Background: Recent years have witnessed a surge of technology use and online learning environments, especially during the post-COVID era. The widespread use of technology has sparked a sudden transition from conventional face-to-face learning to online digital-based learning platforms, such as Adobe Connect. Although EFL teachers have implemented…

Cognitive control is a mental construct thought to be important in most cognitive tasks, including second language learning. Its functions are believed by many scholars to be mainly domain-general, with some transferability across linguistic and non-linguistic domains. Our study aims to investigate to what extent the domain-generality claim of…

In order to explore the cognitive mechanisms and processing involved in incidental vocabulary acquisition, this study examines whether two crucial cognitive factors, attention and working memory, influence incidental vocabulary acquisition during second language reading. Employing a combined online-offline approach, attention, working memory, and…

This study investigates how working memory (WM) capacity and L2 linguistic knowledge affect L2 literal and inferential reading comprehension, considering the presence or absence of background knowledge. Eighty upper-intermediate to advanced adult English learners participated, completing tasks to assess WM capacity, background knowledge, L2…

The present study aims to examine incidental vocabulary learning from different genres of captioned videos while considering frequency, vocabulary knowledge, comprehension, and working memory. A total of 210 learners who learn English as a foreign language (EFL) were assigned to 6 treatment conditions that differed in terms of video genres…

Flipped learning has become the focus in many educational contexts especially with the integration of technological tools in learning space for the last decade. In flipped learning, learners perform surface learning at home, whereas deep learning such as problem-solving, critical thinking exercises etc. is covered in the classroom which…

This study first validates a survey on self-regulated vocabulary learning strategies. It then examines the effects on the acquisition of new second language (L2) words from a reading text of three word-focused exercise conditions: reading + marginal glosses, reading + gap-fill and reading + sentence writing. It also evaluates the extent to which…

Given the accumulating evidence about audiovisual input as a valuable resource from which knowledge of multiword expressions (MWEs) can be built up incidentally, the next inquiry arises as to what can be done to promote MWE uptake from this resource. Despite the increasing popularity of bilingual subtitles as a form of on-screen text, their…

Recent studies have suggested that language aptitude is a domain-general and flexible trait to acquire foreign languages, regarding various cognitive abilities such as memory systems as its crucial components. Despite a growing interest in working memory, however, much remains unknown about the impact of associative memory on language aptitude.…

General principles of human cognition can help to explain why languages are more likely to have certain characteristics than others: structures that are difficult to process or produce will tend to be lost over time. One aspect of cognition that is implicated in language use is working memory--the component of short-term memory used for temporary…

Foreign language anxiety has influenced reading achievement in English as a second language learning (ESL). However, less is known about how foreign language anxiety affects Chinese students learning English as L2 and the interplay between foreign language anxiety and cognitive-linguistic factors on L2 reading performance. This longitudinal study…

Incidental vocabulary learning through reading may be influenced by a range of learner-internal as well as learner-external factors. This study, specifically, examined the potential impacts of three factors: text type, prior L2 vocabulary knowledge, and working memory capacity. Forty-six 1st grade high school students in Korea completed a battery…

While the relationship between language experience and foreign language aptitude (FLA) has been studied extensively, little is known about the underlying intermediate link between them. This study investigates whether multilingual learning experience is correlated with FLA and whether working memory (WM) mediates this relationship. A total of 93…

Learning a language is one typical and common cognitive phenomenon among human beings. What matters even most, is the additional language learning and advantages it may confer; an issue which cannot be simply overlooked in cognitive studies. The developmental effect of learning an additional language on memory is something that is confirmed in…

Working memory (WM) may be an essential component of incidental vocabulary learning and retention from captioned videos. However, how WM affects young learners' incidental vocabulary learning under different types of captions remains unclear. The present study employs a between-subject research design. The main purpose is to examine how two types…