Linguistic alignment in second language acquisition: A methodological review

Abstract

Linguistic alignment is defined as the development of aligned representations drawing on an automatic psycholinguistic priming mechanism that acts on every level of linguistic representation (e.g., auditory, semantic, syntactic) (Branigan et al., 2014). Building on first language (L1) alignment research, research on the occurrence of alignment and alignment-driven language learning in second language (L2) contexts has been on the rise (Kim et al., 2019; McDonough et al., 2015; McDonough & Kim, 2009). In this article, we reviewed 54 L2 linguistic alignment studies published between 2001 and 2021. The methodological aspects of these studies are reviewed in terms of the alignment types (auditory, semantic, syntactic), target linguistic features, medium of alignment, modality of primes, time on alignment treatment, task types, and operationalization of learning measures in L2 alignment research. The findings show that syntactic alignment in L2 English is the most widely researched. Additionally, both computer-human interaction in a controlled experimental context and face-to-face oral interactions are the most frequent types of alignment settings. We discuss methodological implications and highlight future directions in light of expanding alignment foci and communication modalities.