We examine how form and usage shape the processing of the Spanish gender-inclusive morpheme -e. Within usage-based models, repeated exposure strengthens representations, allowing high-frequency forms to be retrieved holistically while infrequent forms remain compositionally demanding. To test these predictions, we compare the processing of the relatively frequent pronominal quantifier tod-e-s (‘everyone-inc-pl’) with its masculine counterpart tod-o-s (‘everyone-m-pl’) and plural inclusive adjectives such as content-e-s (‘happy-inc-pl’) with masculine forms such as content-o-s (‘happy-m-pl’). First-language Spanish speakers completed a word-by-word self-paced reading task in which these forms referred to mixed-gender groups, followed by a sociolinguistic questionnaire. The results showed no reliable processing cost for todes relative to todos at the precritical, critical and postcritical regions. By contrast, inclusive adjectives elicited longer reading times than masculine adjectives at the critical word and spillover region. This cost appeared across most participant groups but was absent among those reporting the highest use of inclusive language. A participant-level bootstrap comparison showed that the processing burden was reliably greater for inclusive adjectives than for todes. These findings indicate that inclusive morphology is not processed uniformly across grammatical contexts. Instead, grammatical categories and individual experience modulate entrenchment, suggesting adult speakers can incorporate emergent morphology into real-time processing routines through exposure.

When children behave differently from adults in language tasks, it is often unclear if the underlying cause is non-adult-like representation of relevant information, non-adult-like deployment of adult-like representations, or both non-adult-like representations and non-adult-like deployment. We show how computational cognitive modeling can be used to identify which options could lead to specific non-adult-like language behavior, using the case study of Spanish subject pronoun interpretation by typically developing children. In a picture-selection task, children interpret subject pronouns differently from adults; modeling results suggest that both child and adult pronoun interpretation behavior is best captured by inaccuracy somewhere in the pronoun interpretation process, though how exactly children are inaccurate differs from how exactly adults are inaccurate. So, to become adult-like, children need to learn how to be inaccurate in adult-like ways. We discuss the promise and limitations of the computational cognitive modeling approach demonstrated here for evaluating specific hypotheses about the underlying cognitive computations leading to observed language behavior.

This data report introduces the L2 Spanish Listener Ratings Dataset (L2SLRD, https://osf.io/67nm4/) and comprises two main types of data: (a) second language (L2) oral data from English first language (L1) learners of L2 Spanish at varying proficiency from two institutions in the US (n = 42), and (b) listener ratings of that data from L1 Spanish speakers (n = 201). The data were initially collected to examine intelligibility, comprehensibility, and accentedness in L2 Spanish, focusing on listener judgments of L2 speech, but have the potential to be used for a wide range of new analyses, particularly those focused on exploring listener characteristics that influence speech rating. After providing a thorough description of the dataset, including information about data collection waves, coding, preparation, and previous analyses on subsets, descriptive statistics are presented along with an example analysis that demonstrates just one of the many potential uses of the L2SLRD. We continue by providing suggestions for ways in which the dataset could be used for future inquiry both “as is” and with additional coding or data collection. We conclude with recommendations for researchers interested in sharing data publicly in the future based on our reflections on challenges faced while preparing this dataset.

Voicing contrast is a difficult feature for Chinese-English emergent bilingual learners of L3 Spanish. Adopting a time-series approach, this study investigates developmental trajectories of L3 Spanish voiced and voiceless VOT integrating the dynamic roles of language aptitude components.To trace their developmental paths, thirty classroom learners of L3Spanish in China produced VOT samples in a wordlist reading task five times during a five-month period. Language aptitude indicators were integrated in mixed effect models. Results showed improvement on voiced stop VOT accuracy as proficiency increases, with significant individual differences in developmental paths. Statistical analysis revealed a facilitative effect of phonetic coding ability on pronunciation accuracy and an effect of sequence recognition ability in more advanced stages of learning.This study contributes to a dynamic view of voicing contrast development in multilinguals, highlighting the differential role of explicit and implicit language aptitude in distinct stages of segment pronunciation development.

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.

