Surprisingly little is known about the number and frequency level of words that beginner-tolow-in... more Surprisingly little is known about the number and frequency level of words that beginner-tolow-intermediate 16-year-old learners of French, German, and Spanish are expected to know when taking high-stakes national exams in England. This study presents exploratory analyses of the lexical content of the listening and reading tests of these exams, a corpus totalling 116,645 running words. Specifically, it seeks to understand the number and frequency level of words that (a) this demographic seems to be expected to know and (b) could be needed for awarding organisations to create exams year-on-year. Key findings include that the proportion of low(er)-frequency words in the corpus of exam papers seemed large, given the stage of the learners and the purpose of the assessments. Critically, these low(er)-frequency words changed at a high rate between papers, likely incurring a heavy reliance on the lexical inferencing abilities of these relatively inexperienced language learners.
International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, May 28, 2021
The extent to which the ability to use metaphor in a second languagemetaphoric competence (MC) -r... more The extent to which the ability to use metaphor in a second languagemetaphoric competence (MC) -relates to well-attested language proficiency components has implications both for understanding second language (L2) competence and for pedagogy. Building on previous enquiries (Azuma 2005) and extending a vocabulary size and depth research agenda to the realm of MC, the present study sought to disentangle the relationships between six elicited MC constructs, reliably established by O'Reilly and Marsden (2021), two standardised L2 proficiency measures, and established vocabulary size and depth measures. With 108 Mandarin learners of L2 English, partial correlation analyses showed unique relationships between specificM Ca n dp r o ficiency measures, evidence of what these learners could do with metaphor at various proficiency levels, and how sparse references to metaphor in proficiency descriptors (e.g., CEFR) might be more precisely interpreted. Multiple regression analyses showed that Word Associates Test, a vocabulary depth measure, was closely linked to all types of MC, particularly productive control (Henriksen 1999) and Metaphor Language Play (O'Reilly and Marsden 2021). The findings point to the centrality of different (but related) types of associative thinking ability in metaphor use and language learning more generally (
This study extends previous input-based grammar instruction research (for reviews, DeKeyser and P... more This study extends previous input-based grammar instruction research (for reviews, DeKeyser and Prieto Botana 2015; Shintani 2015) by comparing two types of input-based practice, each with the same explicit information, for learning L2 German definite article case-marking cues (der, den). Participants (N=138, aged nine to 11) received explicit information followed by either task-essential practice in making form-meaning connections (referential activities from Processing Instruction) OR task-essential practice in spotting the form (noticing activities). Both interventions yielded equivalent durable gains across six ecologically valid tests of comprehension and production (written and oral modalities), compared to negligible gains in a Control group. The findings revealed that, following explicit information, input practice requiring noticing of the target feature (as proposed by Svalberg 2012) was equally effective as task-essential form-meaning connection practice, shedding important light on previous claims in the research agenda on task-essential input practice (e.g. Marsden 2006; Marsden and Chen 2011). Responding to calls for ecologically valid effect-ofinstruction research (Mitchell 2000; Spada 2015), this classroom study demonstrates the efficacy of grammar practice for young learners within input-poor foreign language classrooms. 1
in the United Kingdom. She has published 12 books and numerous articles and chapters in top press... more in the United Kingdom. She has published 12 books and numerous articles and chapters in top presses. Her interests are research methodology, instrumentation, and corrective feedback in L2 learning, as well as cognitive variables, linguistic outcomes, and, most recently, second dialects and identities. She is the editor-in-chief of the Annual Review of Applied Linguistics.
A fluorinated organic acid compound of the formula CnF2n+1CONRCHRCOOH, wherein each R is independ... more A fluorinated organic acid compound of the formula CnF2n+1CONRCHRCOOH, wherein each R is independently selected from H or an alkyl radical of one to eight carbon atoms and n is an integer of six to 18, is added to a dispersion containing a pigment, a bonding agent and a dispersing agent such as sodium alginate to obtain improved dye compositions.
Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Jul 14, 2016
This study investigated the effectiveness of providing L1 explicit information (EI) with practice... more This study investigated the effectiveness of providing L1 explicit information (EI) with practice for making more accurate and faster interpretations of L2 French Imparfait (IMP). Two treatments were investigated: (a) "L2-only," providing EI about the L2 with L2 interpretation practice, and (b) "L2+L1," providing the exact same L2-only treatment and including EI about the L1 (English) with practice interpreting L1 features that are equivalent to the IMP. Fifty L2 French learners were randomly assigned to either L2-only, L2+L1, or a control group. Online (self-paced reading) and offline (context-sentence matching) measures from pretest, posttest, and delayed posttests showed that providing additional L1 EI and practice improved not only offline L2 accuracy, but also the speed of online L2 processing. To our knowledge, this makes original and significant contributions about the nature of EI with practice and the role of the L1 (Tolentino & Tokowicz, 2014), and it extends a recent line of research examining EI effects in online sentence processing .
