In this brief report, we present a scoping review of 31 second language (L2) vocabulary research syntheses published in the Web of Science from January 1990 to May 2022. The purpose of this undertaking was to understand what L2 vocabulary research synthesizers have aggregated and the investigative foci they intended to address. It was observed…

It is important to be able to identify research results likely to have been arrived at by means of "'p'-hacking," a common term for research and reporting practices (such as the selective reporting of results) that are biased toward finding "p" < [alpha]. This paper discusses and demonstrates "'p'-curving," a means…

High-Variability Phonetic Training (HVPT) has demonstrated effectiveness in second language (L2) acquisition. This study utilizes a meta-analysis to explore the influence of high variability on learning L2 pronunciation and identifies the factors that moderate this impact. The studies were collected using a keyword search in the SCOPUS database.…

With a significant number of students using machine translation (MT) for academic purposes in recent years, language teachers can no longer ignore it in their classrooms. Although an increasing number of studies have reported its pedagogical benefits, studies have also revealed that language teachers are still sceptical about using MT for various…

The study of language maintenance and shift (LMS) has attracted a large body of empirical work in language policy and planning (LPP) contexts, including allochthonous (immigrant) and autochthonous (indigenous) languages. However, some critical ontological questions that relate to the scope and terminology of language maintenance studies remain…

Research syntheses that evaluate bilingual program effectiveness have grown exponentially since the 1980s. Contradictory to earlier anti-bilingual findings, these research syntheses, including statistical meta-analyses, have converged on findings supporting L1 teaching. This study examines the methodological soundness of eight statistical…

Multisite research (MSR) offers the key advantages of greater statistical power and external validity via larger and more diverse participant pools. In second language acquisition (SLA) research, recent developments in meta-analysis have created a robust foundation for MSR. Although logistical and financial obstacles can complicate expansion…

This study aimed to evaluate the research in the use of the gamification method in English language teaching. In this study, thirty-eight researches were evaluated. For this purpose, the Council of Higher Education National Thesis Center and Google Academic databases were used to reach research in the use of the gamification method in English…

Since its introduction by Glass in the 1970s, meta-analysis has become a widely accepted and the most preferred approach to conducting research synthesis. Overcoming the weaknesses commonly associated with traditional narrative review and vote counting, meta-analysis is a statistical method of systematically aggregating and analyzing empirical…

The digital technology-mediated foreign language vocabulary learning involves the use of technological tools such as online and offline dictionaries, multimedia, social media, television, computer, smart-phones, tablets, and similar others. Although many research findings in the existing literature have emphasized the effectiveness of these…

Ensuring internal validity in quantitative research requires, among other conditions, reliable instrumentation. Unfortunately, however, second language (L2) researchers often fail to report and even more often fail to interpret reliability estimates beyond generic benchmarks for acceptability. As a means to guide interpretations of such estimates,…

Second language (L2) researchers often have to develop or change the instruments they use to measure numerous constructs (Norris & Ortega, 2012). Given the prevalence of researcher-developed and -adapted data collection instruments, and given the profound effect instrumentation can have on results, thorough reporting of instrumentation is…

Good practice in primary research has evolved over many decades of research in applied linguistics to counter human fallibility and biases. Surprisingly, perhaps, synthesising such research in an entire field has only recently started to develop its own methodologies and recommendations. This paper outlines some of the issues involved, especially…

The interaction between heritage language (HL) and ethnic identity has gained increasing scholarly attention over the past decades. Numerous quantitative studies have investigated and vindicated this interaction within certain contexts. Nevertheless, quantitative evidence on this interaction across contexts is absent to date. The current…

Any research study can only be fully appreciated once it is situated in relation to existing work. This is no mean feat, however, given the sheer quantity and variety of publications to date. Simply relying on one's background and experience as an expert in the field, coupled with a few internet searches and following up individual references, is…