task to investigate the processing of idioms used figuratively (e.g., “gray area”), idioms used literally, collocations (e.g., “vast area”), and novel combinations (e.g., “rare area”), in both L1 and L2 speakers. In line with previous findings, both L1 and L2 speakers read collocations faster than novel word combinations. Only L1 speakers showed a processing advantage for idioms used figuratively over collocations after controlling for distributional factors (e.g., phrase-level frequency, familiarity, and contextual predictability), suggesting that semantic conventionality facilitates direct retrieval of idiomatic meanings. L2 speakers with lower proficiency did not show an advantage for idioms used figuratively but exhibited faster reading for idioms used literally over idioms used figuratively. While the meaning dominance of idioms did not exert an effect, greater idiom decomposability facilitated processing. Together, these findings indicate that, while frequency effects broadly support MWS processing, L2 speakers rely on compositional analysis in idiom comprehension more than L1 speakers.

While socioeconomic status (SES), time in preschool (TiP) and their interaction are related to reading ability, the results have been mixed. This study assessed whether the shared environment mediated these associations using a longitudinal behavior genetic design. Further, this study contrasted the source of variance in reading accounted for by (a) SES and TiP, against that of (b) genes, the shared environment, and the unique environment. Participants were 511 monozygotic twin pairs, and 515 dizygotic same-sex twin pairs from Australia, the United States and Scandinavia. They were assessed at preschool, kindergarten, grade 1, and grade 2. The interaction between TiP and SES did not explain variance in reading at any stage. At preschool, SES and TiP combined accounted for 9% of the total variance in reading, or 17.6% of the shared environment variance. Of that 9%, SES explained 8.1% independent of TiP. By Grade 2, SES and TiP explained 4% of the total variance, or 57% of the shared environment variance. Of that 4%, SES accounted for 3% with TiP accounting for just 1%. It was found that SES, but not TiP, had a small but significant influence on reading over time, and is a substantial mediator of the shared environment influence of reading by Grade 2.

This study examined the effects of typographic enhancement (TE) on the attention to and learning of novel L2 collocations. In a within-participants design, 69 Dutch-speaking L2 English learners read nine texts containing 15 medical collocations (half typographically enhanced, half unenhanced) over two days while their eye movements were recorded. Eye movement data showed a significant effect of TE and exposure count on the processing of target collocations, with lower first pass times and higher rereading probabilities and fixation counts for enhanced collocations. Fixation durations, rereading probabilities, and fixation counts decreased across exposures, but the observed decreases were more pronounced for enhanced collocations. TE also resulted in higher gains in form recall and recognition tests. Regardless of TE, attention during reading, as measured by summed total reading times, was a marginally significant negative predictor of form recall, but not of form recognition.

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.

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.

This study investigated the effects of contextual diversity (CD) on second language incidental vocabulary learning. A total of 124 Japanese learners of English were allocated to a control group or 2 experimental groups, either a high contextual diversity (HCD) or a low contextual diversity (LCD) group. Participants in the HCD group encountered target words across three different texts that varied in genre and topic, while those in the LCD group read three different texts that shared the same genre and topic. Meaning recall and recognition tests were conducted at pretest, immediate posttest, and delayed posttest. Results showed that HCD outperformed LCD on meaning recognition at the delayed posttest. Moreover, learners with greater prior vocabulary knowledge tended to benefit more from contextually varied input, whereas such input may have adverse effects on learners with lower lexical proficiency. This study offers insights into the role of CD in incidental vocabulary acquisition and provides pedagogical implications for optimally incorporating input variability into L2 vocabulary instruction.

Based on the past year’s traffic stats to the Humanities Indicators web site, the submitted article takes a question-based approach to answer what Americans seem most interested in learning about the humanities. Using infographics and short summary paragraphs, the report walks through key data points about the current state of the humanities using the most recent available data from the federal government or surveys conducted by the project.

This study evaluated English and Spanish language proficiency, and balance among these proficiencies, in relation to reading achievement in a sample of 161 middle school current and former English learners known to be struggling readers. Students were administered English and Spanish language assessments and also reported on their language usage; English reading outcomes (word reading, reading fluency, reading comprehension) were also assessed. Findings support the role of English proficiency in all three reading outcomes in this population. However, Spanish language skills, or indices that reflected the relative balance of these proficiencies, were not uniquely predictive. The present study adds nuance to the current literature and offers considerations for future work.

In Mandarin Chinese, numeral classifiers form a grammatical category that is syntactically obligatory when a noun is modified by a numeral or a demonstrative. The appropriate choice of a classifier is associated with the semantic properties of its corresponding noun and is context dependent. Experience with language is needed to learn these patterns, but little is known about how classifiers are structured in children’s language environments. We compared the frequency and distribution of classifier phrases in four corpora: child-directed speech, children’s television shows, children’s books, and adult-directed speech. Classifier usage in children’s books was more diverse than in both child-directed and adult speech. Books contained more specific classifiers that co-occurred with a higher proportion of unique nouns, whereas everyday speech relied on more generic classifiers. Books therefore provide access to classifier–noun combinations that are rare in speech. Implications for language development and language processing are discussed.

The National Project on Achievement in Twins (NatPAT) is a twin project based in the United States (US) that began in 2017. Using a cohort sequential design, the overall goal of the initial project was to uncover salient factors, including genetic and environmental influences, which contribute to the co-development of reading and math performance during elementary school. In 2022, the focus of NatPAT pivoted towards a new focus on the COVID-19 pandemic’s short- and long-term impacts on children’s reading achievement. In addition, a genomics data collection began. New enrollment into the registry continues every year, but currently NatPAT follows 1997 twin pairs and their families as they progress through school. The project supports open science principles, with open materials and code, preregistration, and shared data. Here we present the goals of the project, summarize recent results, methods and materials, with a focus on the integration across many different data sources, and future directions of the project.

Over the last few decades, linguistic gender-fair forms have become increasingly used by individuals and official institutions. In the French-speaking sphere, this has led to heated discussions among politicians and other stakeholders, some of whom claim that these forms render texts illegible and inaccessible to the general public. However, the processing of gender-fair forms in reading has been the topic of a few empirical studies. In the present paper, we add to this small body of research by reporting results from a pre-registered eye-tracking study where 58 native French-speakers read short texts which included a masculine form (voisins), complete double form (voisines et voisins), or contracted double form (voisin·es). Consistent with previous findings, the complete double forms were not more costly to process. In contrast, contracted double forms led to increased processing costs in intermediate and late stages of processing, but had no effect on the early stages of processing. Our data also indicate that the processing of contracted double forms becomes easier over time, and that it is facilitated by positive attitudes towards gender-fair language. These findings provide important insights that enlighten the current debate and should therefore be considered in the elaboration of official guidelines regarding gender-fair language.