"Taza" in Spanish refers to cups and mugs in English, whereas glass refers to different glass types in Spanish: "copa" and "vaso." It is still unclear whether such categorical distinctions induce early perceptual differences in speakers of different languages. In this study, for the first time, we report symmetrical…

This study extended an existing crosslinguistic model of verb-marking errors in children's early multiword speech (MOSAIC) by adding a novel mechanism that defaults to the most frequent form of the verb where this accounts for a high proportion of forms in the input. Our simulations showed that the resulting model not only provides a better…

Second language (L2) learners make gender errors with possessive pronouns. In production, these errors are modulated by the gender match between the possessor and possessee noun. We examined whether this so-called match effect extends to L2 comprehension by attempting to replicate a recent study on gender predictions in first language (L1) German…

Most studies on the perception-production link have assumed a synchronous relationship according to which gains in perception transfer to production rapidly and efficiently. However, time-lagged and asymptotic relationships are also possible, where perception would guide production at a later stage or production would improve only once perception…

An enduring question is whether language learning aptitude is a stable trait or is one influenced by experience, such as living with two languages. We investigated aptitude in bilinguals and treated their bilingual experience as an aggregate of variables, focusing on how individual differences in (a) language experience variables of proficiency,…

Three groups of native English speakers named words aloud in Spanish, their second language (L2). Intermediate proficiency learners in a classroom setting (Experiment 1) and in a domestic immersion program (Experiment 2) were compared to a group of highly proficient English-Spanish speakers. All three groups named cognate words more quickly and…

This study examined young emergent bilinguals' cognate and false cognate knowledge and vocabulary outcomes on four early-language assessments in English and Spanish. Findings revealed that children were able to use shared phonology of words--before they had developed extensive knowledge about their orthography--to recognize and produce cognates.…

This study aimed to advance research on first and second language future-time expression in Spanish and to demonstrate the strengths of combining functionalist, concept-oriented approaches (e.g., Andersen, 1984; Bardovi-Harlig, 2000; Shirai, 1995; von Stutterheim & Klein, 1987) with variationist approaches. The study targeted 140 participants…

This 8-year longitudinal case study of Fabiola, a Spanish-English bilingual, investigated her argumentative writing development, focusing on her use of evidence to support and develop arguments over time from high school through university. Data sources included 36 writing samples. Texts across grade levels and course types were analyzed to…

We assessed the roles of first language (L1) and second language (L2) proficiency in the processing of preverbal clitics in L2 Spanish by considering the predictions of four processing theories--the Input Processing Theory, the Unified Competition Model, the Amalgamation Model, and the Associative-Cognitive CREED. We compared the performance of L1…

Previous research has demonstrated substantially improved second language (L2) vocabulary learning when spoken word forms are varied using multiple talkers, speaking styles, or speaking rates. In contrast, the present study varied visual representations of referents for target vocabulary. English speakers learned Spanish words in formats of no…

Text comprehension models in first and second language reading research posit that slow word recognition inhibits reading speed and decreases comprehension. To investigate the role of word recognition in reading, 2 experiments examined rereading benefits in participants' first and second languages using scrambled and normal versions of English and…

This study examines second language (L2) acquisition of the interpretation of plural noun phrases. Languages with articles differ in whether they use bare plurals (English) or definite plurals (Spanish) to express generic interpretation (Chierchia, 1998; Dayal, 2004; among others). It is hypothesized that Spanish-speaking learners of English…

This study examines the relationship between learners' production of modified output and their working memory (WM) capacity. The task-based interactions of 42 college-level, native English-speaking learners of Spanish as a foreign language were examined. A relationship was found between learners' WM test scores and their tendency to modify output.…

We examined negative transfer from English and Spanish to Portuguese pronunciation. Participants were native English speakers, some of whom spoke Spanish. Participants completed a computer-based Portuguese pronunciation tutorial and then pronounced trained letter-to-sound correspondences in unfamiliar Portuguese words; some shared orthographic…