A large body of research has shown that suffi xes-both infl ectional and derivational-can be prim... more A large body of research has shown that suffi xes-both infl ectional and derivational-can be primed with adult native speakers, which informs our understanding of storage and access to morphology in mature systems. However, this line of research has not yet been conducted from an acquisition perspective: Little is known about whether or not representations of suffi xes are formed after very little exposure to new morphology and, if so, about the nature of those representations or about the infl uence of attentional orientation and meaning at this initial stage. The three experiments reported here begin to address this gap by investigating the nature of suffi xal representations following exposure to a small regular system of suffi xed words. The experiment used crossmodal priming of recognition memory judgments to probe morphological representation. Although the lack of priming suggested The experiments reported here were carried out with the support of a University of York Anniversary Lectureship Award. An earlier version of this study was presented at Euro
Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Jul 10, 2013
A large body of research has shown that suffi xes-both infl ectional and derivational-can be prim... more A large body of research has shown that suffi xes-both infl ectional and derivational-can be primed with adult native speakers, which informs our understanding of storage and access to morphology in mature systems. However, this line of research has not yet been conducted from an acquisition perspective: Little is known about whether or not representations of suffi xes are formed after very little exposure to new morphology and, if so, about the nature of those representations or about the infl uence of attentional orientation and meaning at this initial stage. The three experiments reported here begin to address this gap by investigating the nature of suffi xal representations following exposure to a small regular system of suffi xed words. The experiment used crossmodal priming of recognition memory judgments to probe morphological representation. Although the lack of priming suggested The experiments reported here were carried out with the support of a University of York Anniversary Lectureship Award. An earlier version of this study was presented at Euro
However, drawing on the home languages and cultural insight of children who use English as an Add... more However, drawing on the home languages and cultural insight of children who use English as an Additional Language (EAL) may also have important social and academic benefits in contexts where monolingualism is the norm. Conducted in a small local authority in England with low numbers of children who use EAL, this study investigated a) primary teachers' views on implementing language awareness activities, using pupils who speak languages other than English as a linguistic and cultural resource, via interviews and questionnaires and b) the amount and nature of references made to home languages during classroom observations. Although the teachers did not refer to or use home languages on a day-today basis, they generally showed willingness to consider implementing certain activities which incorporated them. However, largely, the teachers had not previously contemplated such practice. They did not reference any academic benefits to promoting linguistic diversity but were more aware of the potential social benefits. They also lacked confidence in particular areas (e.g. linguistic knowledge) as well as showing a strong awareness of issues such as the
Surprisingly little is known about the number and frequency level of words that beginner-tolow-in... more Surprisingly little is known about the number and frequency level of words that beginner-tolow-intermediate 16-year-old learners of French, German, and Spanish are expected to know when taking high-stakes national exams in England. This study presents exploratory analyses of the lexical content of the listening and reading tests of these exams, a corpus totalling 116,645 running words. Specifically, it seeks to understand the number and frequency level of words that (a) this demographic seems to be expected to know and (b) could be needed for awarding organisations to create exams year-on-year. Key findings include that the proportion of low(er)-frequency words in the corpus of exam papers seemed large, given the stage of the learners and the purpose of the assessments. Critically, these low(er)-frequency words changed at a high rate between papers, likely incurring a heavy reliance on the lexical inferencing abilities of these relatively inexperienced language learners.
International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, May 28, 2021
The extent to which the ability to use metaphor in a second languagemetaphoric competence (MC) -r... more The extent to which the ability to use metaphor in a second languagemetaphoric competence (MC) -relates to well-attested language proficiency components has implications both for understanding second language (L2) competence and for pedagogy. Building on previous enquiries (Azuma 2005) and extending a vocabulary size and depth research agenda to the realm of MC, the present study sought to disentangle the relationships between six elicited MC constructs, reliably established by O'Reilly and Marsden (2021), two standardised L2 proficiency measures, and established vocabulary size and depth measures. With 108 Mandarin learners of L2 English, partial correlation analyses showed unique relationships between specificM Ca n dp r o ficiency measures, evidence of what these learners could do with metaphor at various proficiency levels, and how sparse references to metaphor in proficiency descriptors (e.g., CEFR) might be more precisely interpreted. Multiple regression analyses showed that Word Associates Test, a vocabulary depth measure, was closely linked to all types of MC, particularly productive control (Henriksen 1999) and Metaphor Language Play (O'Reilly and Marsden 2021). The findings point to the centrality of different (but related) types of associative thinking ability in metaphor use and language learning more generally (
This study extends previous input-based grammar instruction research (for reviews, DeKeyser and P... more This study extends previous input-based grammar instruction research (for reviews, DeKeyser and Prieto Botana 2015; Shintani 2015) by comparing two types of input-based practice, each with the same explicit information, for learning L2 German definite article case-marking cues (der, den). Participants (N=138, aged nine to 11) received explicit information followed by either task-essential practice in making form-meaning connections (referential activities from Processing Instruction) OR task-essential practice in spotting the form (noticing activities). Both interventions yielded equivalent durable gains across six ecologically valid tests of comprehension and production (written and oral modalities), compared to negligible gains in a Control group. The findings revealed that, following explicit information, input practice requiring noticing of the target feature (as proposed by Svalberg 2012) was equally effective as task-essential form-meaning connection practice, shedding important light on previous claims in the research agenda on task-essential input practice (e.g. Marsden 2006; Marsden and Chen 2011). Responding to calls for ecologically valid effect-ofinstruction research (Mitchell 2000; Spada 2015), this classroom study demonstrates the efficacy of grammar practice for young learners within input-poor foreign language classrooms. 1
in the United Kingdom. She has published 12 books and numerous articles and chapters in top press... more in the United Kingdom. She has published 12 books and numerous articles and chapters in top presses. Her interests are research methodology, instrumentation, and corrective feedback in L2 learning, as well as cognitive variables, linguistic outcomes, and, most recently, second dialects and identities. She is the editor-in-chief of the Annual Review of Applied Linguistics.
