Genetic factors are known to play a role in shaping reading abilities and their underlying cognitive processes. However, understanding how genetic and environmental factors interact to influence reading outcomes remains largely unknown. By evaluating the interplay between genetic and environmental influences on reading performance, this study aims…

Background music with lyrics can be a prevalent distraction in environments where people study or read while music plays. However, such effects on reading comprehension across different language contexts remain insufficiently investigated. Guided by the duplex-mechanism account of auditory distraction and the semantic-interference hypothesis, the…

Background: South African township learners are known to perform poorly in international tests, including reading and science. Language is a complicating variable as English, the learners' second language (L2), is generally the language of learning and teaching, including for reading science texts. Aim: The study's objectives were to determine the…

With the growing interest in integrating information and communication technology in the EFL classroom, the present study investigated the impact of electronic first language (L1) translations and second language (L2) definition glosses on incidental vocabulary learning and retention among Moroccan EFL learners. In total, 172 first-year university…

This study investigates the use of metacognitive strategies by young emergent multilingual students in a translanguaging pedagogy scenario. From a multilingual perspective, we understand metacognition as a broader concept that refers to the learning or thinking processes that encapsulate metalinguistic and crosslinguistic awareness. We focus on…

Typical print formatting provides no information regarding the linguistic features of a text, although texts vary considerably with respect to grammatical complexity and readability. Complex texts may be particularly challenging for individuals with weak language knowledge, such as English language learners. This paper investigates the usefulness…

While the benefits of form-focused instruction (FFI) for grammar and general vocabulary are well-documented, research on its impact on L2 academic vocabulary acquisition remains limited. This study examines the effects of focus-on-form (FonF) and focus-on-forms (FonFs) activities on learning both general and academic vocabulary in Korean EFL…

Despite the preponderance of research on extensive reading (ER), the research field still suffers from a lack of common understanding of what ER is and how it should be implemented. From the perspective of Day and Bamford's (2002) seminal ten principles for teaching ER, the present methodological synthesis aimed to systematically review and…

Purpose: Prosodic sensitivity, or the ability to perceive suprasegmental features of speech such as lexical tone in Cantonese and lexical stress in English, has been recognized as an essential component of reading acquisition. However, the specific pathways by which it influences reading comprehension remain unclear. This study evaluates how…

This mixed-methods study investigated the impact of musical lyrics and working memory capacities on second language (L2) English reading comprehension among adult Chinese native speakers. Participants were 57 adult ESL learners with advanced L2 proficiency, divided into high and low working memory capacity groups based on a pre-test. They…