This article presents a theoretical review of and methodological guidelines for the study of two key notions in second language acquisition research, complexity and difficulty. The term "complexity" has gained considerable currency over the past decades and has taken on a wide range of meanings. We argue for a more restricted…

Second language (L2) writing researchers have enthusiastically adopted task complexity frameworks in their examination of the effects of complex task features on L2 written performance. However, such research often overlooks the effect(s) of such features on general L2 development as well as L2 writing development. Drawing from Manch?n and…

Language learning is a complex issue of interest to linguists, computer scientists, and psychologists alike. While the different fields approach these questions at different levels of granularity, findings in one field profoundly affect how the others proceed. My dissertation examines the perceptual and linguistic generalizations regarding the…

Recent studies have shown that the frequency effect, although long used as a guide to word difficulty, fails to explain all variance in learner word knowledge. As such, a "more than frequency" conclusion has been offered to explain how lexical sophistication accounts for word difficulty. This study presents a multiple regression model of…

This study examined how linguistic complexity features contribute to second language (L2) processing effort by analyzing the Dutch English-L2 learners' eye movements from GECO and MECO, two eye-tracking corpora. Processing effort was operationalized as reading rate, mean fixation duration, regression rate, skipping rate, and mean saccade…

Recent research focusing on the sources of listening anxiety identified individual and external factors (IEF), listeners' control over input (LC), and perceived level of task difficulty (PTD) as the main causes of anxiety among L2 listeners. This correlational study aims to explore whether the sources of anxiety in L2 listening have a causal…

This study reviews the effect of comprehension and perceived text difficulty in promoting reading enjoyment and interest to read more among novice learners practicing extensive and pleasure reading. Sixty-seven college students in their first semester of Spanish were asked to read a children-like story picture book in Spanish and were then given…

This study provides an overview of the level of students' cognitive load in learning English in vocational schools. A quantitative descriptive study uses a cross-sectional survey conducted to measure the level of cognitive load of students in learning English in vocational schools. The subjects are 69 respondents who are students from one of the…

The present study investigated the potential of writing in English as a foreign language (EFL) for language learning by manipulating cognitive task complexity based on related models and hypotheses. English essays written by 59 Chinese postgraduate EFL students from different subject areas were analysed with reference to writing complexity,…

Chulalongkorn University Language Institute (CULI) test was developed as a local standardised test of English for professional and international communication. To ensure that the CULI test fulfils its intended purposes, this study employed Kane's argument-based validation and Rasch measurement approaches to construct the validity argument for the…

This study investigates the effects of online instructors' use of initiation and maintenance rapport-building strategies (RBS) on Chinese EFL learners' CALL motivation and cognitive load management. Mixed methods research was used to concurrently triangulate different strands of data on the effects of RBS on 86 randomly sampled EFL learners. The…

A new kind of reading platform supported by ChatGPT has quickly become a popular research assistant among students due to its instant natural language interaction and question-answering capabilities. This study explored the effects of ChatGPT-based reading platform on student's foreign language paper reading. A total of 64 undergraduate students…

Sign language learners with a spoken language background face the challenge of acquiring a second language in a different modality. In the course of this endeavor, one of the modality-specific phenomena they encounter is the use of classifier predicates, also known as depicting signs. Classifier predicates contain a meaningful hand configuration…

Language acquisition and Language Maintenance (LM) both depend on ample opportunity and motivation. Currently, many national language societies are undergoing Language Shift (LS) to English, impacting their acquisition as first (L1) and possibly even more as second (L2) language. This study interviewed 44 adolescents, including 24 L1 and 20 L2…

This study explored the communication strategies of college students majoring in one of five modern foreign languages (i.e., English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish) and their relation to communication confidence. It also explored the association between their strategy use and the difficulty regarding the speaking components, and students'…