This study investigates the role of working memory (WM) in the development of receptive and productive abilities in Spanish among intermediate second/additional language (L2/A) learners. Participants completed WM assessments and receptive and productive language tasks targeting grammatical gender agreement on articles and adjectives (receptive: acceptability judgment task [AJT]; productive: information gap activity). Results showed group-level improvement for productive performance, but substantial variability in growth for both receptive and productive performance. WM did not significantly predict growth in either ability, suggesting that WM may not strongly influence the development of gender agreement accuracy at this intermediate proficiency level. To extend the analysis beyond behavioral outcomes, an exploratory post hoc analysis examined associations between WM and neural responses during receptive processing. By examining parallel receptive and productive performance and integrating behavioral and neurocognitive approaches, this study highlights the value of interdisciplinary methods moving forward for understanding the role of WM in L2/A development.

This study tests the relative amount of cognitive effort required for Spanish language processing by L1-dominant speakers (Spanish-raised bilinguals, SRBs), heritage speakers (HSs) and late second-language learners (English-raised bilinguals, ERBs). In a dual-task study, three groups of bilingual Spanish speakers were presented concurrently with a linguistic and non-linguistic task, each at three levels of difficulty. When responding to the non-linguistic task, which required concurrently processing and encoding in memory a Spanish-language phrase, SRBs were, on average, most accurate and ERBs least accurate. This suggests a three-way difference between SRBs, HSs and ERBs in the amount of cognitive resources required for language processing in the target language, highlighting HSs’ unique developmental trajectory. Results further suggest that accuracy on the non-linguistic task was reduced for all groups when the concurrent linguistic stimulus was of higher syntactic complexity, suggesting that more complex linguistic structures require more cognitive resources regardless of language background.

This paper investigates the extent to which clitic resumption in clitic left dislocation (CLLD) of accusative and dative objects is compulsory in two varieties of Spanish, namely, Peninsular and Rioplatense Spanish. We report the findings of an acceptability judgment task that compares sentences with dislocated direct and indirect objects with and without resumption. The study is motivated by two observations in cases without dislocation. First, in Peninsular Spanish, clitic doubling with dative objects is optional but doubling of accusative objects is very marginal. Second, in Rioplatense Spanish, doubling of accusatives is available under specific conditions. Although the results confirm that resumption in CLLD structures is strongly preferred across varieties and object types, differences between dative vs. accusative clitics are reflected to some extent in CLLD structures in Peninsular Spanish. Concerning cross-dialectal differences between Peninsular vs. Rioplatense Spanish, we propose an account that relies on the availability of null accusative clitics in Rioplatense in contrast to Peninsular Spanish.

Feedback is integral to second language (L2) writing instruction. However, large class sizes and limited teacher time often challenge the delivery of personalized feedback, prompting interest in AI-powered solutions such as ChatGPT (Escalante et al., 2023; Huete-García & Tarp, 2024; Steiss et al., 2024; Yoon et al., 2023; Zhang, 2024). This study evaluates a task-customized GPT model, “Belinda,” trained to assess A1-level Spanish learners’ writing and provide feedback. Two research questions guided the investigation: (1) Can Belinda accurately score beginner Spanish writing using a provided rubric? (2) Can Belinda deliver constructive qualitative feedback? Human and GPT-generated scores were compared for inter- and intrarater reliability, and qualitative analyses categorized the feedback for usability in the classroom. Results revealed moderate alignment between Belinda’s scores and human raters, though reliability of the GPT fell short of calibration benchmarks. Feedback quality varied, with Belinda often providing vague, incomplete, or inaccurate suggestions. Despite iterative training, the GPT struggled to balance error correction with encouragement, a critical need for novice learners. Additionally, inconsistencies in identical GPT versions raised concerns about reliability. While Belinda showed potential in automating feedback, its limitations in accuracy, contextual understanding, and positivity suggest it is not yet a viable substitute for human evaluation by itself. These findings emphasize the challenges of integrating AI into L2 instruction and call for the need for extensive datasets, robust training, and human–AI collaboration to achieve pedagogically sound outcomes. Future research should explore hybrid feedback models and scalable solutions to enhance AI’s role in language education without compromising learner progress or confidence.

