Higher L2 Proficiency Research Articles

L2 self-paced reading data collection across three contexts: In-person, online, and crowdsourcing

In psycholinguistic research, reaction time data is traditionally obtained in person via laboratory-based experiments. Recently, data gathered online, whether through undergraduate students completing tasks at home or through recruitment of anonymous crowdsourced workers, has been found to reliably replicate well-established L1 reaction time effects. However, because the reliability of L2 data obtained online has yet to be established, this study investigated the replicability, data quality, and logistical difficulties experienced in two self-paced reading online data gathering contexts—crowdsourcing and online students —and compared them to an in-person baseline from a previous study. Forty crowdsourced workers and 34 undergraduates completed a self-paced reading experiment online and results were compared with data from 44 in-person participants. Mixed-effect models showed that in-person effects were replicated in crowdsourced and student online data. However, data quality from students online was found to be inferior to crowdsourced data. In-person data gathering posed the most logistical constraints, followed by students online, with crowdsourcing being the most facilitative. However, the crowdsourcing sample in the present study skewed toward higher L2 proficiency as crowdsourcing platforms do not facilitate participant exclusion by proficiency. As such, researchers studying proficiency effects may want to opt for in-person or students online data gathering methods.

High-Proficiency L1 and L2 English Learners’ Morphological Words in Writing

High-Proficiency L1 and L2 English Learners’ Morphological Words in Writing

The role of bottom-up strategy instruction and proficiency level in L2 listening test performance: an intervention study

ABSTRACT This study examined the effects of bottom-up instruction (BI) on a high-stakes listening test for second language (L2) listeners and compared these effects with those of strategy instruction (SI) in relation to their proficiency levels. Two intact classes (48 L2 listeners) of different L2 listening proficiency levels received five weeks of BI and two weeks of SI. BI offered explicit knowledge of spoken English combined with reproduction practice, whereas SI helped learners deploy metacognitive knowledge and test-taking strategies. The data were collected three times: before the intervention (pre-test) and after each instruction (mid- and post-test). A common-item design that permits Rasch analysis was used. The results showed that BI improved L2 ­listeners’ test performances regardless of their proficiency levels, ­highlighting the usefulness of BI in boosting listening proficiency. Conversely, SI benefited only high proficiency L2 listeners, which supports the threshold hypothesis claiming that L2 listeners require a certain level of L2 proficiency to deploy metacognitive knowledge and test-taking strategies successfully.

An investigation of high-proficiency L2 English speakers' oral test performance: A profiling approach

Linguistic profiles, which are often established through the measurement of linguistic features, are able to demonstrate characteristics shared by a specific type of text or a group of language learners. This paper examines the contexts and purposes related to profiling research in language studies, meanwhile synthesizing quantitative profiling methods such as cluster analysis, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and Factor Analysis (FA). A profiling study of high-proficiency L2 English speakers' test performance is also presented, which explains the profiling procedure in L2 speaking assessment. Cluster analysis conducted on speech fluency and vocabulary variables rendered four different speech profiles, which are associated with the speakers' L1 background and L2 English proficiency level. This paper also discusses the interpretation of linguistic profiles, as well as the statistical concerns involved in the profile construction process.

L2 Proficiency Effects on the Use of Verb Bias Information

This study investigated whether L2 proficiency affected how L2 learners used verb bias information in their written production. Two groups of high proficiency and low proficiency L2 learners participated in a sentence completion task with direct object (DO) bias verbs, equi (EQ) bias verbs and sentential complement (SC) bias verbs. The results showed a significant difference between the two L2 learner groups in the percentage of DO and SC sentence completions preferred for each verb type. The low proficiency group used more DO structures and fewer SC structures for all three types of verbs compared to the high proficiency group. However, despite the low proficiency group’s preference for the DO sentence structure, significant correlations between the verb bias strength index of each verb and number of DO/SC sentence completions were found for both the low and high proficiency groups. These results suggest that while low proficiency L2 learners generally prefer to use the structurally more minimal DO structure as opposed to the SC structure, they are sensitive to verb bias properties and are able to use this information in their written production.