A fluorinated organic acid compound of the formula CnF2n+1CONRCHRCOOH, wherein each R is independ... more A fluorinated organic acid compound of the formula CnF2n+1CONRCHRCOOH, wherein each R is independently selected from H or an alkyl radical of one to eight carbon atoms and n is an integer of six to 18, is added to a dispersion containing a pigment, a bonding agent and a dispersing agent such as sodium alginate to obtain improved dye compositions.
Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Jul 14, 2016
This study investigated the effectiveness of providing L1 explicit information (EI) with practice... more This study investigated the effectiveness of providing L1 explicit information (EI) with practice for making more accurate and faster interpretations of L2 French Imparfait (IMP). Two treatments were investigated: (a) "L2-only," providing EI about the L2 with L2 interpretation practice, and (b) "L2+L1," providing the exact same L2-only treatment and including EI about the L1 (English) with practice interpreting L1 features that are equivalent to the IMP. Fifty L2 French learners were randomly assigned to either L2-only, L2+L1, or a control group. Online (self-paced reading) and offline (context-sentence matching) measures from pretest, posttest, and delayed posttests showed that providing additional L1 EI and practice improved not only offline L2 accuracy, but also the speed of online L2 processing. To our knowledge, this makes original and significant contributions about the nature of EI with practice and the role of the L1 (Tolentino & Tokowicz, 2014), and it extends a recent line of research examining EI effects in online sentence processing .
A large body of research has shown that suffi xes-both infl ectional and derivational-can be prim... more A large body of research has shown that suffi xes-both infl ectional and derivational-can be primed with adult native speakers, which informs our understanding of storage and access to morphology in mature systems. However, this line of research has not yet been conducted from an acquisition perspective: Little is known about whether or not representations of suffi xes are formed after very little exposure to new morphology and, if so, about the nature of those representations or about the infl uence of attentional orientation and meaning at this initial stage. The three experiments reported here begin to address this gap by investigating the nature of suffi xal representations following exposure to a small regular system of suffi xed words. The experiment used crossmodal priming of recognition memory judgments to probe morphological representation. Although the lack of priming suggested The experiments reported here were carried out with the support of a University of York Anniversary Lectureship Award. An earlier version of this study was presented at Euro
Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Jul 10, 2013
A large body of research has shown that suffi xes-both infl ectional and derivational-can be prim... more A large body of research has shown that suffi xes-both infl ectional and derivational-can be primed with adult native speakers, which informs our understanding of storage and access to morphology in mature systems. However, this line of research has not yet been conducted from an acquisition perspective: Little is known about whether or not representations of suffi xes are formed after very little exposure to new morphology and, if so, about the nature of those representations or about the infl uence of attentional orientation and meaning at this initial stage. The three experiments reported here begin to address this gap by investigating the nature of suffi xal representations following exposure to a small regular system of suffi xed words. The experiment used crossmodal priming of recognition memory judgments to probe morphological representation. Although the lack of priming suggested The experiments reported here were carried out with the support of a University of York Anniversary Lectureship Award. An earlier version of this study was presented at Euro
However, drawing on the home languages and cultural insight of children who use English as an Add... more However, drawing on the home languages and cultural insight of children who use English as an Additional Language (EAL) may also have important social and academic benefits in contexts where monolingualism is the norm. Conducted in a small local authority in England with low numbers of children who use EAL, this study investigated a) primary teachers' views on implementing language awareness activities, using pupils who speak languages other than English as a linguistic and cultural resource, via interviews and questionnaires and b) the amount and nature of references made to home languages during classroom observations. Although the teachers did not refer to or use home languages on a day-today basis, they generally showed willingness to consider implementing certain activities which incorporated them. However, largely, the teachers had not previously contemplated such practice. They did not reference any academic benefits to promoting linguistic diversity but were more aware of the potential social benefits. They also lacked confidence in particular areas (e.g. linguistic knowledge) as well as showing a strong awareness of issues such as the
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