Much recent work argues that lexical frequency plays a central explanatory role in linguistic theory, but the status, predicted effects, and methodological treatment of frequency are controversial, especially so in the less-investigated area of syntactic variation. This article addresses these issues in a case study of lexical frequency effects on variable subject personal pronoun (SPP) expression in Spanish. Prior studies of Spanish SPP use revealed significant constraints including formal and semantic properties of the verb, and discourse factors such as a switch reference. These constraints appear to be confirmed in our analysis of 4,916 verbs from a spoken corpus of Spanish, as is a powerful role for lexical frequency. But the frequency effect—best configured as a discrete rather than continuous variable—is complex; statistically, it has no independent direct effect, but operates entirely through interaction with other constraints. All other constraints on SPP use are amplified in high-frequency forms, and some disappear at low frequencies. Frequency thus acts as a ‘gatekeeper’ and potentiator: above some frequency threshold, significant linguistic constraints on SPP use emerge; below the threshold they do not. We propose that this reflects experience and acquisition: speakers cannot formulate hypotheses about individual lexical items until they have sufficient evidence; the threshold is the level at which speakers have enough experience with a form to do so.

These results have important theoretical and methodological implications. They require rich lexical representations incorporating frequency and collocational information. Methodologically they indicate the need for careful quantitative explorations of frequency, because its role as an enabler of other constraints produces unstable statistical results.

This study investigates how stress and metathesis interact in Sevillian Spanish, focusing on how their interaction sheds light on representation. Metathesis affects /s/–voiceless stop sequences, moving a debuccalised coda /s/ to the release of the following stop ( → [patha]). This process plausibly changes syllable structure: the syllable where /s/ originated is closed at one representational level, but open on the surface ([pah.ta] → [pa.tha]). The change in syllable structure could affect weight-sensitive stress, depending on the level speakers refer to in assigning stress. In a stress judgement task, Sevillian listeners treated syllables from which an /s/ had metathesised out similarly to heavy penults and differently from light penults. I outline a range of analyses to account for their behaviour, and suggest that a comprehensive analysis could include gestural representations and separate stress from metathesis, so that phonetic variability in the realisation of metathesis is permitted but does not affect stress.

Word frequency databases like SPALEX and SUBTLEX-ESP treat Spanish as a uniform language, but prior studies and an initial survey (Experiment 1) revealed significant lexical differences between Spanish in Spain and Latin American countries, especially Chile. To establish subjective frequencies of Spanish word usage, an extended survey (Experiment 2) was conducted with Chilean participants, categorizing words by usage area: General, Spain, Chile, and Latin America. Consistent with the initial survey, Chilean participants assigned subjective higher ratings to General and Chilean words. In a lexical decision experiment (Experiment 3), participants responded faster and more accurately to words from these categories. Using survey data, simulations with Multilink+ (Experiment 4) revealed that subjective word ratings better predicted Chilean reaction times than frequencies from existing databases. These findings emphasize the need to address Spanish dialectal differences in research, with word ratings offering a more accurate measure of region-specific lexical nuances than current databases.

The present study uses naturally occurring conversational data from various dialects of Spanish to examine the role of second-person (T/V) reference forms in the accomplishment of social action in interaction. I illustrate how the turn-by-turn progression of talk can occasion shifts in the linguistic means through which speakers refer to their hearers, an interactional commonality between dialects (and possibly languages) that are otherwise pronominally dissimilar. These shifts contribute to the action of an utterance by mobilizing the semantic meaning of a pronominal form in order to recalibrate who the interactants project they are, and who they project they are to one another—not in general, but rather at that particular moment in the ongoing interaction. The analysis posits a distinction between identity status and identity stance to argue in favor of a more microlevel conceptualization of identities and contexts as emergent features of moment-by moment discourse, co-constructed through the deployment of grammatical structure.

Although understanding the role of the environment is central to language acquisition theory, rarely has this been studied for children's phonetic development, and RECEPTIVE and EXPRESSIVE language experiences in the environment are not distinguished. This last distinction may be crucial for child speech production in particular, because production requires coordination of low-level speech-motor planning with high-level linguistic knowledge. In this study, the role of the environment is evaluated in a novel way—by studying phonetic development in a bilingual community undergoing rapid language shift. This sociolinguistic context provides a naturalistic gradient of the AMOUNT of children's exposure to two languages and the RATIO of expressive to receptive experiences. A large-scale child language corpus encompassing over 500 hours of naturalistic South Bolivian Quechua and Spanish speech was efficiently annotated for children's and their caregivers' bilingual language use. These estimates were correlated with children's patterns in a series of speech production tasks. The role of the environment varied by outcome: children's expressive language experience best predicted their performance on a coarticulation-morphology measure, while their receptive experience predicted performance on a lower-level measure of vowel variability. Overall these bilingual exposure effects suggest a pathway for children's role in language change whereby language shift can result in different learning outcomes within a single speech community. Appropriate ways to model language exposure in development are discussed.