Motivation, Engagement, Strategy Use, and L2 Reading Proficiency in Iranian EFL Learners: An Investigation of Relations and Predictability

The present study aimed to explore the relationship between reading motivation, reading engagement, strategy use, and L2 reading proficiency and the predictability of the first three factors on L2 reading proficiency in a group of Iranian EFL learners. The participants were selected based on a nonrandom purposive sampling technique. They were asked to complete the MRQ, reading engagement questionnaire, the SILL, and an IELTS reading test. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software. The findings indicated that there existed a meaningful positive relationship between reading motivation and L2 reading proficiency as well as reading engagement and L2 reading proficiency. There did not exist a positive relationship between strategy use and L2 reading proficiency. The results also revealed that reading motivation and reading engagement predicted the L2 reading proficiency of the participants. Furthermore, a significant difference existed among the low, intermediate, and high-proficient L2 readers in terms of reading motivation and reading engagement. Implications of the study are presented in the article.

Student engagement with teacher written feedback: Insights from low-proficiency and high-proficiency L2 learners

Although studies on teacher written feedback have proliferated in recent years, much remains to be discovered about L2 learners' engagement with this practice. To bridge this gap, the study examined how low-proficiency and high-proficiency students engaged with teacher written feedback affectively, cognitively, and behaviorally in a Chinese EFL context. The study collected data from multiple sources including students' first drafts of their writing, teacher written feedback, revised drafts, students' verbal reports, and semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that for this important pedagogical practice, students' engagement with teacher written feedback was mediated by their language proficiency and feedback focus. Specifically, while LP and HP students' engagement with local feedback was quite different, they shared similarities in their engagement with global feedback. The study further found a complex and nonlinear relationship across the three perspectives of engagement (i.e., affective/cognitive/behavioral), which was evidenced in the consistencies and inconsistencies of the students’ engagement. The important pedagogical implications from this study are discussed.

Korean English L2ers’ Sensitivity to Information Structure: An ERP Study

This paper examined the event-related potentials (ERPs) evoked by information structure among Korean L2 English learners. Participants read a wh-question, followed by an it-cleft answer sentence in English. We hypothesized that L2 proficiency would modulate native-likeness or L2-uniqueness in L2 focus processing. For the L1 and high- and low-proficiency L2 groups, word-long positive shifts reflect the processing of NPs receiving constructional focus, compared to other non-focal phrases in cleft sentences. Second, as for the processing of incorrectly vs. correctly assigned focus, while the L1 group in Cowles et al. (2007) recorded N400, in our experiments the high-proficiency L2 group registered anterior P600, but the low-proficiency L2 group yielded right anterior negativity. This points to a modulatory correlation between L2 proficiency and native-likeness/L2-uniqueness of processing focus assignment in information structure.

Second Language Proficiency Modulates the Dependency of Bilingual Language Control on Domain-General Cognitive Control.

The relationship between bilingual language control and domain-general cognitive control has been a hot topic in the research field of bilingualism. Previous studies mostly examined the correlation between performances of bilinguals in language control tasks and that in domain-general cognitive control tasks and came to the conclusions that they overlap, partially overlap, or are qualitatively different. These contradictory conclusions are possibly due to the neglect of the moderating effect of second language (L2) proficiency, that is, the relationship between bilingual language control and domain-general cognitive control might vary with the L2 proficiency of bilinguals. To examine this hypothesis, we recruited 36 unbalanced Chinese-English bilinguals to perform the Simon task (to assess domain-general cognitive control), Oxford Placement Test (to assess L2 proficiency), and picture naming tasks in single-and dual-language contexts (to evoke local and global language control). We find that Simon scores positively predicted switching costs in bilinguals with low L2 proficiency, but not in bilinguals with high L2 proficiency. Furthermore, Simon scores positively predicted mixing costs in bilinguals with high L2 proficiency, but not in bilinguals with low L2 proficiency. These results verify the moderating effect of L2 proficiency on the relationship between bilingual language control and domain-general cognitive control, that is, bilinguals with more proficient L2 rely on domain-general cognitive control less for local language control and more for global language control. This may imply a shift from local to global for the dependency of bilingual language control on domain-general cognitive control during the L2 development of bilinguals.

Interactions between language and inhibitory control: Evidence from a combined language switching and Stroop paradigm

Aims and objectives: This study assessed bilinguals’ language control (LC) and inhibitory control (IC) performance (switch costs and Stroop effects) simultaneously in the same participants to investigate how these processes influence each other. Design: Seventy-four Turkish-English bilinguals were presented with Turkish (L1) or English (L2) color words printed either in congruent or incongruent ink color and instructed to name the ink color of these words in the presentation language. Stimuli’s language and congruency were either the same as in the previous trial or different. Data and analysis: Reaction times (RTs), switch costs (mean RTs on language repetition subtracted from switch trials), and the Stroop effects (mean RTs on congruent subtracted from incongruent trials) were analyzed using the linear mixed-effect model. Findings: The switch costs were larger on incongruent than congruent, and the Stroop effects were larger on language switch than repetition trials. This means that the LC performance decreased while resolving conflict, and the IC performance decreased during switching language, indicating that these two share a common IC mechanism. However, the switch costs and Stroop effects across L1 and L2 were symmetrical in all conditions, leaving the previous interpretation uncertain. Besides, the Stroop effects were larger when followed by congruent than incongruent trials during language repetition, whereas they were equal during switching. This means that the ability to adjust performance by previous experience was disrupted during language switching. Moreover, for the high-L2 proficiency group, this ability was diminished in language repetition trials too. These results indicate that rather than inhibition, other processes may primarily mediate bilinguals’ LC. Originality: This study provides evidence for how language and inhibitory control influence each other by combining language switching and Stroop paradigms. Furthermore, it investigates the sequential congruency effects (SCE). Significance/implications: This study shows that SCE investigation may provide significant theoretical implications.

The non-native phonetic perception mechanism utilized by bilinguals with different L2 proficiency levels

Aims: The present study investigated whether bilinguals differing in L2 proficiency are different in their non-native phonetic perception mechanism. Methodology: An event-related potential (ERP) experiment was conducted, in which high and low L2 proficiency bilinguals were asked to focus their attention on a muted film while listening pre-attentively to phoneme contrasts arranged in the Oddball paradigm. Non-native and native phonetic conditions were investigated in two separate blocks. Data and analysis: The mean amplitudes of the ERP epochs time-locked to the onset of phonemes were analyzed within four consecutive time windows: 50–150 ms, 150–250 ms, 250–350 ms, and 350–600 ms. Repeated measures analyses were performed on the following factors: phonetic condition (non-native vs. native) × deviancy (standard vs. deviant) × brain region (frontal vs. parietal) × proficiency (high vs. low). Phonetic condition, deviancy, and brain region were within-subjects factors, whereas proficiency was a between-subjects factor. Findings: In the non-native phonetic condition, a deviancy effect in the form of mismatch negativity (MMN) and late discriminative negativity (LDN) ERP components was observed in bilinguals with high L2 proficiency, whereas the P3b and late positive component (LPC) were found in those with low L2 proficiency. In the native phonetic condition, the two proficiency groups were the same in the deviancy effect as manifested by their similar brain responses in the form of the MMN component. Originality: This was the first study to take native phonetic condition into consideration while investigating the relationship between L2 proficiency and non-native phonetic discrimination. Significance/implications: The current findings suggest that high L2 proficiency might be related to faster involuntary phonetic discrimination and efficient high-level phonetic evaluation, whereas low L2 proficiency bilinguals may need to rely on additional memory processing. Findings of this study provide more evidence for the perceptual plasticity in pre-attentive non-native phonetic processing as a function of L2 proficiency.

Why am I learning English? Spanish EFL sports science university students´ motivational orientations through the prism of the L2 motivational self system

The study explores the motivational profiles of Spanish EFL sports science university students from the second language (L2) motivation self system (L2MSS) perspective to ultimately support Spanish higher institutions´ plans committed to improving employability and competitiveness. The study analyzes the relationships between L2 motivation, L2 proficiency, gender, and L2 contextual variables using data from 196 English as a foreign language (EFL) sports science university students. The data reveal that the ideal L2 self construct stands out as the most salient and powerful factor, while the ought-to and rebellious L2 selves are less significant and there are items loading on both of them at the same time. Thus, higher means for the ideal L2 self motivation correspond to higher levels of L2 proficiency and are supported by L2 learning contextual variables. The strongest ought-to L2 self was registered in students with mid-low L2 proficiency and a lack of L2 learning experiences. Meanwhile, the rebellious L2 self is clearly distinguishable only for students with high L2 proficiency. Pedagogical and curricular implications of these findings are that the ideal and the rebellious L2 selves could positively predict students´ L2 proficiency. Thus, new dynamics of education should explore language teaching methodologies that are more likely to enhance students´ ideal and rebellious L2 selves.

Identity, agency and intercultural dialogic competencies in L2 ultimate attainment

AbstractThis preliminary study seeks to examine the role of agency and bilinguals’ identity negotiated in the processes of acculturation as key factors in attaining a very high or near-native L2 proficiency. Since these aspects appear to have been underestimated in research on L2 ultimate attainment, interviews were carried out with eight L2 speakers of Polish (four near-native and four highly advanced bilinguals) in order to obtain qualitative data on participants’ self-identity and acculturation. The results show that the near-native subjects identified themselves very strongly with the receiving society, whereas highly proficient L2 speakers retained a much stronger sense of L1-related identity. It is hypothesized that bilinguals’ acculturation strategies and intercultural dialogic competencies may be decisive factors in determining L2 near-nativeness.

Neurophysiology of non-native sound discrimination: Evidence from German vowels and consonants in successive French–German bilinguals using an MMN oddball paradigm

Abstract The present electroencephalographical multi-speaker MMN oddball experiment was designed to study the phonological processing of German native and non-native speech sounds. Precisely, we focused on the perception of German /ɪ-iː/, /ɛ-ɛː/, /a-aː/ and the fricatives [ʃ] and [ç] in German natives (GG) and French learners of German (FG). As expected, our results showed that GG were able to discriminate all the critical vowel contrasts. In contrast, FG, despite their high L2 proficiency level, were only marginally sensitive to vowel length variations. Finally, neither GG nor FG discriminated the opposition between [ʃ] and [ç], as revealed by the absence of MMN response. This latter finding was interpreted in terms of low perceptual salience. Taken together, the present findings lend partial support to the Perceptual Assimilation Model for late bilinguals (PAM-L2) for speech perception of non-native phonological contrasts.

French as a third language in Norway: The influence of the prior languages in the acquisition of word order

The present study investigated the acquisition of verb movement in L3 French by L1 speakers of Norwegian with English as their L2. To investigate the impact of previously learned languages in L3 acquisition, we looked at two sentence types with lexical verbs where Norwegian, English, and French differ in systematic ways: a) non-subject initial declarative main clauses and b) subject-initial declarative main clauses with a short sentence-medial adverbial. Students completed acceptability judgment tasks in both the L2 and
 the L3. Results did not indicate a privileged status for either language as a source of transfer. Rather, there were indications that both prior languages may influence L3 French. We argue that the partially overlapping surface word order with French in each prior language may cause non-target transfer into the L3. Furthermore, higher L2 proficiency was associated with less evidence of L2 transfer in the L3.

Native-like Event-related Potentials in Processing the Second Language Syntax: Late Bilinguals

Background: The P600 brain wave reflects syntactic processes in response to different first language (L1) syntactic violations, syntactic repair, structural reanalysis, and specific semantic components. Unlike semantic processing, aspects of the second language (L2) syntactic processing differ from the L1, particularly at lower levels of proficiency. At higher L2 proficiency, syntactic violations are more likely to result in P600, similar to the L1 native speakers. Objectives: This study aims to assess the effect of proficiency on L2 syntactic processing in late bilinguals and determine whether L1-like cerebral activation patterns will result. Materials & Methods: In this descriptive quantitative research, the subjects were two groups of Persian-English bilinguals (L1=Persian, L2=English; n=10 high-proficient, n=10 low-proficient; gender=female who started learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) after the age of 15 through explicit instructions. Within the violation paradigm, Event-related Potentials (ERPs) were collected from the subjects in the neurocognitive lab of Shahid Beheshti University, Iran, in 2019- 20. The experimental trials of the ERP task included violated English regular past tense verbs. ERP components were compared with those of the L1 (components closer to P600). Results: The t-value for P600 peak latency differed significantly only for the Incorrect past tense verb (ICV) condition and only in O2 (P=0.039463, t=2.2205, CI: 0.003112- 0.11249, P<0.05) between the two groups (higher in the high proficient group). Conclusion: P600 for the high-proficient group demonstrated that L2 proficiency was a more determinant factor in L1-like cortical representation of L2 than the age of acquisition and or the type of context.

Contributions of Pre and Postmorbid Nondominant Language Interventions to Coactivation of L1-L2 Lexical Representations: A Case Study of Persian-English Bilingual Stroke-Induced Aphasic Patients

The current study sought to bring into light the important functions of pre and postmorbid nondominant language interventions and aphasia patients’ level of L1-L2 proficiency considering the productive dimension of vocabulary knowledge affected by intertrial tasks. Two Persian-English bilingual cases with anomia and different levels of postmorbid L2 proficiency were subjected to a treatment of English naming to find the contribution of English naming improvement to Persian naming. Both cases were given the therapeutic language intervention to enhance their naming performance of English lexical items and to find out whether it could be generalized to Persian equivalents.Data obtained from the 2 participants were analyzed using semantic naming tests, and the responses were validated through time-series analysis. Statistical findings suggested that participant 1, who had a higher L2 proficiency, exhibited higher performance than participant 2 throughout 5 consecutive trials, once they had received phonemic cues after semantic ones. Concerning within-language impacts, treated items exhibited a considerable improvement. The treated items and repeated untreated ones improved concerning cross-language impacts.

Linking L2 proficiency and patterns of functional connectivity during L1 word retrieval

Second language (L2) learners differ greatly in language proficiency, which is partially explained by variability in native language (L1) skills. The present fMRI study explored the neural underpinnings of the L1-L2 link. Twenty L2 learners completed a tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) task that required retrieving words in L1. Low-proficiency L2 learners showed greater functional connectivity for correct and TOT responses between the left inferior frontal gyrus and right-sided homologues of the temporoparietal regions that support phonological processing (e.g., supramarginal gyrus), possibly reflecting difficulty with phonological retrieval. High-proficiency L2 learners showed greater connectivity for erroneous responses (TOT in particular) between the left inferior frontal gyrus and regions of left medial temporal lobe (e.g., hippocampus), associated with implicit learning processes. The difference between low- and high-proficiency L2 learners in functional connectivity, which is evident even during L1 processing, may affect L2 learning processes and outcomes.

Contribution of English aural vocabulary size levels to L2 listening comprehension

Abstract This study investigated the relationship between English aural vocabulary size and L2 listening comprehension among 288 Chinese tertiary EFL learners who had mastered the first 1,000-word frequency level and were at the intermediate level of language proficiency. The Listening Vocabulary Levels Test and College English Test Band 4 were employed to measure participants’ aural vocabulary size and L2 listening comprehension proficiency, respectively. Aural vocabulary size was found to be moderately correlated with L2 listening comprehension proficiency (r = 0.38, p < 0.01). A step-wise regression analysis showed that the second 1,000-word frequency level could explain 12% of the variance in L2 listening comprehension proficiency, and academic words could add an additional 4% predictive capacity to the regression model. A hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the most frequent 2,000-word families and academic words could predict 14.5% of the change in L2 listening comprehension proficiency for the relatively low L2 proficiency group. However, aural vocabulary size had little impact on L2 listening comprehension proficiency for the relatively high L2 proficiency group. Findings suggest that high-frequency and academic words significantly contribute to the prediction of L2 listening comprehension proficiency, but the predictive power of aural vocabulary size decreases with increased language proficiency.

Factors Modifying the Amount of Neuroanatomical Overlap between Languages in Bilinguals-A Systematic Review of Neurosurgical Language Mapping Studies.

Neurosurgery on individuals with lesions around language areas becomes even more complicated when the patient is bilingual. It is thus important to understand the principles that predict the likelihood of convergent versus separate neuroanatomical organization of the first (L1) and the second language (L2) in these individuals. We reviewed all English-language publications on neurosurgical language mapping in bilinguals before January 2020 in three databases (e.g., PubMed). Our search yielded 28 studies with 207 participants. The reviewed data suggest several principles of language organization in bilingual neurosurgical patients: (1) separate cortical areas uniquely dedicated to each language in both anterior and posterior language sites are the rule rather than occasional findings, (2) In cases where there was a convergent neuroanatomical representation for L1 and L2, two factors explained the overlap: an early age of L2 acquisition and a small linguistic distance between L1 and L2 and (3) When L1 and L2 diverged neuroanatomically, more L1-specific sites were identified for early age of L2 acquisition, high L2 proficiency and a larger linguistic distance. This work provides initial evidence-based principles predicting the likelihood of converging versus separate neural representations of L1 and L2 in neurosurgical patients.